I attended a great panel discussion this week (via Zoom, of course) where a group of Product Managers shared their experiences leading remote product teams.
The session was chock full of good ideas. Some oldies-but-goodies but also some fresh challenges and suggestions that highlighted the many versions of “remote” operating out there – Remote-first, hybrid in-person/remote, and recently (and rapidly) remote due to the pandemic as well as those with teams in a varying number of time zones, from one to 14.
It was a good reminder that there is no one-size fits all solution – product leaders need to develop adaptive practices that fit their team’s unique configuration. Here are just a few of the highlights.
- “I miss whiteboard sessions with a designer.”
Those who had transitioned recently to remote lamented the loss of in-person whiteboarding sessions with one or more team members. Other panelists and audience members were generous with tool suggestions:
The upside of using these tools is that they can also be used asynchronously, and the content more easily preserved and shared for ongoing dialog and editing around the globe and/or around the clock.
2. “How do you create opportunities for the ‘happy accidents’ that occur in the office?”
The panelists rather universally bemoaned not having found an optimal solution and admitted that maintaining the social interaction aspects of work required more intentional effort. Here were some of their ideas:
- Recurring 30 min one-on-ones with people in related areas or roles
- Donut – a Slack add-on that facilitates social sharing
- Optional daily 30-min hangout
- Optional happy hour hangouts
3. “What are ways you offset the challenges of being on a distributed team?”
I heard several recurring themes in the panelists comments:
- Err on the side of overcommunicating.
- It’s important to provide explicit context for ideas, questions, and requests.
- A good process that supports equal participation is important.
- Making expectations clear is essential – for communicating, documenting, participating in decision processes, etc.
- Tools already in use, such as comments in the issue tracker, can also be used to keep people on the same page about particular challenges.
- A wiki, Slack, or the chat channel in MSTeams are helpful for ongoing asynchronous conversations.
4. “What are your suggestions for onboarding employees remotely?”
This one is challenging, but the panel members had all effectively onboarded one or more team members remotely, or had been remote-onboarded themselves. Here are a few of their ideas:
- Partner the new team member with a buddy.
- Make explicit introductions.
- Give the new hire a list of people with whom they should schedule meetings to start building relationships (or ask your new boss for such a list if they don’t provide one).
- Provide a list of all the collaboration tools being used and the purpose of each tool in the team’s work.
Create opportunities for the new member to introduce him/herself and share a bit of personal information – hobbies, children, pets, etc.
Bottom line: We’re all continuing to experiment with new ways of working as both our organizations and the available technologies evolve.
Great job by all the panelists!
- Caroling Lee
- Christine Luo
- Melissa Ushakov
- Dan Corbin – moderator
