Judah Taub is Managing Partner at Hetz Ventures, a top seed stage VC based in Tel Aviv. He lectures on time-management & creative thinking.
Navigating the last three years of remote and hybrid workplace policies and discourse has been a whirlwind for big and small companies alike. Thanks to the pandemic, remote work has become a prominent feature of the modern workplace, and many companies, including startups, have embraced it as a way to be capital-efficient while maintaining productivity.
I have even seen companies where all the employees live in the same city, but they still adopted a one-week-home/one-week-in-the-office model.
As the nature of remote work has evolved over the past three years, however, startup founders and their team leads have come to realize that it’s not just about cutting costs but also finding the right balance to make it work effectively.
We’ve watched this thought process evolve among founders in our portfolio and others we’ve spoken to throughout the last few years, and clear patterns have emerged. Here’s how startups can navigate the next phase of remote work and ensure it remains productive while overcoming challenges such as consistency, cultural impact, outsourcing, time zone differences and higher churn rates.
Stay Consistent For Success
To make remote work work, consistency is key. Startups should establish clear and consistent rules for all employees, regardless of their location or function. Bending the rules for specific individuals can create confusion and disrupt the effort to build a positive company culture.
It’s essential to have standardized policies and expectations for remote employees to ensure everyone is on the same page. Consistency in communication, work hours and performance expectations is crucial for remote work to be successful in the long haul.
Prioritize Culture
Speaking of culture, remote work can impact a company’s culture, which is a critical component of building early startups. As remote teams may not have the same level of in-person interactions, it’s important to find ways to foster a positive remote work culture. This could include regular virtual team-building activities or workshops, virtual happy hours and recognition programs to celebrate achievements and boost team morale.
Communication is also essential, and startups should ensure that their company values and mission are communicated effectively to remote employees to maintain a cohesive culture across all locations. In my experience, setting up periodic in-person meetings—even if flights are required—can do wonders for founder-employee relationships.
Outsource Strategically
When startups consider cost-effective solutions, outsourcing is usually at the top of the list. It’s certainly a good option but requires careful consideration so it ends up strategic and not problematic in the long run. A key thing to avoid: mixing and matching outsourced vs. in-house tasks within the same function or department.
Instead of mixing within the same team, earlier startups can consider outsourcing entire functions such as marketing, sales or customer support. This helps to maintain consistency and accountability, as outsourced teams can work independently while aligning with the overall goals of the startup. It’s also crucial to establish clear communication channels and expectations with outsourced teams to ensure smooth collaboration and productivity.
Mitigate Time Zone Challenges
Too often startup founders assume that their only options are remote, hybrid or in-person. But actually, there is a big difference between remote locations where everyone is based in the same city or even country, versus different countries, cultures and timezones. Each brings a different level of complexity but also some possible advantages.
A challenge particular to remote work is managing teams across different time zones. Startups need to be mindful of the time differences among remote employees and find ways to mitigate potential hurdles.
This may include scheduling regular team meetings at times that are convenient for all team members, leveraging technology tools to aid in communication and collaboration across time zones, and setting clear expectations for responsiveness and availability. Ideally, an early startup would stick to hiring within the same or close time zones to alleviate the added pressure and strain of this challenge so early on in its development.
Address Higher Churn Rates
Something else I’ve seen in the last few years is remote workers’ tendency to leave the company sooner compared to in-office employees. To address the higher employee churn rate, which can be more disruptive to early startups, founders should make it a priority to understand the underlying reasons for higher turnover and take appropriate measures to mitigate them.
Startup leadership can incorporate the habit of regular feedback and recognition, create opportunities for skill development and growth, promote work-life balance and foster a sense of community and belonging through virtual interactions. Understanding the needs of remote employees and addressing them proactively is key to retaining top talent.
Remote work has become an integral part of the workplace reality for many startups. As it’s become a given for many, if not most, companies that work-from-home culture is here to stay, it’s important to find the right balance for productivity and success. Consistency in policies, fostering a positive remote work culture, strategic outsourcing, managing time zone challenges and addressing higher churn rates are some key considerations for startups navigating the next phase of remote work.
By proactively addressing these challenges, startups can thrive in remote work or hybrid workplace settings, and make the promised benefits of these setups reality.
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