WHAT REMOTE WORK MEANS TO US
Remote work is not just about working from home, or whenever and wherever you want. Remote work is more than that and we believe there is a lot of potential in this kind of work set-up.
For us, remote work means all of the following:
- making it easier to integrate your personal life
- collaborating with colleagues from all over the world
- being more present for your family
- having appropriate tools at hand
- being able to receive deliveries at home
- requiring great and empathic leadership
- going for a walk with your dog during lunch break
- proactively reaching out to your teammates
- bringing a remote mindset to the table
- taking your kids to school without time pressure
- requiring excellent communication skills
- having remote coffee dates with your fellow Fretellians
- jumping on ad hoc calls for vivid discussions
- meeting your teammates in person at least twice a year
- updating each other on a regular basis
- squeezing in a quick midday workout
- having regular remote team building activities and workshops
- being self-responsible and disciplined
- transparently setting ambitious goals
- sharing food images with the team
- and much more
Some of these points might sound funny, but we are dead serious :D.
We all appreciate the flexibility our lives get through the option of working remotely and the great talents and purpose we can work for and with regardless of our location.
WHAT WE THINK IS NEEDED
Of course, you need a proper setup for remote work to be successful. There's a bunch of tools that we use on a daily basis that ease our communication, collaboration, and documentation.
And yes, we are well aware that virtual contact doesn't substitute physical contact, but we're getting quite close. Every single Fretellian is making deliberate efforts to socialize remotely via coffee dates, remote joint workouts, after work drinks and games. Still, we think it's important to meet each other in person. For this very reason, we get together twice a year and have onsite workshops and social activities to facilitate relationship-building and ultimately our way of working together as a remote-first team.
This picture was created during our last remote team-building workshop. As you can see - we are quite flexible ;)
SOME VOICES ON REMOTE WORK
"Bringing everyone together is critical. Relationships are almost like flowers. So in a remote setup, one of the biggest challenges we have is not being always in the same room. And therefore, to take care of that flower, you need to be present as much as you can. There are many tools we use that are known for great communication: speaking about the small things that make the day to day life is really what helps us to connect."
"I think a couple of key events made it very clear to us that we want to build the company remotely. The first one was when Thomas, our first employee, moved away from Linz. We saw it as an opportunity rather than the end of working together. Then, when we needed an iOS developer, we instinctively looked for a remote worker and found Marc who was the first employee not working in Austria. So that was the point when we decided to make it our mission to be a remote-first company."
"I see a definite rise in my motivation and engagement. When I do have more time to spend with my family and not feeling torn apart all the time between the different obligations that I have, I'm just way more excited and motivated to actually get things going. Remote work also facilitates full focus and hence, leads me to deliver higher-quality work results."
Finding Our Rhythm of Remote Work
We truly believe in the benefits remote work can bring for businesses, employees and societies alike. If done properly, of course.
Wolfgang (our CTO) and Tanja (our HR Lead) had the honor to represent our team and record a podcast for remoter.com - a platform that promotes remote work and tries to share learnings and best practices through diverse formats. Sharing our Fretello Way of work: what is important to us and what works for us, we hope to inspire more businesses to become remote-first.
Check it out!
