
Ask HN: How might we improve working remotely? - gillis
Right now I believe that there is a gap between remote workers, their “workplaces,” and their colleagues.<p>Current tech-based solutions like Slack and Appear.in aren’t fully filling the gap between offline and online connection, so I am curious to hear your thoughts on what you might envision for a solution that assists remote workers so that they feel as if they’re working alongside the team, and that they are connected, no matter where they’re located…<p>I’m especially interested to hear how your organization may currently be tackling this and am keen to hear your personal insight as well.
======
mnmlsm
We've only started having more remote people about half a year ago, so not an
expert, but a great way we've used to tackle the absence of water cooler
conversations is using Donut - it's a Slack app that regularly pairs up random
team members for one-hour chats. It's a great way for getting to know people
you might not work with directly and improve collaboration. We also have daily
standup meetings and weekly meetings without a specific agenda (the agenda
fills up as a week goes by, and it's sometimes good to just chat and connect
too). Hope that helps :)

~~~
gillis
Thanks for your insight! I'm curious to know if you believe that the lack of
physical presence affects your working relationship with your remote works and
how that aspect is facilitated by Donut and stand up meetings?

~~~
mnmlsm
It is easier to work with people when you've met in person as well, but remote
works if you put in extra effort to make sure that everyone is up to speed. I
also forgot to mention that we to meet up with other team members once every
couple of months, and that helps too.

The standup meetings ensure that everyone on the team gets to share what
they're working on and if they need some assistance every day, and Donut calls
provide a good way to get to know people better and be more aware of what
everyone is working on - that way it's easier to approach a person if you
could use their help on a project.

