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I co-founded a startup that was fully remote for 6 years and then hybrid for another few years (our NYC office had at least 1/2 of employees in-person full time

I co-founded a startup that was fully remote for 6 years and then hybrid for another few years (our NYC office had at least 1/2 of employees in-person full time). I did a bunch of interviewing and hiring for remote software engineers during this time (interviewed 100+ people). One of the main things I tried to assess was whether or not the person was a good fit for working remotely (essentially, they needed to be very good at self-motivating their productivity). Some people's personality just doesn't work as well in an isolated, work-from-home environment. In my opinion, this is going to be a new realization many companies (large and small) are going to come to in the next year and will have to deal with accordingly. It's also unfair to people who were potentially thriving at their jobs when in-person full time, but may now be struggling to maintain the same productivity remotely. I think it's inevitable that things will shift slowly back towards full-time in-person workplaces.

ghaff 5y ago
I think it's also possible that things will drift to both ends of the spectrum. Something like 3-in/2-out feels like one of those uncomfortable middle grounds. OK. So workers get a bit more flexibility. But the downsides: - Companies can't really save on real estate unless you do scheduling and hot desking which seems like an ugly solution. - Workers can't really increase their commute times much but have to keep a reasonable working area at home. - Schedules will only overlap for meetings etc. if there's a lot of coordination - Either remote people on a given day will get left out or some of those in-person will resent having to work as if everyone is remote even though they're in-person themselves.
- theoblank 5y ago
  Yeah, and there's a whole skillset required for overcoming a lot of these downsides and the whole company has to proactively work to overcome them. I also wonder how many companies will get bit by leadership (CEOs, engineering team managers, whoever really) not working as well in a remote environment.
reikonomusha 5y ago
How do you interview for these traits? I find that in interviews, everyone presents themselves as hard-working, self-motivated, and highly efficient. It’s not too hard to assess technical skill. But how do you assess self-motivation and good time management more objectively?
- theoblank 5y ago
  There's no perfect way, but my approach is always to be very candid about expectations and consequences. So, I would discuss this very issue and explain how some people are good fits for it and some aren't. There's always been an idealized vision of remote work (e.g., people imagine themselves working from a beach in Fiji). Also, just looking for people who have successfully worked remotely before is a plus. People who have built meaningful side projects on their own can also be a good sign (although definitely not a sure sign of success).

ghaff 5y ago

I think it's also possible that things will drift to both ends of the spectrum. Something like 3-in/2-out feels like one of those uncomfortable middle grounds. OK. So workers get a bit more flexibility. But the downsides: - Companies can't really save on real estate unless you do scheduling and hot desking which seems like an ugly solution. - Workers can't really increase their commute times much but have to keep a reasonable working area at home. - Schedules will only overlap for meetings etc. if there's a lot of coordination - Either remote people on a given day will get left out or some of those in-person will resent having to work as if everyone is remote even though they're in-person themselves.

theoblank 5y ago
Yeah, and there's a whole skillset required for overcoming a lot of these downsides and the whole company has to proactively work to overcome them. I also wonder how many companies will get bit by leadership (CEOs, engineering team managers, whoever really) not working as well in a remote environment.

reikonomusha 5y ago

How do you interview for these traits? I find that in interviews, everyone presents themselves as hard-working, self-motivated, and highly efficient. It’s not too hard to assess technical skill. But how do you assess self-motivation and good time management more objectively?

theoblank 5y ago
There's no perfect way, but my approach is always to be very candid about expectations and consequences. So, I would discuss this very issue and explain how some people are good fits for it and some aren't. There's always been an idealized vision of remote work (e.g., people imagine themselves working from a beach in Fiji). Also, just looking for people who have successfully worked remotely before is a plus. People who have built meaningful side projects on their own can also be a good sign (although definitely not a sure sign of success).