The document discusses how to work remotely by communicating asynchronously through writing everything down, establishing a single source of truth, and using modern tools. It emphasizes the importance of asynchronous work like open source projects, focusing on value over hours, and bonding through daily team calls and regular summits. Working remotely requires adapting communication, software engineering, people operations, and prioritizing bonding within the distributed team.

1. How to work remotely and live
wherever you want
Or: why I'm moving to Braga
Job van der Voort - @Jobvo
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

2. How do people work today?
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

3. How do people work live today?
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

4. Most jobs can be done en-rely from
a computer
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

5. We can live be+er lives
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

6. Today I'll tell you how
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

7. flashback
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

8. Science
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

9. Startups
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

10. GitLab
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

11. 5 people
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

12. today
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

13. today
~250 people
(and about 70 pets)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

14. zero offices
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

15. GitLab is remote-only
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

16. everyone works remotely
meaning from home, coworking
space
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

17. Anywhere!
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

18. @Jobvo - How to work remotely

19. 39 countries
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

20. Loca%on becomes a choice by you
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

21. Real freedom
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

22. Around the world in 6 releases
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

23. And me: I'm moving to Braga!
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

24. I believe (almost) anyone can work like this
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

25. Let me tell you how
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

26. To work remotely, you have to work
differently
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

27. Asynchronous
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

28. Asynchronous
(in a way that doesn't require you to
wake someone else up)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

29. Next: Working async
• Communica*on
• So,ware Engineering
• People Opera*ons
• Bonding
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

30. Communica)on
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

31. 1. Communicate asynchronously
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

32. Write everything down
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

33. 2. Establish a single source of truth
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

34. 3. Use modern tools
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

35. Everything at GitLab is open
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

36. about.gitlab.com/handbook
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

37. Everyone can contribute, including
you!
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Communica7on

38. So#ware Engineering
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

39. Already made to work almost
perfectly asynchronous
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

40. Follow the example of open source
projects
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

41. 1. Avoid process-heavy approaches
(like scrum)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

42. 2. Ship the minimally viable change
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

43. 3. Thread the en,re conversa,on through all
stages
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

44. 3. Thread the en,re conversa,on through all
stages
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

45. 3. Thread the en,re conversa,on through all stages
Link everything from the original
proposal
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

46. 4. Work concurrently with gatekeepers
(bo8lenecks)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

47. At GitLab, see process.md for our
process
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

48. @Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

49. @Jobvo - How to work remotely - So2ware Engineering

50. People Opera*ons
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

51. When the threshold of working is
incredibly low, people tend to
overwork
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

52. Focus on value, not on hours
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

53. 1. No working hours
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

54. 2. Unlimited vaca/on (without
keeping track)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

55. 3. Facilitate a great working space
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

56. 4. Qualita*ve expecta*ons
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

57. 5. Everyone should contribute
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - People Opera5ons

58. Bonding
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Bonding

59. Interest groups (e.g. #japanese-
language)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Bonding

60. Daily team call
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Bonding

61. Coffee calls
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Bonding

62. Summit every 9 months
(Partners come along. Last loca1ons: Crete, Cancun, Aus1n)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Bonding

63. Mee#ng up with colleagues (travel
grant)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - Bonding

64. SUMMARY TIME
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

65. Communicate asynchronously
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - SUMMARY

66. Work asynchronously
(like an open source project)
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - SUMMARY

67. Focus on value
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - SUMMARY

68. Bonding is key to a great team
@Jobvo - How to work remotely - SUMMARY

69. about.gitlab.com/handbook
gitlab.com/gitlab-org
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

70. What you can do
@Jobvo - How to work remotely

71. Ques%ons?RemoteWorkPodcast.com
about.gitlab.com
@Jobvo
Feel free to email me: jobvandervoort@gmail.com / job@gitlab.com
Slides available in a few days: jobvandervoort.com/talks
@Jobvo - How to work remotely