My First 90 Days: Unconventional Tips for Thriving at a Virtual Company

In this series, professionals share how they rocked — or didn't! — the all-important first 90 days on the job. Follow the stories here and write your own (please include the hashtag #First90 in the body of your post).

Here are some cool things about working in a virtual company: Every day is pajama day. You don't have to label your stuff in the fridge. You already know where the bathroom is. Your office might be a tiny house.

But you face downsides, too, especially at the start: It can be harder to assimilate with the larger team culture (or even identify what that culture is). The learning curve can be steeper. Happy hour is a lonely endeavor.

MarketingProfs has been a virtual company since its launch — 15 years ago this month. In that time, we've grown from just a few people to 44.

I've been here almost since whatever the word is that means longer than "forever." In other words, it's been a good long time since my first 90 days.

So I polled MarketingProfs team members (as well as others who work for virtual teams outside of my company) to get their best tips on not just surviving... but thriving in the first 90 days as part of any virtual team.

1. Stalk your new colleagues on Twitter.

Do this before your first 90 days. It's probably weird to connect with new virtual colleagues on Facebook, assuming you haven't yet met. But following them on Twitter is an appropriate way to get a sense of your new team members as people. (Public Instagram feeds also can work in this case.)

Don't have a staff directory yet? Use a tool like Followerwonk to search Twitter bios for active accounts. One caveat: The tool will surface all people who mention your new company in their bio, not just employees. So the person whose bio includes "Bulldog" might be a graduate of Georgia or Georgetown, or they might work for a technology company. (Hat tip to Jenn Waltner for this idea.)

2. Say yes to every meeting you get wind of; watch for patterns.

Virtual companies live and breathe according to regularly scheduled group meetings. They're a necessary part of keeping everyone informed, aligned, on the same page. Generally, they need to be scheduled weekly, biweekly, or monthly on a strict schedule; in virtual setups, ad hoc meetings rarely happen as they would in a physical office.

Later, you can figure out which meetings make the most sense for you to attend. But, at the start, showing up at every meeting in the first 90 days and watching for patterns in behavior will give you necessary insight into culture and offer intelligence about how things really operate at your new gig.

3. Make small talk a priority.

Virtual companies can feel like All Business, All the Time unless you make an effort to make small talk a priority. Show up to meetings a few minutes early to catch some conversation with others, before the meeting begins. (Thanks to Rob Zaleski for this tip.)

4. Find a buddy.

Identify someone within the company you can rely on to help you navigate your first few months. Ideally, this person isn't your boss, but a colleague or co-worker who has been on staff for longer and can answer niggling questions or direct you to those who can.

5. Put on pants.

As tempting as it might be to lounge in your bathrobe answering email all day, you'll probably feel more productive if you actually get dressed in something a little more work-appropriate. I'm not sure why that's so — as far as I know there is no scientific evidence that any of us is more productive in yoga pants vs. flannel pajamas — but, nonetheless, it seems to be universally the case for virtual teams.

6. Use video.

We connect our virtual team with various online meeting and chat tools, including Sococo, Skype, and Adobe Connect. Of those, Sococo is the coolest, because it simulates an office environment that allows you to see at a glance who is in and who is out of the office. (Sort of like a SimCity for professionals.)

Tools like Sococo and Skype also allow video calls and chats, so take advantage of that when you can. Seeing someone's face really does improve the quality of the conversation and connection. (Thanks to Julie Oblander for this one.)

A Sococo meeting room.

7. Give virtual high-fives.

You have no way of flashing a thumbs-up or a smile at your co-workers as you pass in the hall, so figure out another way to thank them for their work, help, or input. (This one is another idea from Rob Zaleski.) A simple thanks in an email might do, or a shout out in a private team message board. MarketingProfs has a private Team MarketingProfs group on Facebook that allows for virtual high-fives as well as birthday shout-outs and other water-cooler chat.)

8. Buy lunch.

At some point within the first 90 days, invent an opportunity to meet face-to-face with a colleague or two or four. Any kind of meeting will do: lunch, coffee, drinks after work. Because as much as you or I might love our virtual freedom… nothing truly replaces that face-to-face connection.

A MarketingProfs team meetup in Boston.

I could add more... but I'll stop here. (This is a blog post, not a book.)

Do you work for a virtual company? How did you ease your transition? Leave a comment; I'd love to hear.

Special thanks to some of my MarketingProfs colleagues who generally shared their ideas here, including those I mentioned: Courtney Dillas, Allison Dowd, James Patrick Kelly, Dana Ironside, Felicia Bonavita-Isoldi, Kathleen Gaines, Jenn Waltner, Rob Zaleski, Jo Roberts, Julie Oblander, Dan Gorgone, and Kerry O"Shea Gorgone.

Blue slippers photo credit: Ann Handley

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs. Her new book, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller. Connect with her at AnnHandley.com.