Your Go-To Resource for Founders and Marketers Leading Remote-First Teams

We’ve put together a list of remote management best practices, as told by more than 30 remote companies, to help managers across the globe confidently lead their dispersed teams in a shared culture and connection.

When it comes to team-wide remote communication, there are a ton of nuances that can inform a more productive (and enjoyable) working relationship. Let’s take a look at the nuances involved with remote manager communication, remote team member communication, and why certain conversations can be a bit more tricky while on a remote or hybrid team.

As you work to improve company wide-communication and drive motivation and morale, take a look at this guide to evaluate the top remote communication tools.

For a play-by-play of how to handle any remote communication that comes your way, consider this robust guide of remote team communication strategies to be your virtual mentor.

Here is everything you need to know to successfully plan a remote team retreat either in-person or virtually, from the smallest details to the largest considerations. Whether you’re the manager of a complex organization with hundreds of staff, or a team leader with 10 team members, this ultimate DIY guide is for you.

Spooky season is almost nearing a close, but not without one last scare: burnout. If you’re late to the party, let us catch you up and share our latest remote work resource.

Despite only becoming a household name in the past decade, occupational burnout has been around for nearly 50 years. Let’s take a look at its symptoms, stages, and common misconceptions surrounding its onset.

The truth is, remote work does work. But, it might not work for everybody. Burnout is real, and it can strike when you least expect it. For remote work to fit your lifestyle, and more importantly, feed a positive headspace, it’s time to navigate and normalize burnout.

Of course, seeking shelter warm at home while the world outside is cold and wet sounds like an obvious benefit of remote work. But aside from comfort and flexibility, there are a ton of remote work benefits not everyone in the workforce saw coming pre-pandemic.

Mental health is something that absolutely, 100 percent should not be a taboo, but somehow… it is. We’ve spent the past several weeks diving into research regarding burnout, the stigma surrounding mental health, and the anxiety to discuss personal matters in the workplace. It appears that 9 times out of 10, remote workers feel ashamed, embarrassed, or too nervous to admit to a team member or manager that they’re feeling burnt out.

We’ve done a lot of talking lately about remote work policies and how many companies have embraced the power of a remote workforce. Something we haven’t jumped into yet? Remote burnout.

As fall kicks into high-gear across the country, another yearly phenomena has kick-started across the globe: back to school. But instead of the traditional academic school year, many parents are faced with new duties for virtual learning.

Initially, Google made waves when it extended its remote work policy until Summer 2021. However, another tech giant has weighed in on corporate-turned-virtual: Apple.

While many physical office locations have a climate disaster preparedness plan, the topic of evacuation or relocation doesn’t always pop up in a remote worker’s handbook. Should remote companies have a disaster plan?

This week is all about improving team morale through company culture. While it can be difficult to replicate on-site company culture remotely, it’s certainly not impossible.

With the start of the new month, it feels like employee motivation has skyrocketed across the board. That is, until one user posed a very interesting question.

Several members of the Remote Work Tribe have chosen to relocate from major cities, but how will that tackle the issue of salary vs. location?

If you were given the chance, where would you work remotely?

Hey there, Remote Work Tribe! We hope your August goals are moving along as our remote workforce inches closer to this month’s halfway mark.

Welcome back, Remote Work Tribe! As August continues to ramp up and fly by, the majority of workers are experiencing yet another month without in-person networking events or company outings, leaving them to network remotely.

Happy August, Remote Work Tribe! With how fast July seemed to fly by, there sure was plenty of time for big things to happen.  Case in point: Google’s latest announcement. As one of the leaders in remote work adaption, Google announced that they would extend their work from home policy until Summer 2021. The Twitterverse was quick to weigh in on the big news.  Considering Google was one of the first large companies to recommend the transition into remote work, it’s not surprising they’re now the first major tech company to extend such arrangements in response to the pandemic. This… Read more: Roundup No. 6: Google Extends Remote Work Policy

With just a few more days left in July, it’s been nothing short of interesting to see what our remote work community has been up to lately.

We’re officially mid-way through July, Remote Work Tribe! Another day, another energy bill—right?  As the month continues, several founders, including YAC CEO Justin Mitchell, noticed the transition from partial-remote-worker to fully-remote-worker can seriously impact your energy bill. So, he posed a question to fellow team leaders on Twitter. Zack Pedersen, Operations Director & Partner of Snaju Development, immediately responded with his solution to the bill debacle. Seems like a pretty neat way of off-setting your remote workers’ living costs to us!  While Jusin and Zack were discussing the financial side of things, we checked in with other members of our… Read more: Roundup No. 4: Work From Home Expenses

The past few days have generated quite a buzz within the remote work community. In fact, some users have gone as far as declaring 2020 “The Remote Work Decade.”

When Ruben Gamez first founded Bidsketch more than 10 years ago, he never would’ve anticipated his passion project would scale into two flourishing SaaS businesses.

In 2012, Boondockers Welcome co-founder and CTO Anna Maste joined forces with her mother, Marianne Edwards, to launch the go-to subscription service for RVers. For the cost of just one night in a campground, a Boondockers Welcome annual subscription connects RVers with hosts who allow free overnight parking on their private property. But amidst a global health and economic crisis, it raises some questions: How has business shifted and how will Anna’s team weather the storm?  Using Their Platform to Give Back While Anna reveals the RV industry took a substantial hit early on in response to travel restrictions, the… Read more: Truckin’ Through the Pandemic with the Boondockers Welcome Team

There’s a plethora of mediums you can search for content, from infographics and articles to videos and podcasts. Craig Hewitt, founder and CEO of Castos podcast hosting and analytics service, is quite familiar with the latter.  “We’re a software business that helps people in a remote fashion to communicate through podcasting. For a long time, and even to a decent extent now, I didn’t think about coronavirus,” explains Craig. “We’re one of the few people that have been positively affected by this.”  Staying Together, Even When Apart Craig and his team have been a fully remote work tribe since business… Read more: Castos Team Practicing Empathy Without Borders

Throughout each and every industry, businesses are struggling to stay afloat amidst the chaos that is COVID-19. But among giants like Amazon and Costco, who are projected to profit from the global pandemic, various small businesses are also looking to defeat the odds.  Just ask Christopher Gimmer, co-founder and CEO of Snappa graphic design software.  “The funny story with Snappa is that we started out completely remote. So, up until a year ago, we were basically a four person team, and we were always 100% remote,” Christoper explains. “When the pandemic hit, it really didn’t affect us that much just… Read more: Defeating the Odds with the Snappa Remote Team

“Just stay home.”  Weeks before the U.S. government issued a stay-at-home order, CreatorUp! founder and CEO Mike Tringe sent a company-wide email to each of his employees across the globe allowing them to work from home. Not because the government directed it, but rather because he knew his employees were nervous about what was to come — and he wanted them to ensure their own health and safety first. Now, a couple of months since his partially-distributed company transitioned into a fully-remote work tribe, Mike says the experience has been “double the stress and triple the fun.”  The Struggle to… Read more: CreatorUp! Remote Team Profile

Whether you have been working remotely for years or only a couple of months due to unprecedented social distancing measures, one of the biggest things that remote founders and managers miss about in-office culture is the water cooler talk. These moments are the short hallway conversations that happen by the coffee machine, in the break room, or as you are waiting for a conference room to open. These small interactions and conversation can contribute to building a strong team culture, better collaboration, and even lead to innovative, new ideas. However, just because your team is remote doesn’t mean you have… Read more: How to Create Water Cooler Talk in a Remote Team

Here are six books that offer thought-provoking and practical advice for leaders, whether they are just laying down the foundations for a newly distributed team or have been running one for years. ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson are the co-founders of Basecamp and pioneers in distributed team-building. In 2010, they published ReWork, which describes the principles they relied on to run Basecamp (formerly 37signals). “Workaholics don’t actually accomplish more than nonworkaholics. They may claim to be perfectionists, but that just means they’re wasting time fixating on inconsequential details instead of moving on… Read more: 6 Books All Remote Team Leaders Should Read