Key Questions To Ask Your New Remote Employer

Being a culture fit is important for both employees and employers. If you are not a good fit it is best to move on to other opportunities. Differences in communication styles, values, behaviors, and norms are exaggerated on a remote team. It is okay to be critical of a remote team culture as it is your new office environment. Before accepting job offers in the past have you considered aspects of the job outside of your specific responsibilities? Of course you have. There are many things you would have considered both consciously and subconsciously:

• The office environment.
• The office location.
• Each individual in the interview process.
• Each individual in the office environment.
• The office perks.
• The local lunch and happy hour spots.
• Accessibility to your team.
• Accessibility to your manager.
• Accessibility to company leadership.
• Team building events.
• Travel.
• Growth opportunities.

There are so many other things that you evaluate before joining a team. When joining a remote team there is an entirely new list of things to think about when looking at new opportunities. Just like you, there are many things that leadership needs to learn about remote work management and processes. Don’t take for grant their ability to communicate effectively. Here are some great questions to ask when evaluating a remote job:

Have They Done This Before?

Just like anything else, experience helps. That does not mean that they are good at it or that they have dialed their processes, it just means that they have made an attempt. Better than nothing.

Who Will Be Your Main Contact For Any Help You Need?

When working remotely there is no longer an army of people lounging around when you need them. You need to have a clear understanding of who is going to help you with what, especially when that is not clear. Often time managers or supervisors have additional responsibility and are not available. What happens if you disturb them? Who else can you ask?

What Tools Are They Using For Each Type Of Communication?

The tool itself does not necessarily matter. You may have your preferences. The important part is that they already know exactly how things like project management, 1-on-1 meetings, team meetings, random questions, customer meetings, casual conversation, etc. are handled.

What Lessons Have They Learned From Remote Work?

Don’t be shy, remote work is not actually the norm. It is okay to question their growing pains. If they have never had a problem and everything works perfectly then you know they have no idea what they are doing. Be especially concerned if your supervisor tells you they have unlimited time for anything you need.

Time Zones?

Will you be attending meetings with team members around the world? Are you going to be getting Slack notifications at all hours of the night? Working with a global team is great, but you need to be prepared.

Can You Make Your Own Schedule?

This is one of the best parts of remote work! No more clocking in at 9:00 am sharp after a 30-minute commute. Outside of meetings you know when you work best, so how much influence do you have on your day?

How Does Onboarding Work?

The first week of work is always confusing, so make sure you know how it is going to work. Everything will need to be scheduled as it is much harder to casually catch up with colleagues. Simply being casually introduced or connected with someone does not create a clear understanding of why you are meeting them and the agenda that you have.

How Does Socializing Work?

What kind of events or activities does that team put on so that employees get to know each other? There are so many relationship-building challenges in remote work, it is important that they have a plan so that you do not feel isolated. This could include company retreats, trivia, icebreakers, coffee chats, casual chats, etc.

Conclusion

There are so many great questions to ask around remote work. If you or the company has never done it before then it is important to understand how you both plan to overcome very common challenges around communication, relationship building, productivity, and isolation. Since you are not able to have a day in the life at the office or shadow a team member it is best that you get a solid outline of what your day will look like and what the expectations are.

About ChatFox

ChatFox is a Slack chatbot that builds remote teams and culture. Remote teams that only engage through projects, tasks, and deadlines do not foster a culture around shared values and goals. Build a strong remote team culture, improve remote team productivity, and eliminate team member isolation. Use ChatFox Icebreakers to build rapport with team members, use ChatFox Coffee Chats to have meaningful conversations with people across your organization, or use ChatFox Shout Outs to recommend a colleague and endorse their skills. Unlike other remote team solutions, ChatFox looks at remote team culture from a strategic perspective and has created engaging chats for your team that provide management with insights into remote team engagement, skills, contributions, and mobility.