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Lessons from 2 months of remote working

iamnotaprogrammer.com

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Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#61

Post by sudonim »

philjr wrote: post #40

For companies who are considering going remote have you considered the "global" problems you may have (e.g. payroll, local compliance laws - holidays etc.) ? Do you have solutions for them? There's a cost for most businesses to being in different countries. Typically, for larger businesses, finance and HR pick up most of the slack here. Having 17 employees potentially in 17 different companies feels like it might be…

Within the US, you can use someone like TriNet to handle employees in all 50 states. Companies like http://balsamiq.com/company/ are all over the world. From what I understand, people often get paid as contractors and have to deal with local tax laws on their own. If you end up hiring people as employees in all the countries, I think it gets a bit tricky. I'd love to know if there are other good ways to do this.

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#62

Post by sudonim »

taurath wrote: post #46

It seems to me like whenever people talk about remote work, they always talk about having super rockstars, the top, best coders they can find, and only them. I'm not there yet, as I'm just entering the phase where I am stopping calling myself an entry level coder. Being able to do this however is the reason I got into coding. Is there anyone out there who's not an absolute genius hacker who is working remotely and do…

Hey there, OP here. One of the people who works remote with our team is our (former) summer intern. He spent the summer with us in the office, but is now on the other side of the country. He works a full week from there. He's junior in terms of work experience. But, we know he can learn new things on his own and takes a lot of pride in the work he does. Nobody is a genius hacker when they start. It's the deliberate practice and dedication that make you one.

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#63

Post by sliverstorm »

billpaetzke wrote: post #54
jwilliams wrote: post #53

2.5 billion people in the world have internet access. But most of them can't have a reliable Skype call. We still have issues calling from Australia on a decent connection to a similarly decent connection in the states. What we've found - Good connectivity that can hold a reliable Skype or Google Hangout conversation is essential - don't be fooled thinking you can achieve this at a random Internet cafe in Cambodia. Y…

And what is a good strategy for this when deciding where to live (both on macro and micro scale)?

Reasonable proximity to a major city is probably a decent starting point.

What's a major city? If we're still in the coarse-estimate mode, I'd say a city most people have heard of.

Maps of internet backbones will help you locate the ideal places, from a connectivity point of view.

http://www.nthelp.com/images/InternetMCI.jpg

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#64

Post by jwilliams »

billpaetzke wrote: post #54
jwilliams wrote: post #53

2.5 billion people in the world have internet access. But most of them can't have a reliable Skype call. We still have issues calling from Australia on a decent connection to a similarly decent connection in the states. What we've found - Good connectivity that can hold a reliable Skype or Google Hangout conversation is essential - don't be fooled thinking you can achieve this at a random Internet cafe in Cambodia. Y…

And what is a good strategy for this when deciding where to live (both on macro and micro scale)?

It varies by location.

In many places, a 3G or 4G backup works amazingly well. Certainly here in Australia, and probably in certain places in Asia/Europe too.

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#65

Post by elwell »

sudonim wrote: post #59
elwell wrote: post #55

I loathe these uses of 'probability': "2.5 billion people in the world have internet access. Statistically speaking, the chances that the best person for us to hire for any position is among the 0.023 billion people in the New York metro area is unlikely."

Hi, OP here... I felt that sentence was a little awkward. There are other things to take in to consideration -- english speaking people. People with requisite skills etc... At least when I was thinking about it, I wanted to convey the sheer magnitude. New York is the largest city in the US (8m), but I used the metro area (23m) as my population size. But even with all the people in New York, we'd be limiting ourselves…

To me, the sentence wasn't awkward. Rather, the way the probability was implied ignored that the best (most skilled) employees are not evenly distributed across the globe. I would wager your likelihood of randomly choosing a 'top' candidate from the 2.5bn pool compared to the 0.023bn to be something near 1:500, for example. But, you do still have a point. An alternative phrasing, which acknowledges the irregular distribution, might be:

  "2.5 billion people in the world have internet access.
  Statistically speaking, the chances that the best person
  for us to hire for any position is among the 0.023 billion
  people in the New York metro area is unlikely, even
  considering the high concentration of talent in New York."

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#66

Post by elwell »

agentultra wrote: post #6

I've been working remotely more often than not over the last four years (a brief 1-year interlude when I was back in an office full-time broke up the streak). I definitely prefer it. The advantages are too awesome! I get to spend more time with my daughter (I'm a first-time father and she is just turning a year old today). There is hardly anything in this world that makes me happier than spending time with her. If I…

This highlights some of the reasons I feel so blessed to be interested in, and involved with, web development at this time in history. I really am glad that what I enjoy creates value for others (of course, it's never perfect though).

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#67

Post by nicholassmith »

erichurkman wrote: post #51
nicholassmith wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll generally get more done in 2 hours working from my home office than I would in 4 hours in an office, let alone if there's a meeting as well.

Don't forget the meeting that you have to prepare for the meeting; the dreaded pre-meeting. "Hey, Eric, mind if we get together to go over the meeting this afternoon?" And the feared post-meeting. "Hey, Eric, can we chat later about that meeting?" And the email, "Hey, Eric, I missed the meeting. Can you forward me your notes?"

I always like the meeting you have about the meeting, then the follow up meeting a few days later.

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#68

Post by k__ »

jwilliams wrote: post #53

2.5 billion people in the world have internet access. But most of them can't have a reliable Skype call. We still have issues calling from Australia on a decent connection to a similarly decent connection in the states. What we've found - Good connectivity that can hold a reliable Skype or Google Hangout conversation is essential - don't be fooled thinking you can achieve this at a random Internet cafe in Cambodia. Y…

I think those synchronous communications should be minimized.

They break you out of a flow and bind you.

Chats/Forums/Emails are easier to integrate into the day.

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#69

Post by Keats »

buttsex wrote: post #10

Kind of on topic, but I'm a web developer who is partnered with a designer in NYC. I'm already working remotely (a few hours away) and it is really great. I'm in my mid 20s and don't have kids or a relationship at the moment. I've always wanted to travel and I'd rather do it while I am young. I've been thinking of taking 6 months and going around the world, staying at any location for 2-4 weeks. I want to continue wo…

Don't forget that you have weekends as well and dedicate them + evenings to visit/do things.

If I were you I'd stay more than 2 weeks though, 4 weeks seems ok, 2 weeks while travelling doesn't seem enough to see everything. Granted that I never worked while travelling but that's how I'd do it (and also stay longer than 1 month if I really like a place)

Re: Lessons from 2 months of remote working

#70

Post by lukethomas »

agentultra wrote: post #60
lukethomas wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you personally measure "a good day's work?" Is it based on gut feelings or do you have specific hours that you work? Also, do you follow a strict schedule, or leave your day open for "sporadic" opportunities?

As to your first question I don't have a good answer. I cannot think of a way to quantify something that I can only intuit about. You can think of any metric by which to measure the progress of a programmer and you will find an endless debates about its usefulness. It's inherently a qualitative value in my experience. In general though I am motivated by accomplishment. I feel good about doing a good job. It is its ow…

Thanks so much for your thoughts - this is extremely helpful as I'm trying to find balance with remote work.
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