Succeeding Virtually — Part 1

Welcome to our first installment of Succeeding Virtually, a blog written specifically for software companies with a virtual office. At Genuitec, we have been working virtually for the last decade and over that time we have developed a number of tips and tricks to ensure our success. In this series of blog posts, our sales manager, Sara Konz, and I will be introducing you to a number of different techniques we use to ensure maximum productivity and work satisfaction.

• Real-time communication
• Collaboration & feedback
• Process & workflow facilitation
• Working without the whiteboard

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In today’s installment of this blog, we focus on the day to day medium for communication. At Genuitec, we have transitioned to using Slack for the last couple years. Like many, we had used other tech in the past, such as Skype, but have found the Slack structure adds key benefits. Two of the benefits with Slack are 1) the ease with which new members can join the company and find relevant channels of communication, and 2) the way in which you can integrate Slack with other aspects of your business. In our next post in this series we will talk a bit more about integrations such as having new priority tickets from key customers get quick attention.

We view Slack as a common vehicle to drive communication across the company. We have low traffic broadcast channels for simple things like vacation advisories with a Google Calendar integration or general messages about key events such as a recording of a company call for those who couldn’t attend real-time. We have team channels for internal team communication where you can share files and pin key information.

Like all mediums, it is important to keep the noise down and keep the right people on the right channels. In the case of changes to software release schedules, we have a #foo-alerts channel dedicated to key project changes. In short, a well-structured organization of channels where employees know to go for information is really a key step in helping you avoid communication overload, yet benefit from meaningful and timely communication.

Using channels for high productivity is obviously of great importance, however, one cannot discount the social importance as well. Virtual team building can be a great challenge, but having some channels just for casual chat is a great help. We have channels that allow those folks that are near to each other to discuss local activities, as well as channels just for fun chatter. These casual channels can lead to people feeling more connected and communicating more freely. We have found some really great ideas start with the “non-work” chats.

Here are a few guidelines to effective use of Slack:

• Keep high-chatter channels for small groups like #product-dev for internal team discussions.
• Keep advisory channels for larger teams to have a history of key changes such as #prod-alerts.
• Pin key information relevant to a chat such as pinning the Delivery Log doc to a #releases channel.
• Make sure to have some water cooler chats to help keep that friendly vibe going, like our LatAm team has #letstacoaboutit.