I believe that remote-first is a viable model for businesses. It offers many benefits, including hiring, workplace flexibility, and productivity (depending on how you measure it). If an organization is structured to support remote work (incentives, benefits, etc.), they can thrive.
Atomic Object is not a remote-first organization. We decided to continue our history of being co-located in 2021. Our company leadership made this decision after a series of discussions with every Atom (what we call our employees) in 2021, coming out of the throes of Covid.
We made this choice understanding the trade-offs. Being in person meant we were limiting our hiring talent pool. It meant that we were constraining the majority of working time to regular business hours. And, we knew the statistics arguing for productivity in both directions.
Three-plus years into living with the outcomes of those trade-offs, I see our decision as a differentiator.
1. Unlimited Talent Pool
Remote organizations can hire the best talent across the country. They can find individual contributors with expertise in any area. This allows them to scale quickly. If an organization’s goal is to scale quickly and exit, this is an appealing and reasonable approach. But what about for organizations that plan to persist?
Atomic Object primarily employs developers, UI/UX designers, and delivery leads. As a co-located company we hire these people from our local communities.
One of the benefits of this approach is how much it simplifies the hiring process. We don’t have to worry about forming project teams with employees that span two or three time zones. We also don’t have to invest time and money in understanding different state employment laws to ensure adherence. Neither do we launch national hiring campaigns. Instead, we create relationships with local universities to recruit and hire for our Accelerator Program.
Another benefit to this approach is hiring employees who live and work in the same community. This means we can have a greater impact on that community. We support other local businesses by getting pair lunches, choosing local organizations to support, and finding opportunities to connect outside of the office.
2. Productivity
Research continues to argue back-and-forth between which is more productive; remote or co-located. It’s easy to see arguments in favor of remote, some of which I mentioned above — no commute, no office interruptions, etc.
A simple definition of productivity is the amount of “work” one can accomplish in a day. What is work? For a developer is it primarily lines of codes written? For a project manager, is the number of user stories refined?
At Atomic Object, one of our core values is “Think Long Term.” When I use that lens, I define work very differently.
For a senior developer, a productive day could be hours pairing with a less experienced developer to solve a complex coding challenge. Did the senior developer write as much code as they would have working alone or solve the problem as quickly? Likely not. Did their assistance create more confidence in a junior developer, which will improve that person’s productivity in the coming months and years? Maybe.
When we view productivity on a longer time horizon and we value all types of work (onboarding, training, continued development), I start to see a compelling argument for more productive, co-located teams.
3. Work Time/Place Flexibility
Remote workers’ commute time is zero. This allows them to maximize their work time. Also, they can work from anywhere. They can get a short-term rental for a week, bring a laptop, and voila. Having no constraints around work time can be a great thing, but it also creates some hurdles.
For some of us, turning work off can be a difficult task. Even more difficult when there are no boundaries between the office and home. It’s easy to rationalize adding those extra lines of code, or writing just one more email.
Without the physical boundaries of office and home, it’s also difficult to compartmentalize obligations. I’m reminded of the floor that needs vacuuming when I look around my office after finishing an email or the dishes that need washing when I go to refill my water.
The commute time between the office and the house becomes a transition period. On the way to work, I’m shifting into work mode. I’m mentally planning for the day ahead. On the way home, I’m shifting into dad mode. I’m trying to think of all the best dad jokes, with a podcast on in the background.
Choosing Co-location
I do believe that remote-first companies are viable. The benefits of remote work I’ve outlined above are just a sampling of the considerations an organization should consider when looking at remote-first versus co-located.
Both models (and many variants) can work. Regardless of an organization’s direction, it has to have a great culture as its bedrock. A company is only as good as its culture. Atomic Object has chosen to be co-located. Since we made the decision, we’ve grown the organization, started offices in new markets (including Raleigh, N.C.), and have continued to deliver world-class software for our clients.