Strategies for Being Fully Remote

Still in Draft

This document is not ready for the reader. I probably reference it in another article though and so... here you are! Read on if you'd like, but it may be best to wait until I complete it.

Hire the right people

A fully remote company is not a good fit for everyone. But that shouldn't come as a surprise or limiting factor. A carpenter—no matter how skilled and successful—likely is not a good fit for a software company. You will inevitably have to pass by some incredible individuals that don't like your model, but you'll find just as many qualified candidates who have been looking for fully remote work. Make it very clear as early as possible that you are a no-exceptions fully-remote company and those that find that to be a benefit will flock to you.

It's still an office

Just because you no longer have a centralized office location does not mean that you no longer manage an office space. Rather, every employee's home becomes the office. Do your employees have all the office equipment they need? Do they have a quiet, clean, well-lit "meeting room" and "cubical"? Are there amenities similar in value to what they could have expected from an office environment? Are there spaces for water-cooler talk, white-boarding, socializing, and downtime?

Do whatever you can to ensure your employees do not feel limited in their virtual at-home offices. Some things will inevitably not be transferrable, and that's okay. The goal is not to approximate an office environment, but to reflect on the value that offices brought to the workplace and ensure those values are reflected in the virtual environment.

Social Isolation, Trust, and Psychological Safety

• If you don't deliberately keep the team together, they'll drift apart

• Very hard to manage people who are freeloading. Don't try. Build trust instead through self-disclosure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-disclosure), cross team collaboration, virtual activities, proper feedback, and being vulnerable.

• Managing work-life balance.

• Training new hires is hard(er).

• Productivity has a no meaning [1] [2] (removed commute, walking to meetings, but also removed brainstorming, watercooler, or getting up off your chair and clearing your mind)

• Reemphasis on the importance of psychological safety

• Feelings of isolation due to physical distances and loneliness. Lacking friends.

• Emphasis on better leadership: more relevant 1:1 and other meetings, more communication, more encouragement and feedback, recognizing core needs, etc.

• Much easier to talk over each other on Zoom, especially in meetings with more than 2. Need to ensure rules of communication on Zoom.