97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know

Chapter 91. What I Wished I Knew Before I Started Managing a Remote Team

Cris Concepcion

In 2013, I was hired to run a remote team for the first time. It was a transformative experience, and I learned a lot. Five years later, I joined a company that wanted me to help it hire its first remote developers and train other managers on how to support remote teams effectively, which was an interesting opportunity to consolidate what I had learned. This is an adapted version of the advice aimed equally at people joining fully remote companies as well as others taking on a remote team in a hybrid org.

The job doesn’t change, but the conversations do

Remote work doesn’t really change the way we work with our computers or write code. However, we need to adapt in how we collaborate and bond with one another. If you’re new to working remotely, most of what you will need to work on is communication.

Your expectations for documentation will increase

When spread across time zones, not everyone on a team can make a meeting or be online when a conversation occurs in chat, so it’s important to make it easy for people to catch up when they do come online. All meetings should have an agenda document. People should transcribe the conversation into the document, and most meeting documents should be shared broadly. Impromptu, important conversations in person or on hangout should be taken to chat ...