As a startup grows, the demand for specialized skills grow as well. With significant talent shortages for key technology positions, more startups and companies are resorting to remote employees as a long-term solution. Working in a different geographic location from the majority of the team makes it difficult to feel the same as a team member that’s in headquarters. It’s important for entrepreneurs to recognize this and go out of their way to make it the best situation possible.
Here are a few ideas for making remote employees feel more like they’re in the home office:
- Fly the team member to headquarters for one week per quarter to reconnect and celebrate with the team
- Incorporate Google Hangout or Skype Video into the weekly routine so that there’s a face-to-face connection (e.g. staff meetings, all hands meetings, etc)
- Coordinate trade show opportunities so that remote employees have a chance to work the booth or meet customers with other team members
Several or our employees work full-time from home and these techniques have worked well. With technology, effort, and the right personality types, remote employees are just as happy and effective as in-house team members.
What else? What are some other ideas for making remote employees feel more a part of the startup?
David Cummings on Startups 
These are great ideas! I have a few entrepreneur friends who struggle with this aspect. Working remotely is great to reduce overhead cost (especially for a start-up) but it’s always a challenge to still create the close working relationships needed for success.
Thanks for your post. Sometimes it’s just about reminding us of the common sense approaches which get lost along the way. Also maintaining your commitment schedule, just because someone is in front of you doesn’t mean you should postpone your booked in Skype time.