I work from home over 90% of the time. My company is completely remote-friendly. I mostly come in for planning sessions and lunch with my team.
The great thing about remote work is it forces the company to measure people by their output, not by the number of hours they spend with their butt in a chair. I love that. If I finish all my work for the sprint early, I can take some time off. If I'm running behind, I work late. I can go to the gym at 10 AM and work at midnight if I want. I know what I'm responsible for, and I feel very motivated to finish it.
I never find myself counting down the hours until I can go home. I never get distracted by office buzz. I never feel like I'm letting my team down if I take my car to the shop at 2 in the afternoon.
My wife loves it too. I'm an introvert, and spending the day by myself leaves me with lots of social energy, so I'm much better for a night out or a party.
I try to draw good boundaries between work and home. I get up early, shower, eat breakfast, and get dressed before I log on for standup. I don't let myself work in my underwear. I think that would make me lazy.
Yes, the company has an number of employees who don't live anywhere near one of our main offices (it's a big company, ~500 people).
There are a few things that really make this work for us.
Great videoconferencing software. We use Cisco WebEx for team meetings and Slack calls for talking 1-on-1. I like WebEx a lot, it does its job and gets out of the way.
On my team, meetings are either short (standup) or infrequent (sprint planning).
Flat org structure and decentralized management. My team has clear goals and deadlines but plenty of autonomy for how we achieve them.
Monthly all-hands videoconferences with the CEO to talk about company values, answer questions, and discuss company financial performance.
Unlimited PTO. I feel like this really means "unmonitored PTO". It keeps the conversation focused on what we're accomplishing, not whether we're working enough hours.
A benefits package that accommodates remote work. "Onsite gym" doesn't mean much to an employee who lives 300 miles away, so we have fitness reimbursements.
Competitive salaries, benefits, stock options and bonuses (based on company sales goals). This keeps us in the top 10 on Glassdoor, which lets us be picky about who we hire.
The culture is laid-back and trusting. I don't know what the process is for dealing with bad actors, but it must be good because I haven't met any.
Does that answer your question? Remote work is a nuanced topic and I know I haven't covered it completely, but I really believe it's the way to go. I'm not sure there's any amount of money that could convince me to take an onsite job again.
I work from home over 90% of the time. My company is completely remote-friendly. I mostly come in for planning sessions and lunch with my team.
The great thing about remote work is it forces the company to measure people by their output, not by the number of hours they spend with their butt in a chair. I love that. If I finish all my work for the sprint early, I can take some time off. If I'm running behind, I work late. I can go to the gym at 10 AM and work at midnight if I want. I know what I'm responsible for, and I feel very motivated to finish it.
I never find myself counting down the hours until I can go home. I never get distracted by office buzz. I never feel like I'm letting my team down if I take my car to the shop at 2 in the afternoon.
My wife loves it too. I'm an introvert, and spending the day by myself leaves me with lots of social energy, so I'm much better for a night out or a party.
I try to draw good boundaries between work and home. I get up early, shower, eat breakfast, and get dressed before I log on for standup. I don't let myself work in my underwear. I think that would make me lazy.
That sounds awesome!
Do you have any remote folks who can't come in for lunches and stuff? And in general what does the company do to promote remote-friendliness?
Yes, the company has an number of employees who don't live anywhere near one of our main offices (it's a big company, ~500 people).
There are a few things that really make this work for us.
Does that answer your question? Remote work is a nuanced topic and I know I haven't covered it completely, but I really believe it's the way to go. I'm not sure there's any amount of money that could convince me to take an onsite job again.
What is PTO?
Paid time off, me thinks.