I’ll introduce what an Engineering Manager does and thinks about in a fully remote engineering organization.

📅This article is day 3 of the Engineering Manager Advent Calendar 2019.

Background Knowledge

Transitioned from Office-Based to Fully Remote Organization

I’ve been working as an Engineering Manager (EM) in an organization where most engineers basically came to the office since its founding in 2012, and in 2018 we switched to a fully remote-work-capable organization.

For details, please read フルリモートワーク対応企業 〜 Tokyo Otaku Mode エンジニアのリモートワーク遍歴.

Working Hours, Flex Time System, etc.

• Not a flex time system
• Can choose work start time between 8:30 - 10:30

Tools Supporting Fully Remote Work

I’ll introduce essential and useful tools for working in a fully remote organization.

• Chat tool: Slack
• Video conferencing tool: Zoom
• Voice text chat tool: Discord
• Kanban tool: Trello
• Development platform: GitHub

What I Keep in Mind as an EM in a Fully Remote Organization

Utilize Google Docs for 1on1s

Even before the fully remote work system was introduced, I’ve been using Google Docs as a communication notebook to write down things I want to discuss in 1on1s in advance.

I think sending what needs to be communicated via Slack DM each time would reduce engineers’ productivity, so except for urgent matters, I write things down in Google Docs and communicate them during 1on1s.

Attendance Communication via Slack #dev_attendance

Since work start times vary between 8:30 - 10:30 depending on the person, I think detailed attendance communication is essential in a fully remote organization.

So immediately after the fully remote work system was introduced, I created a #dev_attendance channel on Slack and had everyone write all attendance communications there.

Since work start times can change day by day, those communications are also all posted to Slack #dev_attendance.

Also, while in an office-based organization you could just tell someone sitting nearby “I’m going to the convenience store for a bit,” in fully remote work even such things need to be shared in detail or others won’t know, so such communications are posted by each person to a #twitter-username internal Twitter channel on Slack.

FAQ "Isn't Management Hard in Fully Remote Work?"

Answer: "Output is Everything"

Personally, I think working in a fully remote organization is very demanding.

In an office-based organization, you might be considered working just by coming to the office and sitting in your chair.

However, in a fully remote organization, you can only check work status online or offline, so if there’s no output, it’s reasonable to judge that no work was done.

Conversely, if there are people who think “they’re working” just by confirming someone came to the office and is there, they might want to reconsider that way of thinking.

That’s all from the Gemba.

※ This was the last day of bereavement leave so I published this first, but I’ll add and revise later if possible ✍️