<p>The Gearheart team has been working remotely for over ten years, and we are distributed across six countries in different time zones. This format gives us the opportunity to independently customize schedules and choose convenient workplaces. We devote a lot of time to training and hobbies, attract professionals from all over the world, and earn interesting international projects. And this is just a short list of advantages that remote work offers with well-established processes.</p><h2>Transparency and awareness</h2><p>These are two basic principles inherent in effective remote work.</p><p>When a team works in an office, many issues are resolved on the go. There is always the opportunity to bridge gaps in processes through personal contact and discussion. If there is a misunderstanding or lack of information, you can go to a colleague and solve the situation. At the same time, any organizational shortcomings are, as it were, smoothed out. The distance takes away this opportunity or makes it as uncomfortable as possible, immediately showing weaknesses. Therefore, the remote format obliges us to organize clear and transparent processes so everyone understands where to get tasks, how to transfer them along the chain, where to get the necessary data, how to record the results, and so on.</p><p>In addition, many procedures in the office are formed spontaneously. But remote work does not imply that some things will happen by themselves. So a conscious approach and thoughtful rules are needed here. Thanks to this, processes often line up better, unlike automatic organization. For example, when working in the same department, colleagues can orally schedule appointments, if necessary asking each other for details and the agenda. But the participants of a distributed team must definitely make appointments in the calendar. In terms of time optimization, the second option is much better.</p><h2>Remote work aspects</h2><p>Here we have gathered tips that will help organize remote work, increase personal effectiveness, and create a psychologically healthy climate in the team. All of them are grouped in separate areas, which we will describe in detail. If you decide to implement the remote format in your team, share this information with all its participants; understanding and involving each colleague in the essence and processes of remote work is very important. Next, we will explain in more detail why this is so important and also share our principles and examples.</p>

A short list of advantages that remote work offers with well-established processes.

How to organize remote work

<p>The main goal of organizing a separate workplace and setting a stable schedule is to draw a distinctive line between one’s work and private life. Maintaining clear boundaries is important both for the workflow and for personal activities — although there are certain difficulties that tend to arise at this point.</p><h2>Common problems</h2><h3>1. Inability to focus on work</h3><p>When there are no set working hours there is no effective work. Trying to insert spontaneous trips to the shop, ordering household appliances, or watching 30 minutes of the series you started yesterday in between work calls is a bad idea. One cannot complete a full workday like this; it is impossible to coordinate with a team and meet the deadlines. As a result, those who are unstable get fired.</p><h3>2. Inability to focus on rest</h3><p>Having work-related email and instant messenger on your phone is not a valid reason to reply to messages in the middle of the night, while on vacation, or in a hospital. Having a work laptop with you around the clock is not a valid reason to spend your weekend doing work-related, albeit interesting, tasks. This behavior can create an impression that life is work and only work. As a result, people get very tired, feel burned out, and quit.</p><h2>Good solutions</h2><h3>1. Choose your schedule and stick to it</h3><p>Determine the timetable that suits you, and work during those time slots every day. This helps to establish the right attitude and makes it easy to plan your personal time. Also, it allows all team members to have convenient communication and solve common issues. The schedule can be quite flexible; it is totally acceptable to alternate work and personal slots during the day and to perform some tasks late in the evening. The main factor is stability. It is also important to understand that working exclusively during nighttime would break your communication with the team and decrease overall productivity. Colleagues usually decide to get in sync during normal working hours on weekdays.</p><h3>2. Organize a separate workplace</h3><p>Find or create a work-only zone. If it’s in a co-working space, great! This would provide a reason to leave the house and switch to business mode. A separate room at home is also good if it’s possible. A balcony or just a zone with a table that is not used for anything else is also suitable and will help a family not to interfere with the work process. Try not to work outside this space. Otherwise your home—a place that is essential for your relaxation—will turn into an office.</p><h3>3. Provide technical availability</h3><p>Make sure that there are no technical issues with the workplace you chose. Setting up a remote workplace is both an independent choice and the responsibility of each team member. For example, you might be in a Thai village, but power outages are not a valid reason and not an excuse not to work. Therefore you have to ensure a good connection and have pre-paid mobile internet just in case. Use an additional high-quality webcam and a headset if your laptop has issues with this hardware. This shows respect to your colleagues; it will be pleasant for them to hear and see you clearly.</p><h3>4. Set aside personal questions while working</h3><p>See problem #1. Do not do this. Do not combine business with pleasure. It does not work this way.</p><p>5. Set aside work questions during personal time</p><p>It is important to make it clear to clients and colleagues when you are no longer available. Turn off notifications and do not check email. For emergency situations there is a telephone; the rest will wait till the next business day.</p>

How to strike a balance between work and personal life. What you need to consider when choosing and creating a workplace.

1. Organizing a workplace and timetable

Organizing a workplace and timetable

<p>In general, communication within a remote team may look as good as within the one sitting in the same office. Colleagues can write and call each other in real time and create an effect of presence with videoconferencing. At the same time, it might be a problem when someone needs to seclude from the team in order to focus and quickly perform a large portion of work. Also, teams that are separated by time zones can’t always communicate in the most productive way when they spend several days discussing one issue.</p><p>Of course, the situation when all contacts are online still has its peculiarities. That is why it’s so important to establish rules for effective work and satisfied employees. You should define when to use chats or emails, what to discuss during video calls, and how to organize the mechanics of communication in general. The main factor is not to forget to make sure that everyone feels involved and understands the culture of remote communication.</p><h2>Maintaining a calendar</h2><p>Having a calendar is crucial for a remote team. Without it, employees can forget about meetings, and there is no way to come over and invite a colleague as happens in the usual office environment. Therefore, everyone should form a habit of checking and using the calendar regularly. Ideally, everyone should set up synchronization on their phones and receive notifications.</p><p>Besides, it is especially convenient for gathering a team from different time zones. Everyone will immediately see the event in their own time zone, taking into account daylight savings time. You would fully appreciate this feature if you once had a case of being two hours late to a call with a client.</p><p>At the same time, do not forget that a calendar is only a way to mark an agreement. The event should still be appointed orally or via email first.</p><p>Here are <strong>several simple rules</strong> that will help a team make the most of a calendar.</p><blockquote><ol><li>Separate corporate events (holidays, birthdays of colleagues) and events for work projects using different calendars. It is also convenient when employees autonomously separate work, personal meetings, and vacations with special marks.</li><li>For group calls, configure integration of the shared calendar with, for example, Slack, so that participants automatically receive reminders.</li><li>When creating a meeting, put the link to the call in the card. This is well implemented in the Google calendar, where a link to Meet calls is automatically inserted.</li><li>If you change the details of a meeting to a different day, it would be appropriate to copy this information and send it to the participants via instant messengers. And of course, any changes five minutes before the start of the meeting are out of question.</li></ol></blockquote><h2>Calls arrangement</h2><p>In remote work, a call becomes the main way to resolve all issues and the absolute equivalent of live meetings. There are similar guidelines in the preparation, conducting, and managing of the results as in the</p><p><strong>Prior to the call</strong> the preparation of every participant is important. If people who do not understand what is happening and what is required of them gather for a call, the conversation goes slowly and inefficiently. Not everyone can catch up quickly and get a grip of the situation just by listening to others. Therefore, it would be best for participants to learn about the task in advance and have some time to think it over and prepare a list of questions or suggestions.</p><p>To do this:</p><ul><li>Create an invitation in the calendar by setting goals for the meeting first. Describe a call agenda there.</li><li>Provide technical availability. Check the connection quality, as well as the functioning of the headset and other necessary equipment.</li></ul><p><strong>During the call</strong> the main organizational functions belong to the moderator. By default, it is the same person who created the meeting. Others are required to observe the remote meeting culture and be involved in the work.</p><h3>Essential for the moderator:</h3><p>1. Lead everyone according to the agenda, monitor the time, and record the results. Show the screen with the agenda to colleagues.</p>

thumbnail_agenda template_ed_2.png

agenda template_ed_2.png

<p>2. Record a video call, first discussing the necessity of this with the team. It is especially useful during demonstrations of new solutions, tools, or plans.</p><h3>Essential for everyone:</h3><ol><li>Be in a quiet place. Mute notification sounds, and mute the microphone when you are not talking because coughing, sipping coffee, and sighs are clearly audible and distract others.</li><li>Turn on the camera whenever possible.</li><li>Talk in turns; do not try to shout each other down. Follow the same culture as in face-to-face meetings. Remember that during the call it is impossible to shout each other down because only one participant can be transmitted over the network simultaneously. Constructive conversation does not happen this way.</li><li>Show your screen when explaining project details.</li><li>Reach joint decisions on every item of the agenda.</li></ol><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>After the call</strong> the moderator sends a follow-up with a description of the decisions made. Further work is carried out according to the plan.</p><blockquote><h4>Briefly about the tools</h4><p>We use Google Meet most often. It has all the necessary functions, and the link to the call appears automatically in the calendar card. If we want to record the meeting, we work in Zoom. It has the same functionality as Meet, but the interface is inconvenient. Skype does not allow you to create a link to a meeting and requires the launch of a separate application. And Slack can be used for quick calls without prior planning.</p></blockquote><h2>Communication in chats</h2><p>Chat is the new black for remote communication and is an equal substitute for being present in a real-life office. This is an open space and the kitchen as well the smoking room at the same time. When a colleague is present in the chat it means he came to work. The "away" status means that he is not to be disturbed unless it's something urgent. Giving answers to quick questions, stating the agreements, discussing the meetings, communicating with clients — everything happens in the chat. Everything that exists in the mail now exists in the chat as well. Therefore, the use of the messenger should be mandatory for everyone during working hours. As always, in order for communication to be structured and effective, rules are needed.</p><h3>General chat rules</h3><p>1. Communicate in one corporate messenger. Do not use Slack, Telegram, and Discord at the same time.</p><p>2. Use only real names and profile pictures. It is still work, not a chat with friends. In addition, the chat takes on the role of a public directory of employees with contacts and other information.</p><p>3. Create separate channels by topic, for example:</p><ul><li>#general — for corporate announcements</li><li>#projectname-management — for communication with a client</li><li>#projectname — for internal communication</li><li>#projectname-bots — for integrations</li></ul>

thumbnail_Slack_congratulation.png

Slack_congratulation.png

<p>This way you can separate the mandatory channels (announcements, project channels) from voluntary ones, which are based purely on interests.</p><p>4. Discuss work issues in public channels. In order not to clutter up the chat, just talk in threads and mark the right person with an @. This way no one will receive extra notifications but will be able to read the information if needed. Also, you will not have to forward the same message 100 times. Plus the manager will not need to keep constantly asking about the state of the project.</p><p>5. Group the colleagues according to their departments. For example, when you create an @developers group and send a message there, all its members will get a separate notification, and the message will be highlighted.</p><p>6. Pin important or frequently requested information in channels.</p>

thumbnail_Slack_pin.png

Slack_pin.png

<p>7. Track the tasks and mark them with an asterisk in order not to lose them.</p><p>8. Use the function All Unreads if you have been absent for a long time in order not to miss anything among the wall of messages.</p><p>9. Keep your presence status up to date. If you are online, you are working and available. If you are absent, report it. In Slack, you can set the text status and set the period when it will automatically reset.</p><p>10. Write to a colleague even if he or she is offline now. You should not wait until both of you are online. Chat is an asynchronous tool; there is no need for an instant response because the story is saved.</p><p>11. Clean up outdated channels.</p><p>12. Turn off notifications after working hours.</p><h2>Chat etiquette</h2><ul><li>Communicate politely. Greet and say goodbye, apologize, wish a pleasant weekend. Give praise and thanks with emojis and full messages.</li><li>Describe one question in one message without breaking it into several. This reduces the number of notifications, speeds up communication, and makes it easy to immediately mark an entire topic with an asterisk. Do not greet in a separate message.</li><li>Let others know when you leave and specify when you will return to the conversation if the discussion is not finished. Otherwise, it is not clear why you suddenly stop answering and what to do about it all. If you inform others that you will be absent for some time and will immediately answer after that, everyone will feel calm and assured.</li><li>React to the messages even if you are not ready to give a full response immediately. Sometimes it’s not very convenient; sometimes it takes time to prepare an answer or finish the current task. Just let others know about this in writing or with emojis.</li></ul>

thumbnail_Feedback_from_Hussein.png

Feedback_from_Hussein.png

<ul><li>Use emojis as code words. For instance,</li></ul><p>👀 I'm looking into it and will answer later. Post eyes, and checkmark after completion</p><p>​➕ / ➖ Yes / no, I agree / I disagree</p><p>​👍 Good idea, I agree</p><p>​✅ Done, complete or approved</p><p>​🙏 Please or thank you</p><p>​👋 Hello! Or, I can help you with that</p><p>👌 OK! Or, I understand</p><p>​🙌 Yeah!</p><blockquote><h4>Briefly about the tools</h4><p>Any chat where you can unite participants into groups and control the level of access is suitable for communication. One of the most popular ones is Slack. Another is Discord; it’s less corporate but is functional and convenient as well. Famous Telegram and Skype are more focused on privacy, therefore they are not suitable for working in public channels and for business in general.</p></blockquote><h2>Email communication</h2><p>Mail becomes unnecessary as the main separate element for communication. Rather, it makes sense to use a mailbox to exchange official notices and documents such as contracts or invoices. Access to files, applications, and shared workspace is also provided by email.</p>

The principles of virtual communication and video meetings. How to use the calendar and organize calls and correspondence in order to interact effectively.


2. Organizing communication

Organizing communication

<p>The principles of project coordination and goal setting for remote work are not too different from the office ones. The bottom line is to build intelligible and transparent processes while choosing convenient tracking and reporting tools. It is also important to create a culture and values so colleagues understand how to behave in unforeseen situations and are not afraid to make decisions.</p><h2>How to manage</h2><h3>1. Plan and create the roadmap</h3><p>The roadmap gives an understanding of the overall view of the projects, the timing and milestones of development, and the priority of tasks. Therefore, all team members must have access to the map and know what is planned and for what date. At the same time, do not make the roadmap too detailed; do not describe small tasks and connections. Otherwise, the scheme will be too complicated and unsuitable for work. A useful roadmap provides an overview of only the main objectives and results of the project.</p><blockquote><h4>Briefly about the tools</h4><p>For the internal roadmap intended only for our team, we use <i>Microsoft Excel</i>. For the external roadmaps involving frontend teams and designers, we use <i>Asana</i>.</p></blockquote>

thumbnail_Roadmap Excel_ed.png

Roadmap Excel_ed.png

thumbnail_Asana.png

Asana.png

<h3>2. Regulate the workflow</h3><p>Clearly prescribe procedures, roles, and deadlines. At remote work there is no place for micro-management and coordination of each step of the employees. Therefore, it is very important that everyone in the team understands the order of actions and roles. Avoid blurry, undeclared rules that are passed as rumors. They bring chaos and disrupt structure.</p><h3>3. Prioritize</h3><p>If there are a lot of tasks set at the same time, you should determine priorities first. Then the team will not be confused about the order of the task execution. Again, this is the situation where the roadmap really helps: when some new unforeseen tasks appear it is easier for the team to understand what to do and in which order.</p><h3>4. Prepare an additional task pool</h3><p>If it is impossible to carry out the current task, there should be a list of other tasks to which one should switch. This way you can avoid downtime while current problems are being sorted out. For example, if a developer is blocked he should change the status of the task and describe the situation in the comments without waiting for the next call. Right after that, he should proceed to the next scheduled task.</p><h3>5. Update the status</h3><p>It is important for managers to understand how the situation is changing on projects every day. One must be able to see what has already been done and what tasks are still in the process. For this one should use task statuses, update lists, and reports. All these can be automated with the help of any convenient time tracker. And, of course, one should additionally plan daily status calls.</p><h2>How to set goals</h2><p>Setting goals in remote work is subject to generally accepted rules. The only particularity is that a detailed description is needed as if you were discussing it in a live conversation.</p><h3>Approach to setting goals and objectives</h3><p>One of the most common planning concepts is SMART. According to the approach, it is important to set a goal from which it is clear what exactly needs to be achieved, when it needs to be done, and how to understand that you have succeeded.</p>

<blockquote><ul><li><strong>S</strong>PECIFIC: Your goal is direct, detailed, and meaningful.</li><li><strong>M</strong>EASURABLE: Your goal is quantifiable to track progress or success.</li><li><strong>A</strong>CHIEVABLE: Your goal is realistic and you have the tools and/or resources to attain it.</li><li><strong>R</strong>ELEVANT: Your goal aligns with your company's mission.</li><li><strong>T</strong>IME-BOUND: Your goal has a deadline.</li></ul></blockquote>

<p>From our experience, the concept does not work well for large and complex goals. In addition, full adherence to the approach does not eventually guarantee that the goal has been formulated correctly.</p><p>Another famous approach is OKR (Objectives and Key Results), where:</p><ul><li>Objective is a memorable well-worded description of what you want to achieve.</li><li>Key results mean the set of metrics, the value of which changes as it moves toward the Objective.</li></ul><p>The system is clearly described by John Doerr's Formula: <i>I will achieve (Objective), as measured by (set of Key Results).</i></p><p>This approach is used at Google, Spotify, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Airbnb.</p><h3>Describing and setting goals</h3><p>Achieving the objective largely depends on how correctly the tasks are set.</p><figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>WELL-SET GOAL</strong></td><td><strong>POORLY SET GOAL</strong></td></tr><tr><td>It is described clearly and in detail and therefore does not require additional explanation. To a large extent, it reveals WHAT should be done, not HOW. Indicates a clear deadline, if there is any.</td><td>Even during the goal setting it is obvious that a call for discussion will be needed. It does not show what and when should be achieved as a result.&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>Explains WHY implementation is necessary.</td><td>Does not show the benefits of implementation.</td></tr><tr><td>It contains clear execution criteria and a transfer procedure (for example, for testing).</td><td>It’s not clear what to do next further down the chain.</td></tr><tr><td>Includes all the necessary materials for implementation in full (for example, a special text or design).</td><td>Requires the search for additional information or materials, a separate explanation at the intermediate stage.</td></tr><tr><td>If it requires changes to the existing functionality, it first describes the current version of the work and then the necessary corrections.</td><td>It contains a list of changes to the current functionality without a description of the problems of the current version.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>Task organization</h2><h3>1.<i> </i>Choose one storage tool</h3><p>Registering something in Jira and partially creating cards in Trello is an unsuccessful way of organizing. Everyone will only get confused and forget what and where exactly everything is and what and where to write. Any member of the team must open just one tool to find out about the status of tasks and sprints and see the responsible person and assessments.</p><h3>2. Agree on the procedure for creation and appointment</h3><p>If you do not determine who is responsible for the appointment and coordination of tasks, you end up with complete confusion. Everyone will independently come up with tasks and do what they want. Sometimes even clients or partners can suddenly set tasks directly, thereby introducing uncertainty into the life of the project. Therefore, we offer an option with a special inbox list of team members. The project manager works further with this list while analyzing, planning, and assigning tasks.</p><h3>3. Think over a hierarchy</h3><p>It’s not good when tasks of different types are mixed in one pool, since they always differ in importance and scale. It is proper to use a specific separation system. For example, we have a structure like this:</p><ol><li><strong>Epics.</strong> Large, often strategic tasks that require a long implementation time and consist of separate parts. For example, a general redesign includes working on separate pages, which can be done one after another. At the same time the whole redesign will be complete only when every page is ready.</li><li><strong>Tasks.</strong> Minimal independent units of work that benefit the project and users.</li><li><strong>Sub-tasks. </strong>Technical parts of the implementation of tasks. Our manager does not follow those — sub-tasks are created by the performers themselves as elements of their work planning.</li></ol><h3>4. Set design rules</h3><p>Use special marks such as: bug, design task, technical work, and others. Pay attention to the information in the name of each task. It is always proper that the name contains the verb.</p>

Planning, setting, and completing tasks. How to describe correctly and where it is better to store tasks.

3. Project management and goal setting

Project management and goal setting

<p>Documentation is necessary for any working format. Both office and remote employees use documents to solve their tasks. Although in remote mode the lack of documentation is especially drastic simply because there are no colleagues nearby to ask for clarification and therefore a person gets stuck in a task. To prevent this from happening, it’s worth documenting all the information necessary for work, both for each individual project and for the general processes of the company.</p><p>Overall, the documentation is important for transferring the knowledge so that nothing is lost and there is no need to constantly return to the same issues. It is especially true for teams from different time zones, which are often asynchronous. In these circumstances, documentation saves a lot of resources by making additional discussions unnecessary.</p><p>By default, it is customary to think that a manager, a team lead, or someone else in charge should deal with the documents, but not all the employees. Although, in fact, it is much better if the documentation is constantly updated in the process, so everyone should do it. For example, if you encounter an obscure problem and solve it, it is logical to describe this to other colleagues to simplify the process. We are talking about the culture of record-keeping that is important to implement in a company.</p><h2>What to document and why</h2><p>Common reasons for managing documents are simple: to increase the level of transparency and accessibility of information, to simplify the information exchange, and to ensure data organization and storage. Simply put, we create a knowledge base that is designed to help employees solve work issues.</p><p><strong>For the new colleagues</strong>, it facilitates the process of joining the team. It allows beginners to feel more comfortable by easily receiving information about the company and its projects. It largely eliminates the questions like, “What is customary here?” and creates the feeling of a professional company. For example, we have a separate document that spells out what kinds of jokes are acceptable. Describing the issues that may seem slippery actually leads to a more comfortable work environment.</p><p><strong>For the team as a whole</strong>, it forms the principle of transparency in the corporate culture. We increase the bus factor, that is, reduce the likelihood of project failure, for example, if a key developer drops out of the process. We make sure the knowledge, from the head of the developer or a manager, from tickets or discussions in the kitchen, is moved into a single space for all participants. In addition, we promote the general rules and values of the company while encouraging trainings and professional growth.</p><p>Here are some categories of information that can be recorded and made available to employees.</p><h3>1. Company policies and procedures</h3><p>These documents define the general working methods, procedures, and standards of behavior for colleagues. This includes information about the company and a list of projects, corporate values, and instructions for working with tools and common spaces. They also include descriptions of any other important issues that are related to the working life of the team and its comfort.</p><h3>2. A list of employees</h3><p>It contains positions, distribution by departments and projects, contact information, birthdays, and so on.</p><h3>3. Project regulations</h3><p>They secure the project management schemes and describe the processes, tasks, and details, as well as the functions of the performers. In some cases, you can record and store information in video format when it's appropriate and more convenient. Screencasts with voice comments are also suitable for working with the code, for example.</p><h3>4. Learning materials</h3><p>These include cases, guides, references, the selection of videos, the calendar of industry events, and so on.</p><p>The rules for creating and organizing documents can look a little frightening. But, in reality, one should not be afraid to make mistakes. In any case, having poor documentation is better than having none at all. The most important thing is to start creating it.</p><h2>How to organize the storage</h2><p>The basic principle of storing documents is to make sure the whole team knows where these documents are. If the information is difficult to find there is no point in writing it down and putting it somewhere. It sometimes happens that the documentation is created in a large set of Google Docs that are impossible to find, and it is not always clear how to do this. To avoid this, you should clearly identify one place to look for the information. Even if it’s Google Docs, it’s better to use a single document or a folder that stores links to other resources.</p><h3>1. Create one repository for everything</h3><p>Choose one tool that combines the functions of creating, storing, organizing, and shared working with data and documents.</p><h3>2. Think over the architecture</h3><p>It is good when one or several colleagues take on the role of information architect. They will set up a single structure, logic, rules, and style and will correctly place documents in spaces. Without responsible people, the storage will be either empty or chaotic.</p>

thumbnail_Architecture.png

Architecture.png

<h3>3. Think over the classification</h3><p>It is worth considering the classification of content and the implementation of the search from the very beginning of the knowledge base design stage, in order not to get lost in many different files, defined spaces or sections, categories, and types of documents. For example, project documentation and company organizational rules should be kept in separate sections. You can create spaces for each of the departments of the company in which documents will be divided into categories and so on.</p><h3>4. Prepare templates</h3><p>Create special templates for frequently used documents; for example, checklists, how-to instructions, and technical specifications. You can even create some video instructions, but remember that the search function will not work on video. Therefore, make lengthy descriptions and put links where they are easy to find.</p><h3>5. Set the work rules</h3><p>Before you give access to create and edit the documents to all your colleagues, agree on the rules first. It’s best to automate these rules as much as possible; for example, use templates, tag content with auto tags, and so on.</p><blockquote><h4>Briefly about the tools</h4><p>We use Confluence in our company. We like its convenient structure and easy search, which can be figured out quickly even by a beginner.</p></blockquote>

thumbnail_Gearheart_Oxygen.png

Gearheart_Oxygen.png

<p>Among the functions that are very useful for work there is:</p><ul><li>the ability to designate a person responsible for the page;</li><li>the ability to mark the status of the page;</li><li>use of expanding blocks;</li><li>attachment of the documents inside which the search works (including pdf);</li><li>the ability to immediately leave comments on the pages when working together;</li><li>plugins to expand functionality;</li><li>integration with other applications.</li></ul><p>Alternatively, you can use Basecamp, Dropbox, Notion, and even Google Drive.</p>

Who creates the documents and why. Organization of a knowledge base and rules for storing documentation.

4. Document management

Document management

<p>Unlike working in the office, it is more difficult to understand who is working on what in the distributed team, what is the load level of each employee, if anyone has any overtime, and so on. To solve these problems, we keep track of working time and use a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gearheart.io/projects/timer/">time tracker</a>.</p><p>It is important to understand that time tracking for the remote team is not about monitoring and keeping an eye or forcing everyone to sit by the computer from 9:00 to 18:00. It's about productivity and process optimization. Sometimes companies monitor desktops and running applications and force employees to work using time-tracking tools. We do not practice this. After all, if a person does not want to work it is strange to make him do it. In addition, the rest of the team gets demotivated by such control.</p><p>In reality, the fact of time tracking should not distort the necessary work processes. That is, if the specifics of the work require more thinking and talking rather than programming or creating a design, it should be so. The time tracker just reflects that.</p><h3>Common misconceptions</h3><p>How to think wrong when you hear about tracking time in the company.</p><figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>FALSE</strong></td><td><strong>IN FACT</strong></td></tr><tr><td>You can’t take into account calls or reading documentation during working hours, only programming, creating instructions, or design.</td><td>All the necessary processes for solving the tasks need to be displayed in the tracker.</td></tr><tr><td>One should work eight hours straight without a break.</td><td>Time tracking does not regulate the strict number of working hours but helps to see and understand individual situations. How much time should be spent on work is another matter. For example, we consider six hours to be the norm.</td></tr><tr><td>Time tracking equals distrust.</td><td>Trust or mistrust issues do not apply to time tracking. Tracking is an element of work organization and resource planning.</td></tr><tr><td>You can’t spend time thinking about tasks. For tracking it is important to work with your hands.</td><td>Time tracking does not determine the required processes.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>How we use time tracking</h2><h3>1. Optimize processes</h3><p>We track patterns and optimize the work. For example, if during a sprint the developer managed to perform fewer features than planned, we are looking for a reason. We see that a lot of time was spent on code review or calls. Next, we analyze why this is happening and whether we can reduce the level of administrative load on him.</p><h3>2. Plan the work</h3><p>We collect statistics on past tasks and fairly accurately predict the speed of the team.</p><h3>3. Pay for work</h3><p>We pay employees by the hour and invoice customers in the same way. This is a convenient and transparent way for us.</p><h3>4. Fight the overtime</h3><p>It happens that colleagues begin to not work as efficiently as usual, trying to compensate for this with additional time. This is not always easy to notice while looking only at the weekly output. In this case, the tracker shows the situation clearly and serves as a signal that it’s time for someone to take a vacation.</p><h3>5. Estimate the total workload of employees</h3><p>Thus, we correctly allocate resources.</p><h3>6. Differentiate between working and personal time</h3><p>Nevertheless, the tracker develops a certain sense of discipline and puts everyone in a working mood. And when it's off, it's time to relax.</p>

5. Time tracking

Time tracking

<p>Here we have compiled a list of services that help us organize processes and communication in a team. We will briefly describe what functions the tools perform and which options we like the most.</p><h2>Communication</h2><h3>1. Slack</h3><p>This is a kind of virtual office. Slack allows you to conveniently conduct business correspondence and communicate on any other topics. For each thematic chat, you can create separate channels, assemble participants into groups, easily control access, and conveniently configure the notification system. One of the main advantages is the integration with other tools. For example, you can create a bot that will forward Jira or Trello changes to the desired chat. We also use bots for a time tracker and for integration on projects with GitLab, as well as Sentry and BugHerd bug monitoring services. Slackbot reminds us of important messages or events. You can also configure applications for integration, for example with a calendar, and receive a meeting reminder every morning.</p>

thumbnail_slackbot.png

slackbot.png

<h3>2. Google Calendar</h3><p>A calendar is a must in communication. Among the important functions are the exchange of calendars in the team, the creation of different calendars for corporate events and work projects, the ability to set recurring events, the flexible setting of notifications with integration into instant messengers, and the automatic generation of a call link to Google Meet.</p><h3>3. Google Meet</h3><p>We use this platform for video calls the most. It has all the necessary functionality, such as joining a conference directly from the calendar, screen demonstration, file sharing, and a dial-in phone number for inclusion with a smartphone. We also like the simple and intuitive interface.</p><h3>4. Slack calls</h3><p>We use Slack for one-on-one calls to discuss quick questions without prior planning and preparing an agenda.</p><h3>5. Zoom</h3><p>We only make calls with Zoom when a video of a meeting is needed. In general, the functionality is very similar to Meet, but Zoom has an extremely inconvenient interface.</p><h3>6. Gmail</h3><p>Email acts as an auxiliary element for communication. Using Gmail, we exchange documents with clients and send invoices. We also accept requests from potential customers.</p><h2>Organization of processes and documentation storage</h2><h3>1. Asana</h3><p>It makes it possible to create, distribute, and group tasks into projects. Here you can communicate in the chat of each task and attach files, for example from Google Drive. Also, in Asana there are functions for a calendar, a panel of projects, and a to-do list option. We use this tool to create a roadmap. And for project and time management, we use our own services.</p><h3>2. Google Sheets</h3><p>We create an internal roadmap in spreadsheets, which are available only to team members. It’s convenient that you can use offline access and user filters, so modifying the tables for yourself will not affect the rest of the team.</p><h3>3. HubSpot</h3><p>This is a large system that solves the problems of sales and marketing. We use it to maintain a base of potential customers. This CRM allows you to maintain a database of contacts, organizations, and transactions, receive customer requests through the site, track the history of their actions on the site, find out where they came from, and much more. HubSpot integrates with many services: Mailchimp, Slack, Facebook Ads, Zapier, Salesforce, and others.</p><h3>4. Confluence</h3><p>This is a wiki system that allows you to create an internal portal and repository for team work on documentation. Here you can organize a convenient structure and navigation, an unlimited number of spaces and pages, where the search works well. Many plugins are also available to expand the functionality, and integration with other applications is possible.</p><p>We especially like the Excerpt macro, which allows you to place a piece of text from one page on another or several at once. This is convenient since you do not need to skip between pages and add links to get the necessary information. In this case, changes in the original fragment will automatically be displayed in subsequent copies on other pages.</p>

thumbnail_excerpt-macro-body.png

excerpt-macro-body.png

<h3>5. Google Drive</h3><p>We store customer documentation and other internal company documents here.</p>

Overview of software and applications that help in daily work.

6. Remote work tools

Remote work tools

<p>When working with clients you need to build the most transparent relationships and establish trust. After all, they may not go into the principles of remote work, and therefore may doubt the reliability of a distributed team. But if you are transparent and professional in your work, your workflow is open to the customer, and communication is well established, customers will give you preference regardless of distance.</p><h2>Confirm that you are not a robot</h2><p>The first thing that is important for the customer to understand is that you physically exist and your work is real, although it is built on virtual processes. Tell about it on your website, publish photos of employees, share cases and reviews, and create a blog with expert columns. An informative and high-quality site already lends the first bit of confidence in a company’s professionalism.</p><p>With further acquaintance, it makes sense not to limit the client to contact with only one manager. It’s good to introduce him to the entire project team by making a call, thereby demonstrating the involvement and accessibility of each specialist.</p><h2>Ensure quality</h2><p>When working remotely, the level of service is especially important to customers. Therefore, it is no surprise that you need to work well. Plan tasks and deadlines, update statuses, and provide reports. If plans require adjustments, they also require an explanation of the causes and consequences of this. Give the client the opportunity to see the work at each stage, ask questions, and comment on what has been done. The remote format is not a reason to sow discord and confusion.</p><p>If the client has doubts, speak in detail of the legal aspect and provide the necessary documentation. Just follow maximum clarity and transparency, both in processes and documents.</p><h2>Make workflow accessible</h2><p>Show that tasks are easy to observe. If you provide access to the chat and any tools with which the project is controlled, the client will not be nervous. Often the accesses themselves are enough to extinguish the anxiety and allow the customer to relax, so no one will bother your team.</p><h2>Organize convenient communication</h2><p>It is comfortable for any customer to understand how and with whom he can connect to resolve his issue. It’s significant whether the team is distributed or sitting together in the office on the next street. Therefore, it is important to think over and provide the client with convenient communication methods and ensure regular contact.</p><p>We usually call up once a week and chat about emerging issues. With good work, this is enough to make everyone understand the state of affairs and the next steps. It is important not to limit communication only by chat or email, because some topics still require lively conversation. It’s better to use a video so the call is as close as possible to a personal meeting.</p><p>It is worth paying attention to the speed of your response. Obviously, the faster the client receives feedback, the calmer the collaboration will be. Even if at the moment there is no way to quickly and fully respond, make it clear that the request has been accepted and the answer will follow a bit later.</p><h2>Smooth turbulence</h2><p>It happens sometimes that the client begins to demand daily calls or reports. If you just started working remotely, you might think that this should be so. But in fact, this is not at all necessary and is to some extent strange. Often this is a sign of distrust of the team and the fear that the situation is getting out of control. In such circumstances, do not refuse to submit frequent reporting. But you do not need to leave the case without attention. Identify the problem and solve it. Everyone will be much more comfortable.</p><p>Sometimes, customers start to get nervous before starting a project in the last couple of weeks, and therefore they ask for constant contact without visible problems. Then, of course, it makes sense to make calls until the situation becomes calmer.</p><h2>Keep in touch</h2><p>Do not forget about pleasant gestures. For example, congratulate clients on holidays and present gifts, exchange useful information, and just be in touch.</p>

How to build relationships with clients and manage projects.

7. Working with clients

Working with clients

<p>It is difficult to overrate the importance of creating and maintaining culture in a team. In many ways, it is the culture that shapes the attitude of employees and customers to the company. If the company adheres to the correct set of values, there is no need to constantly come up with additional motivation and ways to keep your talented employees. People already want to work in a healthy environment where everyone is rooting for a common cause and understands their personal roles in achieving the common goal, striving to improve their work and the processes around them.</p><p>It is important to understand that it is not enough just to write a list of principles and rules, give it to the colleagues, and wait for the result. Firstly, one cannot describe everything to the smallest detail. Secondly, you can’t make people act on the list, especially if they do not understand and do not share such views. It is even more difficult when it comes to a remote format when there is no live contact with the team and a lot of things are simply not visible. However, it is correct to show “what is customary here” with a personal example, and it works well. This way the employees do not need special instructions: they will make the right decisions on their own, intuitively relying on shared values and culture.</p><p>A well-articulated culture also helps you identify people who will fit in when recruiting newcomers to the team. During the interview, it makes sense to find out and understand whether the values you follow are close to the candidate. If you match you will spend a minimum amount of time adapting a new colleague. Generally, a team assembled according to the similar working and life principles will be united in the long run.</p><p>Building a culture in a remote team can happen as naturally as when employees are working together in the office. We have distinguished some rules that can help in this process.</p><h2>1. Trust and respect</h2><p>Treat your colleagues as professionals and they will act like ones. It is customary for us to respect the personal boundaries and opinions of each team member; we give the right to make independent decisions, as well as to make mistakes. This creates a healthy and psychologically safe climate for the team.</p><h2>2. Transparency</h2><p>It is important to ensure that everyone in the company has equal access to information. Thanks to monthly general calls and the fact that work tools and storage facilities are in collective access, each of us sees what has been done and by whom, how much time has been spent, what is planned, and so on.</p><h2>3. Clear rules and procedures</h2><p>Remote work and a flexible schedule do not mean “I work when I can.” Access to the documentation repository does not mean “I delete and create files as I wish.” Everywhere you need organization and structure. If you come up with general rules that are understandable and convenient and are working to improve processes, the productivity and comfort in the team will increase.</p><h2>4. Regular communication and feedback</h2><p>The established communication rituals in the company contribute to a better organization of colleagues; they give a sense of clarity and calmness in work. These can be weekly statuses, general meetings at the end of each month, quarterly planning, and so on. It is important for people to understand how and when they can be heard, what will be discussed, and under what circumstances. For example, once a month we arrange a common call for the whole team: we share company and project news and discuss our plans. In addition, it is advisable to establish a habit of one-on-one meetings to talk through the state of affairs, personal issues, and wishes from both sides. This is always an informal dialogue that prevents the accumulation of problems and gaps. We make one-on-one calls with each team member every three months.</p><h2>5. Involvement</h2><p>Various ways to unite colleagues in non-working matters help maintain a positive atmosphere. You can think of a fairly wide pool of activities from dedicated off-topic channels in Slack to thematic online meetings. Do not forget to congratulate each other on holidays and give gifts. It is important that people share their emotions and can just communicate as in usual life.</p><h2>6. Personal meetings</h2><p>Of course, it is difficult to replace personal communication with virtual, albeit regular, communication. Therefore, it is important to meet in person and spend time together in order to build good relations in a team. For example, we plan joint trips to interesting places.</p><h2>7. Training and mentoring</h2><p>In order to inspire everyone to move forward and evolve, encourage internal training and share information and project results among teams. Each has his own unique experience, which is interesting to share and also to hear from others. Try learning something new together: it could be corporate English lessons or specific programs for smaller groups of specialists. We devote the last Friday of every month to Learning Day when everyone can spend time studying the subject interesting to him. We are also improving our English at our speaking club. Moreover, we have a deposit program for additional training, like taking paid online courses, attending conferences, buying books, etc.</p>

Values as guidelines in work. Why create and how to maintain a team culture.

8. Building a culture

Building a culture

<h2>Recruiting</h2><p>The main difference and advantage of attracting specialists to a remote team is a search among a wide pool of talents unlimited by geography. In fact, the distance helps you choose the person who really is the best candidate, not because he or she lives in the same city and is more or less suitable.</p><p>In remote recruiting, there are no other major differences in comparison with hiring office specialists. The remote scheme in itself will not become a problem in the practical implementation of the selection if all the relevant processes are established correctly. We have formulated several effective rules for ourselves.</p><h3>1. Emphasis on values</h3><p>When selecting people for a team it is important to immediately focus on the values and culture of the company. If the candidate shares and understands your principles, it will be easy for him or her to join the already existing system and show the results. A strong team is united by the same approach to work, a high degree of responsibility, and self-organization of its members, not by the walls of the same office. In our case, a careful selection of specialists translates into a lengthy collaboration: some colleagues have been working with us for five to seven years and do not plan to change anything.</p><h3>2. The importance of personality traits</h3><p>In addition to the necessary competencies and ambitions, it is important to focus on the personal qualities of candidates. Similar views not only on work but on life allow people to feel comfortable with each other, which positively affects overall productivity and the desire to move forward. This is especially valuable for remote employees, as they need to motivate each other over the network in the absence of daily live meetings. When newcomers join us, they often mention a pleasant, cozy atmosphere in the company. This effect can be achieved precisely due to the attention to personal traits apart from professional knowledge and skills.</p><h3>3. Qualification assessment</h3><p>Of course, in addition to a CV, the portfolio and the test task always help you understand the level of the candidate. If you can evaluate the quality of work before the interview, you can save a lot of time. It’s nice to see a potential colleague in action, and with the help of the test task you’ll find out how a person will cope, what questions will be asked, if he will be able to stick to deadlines, and so on.</p><h3>4. Convenient work system</h3><p>Explain the accepted system of work and result control to the candidate. If you, for example, run projects in Confluence and communicate in Slack, talk about this at the interview. In the end it should be convenient for everyone to interact in a certain way. So, by mentioning these things beforehand, you can immediately avoid unwanted surprises and disagreements.</p><h3>5. Involving foreign talents</h3><p>While adding specialists from other countries to a team, it is necessary to take several points into account. Firstly, mind the time difference. Think in advance about the schedule to find a two- to four-hour intersection for collaboration with other colleagues. Secondly, it is equally important to avoid the language barrier, both within the team and for communicating with the clients. In addition, it is necessary to resolve the issue of legal and tax requirements in each country. It is customary for us to discuss and set the gross salary, and then everyone pays local taxes independently.</p><h3>6. Growth opportunities and culture</h3><p>Tell the candidates why cool specialists choose your company. For example, we focus on high-quality and complex projects using only new technologies, plus we have a flat hierarchy in the team, well-established work processes, and ongoing training. We encourage offline communication and plan team meetings and trips. A good compensation package alone is unlikely to surprise a strong candidate.</p><blockquote><h4>Briefly about where and how we look for colleagues</h4><p>One of the main search sites is assumed to be LinkedIn. Here, as in other systems, in order to form more accurate queries we use the Boolean search (logical operators). We also advertise vacancies on job search sites, specialized resources, and forums where developers gather, for example, DOU and Habr. We work with a platform for freelancers called Upwork. We communicate and post vacancies in Facebook communities. Additionally, we attract external recruiting agencies.</p></blockquote><h2>Onboarding</h2><p>Quality onboarding plays a key role in the successful hire of a new employee, especially for a remote job. After all, it is somewhat more difficult to adapt organically and to immediately understand the processes and culture without being at the office. But this process can still be enjoyable and productive. The main thing is to approach the issue structurally, draw up a clear plan of adaptation, and appoint a responsible person at each stage. In general, try to immerse a newcomer into the work properly. Decide what information to tell at the beginning, whom to introduce to, what to give for reading, what meetings to connect to, what task to put first, and so on. Our onboarding program can be divided into three stages. For every stage, there is a checklist with tasks carried out by the HR, BA, CFO, marketing manager, and appointed mentor.</p><h3>Stage 1: Before the start</h3><ol><li>We agree on the date and time of the first working day.</li><li>We sign the Job Offer and NDA.</li><li>We inform the team about the starting date of the new colleague.</li><li>We create a mailbox and open access to Slack, Timer, and Confluence.</li><li>We send a welcome letter the day before the start.</li><li>We determine the project on which the new employee will work.</li><li>We create an activity plan for the first working day. It usually includes an introduction to the rules and setting up a local working environment.</li></ol><h3>Stage 2: First day</h3><ol><li>We introduce the employee to the team.</li><li>We provide documentation and a job description, and we talk about the work process in general.</li><li>We convey the values accepted in the team.</li><li>We explain the rules and procedures in the company: the schedule, calculation and payment of wages, vacation planning, organization of training, etc.</li><li>We appoint a mentor from a team that helps and directs a new colleague in training for gradual growth.</li></ol><h3>Stage 3: Support (one to three months)</h3><ol><li>We help the new colleague adapt to the project.</li><li>We provide feedback.</li><li>We observe and record performance indicators.</li><li>We make monthly one-on-one calls.</li><li>We hand over a welcome package at the end of the trial period.</li><li>We set goals for further development.</li></ol>

What is important to consider when hiring remote employees and how to organize the process of their adaptation to the team.

9. Recruiting & onboarding

Recruiting & onboarding

<p>Sometimes it seems that a remote company is difficult to maintain legally. The distance makes the process of signing contracts, making payments, paying taxes, and so on as inconvenient as possible. In addition, the principle of remote work does not allow for keeping documents, as is right and habitual, with all signatures, seals, and a stack of acts filed into a folder.</p><p>In fact, there are no problems with doing business; everything is quite convenient.</p><p>Of course, remote mode excludes paper-based workflow, especially in cooperation with foreign clients. And there is no need for the exchange of endless copies of contracts or acts, the collection of a mass of signatures and seals. All legal issues can be easily solved in electronic format. This is what we do without problems, both with customers and employees.</p><p>Here is a list of legislation that greatly simplifies the legal aspect of a remote business.</p><h2>1. A seal is optional</h2><p>According to the Law of Ukraine No. 1982 dated March 23, 2017, legal entities and private individuals are not required to use a seal to certify documents. For a document to be considered valid, the signature of an authorized person is sufficient.</p><h2>2. Remote account opening</h2><p>Any organization or private person is entitled to open a current account with a foreign bank. The main thing is to correctly produce a set of documents that can be provided remotely.</p><h2>3. An invoice for currency control</h2><p>When a foreign customer pays for services, first the money is deposited in a special transit account with a bank. To get and use them you need to prove the transaction. An invoice is enough for this, where there is information about you, the counterparty, the service, the timing, amount, and form of payment. This greatly simplifies the process, since there is no need to provide the bank with a full contract to confirm cooperation.</p><h2>4. The validity of the electronic signature</h2><p>You do not have to exchange documents with wet seals and signatures. According to the Law of Ukraine “On Electronic Documents and Electronic Document Management,” digital documents are equated to the original if there are details and an electronic signature. Therefore, we always indicate in the contract or invoice that the electronic copy has equal legal force with the paper original. And we do not use any other mail for delivery, except email.</p><h2>5. Electronic document management services</h2><p>For tax reporting, documentation is conveniently stored in special applications for electronic document management. In addition, we collect all paper versions in a separate repository.</p><h2>6. Taxes</h2><p>Each party pays taxes in accordance with the laws of the country in which they reside or the company is registered.</p><blockquote><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;">When a foreign customer pays for services, first the money is deposited in a special transit account with a bank. To get and use them you need to prove the transaction. Sometimes, only an invoice is enough for this, where there is information about you, the counterparty, the service, the timing, amount, and form of payment. In some cases, the bank may require a contract and an act of completed work, other additional documents. This package depends on the internal policy of the bank, regulations of the Central Bank, and tax legislation. In any case, all questions can be closed electronically, and this does not take much time.</span></p></blockquote>

Laws and regulations in the legal support of the remote company.

10. Legal issues of work

Legal issues of work

The Gearheart team has been working remotely for over ten years, and we are distributed across six countries in different time zones. This format gives us the opportunity to independently customize schedules and choose convenient workplaces. We travel freely, devote a lot of time to training and hobbies, attract professionals from all over the world, and earn interesting international projects. And this is just a short list of advantages that remote work offers with well-established processes.

The Gearheart team has been working remotely for over ten years across six countries in different time zones. We prepared a guide that can help you to organize your work.

Wondering, how to organize remote work?