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From YouTube: BFB | Retro-Fitting Your Workforce for Remote Work
Description
The clouds have parted and the remote gods have spoken. Meet my friend Darren Murph https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmurph/, Head of Remote for GitLab. A company that was awesome at remote before it became cool. Or, at the very least, before it was forced on us. 😬
A company, and its leadership, have an obligation to provide an environment where performance and humanity can thrive. I know it's tough. You've been scrappy and we commend you. But, now it's time to move from scrappy to sustainable. From surviving to thriving.
Darren and our host, Anna Oakes, get that this takes intentionality and great ideas. They've got you covered as we #borrowfromthebest.
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Find our host, Anna Oakes' social media links here:
Website: https://www.buildhighperformingteams.com/home
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theannaoakes/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaroakes/
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theannaoakes/
Team Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/careerandculture/
Anna's TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/XgezgVHVciM
A
All
right
guys,
we
are
going
to
talk
about
retrofitting
our
workforce
into
this
new
world
of
work.
Whatever
it's
going
to
look
like,
we
don't
fully
know
yet
but
darren.
You
have
been
asked
as
a
friend
of
mine
and
as
an
expert
in
this
area
to
come
on
and
talk
about
having
a
remote
first
workforce
right.
A
B
Yeah,
absolutely
that's
a
great
way
to
put
it.
We've
got
to
move
from
surviving
this
to
thriving
in
this
and
there's
a
lot
of
things
that
have
to
happen
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
commitment.
That
has
to
be
there
a
lot
of
buying
that
has
to
be
there,
but
the
road
map
is
there.
The
blueprint
is
there
and
I'm
excited
to
see
what
happens
when
people
embrace
that.
A
Yes,
I
mean,
I
look,
I
always
say,
like
borrow
from
people,
what
can
you
borrow
from
the
best
right
and
and
we're
talking
to
a
company
that
has
made
mistakes
and
learned
and
adjusted?
We
are
not
learning
from
scratch
here.
We
have
people
in
blueprints
that
we
can
use,
and
I
appreciate
you
sharing
your
wisdom
here
darren.
So
I
want
to
start
out
because
there's
people
who
are
listening
here
and
maybe
they're
leaders,
maybe
they're
founders
executives,
but
I
think,
there's
also
probably
people
the
humans
that
are
doing
this
work.
A
B
Let's
start
with
the
employers,
okay,
so
the
one
tip
here
is
embrace
and
commit
to
the
change
we're
a
year
into
this.
If
you've
been
burying
your
head
in
the
sand
or
pretending
that
this
is
all
going
to
go
back
to
normal,
it's
time
to
embrace
the
change
and
commit
to
the
change,
and
that
commit
part
is
big
because
for
organizational
change
to
really
take
hold
and
for
you
to
really
get
tailwinds
people
working
with
you
to
evolve
the
company
forward,
you
need
to
commit
to
it
long
term.
B
A
B
All
of
that
is
gone.
Life
has
no
buffers
left.
Every
available
minute
is
available
for
the
taking.
So
it's
on
each
individual
to
say
no,
I'm
actually
going
to
replace
what
used
to
be
my
commute
time
with
meditation
time
or
reading
or
cooking
or
cleaning
calling
my
mom
whatever
whatever
that
is
for
you
for
self-care.
B
That's
not
selfish,
that's
smart
and
that's
the
only
way
you're
going
to
prevent
long-term
burnout,
so
pause
set
boundaries
and
be
the
change
you
want
to
see.
A
lot
of
people
are
afraid
that
if
they
set
boundaries,
it'll
be
perceived
as
selfish
in
the
organization,
but
what
I've
found
is
that
most
people
are
looking
for
role
models
in
this
way,
and
I
think
a
lot
of
people
would
follow
suit
quickly.
A
Let's
spend
a
little
bit
time
here
in
the
employee
realm
before
we
move
back
to
the
organizations,
because
I
do
feel
like
the
honestly.
The
majority
of
the
work
is
on
the
system.
It's
on
the
employer
right
now,
but
let's
stay
with
the
employee,
we're
saying
you
know:
have
those
boundaries
set
up.
You
know
your
own
processes
for
rejuvenation
or
family,
even
maybe
even
filling
your
cup
before
you
work
right
and
that's
on
them.
But
what
do
they
do?
B
Yeah,
so
the
ultimate
struggle
for
the
direct
report
is
they're
they're,
stuck
in
this
situation,
where
they
need
the
organization
to
take
them
part
of
the
way.
So
they
can
go
the
rest
of
the
way.
So,
if
you're
in
this
spot,
where
you
really
want
to
set
boundaries,
but
no
matter
how
hard
you
try
you're
stuck
in
back-to-back
zoom
meetings,
because
your
organization
isn't
evolving
to
more
asynchronous
workflows.
B
I
see
this
as
an
opportunity,
be
the
pioneer
within
your
own
organization,
I'm
talking
to
dozens,
hundreds
of
organizations
and
academics
who
are
looking
at
this
burgeoning
trend
of
heads
of
remote,
so
gitlab
has
a
head
of
remote.
A
lot
of
other
companies
have
hired
a
head
of
remote
or
director
of
remote
work.
You
can
pioneer
that
in
your
company,
if
they
have
not
been
progressive
enough
to
think
about
this
by
saying
here's
what
we
need
to
do.
B
B
Small
steps,
iterative
steps
that
we
can
start
taking
to
evolve,
who
we
are
as
an
organization.
What
I
found
is
that
it
doesn't
take
a
lot
of
change
to
get
a
lot
of
relief,
so
even
if
you're
able
to
let's
say,
reduce
the
recurring
meetings
on
your
immediate
team
by
20
month
over
month,
that's
a
lot
of
hours
back
in
your
life
and
everyone
else's
life
and
the
general
quality
of
life.
As
that
rises,
people
become
easier
to
work
with
they
think
more.
B
Clearly,
small
steps
can
can
lead
to
big
results,
and
so
this
is
the
opportunity,
even
if
executives
won't
admit
it
they're
eager
to
hear
suggestions
on
on
getting
through
this
and
evolving.
So
you
could
be
that
change.
It's
a
great
opportunity
to
to
build
something
and
you've.
You've
got
the
the
ears
and
attention
of
execs.
A
I
am
very
encouraged
by
the
people
who
are
in
organizations
who
are
practicing
being
impactful
entrepreneurs
right
who
are
saying
I'm
going
to
stay
here
and
I'm
committed
and
and
therefore
then
those
impactful
entrepreneurs
need
to
step
up
and
take
the
reins
right
because
they're
waiting,
I
think
people
are
waiting
to
be
given
the
reins.
There
is
too
much
to
think
about
guys.
These
organizations
are
not
just
going
to
say
like
on
a
silver
platter.
B
Yeah,
it's
a
golden
opportunity
to
become
an
operational
leader,
a
change
agent,
a
positive
force
in
your
organization.
This
is
your
opportunity
to
step
way
outside
of
your
day
job
and
have
a
much
bigger
impact
at
an
organizational
level,
and
another
opportunity
here
is
that
it's
okay
to
fail
like
this
is
an
amazing
opportunity
to
try
things
and
learn
from
them.
All
of
the
world
essentially
is
walking
through
the
same
thing.
Together,
it's
a
very
unique
time
in
the
world
where,
to
some
degree
we
all
know
what
each
other
is
going
through.
A
Yeah
and
people
ask
me:
how
was
I
successful
for
19
years
inside
companies
as
an
entrepreneur?
It's
because
I
didn't
stay
in
my
lane.
It's
because
no
look.
I
did
my
day
job,
so
I
I
conquered
that
lane
and
then
I
gave
myself
full
permission
to
start
looking
elsewhere
and
sharing
ideas.
I
always
say
I
got
it
because
I
was
curious
and
nosy,
but
we
need
to.
We
need
to
look
out
and
take
those
blinders
off.
B
Yeah
absolutely-
and
you
won't
be
short
on
feedback
just
open
one
ear.
I
guarantee
you,
people
around
your
organization
are
voicing
their
challenges,
start
tackling
them,
one
by
one
or
just
offering
some
sort
of
feedback
and
solutions,
even
for
organizations
that
aren't
really
set
up
for
this.
Now
is
the
time
to
break
down
some
of
those
preconceived
notions
to
make
the
remote
transformation
successful
you're
going
to
have
to
unlearn
a
lot.
So
you
might
as
well
start
with
getting
out
of
people's
lanes
and
finding
operational
guidance
where
you
would
least
expect
it.
A
Awesome
well,
let's
move
to
that
area
for
the
companies
for
the
leaders
for
those
decision
makers
in
charge.
I
like
to
look
at
things
when
I
move
into
organizations
from
a
structure
process
people
tools
right
and
I
think
sometimes
that
gets
flipped.
Oh,
we
want
a
tool.
That's
going
to
help
us
be
successful.
We
want
the
whatever
the
thing
is,
but
we
have
got
to
look
at
foundation.
So
can
we
move
through
that
pyramid
together?
Let's
look
first
at
structure
right,
so
the
way
that
the
organization
is
working
and
things
are
getting
done.
B
Structure
is
key
and
globally
we're
having
the
wrong
conversation
right
now.
People
are
asking
what
happens
when
we
return
to
the
office?
What
do
we
need
to
properly
go
back
to
the
office?
That's
a
distraction
where
people
work
is
largely
irrelevant.
Structurally,
you
need
to
focus
on
how
people
work.
B
Look
at
your
structure
for
how
work
gets
done
and
audit
it
pressure
test
it.
What
works
in
the
office,
what
works
on
an
airplane
seat
flying
halfway
across
the
pacific,
what
works
in
someone's
spare
bedroom?
Where
are
the
gaps?
If
you
fundamentally
restructure
the
business
so
that
your
work
happens?
No
matter
where
someone
is,
it
becomes
largely
irrelevant
where
they
go
so
maybe
somewhere
down
the
road,
the
office
reopens
or
a
few
of
your
offices
reopen.
Maybe
some
people
choose
to
work
there,
because
it's
more
productive
than
their
spare
bedroom,
but
it
shouldn't
change?
A
A
You
know
darren
can
say
this
in
gitlab,
but
I
worked
in
a
lot
of
organizations
that,
yes,
we
started
out,
as
you
know,
more
traditional
thinking,
but
when
people
step
up
and
say
things
and
come
up
with
ideas
and
and
try
new
things
and
say
like
what,
if
we
just
tried
this
once
right,
then
we
can
start
moving
into
that.
So
it's
a
trial
and
error
right
or
trial
and
fail
or
trial
and
learn
right.
This
isn't
about
what
we
can
get
wrong.
It's
what
we
can
get
right.
B
What's
going
to
happen,
we
now
have
to
move
our
people
and
processes
into
the
proverbial
cloud
and
if
we
look
at
where
technology
has
taken
us,
we've
only
improved
since
then
so
it's
time
to
evolve
our
people
processes,
but
the
structure
is
really
key
if
you
continue
to
operate
co-located
first
office
first,
if
your
meetings
are
defaulting
to
office
first,
then
they
fundamentally
don't
work
outside
of
the
office.
But
if
you
convert
all
of
your
processes
to
a
remote
first
so
that
everything
works.
B
A
Right
and
structure
might
be
intimidating
to
some
right,
they're
saying
like
oh
we're
going
to
restructure
everything,
we
don't
even
know
where
we're
going
yet
so,
let's,
let's
say:
okay,
fine!
We
can
maybe
come
back
to
that.
Let's
focus
on
those
processes,
looking
back
at
the
journey
that
getlab
has
taken,
and
maybe
even
the
other
organizations
that
you
talk
to
and
work
with,
saren
what's
a
place
what's
a
process
that
occurs
in
a
lot
of
companies
that
maybe
we
should
think
about
or
look
at.
I.
B
Think
a
good
one
to
start
at
is
meetings,
and
it's
because
so
many
processes,
workflows
and
cultural
expectations
are
connected
to
that
and
everyone
across
the
organization
from
intern
to
ceo
has
some
experience
with
meetings.
So
it's
a
nice
central
meeting
point
where
we
can
all
agree
that
we
could
probably
improve
our
meeting
hygiene.
B
So
if
you
look
at
what
tools
and
processes
should
be
in
place
to
reduce
the
amount
of
meetings
or
make
them
more
efficient
or
make
sure
that
we
have
checks
and
balances,
so
that
meetings
only
happen
when
they
are
truly
more
efficient
than
writing
things
down
or
working
asynchronously.
You
end
up
solving
a
lot
of
other
process.
Problems.
Meetings
seem
to
collect
all
of
the
best
and
the
worst
of
companies,
and
so
I
would
start
there.
A
Okay
agreed
agreed.
We
spend
far
too
much
time
in
meetings
when
things
could
be
done.
New
word
my
vocabulary
this
year,
asynchronously
right,
I
remember
when
my
room,
my
kids,
remote
teachers
said
that
word
I
was
like
who
is
who?
What
are
they
talking
about?
You
know,
but
now
it's
something
that
rolls
off
my
tongue
much
more
freely.
A
B
Don't
think
any
remote
team
can
function
well
long
term
without
really
embracing
it
and
in
the
phases
of
the
adaptation
of
remote.
You
mentioned
a
shift
and
lift
earlier
that's
phase
one.
I
call
this
skeuomorphism
where
you're
copying
the
office
environment
and
pasting
it
into
the
virtual
environment.
The
telltale
sign
that
a
company
is
evolving
beyond
that
is
that
they
are
deliberate
about
asynchronous
workflows.
They
have
installed
tools,
processes
and
a
cultural
understanding
to
move
consensus
gathering
forward.
A
B
Writing
things
down
by
connecting
ideas
and
giving
people
space
and
medium
to
brainstorm
without
having
to
have
people
online
at
the
same
time
that
that
is
essential
for
mental
health.
It's
essential
for
transparency,
it's
essential
for
gathering
the
most
amount
of
feedback
and
the
richest
amount
of
feedback,
and
increasingly
it's
going
to
be
a
talent,
acquisition
and
retention
tool.
Increasingly,
the
top
talent
will
look
at
an
organization
and
if
they
are
not
fundamentally
sound
in
async,
it's
going
to
be
a
red
flag.
B
It
would
be
like
walking
into
a
very
prestigious
organization
an
interview,
and
they
said
oh
401k
matching.
We
we
haven't
even
considered
that
it's
like
really
direct
deposit.
We
haven't
even
considered
that
async
is
going
to
be
one
of
those
things
where
interviewees
are
going
to
ask.
How
flexible
can
my
day
be?
How
strong
are
your
async
practices?
B
A
A
B
Yeah,
a
key
term
coming
out
of
covet
is
democratization.
This
whole
thing
has
massively
democratized
a
lot
of
work.
It
has
empowered
people
to
show
up
in
a
job
interview
and
ask
outright.
What
is
your
stance
on
workplace
flexibility
pre-covered?
You
had
to
have
an
incredibly
high
degree
of
self-awareness
and
self-confidence
in
yourself
and
your
past
portfolio
of
work
to
be
so
audacious
as
to
ask
something
like
that.
But
now
you
would
almost
be
foolish
to
not
ask
it.
B
It
has
to
be
something
that
is
considered
and
for
sure
the
people
have
more
power
now
and
they
have
more
choice
and
especially
in
the
remote
landscape,
there's
more
remote
possible
jobs
now
than
there
maybe
ever
has
been
in
the
history
of
the
world.
That
is
huge
for
inclusivity.
It's
I'm
excited
to
see
what
the
second
and
third
order
effects
of
that
are.
A
Me
too,
as
tragic
as
this
has
all
been,
it
has
been
a
big
reset
for
humanity
in
the
workplace,
which
I'm
appreciating
all
right.
So
we've
talked
about
too.
We
talked
about
structure
process,
let's
move
to
the
people,
the
actual
humanities
side
of
this,
which
speaks
to
my
heart.
What
do
we
need
to
be
thinking
about
to
really
engage
the
whole
human.
B
We
have
to
not
just
allow
remote
but
empower
and
enable
it
if
you
tell
someone
we're
going
to
get
most
of
the
people
back
in
the
office,
but
we'll
allow
you
to
be
remote.
If
you
want
to
it's
a
very
backhanded
way
to
evolve
the
culture
and
be
respectful
of
the
flexibility
that
people
may
need
or
desire,
there's
a
big
difference
between
allowing
and
supporting
and
supporting
bleeds
into
asking
the
questions
of
what
do
people
need
in
these
individual
spaces?
They
have
all
around
the
world.
B
Do
we
need
to
look
at
perks
and
policies
and
add
new
things
or
take
away
some
things
that
people
aren't
utilizing
now,
like?
Are
people
really
coming
to
the
foosball
table
anymore?
I
don't
know,
maybe
we
could
get
rid
of
those
and
replace
them
with
something
else
that
matters
like
child
care,
for
example.
B
A
Yes,
I
love
this,
does
it
still
work
and
reflecting
right?
It's
the
audit
adjusting
and
trying
and
being
honest
with
your
people,
like,
I
think,
people
organizations
might
be
afraid.
Oh
well,
you
know
if
we
try
it
and
it
doesn't
work,
be
open
about
that.
We
don't
know
what
this
is
going
to
look
like
we're
figuring
this
out
together
and
I
actually
think
that'll
be
bring
your
people
and
your
then
their
performance
up
a
level.
B
Giving
voice
to
the
fact
that
we
don't
have
this
figured
out
is
step
number
one.
You
want
to
invite
people
to
give
you
feedback
to
help
build
this
bridge
to
whatever
the
future
holds.
Of
course,
no
one
has
this
totally
figured
out,
especially
if
you're
transitioning
into
this.
You
built
an
organization
to
function
in
one
way,
and
now
you
fundamentally
have
to
get
it
to
function
in
another
way.
Ask
people
for
their
feedback
instead
of
just
making
sweeping
changes
in
hopes
that
it
captures
the
new
reality.
B
Just
ask
people
what
they
need,
and
then
you
save
yourself
all
of
that
inefficient
guessing
and
people
feel
like
they
belong.
One
thing
that
I
want
to
harp
on
here
is
belonging
has
as
much
to
do
with
access
to
information
as
anything
else
that
you
can
put
in
place
from
a
diversity
and
inclusion
standpoint,
the
more
information
you
give
people,
the
more
transparent
you
are,
the
more
vulnerable.
You
are,
the
more
opportunities
you
give
individuals
across
the
organization
to
provide
their
feedback
and
input
and
shape
what
the
future
looks
like
that
is
belonging,
yeah.
B
A
Yeah,
I
felt
it
myself
inside
organizations
and
I've
seen
it
happen.
So
I
agree
with
you
darren.
I
think
access
to
information
is
huge.
So
last
section
right:
let's
talk
about
tools.
You
at
get
lab,
have
a
tool
that
I'm
obsessed
with
you
have
been
open,
and
so
I
guess
generous
with
what
you
have
worked
on
internally,
so
talk
to
us
about
your
handbook.
I
know
that's
one
of
your
favorite.
B
Yeah,
the
gitlab
handbook
is
legendary,
we're
about
8
000
pages
and
growing.
We
open
source,
all
of
our
knowledge,
all
of
our
workflows,
all
of
our
processes,
it's
all
available
on
the
world
wide
web.
If
you
search
for
get
lab
remote
you'll
be
sucked
into
the
all
remote
section
of
the
get
lab
handbook,
we
have
over
50
guides
on
how
we
do
everything
from
async
to
meetings
to
transparency,
so
the
handbook
is
a
huge
resource,
and
when
I
mentioned
earlier,
the
blueprint
has
been
written.
B
We
literally
published
the
remote
playbook,
and
so
it's
a
guide
to
transitioning
and
getting
through
this
and
involving
a
company,
but
also
we
use
getlab
the
product
for
all
of
our
project
management
and
that
helps
us
have
a
single
source
of
truth
where
work
happens
and
it's
a
very
transparent
tool.
You
need
that
in
your
organization,
whether
that's
gitlab
or
some
other
tool,
it
needs
to
be
a
single
place
where
work
happens
and
I
would
also
say
look
at
existing
tools
that
you're
using
and
just
think
about
how
to
use
them
differently.
B
An
example
here
is
slack.
Gitlab
uses
slack
a
lot
of
other
companies.
Use
teams,
but
you
have
some
sort
of
chat
program,
but
gitlab
strategically
removes
all
of
our
messages
after
90
days.
Well,
why
do
we
do
this?
Because
we
want
to
force
work
to
happen
and
get
lab
the
product
so
that
there's
less
anxiety
with
the
red
bubbles
in
slack,
because
you
don't
really
want
to
do
work
in
a
tool
that
deletes
all
your
work
after
90
days,
so
we
use
it
as
a
forcing
function
to
use
it
as
an
informal
communications
tool.
A
B
Yeah,
you
don't
want
to
introduce
more
chaos
right
now.
It's
mostly
about
being
smart
with
the
tools
you
already
have.
Google
docs
is
another
great
example.
We
use
live
doc
meetings.
Every
work
related
meeting.
Has
a
google
doc
attached
to
it.
So
there's
inherent
transparency,
so
we're
not
reinventing
the
wheel
with
some
magical
meeting
tool,
we're
just
using
google
docs
in
an
innovative
way.
A
And
I
have
obsessively
read
almost
everything
you
guys
have
put
out
on
remote
work
and
work
right
now
darren,
so
I
feel,
like
I
saw
in
there
a
specific
direction
or
at
least
how
you
recommend
or
use
it
in
git
lab
this
handbook
in
terms
of
onboarding.
I
felt
like
that
was
so
cool.
Can
you
can
you
give
us
a
little
glimpse
of
that.
B
A
Yes,
so
start
using
this
tool
from
the
very
beginning,
and
it's
crowdsourced
right
so
for
organizations
who
have
a
handbook-
that's
two
pages
long
and
may
want
to
push
into
this
as
a
tool
for
the
new
work
that
they're
doing
get
your
people
use,
use
their
ideas
and
put
them
to
work
in
this
really
engaging
document.
This
is
great
darren.
I
love
this.
We
could
go
on
forever.
I
so
appreciate
you
sharing
your
time
and
your
generosity
with
us
and
all
you
do
for
culture
and
people
in
the
workplace.