Is there anything that can be done to maintain buy-in from remote workers?

Sav Cooper
4 replies
First post! Excited to join the community :) I'm working with a team of 4 and trying to maintain engagement is extremely hard in the remote world. Are there tips or tricks for how you have stayed involved in projects? We've tried happy hours, team brainstorms, and group activities (FaceTiming while we cook).

Replies

Collin Thompson
I'm genuinely curious to know if you've asked your team how they like to work and when, and what they like to do or are good/passionate about— Why are they working at your company? Engagement, is opt in, so if the people/team likes the project, mission etc...keeping them engaged in their own way shouldn't be super difficult remote or otherwise. I personally found that not having authentic one-on-ones with the team members leads to a sense of isolation and a poor sense of belonging. After the one-on ones, I found encouraging discussions between teams is very helpful. I'm still working on IRL ways to help build lasting bonds. I havent had much success with this as my team is also international.
Hello @sav_cooper welcome to ProductHunt! I mean I would firstly accept that it's going to be different from face to face. You've tried most of the things I have too, but I'm curious if you've thought about two things: 1) How you are messaging each other - are you using some kind of chat app like slack/whatsapp etc. I find these help to maintain coms as wel 2) More importantly how are you celebrating success, how are you showing appreciation within your team? You've probably focused on the "stick" in terms of milestones and deadlines, but what about the carrot? Hope it helps!
Sav Cooper
@maxwellcdavis Thanks for the the well wishes!! We primarily chat on slack but also incorporate morning stand-ups to make sure everyone is on the same page for action. I think that your point on celebrating individual successes is extremely important. We'll have work happy hours to mark milestones and try to deal in radical transparency along with words of affirmation but I really think we can do a better job there.
Jonathan Yan
Hey @sav_cooper ! I work for a company named oVice and we allow our users access to customizable virtual spaces (e.g., online offices, study and event spaces, etc.) to tackle remote work hurdles like isolation and troubles in collaboration. You have the ability to interact in real time by chatting with other users through a mic, engaging in video calls, embedding online games to your space and play with each other, and a lot more. I think this could be an awesome option for you and your team and you can always check out our Tour Space and play around with it to see how we're trying to make Remote Work feel like you're back in the office! tour-en.ovice.in