Building remote teams 101

Hi folks!

If you’re a recent reader of my newsletter, you probably haven’t seen my small business playbooks.

I used to put them out once a week. Nothing fancy, just some basics of finance, sales, people ops, and operations. Straightforward solutions to the common problems people face in a small business.

Today I’m sharing the 101-level basics of how to build a remote team. (Before I go into detail at the free lecture next Friday.)

(By the way: if you want to read the other playbooks, you can browse them all here.)

Why build a remote team at all?

First, the elephant in the room: some businesses just don’t work remotely. You can’t fix cars or landscape gardens over Zoom. 

But almost every business could use at least some remote talent, and it’s a great way to access a broader talent pool than your local area. You can also lower overhead costs — less office space, lower bills, and you can even hire talent from other countries.

So how do you get the most out of a team that you don’t see face-to-face? 

Here’s my guide.

First, nail down your biggest reason for building a remote team. 

Are you trying to broaden your hiring pool? Do you want more flexibility for your existing team? Are you trying to lower your costs? 

Your main goal here will guide your future decisions.

Then, assess which of your positions are suitable for remote work or hybrid work.

A solid remote work policy sets the tone and expectations for your team. Try to answer all questions ahead of time.

Make this policy easily available to everybody in the company. If anyone has questions, post the answers for everyone to see. 

Hiring remotely often requires new strategies:

Equip your team with tools that support collaboration and productivity. You’ll probably need:

That last point might mean providing equipment for home office setups, or offering stipends for people to buy their own equipment. If you do a stipend, make sure to specify your hardware requirements.

Effective communication is the backbone of remote work. So cover all your bases.

Strong remote teams thrive on culture and connection. 

Start off on the right foot with thorough virtual onboarding. Set up lots of meet-and-greets and mentoring sessions for remote employees so they feel like part of the team.

Set up regular team activities, like virtual coffee breaks, game times, or casual Slack channels for unstructured interaction.

Finally, celebrate — whether it’s an individual or team achievement, a holiday, or a significant company milestone, share wins across your whole team to get people onboard.

Many managers are worried that remote workers won’t perform as well as in person. Address that concern head-on with clear goals and regular feedback.

Goals: set SMART goals. That is, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. (My quick dive into SMART goals here!)

Feedback: Schedule quarterly reviews and focus on outcomes rather than hours worked.

None of this stuff is rocket science. But it’s a solid laundry list to start from if this is your first time.

Ready to go beyond the basics? 

Join me and my co-founder Franco Pereyra for a free lecture:

How To Build Winning Remote Teams
Michael Girdley & Franco Pereyra
Fri, Jan 9th at 1pm

Franco’s company Near has placed more than 2,700 remote employees at businesses all over America.  

​We'll be going over some of the keys to success with remote teams:

RSVP for free right here.

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That’s it for today! 

Thanks for reading. 

Michael

P.S. If the straightforward playbook approach was helpful, check out my whole playbook library right here. Hope you like it!