How to Create a Remote Developer Friendly Work Environment?

Managers have specific strategies to create a remote developer friendly work environment. Especially since remote work for developers can cause misunderstandings and setbacks if not done properly. It’s only natural to have a few hiccups here and there but avoiding any possible causes improves workflow and productivity rather than dealing with these issues when they come. 

Flexibility is a requirement in a remote developer team. Successful remote developers are strong, resilient, adaptable, and innovative. However, a lack of support for these remote workers can result in the opposite effect.

Prevent these errors by following these 8 tips to promote a healthy work environment for your remote developers!

Importance of a supportive remote work environment for developers

Some might argue why you need a remote, developer friendly work environment, especially since digital relationships are hard to build. However, if you find yourself prioritising their needs and understanding their wants, these issues can result in better output for your business.

The most noticeable change when dealing with remote developers is their productivity. Those working remotely have a higher output compared to those working in offices.

However, such results come from having proper strategies and management skills involved when dealing with remote developers.

8 Tips to Creating a Remote Developer Friendly Work Environment

These are 8 remote team management tips that can provide a rich environment for your remote developers. The ideal method is to use all these tips simultaneously while maintaining them to have the best outcome for your remote teams. 

remote developer-friendly work environment

Tip 1: Provide the Right Tools and Technology

It’s obvious that without the proper tools, a professional cannot do their job correctly. This applies to artists and their mediums, doctors and their medical knowledge, and even remote developers and their tools.

To create a remote developer friendly work environment, one must first consider their tools. Companies should be aware of the necessary software and tech developers need to proceed with their tasks seamlessly. Providing these tools is also a standard in any company.

You can’t expect them to work seamlessly without the proper tools to manoeuvre through your delegated tasks. Informing yourself about their requirements and necessities is an important tip to improve their environment.

Tip 2: Foster Clear Communication

This is where it gets a little difficult: communication. Unlike onsite employees, remote workers are prone to miscommunication and setbacks due to not being able to reach out to one another in a timely manner.

That’s why fostering clear and effective communication in a remote developer team is necessary. For example, if your employee learns about your requests late, it could lead to setbacks in your business’ workflow. 

The best method to prevent miscommunication and backlogged updates is using a universal communication channel. A company and its employees should always use only one form of instant messaging apps, emails, and video messaging apps.

It’s the best solution to have important information sent quickly to prevent further setbacks and errors. Task management tools like Trello, Asana, and Monday are also utilised by many remote companies to have a detailed list of the tasks assigned to each remote employee.

Tip 3: Encourage Regular Check-ins and Feedback

Since remote developers are isolated from the onsite work environment, it’s common to feel out of place and lack a strengthened relationship with them. That’s why it’s important for managers to continuously check in on their day and openly give requests for feedback regarding their situation.

An open-minded management that cares about building relationships with their teams is a necessity. That’s why companies have human resources, team managers, team buildings, and other events to retain a sense of community.

A remote developer friendly environment should encourage employees to discuss what the management can do to enhance productivity.

This means consistent feedback.

Feedback is necessary whether online or onsite. Once management receives honest feedback from its remote employees the best thing to do is to rectify any errors and keep in mind their suggestions for the future.

Tip 4: Promote a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Developer productivity also correlates to a healthy balance between work and private life. The truth is that remote developers are more susceptible to burnout than those working onsite. 

Remote workers tend to have difficulty transitioning from their onsite work life to their work-from-home life. As a result, these remote workers become prone to overworking, burnout, and health issues.

Problems like that cause a halt in your business’s productivity and employee retention. Instead of receiving great news, the result would likely be a high turnover rate in your company’s recruitment.

That’s why managing your employees and supporting their remote developer friendly work environment also includes encouraging them to stop working after their shift while providing information on creating healthy boundaries and remote cultures.

Tip 5: Create a Collaborative Culture

Have you been promoting a collaborative culture? Remote developers, by nature of their profession, work in a team of other developers to create an effective program for your business.

Creative collaboration being encouraged in a remote developer friendly work environment can also provide relationship building between peers and sharing innovative ideas between team members. This increases productivity, unique ideas, and smoother business processes.

Remote developers have little onsite contact with other employees. Supporting collaboration projects increases motivation and unity among your company employees. 

Tip 6: Offer Professional Development Opportunities

Employers tend to overlook when it comes to remote working: professional development. Your employees are also resources that can be better utilised with upgrades such as development opportunities and training seminars.

Contrary to common knowledge, professional development opportunities no longer have to be onsite. There are even virtual seminars like webinars that encourage employees to learn more and develop their specialties.

Management’s willingness to give out advanced training to their employees creates a long-term opportunity for partnership between the employees and the company.

Furthermore, a remote developer friendly work environment that cares about furthering their employees’ careers will likely receive loyalty and overall satisfaction.

Tip 7: Ensure Security and Privacy

A big problem with remote workers is privacy and cybersecurity. Now that the digital age is advancing towards an age of tech dependency, cybercriminals have become more ingenious and infamous.

Management should promote awareness to its remote developers about the dangers of potential scams and data-breaching activities. Seminars prioritising awareness can help prevent any setbacks.

It’s also important to ensure multi-factor authentication and other preventive measures that remote workers can use to ensure safety while working. 

Another problem between employers and employees is privacy. There’s a reason why privacy is a big issue with remote workers and employers. Employers have difficulty watching over their employees when remote working. That’s because, unlike onsite employees, there is no clear visual of remote workers.

As a result, some employers prefer to track their employees through their laptops and other devices. There’s an ongoing debate about this kind of management method and its effectiveness. However, depending on your management, a remote developer friendly work environment is possible, depending on how much privacy and seminars about security are implemented.

Tip 8: Provide Support and Resources

Our last tip for the best practices in remote work management involves overall support and resources handed out to your developers. The result will increase productivity, employee retention, and growth for your company.

Conclusion

This concludes our 8 tips for a remote developer friendly work environment. Keep in mind that these best practices may come from experience and backing, but every remote developer is different. Some aspects may require more attention than others.

You’ll be flying high with impressive results once you’ve learned to manage your people in a way that benefits both them and the company. However, these tips are just the beginning of your journey. There are a few more methods you can utilise to create a better experience.

If all of this sounds a bit overwhelming, we understand. That’s why Remote Developer is here to guide you professionally in creating a top-tier experience for your team. c!