Issue #13: Just Do ist
Recently, Liam Martin at Running Remote hosted an AMA ("Ask me Anything") with Head of Remote at Doist Chase Warrington. Over the course of an hour and 15 minutes, they discussed how Doist (a completely remote company, with staff in every time zone) and companies like them operate successfully.
Here are some interesting takeaways:
Doist operates with Asynchronous communication (meaning they have very few real-time meetings or chats). How do they pull it off?
A key to success is having norms around communication, and enforcing them strictly. Things like:
Respond to comments within 24 hours
Default to transparency: almost all conversations should happen in public channels. Inevitably comments or decisions made will be useful for other members to look back on.
Show a lot of intention in communication, especially who you're tagging and being explicit about what you're asking for.
Meetings are a last resort.
They also have built two key aspects into their culture:
Empowerment. Someone needs to have the role & responsibility to make decisions. Especially with async, things can go back and forth and drag on, so they make it clear per-project who is the lead and responsible for bringing things to a conclusion.
A focus on Output. Are the projects getting done? Is the quality high? That's the focus of the organization, not on - as Liam called it - "management by presence" (i.e. are you online for 8 hours). In Liam's work, they found that the amount of time someone puts in has little impact on whether they're going to be successful. It's the amount of time they can focus. This is a foundational aspect of why and how async work is successful: members can choose how they work in order to be most effective.
What a 'head of remote' does
At Doist, half of what Chase focuses on is advocacy for remote work and turning Doist into a thought leader in the space. But internally, he is the one that owns 'leveling up' their remote work, from documentation and processes to perks and onboarding. Culture is a big piece of that too: how can they connect on a human level, both in real life retreats, but also virtually and async. He also stays up on all the new tools out there for remote teams, and how they might help Doist continue to perform better.
Would hybrid companies benefit from a head of remote?
Chase: "If any company needs a head of remote, it's hybrid companies"
On the surface, hybrid seems like the best of both worlds, but in fact it has to default to a remote-first culture for it to work. Having someone that will advocate for remote employees, and focus on making communication location-agnostic is critical.
Offering remote is a competitive advantage for business looking to get great talent.
Doist historically has had very high employee retention, in the 95%-97% range. However, over the past year as so many other companies started offering remote positions, they have lost some people. Competition matters, and remote is a real perk.
You can also see this in the moves of companies like Deloitte, offering more remote work options after PwC did the same.
Ways to build culture asynchronously
Chase acknowledges that they have a wide array of types of people, so they're working to build methods for sharing and connecting that work for this diverse group of people spread across the globe.
One example: every week a different staff member will post a brief "two truths & a lie" video. Everyone in the org votes with a reaction on which one is the lie. Later in the week, the person will reveal the answer, and choose the employee to go next. It's a great way for people to see & learn about their co-workers, completely async.
The future of remote and async work
Liam and Chase see the trend from on-premise to remote (i.e. 'location independence'), and then from remote to async communication (i.e. 'time independence') as a natural trend and somewhat inevitable. Liam noted the very real business impact of being able to operate in this way, with companies who transition from in-person to remote seeing growth in profits after the shift. It's also hard to get the best benefits of remote without async, and companies who adopt remote will go through growing pains that will lead them to adopt more async-first communication.
If you're interested in watching the full video playback, check it out here.
In the News & Around the Web
A recent survey highlights the changing attitudes towards hybrid & remote work among the management class. The survey of 1500 executives found that 97% percent are comfortable with at least some employees working hybrid for the long term. 83% expect one quarter (or more) of their workforce to be hybrid long-term, up from just 30% of executives who thought this a year ago.
But, the respondents identified some challenges in adopting a hybrid work model:
"The top five barriers to adopting a hybrid work model found in the Riverbed/Aternity survey include: employee motivation and well-being (35%) technology disruptions (32%), poor home/remote network performance (31%), collaboration and virtual relationship building (31%), and expanded security risks (31%)."
Read the full article here.
The Metaverse isn't a remote-work topic per se, but it is closely wrapped up in the forward-looking questions of how humans will live, work and interact 10 or 20 years from now. But maybe we don't need to look that far ahead. Here's a great read: The Metaverse Is Already Here — It’s Minecraft
Tips & Recommendations
Do you have one dedicated space at home for doing all your work? Here's a great thread from remote work consultant and writer Marissa Goldberg on why this common piece of remote work advice may be leading you astray.
...and one more thing
To celebrate the Digital Nomad lifestyle, we like to feature a few photos of someone enjoying their freedom and flexibility. Email us your photos to be featured!
I'm working in NYC this week, so thought I'd share a few from the old camera roll.
