The Secret Sauce for Running a Distributed Model Company: 6.5 Tips to Implement Now

Some call it “working remote,” some refer to it as  “having a virtual company”, but the cool kids call it a “running a distributed team.” Distributed companies are the way of the future.  The days of brick and mortar are quickly dying.  When set-up correctly a distributed company can be more successful and have much happier employees (and management).  My client, Summit CPA Group, said goodbye to the brick and mortar model over three years ago and hasn’t looked back. Not only is Summit CPA Group a disruptor in the accounting sector, they are an early adopter of the distributed model. Jody Grunden, Virtual CFO & Co-Founder of Summit CPA Group, shared with me his advice and secret sauce to making it work.

1. Schedule weekly meetings and with transparency
Weekly team meetings are crucial within a distributed company. Scheduling 30-60 minutes once a week—preferably Monday mornings—with the entire team is a great way to start off everyone’s week. It’s an opportunity for each team member to share something good and something bad about the past week, and what they are looking forward to the coming week.  Weekly team meetings keep the whole team in the loop and connected and allows management to keep a pulse on what’s really happening. The same goes for weekly one-on-ones with your direct reports. 

2. Host company retreatsCorporate. Leadership. Retreat. Are you cringing?  Do the words “trust fall” and "ropes course” come to mind? Are you having nightmares of a very cold (or very hot because someone is always complaining about the temperature) windowless hotel ballroom? Are you envisioning yourself staring at four walls for eight hours every day while being talked at by a lifeless presenter clicking through Powerpoint decks? Wake up. It’s 2017.  Corporate Retreats should incorporate compelling facilitators, interactive peer-to-peer learning, fun activities and relaxing downtime -- all at a refreshingly unique venue in an unforgettable destination. If you’re not planning at least one of these for the entire team annually, you need to start. Hosting a retreat for your leadership team in Q1 will help set the tone and objectives for the entire year, and you can then build upon those lessons and outcomes with an entire company retreat later in the year.

3. Offer awesome benefits
The traditional benefits of wages, health insurance, and 401Ks are not going to cut it. You need to offer benefits beyond the cookie-cutter givens. If flexibility isn’t included in your benefits package, add it now, and make it number one on the list. The benefits of flexible days, flexible location, flexible hours is absolutely imperative. Employees can work as needed to accomplish their job and goals in a timely manner.  Flexibiity allows your employees availability during the day to pick up kids, go to doctor appointments and allow them to work later at night if needed. And going back to the basic benefit of wages, be sure you’re paying your team based on national average.

4. Implement communication platforms
This perhaps should be number one on this list. It’s vital. The key is to remember that it is not “us vs them.” Everyone must be on the same playing field—whether you work in Hermosa Beach, California or Charleston, South Carolina, or in the Fort Wayne, Indiana. Everyone must use the same communication platform.  If you do have a few employees that do work in the same building, its imperative they use the same platforms to communicate as 40 people spread through the country. No one is “missing” anything by being distributed. Everyone is treated equal. Tools like Sococo video chat, and Slack offer employees opportunities to “chat” both formally and informally.  

5. Find the right partnersFlexible is the way of the future.  Flexible works as long as you have the right communication platforms in place and have access to quality people who are looking for flexible work. Partnering up with companies like FlexJobs, Remote.co, Yonder, and Virtual Vocations will help with a more positive experience and allow companies to get ahead of the curve and reap the rewards of employing a talented, happy staff.  FlexJobs can help eliminate one of the risks for growth: finding talented people. And we all know that sifting through hundreds of resumes is time-consuming. With FlexJobs, you’ll spend less time managing resumes. Remote.co is an excellent resource that provides expert insight, best practices, and valuable support for organizations exploring or already embracing the distributed model. Virtual Vocations is a great website where employers can post flexible jobs such as telecommuting, freelance, and part-time and flextime jobs. The Yonder podcast features interviews that discuss the advantages and also the difficulties of distributed teams.

6.     Set a cool company cultureWhen working with a distributed team, it may take an extra effort to keep people feeling like they are part of the team, and they are valuable to the overall success of the team. Using the communication channels we noted above, it’s important to include a non-work related communication channel. There’s no tangible “water cooler” when you’re distributed, therefore having  a “water cooler” channel on Slack where employees can share the photo of their new kitty, or ask for recommendations for dining in Colorado Springs during their next holiday brings that “water cooler”  feeling alive.  It’s also important for management to share the vision of the company. There’s no better way to get employees excited than to share your vision and how they are all part of and contribute to that vision. Involve everyone on the team in important projects or events. Perhaps someone on the team is really interested in helping with the company retreat (see #2)—let that person liaise directly with your marketing events director.  Develop a cool, unique, but meaningful way to recognize special occasions like birthdays and work anniversaries. It’s an easy (and fun) way to acknowledge employees, and goes a long way.

6.5  Have fun!Yep! You read that correctly. The last tip is to have fun. Life’s too short to not enjoy it. And besides, if your employees are having fun, they are going to work harder and smarter. They are going to stay at the company longer and help promote the awesomeness that sets your company a part from all the rest. Your best advertising is happy employees.

Site Selection Services Explained

Some companies organize their internal events like Company Retreats in-house. They usually assign employees such as the office manager, the executive assistant, or even the HR manager this massive task—on top of their normal daily job responsibilities.  While many of these employees often state they love working on company retreats and meetings, they do state it can be very time-consuming and overwhelming, especially on top of the daily responsibilities of their own jobs. And they are right. Meeting and event planning IS time consuming. And, unless you’re a seasoned certified planner, it’s stressful. And companies are leaving money—lots of it—on the table, by not using a certified planner who can always save them money in negotiations and concessions. There are tight deadlines and ever-changing budgets, managing expectations, and negotiating contracts, the list goes on. That’s not to say that the in-house “event team” cannot or should not be involved. They absolutely should. They know their company, their culture, their executive team’s idiosyncrasies.

What option do companies have? Utilize the complimentary (yes, that’s free!) services of a seasoned and certified planner. They can help you navigate the overwhelming and time consuming site selection process, and after the signed property contract they can assist with pre-planning, event management, and logistical services. And why should an internal employee have to manage the program onsite when they should be enjoying the event with their fellow team members? Let the certified planner manage the onsite logistics while you enjoy your company retreat or event.

So what does a planner actually do for a company as part of Site Selection Services?

Site selection is hard work. The amount of time and energy that goes into ONE program is weeks worth of time. The process involves four major steps: Discovery, RFP, Site Inspection, and Contract Negotiations.

Discovery is researching various venues—whether that be in different countries or different cities. Finding venues that meet the plethora of factors is a challenge.  Is the venue within the budget, it is aligned with your brand, it is located within the designated distance from airport, is the venue available during the preferred dates and pattern, can the venue accommodate the size of the program, and does the venue have the capabilities to address the “must haves”. It’s like a huge jigsaw puzzle where you need to fit all the pieces together.

Discovery: Estimate 20 hours total for one program (Assume three destinations and two properties in each destination)

Then the tedious RFP process starts. The smart planner will design a thorough, customized RFP for the program. It’s important the RFP is comprehensive and includes all the details of program: number of nights, number of people, pattern, dates, meeting space needs/setups, room rate min/max, F&B mins, AV needs, activities, and any important notes the property needs to be aware. The more time you spend putting all the details in the RFP, the less time you’ll spend going back and forth with the properties later down the road (that is if they actually carefully read your RFP). After the RFPs are sent to the properties, the waiting game begins. It’s important to be sure to include a proposal due date and a decision date in your RFP. This ensures both buyer and supplier are aware of deadlines.

Slowly, the planner will start receiving proposals, which often times are incomplete because the property didn’t take the time to read your customized notes. The planner will go back and forth via email and phone with the properties to highlight the “must haves” they missed when reading the proposal. Finally, after all the final proposals have been submitted the planner reviews the proposals to decide which ones are the best fit. Seldom, every property that sent a proposal will be a fit for one reason or another (for example, not available on the preferred dates, too expensive, not enough meeting space).

The planner presents the top properties (up to three) as potential options. That’s right, potential options. The planner ranks the top three based on many factors such as budget, travel distance, service-level, customer service, and adequate meeting space. A smart planner will never sign a contract (or advise her client to sign a contract) without first conducting a site inspection.
RFP Process: Estimate 10 hours total for one program (Assume six RFPs max)

Then there’s the site inspection. The planner flies (on her own dime) to the top ranking property for a thorough investigation of the property and surrounding areas. She meets not only with the hotel staff, but also local suppliers such as restaurants, off-site venues, and ground transportation companies.  A smart planner will also meet with a few additional “Plan B” properties in the area in case her first choice doesn’t work out. She surveys the local area to be sure she knows where the closest hospital, post office, Kinkos, and pharmacy are located. Some people think a site inspection is a vacation. It is not. Yeah, the planner may get a nice dinner and a spa treatment, but she’s working. She’s like a food critic—analyzing the food quality, the food service, the cleanliness, and the value. At the Spa she’s like an inspector—checking for cleanliness, the overall look of the facilities, asking questions of staff, and sizing up the overall service levels and customer service. She is not relaxing. During the entire inspection, she is constantly “on”-- scrutinizing the accommodations, inspecting meeting rooms and different set-ups, meeting with the Chef to discuss menus and capabilities, speaking with staff to understand how they operate and respond to guests, asking staff questions to ensure they are up to snuff on their knowledge of their department, and to be sure the service-level overall at the property is aligned with the property’s brand promise.
Site Inspection: Estimate 36 hours total for one program. (Assume two nights and three days—working 10-12 hours/day + travel/flight time + time away from other clients and family.)

If the site inspection pans out (which they usually do due to the meticulous research and work put in earlier in the process) the planner requests a formal contract from the property. This contract typically goes through several rounds of revisions where the smart planner continues to negotiate the most important hot buttons for the program and ensure maximum value is obtained. The planner reviews the contract to make sure all verbal and written promises are included in the contract. The property contract should always include a clause that states the planner’s name and that the planner will be granted the 10% commission. Planners must make sure that clause is included in the final signed contract. Once the contract is signed by the client, the planner provides a cost saving report to illustrate and highlight the massive amount of money she saved the client through smart, experienced, and shrewd negotiations. (Depending on the size of a program, a planner could save the client tens of thousands of dollars on a single event. I personally have saved clients an average of $24,000 on programs of 100 total rooms nights.)
Contract Negotiations: Estimate 8 hours total for one program. (Assume one contract.)

Did you add up all those hours? 74 hours—for one program. And that’s the time it takes someone with over 17 years experience. Imagine someone with no experience tackling this project. It will likely take much longer and not be as cost-effective.

The cost for all of this hard work and time? Complimentary. Yes, the planner doesn’t receive a dime. Only after the program is complete and usually 30 days after the client has paid their final invoice to the property does the planner get paid by the property a 10% commission on room nights before tax. The 10% commission, in theory, covers the planner’s time and any out of pocket expenses like the site inspection. The commission should cover the time spent or the planner is working for free. A smart planner will understand their time and expenses when writing a site selection services contract for their clients. For example, if the program is small (under 100 total room nights) the commission will not cover time and expenses, and the planner will usually charge a flat fee to supplement the commission. 

Do you have site selection questions? Let me know! 

Trust Falls and Rope Courses

Corporate. Leadership. Retreat. Are you cringing?  Do the words “trust fall” and "ropes course” come to mind? Are you having nightmares of a very cold (or very hot because someone is always complaining about the temperature) windowless hotel ballroom? Are you envisioning yourself staring at four walls for eight hours every day while being talked at by a lifeless presenter clicking through Powerpoint decks? Wake up. It’s 2017.  Corporate Retreats should incorporate compelling facilitators, interactive peer-to-peer learning, fun activities and relaxing downtime -- all at a refreshingly unique venue in an unforgettable destination. It may even involve a few gorillas, if you’re lucky.

Prior to arriving at the beautiful Inn at Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego, the 15 members of the leadership team at SummitCPA Group, a distributed company, had never met in person. They flew from all over the country to be together for a few days to discover their motivations and strengths, build their leadership skills, strategize on cultivating business and ultimately, realize their full potential. Oh, and to bond and have some fun. The beautiful grounds of the luxury property and the high 60 degree temps were perfect for an early February retreat. Lots of green space allowed for the team to enjoy sunny outdoor meals, evening receptions under the stars, and a breath of fresh air during breaks.

The Retreat kicked off with a Thursday evening reception where the team mingled over adult beverages and tasty appetizers. Off to the side of the room, a banner and table with a cake could be seen. The surprise of the evening was SummitCPA Group winning an Innovation Award. The timing of the award announcement on the eve of the Retreat was perfect. And due to 11^th hour planning, the team celebrated with delicious custom cake from a local bakery and an inspiring welcome from their fearless leaders, Jody and Adam.

SummitCPA Group partnered with Navigate the Journey to facilitate the corporate leadership training process. Through the process they learned how each team member thinks, operates, and how they view success. It was insightful and important to see how every one learns and processes differently. This shared understanding helped pave a new way to interact with each other to achieve goals. The team, led by facilitator Traci, began brainstorming their mission statement: a huge undertaking that will guide the actions of SummitCPA Group, and spell out its overall reason for existing. 

Each evening, after using our brains all day to think through some difficult exercises, a beautiful cocktail reception under the stars and market lights of the Azalea Lawn was most welcome. Later, the team divided into three groups and Ubered to the area’s best restaurants.  These small group dinners were a great way for the team to interact and bond in a relaxed, informal setting—over delicious food and creative drinks. From what I witnessed and otherwise heard, the Uber rides alone were quite entertaining. The final evening, the group wined and dined together in a semi-private room at the Italian themed Cucina Enoteca. After spending a few evenings in smaller groups, getting to know everyone a bit better, it was nice to socially reconnect as a bigger group and enjoy conversations and laughs. 

Saturday morning started early. Grab and Go breakfast sandwiches were ready at 7am on the lawn, and so was the team. Complete with their “silly hats”, “something wild”, and “three amazing facts about themselves” they boarded a school bus with no idea where they were going or what they’d be doing. So fun! Mystery Trip is a unique turnkey event that flattens org charts and brings teams together in a way that other events never could. Everyone is in the adventure together, traveling from mysterious stop to mysterious stop. SummitCPA Group’s first stop was the San Diego Safari Park, where the team was divided into small groups and sent out on a crazy and challenging scavenger hunt throughout the park. With only 45 minutes, the teams were challenged to work smart and creatively.

After the scavenger hunt, the team hopped into a vintage safari wagon and was transported way above the Safari Park to an area seldom seen by most visitors. It was there they prepared for their next activity—Zipling. This ultimate recreational experience was a first for over 90% of the group. Super cool that they will always remember SummitCPA Group Retreat as their first time ziplining. The team soared over 130 feet off the ground, high above the hippos, giraffes, and other wild animals.

The final stop on the Mystery Trip was lunch. But this wasn’t any old ham sandwich and chips lunch. The team enjoyed gourmet duck tacos, Thai lamb noodles, crispy Brussel sprouts, and South American ceviche at the Stone Brewing open-air beer garden. With over 36 craft and specialty beers on tap, everyone found something to their liking.  Some couldn't make up their mind, so tried several. The Mystery Trip was not only a huge hit but a true catalyst for bringing a distributed team together. The team is still talking about it today over Slack. Lots of memories and bonds were made during that six hour activity that will positively impact the way the team members work together and the way they view the SummitCPA Group brand. 

Superbowl Sunday arrived, and the team departed for the airport with a renewed sense of purpose, unity, clarity, and focused action for the future. They even had the rough draft of their mission statement. Woohoo! The next SummitCPA Group Retreat is on the books for mid-November in Sonoma. The entire team of over 40 employees will descend upon the vineyards of Northern California for what will no doubt be an engaging and exciting learning experience. Meanwhile, I’m on a mission to top the experience I just produced in San Diego. Wish me luck…