What are remote meetings ? Also known as virtual meetings, remote meetings happen when a group of people, who are dispersed across different locations, use video and audio facilities to connect online. Remote meetings are extensively used by organisations who hire hybrid teams.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of remote meetings as in-person meetings became restricted. This was specifically true with multinational corporations with a global presence. The shift to remote meetings was quick and absolute. It became necessary to define ways that would maintain the purpose of remote meetings and design creative ways to bring the team together. Some key benefits of remote meetings are –
Recorded meetings
With time-zone differences, it may not be possible for everyone to join. In such a scenario recorded meetings allow team members to catch up on what transpired adding context to the notes taken at the meetings.
Optimal Use of Time
Virtual meetings with a set agenda are focused and to the point. They are time-bound, agenda bound and aim at a results-driven approach.
Outlining all the advantages while, at the same time, building a process that is an excellent case study for making remote meetings extremely effective is GitLab’s Remote Meetings process.
What is GitLab?
GitLab is a DevOps software package that combines the ability to develop, secure and operate the software on a single application. Ukrainian developer Dimitry Zaporozhets and Dutch developer Sytse Sijbrandij created this open-source software. GitLab Inc. was founded around this pre-existing GitLab software project by these developers in 2014 as a limited liability corporation. In 2018, GitLab Inc. was considered the first partly Ukrainian unicorn to be valued at more than USD 1 billion.
GitLab Annual Revenue from 2020 to 2022
As the largest all-remote company in the world, GitLab has approximately 30 million registered users with one million being active licensed users. Since its inception, GitLab has been centred around remote work.
GitLab is a free platform that offers a range of paid services. The company adopted a policy not to accept new customers unless it’s legally required. Additionally, they even prohibited political conversations in the workplace.
GitLab Remote Meetings
As an all-remote company with employees scattered in 65 regions across the globe, GitLab is an example of how to practice clear communication to stay connected and work efficiently. Working towards this agenda, GitLab has built a framework of policies and guidelines which help maintain the sanctity of a remote meeting.
GitLab Policies
Anti-harassment policies
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
GitLab’s Whistle-blower Policy
Confidentiality Policy
Social Media Policy
These policies are enforceable and are also within the purview of the law of the land in which the company operates. Any deviation or deliberate action against what these policies specify is punishable by law and GitLab adheres to these policies firmly.
Guidelines for Effective and Responsible Communication
As a company that functions in the virtual space, GitLab’s guidelines are process-driven, practical to implement, encouraging and inclusive. These guidelines work across borders and are applicable in every region their staff operates.
Follow Company Values
Assume Positive intent and begin with a position of grace
Be kind to colleagues and refrain from sending negative messages
Express thoughts responsibly and inclusively
If one says it, he or she owns it
Be a role model of specified company values
Give and receive feedback regularly
Asynchronous 1:1 communication is necessary to clear misunderstandings and a zoom call is effective for this
It is important to adhere to GitLab policies
Avoid discussing things that are not under the direct influence
Every team member in the meeting is a moderator
Avoid topics of a sensitive nature involving politics, religion, etc.
The culture and working style of GitLab is a poster child of modern-day professionalism. Globalisation has given businesses access to talent across the world and technological advances have eased the working culture that is no longer boundary-limited or time-bound.
Hiring and Working all over the world. No central hiring
Flexible working hours
Writing and recording knowledge
Written processes
Sharing of information
The results of work – over the hours put in
Formal communication channels
Key Practices During Meetings – Internal or External
Effective, efficient and focused meetings are a result of a team that is well-organised, clear on expectations, results-driven and solutions-focused. GitLab’s best practices during meetings are a shining example of remote meetings.
Keep the video on during the entire meeting. This is a way to communicate undivided attention and it promotes comfort between both parties
Have a list of clear agendas to be discussed during the meeting. This agenda must be shared via email before the meeting so everyone is aware of it.
Follow the 70/30 Rule. Allow the other attendees to speak 70% of the time by asking open-ended questions. This ensures equal participation for all
Taking Notes is a valuable skill as it helps retain and recall important information
Record all meetings. This way if someone is unable to attend, they have access to all discussions
Conclusion
It is true that what an in-person meeting or a personal touch can accomplish, goes far beyond the studied brilliance of remote meetings. However, the world is becoming smaller with technology. The Metaverse is a near-future reality. How companies will evolve to utilize this technology remains to be seen. In the meantime, GitLab’s success at conducting remote meetings is worth a study and, if possible, put into practice wherever applicable.
FAQ
What are some advantages of remote meetings?
The following are the advantages of remote meetings
Everyone Can Be Involved
Less Expensive
Shorter Sessions
More Frequent Meetings
The Chance to Record Meetings
Minimal Scheduling Needs
Better for Health
How do I know if my virtual meeting was effective?
You can ask for feedback in your meeting follow-up email. You can also take steps to make your meeting as effective as possible in the planning process.
Are there ways to improve remote employee engagement in my virtual meeting?
You can improve employee engagement by using icebreaker questions, sharing meeting itineraries and objectives, and carefully moderating your meeting to make sure everyone participates.
What is the purpose of a virtual meeting?
The purpose of a virtual meeting is to discuss important issues, achieve critical goals, or build and maintain healthy office relationships.
There is almost no big company or enterprise that didn’t start from scratch. From Tesla to Apple to Pixar, most of them started off with a great idea, lots of effort, and a small garage. With every passing day, entrepreneurs come up with amazing startup ideas and newer methods to implement them. This, however, is easier said than done, since startups need both funding and support along with immense hard work in their initial days to be successful. As part of its funding program, Google has helped some of the top startups, and some of those startups have become well-known companies.
This is where equity and venture firms come in. If they find the idea behind a startup reasonably adequate, they make the initial and much-needed investment in the startup. Blackstone and Apollo Global Management are some equity investment firms, while Google Ventures is a venture investment firm. But before knowing what startups are funded by Google, let’s find out how funding works.
Apparently, there are certainly different kinds of funding based on factors such as startup valuation, its customer base, strategy, revenue model and other technical factors. These funding are categorized as follows:
Pre-seed Funding– This is the earliest stage of a startup, and the funding here is mostly the initial investment in the idea and is done by the founders themselves. This stage isn’t even officially included in the funding rounds, however, it is where a startup begins.
Seed Funding– This is where the first official investment for a business or a venture is made. Seed funding helps startups take the initial steps towards making their products. While the failed startups never go beyond this stage, the one’s that do, proceed to the Series A round.
Series A Funding– Once a startup or company has surpassed Seed round, has an established user base, and offers its services or products, they can opt for Series A Funding. This is where startups can use the investment money to further optimize their product, and raise anywhere from $2 million to $15 million.
Series B Funding– After Series A, this round helps a business to advance to the next level. If the company has justified the initial investment with a strong customer base and valuation, Series B funding helps to take the business to the next level. The investment in this round can range from $30 million to $60 million.
Series C Funding– The businesses which are already successful and are looking to build new products to touch newer markets are funded in this round. The companies in this round may also acquire startups and the investors and founders in this round look for exponential growth. The valuation of companies in this round can range in hundreds of millions.
Although there can be more funding rounds corresponding to the alphabet, these are particularly the one’s where most startups reach. There is also private equity funding away from public markets in which private companies can finance startups privately.
Google Ventures is a venture capital investment firm of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, CEO is David Krane. Renamed to GV, the primary objective of Google Ventures since its conception has been to back founders with a vision for the future of entrepreneurship. GV has funded over 500 portfolio companies and is in constant search of new and industry-changing ideas and startups.
GV flaunts a team of founders, physicians, and other professionals, who have been in the startup ecosystem for a long, and understand it more than most people. This team of specialists, engineers, advisors, and fund operatives help GV to solve challenges and deliver feedback to create better services. GV invests across all stages and sectors, with a focus on enterprise, life sciences, consumer, and frontier technology. GV has made 988 investments so far. Recently on July 29, 2022, GV made a $3.3 Million investment in New York-based consumer Software, Studio.
Google Ventures on Investment in Startups
Startups Funded by Google
Slack
Industry: Enterprise Software GV Investment: $110.8 Million
Who in the digital world isn’t aware of the most popular cab serviceUber? It has turned out to be one of the most popular cab booking services around the globe, and both cab drivers, as well as people who need them use it on a regular basis. It is a consumer service and has also set its foot in the food delivery services. Uber has offered quality, door-to-door service and continues to do so by constantly introducing safety features in its Community Guidelines.Uber has been Google Ventures’ biggest investment to date. Google Ventures has invested approximately $1.8 Billion in Uber.
Industry: Digital Media GV Investment: $19 Million
Medium | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Medium is a blogging platform that suggests viewers blog through smart algorithms. World-class publications and experts publish their blogs in different niches, and viewers can choose their preferred subjects to read the latest research papers, articles, and blogs. The popularity of Medium attracted Google’s interest and they invested.Medium currently flaunts its user base of 170 million users and counting, with the writers including journalists, authors, experts, and individuals.
StockX
Industry: Stock Market GV Investment: $22 Million
StocksX | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
As described by Google Ventures, StockX is the world’s first ‘Stock Market for Things’. This is an online marketplace where both buyers and sellers put forth the bidding and asking amount, and as soon as both of them meet, the transaction takes place. The marketplace that StockX offers can be used to sell any sellable product from sneakers to watches; all you need to do is sign up. Google ventures and battery ventures invested $44 M in series B funding.
Industry: Digital Payment GV Investment: $600 million (along with other investors)
Stripe | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Stripe is one of the most popular payments processor for online transactions and in mobile applications. Today, millions of online and offline businesses from startups to bigger enterprises use Stripe as their payments processor. Be it Software as a Service, an online platform or your marketplace, Stripe can be used in all these cases either through the software or its API.
“Stripe is the best way to accept payments online and in mobile apps.” says Google Venture.
GitLab
Industry: Software GV Investment: $20 Million
GitLab | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
GitLab is a DevOps platform that accelerates development through collaboration and automation. With various organizations relying on its source code, CI/CD, and security, GitLab offers powerful automation with real-time security and vulnerability management. Moreover, GitLab is trusted by some well-known industry-leading companies including Nvidia, Siemens, and Drupal. GitLab has received funding from Google Ventures in both Series C and Series D rounds of funding.
DocuSign
Industry: Software GV Investment: $8.1 Million
Docusign | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
A leader in eSignature transaction management, DocuSign has become an industry and global standard for eSignatures. DocuSign gained popularity with the help of Google. DocuSign has garnered a user base of over 500k customers and hundreds of millions of signers. DocuSign was introduced and established based on the fact that most modern businesses will need to go online and hence the online document management needed to be taken into consideration. Google Ventures invested in Series D round in June 2012.
Magenta Therapeutics
Industry: Healthcare & Life Science GV Investment: $8 Million
Magenta therapeutics | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Magenta Therapeutics is a leading expert in harnessing stem cell biology for safer transplants. It endeavours to reset a patient’s immune system through stem cell transplant to cure diseases such as blood cancer. It is also developing novel medicines through commitment and excellence. Also, Magenta is revolutionizing medicine by precisely removing disease-causing cells and revamping stem cell mobilization.
“Magenta is harnessing stem cell biology to make transplants safer and more effective for patients with immune and blood-based diseases.” Says Google Venture.
One Medical
Industry: Healthcare GV Investment: $13 Million
One Medical | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
One Medical is currently trying to reinvent healthcare with innovation and technology. As of now, One Medical offers and schedules in-person or over video appointments, 24/7 on-demand video chats with a virtual medical team, over 90 drop-in lab services, along COVID-19 testing and care. Moreover, OneMedical acts as an employee benefits partner for over 7000 companies. Google Venture invested Private Equity round of funding in December 2015.
Zipline | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Zipline is a company that delivers life-saving medicines and drugs to remote and previously unreachable parts of the world using electric planes and drones. It makes precise, on-demand and critical deliveries, wherever and whenever needed, with safety and reliability. The access to on-demand delivery is made global, owing to Zipline, and it seeks to replace the traditional delivery system with customer-centred and cutting edge technology. Google venture Invested in Series C round of funding in May 2019. In the last funding round in June 2021, Zipline has raised a funding of $250M which made the startup valuation to be $2.5 billion.
Farmer Business Network
Industry: AgriTech GV Investment: $15 Million
farmers Business Network | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Farmer Business Network is a tool that helps farmers understand and enhance their crops and yields with advanced insights and real-time data analysis. It is a global Agritech company and seeks to help farmers reduce production costs, maximize crop yield and output, and make informed and confident decisions when it comes to crops. Farmer Business Network can help farmers manage contracts, select seeds, monitor fields, and organize operations with premium crop marketing and financial services. FBN raised a funding of $15 million in 2015 from Google Ventures. Recently, they raired $870 million in series G funding round in November 2021.
“Farmers Business Network generates powerful insights from real-time data to help farmers understand and improve their crop performance.” says Google Venture.
Sense
Industry: Artificial Intelligence GV Investment: $16 Million
Sense | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Sense is an artificial intelligence-driven talent engagement and communication platform that was founded by Dharni and Pankaj Jindal in 2015. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco and is known for providing enterprise-ready solutions that provide a system of engagement for talent acquisition teams.
Sense has so far helped many companies find, recruit, deploy talent and automate manual tasks for recruiters. The company has raised $16 million as part of its Series C round from Avataar, Google Ventures, Accel and Khosla Ventures. The company is said to use these funds to get a foothold in the Indian market, add new products, expand its team and go into newer geographies.
Scribble Data
Industry: Machine Learning GV Investment:
Scribble Data | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Scribble data is an ML engineering product company that offers ML Feature Store for mid-market enterprise data teams. The company is known for its flagship product known as Enrich, which is a highly customizable Machine Learning Feature. Scribble Enrich is a store product that allows data scientists to develop and manage production-ready datasets that are used to train ML models faster and with confidence.
Data-driven companies such as Google and Amazon have invested an undisclosed amount of money into the company in May 2020. Google funding for startups such as Scribble, has helped the platform to scale and deliver Enrich in international markets for enterprise-grade Machine Learning products.
Jio Platforms is an Indian technology company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company acts as a holding company for Jio (which is India’s largest and the world’s third-largest mobile network) and other digital businesses of Reliance. As of 2020, Jio platforms became the fourth largest Indian company by market capitalization.
In November 2020, Google-funded $4.5 billion to the Jio platform, which makes it the biggest-ever investment in an Indian company. Google now reportedly holds over 7.73% share in the company. The company has now raised a total of Rs 1.52 lakh crore by selling an almost 33% stake to over 13 financial and strategic investors in under 11 weeks. This will help the company to cut down Reliance’s net debt target for the full fiscal year.
Wysa
Industry: Artificial Intelligence GV Investment:
Wysa | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Wysa is an AI-enabled life coach designed especially for mental and emotional wellness. The company was initially launched in 2017 and provides its users with the ability to activate coach and chat anonymously. The company provides early intervention through 3 methods, which are an AI chatbot, a library of self-help tools, and messaging-based support from human psychologists.
Google Ventures India, has funded an undisclosed amount in the AI Platform in May 2021. Wysa was a part of the first batch of 10 startups for Google Launchpad Accelerator India, which was held in 2018. In 2021 however, the Sleep by Wysa app was awarded the best app by the Google Play Store. According to Crunchbase, the company has so far raised $3.9 million from three funding rounds.
Dailyhunt
Industry: Social Media GV Investment: $33 Million
Dailyhunt | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
Dailyhunt is one of the leading Indian content and news aggregator app. The company has its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The platform provides news in 14 Indian languages from multiple content providers to over 300 million users. In 2015, Dailyhunt became the largest Indian language distributor of e-books having 70,000 titles in ten languages.
As of December 2020, Dailyhunt has raised over $100 million from Google, Microsoft and AlphaWave among other investors. Google funding rounds helped the company become a Unicorn as its value increased to over $1 billion. The company is planning to use the funds to scale its Josh app, which is an augmentation of local language content offerings. Google-funded startups in India with a budget of over $10 billion over a few years.
Glance
Industry: GV Investment:
Glance | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
A google-funded startup called Glance is a startup that was founded in 2018. The company serves news, media content and games on the lock screen of more than 100 million smartphones. The company is a subsidiary of InMobi Group and is known for using AI to offer a personalized experience to its users.
The company raised over $145 million in a new financing round from Google and existing investors like Mithril Partners. According to Google, Glance is a great example of innovation solving for mobile-first & mobile-only consumption, and providing content across many Indian languages. Google funding for startups like Glance, has helped them evolve and grow their audience.
FAQs
What is Google Venture (GV)?
Google Ventures is a venture capital investment firm of Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
Who is the CEO of GV (formerly Google Ventures)?
David Krane is the CEO of GV.
How many companies have Google Ventures funded?
Google Ventures has funded more than 500 companies. Some of them are:
Slack
Uber
Medium
StockX
Stripe
GitLab
DocuSign
Magenta Therapeutics
Dailyhunt
Glance
What are the sectors Google Ventures invest in?
Google Ventures invests across all stages of startups and varied sectors. The major industries in which Google Ventures invests are:
Enterprise
Life sciences
HealthCare
Consumer
Frontier technology.
How do startups get funded?
Startups use various methods for funding:
Small Business Loans
Trade Equity or Services
Incubator or Accelerator
Crowdfunding.
Who owns Google now?
The parent organization of Google is Alphabet Inc.
What do startups use the funding for?
Startups raise funds for various reasons, mainly for the growth and expansion of their business.
Who are the founders of Google?
Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the founders of Google.
Today, the competition is increasing at a rapid rate. Going to college and getting a degree is not enough. It is important to learn and develop skills to earn a good job. Employers nowadays look for relevant knowledge in candidates. So, students try their best to develop skills and make projects with them.
In technical fields, programmers make different projects to showcase their coding knowledge. When we think of posting these projects, the first name to pop up in heads is GitHub. But now, it is not the only trusted platform for coders. The internet has many other alternatives like GitLab, Launchpad, BitBucket, and more.
GitHub is a popular platform that hosts codes. It is a great and useful platform for coders. They can practice and learn further with the help of it. It allows them to work on many different projects.
It also allows coders to work with other coders on the same projects. It means different people can work on a project as a collaboration. The best part is that it has a control system. This ensures that the original version of the project is not hampered and stays intact.
This platform is great for programmers, as they can find like-minded people and code with them. The projects here are what we call open-source software.
Top Alternatives for GitHub
Whenever a person is looking for a code hosting platform, GitHub gets the place on top. But now many other platforms serve as their alternatives.
The following are some of its top substitutes:
BitBucket
Bitbucket – Best GitHub Alternative
BitBucket is a Git and Mercurial code management and collaboration platform. It came into existence in the year 2008. It has both free and monetary plans. It is a great platform for professionals to plan, collaborate, build, test, and deploy software.
It offers a place where professionals can manage git repositories and join up on their source code. It has tools like Jira, HipChat, and Confluence. This helps to make it one of the most popular choices for big enterprises.
It offers many features for developers. For example- code review, branch permissions, pipelines, integration, collaboration, and more.
GitLab
GitLab- Best GitHub Alternative
GitLab is an open-core company, launched in 2014 that provides software. It blends three abilities. These are development, security, and operating software, all in a single application.
This platform allows planning of projects, source code collaboration and management, CI/CD, and monitoring. GitLab offers a feature-based system with integration for web developers.
It offers many different features to make the platform more exclusive. For example- version control, bug tracking, code review, issue management, and more.
Another popular alternative is Gitea. This came into existence in the year 2016. It is an open-source forge software. It is a package for self-hosting a lightweight Git server. Along with self-hosting, it also offers free public first-party instances.
It has a well-documented API and allows the set up of various webhooks. The software is under the MIT OSS license and is community-managed.
It comes with various attractive features. For example- pull request and code reviews, multiple code maintainers, wikis and bug tracking, and more.
Launchpad
Launchpad – Best GitHub Alternative
Launchpad is a website that was put in motion in 2004. The platform allows software collaboration, where the users can develop and maintain open-source software.
One can not only host but also import git repositories here. It provides translations, FAQs, and answers tracking and specifications tracking. A user can enjoy this platform for free.
This provides many features to its users. For example- code reviews, code hosting, bug tracking, mailing lists, etc.
RhodeCode is an open-source self-hosted platform, founded in 2010. It is an enterprise source code management platform. This offers the unification of Git, mercurial, and subversion repositories.
It applies unified user control, permissions, and tool integrations. It has an enterprise edition, where you can link enterprise tools, premium support, and more.
The platform offers various features to its users. For example- advanced code review, workflow automation, permission management, etc.
Phabricator
Phabricator – Best GitHub Alternative
Phabricator is another popular alternative software, launched in the year 2010. It is a series of web development collaboration tools. These tools are- differential code review tool, diffusion repository browser, Herald change monitoring tool, Maniphest bug tracker, and Phriction wiki.
It can be used for large datasets and also scale to large organizations. It is open-source, fast, and free software, where you own all your data.
There are many features provided by the platform. For example- code review, repository hosting, issue tracking, change auditing, and more.
SourceForge
SourceForge – Best GitHub Alternative
SourceForge is a popular web service that supports the open-source software community. It aims to provide a platform for developers to control and manage software projects.
The platform has projects based on myriad tools. It helps developers with the storage of a project’s source code under revision control. It is a platform for both open-source software and business software.
It is a great alternative to GitHub with many features. For example- Git, mercurial repositories, project wikis, unique subdomain URLs, etc.
Google Cloud Source Repositories
Google Cloud Source Repositories – Best GitHub Alternative
This is another great alternative, developed by Google. It is a cloud-based private Git repository tool that enables users to design, develop, and manage their codes.
It enables developers to host as well as track the changes to large codebases on its platform. It has a cloud source repository that can be accessed and used by many users at the same place.
It offers exclusive features. For example – unlimited private repositories, built-in CI, powerful code search capabilities, and more.
Gogs
Gogs – Best GitHub Alternative
Gogs is a self-hosted Git server where you can host your codes. It is a super lightweight and easy to install solution. It allows expanding a local Git server for a machine or small network.
It is completely self-hosted so its scope is not as wide as GitHub. But it has many similar features found on other platforms.
Gogs provides features like repository management, organization webhooks, deploy keys, and more.
Coding is something that has a wide scope. So, it is important for the developers to learn and practice their skills. The open-source platforms play a very important role here. These help the developers to learn better and connect with other like-minded people.
The above mentioned are some of the most popular names that can be used as GitHub alternatives. Apart from these, there are more options available as well. Some of these are Beanstalk, TaraVault, Gerrit, etc.
FAQs
What is GitHub?
GitHub is a popular platform that hosts codes. It allows different coders to work on the same projects as a collaboration.
Is GitHub a software?
GitHub is a web-based version-control and collaboration platform for software developers. It works on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model.
Past One and a half years have been hard for everyone. We were in a global pandemic that confined everyone to their homes. The social aspect of being a social animal was almost cut off and thrown out of sight.
One of the most affected or I would say affected domains is the work domain. We all learned to work remotely in these tough times. Technology proved to be a good companion in these times. This was a good test for that too.
While almost everyone’s opinion says that work from home is no substitute for in-office work. Remote working can be cost-saving, time-effective, and can break physical location barriers. It is thought that it might just never be the future of work. As it is not as efficient as the normal mode of work.
While we talk about the opinion of the general public, a company goes ahead and makes this mode of work their primary model of working. After doing that it touches a valuation of more than one billion dollars. The company is GitLab, and it has pulled off a magic trick. How can a company pull this off? This is the article about how GitLab managed to touch billion dollar valuation while all employees working remotely. Read on to uncover the growth mystery.
GitLab is a software company. It makes a product, which is a complete platform for DevOps. The DevOps platform empowers organizations to maximize the overall return on software development by delivering software faster, more efficiently, while strengthening security and compliance.
So what is a DevOps lifecycle? It is a continuous cycle of software development. It involves development, integration, testing, etc. What makes GitLab unique is that it creates a streamlined software workflow for the organization.
One of the shiniest traits about this company is that It recently was named the biggest remote working company in the world. Crazy, right? Well, it takes courage to make the whole organization go remote, after all, it is a 1400 member organization and it can be difficult to manage work with this big of a team. Let us see how the remote working works and does it even work at all?
Remote Working in GitLab
GitLab recently was named the biggest remote working company in the world. Surprisingly the whole corporation works on a model of work-from-anywhere. Even with remote working, the company managed to create a billion-dollar valuation. This has put many people in awe like us on how it does it. The company has more than 85 per cent of employee retention that is higher than most companies average.
How is the company able to manage and work efficiently with all the employees working remotely from anywhere in the world? First, let’s discuss what types of models exist for working remotely and then how GitLab follows an efficient type.
Stages of Remote Work –
No remote – A model where no remote work is allowed. It can be due to a leadership mandate. Remote time – When some remote work time is tolerated and seen as a perk for jobs. Remote exceptions – When some employees can work indefinitely and others work from physical offices. Remote allowed – When anyone is allowed to work remotely, except few location-based exceptions. Hybrid model – A mix of remote work and physical office work when and as needed. Remote days – When the entire company works remotely (even executives). Remote first – When the leadership assumes that the whole company is distributed. Remote only – When the work is remote but team-based and time-based. All Remote – Companies like GitLab where there is no office, no fixed time zone, and greeted flexibility. It also discourages frequent meetings. Strictly remote – A company where it is strictly decided to never meet in person and work remotely always.
GitLab has its employees all remote. Remote here means that the company has no office, literally no permanent office at all. It however says it is open to small bursts of hybrid models. It is open to renting a desk but the company has no physical working space. So, how did the remote work model worked for GitLab.
Leadership Quality
Employees at lower levels of responsibility mimic the leadership at the top level. GitLab knows this and thus invests more on the senior level of executives. They choose carefully the leaders who are effective communicators and can handle a team remotely with the same efficiency as offline work.
Transparency
Remote work at GitLab discourages informal communication and it leaves fewer chances of communication. So, employees communicate more than normal to avoid any discrepancy. This leads to transparency of the whole company and betters the organization’s administration.
Asynchronous Decisions
GitLab follows a DRI approach to decisions. DRI stands for Directly responsible individuals. This means, At GitLab, everyone can make a suggestion but the person who is actually making the decision can choose whatever he/she wants without explaining themselves. This ensures that decisions are not vanishing all over the employees. Otherwise, there would be just too much convincing work.
Iteration for coordination
Coordination is hard in any company. When it comes to remote, there are more time and location zones and it becomes even more trouble but GitLab has found a solution for itself. It does small tasks first to synchronize various departments and then increments the process in order to fulfill a bigger goal.
Writing culture
Documenting everything. It’s easier to create and delegate tasks in an offline setting but not easy in remote work. So what GitLab does is that they write a lot, they write tasks completion details in a handbook, make annotations and get the work progressively done.
There are many benefits of working remotely. The most common that are the most easily clear is -
Cost-effective
Imagine running a business with no office at all. No physical space or office at all. This is highly cost-effective. This is what remote work enables employers to do. It saves cost and allows us to spend on more important tasks of the company.
Commute time
Employees save a lot of commute time, which can be devastating if you live away from work. The employees get the time back to themselves, leaving them with more time to spend with family or with themselves.
Flexibility
Employees get the benefit of work flexibility, which otherwise didn’t exist. They can spend time with family when needed. Moreover, it boosts retention. GitLab reportedly has more than 85% employee retention.
Recruitment
When employees can work remotely they can be located anywhere. Even far from the workplace, even in a different country. It saves cost when we hire people from non-metro cities.
What to Avoid while working Remotely
If you are someone who wants to create a remote work organisation, there are a few common pitfalls that GitLab says you should avoid:
Do not Assume that there are No Resources Available Yet
In this tech world where you might think that everything is easy and can be done, you are not wrong there. Yes, every resource that you want for having your organisation go remote is already out there. Do good research and work with your employees to figure out what works best for your case.
Do not Replicate the In-office Experience, Remotely
This is the least you should do. If the arena is different, the rules should bend too. After all, it is a new dynamic work view. So replication of office experience will lead to turmoil. It is vital to reorganise and recalibrate at this point.
Do not transfer all in-person meetings to virtual
Remote work is not something unintentional. It is what you consciously choose to do for more efficiency. Transferring all meetings to virtual mode will not be efficient as it will take more time and lead to less productivity.
Do not assume that everyone has access to an optimal workspace
While people who are working remotely for a long time now would have calibrated to a more organised work desk. But do not assume that everyone has that privilege. Organisations should encourage employees to spend companies money as their own while constructing a home office. Also, consider reimbursing expenses.
Do not assume that remote happens overnight
Oh yes, it is a dynamic process, change can be a long process. Every employee may not be familiar with this mode of work or might take time to get used to it. Productivity may differ at different times and the solution is not to panic but to give it more time. Don’t assume your existing values can remain static.
According to the software company GitLab, “All remote is the future”. The world opens its eyes to a new and refreshing reality that is unlocking new potential. They can, as it turns out, accomplish their work from anywhere.
When you have the freedom to work anywhere with a stable internet connection, you’re able to build your career around your life, not vice versa. You can chase superior air quality and schools, move to a smaller community, move back home, relocate to be a caregiver, or travel full time. All these benefits provide an agile edge not only to businesses but also and primarily to employees.
FAQ
Is GitLab fully remote?
Yes, GitLab is a fully remote company, meaning that all of us (currently six) work 100% of our time from home or any other place in the world.
Is GitLab a good place to work?
According to a report 95% of employees at GitLab say it is a great place to work.
What is the meaning of remote working?
Remote work is a practice where employees do their jobs remotely or from their home.
Avantika Bhardwaj
