Transitioning to a Remote-First Team Structure
Context
Post-pandemic, our team was split between office and remote workers. This unintentional hybrid model created 'information silos' where office workers had more context than remote peers. We needed a deliberate strategy to level the playing field.
Decision
Adopt a Remote-First model: all meetings and collaboration assume remote participation by default, while maintaining optional office space as a co-working resource.
Alternatives Considered
Enforce Return-to-Office (RTO)
- High-bandwidth spontaneous collaboration
- Simpler onboarding for junior engineers
- Physical separation of work and home
- Severe attrition risk of top talent
- Hiring limited to a 30-mile radius
- High real estate overhead
Strict Hybrid (Fixed Office Days)
- Predictable face-to-face time
- Maintains legacy office culture
- Maintains the 'two-tier' employee experience
- Commute-heavy days often wasted on back-to-back Zoom calls
- Inflexible for global distributed hiring
Reasoning
A remote-first approach forces the team to adopt asynchronous habits that benefit everyone. By documenting every decision and moving 'hallway conversations' into public channels, we eliminate proximity bias and gain access to a global talent pool. The office remains a tool for those who need it, but it is no longer the 'hub' of information.
The Hybrid Friction
Before the transition, our “accidental hybrid” setup suffered from significant friction:
- Proximity Bias: Office workers received promotions and high-impact projects more frequently.
- Meeting Inequality: Remote participants struggled to hear side-conversations in physical conference rooms.
- Knowledge Leaks: Critical technical decisions were made at whiteboards without being documented for the rest of the team.
Remote-First Principles
To solve this, we codified four pillars of remote-first operation:
1. Default to Asynchronous
We moved from “meetings by default” to “documentation by default.” If a decision can be made in a GitHub Issue or a Slack thread, it should be. This respects deep-work blocks and accommodates multiple time zones.
2. Radical Documentation
We adopted the philosophy that “if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.”
- ADRs (Architecture Decision Records): Every technical pivot is logged.
- The Handbook: A living Notion document covering everything from PR review standards to expense policies.
3. Leveling the Meeting Field
To eliminate the “second-class citizen” feeling, we implemented the “One Tool, All In” rule: If even one person is remote, everyone joins the meeting from their own laptop and camera, even if they are sitting in the same office.
Implementation & Tooling
We restructured our stack to support high-fidelity async work:
- Loom: For code walkthroughs and demoing features without scheduling a call.
- Linear: To provide transparent project tracking that doesn’t require “status update” meetings.
- Gather.town: A virtual office space used for “drop-in” pair programming to replicate the feeling of sitting together.
Results After 6 Months
- Global Hiring: Successfully hired three senior engineers from time zones 8 hours away, which would have been impossible previously.
- Reduced Meeting Load: Internal data showed a 35% decrease in total meeting hours per week.
- Documentation Velocity: Our internal Wiki grew from 12 stagnant pages to over 200 active, searchable resources.
- Employee NPS: Team satisfaction scores regarding “Work-Life Balance” increased from 6.4 to 9.1.
The Road Ahead
While productivity is at an all-time high, we still face challenges with social isolation. To mitigate this, we have budgeted for quarterly “intentional proximity” events—in-person offsites focused solely on team bonding rather than sitting behind screens.