March 2020 Summaries

As a manager, prioritizing human connection, supporting individual needs, maintaining team rituals, leaning into prioritization, and making time for moments of gratitude can help navigate a crisis. It's essential to take care of oneself first, continue being authentic, and not force individuals to discuss their feelings if they're not ready. Regular 1:1s with the team, using frameworks like the Birkman Method or BICEPS, can help identify individual needs and meet them accordingly. Maintaining team rituals and focusing on opportunities for social connection can provide a sense of grounding during times of change and uncertainty. Leaning into prioritization by addressing productivity issues directly and making space for flexibility is also crucial. Finally, incorporating gratitude-sharing practices, such as sharing what's being grateful for at work or outside of work, can help focus on positive aspects and promote kindness. By implementing these strategies, managers can support their teams' continued professional functioning during a crisis and come out stronger on the other side.

We've taken control of our remote workspaces, showcasing how different teammates have optimized their environments to suit their individual needs and work styles. From a tidy desk in Nottingham to a cluttered but organized space in Portland, these photos offer a glimpse into the diverse world of Zapier's distributed team. By working remotely, each member can tailor their workspace to boost productivity and minimize distractions for themselves, while also respecting the needs of others on the team.

The Ruby Tap, a self-serve wine bar in suburban Milwaukee, used social distancing measures by offering curated wine for curbside pickup on their website, resulting in over 300 orders and $20,000 in revenue. To manage the increased demand efficiently, they utilized automation tools like Zapier to streamline sales tracking and fulfillment processes. This allowed them to improvise and adapt quickly to changing circumstances, enabling them to stay afloat during a challenging time for businesses built around people gathering.

Meetings get a bad rap because they never start on time, someone always dominates the conversation, discussions go off-track, people's hands are often traced in their notebooks, and meetings could've been an email. Remote teams face similar issues, with video conferencing apps having time limits, making it harder to talk out of turn without reading body language. To run effective remote meetings, consider deciding if a meeting is necessary, setting an agenda, starting and ending on time, recording the meeting, being intentional about communication, agreeing on mute/unmute and video/no video protocols, and asking for feedback. By implementing these structures, you can make remote meetings more productive, freeing up time and making everyone less grouchy.

The company Zapier was founded as a distributed team by its co-founders Bryan and Mike, and Plushcap, who joined later. They operated without an office in the early days, working remotely from their apartments, coffee shops, and other locations. The team grew, and they hired remote workers to collaborate with them via chat and pull requests. Despite initial skepticism about remote work, Zapier found that it was effective and efficient, allowing them to tap into a global talent pool, reduce costs, and increase focus. The company prioritized culture building, documentation, and communication from the beginning, which helped them overcome common challenges associated with remote work. Ultimately, Zapier's success demonstrated that remote work can be an effective way to build a successful business.

We know that Zapier has a strong focus on remote team building, as they've been a 100% distributed company for nearly a decade. They use a shared calendar called the Zapier Social Calendar to broadcast and be aware of various remote social activities. The company sets some simple guidelines to ensure everyone feels comfortable adding events, such as requiring participation remotely and having RSVPs. They also emphasize low friction over perfect attendance and encourage people to host duplicate events if they can't attend. Ideas for remote team activities include video games, board games, coffee runs, meals, movie nights, conferences, skill sharing, drinks, book clubs, and more. The company has hosted various actual remote team activities such as Open Social, Kids of Zapier Social, Zappy Hour, Munch & Learn, and Board Game Hangout.

The author proposes a simple rule for video calls: if there are five or fewer people on the call, don't mute yourself; if there are six or more, mute unless you're the person currently talking. This rule aims to balance natural conversation flow with the need for non-verbal cues and clarity in large meetings. Exceptions include when someone is presenting, when there's a distracting noise nearby, when eating, interrupted by something, or when leaving video on due to bad internet connection, being in transit, or not planning to speak. The author also suggests always leaving camera on unless absolutely necessary, as it helps create a sense of presence and makes meetings smoother.

This article discusses the importance of incorporating joy into one's work, inspired by design expert Ingrid Fetell Lee's book Joyful. The author shares their own experiences and tips on how to optimize workspace for joy, give oneself permission to be joyful at work, celebrate with colleagues and others, and find joy in small changes that can add up to a more joyful workday.

Saying good morning to a coworker you don't know is perfectly normal, but sending a private message with the same greeting can be perceived as weird or even creepy. Reaching out to coworkers without context can make it hard to connect and form friendships, especially in remote work settings. To overcome this, it's essential to explain why you're reaching out, offer help when needed, respond privately to comments made in public channels, be vulnerable by sharing something about yourself, don't take delays personally, respect the back-and-forth of conversations, send one message and wait for a response, set your own status to avoid unwanted interactions, and recognize that small interactions matter. By adopting these strategies, you can build meaningful connections with coworkers and combat loneliness in remote work environments.

I have a friend who once said something like this to her daughter: "Would you like me to dedicate my limited memory to remembering your birthday or checking whether you've put on your socks and shoes each morning?" I laughed, but also wanted to cry. The sheer number of things I now have to hold in my head as a parent would be incomprehensible to pre-parenthood me. As a working parent, I've had to adapt to managing multiple tasks simultaneously, freeing up space for more important worries like teaching the Pythagorean Theorem to my son. To cope with this, I use automation tools like Zapier to streamline routine tasks, such as updating my Slack status when I'm on family duty or sending reminders about upcoming events. These tools not only reduce stress but also allow me to maintain productivity and focus during work hours and family time, ultimately benefiting both my personal and professional life.

At Zapier, the company uses a variety of collaboration tools to facilitate remote work, including internal blog Async, knowledge base Quip, and communication platform Slack, which is also used for virtual office meetings. Google Calendar is utilized for scheduling across time zones, while Gmail is mainly used for notifications and external collaborations. Google Docs and Sheets are used for specific tasks and writing content, while Coda and Airtable are used by some teams for project management and data tracking. Jira serves as the task management system for software projects, GitHub provides access to codebase information, Stack Overflow offers private questions and answers, Rover powers the issue trackers for app integrations, Looker is used for common data questions, and Zappy is a screen capture tool made in-house. The company also relies on extensive user help docs for support.

Creating an effective remote onboarding program requires intentional effort to establish community and culture, provide support and connection for new hires, and introduce them to asynchronous work. Companies can foster a sense of belonging by assigning "work buddies" who check in regularly, using live sessions and Zoom breakout rooms to facilitate connections, and delivering small doses of information over time through self-paced lessons or interactive tasks. Regular check-ins with the onboarding team, manager, and company buddy ensure new hires are progressing at the right pace, while asking for feedback helps tailor the program to individual needs. By prioritizing community, culture, and asynchronous learning, companies can create a unique onboarding experience that sets remote employees up for success and fosters a sense of belonging long after onboarding is completed.

At Tortuga, a travel backpack company, they prioritize focusing on their strengths rather than trying to be everywhere and do everything. By identifying areas of low-impact work and concentrating efforts on those, they've seen significant growth and improvement in their business. The company has also implemented strategies such as the Ivy Lee Method, prioritizing tasks based on impact, and setting clear goals through OKRs. By doubling down on what matters most to their business, Tortuga is able to make meaningful progress and avoid getting bogged down by non-essential activities.

At Zapier, they prioritize "defaulting to transparency" in their communication, aiming to help others do their work effectively without overwhelming each other with information. To achieve this, they've developed strategies such as being specific when posting on internal tools like Slack, getting straight to the point, eliminating jargon and acronyms, using hashtags to communicate more clearly, and making communication searchable. By doing so, Zapier aims to create a productive and efficient remote work environment where everyone can thrive.

As a manager, the key traits to focus on whether working remotely or co-located are showing care for team members, helping them grow and learn new skills, clearly communicating expectations, giving regular feedback, encouraging creative problem-solving, setting up the team to do the work that matters, protecting their priorities and work time, and establishing trust. When managing a remote team, it's essential to ask specific questions on video calls or phone calls to show genuine care, help team members grow by making space for cross-functional projects, clearly communicate expectations such as response times and deliverables, give regular feedback, encourage creative problem-solving by finding the right tools and delegating projects, set up the team to do the work that matters by measuring impact rather than hours worked, protect their priorities and work time by understanding conditions that lead to productivity and making space for prioritization conversations.

The future is already here—it's just not evenly distributed.` This quote by William Gibson opens the book `REMOTE: Office Not Required` by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founders of Basecamp. The authors are a remote team themselves and have written this comprehensive beginner's guide to remote teams. Reading the book has made them realize that strong information about how to work is not specific to remote teams, but rather applicable to all teams. They recommend reading `REMOTE` for its valuable insights into how to identify great workers, manage most work effectively, overcome interruptions, evaluate progress, and avoid office politics. The authors' management techniques can be applied in both remote and non-remote settings, making the book a valuable resource for any team leader.

The key to building trust in a remote work environment is fostering transparency, getting to know each other, setting clear expectations and sticking to them, focusing on output rather than time-in-seat, and using automation tools to stay connected. By implementing these strategies, managers can create a culture of trust that allows employees to thrive and feel accountable for their work. Transparency is crucial in remote teams as it eliminates surprises and ensures everyone is informed about important conversations and updates. Getting to know each other through social channels and regular check-ins helps build personal connections and trust. Setting clear goals and expectations, and sticking to them, also helps establish trust between managers and employees. By focusing on output rather than time-in-seat, managers can empower employees to manage their time effectively and deliver results. Finally, using automation tools like Zapier can help stay connected with team members and see work happening in real-time, reducing the need for constant micromanaging and fostering a culture of trust.

Remote work is full of challenges, including cross-timezone communication, lack of structure, distractions, and isolation. However, with the right strategies, remote workers can overcome these challenges and thrive in their roles. To get started, find internal documentation to learn about company policies, expectations, and norms. Reach out to teammates for advice on what they wish they knew during their first week. Establish communication expectations with your manager and team to avoid feelings of disconnection. Proactively reach out to coworkers to build relationships and stay connected. Define your priorities and set a schedule that works for you, enforcing it to maintain productivity and work-life balance. Take care of your physical health by exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet. Invest in your professional community by attending networking events and volunteering. Learn to manage distractions and procrastinate productively by using tools like RescueTime and Freedom, scheduling regular breaks, and practicing self-care. Finally, be proactive in seeking help when needed, tailoring solutions to every problem you'll face while working remotely.

When joining a remote team or working remotely, having equipment beyond just a laptop and earbuds can significantly impact productivity. High-quality headphones with a microphone are essential for clear communication, while a Spotify premium subscription provides uninterrupted music without ads. A coffee gift card offers a change of scenery, and a wireless hotspot ensures reliable internet access in unfamiliar locations. Backup peripherals, such as a mobile work backpack, help minimize packing inconvenience when working from different places. A good bag with multiple pockets keeps essentials organized, an ergonomic chair promotes comfort, and coffee equipment helps create a morning routine.

As a fully remote team, Zapier has learned that success relies on three key ingredients: a capable and trustworthy team, the right tools to facilitate communication and collaboration, and well-defined processes to ensure structure and direction. The company's journey began with its founders working remotely due to their different schedules and bootstrapping efforts, eventually growing into a 300-person team spread across 28 countries. Zapier has developed a unique approach to managing remote teams, prioritizing hiring doers, trusting the people they hire, and assembling a team that can execute in a remote environment. The company uses various tools such as Slack, Async, GitHub, 1Password, Coda, Zoom, HelloSign, and Help Scout to facilitate communication, collaboration, and productivity. Key processes include weekly hangouts, pair buddies, weekly 1:1s with managers, a culture of accountability, building culture in person, and automating repetitive tasks whenever possible. By implementing these strategies, Zapier has been able to maintain its success as a fully remote team while scaling its operations.

Building culture as a distributed team is not easy, but it's necessary for success. Unlike co-located teams that can rely on natural interactions to build their culture, remote teams must intentionally create and maintain a strong cultural foundation. This requires more than just physical activities like ping pong tables or regular meetups, but also how the work itself contributes to the team's values and sense of belonging. To achieve this, remote teams need to utilize digital tools that facilitate collaboration, communication, and fun, such as Slack, Async, and Hangouts. Trust is essential in a distributed team, as it enables team members to rely on each other and evaluate results based on output rather than physical presence. By prioritizing trust, transparency, and getting things done, remote teams can build a strong culture that drives success despite the distance between teammates.

Working from home can be challenging, but by implementing several strategies, individuals can boost their productivity and stay focused. Starting the day with a routine that sets clear goals and priorities is essential, such as making your bed first thing in the morning and drinking a glass of water to rehydrate after waking up. Preparing for success the night before by clearing distractions, planning tasks, and setting up an environment conducive to work can also help. Regularly changing one's work environment can increase productivity, while understanding willpower and managing it through techniques like choosing the path of least resistance and designing an environment that prevents failure can be highly effective. Keeping work and personal spaces separate can also improve focus, and using productivity tools such as music, to-do lists, and time-tracking apps can help stay on track. A/B testing different productivity methods and tracking progress can lead to finding the most suitable approach for each individual. Finally, building habits through techniques like the X-card method can help create lasting changes in behavior, ultimately leading to increased productivity while working from home.

When remote work becomes isolating, teams can use automated workflows like Zapier's Zaps to stay connected and build trust. They can create a virtual water cooler by sending conversation prompts or sharing fun content like GIFs through tools like Slack. Weather-related Zaps can be used to bond over shared interests or complain about the weather together. These small interactions can help foster camaraderie and make remote work feel more collaborative.

There are two traditional office brainstorming methods that don't work well when working remotely, bouncing around the office hoping for sparks of creativity, which wastes energy and relies on chance encounters. Instead, remote work leaders recommend using an online whiteboard to collaborate visually without physical presence, with tools like Miro or Google Docs offering templates and real-time collaboration features. Having a video call allows for in-person-like conversations while taking notes, and some video conferencing apps have built-in whiteboard features. Brainstorming alone can be effective, especially when combined with walking and using a phone to take notes, and starting a Slack channel with threads allows for asynchronous collaboration and refinement of ideas.

At Zapier, a remote company, the CEO encourages disagreement as a way to improve decision-making and team performance. Disagreement can be scary, but it forces people to think harder, get better data, and prepare more thoroughly. However, written communication can feel formal and intimidating, making it difficult to voice opinions. Asynchronous feedback requires patience, which can be stressful. To make disagreement easier, the company uses a "safe word" (e.g., "pomegranate") to signal potential issues, disagree early, often, and in real-time, using video calls if necessary. Disagreement is not only productive but also good for mental health by building shared understanding and reducing tension.

As a fully distributed team at Zapier, the company has mastered the art of communication and collaboration while working remotely by leveraging automation to streamline processes and stay connected. One way they achieve this is by automatically updating their team chat status when they're away from their computer, ensuring everyone knows where to find them. They also use automation to send video meeting links, remind teammates about upcoming events, and even share random GIFs to keep the mood light. By automating these tasks, remote workers can save time, stay connected with colleagues, and build connections even when they're not in the same location.

Slack is a communication platform designed to facilitate team collaboration, but it can also be a significant distraction if not used effectively. To avoid getting overwhelmed by Slack, users need to customize their experience and set boundaries. This includes leaving channels that are no longer relevant, using threads to organize conversations, adjusting notification settings, decluttering the sidebar, saving actionable items, scheduling heads-down time, and being willing to "declare bankruptcy" when necessary. By implementing these strategies, individuals can make Slack work for them rather than against them, improving their productivity and reducing stress.

When transitioning to remote work abruptly, it's essential to mimic office culture by setting up virtual watercooler conversations and recreating social activities like coffee or lunch breaks. Embracing social time as a core part of work helps build morale and prevents loneliness and isolation. Defaulting to transparency involves clear goals, daily check-ins, and manager-trust relationships. Brainstorming differently using online tools can be just as effective as traditional whiteboarding sessions. Don't expect normalcy, especially when it comes to task relevant maturity, working hours, and employee flexibility. Being flexible and prioritizing tasks is crucial during this uncertain time. By mimicking office culture, embracing social time, defaulting to transparency, brainstorming differently, being flexible, and prioritizing tasks, remote teams can thrive even in the face of sudden transition.

As an Engineering Manager at Zapier, Scott reflects on his experience, acknowledging the challenges of management, including decreased coding time, increased responsibilities, and the risk of failure. However, he also highlights the rewards, such as witnessing team success, having a direct impact on people's careers, fixing processes, and shaping team dynamics. With great responsibility comes great power, and Scott emphasizes the importance of empathy, self-awareness, and using one's title to build others up rather than tearing them down.

Millennials and Gen Z are shaping the workplaces of the future as digital natives entering the workforce en masse. The survey found that a majority of Millennial employees have direct reports, with 62% and nearly half of Gen Z employees also reporting this. However, male Gen Z employees are almost twice as likely as female Gen Z employees to say they have direct reports. Many Millennials see people management as the only way to advance their careers, citing higher pay or career advancement as the primary reasons. In contrast, Gen Z managers are more likely than Millennial managers to say they moved into a management role because someone else left and there was no one else to fill the role. Younger managers are burned out, with 73% of millennial managers and 66% of Gen Z managers experiencing periods of decreased productivity due to job burnout. They also struggle with delegating work and often expect their teammates to respond outside of work hours, which can contribute to burnout. Interestingly, younger employees value managers with soft skills, prioritizing communication, productivity, and motivation over business-focused skills like driving results or budget management.

I spent 14 weeks with my newborn son, which was a crash course in being a working parent and dealing with stress, guilt, and coordination. I realized that coworkers with kids put in full days before work and deal with similar emotions as me, including guilt for leaving my child and anxiety about not being present enough. To navigate this transition, I crowdsourced tips from fellow parents and adopted strategies such as focusing on quality time with my son, acknowledging conflicting emotions, making a daily plan, finding support at work, and giving myself breaks. These approaches helped me balance work and parenting responsibilities and find a sense of purpose and community during this challenging period.

Women in remote work face unique challenges and benefits compared to traditional office settings. According to a recent survey by Zapier, female knowledge workers are more likely to want to work remotely, but less likely to be given the option. This disparity is partly due to unconscious biases such as height-based favoritism, which can affect women's career advancement. Remote work also offers advantages for women, including the freedom to make non-public choices about their children and breastfeeding without drawing attention to themselves. Additionally, remote work provides opportunities for marginalized groups, such as military spouses who are disproportionately affected by unemployment rates. Overall, remote work can be a struggle for women, but it also creates advantages and mitigates biases against them.

Google's search algorithms are complex and constantly changing, making it challenging for SEOs to keep up. However, there are some key factors that can be controlled and optimized to improve rankings, including content matching search intent, page format, page speed, backlink diversity and authority, internal linking strategy, and E-A-T factors such as expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. By focusing on these high-priority factors and using tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights and SEO SpyGlass, SEOs can improve their rankings and provide better user experiences.

The author of this text is someone who loves automation and efficiency in their personal life, using tools like Zapier to streamline tasks such as calendar management, flight check-ins, and communication with family members. They have created custom workflows to help them stay organized and avoid stress. By automating these tasks, they are able to focus on other aspects of their life, including spending time with their dog. The author's personal projects, like the personalized subscription box for their grandparents, demonstrate how automation can be used to improve relationships and simplify daily routines.

Having navigated the challenges of being a working parent for three years while employed remotely at Zapier, the author reflects on the complexities and emotional strain of balancing career and parenthood. Despite enjoying the benefits of flexible working hours and unlimited paid time off, the author describes the painful experience of pumping breast milk while working and the guilt of missing key moments in their children's lives due to work retreats. Drawing parallels to their own mother's work ethic, the author acknowledges the difficulty of reconciling professional ambitions with parental responsibilities. They emphasize the importance of structural policies that support caregivers, such as paid parental leave and flexible working conditions, while highlighting the need for a workplace culture that fosters psychological safety and authenticity. The author recounts the supportive environment at Zapier, where open discussions about the challenges of parenting and work are encouraged, ultimately expressing the desire to be honest about the inherent conflicts between these roles and the reality that one cannot always "have it all."