Is a fully distributed team the way to go?

This is an interesting topic that I’ve read a lot about over the last couple years as we have been building a fully distributed team. As our team has grown, we are having to put a lot more thought into what our strategy for team growth looks like. I’ve heard arguments on both sides and they both have very valid points. We currently run on a fully distributed team model at Documo and I’d like to share what we’ve learned over the last year.

Times are changing

While there are still plenty of reasons to consolidate your presence and open a physical office, some of the hinderances of old are being wiped away by newer technology. Tools like Slack, Zoom, Toggl, and others are making it easier than ever to work from anywhere.

Not everyone is super quick to embrace the idea though. Last year we raised an investment round. One of the first questions I often heard was “Are you in San Francisco?”. While we did land some great investors and closed our round, I can definitively say that this was a hurdle and even one of the investors that joined our round was hesitant to embrace the idea of a distributed team. If raising a venture capital round is high on your priority list, having a physical presence in a hub like Silicon Valley will no doubt help your chances.

Having a blueprint helps

Just a few years ago it seemed like deciding on a fully distributed team was uncharted territory. Luckily today that’s no longer the case. Companies of all sizes are adding remote workers or embracing hybrid schedules that include work-at-home hours. I’ve personally been keeping a close eye on some of the young companies out there who are fully distributed and have been awesome enough to share some of their journey.

Below are some of the fully distributed teams with useful, transparent content on the subject in no particular order.

Buffer is a popular social media management tool. They have a fully distributed team of around 70 employees spread across the globe. Known for being incredibly transparent, they also have a great blog centered around their culture, remote work, and productivity that I’d recommend to anyone.

Groove is a start-up aimed at making super simple help desk software for small businesses. Groove’s CEO Alex Turnbull has written a bunch of great content around their start-up journey including having a remote workforce. Check out their blog

Zapier is a popular automation tool that can connect over 750 apps without any coding knowledge. At last check, they had around 80 employees spread across 13 countries. They have a great blog filled with useful content (including tons of details about being a distributed team) that often gets featured in major industry publications like Lifehacker and TechCrunch.

The above is just a small sampling of companies propelling this movement forward. If you’re thinking about going distributed, I would highly recommend digging through some of their content. It has certainly helped us gain some valuable insight and tips as we’ve hired and started building a remote work culture.

The argument for distributed

There is a lot to like about being distributed. I love the idea that a team member can work from wherever they feel most comfortable or productive. Recent remote work stats suggest numerous benefits to allowing workers to work remotely at least some of the time.

Here is my shortlist of top reasons to be distributed:

Opens up your hiring market. There is a lot to like about living and working in San Francisco. Its the American mecca of tech startups. Its also incredibly expensive to live and work in the Bay area. Competing for talent in that market is also especially tough. You’re up against virtually every well funded startup plus the giants like Google, Apple, and Facebook who all want the best talent to come their way. There is no doubt that there is great talent in Silicon Valley. However, there is also great talent in many places not named Silicon Valley. Not every great engineer on earth has moved to California. By offering remote work, you could find an amazing engineer in say Des Moines or Jacksonville or Sydney who maybe doesn’t want to deal with the skyrocketing cost of living situation in SF.

Your people can work wherever makes them happiest. Having the flexibility to work wherever is pretty awesome. Last year I moved from San Diego to Las Vegas which lowered my cost of living quite a bit. I didn’t need to find a new job to do this. Anyone on our team can move wherever they want and as long as they have a good internet connection they are good to go. Its hard to compete with this in a traditional work environment.

Did I mention rush hour is not a thing anymore? Think about how much time the average person spends going to and from work. Sitting in traffic both ways…ugh. If your work is 60 minutes away door to door including time in traffic, that means an 8 hour work day is really 11 hours (when you account for lunch) away from being able to do stuff that is not work-related. When you work from home, your commute is from your bed to your home office. This extra time means more time doing what you love. Walking the dog. Jogging on the beach. Reading. Time with loved ones. It can also mean being more productive.

Some of the challenges

Although our experience with being distributed has generally been positive, its not all sunshine and rainbows and its certainly not for everyone.

Face to face has value. Sometimes its nice to just be around other people. Video or phone conversations just aren’t the same thing. Its also nice to get out of the house. For some people, its difficult to separate home and work when they are located in the same place. Many people rely on work to make friends and cultivate away-from-work relationships. This is tough if none of your coworkers even live in the same city as you.

Being able to work from home is a skill. If you ask someone if they’d like to work from home, chances are they’d immediately say yes. It sounds great for all the reasons stated above and more. However, in the real world, the majority of people need the structure associated with working in an external environment. Working from home requires a set of skills in addition to the skills needed to perform the job function you are hiring for. This isn’t always easy to see during the hiring process as everyone will tell you they can work from home.

Customers and investors might see distributed as a negative. I see things moving in the direction of telecommuting. More and more companies are adding remote roles. However, not everyone is comfortable with the idea. We sell enterprise software. A large potential customer might look at the fact that we don’t have an office as a big negative. I’ve already mentioned above a view from one of our own investors. Its hard enough getting people to take you seriously as a start up. Some might prefer to open an office just for the added sense of legitimacy.

In summary, our experience so far has definitely been positive. We have a great team that could not exist had we decided to open an office and hire in any particular market. We have the ability to work from anywhere and we are able to support our customers across many timezones because or our geographic distribution, something a team of our size would struggle to do otherwise. My advice to anyone reading this thinking about one or the other: go into it eyes wide open. Prepare for the challenges early. Follow the blueprint other companies have laid out. Be deliberate. If executed properly, the rewards will outweigh the challenges.

If you have a distributed team, I would love to hear about how its going and would be happy to discuss my experience. Feel free to reach out matt@documo.com.

Cheers!