Across Countries & Coasts: Working Remotely at FanDuel
Before deciding to accept a position at FanDuel a little over two and a half years ago, I found myself weighing the pros and cons of being a full-time remote employee. On one hand — I would be eliminating commute time (saving my sanity living in Los Angeles) and working in the industry of sports, which is a huge passion of mine; however, I would also potentially be losing out on the social dynamics and benefits of in-person office relationships. I’m an extremely social person and I’ve built a lot of really close friendships in previous jobs by simply being in the office, so the thought of working ‘by myself’ each day was a little concerning. Ultimately, I decided the pros out-weighed the cons, jumped into working remotely, and I can honestly say it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made — both professionally and personally.
Why being remote at FanDuel works well — and for me
The success of being a remote employee is a two-way street: a company responsibility and a personal responsibility. FanDuel upholds their end, and here’s why:
The People at FanDuel
Even though the majority of the people I work with on a daily basis have time zones that are 3 (East Coast, US) or 8 (UK) hours ahead of me, everyone is always willing to make the time for video calls and respond to messages on Slack (our real time messaging tool) — even if that means adjusting their schedule. It’s not always easy being one of the outliers of working remote (especially in teams where the majority are not), but between the design team, my specific stream and everyone in between — it never feels like I’m ‘on an island’. FanDuel strives to hire great people — people you want to hang out with, which makes the working-relationships that much better.
The Culture of FanDuel
FanDuel has created a culture of inclusivity. Although the majority of my time is spent in different timezones from my team, there are opportunities for traveling every so often that are prioritized in order to have those face-to-face interactions. These interactions really help to build teamwork and closer bonds with co-workers who I normally work with remotely. I have been given the opportunity to travel to Scotland to be with the UX and Design team and New York to spend a few weeks with product, engineering as well as other parts of the business.
The Tools and Utilization of those Tools
The teams at FanDuel are genuinely built for making remote-work successful. The collaboration tools and processes that are put in place (specifically Abstract from a design standpoint) allow you to work independently while giving you the ability to branch off each other’s work and get an overview of what everyone on the team is working on. Slack is probably the most important tool I use because it’s the main point of communication. I’m in about 30–50 channels on Slack (not including DM’s), which sounds like a lot, but these serve as a tool for work, growing personal relationships and really great trolling opportunities (numberFire shoutout). It enables the feeling that you’re constantly connected and even though I’m not in the office, in a way it still feels like I am.
I want to emphasize the ‘for me’ in all of this because working remotely is definitely not for everyone, especially when it spans across multiple time zones. As much as it’s a company responsibility — it’s an even larger personal responsibility that takes adjustment, time-management, diligence and a lot of communication.
The Good and the Bad
Some people (particularly those in industries where remote-work isn’t as common) envision that working remotely means you work whatever hours you want, have no schedule and then cap your day off with a 4pm glass of wine. Yes, there are plenty of benefits to working remotely, but there are challenges as well.
My Biggest Benefits
Flexibility
This is absolutely #1 for me. My husband and I travel a lot with our families being all over the US (and just in general). The fact that I can work from anywhere and that time zones aren’t an issue is a huge bonus. Along with working from anywhere, flexibility is a big perk in general at FanDuel — whether you have an appointment or need to step out for a bit, as long as you get your work done and communicate with your teams, there are never any issues.
Focus
Working remotely gives me a much better focus than being in an office environment. Some people feel that working from home can be distracting, but I’m actually the opposite. All I want to do is talk to everyone when I’m in an office, so it’s a lot more difficult for me to focus, especially on complex problems.
Time Saver
As previously mentioned — since switching remote, it means no more sitting in LA traffic everyday. I can’t even put into words how life-changing that is. All that time sitting in traffic and commuting has exponentially benefited my work-life balance by being able to use that time in so many other ways — including making the most of each work day.
The benefits don’t come without their challenges. I’d be lying if I said working remotely was always easy — it’s not.
My Biggest Challenges
Time Zone Differences
This is probably the most obvious of the challenges. It requires sacrifices and a lot of communication from everyone on the team. I had to completely change my work schedule from showing up at an office at 10am to being awake at 7:00am, responding to questions and messages by 7:30am and hopping into video calls by 8:00am (sometimes earlier). Most weeks, I have to squeeze my meetings in a two-hour window with my team in the UK, as they do the same to stay late to meet (thank you all for taking the time to stay later!). Although challenging, it’s been a team effort across the board that everyone in FanDuel has adapted to, with great communication as the core.
Staying Involved & Diligent in Communicating
It can be extremely easy to fly under the radar when you’re not physically in the office, which is why making a point to ask for feedback, give feedback, post in Slack, etc. is so important. As a remote employee, you can’t expect to be involved if you don’t make the effort to be. This might mean setting up meetings with people you may not know or posting your opinions or questions into Slack about things you may not be directly involved in. Overall, it’s about taking ownership in communicating with all types of teams and people. It may seem weird or uncomfortable to inject yourself into some of these scenarios, but it’s critical in staying involved and definitely does require a lot of time and effort.
What I’ve learned… and Continue to Learn
Find your routine
95% of working remotely is time management. I’ve found that I get the most accomplished once I’ve been able to get into a routine. Each day is a little bit different, but overall I try to keep things consistent with slotting in meetings, time for focusing on certain bits of work and fitting in my workout schedule. The other 5% is just a lot of coffee.
Switch up your environment
Do NOT be locked up in your house all day. I’m assuming one of the reasons most people work remotely is because they don’t want to be tied to an office (this is 100% true for myself). I believe the same applies for your own house. If you’re able to get your work done from anywhere, I think switching up your environment is great — maybe the local coffee-shop, outside patio or a co-work space. For me personally, my environment makes all the difference, so don’t box yourself in.
Over-communicate
I can’t emphasize communication enough. Even if you think you’re being annoying — it’s better to continue to make sure you and your co-workers are on the same page. Over-communication is better than communication mishaps.
Being remote doesn’t mean you always have to be ‘online’
When I first began working remotely, I felt the constant need to respond to every message immediately at any time of the day or night. Part of this was because I felt that was the expectation — the other part is just my loathing of having an open notification badge. It’s been a learning process to realize that it’s OKAY to take breaks. Working from home does not mean you are available 24/7.
Working remotely at FanDuel has opened the doors for me in a lot of ways and has led me to work with some amazing people from all over the world. Although it’s not for everyone or every company — this is one place where I can truly say it’s been top-notch.
