Making Remote Inclusive
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Many of our management approaches haven't really changed since the industrial revolution, and it's time we took a hard look at how we can make some changes. Let's make remote working more inclusive!
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Making Remote Inclusive
- 1. Making Remote Inclusive James Mayes Turing Fest, 2018
- 3. Why are we talking about remote?
- 5. So what IS remote working? ➢ It’s a scale, not an all-or-nothing ➢ Distributed teams, remote working, telecommuting? ➢ It’s still a nascent model of working ➢ Great case studies to learn from – but still early days
- 7. ““One of the secret benefits of using remote workers is that the work itself becomes the yardstick to judge someone's performance.” Jason Fried Office Not Required
- 8. Let’s look at success
- 11. My team 11
- 12. A few shared attributes ➢ Willing and able to invest in the kit people need ➢ Remote first – or at least is considered equal ➢ Meaningful investment in culture
- 13. Tactics
- 21. 4. The offsite
- 23. Key components ➢ Take advantage of the team time together ➢ Have clear goals & carefully constructed agenda ➢ Get a decent amount of team input prior!
- 26. 6. Monitoring
- 27. Monitoring your team ➢ Be clear/consistent about measurements ➢ Encourage staff to take full advantage ➢ Beware over-reach ➢ Monitor annual leave – in reverse!
- 28. 7. Team Day
- 30. 8. Bonus thought
- 31. “ “Don’t hire for culture fit – hire for culture add” Eli Montgomery
- 32. Wrapping up
- 33. Let’s close out on some key points Be mindful & intentional Build empathy Find your blindspots 33 Focus on clarity
- 34. 34 THANKS! You can find me at @james_mayes or james@mindtheproduct.com Credit to SlidesCarnival for slide design, used under CCA License
Notas do Editor
- You may have noticed I run a Product Management company, but I’m on the culture stage today. We have some amazing Product specialists, some of whom spoke last year and indeed yesterday. My focus is more on the business and commercial side though, and I’ve been responsible for growing out a fully remote team – so the Culture stage is my home for the next half hour! I started working partially remote in 1999 and haven’t been full-time in an office since then. I’ve built, grown and managed partially or fully remote teams for nigh on two decades. My current firm has doubled in staff in the past 18 months, and we’ve always been fully remote. In this session, we’ll look at what remote really means, challenge some perceptions, share some war stories and hopefully give you some useful ideas to take away.
- You’ll find me pretty active in a variety of places across the web. That tends to happen when you spend the first fifteen years of your career in tech recruitment – please, come find me, say hi. Claim to fame: I built Europe’s first Java development team, 1996, Hursley Delighted to be up here after two years in the audience! Love the diversity than Brian and his team assemble – and that’s a topic we’ll touch on again later. I’ve been working on Mind the Product since 2012, building it to be the world’s premier series of Product Management conferences, meetups and corporate training. We’re active in over 150 cities around the world, off a core team of just ten staff.
- CanadaLife research - home workers productivity at 7.7 out of 10 – versus open plan office workers at 6.5 FlexJobs survey 82% said more flexible working arrangements would increase their loyalty to an employer In the UK, remote worker numbers have risen by a quarter of a million people in the last decade, with over half the UK’s workforce expected to have some element of remote work by the end of 2020 Typical benefits cited include Increased loyalty Reduced office costs Environmental benefits Access to a wider talent pool Time for the mandatory show of hands Who here has some element of remote working in their current firm? Keep your hands up Of those who don’t, raise your hands if you expect to introduce some element in the next 12 months And the wildcard – who has remote working now, but expects to REMOVE the option in the next 12 months
- Before we get into anything serious, can we just take a moment and all agree that this…. Is not remote working. His battery died hours ago because he’s got the brightness turned way up to try and combat the screen glare We also all know there’s no wifi on that island because hell, it’s not a paradise island if your email can still find you, right?!
- I use the term remote because it seems to have gained the widest acceptance Easier to define what it’s NOT Remote working describes a situation where some or all of your team are not permanently co-located. I prefer the term distributed teams, as I think it more accurately reflects the way the organisation works and allows for greater degrees of variance
- Many of our management techniques haven’t really changed since the industrial revolution Many of the benefit of remote working still aren’t fully understood Many managers have had no real training or support in how to effectively manage remote or distributed teams As my colleague Martin said yesterday, the pace of change today is the SLOWEST you will ever experience As Dave McLaughlin said, "The pace of change means that relationship is more important than ever before”
- We all know that people are often the hardest part of our job. Whether it’s hiring them, managing them, or particularly measuring and developing them, people can be really hard work. There are all kinds of opportunities for bias to sneak in, and yet we all know that staff reviews should be unbiased and fair. As you can see here, remote workers can actually be easier to form unclouded judgements of, helping to solve one of the trickiest parts of staff management
- Before I start showing you some of the tips that I and others have used over recent years, I just want to offer up a few examples of success Everyone loves actual proof, right?!
- There are some names here you recognise, right? At least three of these firms have had staff of theirs speaking at this event previously, one of them recently acquired These all have either fully remote or significantly distributed teams My own firm, Mind the Product is clearly playing catch-up among names like these – but there’s a reason I wanted to include it I want to prove that this working style can be successful for other types of company too. I’ve been working either partially or fully remote for the best part of two decades. It’s had it’s challenges (ohhh, who remembers ISDN modems?!) I’d like for more people to have that opportunity.
- A word to diversity. We’re all trying to build more diverse companies, right? We’re doing it because we know it’s the right thing to do, but also because research proves it’s the profitable thing to do. McKinsey studies show diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform on profit growth and value creation Martin Eriksson stood on the product stage yesterday and expounded the value of co-located teams in order to ensure we get the best possible communication and collaboration – and I agree with him there. That said, I want those diversity benefits too. Let’s be brutal, I WANT that 35% extra – you too, right?! That means we need to find a path that offers the best opportunities for communication and collaboration while allowing us to recruit the most diverse workforce possible.
- This is just a quick view of where my folks are today. We’re a team of ten full time and five freelancers. The bulk are located in the UK, split across Cambridge, Kent, Sussex and London, meeting just once a week for Team Day. Outside that, we’ve people in Dallas, San Francisco, Hamburg, Singapore, and for this week only, Japan. I show you this purely by way of demonstrating I’m not talking about this in an aspirational sense. This is how we live and breathe.
- You wouldn’t tolerate a shoddy wifi service in the office – so make sure your people at home are equally well looked after. Designers in the office get big-ass screens? Make sure the remote people are equally well equipped. Consider things like a workstation assessment. People can end up working from their dining table etc. If they’re in a position which causes things like neck strain or back problems, the firm will also suffer the impact – so make sure the remote working environment is up to scratch. That palm tree the dude was sitting in earlier? Yeah, not so much. Make sure you don’t end up with your remote team members feeling like second class citizens. I’m going to come back to this a little later with some tactical advice and ideas Don’t just put up a bunch of corporate values and tell people you now have culture. It requires meaningful investment and deep consideration to create the kind of culture you think your firm needs – and if you don’t steward that, your culture will become whatever your employees think it should be. They might be great at the thing you hired them to do, but unless that thing was to implement the culture your firm needs to survive the years ahead, they probably shouldn’t be the ones in control! Voices to listen to, absolutely – but ownership and guidance are critically important.
- So we know from the hands in the room that remote working, distributed teams, teleworking, is here to stay. We’ve got the data and the surveys telling us it’s on the increase and more people want that flexibility – and we’ve now got sufficient case studies that management are ever more willing to listen to the requests. Let’s take a look at some actual issues with remote workers and see if we can’t find some ideas and perspectives that will help you improve your approach
- When you’ve got a remote worker, you have the team gather for a conference call, right? One person dialled in, the rest in the room together. They’re working through some tough issues, debate goes back n forth….
- Meanwhile, at remote worker HQ…. Disengagement, disillusionment, frustration. You don’t intend for anyone on your team to feel this way, but it can so easily happen By gathering a majority in one room, you make it easier to unintentionally exclude the remote voice. It’s harder to be heard.
- Take a look at this – does it feel more balanced? Inclusive? If you have each person join the call in a personal capacity, it levels the conversation. This one is from Appear.in by the way, a free/premium conference call provider out of Norway that we’ve used a fair amount.
- I say Slack as it’s the platform we use – but whether you use Slack or something else, you’ll have an internal messaging platform of some sort. You might have some written rules about what is and is not acceptable there, and you’ll certainly have some unspoken standards you expect. Consider the impact. Slack isn’t simply one of a myriad ways of communicating and keeping up to day, it might well be their primary link to the rest of the team. Conversations that happen in a quick meeting, then update everyone else with a quick message. Simple enough for the office-based people to gain context, but when remote?! Decision should be shared with 2-3 bullet points to provide key context. Why it was important, why the specified route was chosen, or which particular risks most influenced the decision. Most team would probably benefit from this kind of approach anyway, but those with remote workers even more so.
- We’ve all heard this, but what does it mean in this context?
- Figure out where your people are. Map it in whatever way suits you (this one is from everytimezone.com) and then be brutal about meeting schedules. Remember also that its not just about the 9-5. I’ve got people on my team that like to start working around 7am, others that are barely able to form sentences before 9.30am. Some are done by mid-afternoon, others are ridiculously productive late into the evening. We not only try to figure out when the timezones match, but also how each individual works best. We can’t always make them align perfectly, but the fact that we try goes a long way!
- Many of us may have been involved in offsites – and if they’ve been anything like mine, some are more successful than others! For remote workers especially though, they can be a game changer.
- Ability to focus on a team-wide project without day to day work distractions Networking and bonding, delivering deeper cross-team accountability. You care more for people you actually know! New environments can influence a change in thought patterns – particularly useful for things like strategy planning sessions Offsites don’t have to involve desert island retreats – and as per the photo earlier, probably shouldn’t! This team is one I work with occasionally… In this case, the offsite was only a few days, it was a mix of strategy, tactical and playtime, and they went all the way to that well known playboy destination… the Isle of Wight! Their CEO is lurking around here somewhere if you want to learn more about running a successful offsite, and not blowing a whole round of VC money in the process Braintree’s MTPCon retro and mini-offisite
- Many firms use the offsite to do personality tests and the type – why focus on individual exercises when you’ve finally got the opportunity for team challenges? Ensure the leader actually leads. It’s a business-first exercise, it should have solid outcomes expected, and the herd mentality can get things offtrack quickly. That said, it can be an excellent opportunity to delegate certain leadership tasks in a close environment and see how different people perform Most teams have a dysfunctional element somewhere. Be conscious of this if you decide to engage in some sort of competition, and mix the teams accordingly. Pay particular attention to individual fears or physical limitations which could limit involvement. To reiterate, the topic of this session is INCLUSIVITY! Build in social activity time, work time, and solo reflection time. Not everyone thrives in an environment where they’re with other people from the moment they awake, so allow for downtime Be conscious that for some people, the day job continues and this time away can add to stress. Find ways to mitigate and support Make sure to follow up
- No, I don’t mean it’s all too hard and we should just close up. Fairly sure there’s some investors in the room that’d be less than impressed if I suggested that!
- FutureLearn are an online learning platform based in London. They recently hired a remote person into one team for the first time, and realised they’d had no previous experience of managing a remote worker. Their Chief Product Officer, Matt, is a big believer in identifying blind spots When the remote hire started, they closed the office. Literally, everyone worked at home for a full week. The aim was not only to have the new hire feel at home more quickly, but just as importantly, to have the rest of the team understand what that role would feel like. How to communicate, what new challenges might exist, and so. A really intensive approach to developing team empathy and understanding. I know the results were positive, as Matt and I were chatting about it a few weeks back at a meetup in London – and one of his team is actually writing up the whole experience as a post for us, so you’ll be able to read the full story, warts and all, in the near future. I’d also note, this doesn’t have to happen just around a new hire. If you have a mixed team, you still want to develop that empathy – and maybe this exercise can work to your advantage. Jackhammers digging up the road outside your office for a week? Need to take on extra space and redecorate? An exercise like this could well have multiple benefits!
- Be aware the urge to monitor too closely. Big Brother is not the aim here….
- As per the earlier quote from Jason Fried, one of the benefits of remote working is that your primary focus for measuring and evaluating staff has to be their work, as there’s less of anything else to go on. This can be a real benefit to both parties – provided you’re consistent and clear about what will be measured, how and why. Its good practice anyway, but even more important in the case of remote staff. If you’re prepared to support remote work, then consider all the potential benefits to those people. Don’t drive a 9-5 routine just because it fits the team at the office. Figure out the golden hours (as per time-zones earlier) – and figure out some core team hours. Aside from that, make sure your remote team feel they CAN fully utilise the flexibility. Research shows they’re more likely to work later, or log in to fix problems on the fly. Recognise that, and then reciprocate. There are a couple on my team who start a little later because they like to hit the gym first. We don’t generally organise meetings before 10.30am, so they have chance to do that – and their willingness to fix issues as any hour is very much appreciated by both me, and our customers. Beware that this can then drift over into an unhealthy state – losing the work/life balance, not taking holidays, the cognitive drain of “always-on”. Everyone’s approach is different, so I’m not going to give rules on this, but I encourage you to be mindful of it. Finally, I see more and more firms offering unlimited vacation as a benefit – but I also see more and more research that people rarely use their full holiday allocation. You might not want your team taking endless weeks off, but likewise, we can all recognise that everyone needs to unplug sometimes – so monitor those aspects too, and maybe have some warning triggers set if people aren’t taking decent time away. 55% of remote workers take fewer than 15 days a year. As an employer, you have a duty of care.
- Another one straight from the Mind the Product playbook
- FutureLearn are an online learning platform based in London. They recently hired a remote person into one team for the first time, and realised they’d had no previous experience of managing a remote worker. Their Chief Product Officer, Matt, is a big believer in identifying blind spots When the remote hire started, they closed the office. Literally, everyone worked at home for a full week. The aim was not only to have the new hire feel at home more quickly, but just as importantly, to have the rest of the team understand what that role would feel like. How to communicate, what new challenges might exist, and so. A really intensive approach to developing team empathy and understanding. I know the results were positive, as Matt and I were chatting about it a few weeks back at a meetup in London – and one of his team is actually writing up the whole experience as a post for us, so you’ll be able to read the full story, warts and all, in the near future. I’d also note, this doesn’t have to happen just around a new hire. If you have a mixed team, you still want to develop that empathy – and maybe this exercise can work to your advantage. Jackhammers digging up the road outside your office for a week? Need to take on extra space and redecorate? An exercise like this could well have multiple benefits!
- So many firms talk about culture fit as being a priority when hiring. They also then talk about the importance of diversity. If everyone fits so perfectly, are you really working on diversity? Moderating a leadership event in New York a few weeks back and one of my panellists contributed this quote from her time working with Eli at Pivotal Labs. It’s not enough for a new hire just to fit – think about what they ADD
- Great remote working patterns and culture will not develop on their own. Your managers and staff are all largely underprepared, requiring consideration and support With new experiences come new surprises. Find those blindspots, then share them with the team, with other managers, with other companies. We all recognise the importance of communication – but you obviously lose much of the in-person comms when we talk about remote. You’ll both need to be clearer than ever before, on all aspects! Build empathy. Some staff can resent being office based, others get lonely being at home. Figure out where experiences can be shared, bonds can be built and empathy developed. It won’t just make people happier, it’ll make them more productive, it’ll increase staff retention, it’ll help with future recruitment. There are NO silver bullets. I’ve never yet seen a presentation that answers every question I’ve had on a topic, and I don’t believe this one does either. Every firm, every product, every individual is different. I hope with this, I’ve given you some avenues to explore. Go do so, find what works for you – and share with us when you nail it! We’re all still learning!