With the increasing need to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by working from home, M13 held a webinar on remote work hosted by M13’s Partner and Head of Talent Matt Hoffman featuring:
- Jessica Marucci, Head of People and Places, Catalyst Software
- Mark Frein, Chief People Officer, Lambda School
- Megan Wheeler, Director of Recruiting and Leadership Trainer, LifeLabs Learning
We’re navigating a space where this isn’t everyone’s chosen path.
Megan Wheeler
Here are a few key takeaways:
- Acknowledge the anxiety of going remote and that it isn’t people’s chosen path; we’re doing this in the interest and the safety of our community.
- Be mindful that work setups may not be optimal. Some colleagues have young children at home and they neither the child who wants their attention (see BBC dad) nor the parent did not anticipate work to be like this.
- Accept the learning curve of going fully remote (“people didn’t sign up for this environment!”), encourage questions in the ramp-up, and give colleagues tools to gain confidence and succeed. Identify and practice digital etiquette such as being okay with awkward pauses as we wait for our colleagues to speak up on video chats.
For a lot of people, this is a first-time experience, and we’re in a world where there’s a lot of anxiety in general.
Matt Hoffman
What are some best practices for keeping remote teams connected?
What (tech) tools enable remote work?
- Electric AI is ideal for clients transitioning to remote work for outsourced IT side.
- Provide information and training, support for how to use the tools, and encourage questions (“How do I create breakout rooms in Zoom?”).
- Learn COVID-19 etiquette. Embrace the pause, and avoid side conversations.
- Make tech as simple and interconnected as possible. That may require making hard choices about simplicity. Physical companies can give more local autonomy and collaborative tools but remote requires centralization for tools like video technology.
- Create boundaries. Develop processes for young children (a sign on the door with red for please don’t come in and green for welcome) and family. Remind friends and family that just because you’re home doesn’t mean you can catch up or do the laundry and the dishes right away.
How do you manage performance when you can’t see it?
Resources we love
- Going Remote, Overnight: A Practical Guide to Help Your Team Work From Home: Understand the principles of crisis communications, and more. [Bunch]
- The Distributed Workplace: Panelist Mark Frein discusses the philosophy of remote work. [Medium]
- Werq from Home: How to Ace Being Remote: Panelist Jessica Marucci, recommends these tactical best practices. [Morningmindmeld.com]
- The Complete Remote Work Playbook: Learn how to set up work-from-home spaces, get ideas for virtual team building, and more. [LifeLabs Learning]
- How to Be an Ally in Times of Xenophobia: Get tips for building empathy through education. [LifeLabs Learning]
- Return-to-Workplace Discussion Guide: More than 1,000 companies contributed to this comprehensive guide. [LifeLabs Learning]
- The Ultimate Remote Work Guide: Don’t overlook these pitfalls of working remotely. [LifeLabs Learning]
With the increasing need to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by working from home, M13 held a webinar on remote work hosted by M13’s Partner and Head of Talent Matt Hoffman featuring:
- Jessica Marucci, Head of People and Places, Catalyst Software
- Mark Frein, Chief People Officer, Lambda School
- Megan Wheeler, Director of Recruiting and Leadership Trainer, LifeLabs Learning
We’re navigating a space where this isn’t everyone’s chosen path.
Megan Wheeler
Here are a few key takeaways:
- Acknowledge the anxiety of going remote and that it isn’t people’s chosen path; we’re doing this in the interest and the safety of our community.
- Be mindful that work setups may not be optimal. Some colleagues have young children at home and they neither the child who wants their attention (see BBC dad) nor the parent did not anticipate work to be like this.
- Accept the learning curve of going fully remote (“people didn’t sign up for this environment!”), encourage questions in the ramp-up, and give colleagues tools to gain confidence and succeed. Identify and practice digital etiquette such as being okay with awkward pauses as we wait for our colleagues to speak up on video chats.
For a lot of people, this is a first-time experience, and we’re in a world where there’s a lot of anxiety in general.
Matt Hoffman
What are some best practices for keeping remote teams connected?
What (tech) tools enable remote work?
- Electric AI is ideal for clients transitioning to remote work for outsourced IT side.
- Provide information and training, support for how to use the tools, and encourage questions (“How do I create breakout rooms in Zoom?”).
- Learn COVID-19 etiquette. Embrace the pause, and avoid side conversations.
- Make tech as simple and interconnected as possible. That may require making hard choices about simplicity. Physical companies can give more local autonomy and collaborative tools but remote requires centralization for tools like video technology.
- Create boundaries. Develop processes for young children (a sign on the door with red for please don’t come in and green for welcome) and family. Remind friends and family that just because you’re home doesn’t mean you can catch up or do the laundry and the dishes right away.
How do you manage performance when you can’t see it?
Resources we love
- Going Remote, Overnight: A Practical Guide to Help Your Team Work From Home: Understand the principles of crisis communications, and more. [Bunch]
- The Distributed Workplace: Panelist Mark Frein discusses the philosophy of remote work. [Medium]
- Werq from Home: How to Ace Being Remote: Panelist Jessica Marucci, recommends these tactical best practices. [Morningmindmeld.com]
- The Complete Remote Work Playbook: Learn how to set up work-from-home spaces, get ideas for virtual team building, and more. [LifeLabs Learning]
- How to Be an Ally in Times of Xenophobia: Get tips for building empathy through education. [LifeLabs Learning]
- Return-to-Workplace Discussion Guide: More than 1,000 companies contributed to this comprehensive guide. [LifeLabs Learning]
- The Ultimate Remote Work Guide: Don’t overlook these pitfalls of working remotely. [LifeLabs Learning]
Read more
The views expressed here are those of the individual M13 personnel quoted and are not the views of M13 Holdings Company, LLC (“M13”) or its affiliates. This content is for general informational purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal, business, investment, tax or other advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters and should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of this content. This content is not directed to any investors or potential investors, is not an offer or solicitation and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or solicitation with respect to any current or future M13 investment partnership. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Unless otherwise noted, this content is intended to be current only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in funds managed by M13, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by M13 is available at m13.co/portfolio.