Managing a community is a 24 x 7 job. To keep things running smoothly (and allow you to sleep), you may need to hire or work with teammates in various timezones, on other sides of the world, and from different cultures. Jen Sable Lopez, Director of Community at OutSystems, has managed and worked with teams from East to West coasts in the US, and from APAC to EMEA. She’ll guide you through the dos and don’ts of working with different cultures, often remote, and sometimes with language barriers, all while still feeling like you’re part of the same team, with the same goals, and voice to the community.

1. Setting up your Distributed
(Global) Community Team
for Success
Jennifer Sable Lopez
Director of Community
@jennita

2. Remote?
Distributed?
Global?

3. Communication
is already hard
Let’s work on making it just a
little bit easier for everyone

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#CMXSummit @jennita
Language &
Culture
Assume good intent
& understand
everyone works
differently

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#CMXSummit @jennita
Time zones
Timezone.io
WorldChatClock

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Treat
everyone as
remote
Make an
agenda, take
notes, record
meetings

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#CMXSummit @jennita
Go beyond
email &
messaging
Create videos
to explain
detailed
information

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Update often
You simply
can’t over-
Communicate
Keep topics
top-of-mind

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Share the
data
Monthly
(weekly?) email
with metrics

10. Distributed
Learning
How do you ensure everyone is trained
properly? Uses the same “voice” and
manages the community in the same way?

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Follow the sun strategy

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Pass the training

13. Team Spirit
Feeling like you’re a part of
the team, no matter where in
the world you are

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Daily Hello

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Fun at work

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Ongoing games/memes
Find Jay!

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Make it personal
Actually use video
Show your face!
Schedule “coffee talk”

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Online group cards
KudoBoard

20. Expectations &
boundaries
Be empathetic to yourself and coworkers by
setting and adhering to boundaries and
knowing what’s expected of you

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Set work
hours
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Everyone on the team
should have set
working hours.
Use tools to show
when you’re
available.
Native Gmail

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Set work
hours
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Enhance with Clockwise

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Calendar
etiquette
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Be good to yourself
and your team.
Send emails at a
reasonable hour.
Thank you Gmail! ⏱"

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Calendar
etiquette
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Enhance with Boomerang

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Messaging
manners
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Be good to yourself
and your team.
Sending emails at a
reasonable hour.
🌍Thank you Slack! 🌎

26. Accountability
& Trust
Having those expectations set,
it’s time to make sure everyone
is accountable and can trust the
work will get done.

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Ownership
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Get everyone on
board with who’s in
charge of what.
More importantly,
who’s their backup.

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“Local” go-to
resource
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Someone in the same
time zone
Approval, ideas,
advice, etc.

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Team
Strengths
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Know everyone’s
strengths, and play to
them
High5 Test
Strengthfinder test

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Cross-train
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Not everyone will be
an expert in all areas.
Create a T-Shaped
team
Technical BusinessPMComms.Design Community
EmpathyWriting Industry Task MgmtUX/UI Internal
HTML &
CSS
JavaScript
Back-end
Database
Architect
Creativity
Conflict Mgmt
Adaptability
Enablement
Public Relations
Customer Svc
Broad knowledge across multiple
disciplines
Deep, specialized knowledge in specific
areas

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Tools to help
Grammarly

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Tools to help
3
Figma

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Tools to help
Toggl
RescueTime

34. ● Communication is already hard, work on
making it easier
● Take a follow the sun strategy
● Get personal to create team spirit
● Set clear expectations & boundaries
● Set the team up for success with
accountability and trust

35. Resources
● https://usefyi.com/remote-work-resources/
● Timezone.io
● Worldchatclock.com
● KudoBoard
● Boomerang
● Clockwise
● Gallup StrengthFinder Test
● High5 Test - https://high5test.com/
● Grammarly
● Figma.com
● Toggl.com
● RescueTime
#CMXSummit @jennita

36. Thank You!
Jennifer Sable Lopez
Director of Community
@jennita