Considering working remotely for a startup? Here’s what you need to know

You keep hearing it everywhere: startups with entirely remote staff, big companies offering their employees flexible hours, freelancers working from all over the world. Yes, working remotely is the new way of working and in a world where staying connected has become a second nature, this might as well be the future and the demise […]

Considering working remotely for a startup? Here’s what you need to know

Recent research has found that remote workers are actually more productive than employees who head into the office every day. The reason why remote working is so popular is clear: it’s beneficial both for the employer and the employee, making it a mutually satisfactory setup that’s good for everyone involved.

So what are the things you should consider if you are thinking about switching to remote work for a startup?

Discipline

Yes, working from home is going to be filled with temptations: sleeping in, playing with pets, finding chores to do or simply browsing social media all day. This will not only leave you behind on work but will also negatively impact your work-life balance because deadlines, projects and tasks are still the same as in an office and they have to be met at the end of the day. Meaning you will have to put in the overtime to finish them, leaving you frustrated and disorganized at the end of the day. Discipline is one of the most important things when working remotely, it takes practice and time to fall into place, but once it does it will turn you into a machine of productivity.

Tech savy

Consider that everything you will do, from communication to project management will be done with different tools and software designed to make your remote life a lot easier. Tools like Slack, Trello, Evernote, Basecamp and many others will become a second nature to you, so it’s essential that you know how to get the best out of them. Even your simple email client can become a powerful tool if you understand all its gimmicks and personalize it for your work. Add the fact that you will have to manage all this on your own most of the time and you will understand why a certain degree of tech knowledge is indispensable when it comes to remote work.

Self motivated

Working remotely means you will take full responsibility for how you allocate your time, complete your tasks and meet your deadlines. You will of course have supervision but it will be far less intrusive than in an office, your manager will trust you to work independently and tackle your work without constantly being told how and what to do. A lot of startups look for people that are self-starters/have a high degree of independence, value continuous learning, and are receptive to feedback. “Hand holding” and waiting for specific instructions before moving forward to work is a sign that you are probably not fit for remote work.

Adept at communication

You can easily understand why is crucial to have great communication skills when being part of a team that is distributed in different locations (and even time zones). Being a good communicator is not limited to being good at interacting with people, but rather more focused on how you interpret and convey information, especially written instructions. For example an employer will be able to asses from the first phases of recruitment if you are a good communicator, based on how you approach the application process and how much attention you pay to what has been requested: cover letter, resume, mini interview, replying in a timely manner etc.

Don’t forget to regularly check out www.workinstartups.com to find out what are the latest startup vacancies suitable for you!

Working From Home: Yes or No?

With all the hype about IBM’s decision to ban remote work, the question if working from home is productive or not arose again, stirring lots of debates, lots of pros and cons, and lots of emotions on both sides (employers and employees). Extensive research was made in the last few years and many companies launched […]

Working From Home: Yes or No?

Extensive research was made in the last few years and many companies launched trial flexible hours test programs, predicting that this is the future of work, as confirmed also by a study conducted by Virgin Media Business on 5.000 companies from UK. The study estimated that 60% of employees will work from home in about a decade, businesses already putting into place the infrastructure that would allow it, with fast connectivity and software that would make face-to-face meetings obsolete in the future. O2 is one of those companies, having launched ““the biggest flexible working initiative of its kind,” allowing a quarter of their 12.000 employees to work from home for a day.

Despite all the controversy around the topic, working from home brings many benefits and it would be a mistake for companies not to prepare the right infrastructure to allow it. According to an experiment conducted by Standford students in 2013, there are many benefits that flexible working hours brings to the company as well as the employee, which would justify entirely the adoption of this work practice by companies:

Substantial reduction of costs: commuting, energy and utilities, gas, office space etc.
Increase in work satisfaction and employee motivation: improvement of work/life balance by allowing the employees to efficiently plan their working schedule incorporating their private life
Performance and productivity increase: flexible working hours were a response to recession and a way to retain employees, increase productivity and cut costs, according to a study on recession from 2009
Decrease of attrition rate and higher retention of talent
Improve environment by reducing employees commuting

There are, of course, some disadvantages of working from home, but they are mostly on the social side of business and can be overcome with smart planning and objectives:

If the responsibilities are not very well defined or hard to measure, it will be quite difficult to keep track on employees’ performance while working from home
Some employees work well only under supervision and management control
Team bonding is harder to be accomplished if your employees don’t meet too often, so there are difficulties when it comes to creating strong teams, which are mostly based on personal interaction
Problem solving might become more complicated and time consuming, without direct interaction
Virtual communication can only achieve so much and is not as efficient as face-to-face
Damage of long time careers prospects, caused by less on-the-job training from team leaders and less “face-time” in the office

Of course working from home is a concept that needs to be adapted to the specifics of each industry and company. There are some industries – direct customer services, like banking for example – where the presence of the employee is mandatory, but how does working from home function when it comes to startups?

I will allow Jason Fried to answer this question for you. Successful startup creator (37signals) and co-author of “Rework”, Fried states that good work is like good sleep, it can only be done if uninterrupted, thus the best work will sometimes happen at home. Watch his TED talk on the topic below:

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