AirTreks (a leader in multi-stop international travel)
We are also supporting 7-10 am “core hours” PST Monday through Friday where everyone should be available for meetings whenever needed, regardless of the time zone in which you stay. I think everyone is mindful of remaining focused on our goals so that we don’t burden each other with too much need for cooperation and diminish our capacity to quickly become available to each other.
AnswerConnect (a live call answering service firm)
Around AnswerConnect there is a constant buzz about communication. We’re still able to communicate to each other with all the channels for chat, video call, email, etc. We don’t have tough and fast reaction time rules, and our applications allow us to see what our teammates are working on, so this helps shape a general expectation around fast reactions.
Bitovi (software engineering consultants)
We have no clear expectations of contact set for our team. As far as reacting to messages is concerned, it depends on a variety of factors and we trust our staff to make the final call on when they have time to reply and what is acceptable for the situation. There are two main communication-related issues we overemphasize which are part of our core operating principles: set expectations and ask questions.
GitHub (a subsidiary of Microsoft)
It depends on the team. I don’t know about any teams in our business that require response times for internal communication, but a number of teams have developed daily schedules for video calls, stand-ups and contact routines to help ensure that the entire team remains on the same page over time. There are certain areas such as Support and Operations where we are deliberately hiring so that we can have round coverage 24/7.
Google (online search and advertising)
We enable remote work, meetings, and tools. We expect people to work their normal hours and to be responsive to online chats and updates. We hire people we trust and we have a trusting culture for work. We dog-food our own products. This means we consume the software we make for the world. We value speed and if working from home we want speed and virtual collaboration to drive product decisions.
Groove (help desk software)
We have regular stand-ups in Slack and expectations for reacting to customer service requests, but other than that, we didn’t have to put in place any other rules. Our team knows how important communication is and how important the time is for everyone, so that wasn’t a problem.
ICUC Social (ICUC provides safety, connection and understanding for global clients)
We don’t have clear standards of contact. We focus on performance and jobs and not people management. When a project is urgent, and needs an employee to act promptly, this is the expectation. The freedom that ICUC careers offer creates a desire to have such freedom at all times and as such people are made aware of how important their results are to preserve their positions.
Melewi (Product, UX & UI design studio)
We have a strict 4-hour work cycle with the whole team where all of our contacts, meetings and catch-ups are taking place. Each day we have a regular stand-up with the entire team and make sure we spend some time talking (with our videos on!).
Packlane (online printing company)
We have guidelines and they apply, including leadership, for everyone. For instance, if something isn’t urgent, we strongly encourage emails instead of chat — especially outside the working hours of someone. Another example is that if someone on the team is going to be unavailable over a workday for more than two hours, they need to notify their manager and their team.
