In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about the challenges faced with managing and building remote teams. Listen as they list several key issues every mobile team encounters—from selecting the right members to dealing with miscommunication. Tune in to find out some key strategies Steli and Hiten have used with their remotes teams that enable them to work with their teams more effectively.
Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:04 – Today’s episode is about managing remote teams 00:41 – In previous episodes, the day-to-day operational challenges have not yet been discussed 00:50 – Hiten has built a number of remote teams already 01:35 – He mentions Episode 92: How to Build Kickass Remote Teams 01:48 – He started building remote teams since 2003 01:59 – “Not everyone’s right for a remote team” 02:52 – Hiten shares about a team member who didn’t want to work remotely, anymore 03:28 – Design of work and work environment relies on the person himself 04:18 – People working remotely might feel lonely, which is a challenge in this field 05:25 – Working remotely is still poses a risk – will your members work as expected? 06:01 – Slack is a great help 06:47 – Zoom, Uber Conference, and Google Hangouts work well for video conference meetings 07:48 – “It’s not just all about work” 07:55 – Create channels where people can communicate about things other than work 09:19 – Steli’s team does one 25-30-minute long virtual meetings every week 10:56 – “Just because it’s remote, doesn’t mean you have to not do a lot of things you would do in an office” 11:51 – One strategy that works for Hiten is that everyone in the team shares what they’ll do for the day, each and every day 13:27 – Steli’s team uses Asana 15:36 – Team members who cannot use tools for project management may not be good for a remote team 16:19 – Hiten and his team use a special Slack channel 17:54 – “Over-communicating” is a big key to success for remote teams 19:18 – Communication is the easy solution to any problem 19:38 – It’s easy to upset with somebody over a text 20:38 – Video calls can help you know how your team member is doing 21:50 – Disagreements can escalate in a bad way in written communication 23:04 – Steli and his team have their own “The Guide to Working with Me” 23:36 – Each team should have a communicated etiquette 25:23 – Be explicit and clear 3 Key Points:
Create a way or channel for your team to communicate about other things besides work. Video calls and conferences are a great way to communicate and check in on one another. “Over-communicating” with one another is the best way to make remote teams work well.
