
How We’ve Built a Remote Company Culture to Be Grateful For - The_Fox
https://www.groovehq.com/blog/a-remote-culture-to-be-grateful-for
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vogt
Cool stuff here. I'm getting to the point in my career and life where I'd like
to remain working in tech, but I've realized the major cities of the world
just aren't any place for someone like me. My priorities revolve around
starting a family in a reasonable COL place, and I feel like FT remote is
almost certainly my future - perhaps indefinitely. I live in isolated Eastern
WA right now and would like to continue living in places like this.

~~~
shshhdhs
I was thinking of Central WA but the prices were still high. I haven't looked
too much into Eastern WA. How are things there? Sounds like you are enjoying
life, but it sounds like you might move to a cheaper COL? Is the COL in
Eastern WA still high?

~~~
vogt
I live in Pullman WA. It is certainly very nice here but there is not a lot to
do, and it is very much in the middle of nowhere. We rent a 3BR, 3BA house
with a massive yard for $1400/mo. You couldn't put a price on the peace of
mind I have living in a place as safe as this. If you aren't going out
starting problems with frat dudes (this is a pure college town), you are
essentially never at risk for crime. We leave our doors unlocked all of the
time.

The bad: we are _seriously_ isolated. Pullman has a small airport that has 3-4
flights a day, all going to Seattle which is a 5 hour drive. So unless you're
going to Seattle there is no such thing as a direct flight, and flights to
almost anywhere are very expensive. The nearest "big" city (pop. 200k so
really not even very big) is 1.5 hours north in Spokane. We have Moscow, Idaho
20 minutes east (which is another college town with almost the exact same
population, so it's almost like someone just copy and pasted), Clarkston WA
and Lewiston ID 40 minutes south, and that. is. it. None of these cities
exceed 30-40k in population.

All in all I wouldn't change much. This is a beautiful little town with just
enough places to eat and drink to satisfy me, and plenty of outdoor
activities. Hell of a place to raise children with some of the top schools in
WA. I have family spread out all over the country and so not being able to see
them frankly sucks. I miss some chain stuff we don't get out here like Five
Guys and Chipotle but I probably shouldn't be eating that crap anyway.

Anything else you'd like to know about Eastern WA/Northern Idaho let me know.

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slgeorge
HN loves remote working - so think of this as 'contrarian' to test out the
limits:

    
    
      >They’ve successfully worked remotely before, or they’ve run their own business (do they have what it takes to motivate themselves to work solo?)
    

I believe this is a true. I've seen some people excel at distributed work, and
some absolutely suck. It takes maturity, it's very suited to some roles and
some people.

But, as it's suited to experienced employees it limits the opportunity for
inexperienced ones. Consequently, diversity is limited and it's not good for
_growing new professionals_. This leaves teams over-balanced with senior
people and creates a problem for developing people, particularly when an
organisation is larger than a handful of hackers.

It can be done, but it's _tougher_ than the buzz suggests and there are real
trade-offs!

~~~
user5994461
That's consistent with my view.

I'm flabbergasted by how difficult it is to train a new employee that is
remote. It's not even worth trying.

~~~
pzh
Yet most of the remote jobs pay very little compared to non-remote jobs in the
US, or either try to cheat you on benefits, or hours, or require you to
relocate after a few months.

I've tried to find a decent remote job for about 8 months and the whole search
has completely turned me off the idea. I used to believe that remote would be
the future, but it seems like remote jobs are what mediocre startups with
insufficient funding try to use as an excuse to underpay you. I've pretty much
seen it all: jobs that are listed as remote, but when you interview, the first
question is "When can you relocate?"; jobs that pay $60,000 per year (without
taxes or benefits) for a Software Architect role; and the last straw--jobs
offering a decent rate but saying they can only pay you for 25 hours a week
(hmm, how does a Sw Eng switch their mind off at the 5th hour every day as
opposed to at the 8th?)

Of course, everybody requires rock stars (at least Google-level engineers,
preferably with CS degrees from Stanford or MIT) and who have experience with
remote work, and can manage teams, overcommunicate, are a culture fit, and
most importantly are willing to work for $60,000 a year with no benefits and
no vacation.

Remote has a long way to go.

~~~
gkafkg8y8
> rock star

Yeah, when I hear this, ninja, jedi, or anything like that, I've learned to
stay away. They say that because they want to convince you that if you work
with them you'll become something great. Instead, they have a crappy situation
and you will be the king/queen of crap.

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gkafkg8y8
I'm an introvert. I have absolutely loved working from home on my own when
I've done it in the past. But, when I was interacting with a manager or
someone whom I had never worked in-person with and didn't interfact with much
online, I always felt insecure and vulnerable. Then there are the awkward
"everyone needs to fly to headquarters and meet everyone else for team-
building" moments; the anticipation of those get-togethers always made me feel
uncomfortable.

~~~
whatthesmack
I identify so much with this statement. Working from home has made my "daily
grind" feel sustainable. The downside to all my remote roles is that I've
struggled with insecurity with respect to my stance in the team/org. That,
combined with social anxiety, leads to a bit of fear for the "fly to HQ"
moments. Fortunately, I currently work with really
nice/good/hardworking/respectable folks who (unknowingly) help allay that fear
a bit.

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harisenbon
One of the. Eat distinctions in this article is the difference between a great
worker and a great remote worker. I've worked with many people who were
brilliant, but couldn't get the remote part to work with their lifestyle.

Also, as an aside, their option box is a word-for-word copy of Neil patel's.
"from aha to oh shi*t..."

