Remote Hiring: A Panel Discussion About How to Hire Successfully

In this panel discussion, we analyze and discuss the ins and outs of remote hiring. One of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic was that working remotely and with that, remote hiring, suddenly became a substantial part of mainstream business practices.

The question however is, how do you find the right people and eventually hire them without actually meeting them in person. With those questions in mind, on June 17, 2020, Silicon Garden hosted the We Are Online panel consisting of three international speakers with highly diverse backgrounds. They discussed how to successfully hire remotely, a process that does require a different way of thinking and approach than a traditional hiring process.

Our panel consisted of these three inspiring speakers:

• Marcus Wermuth, Engineering Manager at Buffer, emphasized the concept of intentionality: it’s important to really consider and analyze every single step of the hiring process and think about the intentions that are behind it.

• Michael Peter, HR Director at Bitmovin, focused on the set of expectations that HR managers and recruiters might have for candidates and argued that self-knowledge and a heightened sense of self-awareness will be a key factor in estimating your expectations for others.

• Surabhi, IT Consultant at the international specialist recruitment agency Robert Walters, emphasized the importance of clear, transparent communication and shared various tips on how to improve communication with possible candidates.

In this panel discussion, we analyze and discuss the ins and outs of remote hiring. One of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic was that working remotely and with that, remote hiring, suddenly became a substantial part of mainstream business practices.

The question however is, how do you find the right people and eventually hire them without actually meeting them in person. With those questions in mind, on June 17, 2020, Silicon Garden hosted the We Are Online panel consisting of three international speakers with highly diverse backgrounds. They discussed how to successfully hire remotely, a process that does require a different way of thinking and approach than a traditional hiring process.

Our panel consisted of these three inspiring speakers:

• Marcus Wermuth, Engineering Manager at Buffer, emphasized the concept of intentionality: it’s important to really consider and analyze every single step of the hiring process and think about the intentions that are behind it.

• Michael Peter, HR Director at Bitmovin, focused on the set of expectations that HR managers and recruiters might have for candidates and argued that self-knowledge and a heightened sense of self-awareness will be a key factor in estimating your expectations for others.

• Surabhi, IT Consultant at the international specialist recruitment agency Robert Walters, emphasized the importance of clear, transparent communication and shared various tips on how to improve communication with possible candidates.

Considering the current, unpredictable state of the pandemic, there’s no question that remote work is here to stay. Working remotely or hiring remotely isn’t necessarily more difficult and the current change in the way that companies have to work also creates plenty of opportunities to create a more streamlined business approach. Remote work and hiring remotely don’t have to impact your effectiveness, it’s just a matter of getting used to the right set of tools, methods and approaches.

Culture & Collaboration Remotely: A Presentation by Laïla von Alvensleben (Mural)

One of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic was that working from home no longer was considered to be a luxury, but rather the standard for any company that wanted to thrive in times of a pandemic. Working from home however, is a modus operandi that plenty of companies and employees are already familiar with, which means that we also have the resources and knowledge to guide those for whom it’s still a new working practice and guide them to a productive, collaborative work environment.

This is why Silicon Garden hosted a presentation by Laïla von Alvensleben for We Are Online. She works as Head of Culture and Collaboration at MURAL where she works within a distributed team of 150 employees and was the ideal candidate to host a presentation on striking the balance between WFH (Working from Home) and finding a way to connect with your teams. She coaches and advises people, teams and organisations on remote work. She has been working remotely since 2014 and is convinced that people worldwide can benefit from what she calls a “way of living” that goes beyond work. She has made it her mission to enable distributed teams to cultivate a successful remote working culture that will empower them to work from anywhere.

In her presentation on April 29, 2020, she covered topics such as:

• Why it’s important to keep the three 3 C’s in sight at all times: Culture, Communication and Collaboration

• How culture will play a role in having productive, healthy remote work-relationships

• Which tools she considers essential for people who work from home

• The mindset that you need in order to create and sustain happy, thriving remote teams

• Useful tips and best practices for working from home.

When restructuring your company to work remotely, it’s important to not only work with the right set of tools but also to consider what type of company culture you want to build over the following years. There’s no question that remote work will be here to stay and if you now spend some time clearly outlining your goals, methods and approaches for remote work, you’ll be more in control over the kind of work culture that you’ll have over the next couple of years.

Happy and Productive as Remote Team: A Panel Discussion by We Are Online

The Covid-19 pandemic meant that many people all of a sudden found themselves to be working in a remote setup. They had little to no time to prepare nor did they get the chance to test it out in a secure environment. That’s why on March 20, Silicon Garden hosted a first-aid meetup with the We Are Online team. We invited four international speakers with diverse backgrounds in working remotely. They discussed how to organize remote work in a team context and ensure happy, productive employees, especially in times of a pandemic.

Our panel consisted of these four inspiring speakers:

• June Bolneo, a Remote Work Advocate, Globalization Lead at Grow Remote and Founder of Work Remote, talked about how you can keep your team productive during a pandemic, remotely.

• Gonçalo Hall, the Founder of the Remote Work Movement Podcast, Remote Work evangelist and Digital Nomad, discussed how you can use remote teamwork to become a far better team and company than you might have ever thought possible

• Michael Laussegger, who is an Agile Product Coach & Remote Work Advocate, talked about how to nurture positive relationships with employees and team members that only improved even more thanks to remote work

• Nora Goerne, a UX Designer & Remote Work Advocate, emphasized the importance of selecting a remote leader who makes the decisions when it comes to the strategy, tools and organization when transitioning to remote work.

The panel was moderated by Oliver Perner, Enterprise Agile Coach and Management Consultant, and featured sketchnoting by Esther Schramm, Scrum Master, Coach and Consultant at Schwerpunkt Mindful Communication.

In our discussion, we wanted to utilize the power of the remote work community and help those that were pushed into remote work all too suddenly. There’s a substantial difference between choosing to work remotely under normal circumstances versus being forced to in times of a pandemic. It’s from this angle that we approach various issues, problems and challenges:

• How to have and nurture productive, approachable and happy team members

• How to find the right balance between human needs such as empathy, communication, focus time and alignment, coordination and productivity

• How to create and maintain agile teams that have always relied heavily on face-to-face communication

• Which tools can help to create agile, remote, productive and happy teams

For many reasons, remote work is here to stay but it is important to be aware of the possible risks and problems it might create for teams who might not be used to working remotely. However, with the right tools suited to your needs and the right mindset, you’ll find that it doesn’t have to be such a daunting challenge and in the long run, will ensure that your company comes out of the pandemic stronger and more agile.