@cylinderdigital * Hello! * I’m Adarsh Pandit and I’m the managing partner of Cylinder Digital. * We believe simple software can get work done faster, leaving more time for life. * Using human-centered design, modern software practices, and high-quality communication, we research, design, and build simple web and mobile software for businesses and people. * We have been working with the GetCalFresh and MichiganBenefits.org teams since April of this year, supporting design and engineering. We’ve had an amazing time and helped lots of people get food assistance as a result. * The Michigan project has been a kind of pilot for distributed work culture here at CFA, I believe. * Today I’m going to talk about distributed work and cultural change. * Cylinder operates as a distributed-first team and we’ve learned a lot in our time about * Why anyone would work outside of an office * How you help transform an organization into a distributed culture * What best practices you can start with to create your own flavor of distributed work style.
get going, you’ll notice I’m saying “Distributed Work” instead of “Remote”. * If you catch me saying “Remote”, you should boo, because Language is subtle and powerful. * This is from a great article from Chase Adams at Walmart Labs * It makes people who work outside of an office into an exception of the in-office norm. * Language is subtle and powerful. * Consider the difference between “having remote workers” and “working as a distributed team”. * When you “have remote workers”, people ask “Why does that person get to work from home?” It’s about tolerating others and permissiveness, maybe inequality. * When you ”work as a distributed team”, people declare “I’m working from home this week. It’s quiet and I need that right now.” It’s an intention, lived out. * Language is subtle and powerful.
about a “Distributed Work Culture” * The first term we covered… * “Work Culture” is the other half - the norms and habits and practices we adopt at work and reinforce as we work together. * Here’s my wordy definition:
noting the historical context of this trend and what enabled this big change. * It’s a little obvious for those of us in the tech industry but this also is a much broader phenomenon. * Digital tools and networks have evolved tremendously. * Software and bandwidth are so good, it’s not as necessary to be in the same room as your colleagues. * Think about how over the last 5-10 years these things have changed: * The average network quality or reliability * The availability of WiFi in public spaces * Number and quality of cameras in our notebooks and phones * Battery life * Video conferencing services
and commuting are no longer tacitly accepted as part of work * When the cost of living gets high enough, where you work from becomes important. * When you have to drive a car in traffic for an hour, where you work from becomes important * When you spend time getting to/from work, at the expense of time with your family or friends or just being alone and reading, where you work from becomes important.
part of our economy produces and consumes technology. * Manufacturing work has to be done in person. * Knowledge work is digital work, and it does not necessarily have to be done in person. * The economy is shifting.
less time commuting, lower stress, 2. enhanced productivity - autonomy means you can do your best work. 3. increased diversity - not everyone fits into an office (in my experience, the disabled, working parents, trans folks) 4. encourages autonomy (Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose from the book “Drive” by Daniel Pink. This hits hard on Autonomy.)
of time. No open-plan distractions. 2. Increased importance of clearer communication, so less communication churn 3. Fewer lost work days due to illness 4. Build the best workspace for your needs, not what everyone else has in the office.
expenses, fewer desks 2. Happier employees mean less employee turnover and hiring, which is expensive 3. Healthier employees save on health care expenses 4. It’s cheaper to recruit from a larger pool 5. Lower salaries when employees live in a lower-cost area
make any cultural change, you have to Create and Tell a Change Story * The Change Story helps everyone align their expectations, work together, and reduce anxiety. * A change story is: * A clear narrative about why your organization is making a change, how it will be rolled out, and what tactical steps need to be taken. * It’s also got a firm timeline. There are few things worse for an organization than floating timelines, especially when you’re asking for a big change at work. * Once you have a change story: * Tell it to everyone, call a big meeting and tell everyone what the plan is and when it will be complete. * Continuously publicly revisit #1, keeping the story consistent, and report on how it’s going. * When the change is complete, send a message to everyone saying “the change is complete!” and thank everyone for their patience.
to a distributed work model between now and Thanksgiving. We are doing this because we believe this change has positive business benefits, including happier employees, increased diversity, lower costs, and improved productivity. You are free to work from wherever you want but it’s important to understand how to do so effectively. Please read our best practices document and begin a discussion with your team. For in-office folks, it’s just as important to read the document and buy in, maybe more so. Get in touch with Alice or Bob if you have questions.” * This might be one way to start the process * Then halfway along, say “hey, it’s going great! We’re measuring some metrics and they’re coming together * When you wrap, make a big production of it and say “now we’re done!” * The Change Story helps everyone align their expectations, work together, and reduce anxiety.
a Cultural Change, the leadership needs to role model the change * The leaders of an organization have to actively and publicly demonstrate the new desired cultural change. * This is key — if the leaders do not fully embrace the change story and live it out in their daily behavior, the cultural change may fail. * In our example of spreading distributed culture, the executives and management should work in a distributed fashion, participating in discussions about what works and what doesn’t, and otherwise being positive and encouraging. * Seeing the boss work from home is far more influential than hearing the boss tell you to work from home.
a Cultural Change, the behavior needs to be reinforced somehow * Once you have a story in place and the leadership are showing everyone how it’s done, it’s important to monitor the progress and reinforce the desired behaviors. * In the case of moving to a distributed culture, consider tracking some very basic metrics. * Try to answer the question: “Hey, how’s that distributed work thing working out for you all?” * Percent working entirely outside of the office or at least once per week * 1–10 survey of how conducive the culture is to working elsewhere. * Workplace Happiness * ? * For distributed culture, the incentive may just be the flexibility itself.
a Cultural Change, there needs to be an investment in skill building * It bears repeating * Creating a distributed work culture is much more than just “letting people work from home”. * It’s an intentional investment and needs to be perceived as such. * Working productively outside of an office is a skill which can be improved upon, like any other. * If you hire software developers based on how many years they have been writing code, you should also consider how long someone has worked in a distributed team before hiring them into one * Let’s go through some best practices: * Note that not all of these work for every organization * Try them out and see what works for you.
discussions online where possible. More importantly, create a culture where it’s okay to call this out. Some things are best done in person like sketching / white-boarding, which is okay, but try to capture the output and share back via chat.. * ASAP is poison. Asking for something to be done immediately is disrespectful of our teammates valuable time. Plan ahead for actually-urgent tasks by laying out a protocol for how to handle fires and set shifts for who is on-call for support. * Maintain consistent work hours and mute notifications during off hours. Post your working hours in your profile. All of this prevents Slack burnout where you feel the need to be online constantly. * Post “Good Morning” and “Good Night” messages to clearly indicate when you are online and greet your team. * Set a maximum time zone difference. Even flexibility has it’s limits, and this is a hard one to overcome. If you can’t regularly have 2–3 hours of workday overlap for the whole team, it’s very difficult to communicate well. This means practically about a 6 hour limit in timezone variance. * Watch out for snark (“Oh, look who’s loafing off in their sweatpants at home today!”). * Respect the precious attention span or your colleagues.
to a video call, even when some people are in the same room. We all need to see close-ups of your beautiful face, not a grainy wide shot of several people. * Train participants to look into the camera — it creates a deeper connection and conveys the sense you are looking at the other person, rather than off to the side. * Set expectations at home with your family on when is okay to come in, so you don’t get ambushed. Consider a lock on the door. * Work from a quiet place where everyone can hear you. Coffee shops are okay in a pinch but too noisy for everyday communication. * Share the video conferencing link well before the scheduled start of the call to allow everyone to log in and set up. One way to do that is to maintain a single video “room” for most meetings. * If the majority of attendees are in one room, designate someone as the “remote delegate” to represent any AV issues, particularly in very large calls like all-hands meetings. * If you’ve never met before, budget 5–10 minutes to get the video/audio setup correct in your conference room.
for a few days or a week. This is the biggest investment with the biggest payoff. * Nicer video camera — Even a $50–75 external webcam is a big upgrade in video quality from the default camera. * Reimburse workers for network connectivity, ensuring it’s enough to pay for higher-bandwidth. * Reimburse for better home office gear like standing desks, external monitors, chairs, and standing mats to prevent injury and create a more comfortable space. * Invest in upgraded video conferencing services like Zoom. * Add sound-dampening foam to the walls.
intentional * Aim to hire teammates with distributed experience. Like any skill, it does take time to learn and improve. * Rewrite your job description to create a picture of day-to-day work. * Evaluate written/oral communication skills carefully in interviews. For that matter, conduct interviews over video conference. * As an employer, experienced distributed workers will judge you on all of your written communication to get a sense of the writing standards. Continuously edit and improve your job postings, public documentation, blog posts, etc. so they are crystal clear and fun to read. * When hiring, search outside your normal local networks. Post your jobs on distributed job boards and spread the word about your hip new distributed work culture.
just go out and do this tomorrow, right? * Eh…. * Change is very difficult and it’s not always the right time for an organization to make a big change. Consider your context before jumping into something like this. * This is a software-centric organization, so it works well here but may not elsewhere. * Also, what works for one org does NOT necessarily work for another one, even in the tech industry. Same goes for teams. * Your mileage may vary.
Daniella for inviting me and helping organize (BIG HAND) * The Michigan MultiBenefits team, Alan, Daniella, Christa, Ben G, Paras * The GetCalFresh Team * The Cylinder Team - Jessie, Joel, Rachel, and Zee * Lou Moore and the leadership here at CFA * Helpful edits from lots of nice people I know and am happy to call my friends * McKinsey for coming up with an actually-useful framework
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