Most conversations I have these days with entrepreneurs has some component about virtual teams, remote employees, return to the office timeline, etc. While great work is getting done virtually, there’s still a strong desire to have an in-person element, whether it’s a few days a week or a few days a year, humans crave face-to-face with other humans.
Personally, I don’t believe there’s one right answer. I believe most startups will have both people working in offices (some dedicated, some co-working) and people working from anywhere they choose (virtual). The big difference now is that the in-office aspect of the future will be a much smaller number of weekly hours, on average, and much greater worker flexibility. Overall, a huge net benefit to society.
As entrepreneurs continue to navigate this new approach, there’s one resource for virtual/remote startups that stands out:
- 8,400 pages of text
- Open and usable by anyone
- Incredibly detailed and thoughtful
While it is geared towards an all-remote business, there are a number of excellent resources applicable to all businesses like managing KPIs and doing OKRs.
Every entrepreneur should bookmark the GitLab Team Handbook and know that whatever scenario they’re contemplating, it’s likely been addressed in the handbook.
David Cummings on Startups 
Totally agree- the new normal will have to be a hybrid of personal contact and remote work. Networking is next to impossible only online (and I’ve done my fair share of Zoom happy hours…), but the flexibility of working remotely cuts overhead and effort on both employer and employee alike.
David – I wasn’t that familiar with GitLab, thanks for the intro. Especially helpful as I’m looking to kick off implementing OKRs (welcome any other best-practice referrals there). GitLab certainly was well setup for the Covid WFH reality. As their Handbook into video shows though, there’s value in getting people together in one place…especially for creativity, innovation, and celebrating team success/culture. I personally think physical offices and collaboration spaces/technology will evolve post Covid to where they will need to provide a compelling reason to come into the office (i.e. a meeting in-person will need to be superior than what a remote video meeting can provide). Happy New Year, Peter (YPO ATL)
This is so amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Two of my favorite posts ever in a row.
Happy New Year!
On Sat, Jan 2, 2021 at 1:36 PM David Cummings on Startups wrote:
> David Cummings posted: ” Most conversations I have these days with > entrepreneurs has some component about virtual teams, remote employees, > return to the office timeline, etc. While great work is getting done > virtually, there’s still a strong desire to have an in-person element, ” >