The Rise of Remote
Remote working has surged in popularity in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. No more long commutes, no rush-hour stress, and the added perk of tossing in a load of laundry during lunch.
One of the biggest benefits we find in remote work is the freedom of location. Our team is lucky enough to be dotted across the UK, with the added luxury of spending time working abroad too. Over the past couple of years, our team has worked from Vienna, Lisbon, Cyprus, Sicily, Valencia, Turkey, and more.
But while remote work has its perks, it can also make staying connected with your team a bit trickier if you’re not proactive. The feeling of disconnection has even led some big companies to make headlines recently by shifting back to full-time office hours.
At The Bang, we were founded as a remote company and have thrived that way, growing from just 2 people to a team of 12. So as pros in remote working, we thought we’d share some tips on how we make it work for us.
We understand without the casual office chats and face-to-face meetings, it could be easy to feel isolated or out of the loop. So, how do you keep the sense of teamwork, collaboration, and camaraderie alive when everyone works from different places?
1. Start the Day with Coffee Mornings
One of the things we didn’t want our team to miss was those casual morning chats in the office–you know, the ones where you catch up over a brew before diving into the day’s tasks.
We’ve found a way to replicate this by starting each morning with a virtual catch up via Around. It’s a much more fun and social video calling app compared to the likes of Teams and Zoom.
No work talk allowed, no pressure–just a casual chat about what’s going on in our lives. It’s a relaxed way to ease into the day, and keeps that human connection alive. Team members can join in, or listen in, the choice is up to them.
These coffee mornings have made a real difference in keeping us connected. We continue to get to know each other better on a personal level, creating a warmer, more supportive work environment. Plus, it’s also a great way for new team members to feel welcome from the start.
Recent coffee morning topics have covered everything from Sharknado and Jake’s latest paintings (find him on instagram at @by.rote, to Arlo’s fresh haircut (Luke’s dog–and more importantly, our mascot), and even a lively debate on the ultimate pie structure (oh yeah, worth mention we’re a bunch of foodies).
2. Give Positive Feedback to Keep Spirits High
When you’re working remotely, it can be easy for your hard work to go unnoticed. Along with regular show & tells– important without a physical design studio, where you can see all projects in progress–we also make a habit to regularly share feedback and highlight positivity.
We use Spill, a team wellbeing platform. As well as a range of therapy sessions and wellbeing tools that our team use, it also has a Slack integration that picks a random person each week for the team to send anonymous compliments about.
We found that Fridays are a good time to collect these comments–people are usually in a good mood and more inclined to spread some positivity before heading into the weekend.
This practice has become a key part of our culture. It helps everyone feel seen and appreciated, and it fosters a positive vibe that carries through the week. Who doesn’t love hearing nice things about themselves from their team?
3. Design Jams: Figma & Around
One of the hardest things to replicate remotely is pair designing like you’re sat next to each other in an office. Figma by nature is collaborative, which is great, but alone it’s not the best for an actual collaborative design session. What we like to do is chat over an Around call, as we do for everything as you can tell, putting it into minimal mode and having everyone's videos floating over the top bar of Figma (which is way less intrusive and annoying than Teams’ floating mode, for example).
One of the trickier things to recreate remotely is the collaborative feel of designing as if you’re sitting together in a studio. While Figma is naturally collaborative, on its own it’s not ideal for real-time design sessions. So, we use Around calls in minimal mode, which floats everyone’s videos over the top bar of Figma. We’ve found this setup to be less intrusive and, frankly, less annoying than Teams' floating mode.
For the best sessions we mute notifications, create a branch in Figma for just those in the session so there’s no distraction, and sometimes even make a shared Spotify Jam for the background.
While it’s impossible to exactly mimic the kind of spontaneous crossovers that would naturally happen in an office, in some ways we find this more comfortable and productive.
This collaborative approach is how we work best, and it’s how we originally worked when The Bang started. Luke, Kel, Dunc, & Jack used to have a FaceTime call going pretty much the whole day! Obviously that’s not scalable to more projects and more people, but we try to keep that spirit alive.
4. Weekly 1-to-1’s
Weekly 1-to-1s are one of the more formal ways we support the team remotely. These are dedicated check-ins between each team member and Caoimhe, our People Lead, giving everyone a chance to have a more personal conversation. It’s not just about work tasks–it’s a space to talk about how things are going, any challenges they’re facing, or just to chat about how they’re feeling in general.
These regular 1-to-1s make sure everyone has an opportunity to be heard and bring up any concerns. It’s a simple but meaningful way to help everyone feel connected and remind us all that we’re here to support each other. Weekly check-ins might sound like a luxury compared to many companies, where 1-to-1 time can be hard to come by. On top of that, we also hold more frequent personal progress reviews in the same vein.
5. Friday Cooldowns
At the end of each Friday, we set aside 20-30 minutes to just hand out as a team and unwind. It’s a chance to step away from work-related conversations and talk about weekend plans, favourite shows, or just life in general.
It might seem like a small thing, but it’s something we all look forward to. It’s a great way of ending the week on a positive note, helping us to maintain that sense of connection that’s so important when working remotely.
6. Regular Team Meetups
While these aren’t technically ‘remote’, they’re a huge part of how we make remote work work for us. At minimum, the whole team gets together for a few days once every 3 months, all expenses paid, mostly in the UK but also abroad from time to time (we’ve been to Valencia & Porto in recent years). For most people in the team, in-person trips can be more regular than every 3 months. We're keen for our team to meet for project team workshops, client trips, and other team socials too.
Keeping It Simple and Effective
Staying connected while working remotely doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s all about finding small ways to maintain that sense of team spirit and collaboration that you’d normally get in an office environment. Whether it’s starting the day with a coffee chat, recognising each other’s efforts with positive feedback, or jumping into a collaborative Design Jam, these practices have helped us stay engaged and motivated.
The key is consistency. By making these activities part of our regular routine, we’ve created a culture where everyone feels valued and included, even though we’re not in the same physical space. Remote work doesn’t have to mean working in isolation—with a few thoughtful strategies, it’s totally possible to stay connected and thrive as a team, no matter where you’re working from.
Like what you see?
Looking for a team that feels like an extension of your own? Thinking about teaming up with us? We don’t blame you! Take a look at our latest work, or set up a time with Bert to chat about your project—we’re all ears.
And if you're a standout designer, we’re always on the lookout for fresh, exciting talent. Check out our careers page for open roles or drop us your details through our contact form.
