17 tips to run a better remote organization

I chose 17 because that felt like a good number, but now I actually have to think of 17

Bad example, this is not an ergonomic way to work.

1. Write stuff down, but not literally everything. There is more noise than information day-to-day

2. Have a single source of truth for everything. Emphasis single.

3. The fewer SaaS tools, the better. More tools is higher complexity and hard to keep a single source of truth

4. People mostly organize themselves socially. Make it easy to connect with colleagues online and they will bond.

5. Likewise, it’s worth meeting people in person. Spend that time on bonding, breaking bread. Not doing the work itself.

6. If there is no concentration in time-zones, it’s hard to work together

7. Yes there really are people that do multiple jobs at the same time, but it’s a very tiny minority and it’s obvious very quickly

8. You can only work remotely well with low-latency internet and good video calls. This is easy by giving everyone a macbook (fast and reliable) and make them use wired internet (low latency)

9. Everything invisible until you actively share it. Working transparently solves this. Share your work when you start, not when you’re done

10. Everyone hates meetings, so actively avoid meetings by working asynchronously.

11. When you do have meetings, have an agenda, and try to stick to 25 minutes or less

12. Use Loom to send videos to each other with good transcription. More personal than text, but allows the viewer to easily skim.

13. Inversely, never use voice notes. They put the burden on the listener.

14. Regularly talk with people in very different departments and teams to prevent silos.

15. Work requires work equipment. Make sure everyone has a good chair, a good desk, and an ergonomic work setup.

16. Treat your company as a product: to make remote work great you have to change and iterate on the processes as the company and its people change

17. Build on trust.