“Running a fully remote company is not a piece of cake, far from it.” Unsurprisingly, people in this era of selffulfillment and realization are seeking their wellbeing, and moreover appreciate combining it with the concept of remote work. However, it begs the question: is this model really sustainable in the long-term? Is it possible to manage your workforce this way? “Do not get me wrong, running a fully remote company is not a piece of cake, far from it,” Darcy cools the enthusiasm down and recognizes the long road ahead. “At the same time, the output of work is better than I have ever seen in any co-located office; in addition, the happiness of the employees is far above what I have experienced in an office space. The difficulties certainly lie in ensuring alignment and expectations – different challenges emerge, like time zones and (for the time being) kids at home for many working parents, etc. We try to mitigate these challenges by offering a multitude of resources to our team members so that they can design their lives around work and not the other way around. We provide a blend of asynchronous and synchronous communication styles, as well as a home base of sorts (actually called Basecamp) to house meeting recordings, tasks, message posts, etc. in order to ensure that everyone stays in the loop on big ideas and projects.” Once again Darren looks at it from the macro perspective, “Being able to recruit and hire from most countries in the world is a distinct competitive advantage for GitLab. We will judge our impact and legacy on the world by how we influence the proliferation of all-remote companies. We are hopeful that our hiring advantage will diminish over time. Not only will the
all-remote model prove a hiring advantage for the companies, but it will also open up doors for millions of job-seekers. The shift toward standard normalcy of the all-remote model will provide a broader selection of companies who offer such a structure. We believe that a world with more all-remote companies will be a more prosperous one, with opportunity more equally distributed. Despite all of its advantages, all-remote work is not for everyone. It can have disadvantages for the organization and for potential employees, depending on their lifestyle and work preferences. GitLab overcomes common issues such as isolation and communication voids by hiring managers of one (team members who exhibit a high degree of self-motivation and thrives in a highly autonomous environment). And, by working handbook-first we ensure that all employees have a single, cohesive source of guidance to consult their work.”
“What matters is connection, and that can be created through so many different virtual avenues. What it comes down to is the alignment to the company's shared values, as well as encouraging overpermission, over-communication, and vulnerability within your organization.” One noteworthy question is about culture. Most companies work hard to build one, as this is ultimately a tool to unite the workforce. To us it actually seems like