HBR On Leadership

How GitLab Leads Its Fully Remote Workforce

Jun 12, 2024

Sid Sijbrandij, Co-founder and CEO of GitLab, shares his insights on leading one of the world's largest all-remote companies. He discusses effective strategies for recruiting and onboarding talent suited for remote work, emphasizing radical transparency and detailed documentation. Sid explores how to foster team culture and communication in a dispersed environment while promoting social connections to counter isolation. He also highlights the significance of inclusivity and transparency in strengthening community relationships and enhancing talent branding.

30:25

Episode guests

Sid Sijbrandij

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Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

GitLab emphasizes recruiting talent suited for remote work to effectively manage a dispersed workforce.

GitLab promotes reinforcing company culture and creating virtual spaces for informal relationship building in remote operations.

Deep dives

Evolution of GitLab from Experiment to Fully Dispersed Company

GitLab, founded by Cid C. Brandi, transitioned from an in-person setup to a fully dispersed workforce across 60 countries. Initially experimenting with open-source software development, GitLab's CEO highlighted the transition to a remote setup that allowed them access to a global talent pool. The company's growth from local to global operations emphasized the benefits of an all-remote model for scalability and talent diversity.

Efficient and Self-led Meetings at GitLab

01:29

Intro

2min

Embracing a Fully Remote Workforce

12min

Radical Transparency in Remote Onboarding

3min

Mastering Remote Workforce Management

12min

The Power of Transparency in Remote Work Culture

3min

GitLab, which builds and manages an open-source software development application, started off with employees fully dispersed and has stayed that way. Now with more than 1,300 people spread across more than 60 countries, it’s said to be the world’s largest all-remote company.

In this episode, the company’s CEO Sid Sijbrandij shares the lessons he’s learned about how to manage a distributed workforce. He explains how to recruit talent who are well-suited for remote work and how to onboard them effectively. He also shares how GitLab leaders reinforce company culture remotely and how they create virtual space for informal relationship building.

Key episode topics include: leadership, remote work, managing people, teams, dispersed work, culture, communication, recruitment, talent management, innovation.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Advice from the CEO of an All-Remote Company (2022)

· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

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HBR On Leadership

How GitLab Leads Its Fully Remote Workforce

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Evolution of GitLab from Experiment to Fully Dispersed Company

Challenges and Benefits of All-Remote Work

Practices for Effective All-Remote Operations

Efficient and Self-led Meetings at GitLab

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts