You’re correct that we have a remote team located in many countries.
1)Challenges
Time zone challenges are definitely present with such a global team, especially for scheduling.
There is also a barrier to having natural interactions in the way that would randomly happen in an office.
2)Frequent & Smooth communication
Slack is immensely useful for quick and easy communication.
We have daily check-ins on Slack to let each other know what we are working on.
We share what we are working on in Google Docs for others to comment and collaborate on.
Some team members have frequent calls with managers or eachother.
We have a randomized rotating system to pair people up for social calls.
RP has monthly all-staff calls.
We particiapte in the wider Rethink Charity “all-hands” calls.
It seems like RP’s team is working remotely. If not please ignore my questions.
How do you deal with the challenges of researchers working remotely? How do you make sure you are having frequent exchanges and smooth communication?
In case you have some people working at one place (eg office) and some people working remotely:
How do you maintain a coherent team feeling? Do you think one requires such a feeling?
Hi,
You’re correct that we have a remote team located in many countries.
1)Challenges
Time zone challenges are definitely present with such a global team, especially for scheduling. There is also a barrier to having natural interactions in the way that would randomly happen in an office.
2)Frequent & Smooth communication
Slack is immensely useful for quick and easy communication. We have daily check-ins on Slack to let each other know what we are working on. We share what we are working on in Google Docs for others to comment and collaborate on. Some team members have frequent calls with managers or eachother. We have a randomized rotating system to pair people up for social calls. RP has monthly all-staff calls. We particiapte in the wider Rethink Charity “all-hands” calls.
Animal Charity Evaluator’s roundtable discussions about remote teams have definitely informed my own personal view of what might work well and that the issues we encounter are pretty common for remote teams. https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/tag/roundtable-series/