Trying to master a remote office? Read our top tips for building culture in a distributed team.
They say that from little things, big things grow… but here at Raisley, we saw real growth - real fast!
Our team has bloomed. And boomed.
We went from having a crew of 9, to expanding into a team of 30+ in under a year.
It’s been a blast, but as a remotely-first family of go-getters, we’ve learned the ropes the hard way.
Our team is scattered across every corner of the globe (18+ cities, 8 countries and 8 time zones strong), so keeping connected can get a little tricky. From Sydney to São Paulo, we’re still learning how to iron out timezone crossovers🤷
With that said, we’re still proud to provide our team with a remote work culture full of conscience, connection and comfort. In everything we do, we uphold our company values:
💜 Be true and humble
⚡️ Move swiftly towards excellence
📣 Amplify others
It’s who we are and how we work. And it’s working pretty well for us! Every day, our team have smiles on their dials.
So we thought we’d share our top 6 tips on keeping teams connected - sharing what we’ve learned through working remotely.
Tip #1: Get your Async comms in a row
As a remote company, there’s nothing more important than having your team on the same page.
To keep our comrades in the loop, we use a range of savvy software to document everything that goes on in everyone’s home office.
Some of our favourite async comms tools include:
Slack
Whether we’re sending out text announcements, getting a feel for a suggestion or brainstorming mid-work bangers, we love using Slack as our go-to for all things communication.
It helps us stay in the loop, organise our brains and communicate quickly (without having to do our hair).
Notion
Our one-stop-shop for planning our next moves. We love using Notion to quite literally stay on the same page, making sure the new information can be reviewed and located easily for future use by every team member!
Loom
Here's where the real fun starts with remote work!
We use Loom to add a bit of buzz into our days – it’s our WFH version of standing around the water cooler! If we want to share something quick and exciting, our team are fans of sending a Loom video that we can watch in our own time.
Talk about connection!
Tip 2: Keep giving #Kudos
No matter how fun a remote work culture is, sometimes the daily grind can grind you down.
To pump up our team spirit, we regularly encourage teammates with a simple kudos!
We turn to Slack to shout-out the team members doing #amazely 🥁 work, sharing their wins with the team.
Celebrating others is important to us – it reminds us that many hands make light work, and gives us the motivation to keep on going!
Tip 3: Max-relax at bi-annual retreats
Every 6 (ish) months, we gather as a team for a week of pausing, planning and party time!
Pre-pandemic, we’d fly our team somewhere fun – but the last three retreats have relied on a webcam. We may have swapped cosmos for couches, but the team still feels refreshed after a few days off.
During our ‘retreats’, we take the time to review our company goals and see how we’re tracking… And then the fun begins. We make space to volunteer for a cause we are passionate about, and roll up our sleeves with fun workshops like cocktail making classes or yoga.
We also love a round or two or our favourite game Gartic Phone.
If you know, you know 😉
Tip 4: We love our happiest hours
Who doesn’t love a 3pm margarita?
We sure do, but that’s not the kind of happy hour we are talking about.
The hours that suit our team to work are their happiest hours. We’re a proudly remote company, and that means we work with every team member to figure out your happiest schedule.
Want to clock in at 7am so you can knock off and enjoy real-time family time? We love that for you. Thrive in the evenings and want to make the most of the sunshine? Go for it.
While we need a couple hours of cross-over to fit in with our expanding list of time zones, we know that the happiest work is done during hours that suit the individual.
Whatever that looks like for you, we’re giving you a Kudos for it!
Hear more from our team, what it’s like to work at Raisely.
Tip 5: Alternating all-ins
We love our solo happiest hours, but when push comes to shove, we still need to connect as a crew.
As free as we feel with flexible hours in our remote work culture, sometimes we need synchronous communication.
Weekly company-wide calls used to be our go-to, but this doesn’t work now that we’re operating from 8 different timezones.
So, starting next month we are trying something new!
Drumroll please…
We are doing a monthly call that is set to alternate between our different timezones!
This means that:
🌟 Everyone will get to attend a real-time meeting at some point
🌟 We get to discuss important things as a team
🌟 We’ll enjoy screen-time and hang-time with the team!
Of course, just like all of our calls, we’ll record them and have a second-viewing party for those who couldn’t make it the first time around.
That’s what we like to call a win-win!
Tip 6: Above all, keep up the hangs
No matter what tips or tricks we use to keep our remote culture alive and well, nothing soothes the spirit like keeping up the connection.
It’s exciting to work together to build something great (our beloved fundraising platform), kick goals and make customers happy. But what really keeps us going is making the space to connect without work getting in the way.
When you get to know your teammates on a real-life level, the nitty-gritty flows a little easier.
We love to hang with:
🌟 Fortnightly donuts on Slack
🌟 Regular socials where we play games, share a drink and chat about whatever!
🌟 Making the time for welcome calls when a new teammate starts, where we all get to introduce ourselves, have some fun and answer some super cringey ice-breaker questions. Woo!
We love what we do here at Raisley. If you do too, then why not join the ranks? Check out the roles we’re hiring for here.
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Co-founder and senior writer at Pencil + Crown. Experienced copywriter and workplace wordsmith, EmJ brings her love affair with language to every task.