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Over the last 12 months, my tweets on remote work have had 80,000,000+ impressions
Here are my learnings, predictions & advice
[ a thread ]
Here are my learnings, predictions & advice
[ a thread ]
The 21 most important lessons talking to 2,500 companies in the last 12 months taught me
HQ’s are finished: companies will cut their commercial office space by 50-70%The will allow every worker to work from home 2-4 days a week, and come into the office 1-2 days a week
Fully distributed: ~30% of the companies we talk to are getting rid of the office entirely and going remote-firstCompanies doing this have seen their workers decentralize rapidly, leaving expensive cities to be closer to family
Access talent: The first reason they are going remote-first is simple – it lets them hire more talented peopleRather than hiring the best person in a 30-mile radius of the office, they can hire the best person in the world for every role
Cut costs: The second reason they are going remote-first is because it lets them be far more cost-efficientRather than spending $20,000 / worker / year on office space they can provide the best remote setup on the planet for $2,000 / worker / year
Remote burnout: The productivity inside the companies we’ve spoken to has gone through the roofTheir biggest concern is that workers burnout because they are working too hard
They are actively exploring ways to combat this
Remote onsites: 60%+ of companies we talk to are already thinking about ways to use time together physically to improve cultureThe most popular we hear is flying the team into remote locations for ~week. Portugal, Spain, Puerto Rico seem to be the most popular
Personal choice: the smartest people I know personally are all planning to work remotely this decadeThe most exciting companies I know personally all plan to hire remotely this decade
~90% of the workforces we’ve spoken to never want to be in an office again full-time
Async by default: is the thing that organizations are struggling with mostThe majority of companies have replicated the office remotely and it is causing strains that are beginning to show
Personal injury: These are exploding. Companies haven’t moved quickly enough to prevent them and back, neck and repetitive strain injuries are becoming a huge problemExpect this to remedy this quickly by providing better, ergonomic equipment to workers
Universal problems: doesn’t matter the size of the organization, every company is dealing with the same thingWe spoke to early-stage companies, publicly listed tech companies, through to legacy incumbents with hundreds of thousands of employees
All will be more remote
Pollution reduction: many companies we’ve spoken to care massively about the environmental impact that eradicating the office – and the commute – will have 108 million tons of Co2 less every year
Quality of life: even more importantly companies are realizing that they don’t need to expect workers to waste 2 hours a day commuting to sit in an office chair for 8 hourAlmost every company we talk to believes that their workers will be happier as a result of remote work
Remote pressure: a few companies we’ve spoken to have decided to be more remote than they initially intended because their competitors already did itThere is a fear inside companies that if they don’t go remote they will lose their best people to their competitors
Remote fear: most companies aren’t scared about the quality of work that will be producedThey are scared about intangible things they can’t measure
‘quality of communication’ && ‘collaboration in person’ && ‘water cooler chat’
Many have realized these were excuses
Output over time: the measure of performance in the office is how much time you spend sat in your seatThe measure of performance while working remotely has to become output. Tools that enable this to be tracked more accurately are something we are asked for a lot
Written over spoken: documentation is the unspoken superpower of remote teams. The most successful team members remotely will be great writersCompanies are searching for ways to do this more effectively. Tools that enable others to write better will explode
Flattened orgs: middle management is in trouble, an unnecessary bottlenecks which serve no tangible purpose inside async organizationsCompanies need coaching and facilitators to maximize organizational effectiveness
Company Resorts: Several companies are thinking about creating resort like compounds where work happens in personExpect these to be built in incredible locations and focussed on providing the best on-site experience possible
Remote Laws: Many companies are beginning to operate under the assumption that the choice to work remotely will become a legal right This will give workers the option to choose where they work, and many companies are acting before they are forced
Meeting Death: Wasting 2 hours traveling to a meeting will end. The benefits of in-person are eroded by the benefits of not traveling Conferences and quarterly networking events will become more important for cultivating in-person relationships
Internal community: Team cohesion and company culture isn’t impossible remotely – but it’s very differentIn the same way companies are finally realizing the power of community externally – internal community may become even more important to a companies success
Why are so many companies talking to me? http://FirstbaseHQ.com
The 2030’s will be remembered as the remote work decade20 predictions on what is likely to emerge
Rural Living: World-class people will move to smaller cities, have a lower cost of living & higher quality of lifeThese regions must innovate quickly to attract that wealth. Better schools, faster internet connections are a must
Hobbie Renaissance: Remote working will lead to a rise in people participating in hobbies and activities which link them to people in their local communityThis will lead to deeper, more meaningful relationships which overcome societal issues of loneliness and issolation
Diversity & Inclusion: The most diverse and inclusive teams in history will emerge rapidlyCompanies who embrace it have a first-mover advantage to attract great talent globally. Companies who don't will lose their best people to their biggest competitors
Output focus: time will be replaced as the main KPI for judging performance by productivity and outputGreat workers will be the ones who deliver what they promise consistently
Advancement decisions will be decided by capability rather than who you drink beer with after work
Private Equity: the hottest trend of the next decade for private equity will see them purchase companies, make them remote-firstThe cost saving in real-estate at scale will be eye-watering. The productivity gains will be the final nail in the coffin for the office
Bullshit Tasks: The need to pad out your 8 hour day will evaporate, replaced by clear tasks and responsibilitiesWorkers will do what needs to be done rather than wasting their trying to look busy with the rest of the office
Health & Wellbeing: A lack of commute will give workers 25 extra days a year to do other thingsWorkers will exploit the freedom they have to organize things more freely in their day. Afternoon runs, morning meditation, 2 things a lot of people I know now do
personal RPA: robotic process automation will transform work for individuals No-code tools that enable workers to built bots that automate menial parts of their roles will be huge
Remote Living: Work from anywhere RVs will become huge businessAssociated business parks and services will spring up. This will happen even more rapidly as self driving tech emerges
Expect a @Tesla product in this space
lifework balance: massive increases in part-time and freelance workA recognition that we no longer have to sacrifice work for living, we can organize work around our lives
Remote Visa: small nations coming together in order to attract remote workers at different stages of the yearHuge opportunity to synchronise education to enable families to be more fluid in their locations
Wellness Days: The pandemic has shown remote work works.The lack of boundaries has caused burnoutMany companies are implementing wellness days where their teams get an unplanned day off once every 1-2 months
Micro Co-working: a home on every street is transformed into a hyper local co-working space. It comes with all the amenities needed, like high-quality coffee, and has on-demand fitness equipment like @onepeloton bikes
Vertical Tools: @NotionHQ, @LoomHQ, @zoom_us etc. are incredible horizontal products that do nearly anythingVertical products that do one thing, operating around a constraint that looks like a feature, will explode to prominence
Meetings, async & culture big opportunities
Voice Tech: You speak 7x faster than you type and you read 2x faster than you listenTech that let's you consume and input via these modes will arise and interface with every possible tool you use
1 Car Households: The rise of remote will have tremendous indirect benefits towards slashing pollutionFamilies will benefit from only needing one car slashing cost of living, potentially cutting commuting a lot
WFH Experience: offices have emerged to provide incredible experiences inside some companies. Lunches, launderettes, child careCompanies will differentiate in this domain rapidly. The remote culture and experience a company offers will be a massive attraction for workers
Community Led SaaS: as no-code continues to grow, tech is barely a barrierCommunities become the moat important moat a company has
Hybrid Implosion: the worst of both worlds because it dilutes the benefits of remote or office workThe maximization of the negatives of each mode will mean that hybrid companies are the least successful of the 3 options: remote, office, hybrid
Remote Tools: Companies operating remotely now will have created tools every remote team on the planet needs @Zapier, @Gitlab, @GitHub, @FirstbaseHQ will spawn Mafias who take these internal tools and create startups around themSeveral $Billion Startups to emerge this way
