I have a regular weekly 1:1 with each staff member (a while back I proposed making them bi-weekly but alas they insisted on maintaining this cadence... it's a lot more work for me, but it's what they need) to see how they're individually doing and to make sure they have what they need.
We also have a regular team checkin to update on overall company status, discuss issues, etc.
Through those mechanisms plus regular communication over Slack, email, ad hoc calls, etc, we stay connected and aligned.
Meanwhile, I stay in contact with my management colleagues so we're in sync laterally and all pulling in the same direction.
This isn't rocket science. It's not even that difficult. You just have to be a bit more intentional about staying in touch and connected with folks.
If anything it reinforces for me how important effective middle management is, as done well, it serves as vital glue to keep a remote workforce connected.
Now, I'm not gonna lie, when we first went full remote I was concerned that the 1:1's would be less effective, simply due to lack of body language, etc. But I'll freely admit I was wrong on that point. In fact, we hired and onboarded a new senior staff member during the pandemic and it went as well as any previous onboarding we've done. Though it's a bit strange realizing I've never actually spoken to him in person...
At this point I think I'd be comfortable going full remote, maybe with the odd in-person get-together just to celebrate successes and so forth. I suspect the only thing stopping us is some older school senior management who aren't yet comfortable with that idea.
Off-topic but weekly 1:1s are nuts. I would’ve gladly taken you up on biweekly. I think for me every 3 weeks would be ideal because I do biweekly and it always feels like just a liiiitle too much.
I take it as a compliment that my staff get enough out of them that they feel weekly is worth their time. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a giant pain in the ass some weeks. I very much enjoy 1:1's and try to put some real thought and effort into them but they're pretty taxing as a consequence...
Yeah I’m definitely not trying to point fingers, it was just surprising to me. The vast majority of my 1:1s are awesome, and I’ve had some really great conversations, but every so often I find I don’t have much to talk about and I have to google some topics to talk to my manager about lol
Lol, yeah, the other thing I try to remind my staff is that the 1:1 is primarily for them, not me. So if they need the time back or have nothing to discuss, unless I have something important, I'm fine if we just cancel (this is especially common when someone takes days off around the weekend... there ain't much to say if there's only been two work days since the last 1:1!)
A 1:1 has a specific purpose. If it becomes a mindless ritual it loses its value.
I have daily "1:1s" with my manager. I think of what has to change for WFH is that people understand that not every video call is a "meeting". Some of those calls are taking the place of the coffee/lunch conversations that were happening before.
If "1:1" here means those awful 360 review meetings then I can see not wanting to do them weekly (we don't explicitly do those at all anymore) but for me it's just keeping the communication channel open explicitly (as opposed to by happenstance).
I have a regular weekly 1:1 with each staff member (a while back I proposed making them bi-weekly but alas they insisted on maintaining this cadence... it's a lot more work for me, but it's what they need) to see how they're individually doing and to make sure they have what they need.
We also have a regular team checkin to update on overall company status, discuss issues, etc.
Through those mechanisms plus regular communication over Slack, email, ad hoc calls, etc, we stay connected and aligned.
Meanwhile, I stay in contact with my management colleagues so we're in sync laterally and all pulling in the same direction.
This isn't rocket science. It's not even that difficult. You just have to be a bit more intentional about staying in touch and connected with folks.
If anything it reinforces for me how important effective middle management is, as done well, it serves as vital glue to keep a remote workforce connected.
Now, I'm not gonna lie, when we first went full remote I was concerned that the 1:1's would be less effective, simply due to lack of body language, etc. But I'll freely admit I was wrong on that point. In fact, we hired and onboarded a new senior staff member during the pandemic and it went as well as any previous onboarding we've done. Though it's a bit strange realizing I've never actually spoken to him in person...
At this point I think I'd be comfortable going full remote, maybe with the odd in-person get-together just to celebrate successes and so forth. I suspect the only thing stopping us is some older school senior management who aren't yet comfortable with that idea.