8 Things I've Learned From Running a Fully Remote Company

I've held activity roles astatine 2 afloat distant companies: Square and FutureFund, the free fundraising platform for K-12 schoolhouse groups that I founded.

But location was a large quality betwixt these 2 organizations: Square became distant during COVID-19, whereas FutureFund started retired afloat remote. Here's what I learned from Square's modulation and applied to my existent venture.

1. Not everyone tin activity remotely

Square had 12,000 group who were each hired to activity successful an office. But not everyone who's hired to beryllium on-site will beryllium arsenic successful successful a distant context.

"If you tin do it successful the office, you tin do it astatine home" isn't ever true. Some group don't person the correct environment. Others whitethorn miss the societal facet of activity because erstwhile they spell afloat remote, they suffer their societal life. Lots of group build their full organization astir their job.

That intends you request to inquire circumstantial questions erstwhile you question and reply candidates that show you really prepared they are for distant work. These mightiness include:

• Do you person a quiet spot to work?
• Do you person pets aliases children that are going to create complications?

Related: I've Interviewed Over 2000 Candidates — Here Are the 2 Questions I've Asked the Best Hires

2. Founders request an immense magnitude of trust

Most managers opportunity they don't micromanage — but if you salary attraction to their behavior, you'll announcement that they count butts successful seats, watch erstwhile group get and leave, etc. It makes consciousness to beryllium invested successful the business (nobody useful harder than a founder), but you besides request to prosecute group you tin trust.

Hire trustworthy people, past springiness them the state they request to make the most of distant work—even erstwhile they occasionally fail. This whitethorn impact giving up immoderate control, but don't beryllium scared. As I've written elsewhere, it's a calculated consequence that often pays off.

Related: Why You Have to Let People Fail Now So They Can Succeed Later

3. Your exertion has to work

Remote activity is only arsenic businesslike arsenic the exertion that connects your team. If personification comes successful astatine the commencement of their time and needs thief from personification who's off-hours, it results successful mislaid clip and money.

Embracing asynchronous communication helps debar this. If you want to prosecute the champion group successful the world, their clip zones won't ever overlap, truthful you request processes to forestall group from getting stuck aliases delayed. For example:

• Project guidance package to way tasks and deadlines
• File sharing solutions
• Virtual collaboration and gathering tools

4. Learn the ineligible implications of hiring successful definite areas

At 1 point, we hired a azygous contractor successful Washington — but because of this, each of our customers successful that authorities had to salary income taxation because we were considered Nexus successful that state. Even if we fto them go, we had to complaint income taxation for the adjacent 2 years.

This happens to ample companies pinch distributed workforces each the clip — which mightiness thief explicate why immoderate high-profile business leaders person made a constituent of overseeing hiring astatine their companies. But you don't request millions of customers for each those taxes to adhd up, truthful it's worthy being observant nary matter your business size.

Related: They Secretly Work Multiple Remote Jobs. They Aren't Sorry.

5. Know really your group are doing emotionally

I utilized to conscionable beryllium capable to locomotion into activity and announcement if personification had a problem — past we could talk done it successful the moment. But erstwhile you don't spot group daily, you aren't location to observe their behavior. That intends you person to get bully astatine asking questions.

Here's an example: astatine 1 point, we had a part-time worker who was successful complaint of our income leads, but I saw that location was a higher-than-expected measurement of leads coming in. When I checked successful to inquire if she was still moving part-time hours, she disclosed that she was moving beyond her agreement's scope to enactment connected apical of things.

Once I knew this, I made her position full-time, but the rumor would ne'er person been identified if I hadn't started that conversation. Check connected your people.

6. Proactively bring others into your work

Water cooler talk is important. It's bully for sharing ideas and expanding the mind. Brainstorming doesn't hap successful isolation, and solutions don't travel from sitting down the desk.

You often study what different group are doing done impromptu conversations. Some companies instruction agency hours because they want to get that benignant of synergy back, but location are different ways to execute it.

Start bringing ideas that aren't afloat baked to group who tin thief pinch them. Otherwise, you mightiness discarded clip reasoning astir an thought that isn't viable aliases can't beryllium completed without personification else's perspective.

Bottom line: don't beryllium acrophobic to ask for input — moreover though it tin return much effort to scope retired remotely than to pat someone's enarthrosis successful an office.

7. Make your company's goals clear

Every agency I've ever been successful had a fewer cardinal numbers aliases metrics up connected the board. Visual indicators successful the agency motivate group and guideline their priorities, but they're wholly absent erstwhile you time off the office.

When you're remote, you person to pass your ngo connection and institution goals clearly, and often. Try this:

• Provide regular updates connected cardinal goals during institution meetings.
• This helps unify group and make them consciousness invested successful the organization's success.

Sharing this accusation connected a regular ground makes judge your labor don't hide the "why" of what you're doing together.

8. Bringing group together successful personification still matters

Being distant shouldn't mean you ne'er spot your co-workers. Get together erstwhile aliases doubly a twelvemonth to make that beingness relationship pinch people. It helps you get person to your squad and build existent relationships, which besides intends much spot and synergy astatine work.

Related: Why Successful Management Depends connected Relationship Building