Our team is growing and successfully developing since 2009, despite the fact that the vast majority of employees do not go to the office. They sit in their Moscow and St. Petersburg apartments, Lviv and Kharkov cottages, Minsk and Nizhny Novgorod houses, Thai condos and Turkish bungalows. Conducting the next business meeting in a beautiful Moscow office with a potential client, we inevitably hear the question: “Where is your office?”. We answer honestly: "In Nizhny Novgorod, but in general, the majority of our employees do not go there, they work from home ."
There comes a small pause, during which, most likely, the customer imagines something like this:



For more than six years of work, we have encountered a small amount of “remote” difficulties, and with a much larger amount of distrust and myths about remote work. The book Remote pleased us and seemed to say “guys, you are on the right track”, but unfortunately it didn’t give you any helpful hints on difficulties. Therefore, in this article I will collect those tips and solutions that will help not to step on our rake and reinvent the wheel.
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Before turning to the analysis of problems and solutions that will be structured into categories (organizational, communication, infrastructure and self-organizing), I will briefly answer the question “Are we satisfied with the remote format after 6 years of work?”. Unambiguous "yes":

• We can choose to the team the best of the best in our business, including from among people with limited mobility, or for various reasons who are not able / willing to leave their locality, which is significantly distant from IT centers.
• After placing a vacancy on NN, we get about 40-50 responses per day (which is 10+ times higher than the "office" figures). This provides us with high competition and allows us to be picky.
• During working hours, we work, rather than being distracted by a smoke and a chat at the coffee machine, and we are not sitting with glass eyes in an attempt to remember “what did I do before he came and distracted me to my non-urgent question?”.
• And we do not waste time in traffic jams, we are not charged with negatives from the surrounding reality of the metro. And yes, we sometimes meet. We try to do this in warm countries for a week - we can do something!

In general, the advantages for us were obvious from the very beginning, and only proved to be true over time. But the problem will go further.

1. Infrastructure issues

Offices and business centers are usually created reasonably enough so that employees always have electricity, Internet and coffee. In the remote, you have to take care of everything yourself!

1.1 Internet / electricity may disappear at the very moment when an employee should be involved in an important meeting with a client.

The solution is simple: 2 lines of the Internet are necessary. Mobile Internet is reserved. Electricity problems seemed far-fetched to us only until we ran into them. It is thanks to them that we have developed the rule “only laptops, no stationary computers” (for lovers of five monitors, the laptop is not an obstacle - if there is electricity, at least). 2 high-speed Internet + mobile per month will cost an average of $ 20-30 in the Russian Federation and $ 30-50 in the Republic of Belarus. In Thailand, more expensive (it is better to take both mobiles), cheaper in Turkey (also a great mobile Internet in any field).

1.2 No shared network storage, you can lose the necessary files

Solution: pfff, this is not a problem in the 21st century. Github, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Yandex.Disk ... What's important here:

• One admin to all repositories
• Regular cross-archiving of all vaults
• Regular archiving of all vaults to a separate unavailable resource

On the above three points, we never had problems, although we had heard about them from colleagues in the remote workshop.

But, at first, we had difficulty finding information: “where is what lies? So they threw me a link to Skype on Google, where is she? ”... The decision was the rules for placing files in directories and naming them. Since then, knowing the type of project and its name, you can immediately understand where the daddy should be with his official documents, where are the workers, and who should have access there.

1.3 Potential data security issues

The first kind of problem is unintentional : open Wi-Fi, viruses, laptop loss / theft. Here the solution is simple: centralized installation of antivirus, corporate policy to set a password. Some of the most secret X-Files are available only after connecting to a remote machine with SSL.

The second type is industrial espionage . For example, an employee of our company will put some kind of mega-secret document in open access. In some large, but not very adequate companies, which I know, this is solved by taped USB ports and work computers without access to the Internet. And, yes, they still sometimes put condoms on mice in order not to get infected. In general, we postponed this issue until we had access to the documents classified as “very secret”, and so far we have limited ourselves to competent NDA and careful selection of employees.

2. Organizational problems

To be honest, I do not believe that there are any organizational problems in remote work that are missing or less apparent in standard office work. But as a result of many discussions, I have accumulated a whole heap of fears and fears expressed by people who have never worked with the remote. We will analyze them too:

2.1 Remote employees are more difficult to manage, less clarity and control

This statement most often sounds like an excuse for managers working in a remote format. In fact, without an adequate organization of work, the problems are about the same. Standing with an employee over the soul and looking at his screen is not a solution. What for us is the solution:

• Every employee (manager, lead specialist or novice) should always have both a global strategic plan for at least six months and specific tasks . Specific! With deadlines in the system of reference tasks. Depending on the level of the specialist, tasks of different sizes. For beginners - no more than a day. Mature can be a few weeks.
• All tasks are in TMS (we have redmine), the status of who works on what is being put down, the deadlines in the event of changes change immediately, it is a pleasure to track progress.
• Every morning - discussion of tasks for the day . By department, by project, internal project stand-ups. In some projects we transfer written “what are your plans for the day?”, In some - fixed calls. As a standard, coordinating plans for a day takes no more than 10 minutes for each employee, except for projects where the customer insists on detailed morning calls - it reaches half an hour.
• Every evening - a report. We could not use the standard systems, so we wrote down our own, in which the employees in the evening indicate on which project it took a lot of time, on what type of activities and what result. Implemented the accounting system is easy, through the explanation of "why?" And requests not to spend on filling out the report more than 2 minutes a day. This is quite enough for a clear understanding of the situation!
• In all innovations discipline is very important, therefore a specially trained employee daily checks on all-all the completeness of filling in reports and the relevance of tasks. Probably, if it were not for this, we would have slipped into chaos and bedlam :)

2.2 Possible problems with the transfer of knowledge

From the very beginning, we were afraid that the irreplaceable employee would take a vacation - and without him we would not find some insanely important information. Therefore, we immediately began to collect and structure everything . First there were Google files, then Google Photos, then the above-mentioned file allocation policy appeared. And once we realized that it would be even more convenient to make an introductory Google File with links and descriptions of all important Google Files and Google Photos, to keep it open all the time or at least in bookmarks. And this file is a straight whole window into a large google world of google-goats :)

Now I remember the problems that were in the companies where I worked in the office, with the transfer of knowledge, and I understand that remotely in this regard is VERY disciplined. In openspace you can shout “ What is it? And where is it? How to use? ". A month later, forget and scream again. On the remote site, writing in Skype and writing in the instructions are the same time costs, therefore, when a question arises, we choose the wiki extension, and not the personal answer. As a result, no one again asks again.

Summing up the organizational "problems" - they are no different between office and remote work. In addition, the probability of losing information sent in writing is significantly lower than in the case of oral discussion.

3. Communication difficulties

In terms of communications, of course, the differences between remote and office work are obvious. You can not come up, ask, go chat in the smoking room. Something is better, something worse. Let's go point by point:

3.1 You can not come and chat live

Lord, thank you for this great! The effectiveness of remote work is largely determined by the fact that every 5 minutes you are not pulled to solve the most urgent issue in your life, nor to discuss office sandwiches.

Written communication becomes more structured, the stream of thoughts when writing is streamlined. To make information easier to find, and its flow does not interfere with concentrated work, we follow the rules:

• All urgent questions - by phone. We reply to skype and mail when it is convenient, but not immediately . At first, such an agreement seemed terrible to many, but now I have only 5-10 calls per week.
• As the main tool of operational communication, Skype (telegrams, if anything, performs the same functions as successfully, but we still have Skype because of habit). The default mode is Do Not Disturb. Chats are divided by department and by project + of course fludilka. Flooding in work chat rooms is a terrible sin, which is punished by socially useful works . If you are not the host / host in this chat - turn off notifications, but put / alertson on your nickname.
• With each employee - their agreement on the speed of response . If you work directly with a client or, God forbid, in technical support - be kind to set up an email client to check for mail every 5 minutes. In other cases - relax and work!
• A terrible problem occurs in different time zones. With a staff member living in the States, we couldn’t work out a long time due to too large differences in time, and in the end she got the least demanding communication task. Fortunately, the whole of Eurasia allows us to even out working hours by 10-19 Moscow time, and in some cases it is even convenient for us that employees living in Thailand go to work a few hours before the others. In any case, according to the schedule, we agree individually and cannot provide complete freedom - it is important to stipulate this from the very beginning!

3.2 Lack of personal communication can lead to demotivation

For some people, this is the case , and nothing can be done about these extroverts. Several extroverts have been working in our company for more than one year, they are suffering, but they too love the team to quit. But in general, we in the selection began to focus on introverts, for which remote work is a dream. Of course, we try to compensate for this point:

• Local meetings "pieces" of the team (in the direction or on the project, usually up to 5 people)
• Joint holidays in different countries, warm and not only
• Fludilnye chat on interests
• Etc.

As a result, despite the remote format of work, we managed to achieve both friendly relations and close acquaintances.

BUT! There are shy employees, like me, who are very happy about the lack of the need for continuous communication, and there are people who give it too difficult. The only solution found for them is to try to include them in work on the same project, and here they call up all the time (sort of like at work;)), chat in fludilkah, etc. The long-term solution is one thing: look for introverts on the remote, especially since in IT we clearly prevail.

4. Self-organization difficulties

It would seem that every employee on a remote site has a huge advantage: colleagues don’t pull, the bosses don’t drip onto the brains ... But then there are more difficult difficulties: wives, children, dogs, runaway coffee and burnt omelet. Far not everyone will be able to work in such conditions; therefore, we are trying to recruit people who are mature enough, do not require control, and sincerely love their work . But for them there are a couple of useful tips:

4.1 Workspace must be allocated

Work and non-work are 2 parallel lines that should not intersect. If children are at home, you need a separate office. Demanding wife - earplugs.

But even if no one distracts, it is very easy to slip into climbing on Facebook or playing a game when no one is above your soul. Therefore, an important rule is a working laptop only for work. That is, it is impossible to open social networks on it (except when it is required in the work), to launch toys and in some way NOT to work.

Over time, you begin to get used to and switch. Even in a familiar home apartment, after a couple of months of work, you very quickly begin to feel your laptop as the main work space, and the concrete chair or sofa gradually becomes the office . As a result, including a working laptop in the workspace, you immediately find yourself in a state of "I work."

4.2 Work rituals help enter the flow

Sometimes you take a working laptop, you sit down in the office chair of the OFFICE ... but you don’t want to work ... The first time can be difficult, and rituals help a lot here. For some, this is a special music, someone helps headphones. My ritual is always the same:

• Make coffee
• Write tasks to your favorite notepad
• Through "I do not want" to perform any of them, the simplest and fastest, to delete from the notebook ...

Then I don’t notice how I finish the last item from the list, and the working time for today comes to an end. The main thing is to start!

4.3 It is very important to be able to relax

With proper organization of the process and the availability of clear specific tasks, the staff doesn’t have much opportunity to share. It may seem like a good thing - but not always! First, we develop the habit to only work at work, and then we do not notice how the borders are erased in the other direction: we start working in the morning, in the evening, and a little bit at night.

Each remote and each leader has his own religion on this subject, but I sincerely confess a religion that “too much work is also bad . ” Work is necessary for life, and not vice versa, therefore, it is very important to be able to be distracted:

• At that moment, when the working time for today ends, it is necessary to expel yourself from the working space . Here, too, rituals help, for me this is special music, which means “the work for today is over”.
• If you, as a manager, see that an employee at work burns 15 hours a day - no need to rejoice. Some particularly zealous need to learn to relax!
• When nobody distracts you, there is a risk to earn, and it can last for a long time. The Ministry of Health warns: it is dangerous! First, it is fatigue and recycling, which no one needs. Secondly - a decrease in work results, impotence, lowered immunity and other things with which we are so often frightened. The best solution would be reminders on the phone (I used to send Google SMS to me - it’s a pity that they removed this feature). Every 1.5-2 hours you should definitely get up, walk, hang on the horizontal bar . You're not in the office - more opportunities!
• Dinner. It should be. Full lunch. Distracted from work. Chewing food and even realizing its taste. Not buried in the monitor!

Thus, at first we do not allow ourselves to be bold during working hours. Then we don’t let ourselves work in a razdolbaynoye. The first month or two can be complicated and requires discipline, but over time, everything falls into place, and the bottom line for employees is just a plus in the form of 2 hours saved on the road every day, which is 21 days at 250 working days a year (including sleep) or 31 days without sleep. Nekhilaya such a + 10% increase in your waking time!

General conclusions

Of course, there are companies that are remote in any way unacceptable. These are complex infrastructure projects without the possibility of remote access, and teams of pronounced extroverts, and simply conservative teams accustomed to personal communication.

But if you want to work more efficiently, choose the best of the best and save 10% of your life on the road - then the distance is not as scary as it seems at first glance.