I just recently started at MongoHQ and have found the experience really interesting and wanted to share a few observations.
- Remote work makes a company more transparent. The documentation and writing that makes remote work possible has an interesting side effect of giving insight into all corners of an organization. While this might not be desired in some organizations, I think it empowers individuals to get a sense of the overall company goals and health and make the best decision of how to use their time.
- Remote work breeds trust. Instead of getting the trickle of information from closed door management meetings, you get a log of what is happening and a sense of what decisions are to be made and the implications.
- Remote only works if everyone is on board. I have been at organizations that tried to make remote possible, but it never quite worked as some groups refused to monitor the central chat for fear of it taking too much time. You do really need everyone on the same channels and using the same tools to maintain the level of communication required to make remote work.
- Remote work makes a company more transparent. The documentation and writing that makes remote work possible has an interesting side effect of giving insight into all corners of an organization. While this might not be desired in some organizations, I think it empowers individuals to get a sense of the overall company goals and health and make the best decision of how to use their time.
- Remote work breeds trust. Instead of getting the trickle of information from closed door management meetings, you get a log of what is happening and a sense of what decisions are to be made and the implications.
- Remote only works if everyone is on board. I have been at organizations that tried to make remote possible, but it never quite worked as some groups refused to monitor the central chat for fear of it taking too much time. You do really need everyone on the same channels and using the same tools to maintain the level of communication required to make remote work.