The Difference Between “Remote” and “Remote-First”

    The decision to go remote-first — i.e. work wherever you feel empowered to do your best work — was an important inflection point for the company. We’d spent years hiring local talent in Boston and London, all the while making exceptions for great people in other cities and countries.

    Inequalities developed. Our remote workers felt comfortable taking a break to run a quick errand or go for a run. Our local employees adhered to a more traditional work schedule. I much prefer clarity — and I also prefer a flexible schedule — so in 2009 we decided to extend the option to work remotely to all of our employees.

    One misconception about remote work is that it hinders collaboration. In my experience, the inverse is more likely:offices hinder independent work.

    At Tenveo, remote work isn’t about traveling the world (although we’re happy for our employees to work anywhere) or working without trousers (that’s fine too), it’s about creating an environment that empowers people do their best work and enjoy their lives.

    Remote-first is different than remote. Here’s a little more on our philosophy.

    Remote is a mindset, not a place

    We started Tenveo with a few old computers and a dorm room internet connection. There was no need (or money) for an actual office, so we worked from wherever we could. We’d get together now and then, but the bulk of our work was done in solitude.

    These were formative years. We learned how to communicate and how to work independently. We learned to hire the best people, wherever they were. When we finally opened a real office, those principles were already established. We ended up working “remotely” from our individual offices in the Boston HQ instead of our homes or a coffee shop.

    One misconception about remote work is that it hinders collaboration. In my experience, the inverse is more likely: offices hinder independent work. Collaboration tends to happen in short bursts, followed by longer periods of writing, designing, coding and thinking. It’s more important to give employees quiet time than it is to cram them into an open office.

   The office still matters

    We’ve had a remote-first mindset since the beginning, but we’ve also always had some kind of office space for meetings, collaboration and socializing. First it was a little corner of coworking space, then a small office and eventually a full-fledged HQ.

    Just because an office exists doesn’t mean people should be required to work in it.

    Today, just under half of our employees live in the Boston area. They are free to come to our HQ whenever they like. We encourage (but don’t require) people to spend Thursdays in the office to catch up, have meetings and grab a drink afterwards. I don’t love the 9–5 culture that offices seem to require, but I do really enjoy spending time with our team. We’ve hired so many great people, it would be a shame to never see them.

    The opposite is true, too. We’ve hired so many great people, it would be a shame to herd them into an office if they could work better somewhere else. Just because an office exists doesn’t mean people should be required to work in it.

    Offices matter, but not as much as happy, productive employees.

    We don’t have all the answers

    There are a few challenges we haven’t quite figured out yet. It’s difficult, for example, to plan for office space. Our 600 square foot floor in Shenzhen is cavernous for the ten or so people regularly working from it. On the other hand, when we have team meet-ups, space is so tight that people have to cram on couches.

    Offering equal perks is also a challenge. Each morning, office-based employees get an email asking them what they’d like for lunch. At noon, their food arrives, courtesy of the company. We still haven’t figured out how to offer a similar benefit to remote employees. A $10 lunch voucher just isn’t the same — perks like this don’t translate well into cash.

    When a CEO uses their lunch break to hit the gym, others feel empowered to do the same. And when a manager spends their entire vacation answering emails, it’s harder for others to disconnect in their own downtime.

    The 10 tenets of a remote-first company

    Success begins with a philosophy. I believe in the remote-first model, but there are plenty of nuts and bolts required to make it effective. Here are a few.

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