Just over two years ago Ellipses made the major transition from office-based company to one with an entirely remote team, working from home – or anywhere, actually! The decision to “go virtual” was primarily economic. Commercial rents in downtown Oakland were skyrocketing, and our office lease was up, with a rather…gulp…expensive increase for renewal. Our team was also already working remotely a couple of days a week, so we decided to take the plunge, hold our breath, and see if we could be as successful as a remote team as we were in person.
Two years later, it’s clearly working, although we wouldn’t be nearly as successful without several key factors:
Engaged and motivated employees. Without a doubt, working virtually requires people to have an excellent work ethic and to be very self-motivated, as the distractions of home (family, pets, laundry, etc.), bustling café or other, possibly exotic, environment can easily derail the workday. We’re very clear about working remotely in the hiring process, so team members know what to expect – and what’s expected of them – from day one.
Technology. We simply couldn’t work this way, as well as we do, without Slack. We have channels for every client team, as well as our monthly newsletter, random fun pop-culture tidbits, media updates, industry news and so much more. Several team members have shared that we communicate better as a remote team than we ever did in the office. Slack, combined with Box as our central cloud storage platform, Harvest for time tracking, Zoom for video conferencing, and Apple MacBooks for portability, helps power our engaged team.
“Virtual headquarters.” Even though we don’t have an office to call our own, Ellipses has a “Virtual Office Membership” at Pacific Workplaces in downtown Oakland, which occupies the 6th floor of a beautiful, class A office space in the heart of City Center, just steps from the 14th Street BART Station. We book one of the two conference rooms for team and client meetings, new business meetings, afternoon work sessions, or whatever else we’d need group space to achieve. It’s affordable – in fact, about 11 times less than what our office rent would have been – and the 1300 Clay Street address serves as the perfect corporate address, where company mail and phone calls are managed with care and professionalism.
Regular in-person team meetings and outings. The Ellipses team members are all in the Bay Area, or a short drive, train ride or flight away, so we have monthly in-person meetings with a work session at our virtual headquarters either before or after a group lunch. Smaller teams, say an account director and our account associate, also meet for collaborative work sessions on a regular basis. It’s also a good idea to have regular team-building events, like the escape room we conquered this spring!
Our team loves working virtually. Here are some of the highlights, in their own words:
– “FLEXIBILITY! It’s amazing to be able to work wherever I want, whether that be at home, at a co-working space with my team, or on a beach in Hawaii. I love that we have a culture at Ellipses where, as long as we’re getting our work done and our clients are happy, we have the flexibility to work when and where we want.”
– “Saves me time and money. I don’t need to waste time in a long commute getting to and from work. I save gas money that way, as well! I also save the inevitable ‘I’ll just order lunch’ money, too. ;)”
– “No commute, which is GREAT considering what Bay Area traffic is like.”
– “The hours are flexible which allows us to work when we feel most productive. For example, I love to start work early in the morning, take a break in the middle of the day, and come back with a refreshed mindset to finish out my day.”
– “From an employer’s standpoint, not having to have employees commute with Bay Area traffic, you get more productivity out of your team. You get more work done.”
– “Really allows for a work/life balance.”
– “Being able to work at the times of day when you’re most productive, even if that’s outside of regular business hours.”
– “There are far fewer interruptions during the course of the day than there are working in an office.”
– “The freedom to work in your pajamas all day.”
Of course, not is all roses and sunshine! If you are considering going virtual, here are some potential “cons” from our team:
– “It can be easy to ‘slack off’ if you don’t have self-discipline. Even though the flexibility we have is incredible, it’s still important to stick with a schedule as much as possible to ensure your work does get done. On the flip side, it can also be way too easy to get stuck in the same ‘work from home’ rut and not leave your house for a couple of weeks. I need to remind myself to MOVE some days!”
– “Everyone is on different schedules. Luckily, it hasn’t been too much of an issue and we all know we can call someone if something urgent comes up.”
– “We don’t get to see each other very often! It can sometimes get lonely when working from home and not interacting with the team or adults on a daily basis.”
– “Sometimes it’s harder to shut down at the end of the day and be off the clock. I always find myself responding to emails and taking care of small tasks even after hours, to save on having to take care of them the following day.”
– “Not being able to brainstorm with colleagues. Slack is great for communicating but it’s not necessarily the best forum for bouncing ideas off of one another.”
– “Working in your pajamas all day.”
In the end, going virtual was the best decision for our small agency. It’s not a perfect fit for everyone, though, so definitely weigh the pros and cons before you make the jump. We’re glad we did!