How to set your remote employee up for success

Now that you have a remote employee, there are certain practices you can adopt to set them up for success. Here are 5 things to do in their first week. And what to do regularly after! 

What to do in their first week 

1. Make sure they have the right access, tools, and set-up 

• Provide access to files, information, tasks, deadlines, updates, news and more. 
• Make sure they’re equipped with tools like Slack, Asana, and Trello 
• Ensure they are properly set up for working remotely. For example, confirm that there is a quiet, dedicated space free from distractions and noise. Have a back-up plan for IT interruptions, breakdown, maintenance, and support.

2. Introduce them to the team and set up a meeting rhythm

Introduce your new hire to your team slack channel or via email, as well as at your next team meeting. Additionally, set ongoing meetings with your new hire and ensure they are added to existing recurring meetings.

This could include: 

• Daily standups
• A weekly 1-1 with your employee
• Monthly all-team meetings 

3. Establish communication norms

• Establish core hours that they are expected to be online and available 
• Make sure they know who to contact when they have a question and the best way to get in touch.
• Decide and commit to responding to each other within a set period, especially if you have team members on different schedules or in different time zones. 
• Clarify which communication methods to use and why (e.g., when to use or not use Slack, Google Docs, or email). For example, if there is a complex issue to discuss, synchronous methods of communication such as phone or video may be preferred to better capture tone and collaborate in real-time. . Small, non-urgent requests are best over email, instant messaging, or Slack.

What to do ongoing

1. Find meaningful ways for your team to connect online 

Unfortunately, remote employees often feel excluded from company culture. Have everyone watch the same TED talk, read the same book or article, or take the same online learning course, and then discuss it over video conference. Or kick off virtual meetings with an icebreaker question. 

• Create the water cooler moments your remote employee will likely miss. Create video links between offices, or have specific days that a camera is always on.
• Create inclusive celebration rituals: For example, when the office goes out for drinks to celebrate a team win, provide each remote employee with a celebratory budget. Or, try a synchronous pizza party or similar celebration where each person joins from their computer at the same time and gives a toast.

2. Use video conferencing as much as possible and make all meetings remote-friendly 

• If most employees are in the office and a few are remote, once a month or more have each employee video conference from their own computer. This way everyone experiences how it feels to be remote. Do this even if some team members sit right next to each other when dialing in.
• Have a chat room open or Slack channel available for team members to leave messages for each other. Create Slack channels for hobbies and non-business related chat. 
• Build a culture of adding people on calls. Go out of your way to get the remote person into the meeting. If you would have interrupted someone in the office, then it’s worth bringing them in or waiting until they’re available.
• Make whiteboarding and ideating remote-friendly. Remote employees can be disadvantaged when it comes to sharing and bouncing ideas off their team members. Shift brainstorming of all kinds to being digital or asynchronous.

3. Watch for burnout and loneliness

1. If you see that they are consistently logging extra hours, you should encourage them to make more time for personal activities or use some PTO.
2. Engage them socially with the rest of the team whenever possible. 
3. Encourage them to get out of the house, whether going to a coffee shop or co-working space to work, or getting out to go to events or meetups in their area.