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    10 Remote Team Tips 1667091408

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    faizanin
    Nathan Barry outlines 10 ideas for building culture in a distributed remote team: 1) create a private team podcast with interviews of each team member, 2) emphasize asynchronous written communication, 3) have shared "no meeting" days for focused work, 4) ask team members to share photos from their weekends, 5) create an automated email sequence to onboard new hires, 6) host unsolicited feedback sessions, 7) schedule mandatory fun days off, 8) use a bot to schedule random catch-up calls between team members, 9) host in-person retreats twice a year, and 10) have team members donate money to charities and share why. The goal is to promote trust, clear feedback,

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    10 Remote Team Tips 1667091408

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    Nathan Barry outlines 10 ideas for building culture in a distributed remote team: 1) create a private team podcast with interviews of each team member, 2) emphasize asynchronous written communication, 3) have shared "no meeting" days for focused work, 4) ask team members to share photos from their weekends, 5) create an automated email sequence to onboard new hires, 6) host unsolicited feedback sessions, 7) schedule mandatory fun days off, 8) use a bot to schedule random catch-up calls between team members, 9) host in-person retreats twice a year, and 10) have team members donate money to charities and share why. The goal is to promote trust, clear feedback,

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    Nathan Barry outlines 10 ideas for building culture in a distributed remote team: 1) create a private team podcast with interviews of each team member, 2) emphasize asynchronous written communication, 3) have shared "no meeting" days for focused work, 4) ask team members to share photos from their weekends, 5) create an automated email sequence to onboard new hires, 6) host unsolicited feedback sessions, 7) schedule mandatory fun days off, 8) use a bot to schedule random catch-up calls between team members, 9) host in-person retreats twice a year, and 10) have team members donate money to charities and share why. The goal is to promote trust, clear feedback,

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    38 views19 pages

    10 Remote Team Tips 1667091408

    Uploaded by

    faizanin
    Nathan Barry outlines 10 ideas for building culture in a distributed remote team: 1) create a private team podcast with interviews of each team member, 2) emphasize asynchronous written communication, 3) have shared "no meeting" days for focused work, 4) ask team members to share photos from their weekends, 5) create an automated email sequence to onboard new hires, 6) host unsolicited feedback sessions, 7) schedule mandatory fun days off, 8) use a bot to schedule random catch-up calls between team members, 9) host in-person retreats twice a year, and 10) have team members donate money to charities and share why. The goal is to promote trust, clear feedback,

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 19

    Nathan Barry

    @nathanbarry

    Struggling to connect on your remote team?

    We’ve built a 68 person remote team that’s


    driving $32 million in annual revenue.

    Here are 10 ideas for building great culture in a


    distributed team:

    7,387 Likes 1,478 Retweets


    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    1. Create a private team stories podcast.

    Everyone has the same get-to-know-you


    conversations starting from zero.

    Instead, interview them about their life story for a


    private internal podcast.

    The whole team can listen and get a head start


    on building relationships.

    We do this on "ConvertKit Team Stories."


    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    2. Build a culture of written, asynchronous


    communication

    This will save so many meetings, avoid people


    feeling left out if they weren't in the meeting, and
    protect focused work.

    Your team will also be forced to clearly articulate


    and refine their ideas.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    3. Shared “no meeting” days

    Everyone has the same day for focused work


    each week.

    Team members can have days that they don’t


    need to get camera ready (e.g. hair, make-up, etc)
    if they don’t want to.

    At ConvertKit, we do Tuesdays and Fridays, which


    are wildly productive.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    4. Ask "What did you get into this weekend?"

    Every Monday morning we have a bot that posts


    to Slack asking people to share a photo (or a few)
    from the weekend.

    It's a great way to get to know co-workers on a


    personal level and see their families, interests,
    and lives.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    5. Create an automated email sequence for new


    team members

    Explain how you work, where to find important


    things (like the joke slack channels), fun facts
    about team members, explain inside jokes, &
    more.

    It's all automated so you can curate their first 30+


    days at the company.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    6. Host "unsolicited feedback" sessions

    This is where a small team (usually 4-8 people)


    gathers to talk about someone in the hot seat as
    if they aren't there for 10 min.

    When it's your turn all you can do is sit & take
    notes, then you get 5 min to respond.

    Here are the prompts:


    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    a) What does this person do that you find


    remarkable? What do you brag about them to
    other people?

    b) If they were up for the promotion of their


    career in 6 mo, what would you tell them now to
    give them the best chance of getting it?

    c) Assume you're working with this person for the


    next 10 years. What behavior isn't a big deal now,
    but will get really annoying or frustrating over that
    time?
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    This results in the best compliments, the most


    constructive feedback, and a culture of direct,
    candid conversations.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    7. Mandatory fun days

    With teams feeling burnt out force everyone to


    take the same day off.

    That means you don't have to come back to a


    mountain of slack messages and emails.

    Come back & share a photo.

    We did a 3-day weekend for the last 3 months of


    the year.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    8. Schedule S'Ups

    We use a bot to pick 3 people at random each


    week for a 30 min catch up / get to know you call.

    A triad means you always get a dynamic group


    from a cross section of the team.

    This builds relationships and breaks silos across


    product, eng, ops, growth, etc
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    9. Host retreats 2x a year

    Regularly gathering your team in person is one of


    the most important things you can do.

    2x a year ended up being the perfect cadence for


    us.

    We split our time: 33% work & strategy, 33%


    personal connection, and 33% downtime & fun.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    The biggest mistake I see companies make is


    trying to get too much work done on a retreat.

    Connections get accelerated so much through


    great memories and shared experiences.

    You can have everyone record footage for a vlog


    to let the memories carry through to the next
    retreat.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    10. Donate money together

    At a team retreat we divided our team into groups


    of 4 with one goal: give away $10,000 in $100 at
    a time.

    With 50 people on the team that meant each


    group had to find about 12 charities to support.

    Then we regrouped to share who we donated to


    & why.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    What followed were the best stories that made


    for connection points:

    Someone donated to education grants because


    they were first in their family to go to college.

    Cancer research because they'd lost a loved one.

    Pet rescue because that's where they'd found a


    best friend.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    ...and so many more.

    $100 isn't that much, so it would be fair to argue


    the money would be better donated to a single
    charity, but our main goal was life stories and
    points of connection.

    Give it a try with your team.

    You'll all get a peek into what your coworkers


    value & why.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    Don't let anyone tell you company culture is


    defined by free lunches and ping pong tables.

    Culture is trust, clear feedback, focused work,


    meaningful connection, and a shared mission.
    Nathan Barry
    @nathanbarry

    Thanks for reading.

    If this was helpful, share it to help


    more companies build intentional
    cultures.

    Follow me for more on building great


    companies.

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