Remote work, is the perfect solution to lessen the amount of disturbances in the open office, but at the cost of loosing everything that the open office solves.
When we work remote, sharing is caring and we need to be constant mindful about the extra communication needed, which in a normal office happens by itself in the open office, at the coffee table, the water cooler or the cafe after work.
So in a remote or inter-continental work force there is one key value that should go beyond all your custom chosen company values, and that key value is transparency.
We all think we are transparent – reality is that we are not. We tend to take for granted, that what we know, the other parts of a team also knows, which when working remote is quite wrong. Proactive transparency is critical to maintain the feeling of being part of a team.
To ensure we keep the positives of th open office, we work like this:
Make Slack as the open office.
All decisions and non-private meetings are held in public Slack channels, and the meeting notes are shared in the same channel, as a thread below the agenda, for everyone to easily find. Be mindful of your communication, to avoid communication ending up in private chats and groups!
Full transparency from everyone about tasks, roadblocks and showstoppers.
All persons at all levels in the company, post a daily standup update in a public Slack channel. The update length do not matter, transparency is key. If you are sick, the daily update is a stand down.
Weekly teamwork. Each Monday, we start the week as a team, by sharing key tasks for the week, and determine who might need help across the team.