All Remote
Bramble is an all-remote company with over team members located in several countries around the world.
On this page and subpages, we’ll share what “all-remote” really means, how it works at Bramble, some tips and tricks for remote teams, and resources to learn more.
The Remote Manifesto
All-remote work promotes:
- Hiring and working from all over the world instead of from a central location.
- Flexible working hours over set working hours.
- Writing down and recording knowledge over verbal explanations.
- Written down processes over on-the-job training.
- Public sharing of information over need-to-know access.
- Opening up every document for editing by anyone over top-down control of documents.
- Asynchronous communication over synchronous communication.
- The results of work over the hours put in.
- Formal communication channels over informal communication channels.
Why remote?
From the cost savings on office space to more flexibility in employees' daily lives, all-remote work offers a number of advantages to organizations and their people.
But we also recognize that being part of an all-remote company isn’t for everyone. Here’s a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages.
Why Bramble uses the term all-remote to describe its 100% remote workforce
All-remote means that each individual in an organization is empowered to work and live where they are most fulfilled. By including the word “all” in “all-remote,” it makes clear that every team member is equal. No one, not even the executive team, meets in-person on a daily basis.
Learn more about why Bramble uses the term all-remote to describe its 100% remote workforce.
Advantages and benefits
Operating in an all-remote environment provides a multitude of benefits and competitive advantages for employees, employers, and the world.
Learn more about benefits and advantages to operating in an all-remote environment.
Disadvantages
Despite its many advantages, all-remote work isn’t for everyone. It can have disadvantages for potential employees depending on their lifestyle and work preferences, as well as the organization.
Learn more about disadvantages to all-remote, along with solutions to these challenges.
Remote work starter guide: how to adjust to work-from-home
For employees who are grappling with a new remote reality, here are five tips to implement straight away in your journey to acclimate.
The phases of remote adaptation
As teams grapple with transitioning from a colocated environment to a remote one, it’s common to see differing levels of adaptability.
Learn more about the phases of remote adaptation.
Being a great remote manager
Many traits found in superb remote managers are also found in managers of colocated teams, though there are nuances to serving, leading, and guiding when managing teams that you do not see in-person each day.
Learn what it takes to be a great remote manager.
People
All-remote organizations tend to attract people who place a high degree of value on autonomy, flexibility, empathy, and mobility. It also presents outsized opportunity for people who must live or prefer to live in rural areas, where well-paying careers in technical industries are few and far between.
Learn more about the types of people who are adopting a remote lifestyle.
Non-linear workday
How diverse, invigorating, gratifying, and productive could your day be if you threw away the notion that you had to stick to a daily routine?
Learn more about what life can look and feel like when embracing a non-linear workday.
Values
While all-remote isn’t a value itself, it’s something we do in order to practice our values.
Learn how a collection of values at Bramble contributes to a thriving all-remote environment.
Building and reinforcing a sustainable culture
Culture is best defined not by how a company or team acts when all is well; rather, by the behaviors shown during times of crisis or duress.
Learn more about creating a thriving, lasting remote culture.
Combating burnout, isolation, and anxiety
Mental health is an important topic for all companies, and creating a healthy remote workplace is essential to business success.
Learn more about combating burnout, isolation, and anxiety in the remote workplace.
Jobs
Job seekers are wise to point their efforts towards companies that are built to support 100% remote. You’re able to bypass hours of lobbying for a remote arrangement during the interview process, and you’re assured that the tools you need to operate effectively from anywhere will be included from the get-go.
Learn more about all-remote and remote-first organizations leading the way, job boards that curate high-quality remote roles, and informal job searching tactics.
How to evaluate a remote role
Not every remote job is created equal. Learn more about considerations and questions to ask when evaluating a remote role.
Getting started in a remote role
Learn more about considerations and tips for starting a new remote role.
Management
Managing an all-remote company is much like managing any other company. It comes down to trust, communication, and company-wide support of shared goals.
Learn more about what’s required to effectively and efficiently manage an all-remote company.
Forcing functions to work remote-first
Whether it’s unwinding from offices entirely and going all-remote, or attempting to create a level playing field for in-office and remote team members in a hybrid-remote arrangement, leaders should consider key forcing functions to ensure a commitment to remote-first practices.
Learn more about tactical, actionable steps that will send a clear message that leadership is serious about implementing remote in the organization.
Collaboration and whiteboarding with remote teams
“How do you collaborate and whiteboard in a remote environment?” is a frequently asked question. In a colocated setting, collaboration often happens face-to-face with a whiteboard on hand in a conference room. Working remotely sometimes feels like working on your own, with your own calendar, and your own schedule. With a common goal, strategic planning, and the right collaboration tools, working in a remote environment can be even more productive than working in an office.
Learn more about collaboration and whiteboarding in remote work environments.
Remote onboarding
Onboarding remotely should focus on three key dimensions: the organizational, the technical, and the social. By using this integrated approach, top companies enable their employees to stay and thrive in their roles. We’ll show how you can focus on these three key dimensions of onboarding through an all-remote onboarding process.
Learn more in Bramble’s guide to remote onboarding.
Scaling
Bramble believes that all-remote is the future of work, and that it not only works well at scale, but works better at scale than antiquated colocated models.
Learn more about challenges, solutions, and benefits of all-remote at scale.
Stages of remote work
Learn more about the various stages of remote work, from no remote to all-remote.
Tips for working remotely
Building a remote team or starting your first all-remote job? Check out our tips for working remotely.
Resources
Browse our resources page to learn more about Bramble’s approach, read about remote work in the news, and see what other companies are leading the way.
Hiring
Bramble envisions a world where talented, driven individuals can find roles and seek employment based on business needs, rather than an oftentimes arbitrary location.
Hiring across the globe isn’t without its challenges. There are local regulations and risks unique to countries and regions around the globe. We believe that these challenges are worth overcoming, and opening our recruiting pipeline beyond the usual job centers creates a competitive advantage. We hope to see this advantage wane as more all-remote companies are created.
Learn more about hiring in an all-remote environment.
Learning and Development
We believe that all-remote companies are at a competitive advantage when it comes to educating and developing team members.
Learn more on how to make learning and development a companywide mindset in an all-remote environment.
Self-service
It’s not what you know. It’s knowing where to look. This is true at Bramble and other organizations that are intentional about documenting processes, and it is entirely counter to how typical work environments are structured.
Learn more about the importance of self-searching, self-learning, and self-service in an all-remote organization.
Informal Communication
In an all-remote environment, informal communication should be formally addressed. Leaders should organize informal communication, and to whatever degree possible, design an atmosphere where team members all over the globe feel comfortable reaching out to anyone to converse about topics unrelated to work.
Learn more about enabling informal communication in an all-remote company.
Asynchronous communication
In an all-remote setting, where team members are empowered to live and work where they’re most fulfilled, mastering asynchronous workflows is vital to avoiding dysfunction and enjoying outsized efficiencies. Increasingly, operating asynchronously is necessary even in colocated companies which have team members on various floors or offices, especially when multiple time zones are involved.
Learn more about implementing asynchronous workflows in your organization, and the benefits to both employee and employer.
Handbook-first documentation
A handbook-first organization is home to team members who benefit from having a single source of truth to lean on. This type of organization is able to operate with almost supernatural efficiency. An organization that does not put concerted effort into documenting has no choice but to watch its team members ask and re-ask for same bits of data in perpetuity, creating a torturous loop of interruptions, meetings, and suboptimal knowledge transfers.
Learn more about the significance of handbook-first documentation.
Meetings
Learn how to decide when a meeting is necessary and how to optimize them in an all-remote environment.
Communicating effectively and responsibly through text
Embracing text communication and learning to use it effectively requires a mental shift. This can feel unusual or even uncomfortable for those who come from a colocated environment, where in-person meetings and vocalized communiques are the norm.
Learn more about mastering the use of the written word in an all-remote setting.
In-person interactions
While there are tremendous advantages to operating a 100% remote company, leaders should consider being intentional about planning in-person elements, even if they’re optional for team members.
Learn more about considerations for in-person interactions in a remote company.
Workspace
All-remote enables the creation of a custom office, perfectly tailored for your desires and ergonomic needs.
Learn more about key considerations when building and evolving your remote workspace.
Parenting as a remote worker
Parents who work from home have unique demands and expectations, as well as unique challenges. Being an excellent coworker and an excellent parent is a tall order, particularly when childcare and school are impacted by a global crisis.
Learn more about balancing remote work and parenting.
Hybrid-remote
Hybrid-remote companies have one or more offices where a subset of the company commutes to each day, paired with a subset of the company that works remotely.
Learn more about advantages, challenges, and the primary differences between all-remote and other forms of remote working.