Introduction
Hey, I'm Shiran, leading the EMEA AM team at DoiT. I've been working at DoiT for 3.5 years. Prior to DoiT, I worked at IronSource in different Sales roles, most recently as a Director of CS. I love sports, baking, traveling, and raising my two kids in the heart of TLV.
How did becoming a remote manager change your leadership style?
Or, if you are new to being a remote manager, what was that change like?The company's announcement of transitioning to remote work initially surprised me. As someone who values interpersonal connections, I anticipated feeling bored and unfulfilled working from home within three months. However, time has proven me wrong. As a mother of two, I consider myself fortunate to have the flexibility to be deeply involved in my children's lives, manage my time effectively, and avoid wasting time on commuting. Surprisingly, my leadership style has remained largely unchanged. I continue to engage with my team daily (albeit virtually), participate in face-to-face meetings with clients, visit vendor offices, and ensure occasional team-building activities.
What is your biggest obstacle as a remote leader?
When a physical workspace is absent, it becomes challenging to intuitively sense the employees' needs, moods, and energy on a daily basis and accurately perceive how they’re feeling.
What does communication look like on your team?
Does working in different time zones and geographies affect or change how you communicate?We maintain a weekly cadence and utilize Slack chats with the EMEA team. We hold team meetings four times a week with the IL team and individual one-on-one meetings for each team member. Additionally, we utilize both a Slack channel and a WhatsApp group for seamless communication.
How do you establish and maintain trust with your teams?
I think that as a manager, it’s important to understand what drives each teammate and makes them flourish at work. I try to encourage creativity, which can lead to innovative solutions. As a general practice, I insist on ongoing personal and professional development while I let them decide how they do their work. Each member knows that they can rely on each other for support as well as professional guidance.
How do you set the expectations for your direct reports, such as communication, working hours, performance, career growth, etc?
Such important conversations are always conducted face-to-face, with the goal of explaining the “WHY”—the rationale behind it—and sharing examples.
Part of being a manager is hiring new Do’ers. Please share some tips you’ve learned on how to successfully interview and onboard remotely.The primary distinction during the interview phase in a remote company is that the candidate has the opportunity to prepare all the “right answers” beforehand and read them during the interview. To address this obstacle, I often pose questions that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills, focusing on scenarios or situations and eliciting the applicant's approach to handling them. The onboarding process at DoiT is one of the most structured, organized, and informative 2 weeks that a new employee could ask for. It’s important that, in addition to that, a new hire will meet their own team to ask any questions they want openly.
Have you ever experienced any difficulties while working remotely as a manager or an individual contributor?
Not being able to get into a room and ask a question/ share an idea, knowing the other person is 100% there and can listen and reply immediately.
What advice would you give to managers who are new to remote managing?
Make an effort to maintain close contact with your team. It’s quite easy to lose track and not be fully updated on every progress. Don't skip any one-on-one meetings with your direct reports, and remember to organize some in-person enjoyable activities to celebrate successes.
Can you share any advice on how remote Do’ers can best communicate with their direct manager?
Utilize any communication method that suits the situation! For urgent matters, opt for phone calls or WhatsApp, while Slack and email are suitable for regular communication. To ensure productive one-on-one meetings, it's best to arrive prepared with topics and open issues to discuss, such as progress updates, challenges, and future plans.
