Remote work vs in office

I’m traveling for an offsite this month.

My team is planning a major launch and we’re doing the kick off in person.

If you’ve followed or hung out with me for any amount of time, you know that I’m a remote-first person. I think there’s nothing that can be accomplished in person that you can’t also do remotely.

Well, almost nothing.

While scrolling Twitter one day, I saw this tweet from Winnie’s Sara Mauskopf:

I had to admit, it was a good take.

When I think about the advantages of remote work, I think about having no commute, a customized workspace, and minimized office distractions. Which leads to more work getting done.

And it’s true. That’s the “get stuff done” part of Sara’s tweet.

But when it comes to large groups coordinating a major effort with several unknowns (like a major launch or yearly planning), more progress can be made in person.

Think about it. When we’re in the same room with our team, conversations move quicker because we can read everyone’s body language. Folks are less likely to be distracted by their device. There’s less tech to wrangle.

Y’all ever try to get a group of execs to use Miro over Zoom? Yea…

It’s easier to get a large group to focus and make decisions in person.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a remote-first advocate. I don’t think folks need to be in an office every week and think hybrid models are nonsense. I don’t buy the “spontaneous hallway conversations” argument, nor do I believe a handful of people need a physical whiteboard for everyday problems.

Remote works just fine ~340 days a year.

But there are a couple times a year when it makes sense to gather in person so everyone can move fast, be decisive, and ultimately be productive for those 340 days.

That’s exactly why my team is meeting up.

We’re planning a major relaunch that involves several teams, touches multiple parts of the product, and spans every platform we’re on. There’s a lot of moving parts to coordinate and we’ve yet to nail down what we’re actually doing. So we’re meeting up for a few days to make progress on the big decisions.

So that we can get stuff done working remotely the rest of the year.

Notes

Yes, “It depends.”

Yes, meeting up gets harder the more distributed a team is.

Yes meetups are also important. While I didn’t touch on them here, it’s important for remote teams to gather every so often just to bond. As a former employer once said:

Stray Links 🧶

David Walsh’s I’m So Old is a nice trip down memory lane for anyone who’s been working on the web for 15+ years. Firebug, SVN, .bmp, VML, FTP… iykyk.

The Shape of Ai collected a slew of design patterns folks are using when adding Ai features to their apps. Helpful if your team is racing to “do Ai” without always prioritizing the experience.

How to Navigate LinkedIn’s Cringe Factor is surprisingly helpful, especially for explaining why LinkedIn feels so weird sometimes. "Everyone's on their best behavior” is a good way to describe it.

Shape of Ai collects how companies are designing Ai into the products. Iconography, colors, interactions, and more.

A letter to my younger self, as an accessibility advocate is a wonderful collection of lessons learned. I especially like the one about “The business doesn't care about what you think is morally good for society.” True for more than just accessibility.

🏛️ From the Archives

A favorite article I periodically re-read.

The tools we use: Challenging dogma in the design process: Intercom’s Emmet Connolly gives a deep, thought-provoking piece about how most of us don’t really notice how our own decisions are being shaped by the tools we use.

Jobs from teams I admire

Dialpad is hiring product designers, engineers, and marketers (including my team!). Reply if you’re interested!

Linear is hiring a Head of Product Design
🌎 North America

Lattice is hiring a Senior Brand Designer
🇺🇸 United States 💰 $86k-$134k

LinkedIn is hiring a Sr. Principal Product Designer
🇺🇸 Bay Area or NYC (Hybrid) 💰 $207k-$335
(I spoke with a recruiter, seems like a great opp. if you can be in office)

Thanks for reading ✌️
Ted (@tedgoas)