Teams at Work by BUNCH

Episode 37: Why the “remote vs. office” conversation is missing the point

Mar 3, 2023

56:10

In this week’s episode, our co-founders Darja and Anthony chatted with Scott Markovits. Scott was one of the Founding Team at InVision - one of the first companies to work fully remotely (before either Zoom or Slack were created). Since then Scott has helped tons of other companies scale and succeed in a remote environment, building world-class operational, engagement, and leadership cultures. From learning how to adapt to the ever-changing work culture in tech to introducing the best rituals to connect and strengthen remote teams, Scott shared his key learnings and memorable experiences leading A teams remotely. Scott also discussed his journey at early-stage startups, why product-market fit is overrated, and what your success as a leader really looks like.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The key rituals to keep your distributed teams strong and connected
How remote work can help you create a better work-life balance and why a 4-day work week is the future
Why product-market fit is overrated
Remote vs. Hybrid vs. In-person - where is the future of work, and what companies will succeed in this game long-term

Timecodes:

2:30 - what inspired Scott to switch to remote work
4:20 - why remote work can help you create a better work-life balance
8:25 - the power of off-site in real life for remote teams
14:50 - what was it like being part of one of the first companies to go fully remote
18:20 - what was remote work like before Slack and Zoom
19:40 - remote work is the future, everyone else is playing a short-term game
25:30 - where is the future of work
31:30 - in the future having an office will be a perk
34:00 - how can you succeed as a manager remotely
38:10 - rituals to keep your distributed teams strong and connected
42:30 - 4 day work week and at least 1 week off per quarter - the secrets to long-term team success

Connect with Scott