Re:People love working remotely
by alexhutcheson on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @02:06PM
(#20749995)
I haven't found any mode of communication that's as effective for building trust as face-to-face interaction. Video conferencing, email, tickets, etc. all work well for the "Let's make a decision on this issue" or "Let's get this specific thing done" use-case, but it's much harder to actually get to know someone and build trust over those mediums. That's unfortunate, because trust between people on a team is a huge force multiplier for getting things done.
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Re:People love working remotely
by eikenberry on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @02:15PM
(#20750123)
And this is why you have occasional gatherings. To help establish trust and a better sense of community. Every remote position I've held has had at least a yearly get-together for just this reason.
Also you can have small remote social gatherings. Have a lunch together from time to time (video, online) and chat about non-work things. Have an unlisted #team-offtopic channel. Things like that work in my experience if they're just available and not forced.
and... if you start 2 weeks after the last yearly get together... you're on the outs for a long time.
nothing against yearly meetings, but would hope people have ways of getting together more often if the group decides its necessary.
Re:People love working remotely
by eikenberry on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @01:50PM
(#20759534)
You can have different forms of meet-ups as well. My current company has the yearly gathering, plus the employees who live locally have a monthly lunch. None of them are on my team, but it still makes for some nice work-oriented socializing.