Company setup is not just a blog post subject, and we have plenty of good books, articles, videos, and audiobooks about how to do it. Despite this, remote companies have some particularities that the founders need to match to make sure it will work.
The pandemic made all of us changing our perspectives about work, and we see it is possible and efficient to be away from an office. Of course, some companies try to make their employees come back saying this is the best for all of us, but we know this is just an old mentality now.
People know they can work from home or wherever they want and be productive at the same time. But from a company perspective, it's easier to manage day-to-day activities with the people in the office than communicating with them on Slack. To do this, every company need to take action in some directions, which I will try to cover below:
Hire for productivity, not for eight working hours. I think this is the biggest mentality shift the entrepreneurs did during last year. To have a business running in a remote world, the entrepreneurs need to realize that results matter independently of daily time spent on a tasks list. It doesn't matter if your people respond instantly from 9 am - 5 pm if, in the end, they don't deliver the expected results to the company. Many business owners were more comfortable knowing that their people are in the offices during working hours, but in the end, the simple thing of being physically in a place doesn't mean anything. People can work even better when they are most of the time alone from their home, a coffee shop, or on a beach, enjoying the sun.
It was like a disease for many companies. Still, it's not eradicated, but we see far fewer cases. Why? Because owners almost can't do micromanagement in a remote environment :). It's impossible to know what employees do every minute of their time. The best owners can do is to set a working schedule, let's say 9 am - 5 pm, and implement a time tracking solution for the entire company, but I will not call it the happiest solution ever. No one likes being followed. If this entrepreneurs category wants to survive, they need to accept the idea that just the employees' output matters and they can do whatever they want with their time if they deliver.
To run remotely, businesses need clarity: clarity in objectives, clarity in everyone's role, clarity in communication, all backed up by transparency and honest collaboration. Not being in touch all day long, employees need to have clarity about what they have to do and trust their colleagues that everybody gives their best. To be here, a high level of clarity is needed on the leadership level. It is important to know what to achieve and communicate properly to all employees making them feel like contributing to the business vision. In a remote work environment is easy to get people lost on the way, and this can be easily seen both by results as by their engagement. So clarity is a must.
Working successfully remotely requires good communication. And if the team is fully asynchronous, communication becomes a must. Businesses need to make their people work together. Skills and experience are important but knowing your teammates beyond the professional level is the key. This can be done through weekly meetings, virtual events without a business purpose, custom retreats where employees can meet and work together, or two weeks camps for all the team. The last one is already practiced by a lot of remote companies. It is the perfect way to discuss vision, set objectives, offer feedback, work together, and drink some beers.
These are the four keys to run a remote company. It's funny how these four are also the key to run a successful company regardless if it is remote or not. Focus on results, no micromanagement, clarity, and good communication are elements that attract the best employees on the market and, at the same time, are the perfect mix to drive growth from anywhere in the world.
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