Saying thank you is the most familiar and accessible way to express gratitude. However, saying...
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If your HQ disappeared tomorrow, would it break any workflows? If not, that’s the first indication of a true remote-first work culture. Some sources claim that around one quarter of today’s workplaces are remote-first, but the actual number is probably closer to 15 percent. Everyone else is just flexible.
TL;DR
- Remote-first work cultures are designed for distributed teams, never offices.
- This model changes the way trust and belonging are experienced at work.
- Factors such as decision-making and promotions help determine whether an organization is better off being remote-friendly rather than remote-first.
Where distribution is the default.
Remote-first processes assume no one is in the same room. A common question to ask is, “If all five of us were in different cities, would there be any impacts?”
Async communication is a perk in some places, but it’s the norm here. As we’ll see coming up next, documentation is absolutely everything. Remote-friendly companies contain people who might find this isolating and impersonal. However, those who successfully go remote-first appreciate the autonomy. It lets them reference factual sources at will instead of trying to remember an offhand remark or decode the manager’s tone.
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🏆 Praise is documented, too. Recognition artifacts can be searched and revisited to keep leaders in the loop about small contributions and wins. Async employees can reflect on these during the harder days, too. |
Writing replaces the office.
You do need solid written communication on distributed teams. Chats, docs, everything depends on text. Meetings don’t change this. Chat remains the preferred medium for real-time communication on experienced or better-equipped teams. Some forms of text remote-first teams rely on daily:
- Video transcripts
- Slack threads
- Decisions docs
- Project READMEs
- Internal guides
Time zones can support the structure.
Can time zones present a problem on async teams? Sure, but some truly remote-first organizations leverage the difference, extracting 24-hour productivity without anyone having to work overtime. When design, engineering, and QA are all in different zones, clean handoffs can act almost as an assembly line.
This isn’t possible for every remote-first team, especially in creative and more collaborative industries. But these companies still choose deliberate overlap hours to support as many employees as possible at once. This isn’t an intentional design on many remote-friendly teams.
Trust is more binary.
You either trust work is being done, or you do not. In office settings and even hybrid teams, it’s easier to appear productive. Remote-first work cultures include async communication methods and tools that surface invisible work.
Leaders on remote-first teams are also more adept at setting clear expectations. A reasonable status update cadence, roadmaps, and the real definition of “done” suit the work model. This is how trust is built.
Belonging is intentional.
On other teams, it’s proximity that builds belonging. Cake in the breakroom, jokes in the aisle, hunching over the same problem after hours. Distributed teams build belonging through the big picture and small written exchanges.
The big picture is how their output impacts both their peers and the company’s final product. The small texts are the “good mornings” and recognition messages we receive in Slack. Many remote-first pros supplement this by giving team members more chances to contribute during all-hands and town halls.
How to tell if you’re pulling it off:
Would letting your office go change anything?
If you had no commercial lease, would this transition take some time? Many remote-first work cultures celebrate the cost savings of finally letting the office go.
Would you promote someone you never met in person?
This is a really telling one. If you’d have reservations about promoting a remote employee, despite their contributions, your modes of async communication are not up to par.
Do people in other time zones need you to make decisions?
We see this all of the time in people and HR, where struggling cultures depend on one person. If one person going to bed completely stalls the average decision-making process, documentation and expectations need work.
Is context available in writing?
Every new hire inevitably comes across a task they aren’t 100% sure how to approach. If your new hires could gain about 80% context from resources they have free-will access to, that’s a great remote-first environment.
Remote work culture tip: Add picture to text 🌮
Loom feedback and Slack selfies add faces and familiarity in remote-first work cultures. But it’s the lightweight and lighthearted habits that get repeated the most. Add proof of praise and a feeling of belonging directly to workflows with chat-native peer recognition. It’s a way to make small contributions seen, ensure async employees get their props, and share something slightly unserious.
"I've been using HeyTaco as both an admin and user for our fully remote team. The taco system is really fun, and genuinely motivates our team members to acknowledge each other's hard work EVERY DAY. I highly recommend it."
- Rebecca S., Quality Operations Lead
Remote-friendly, in-office, or remote-first, HeyTaco handles it. Start now and share a taco with your distributed team members in any time zone right away.
FAQ: Remote-first work culture
What’s the difference between remote-first and remote-friendly?
Remote-friendly companies have an office where work occurs, but remote work is allowed. Remote-first requires no office at all, although some orgs will maintain a physical HQ for various other reasons.
Are remote-first companies here to stay?
Yes, but they’re unlikely to become the majority. Most remote-first teams enjoy the model because it suits their industry (tech), or they’re a startup. They’re also more likely to employ fewer than 500 people. WFH was a response to the pandemic, but real remote-first just makes good structural sense for some companies.
How do you onboard people into a remote-first work culture?
Strong, durable, clear, self-serve documents they can refer back to over and over. Guides and handbooks are more valuable in a remote-first work culture than a Zoom debriefing. New hires will also benefit from a Slack buddy and a solid 30-60-90 document.
