You’ve hired seven people, spread across 5 different time zones. You’re optimistic about your team; you’ve chosen them well and are looking forward to what you’ll build together. But now the easy part is done (hiring), you have to build that distributed team as a cohesive unit.

This is a challenge that all teams have, it isn’t specific to distributed team. But it is a challenge that all distributed team knows they need to tackle. When the team is all collocated, sometimes …

There’s a world of difference between a 100% remote business and a business where remote work is the exception. If you work remotely and are in that 2nd group, here are 7 tips to help you succeed in that situation.

Look for a 100% remote environment, or at least a remote friendly place

Might seem obvious, but isn’t. You have many reasons to work where you’re working. So think about this, be honest with yourself, and verify if it is really worth it. 100% remote and remote …

For most things, whether a startup is remote or not doesn’t make much difference in what you need. The tools you need depends on what you are actually building, not how your business is organized. But there are 3 needs that are crucial for remote startups. They all revolve around communication.

As the business and the team grows and mature, like all things the tools you used will evolve. Some will be added, some will be abandoned, that’s expected. As such, it is better to …

No problems are specific to remote work. Every time someone claims “this is a problem with remote work”, it is wrong. All the problems you have in a remote work environment, you actually have them in an office environment too. ALL of them!

There are two main reasons why people think some problems are specific to remote work environment :

1. They confuse symptoms for problems;
2. They are blind to the fact that the problem is present in the office environment too.

Confusing …

The purpose of a job interview is two fold :

1. Employer figures out if he wants you
2. You figure out if you want to work with them

Many people forget about that 2nd point, but it is equally important. Now, to figure out if you want to work with them, you can ask questions. But you can also learn a lot from the interview process itself and how its conducted. You just have to pay attention to what is (not) said.

How are they conducting the interview process?

Openness about the …

Learning comes from all activities, and interacting with children actually teach you many great lessons applicable to leadership. Or is it the other way around? That’s a debate for another day. Whether you have kids or not, those lessons are relevant for anyone in a leadership position or looking for it.

When you say you’ll do something, do it.

Best way to gain trust, respect and credibility is to do what you’ve told you’ll do. Even if it’s a small thing, or you think it …

Everything starts for good reasons. When you start a new project, getting a cadence, a sense of progress, a way to see the journey done so far and what lies ahead provide benefits. But has you progress, it is time to revisit this cadence.

Choosing a sprint length at the start of each sprint is a waste of energy. Experiment with a couple of lengths, make a decision, and stick with it until there is a significant reason to change. — Mike Cohn

Sprint duration gets fixed …