How do you manage the well-being of your remote developers?

Tomasz Korzeniowski
38 replies
Any tips or strategies you find effective? Let's start a discussion in the comments below! πŸ’¬

Replies

Freek Teunen
We work remotely and meet each other once in the office every week. Plus we see each other every day during standup.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@mindfreek Hi Freek, thanks for the reply! We are also remote-first. Personally, I am a big fan of Zoom 1:1 meetings. I even built a small well-being monitoring assistant for them. It monitors the happiness of my devs and gives more context for the upcoming 1:1. It works pretty well in our company. Maybe it will also help you? Today I released on product hunt :) https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Christopher Nguyen
Humans are social creatures so we need to have as many bonding activities as possible. I have weekly meetings with my team and most of the time they are just the time to chat πŸ’© And if you are lucky to live close together, monthly meetups are recommended Those activities will bring the team together and team members are more willing to share their thoughts/concerns to you
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@semigrownkid true, anything f2f works pretty well. We also try to have regular company retreats. Unfortunately, not everyone can attend them... So the thing is: how to establish this bond with remote-only members... Personally, I try to use 1:1s alongside regular well-being surveys but maybe there are better ideas?
Christopher Nguyen
@korzonek Well, for staff to start sharing, they need to be comfortable enough. And an effective modern way to ice break is sharing memes in general group chat πŸ˜‚ One of my team members did it first and now everyone is using memes to communicate (most of the time). I can see that we are getting closer and more engaging. Thus, 1:1 conversations are easier
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@semigrownkid totally! I think it's generally underestimated how much memes make a company culture :)
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@semigrownkid speaking of 1:1s - today I released on product hunt a small tool that helps me run more meaningful 1:1s with my devs. It monitors the well-being of my team so I have more context for upcoming 1:1. Maybe it will also help you? link: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
MichaΕ‚ Stybowski
What works best for me is the possibility of working with motivated individuals who are driven to excel each day. People become who they work with.
Shaur ul Asar
I manage my remote employees by providing resources and support for mental health, such as access to counseling or mental health resources, to help them manage stress and maintain their well-being.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@shaur_ul_asar personally I try to support devs' mental health with the help of a small tool I built myself. It monitors the well-being of my team so I have more context for upcoming 1:1. Today I released it on Product Hunt, maybe it will also help you? link: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@shaur_ul_asar interesting... how do you know if someone needs mental health? Do you have any process for identifying well-being issues? or red flags?I think that identification is the hardest part here, isn't it? (at least from the engineering manager's perspective)
Thomas Boulesteix
We are constantly in touch, checking in with one another. It sounds a little redundant but communication is really the key!
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@thomas_boulesteix totally agree! Just wondering: how to maintain this communication flow in the remote first company so it will not be... awkward... I've heard about companies that try to have ongoing Zoom calls/Slack huddles for the whole team. As an online "watercooler", I guess. TBH - not sure if that's a good idea..
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@thomas_boulesteix speaking of communication - today I released on product hunt a small tool that helps me run more meaningful check-ins with my devs. It monitors the well-being of my team so I have more context for upcoming 1:1. Maybe it will also help you? link: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
AL
Definitely regular 1:1s + regular happiness surveys, works really well
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@agata_l that's exactly what I do!
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@agata_l I am pretty happy with my process, but it's good to know what the alternatives are ;)
Agustin Spada
Weekly calls and open to conversations every time they needed.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@agustin_spada definitely! Do you use any specific techniques during those calls to understand the happiness level of your direct report? For me asking just `How are you...?` is a little bit awkward/generic.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@agustin_spada Personally, I am a big fan of 1:1 meetings. I even built a small tool that helps me run more meaningful check-ins with my devs. It monitors the well-being of my team so I have more context for upcoming 1:1. Today I released it on Product Hunt. Maybe it will also help you ;) ? here is a link: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Agustin Spada
@korzonek Awesome! No doubt I'll check it!
Oswald Soto
Best way is Work-Life Balance, depending on the company's culture, you can implement a fun way to interact or a reward system for your remote developers
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@oswaldsoto_ thanks! Do you have any examples of systems like that?
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@oswaldsoto_ when it comes to the system, I actually implement sth in my company and it works pretty well. Basically, I built a small tool that helps me run more meaningful check-ins with my devs. It monitors the well-being of my team so I have more context for the upcoming 1:1. Today I released it on Product Hunt. Maybe it will also help you ;)? https://www.producthunt.com/post...
David Cagigas
Having a channel always open to discuss any difficulties is necessary. Considering their need when they are working remotely is really important. Communication is the only way to improve this.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@edworking right! do you have any examples of those channels that work for you?
David Cagigas
@korzonek We at Edworking, always encourage conversations openly. All of us are available for everyone on a daily basis. We work in a hybrid setting. So it's best to see everyone few times a week.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@edworking we are remote-first, so we use mostly online channels. For me, Zoom 1:1s are the best. I even built a small well-being monitoring assistant for those meetings. It monitors the happiness of my devs and gives more context for the upcoming 1:1. Maybe it will also help you? Today I released on product hunt :) link: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@edworking perfect, makes sense!
James Sapero
Great question πŸ‘ For me, it always begins with honest and open conversations during 1:1 meetings.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@sapero_45 yep, for me 1:1s are also an essential tool for monitoring my team's well-being. Do you have any specific questions you like to ask? Or any processes you use during 1:1s to monitor their happiness?
Sara Nelissen
@sapero_45 Agree with that! 1:1s are so incredibly valuable. I found it extremely helpful to always leave a few min for small talk before diving into task reviews and to-dos. It felt challenging at first, because who has time for small talk... But once we started that, I felt I got a much better understanding of what's going on with everybody.
Tomasz Korzeniowski
@sapero_45 @sara_nelissen @elifares speaking of 1:1s - today I released on product hunt a small tool that helps me run more meaningful 1:1s with my devs. It monitors the well-being of my team so I have more context for upcoming 1:1. Maybe it will also help you? link: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Elias Fares
@sapero_45 I completely agree πŸ’―
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