Shishir's Guide to Distributed Teams

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4. IRL
4. IRL

Principle: Human connection matters

I've found that the ability for a team to work well distributed is greatly amplified if they have formed a baseline of personal connection and trust. There's just no substitution for face-to-face, "in real life" (IRL) interactions. Interestingly, it doesn't have to be constant; and if done well, an infrequent but memorable cadence can be even more impactful.

There are lots of ways to make your IRL time count. Claire Hughes Johnson, COO of Stripe, encourages teams to focus on

three things⁠

when they meet in person. Claire also has some great

icebreaker ideas⁠

that have been a big hit with my teams. The key is to make them memorable, and to focus on helping your team building connections.

Plan ahead and set a IRL frequency

I would advise teams to set a clear IRL frequency that gets the whole team together on a fixed annual schedule. It should be at least 1-2 times per year, and for teams that can afford it, I would aim for 4. Moreover, I would guide teams to structure these in a regular format that feels different enough from the everyday work experience that the right bonds and connections can be formed.

At Coda, we assemble the whole team together 4 times per year (once per quarter) for a quarterly

hackathon⁠

. Not only have some of our best ideas come of this tradition, but hackathons by nature also encourage unexpected teams to form. These connections make all the difference as people go back to their home offices.

Below is Coda's actual company calendar (dates and events are slightly modified). It sounds small, but planning the year out like this makes a big difference for members of your team. We also like to see the calendar in a table view to quickly identify periods where we don't have enough IRL interactions.

⁠

Here's⁠

a version you can copy and use for your own team.

January 2020

Month

Today

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

⁠

Week 1 of 13:

OKRs

⁠

Week 2 of 13:

Execution

⁠

Week 3 of 13:

Execution

⁠

Week 4 of 13:

Execution

⁠

Company Calendar

Company Calendar

Quarter

Name

Week Start

Week End

Stage

Special Events

Holidays

⁠

Week 1 of 13:

OKRs

⁠

1/6/2020

1/10/2020

OKRs

⁠

Week 2 of 13:

Execution

⁠

1/13/2020

1/17/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 3 of 13:

Execution

⁠

1/20/2020

1/24/2020

Execution

Martin Luther King

⁠

Week 4 of 13:

Execution

⁠

1/27/2020

1/31/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 5 of 13:

Execution

⁠

2/3/2020

2/7/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 6 of 13:

Hackathon

⁠

2/10/2020

2/14/2020

Hackathon

⁠

Week 7 of 13:

Execution

⁠

2/17/2020

2/21/2020

Execution

President's Day

⁠

Week 8 of 13:

Execution

⁠

2/24/2020

2/28/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 9 of 13:

Execution

⁠

3/2/2020

3/6/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 10 of 13:

Execution

⁠

3/9/2020

3/13/2020

Execution

Board meeting

⁠

Week 11 of 13:

Execution

⁠

3/16/2020

3/20/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 12 of 13:

Execution

⁠

3/23/2020

3/27/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 13 of 13:

Execution

⁠

3/30/2020

4/3/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 1 of 13:

OKRs

⁠

4/6/2020

4/10/2020

OKRs

⁠

Week 2 of 13:

Execution

⁠

4/13/2020

4/17/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 3 of 13:

Execution

⁠

4/20/2020

4/24/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 4 of 13:

Execution

⁠

4/27/2020

5/1/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 5 of 13:

Hackathon

⁠

5/4/2020

5/8/2020

Hackathon

⁠

Week 6 of 13:

Execution

⁠

5/11/2020

5/15/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 7 of 13:

Execution

⁠

5/18/2020

5/22/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 8 of 13:

Execution

⁠

5/25/2020

5/29/2020

Execution

Memorial Day

⁠

Week 9 of 13:

Execution

⁠

6/1/2020

6/5/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 10 of 13:

Execution

⁠

6/8/2020

6/12/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 11 of 13:

Execution

⁠

6/15/2020

6/19/2020

Execution

Board meeting

⁠

Week 12 of 13:

Execution

⁠

6/22/2020

6/26/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 13 of 13:

Execution

⁠

6/29/2020

7/3/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 1 of 13:

OKRs

⁠

7/6/2020

7/10/2020

OKRs

Independence Day

⁠

Week 2 of 13:

Execution

⁠

7/13/2020

7/17/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 3 of 13:

Execution

⁠

7/20/2020

7/24/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 4 of 13:

Execution

⁠

7/27/2020

7/31/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 5 of 13:

Execution

⁠

8/3/2020

8/7/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 6 of 13:

Hackathon

⁠

8/10/2020

8/14/2020

Hackathon

Summer trip

⁠

Week 7 of 13:

Execution

⁠

8/17/2020

8/21/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 8 of 13:

Execution

⁠

8/24/2020

8/28/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 9 of 13:

Execution

⁠

8/31/2020

9/4/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 10 of 13:

Execution

⁠

9/7/2020

9/11/2020

Execution

Labor Day

⁠

Week 11 of 13:

Execution

⁠

9/14/2020

9/18/2020

Execution

Board meeting

⁠

Week 12 of 13:

Execution

⁠

9/21/2020

9/25/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 13 of 13:

Execution

⁠

9/28/2020

10/2/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 1 of 13:

OKRs

⁠

10/5/2020

10/9/2020

OKRs

⁠

Week 2 of 13:

Execution

⁠

10/12/2020

10/16/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 3 of 13:

Execution

⁠

10/19/2020

10/23/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 4 of 13:

Execution

⁠

10/26/2020

10/30/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 5 of 13:

Execution

⁠

11/2/2020

11/6/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 6 of 13:

Execution

⁠

11/9/2020

11/13/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 7 of 13:

Execution

⁠

11/16/2020

11/20/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 8 of 13:

Execution

⁠

11/23/2020

11/27/2020

Execution

Thanksgiving

⁠

Week 9 of 13:

Execution

⁠

11/30/2020

12/4/2020

Execution

Board meeting

⁠

Week 10 of 13:

Hackathon

⁠

12/7/2020

12/11/2020

Hackathon

Holiday party

⁠

Week 11 of 13:

Execution

⁠

12/14/2020

12/18/2020

Execution

⁠

Week 12 of 13:

Execution

⁠

12/21/2020

12/25/2020

Execution

Christmas

⁠

Week 13 of 13:

Execution

⁠

12/28/2020

1/1/2021

Execution

New Years

Count

⁠

👉 Next up:

5. Fun!⁠

⁠

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4. IRL4. IRL

Principle: Human connection matters

Plan ahead and set a IRL frequency

January 2020

4. IRL
4. IRL