Building Trust in a Remote Work Environment

Remote work challenge: How do you build a connected culture when teams are miles apart? At Bunny Studio we’ve discovered that intentional connection is the foundation of our remote culture. This means consistently reinforcing our values while creating spaces where every team member feels seen and valued. Four initiatives that have transformed our remote culture: 🔸 Weekly Town Halls where teams showcase their impact, creating visibility across departments. 🔸 Digital Recognition through our dedicated Slack “kudos” channel, celebrating wins both big and small. 🔸 Random Coffee Connections via Donut, pairing colleagues for 15-minute conversations that break down silos. 🔸 Strategic Bonding Events that pull us away from routines to build genuine connections. Beyond these programs, we’ve learned two critical lessons: 1. Hiring people who thrive in collaborative environments is non-negotiable. 2. Avoiding rigid specialization prevents isolation and encourages cross-functional thinking. The strongest organizational cultures aren’t imposed from above—they’re co-created by everyone. In a remote environment, this co-creation requires deliberate, consistent effort. 🤝 What’s working in your remote culture? I’d love to hear your strategies.

Remote work only works when people feel connected. That’s the hardest and most important part of being a remote manager. I was hired during the pandemic and have now spent four years managing a fully remote technical team. Last year, I brought my team to Muir Woods. We stepped away from screens, walked under redwoods that have stood for centuries, and just… talked. No slide decks. No Slack notifications. Just people, connecting. That day reminded me: 👉 Remote work only works when leaders build connection with intention. Here’s what I’ve learned managing remotely for four years: 🌲 Clarity or chaos. Without crystal-clear OKRs, people drift. 🌲 Hire adults. A senior team that can self-manage is non-negotiable. 🌲 Respect human rhythms. Some work at 6 AM, others at midnight. Flexibility builds trust. 🌲 Norms > assumptions. Define core hours and Slack expectations—or miscommunication will do it for you. 🌲 Meet IRL. Even once or twice a year. No Google Meet call replaces breaking bread or walking trails together. 🌲 1:1s are lifelines. Weekly conversations (and sometimes same-day check-ins) stop issues from festering. 🌲 Recognition matters. A quick shout-out in a virtual call or Slack message makes people feel seen, valued, and motivated. 🌲 Make progress visible. Jira epics, Kanban, monthly reviews. visibility = accountability. And right now, as remote jobs are being cut faster than in-office ones, two things matter more than ever: 💡 Show value. Invisible work too often looks like no work. 💡 Work loud. Share updates. Celebrate wins. Make your contributions known. Remote leadership isn’t easy. But when it’s done right, you don’t just manage a team—you build a resilient, independent group of people who can thrive anywhere.

“You can’t spend a lot of time hiring grown-ups and then treat them like children.” – Katarina Berg, Spotify CHR Well, what's great about children is they have the most creative minds, endless energy, love to communicate and are generally pretty happy! That said, I'm actually very much in agreement with Spotify's statement on remote work. At SponsorUnited, we embraced a fully remote / distributed model from the very beginning - Entrusting nearly 𝟯,𝟬𝟬𝟬 individuals—many still in college or just starting their careers—to help lead us from a time when we had no website or platform for that matter, to becoming the 𝟭𝟰𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮. Today, we’re trusted by over 𝟮𝟱𝟬 multi-billion dollar companies valued, including 𝟵𝟵% of all pro sports franchises and leagues and the world’s largest brands. We didn’t achieve this by micromanaging or treating our teams like children. In fact, our teams have delivered over 𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 of work in an environment where no one was physically watching them. Every single person who’s been part of SponsorUnited has contributed immensely to our success. So, how did we do it? We built our foundation on trust, supported by the following key traits: 1️⃣ 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Ensuring we know what matters to people, what they care about and what genuinely will get them excited. 2️⃣ 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Investing in making everyone smarter, sharper, and better (starts with a commitment from the top) 3️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Fostering alignment and teamwork to make collaboration seamless (how you treat the little things is what ultimately impacts the big things) 4️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Clearing obstacles and focusing on what truly matters (reminding people what really matters both in work and life) 5️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Demonstrating that what seems impossible is actually possible (easier said than done, but encouraging the sharing of wins, triumphs and tribulations helps) 6️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Leveraging platforms to share, align, and continuously improve (we use Slack, Zoom, ClickUp, Atlassian, Salesforce, Figma amongst others) Yes, it’s hard. But so is running a company with an office, which can often be a crutch as well—you may assume the important things (like communication or alignment) are happening simply because everyone’s in the same room. But you can't assume that. Time in office doesn't equal effectiveness or happiness. When you strip offices away, you’re forced to be really intentional, to strengthen relationships, and to truly weave trust and accountability into the fabric of your team. At the end of the day, success in today’s world is going to look different than in the past. The next generation builds relationships and communicates in ways that the generation before may not fully understand—but when you embrace trust, motivation, and accountability, incredible things can happen.