(Some of) The Magic of Having a Distributed Team

A few years ago people viewed remote working as a trend, but we’re seeing more and more companies welcoming remote workers or opting to have fully distributed teams — so it seems this trend is actually here to say.

Remote work isn’t for everyone, nor is it for every company. That being said, Echobind is a 100% distributed team, and here are a few reasons why we love it:

• We get to recruit from a wider talent pool. We can hire the best and brightest designers, developers, project managers, and operators because we aren’t limited by geography. All we require is a reliable, fast-speed internet connection in the US.
• We appreciate the wide variety of backgrounds and experiences our team brings, which in turn leads to diversity of ideas and perspectives.
• Nobody is commuting! We aren’t spending hours sitting in cars or trains just to get to and from work each day. That’s precious time we get back for so many things — more family time, more sleep, more exercise. Before I joined the Echobind team, I was commuting over 3 hours a day, which is 15 hours a week = 750 hours a year = 31 days per year. Getting that time back is gold.
• Working from home (or the occasional co-working space or coffee shop) means that each of us gets to work in an environment where we feel most comfortable and productive. Each of us gets to customize our workspace to suit our needs and preferences.

As I already mentioned, working remotely isn’t for everyone and it certainly presents unique challenges. Thankfully, we’re able to solve for many of them with the right tools (a few of which you can find in this blog post about onboarding).

P.S. You’ll note I said we’re a distributed team instead of a remote team because while we don’t work side by side in an office, we don’t feel remote because we’re constantly collaborating. We might be physically far apart, but we’re still very much connected.