Numbers & Nurture

For over a decade, I’ve been recruiting, supervising, and partnering with a remote workforce spanning the globe. This strategy is laden with perks, including harnessing a vast, diverse talent reservoir, minimizing operational expenses, and maintaining round the clock efficiency. Leading a team scattered across continents is not without its hurdles though. Language barriers, international timing issues, culture mismatches, etc. all can be too much to overcome. This article delves into some of my best practices for hiring and managing a global remote workforce.

1. Hiring: Attracting the Right Talent

The art of hiring hinges on attracting candidates who possess the unique qualities necessary for successful virtual collaboration.

• Clear Job Descriptions: Ensure that every job posting explicitly states expectations, roles, and responsibilities. Highlight the need for self-motivation, excellent communication skills, and experience working remotely. Put the expected compensation in the posting; it just avoids wasted time.
• Assess Cultural Fit: Every employee needs to be on mission. Their culture and work environment helps them achieve this mission. A global team brings various cultural perspectives. Evaluate candidates based on their ability to work harmoniously in a diverse remote setting and adapt to different time zones and work rhythms.
• Have a good filter: Maybe the hardest part is screening candidates where English is not their first language. You need to be able to effectively communicate, but I don’t need you writing Shakespeare. Give candidates grace and patience.

2. Onboarding: Setting Them Up For Success

Ensure new hires are equipped, oriented, and embraced by the organization from day one.

• Centralized Documentation: Use tools like Notion to create a central repository for onboarding materials, company policies, and best practices.
• Regular Check-ins: During the initial phase, have regular meetings to address concerns, clarify roles, and ensure that new hires feel connected. I end up doing a lot of pair programming with them early to get them confident in our environment and discuss nuances.
• Buddy System: Pair new hires with seasoned team members to guide them through the nuances of remote work and company culture. I usually have a rotation of team members pair with new hires so they can get multiple perspectives and insights may land different coming from someone else.
• Ship Something Quick: Have a small, achievable project or deliverable for the employee in their first week. New employees know there is much to learn, but also want to feel like they are contributing right away. It gets them from feeling like a ‘draw’ on the team to providing value right away. Double points if it’s something that helps others on the team. Who doesn’t want to come in week 1 and help all of your new coworkers!

3. Manage Building Asynchronously

Geographically dispersed team necessitates mastering asynchronous communication.

• Effective Public Communications: With tools like Slack or Teams, my number one thing is regular updates in public channels. The fight to keep people doing all of their work in DM’s is constant. Anything related to a projects, features, or nearly anything company related, should be discussed in public channels so collaboration can take place. You miss stakeholders in DMs.
• Scheduled Meetings: Organize regular team meetings and one-on-ones to check in on progress, address issues, etc. I find the key for one-on-ones is to let the employee set the agenda so they are getting the most out of it.
• Asynchronous Workflows: Accept that real-time communication isn’t always feasible. Setting expectations for employees is crucial for your stress and theirs. Adopt processes for things that are urgent requiring escalations if no one responds and for things that can allow team members to respond when it’s convenient for them.

4. Building Culture and Trust

Foster trust and camaraderie, bridging the physical divide with shared experiences and open communication

• Virtual Team-Building: Host virtual team-building activities, from online game sessions to coffee breaks, to foster camaraderie and build relationships. We use Gather.io to have a once a month Pictionary game.
• Transparency: Maintain an open-door policy where employees can voice concerns, offer feedback, and seek assistance. Twice per month I have a company all hands where all of the teams present their biggest issues voted on by their team members.
• Celebrate Diversity: Recognize the wealth of cultures and backgrounds within your team. Celebrate global holidays, and encourage employees to share their traditions and experiences. This can be tricky with so many countries and cultures, but I think less is more. Recognize the importance it has for your employees, but know that not everyone can relate.

5. Performance Management

Gauging an employee’s contribution goes beyond clocked hours. Emphasize outcomes, continuous feedback, and opportunities for growth.

• Outcome-Based Evaluation: Shift from evaluating based on hours worked to evaluating based on results and deliverables.
• Feedback Loops: Establish regular feedback mechanisms, allowing employees to understand their strengths and areas of improvement.
• Continuous Training: Offer courses, webinars, and training sessions to upskill your team and keep them abreast of the latest industry trends. This is a big thing in attracting good talent, good ones like to keep learning.

6. Ensuring Well-being

As the lines between home and office blur in remote settings, prioritizing the well-being of team members becomes paramount

• Family First Hours: Grant team members the flexibility to work around their life. Allowing the flexibility to put family first can be one of the most meaningful things you can do as an employer. Allow them to work during their most productive hours, respecting their individual time zones. Focus on outcomes and communication.
• Hybrid spaces: Help see that those who want are able to tap into local co-working/office rentals to allow employees to have space away from home to go to even for a day or 2 here or there.
• Encourage Breaks: Emphasize the importance of taking regular breaks, stepping away from screens, and ensuring work-life balance.

7. Knowing When It’s Time

Accepting that not every hire will be a perfect fit, regardless of the precautions taken, is a crucial aspect of managing any remote team. This acceptance is even more important in an environment of remote work where personal cues may be harder to pick up. Understanding when to let someone go, and how to do it, can often be the difference between maintaining team productivity and harmony or suffering from declining morale and output.

• Swift Identification of Mismatched Talent: It’s essential to recognize early when someone is not aligning with your company’s values, goals, or work ethic. Continuous monitoring, regular feedback loops, and open channels of communication help in spotting these mismatches.
• Clear Communication of Concerns: Before making any decision, it’s crucial to have an open dialogue. Clearly articulate the areas where the employee isn’t meeting expectations and provide an opportunity for them to address these issues. This not only ensures fairness but also might help rectify potential misunderstandings.
• Timely Decision-Making: Procrastinating on the decision to let someone go can have adverse effects on team morale. If other team members see someone consistently underperforming without consequences, it can undermine trust in leadership and decrease overall motivation. Swift decision-making after providing opportunities for improvement is key.
• Transparent Communication with the Team: Once the decision has been made, it’s essential to communicate with the rest of the team. Without breaching confidentiality, it’s beneficial to explain the reasons behind the decision, so there’s no room for speculation or misinformation. This transparency reinforces trust within the team.
• Offer a Supportive Exit: For the departing employee, ensure they have a graceful and supportive exit. This includes any needed resources, references for future endeavors, or assistance in transitioning out.
• Focus on Collective Growth: Remember, the aim isn’t to instill fear but to enhance team efficiency and harmony. Reinforce the idea that these decisions are taken with the organization’s and team’s best interests in mind.

Conclusion

Hiring is an art, and it’s not always perfect. A global remote workforce is an asset that offers incredible advantages, from diverse insights to continuous productivity. With the right strategies in place, companies can seamlessly integrate remote workers, ensuring a cohesive, efficient, and thriving workforce. The ability to recognize when changes need to be made and then acting on them decisively and compassionately ensures that the team stays strong, focused, and cohesive.