A quickly evolving guide
to making remote
teamwork productive

Contents
This is a living document that will evolve over time.
Comment on this document if you have any
questions or thoughts you would like to share.
People Principles
Our starting point to help teams approach remote
collaboration with the right mindset.
Process
How we make team cadence and its rituals productive for
all, so that we maintain momentum and alignment.
Culture
How to maintain a happy and healthy team even when
we’re not in the same building.
Tools
Our recommended tools for making remote design and
collaboration possible.
Contents
01.
02.
03.
04.
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Before we get started
Mentally Friendly
We are a design and innovation studio.
We help teams and decision-makers build
confidence and momentum together.
• 40+ team members
• Founded 15 years ago
• Studios in Sydney & Canberra
Get involved
We are sharing everything we know about remote
collaboration, follow along and share your thoughts.
Need help?
We are working with existing partners to help
them transition to remote work by running 2
week foundation sprints to deliver solutions to
key problems like:
• How do we manage getting feedback from
large teams?
• How do we balance communication with
individual productive time?
• How can managers effectively deliver
feedback across teams?
johnny@mentallyfriendly.com
(02) 9360 8667
@mentallyfriendly
@mf_says
linkedin.com/company/mentally-friendly/
3

4
Introduction
How do we move
from working from
home
To collaborating &
designing from
home?

5
Introduction
When we work from home it’s often to get peace and
quiet. To be alone. While at home, we do the things
being alone is best suited for and put off
problem-solving that’s better-done face to face.
To keep momentum over the upcoming weeks
and months we can’t put off the challenging tasks.
We need to tackle them head on.

6
Introduction
It’s more
than tools.
It’s about
people.
People
Practice
Collaboration
Tooling
Policy
Access

7
Introduction
It’s easy to
Design
Send an email
Write code
Fill in a spreadsheet
Video conference
It’s hard to
Solve problems together
Plan together
Maintain momentum
Manage uncertainty
Build shared understanding
Communicate effectively
Maintain trust

8
Introduction
We are here to help organisations and teams go
beyond making remote work possible to making
it productive.

9
People
Principles
Remote working is not a 1-1 relationship to
office based environments. These are our
principles to help everyone arrive to remote
collaboration in the right mindset.

10
Principles.
Don’t leave
anyone behind
As we start working from home, everyone will encounter new
problems. Technology and personal issues can make it difficult for
everyone to be involved in all collaborative sessions. Being left
behind is de-motivating and means you are less equipped to input
when you’re back onboard.
Do
Communicate key decisions from team sessions by publishing notes
or short form videos in your team chat.
Don’t
Wait for everyone to arrive at meetings to start them.
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11
Principles.
Be direct with
positive intent
Short and sharp communication supports productive and rapid
working, but becomes challenging when we’re not in the same
room. Losing non-verbal cues can lead to us not knowing when to
start talking, stop talking, or effectively communicate with the right
intent.
Do
Normalise direct questions, comments and feedback, but speak and
listen with positive intent.
Don’t
Move on until it’s been understood by everyone involved.
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12
Principles.
A consistent process
is critical
Coordinating teams of people remotely is hard. Our ability to access
and be involved in conversations increases, and so too does the
demand for our time - but this can impact our focus and the value
we’re providing.
Do
Create a predictable cadence that sets expectations and allows
people to understand when they need to be engaged and what is
required of them.
Don’t
Have ad-hoc meetings to bring individuals who couldn’t attend, up
to speed and impact your progress
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13
Principles.
Work open
Micro interactions throughout a working week add up to a lot of
knowledge transfer. These can easily be lost while working in
consistent isolation, leading to knowledge gaps amongst teams and
misaligned work expectations.
Do
Publish iterations with clear objectives, outcomes and naming
conventions and share progress on your work regularly.
Don’t
Evolve work alone and end with a big reveal
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14
Principles.
Cater for different
learning styles.
We all contribute and absorb information differently - be it through
seeing, hearing, speaking or doing. We have a limited ability to
support various learning and working styles in remote working
practices compared to the possibilities when working in a room
together.
Do
Make work engaging and consumable for all, consider including the
use of emojis, colours, live co-designs and sketches, as well as
shared documentation and discussions.
Don’t
Fall into the trap of only emailing, messaging or having
audio calls.
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15
Principles.
Work
asynchronously
When you’re used to working in the same location as a team it is
easy to move as one. Encounter a problem you can tap someone on
the shoulder and knock it over there and then because you’re
working in sync. In remote we need to be more async in our
approach:
Do
When sharing progress, ask questions without expecting an
immediate response.
Record sessions or explanations for team members to address at
their own pace.
Set clear expectations of what your day is organised or designed to
achieve, and where you’ll need to collaborate.
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16
Principles.
Strive for everyone
to have agency
Avoid the death spiral of to-do lists and ticket assignments by
consistently communicating the overall goal or desired outcome for
the work.
Allowing for the time and space for people to align on outcomes will
help the teams make decisions autonomously and build trust
between different groups of teams (stakeholders vs production).
Do
Build teams around a mission based project that has a clear
start and end.
Leaders should make space to allow everyone to ask
questions. It’s not enough to say or send a piece of
strategy, you need to make sure it has been understood too.
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17
Process
How to best set and run key rituals and
meetings that take place for your team
during a sprint.

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Process
Team
cadence
Challenge
Without agreeing structure and times around when
work and meetings happen coordination of groups
becomes a huge time suck.
Late arrivals to video conferences disrupt meetings
significantly.
Making it productive
Agreeing and communicating your team cadence
upfront allows everyone to plan their time
effectively.
How often team rituals occur.

19
Process
Flow
time
Making it possible
Schedule hours in team calendar.
Challenge
The ease of communication that digital tools
provide is a powerful enabler but can lead to the
generation of noise. Team members can find
themselves with no time to make or do.
Making it productive
Leaders and teams need to make it normal to shut
off from comms to focus on individual working.
Agreed hours in which teams or individuals
will be working individually without
interruption.

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Process
Day
planning
Making it possible
Core team meet daily via Google Hangouts or
Slack.
Human challenge
Finding the right person at the right time becomes
difficult when we’re not face-to-face.
Without considered day planning, communication
channels can become swamped with ad-hoc
questions, which can derail team productivity.
Making it productive
Communicate how you will spend your time and
when you are available to help others.
Be clear about what you need from teammates to
progress your work.
Take turns, everyone should speak.
How a team plans their day to maximize
productivity

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Process
Sprint
planning
Making it possible
Core team meet via Google Hangouts and use
Trello to plan goals and tasks.
Challenge
In remote working a natural behaviour is to
manufacture a sense of progress by focusing on
task completion. This can lead to the generation of
lists, tickets and tasks that aren’t necessarily
delivering value.
Making it productive
Have a dedicated facilitator and begin my focusing
on the highest order goals and outcomes for the
sprint before spending time on tasks.
Consider moving to one week sprints to increase
feedback looks and create stronger alignment.
How a team plans a 2 week period of time.

22
Process
Check-ins
Making it possible
Core team meet via Google Hangouts and use
Trello to plan goals and tasks.
Challenge
When the core team comes together with a wider
group it can be hard for people to know how to
best contribute. This can result in over contribution
and so much feedback it becomes impossible to
prioritise.
Making it productive
Have a dedicated facilitator who sets the goal of
the check-in and the type of feedback that is
needed and what is not needed.
Have a clear agenda with clear signposting for
when feedback will be sought. Take turns so
everyone has a chance to provide their feedback.
Post check-in create a clear point for people to
share further feedback.
Teams updating advisors on the progress
on a project.

23
Making it possible
Google Hangouts, Google Slides and MF Check-in
Card.
Challenge
As a wrap-up of all work completed, sprint demos
can create a positive energy around progress
made that makes people excited to provide
feedback and ask questions but this can result in
half a demo!
Making it productive
Have a dedicated facilitator who makes it clear
this is a presentation of progress and not an open
conversation is important.
During presentation portions have everyone mute
microphones.
Collate questions/feedback in a centralised chat.
A dedicated facilitator should prioritise feedback
to be addressed post-presentation.
Process
Sprint
demos
Teams updating advisors on the
progress on a project.

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Process
Retros
Making it possible
Google Hangouts and Trello.
Challenge
Shifting to a new way of working will place new
pressures on your teams.
Making it productive
Have a dedicated section in your retro to discuss
the change in working.
Have a dedicated facilitator with high emotional
intelligence who is comfortable managing hard or
emotional conversations.
Critical that everyone feels heard and that their is
plan to resolve and issues they are having.
How teams feedback on what worked
in a sprint and what needs to be
improved for the next one.

25
Process
Workshops
Making it possible
Google Hangouts, Trello, Miro, Figma
Challenge
Coordinating large groups through complex
exercises is one of the hardest collaboration points
to tackle remotely.
Making it productive
Important to do specific prep upfront so there is a
clear agenda and method for the workshop.
Consider non-verbal exercises and breaking up the
workshop from together time to alone time.
Any time that a team comes together
to solve a problem or align on
something.

26
Process
User
testing
Making it possible
Google Hangouts, Zoom, Trello, Google Docs &
Spreadsheets.
Challenge
The limitations and quality of observing a
participant’s physical reactions and behaviours
over a video call.
Making it productive
Build in time to brief the remote participant to
effectively setup the remote test environment
before the session.
Share Google Docs outlining the test format,
learning objectives, scripts and an anonymised
participant list to prepare the team observing.
Collaborate on observations remotely by capturing
evidence in Trello or a Google Spreadsheet
(Learnings, Assumptions & Decisions register).

27
Process
Design
Making it possible
Google Hangouts, Figma
Challenge
Without the ability to walk someone through a
design in person, it can be difficult to understand
where it’s up to, the thinking that’s gone into it, or
what’s incomplete.
Making it productive
Use the right combination of smart file naming,
comments and visual cues to help other team
members know where work is up to.
Consider posting short form screen recordings to
the team to explain more detailed thinking.
Any part of the process that
generates a tangible output.

28
Process
Code
Making it possible
Github, VS Code Live Share, JIRA, Figma
Challenge
When you think of developers you might think of
remote/offshore teams; we’ve been doing this for
years!
The challenge isn’t the tools we use, it’s
remembering to collaborate as humans. Codified
language, strictly defined communication
templates, and inflexible processes lead to
misunderstanding & frustration.
Making it productive
Consider your audience. Will they understand the
technical terms you use? Is there a metaphor or
tangible example you could give to explain the
concept?
Don’t just ask for ‘acceptance criteria’, consider
the wider context of the feature you’re building
and how it impacts users.
Any part of the process that
generates a tangible output.

29
Process
Decks
Making it possible
Google Docs, Slides
Challenge
Without a physical space to sketch ideas, it can be
difficult to align on the strategic narrative.
Making it productive
Begin by agreeing on an outline for the deck in
another tool, such as Miro or Trello beforehand.
This makes it easy for everyone to agree on what
needs to be in the deck, and divide up tasks.
Presentations that communicate
research, strategy, thinking and
decisions.

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Culture
How to maintain a happy and healthy
team when we are in different locations.

31
Culture.
Wellbeing
Making it possible
Leadership proactively reaching out through 1:1
check-ins with the team, and conducting emotive
temperature checks.
Challenge
Working remotely can be lonely, or difficult
depending on your home environment. Being
isolated or surrounded by housemates and family
while needing to work can ultimately affect how an
individual feels about their own wellbeing,
productivity and connection to their wider team.
Making it productive
Invite the team to video 1-1’s and make sure the
cameras stay on
Use regular temperature checks to gauge how
individuals are feeling and provide some extra care
for those who need it.

32
Culture.
Work/Life
balance
Making it possible
Reminders for teams to pack up, shut down and
live.
Challenge
When working from home, the lines between the
start and end of your work day are blurred. It can
lead to working longer hours and not feeling like
you can “switch-off”.
Making it productive
Rather than a static and set number of hours, work
the value of an 8-hour work day. Focus on
outcomes over input.
Routine is important. Continue to use your
commute time as a way to transition in and out of
your working day. Listen to podcasts or music,
read, or use the time to do those life-things.
Conduct a brief end of day video chat with your
team to close out the day and “switch off”.

33
Culture.
Recognition
Making it possible
Public praise channel on slack
Challenge
Not being in the same space and communicating
online can mean we are less likely to celebrate the
wins of our team and express gratitude for those
around us.
Making it productive
Have a slack channel for your leaders and teams to
publicly recognise those who deserve it.
Gratitude exercises where your team can share
what they are grateful for - personal, professional
or otherwise.

34
Culture.
Motivation
Making it possible
Buddy systems, advisors, routine and walks
Challenge
Working alone from home means you will miss the
energy and motivation that comes from working
with your team in the same space.
Making it productive
A work routine helps establish a work mindset. Get
up, get dressed and don’t work from bed.
Setting up a buddy system and allocated advisors
allows team members to have people to check in
with, discuss progress and get help if needed
without distracting the broader team or company.
When lacking in motivation, a short walk around
the block does wonders to clear your head and
re-energise yourself.

35
Culture.
Fun &
banter
Making it possible
Slack channels, video and audio calls
Challenge
Missing out on the collective energy of a team and
the daily conversations during face to face
interactions can minimise team morale and social
connectedness.
Making it productive
Create a dedicated digital space for the team to
connect on specific topics outside of work (slack
channels)
Aim for video calls over audio-only calls or emails
to create make conversations and meetings more
personal and social.

36
Tools
Tools we use for real-time collaboration
when we’re apart.

37
Tools.
These are the tools that work for us at Mentally
Friendly to make remote collaboration productive,
build our culture and connection, and bring to life
our principles.
The tools that work for you and your organisation
may vary based on your security requirements,
software licenses and needs.

Slack Hangouts Google Drive/Docs Notion
For day-to-day agency and
project communication
For when we need to be
face-to-face
For our project documentation
and file storage
For wikis
Why we use it
Maintaining openness and coherence
when remote can be challenging.
Slack helps us keep on the same page
by providing shared communication
channels for each project and team.
Why we use it
Hangouts allows us to remotely run our
face-to-face rituals (such as standups
and check-ins).
Why we use it
Provides a centralised location for our
files
Collaborative document creation
Why we use it
Allows us to create shared spaces to
coordinate tasks.
🔗 Slack.com 🔗 google.com/hangouts 🔗 google.com/drive 🔗 notion.so
Tools - Connect and collaborate
38
Staying connected Collaborative documentation

Tools - Design and code
39
Figma Google Slides Miro Github
For when we need fast,
collaborative design and
prototyping
For communication design For workshops & collaborative
problem solving
For collaborative development
Why we use it
Fast.
Dead easy to share & collaborate.
Web-based, so everyone can easily access.
Why we use it
Accessible and easy to use for the whole
team.
Why we use it
Miro allows us to run collaborative
workshops online, similarly to how we do
in-person.
Why we use it
Industry standard.
🔗 figma.com 🔗 google.com/slides 🔗 miro.com 🔗 github.com
Design Code

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End.
From possible to
productive.
We are now fully remote
We’ll continue to share our learnings as we
go. As always, if you need advice, please
reach out and we will share whatever we
have — let’s figure this out together.
johnny@mentallyfriendly.com
0402 762 756

Backlog
What we are currently working on.
Please comment for any requests.
Content backlog
41
Backlog In progress Completed
Remote usability testing overview
Getting feedback from big groups, Giving feedback to individuals,
and Organising a productive day
- The 3 keys ingredients for productive teams
Conversation guide
for large team daily
standups
Build daily structure that allows agility as well as focus
Step by step guides