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Making the decision to take a company remote, pros and cons

Our road to becoming a remote company.

I’m a minimalist. 

So why on earth do I have a plastic box full of business card examples? Where did we get 18 three-ring binders? And don’t even get me started on these six weird metal sign holders, a bag of 2000 googly eyes and 20 random shiny gold tablecloths.

I’m in cleaning mode. Like, cleaning out the office forever cleaning mode. I’ve made the decision to take our team remote and end my office lease.

The day I said would never come—did. 

Making the decision to be a remote company.

As much press as remote work gets, you’d think the decision would have been a lot easier. It wasn’t. The debate with family, friends and employees was lively and at times heated. 

Questions arose about whether this would even be a legit business without an office. Would people want to apply for a job here? Would we lose our culture? Would clients trust us? Would employees work as hard, or care as much?

All great questions. All tough questions. 

I read article after article, scouring the web for research on the topic. Some kind of magic elixir that would give me a definitive yes or no answer. But no such article existed. In fact, research is so new on the topic that most articles stayed quite ambiguous. No one has been working remotely long enough to establish whether it’s good or bad for an organization.

This big, scary decision would have to be made purely on what I believed was best, and whether or not I felt the team, the work and the clients would support it. 

The self doubt also ran high. Was I a strong enough leader to not only take a team remote, but to run a company remotely? Would I have the support system in place to help me when hard things happened? 

Three primary catalysts became central to the decision. First of course, was that because of the pandemic, remote leadership and remote work had already been put through a pretty intense trial phase. Our company had thrived in test mode.

Even upon our flex time return to office, our team continued to thrive and excel, both in the office and at home. These past four years of testing and adapting our processes for the home worker became the foundation for my final decision. 

The second catalyst was cost. Yep, a good old fashioned money driven decision. Shutting down the office would save hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next few years. The insane real estate market and high cost of living became a major contributor in the conversation.

The third contributor to the decision was how would this benefit the team? Being remote would free up commute time, pollution and fuel costs. But the biggest thing it would offer people was the opportunity, for the first time in their careers, to make their own decision about where to work and how to spend their time. 

Outside on the patio? After dropping off your kids? With your spouse? With a friend? In a coffee shop? In Paris? There is no restriction on how to work, other than do a kickass job and care (and meet deadlines of course). Allowing people freedom from a desk was the biggest bonus I could give.

These heavy hitters were ultimately what sealed the deal on my final decision.

I would begin the process of taking us fully remote. Kinda. Sorta.

How we are doing it differently for our team.

I have been very vocal on remote work and the pitfalls it comes with, and have written several articles about the subject. I still strongly believe, as I have previously stated, that in person connections that happen in an office are vital to mental health, creative work, forming meaningful relationships and developing leadership skills.

As much as I tried, I could not wrap my head around being a truly remote company. The conversations about our lives, the impromptu questions about projects, the laughter, sharing coffees, drinks. Caring about each other. It matters.

Every fibre of my being believes and knows that as humans, we need other humans to thrive. So, how could we let go of the office while simultaneously maintaining connection?

I began to talk to dozens of remote workers. The narrative was always the same. Although they enjoyed the flexibility and comfort of working from home, they missed people. Every single person I asked (yes, every single one) said that culture, connection and leadership was now missing. 

Their answers solidified my resolve to do things differently.

Sending everyone home was not the right answer. We needed to maintain connection, and it needed to be more structured. Yes, we would go remote, but kind of not.

I set out to find a space where we could be together weekly. Initially I thought this could be a local restaurant or coffee shop, but as I started down this path I realized people needed a more solidified plan and location. It wasn’t good enough to just say ‘meet when you can’, I needed to say ‘meet here every Tuesday’.

We ensured that we would have a space to eat and drink and collaborate together, and set up a schedule of one day a week when we would all co-work together. Having somewhere to collaborate and eat and drink together was a key part of what made us unique in our previous office, and now being able to envision it in other cool places has really been something our team has bonded over.

The next important step was to create a Remote Handbook and unique systems, rules and guidelines we would all abide by, a document we could adapt or change as we went and learned. But it was important that the whole team lived and was guided by the same standards and boundaries. 

Showing up to client video meetings with messy rooms and messy appearances is an absolute no go. Being online and available during work hours is standard practice. And all our tools and processes are well documented.

Lastly was to build really great leaders. I never have, nor do I still, believe that you can lead remotely. Leaders can not teach or inspire from their living room. This is where I needed to step up. 

Establishing a co-work space was crucial for me and other Directors to get in front of the team weekly. Monthly department meetings are in person, as are annual reviews and onboarding. 

Hiring would still be local, maintaining proximity and access to each other. And external activities, such as movie club, Christmas party, summer barbecue and happy hours would become part of our annual in-person calendar. 

Studiothink is a Vancouver Based Web Design and Branding Agency

How we are doing it differently for our clients.

I couldn’t make this decision without figuring out how to do this differently not just for our team, but for our clients, too.

Our clients love our culture, and often choose us based on the fact they can interact with us and build relationships. Our clients love coming to our office. Whether for a meeting or a glass of wine, they know they can come by anytime. We needed to ensure this could continue to happen.

The new remote policy we have encourages that connection.

We’d now meet and present to clients at locations near them, and yes, that could still be over a coffee or wine. We’d have the same great wine vibe, just at a restaurant, golf course or coffee shop, heck we’d even go out and say a winery too. Clients would be actively encouraged to continue to meet with us.

But it didn’t end there. We also incorporated new policies into our Remote Handbook. Onboarding meetings with clients would be done at their office, with a tour of their facilities. Clients can choose whether to have in-person or video calls for all presentations. And, our Client Relations team would ensure invites to coffee, lunch or even impromptu hello’s would still happen.

Clients would still get that same Studiothink vibe and that passion to make real connections. There is always a wine glass with their name on it when we meet them.

Questions about going remote that don’t get talked about.

The process of going remote is not only much longer than people think, but there has also been emotional and mental fatigue from the decision. There was a lot more to consider than adaptability and cost. I ran into a myriad of roadblocks that needed to be addressed.

  • What would our new address be? How would Google treat this in our business listing?
  • Where would our development servers be located, and who would maintain them?
  • How would we meet with clients?
  • What the heck would I do with all this stuff? Desks, chairs, office equipment, it all had to go.
  • What equipment would I set employees up with?
  • Would team activities be optional or mandatory?
  • How would we handle project management and scheduling?
  • How would we measure employee productivity?
  • How would we onboard new employees?
  • What insurance and coverage would I still need to maintain?
  • What were the legal implications for a corporation?
  • How would we facilitate creativity and brainstorming?
  • How could culture be maintained?
  • What rules would we implement around remote work?
  • Where would project file storage be located?
  • How would we store seven years of bookkeeping records? (Hint, it’s my garage and my husband isn’t impressed–his golf bag got moved.)

Remote work. The new way we’re doing it.

This isn’t a go remote and good luck plan. It’s a carefully thought out plan that has taken into account all of the pain points we had, such as the flexibility of working from anywhere we choose, or being with our families. And it also takes into account all the things we loved, the ideas we generate in person, the fun and the friendships.

Great leadership, great companies, great ideas and great work will only come from the people who work hard to maintain human engagement and experiences. 

I will never waiver on this point. And that is what will continue to make us a truly inspiring and unique company.

I believe that nothing on earth can replace the collaboration and friendships that happen in person. Remote work is merely a change of where our computers are located. 

In case you’re wondering, next week, mine will be located in Paris. 

Sherry Jacobi