How to communicate effectively with growing remote teams

Mindnow is a multinational and multi-talented company that is operating in different countries, with a tendency to spread across even more places. One of my main responsibilities as an HR Manager is to make sure my colleagues have everything they need to do a great job. Sometimes I wish I could be at every location where my team works, so I could regularly see everyone’s facial expression. With people being working from across the whole of Europe, it’s not possible, unfortunately. The good news is that we’re used to being online and we do a pretty good job with staying connected at Mindnow.

Growth brings new challenges

Since 2021, we’ve been hiring a lot of new talents at Mindnow. Even though the team had been very experienced with remote work before, teams becoming bigger and bigger was a challenge in terms of keeping communication smooth.

Meeting-free Wednesday

At some point, it became more necessary than ever to cut unnecessary meetings and let teammates organize their time the best they could. That’s why we introduced a meeting-free day. On Wednesday, no video calls are scheduled – unless all people involved actively want to have a particular meeting on that day.

Anonymous feedback

With our continuous growth, we also started using Officevibe more extensively. It’s a great tool to share thoughts or leave feedback completely anonymously. The answers give us – the Mindnow’s management team – a solid basis to decide which way we should go, or which ideas to support.

Structured and step-by-step onboarding

With our plan to hire more (remote) talents, also our onboarding process has become more structured. Instead of an intensive start, we designed the onboarding to be interesting and step-by-step. The point is not to make our new hires overwhelmed but to make their first few days memorable and eventful.

Read more about our onboarding process and the tools we use at Mindnow in our article How to nail remote work.

Ideas and proactivity welcome

Our communication is based on trust, in the first place. That means you are not just a simple developer or designer who gets a list of tasks and ticks one after another in a given timeframe. Instead, you are supposed to proactively solve a problem, together with your team. You are encouraged to speak up and bring your ideas to the table to find the best possible solution to the problem.

Leadership course at Mindnow

To push the team’s communication skills even further, I conducted a dedicated online workshop series last year. The idea was to try something new and to talk about topics that are not technically related to our usual tasks. 

Of course, a leadership role is not for everyone, however, the workshop was open for everyone to work on their soft skills and to become a better team player, a colleague that everybody would love to work with. Together with potential future leaders at Mindnow, we discussed the concept of active listening, the importance of empathy, and the power of effective communication.

I enjoyed seeing how people got to know each other better and embraced the chance to see other people’s skills besides the technical perspective. The overall feedback for the leadership course was positive, so we’ll probably have another round with Minds who are interested in taking on more responsibilities!

Entrepreneurial atmosphere

Have you ever been in a situation where you got a task which you didn’t understand quite well? Probably yes because this is normal. That’s why we encourage our Minds to ask questions.

Especially when working remotely, you need to actively avoid confusion and create accountability. An entrepreneurial atmosphere works miracles. When you know your voice is heard and you’re encouraged to treat the company like it’s your own, you want to understand every detail and you dare to do things you’ve never tried before.

That’s why we’re looking for people who are not afraid to ask questions, take responsibility for their actions, and have a sense of ownership. Supported and trusted by colleagues and management, our Minds are empowered to feel self-confident to fulfill their duties how they believe it’s best.

Conclusion: Healthy communication is worth it

At Mindnow, we really invest time and energy into healthy communication. We see that it results in increased productivity and self-confidence within the team. Our great communicators are not only able to speak to people but to empower them to speak to each other.

Every team member is valuable and here for a reason. It’s not that important how much experience you have or how long you’ve been working here as long as you’re not afraid to bring in your ideas. If you’re a person who enjoys freedom in making decisions, or if you’re curious to try something new, you might find Mindnow a good place to work.

Also, if you have a digital product to be developed and need a team that knows how to communicate effectively, think about us.