EP 44: Sid Sijbrandij (Founder/CEO, GitLab) - Corporate Transparency, Open Source Philosophy, Remote Work and Global Talent Pools
The Logan Bartlett Show
GitLab's Guide to All-Remote Work
GitLab has discovered strategies and principles that have enabled them to be successful as a remote company. They found that remote work was easier than they initially thought, and the pandemic confirmed that running a remote company is very possible. GitLab has bundled their insights into team ops, which consists of four principles: creating a shared reality, allowing everyone to contribute, decision velocity, and working with the same people. They prioritize creating a shared reality by having a single source of truth, practicing situational leadership, and having shared values. They also emphasize allowing everyone to contribute through iteration and soliciting suggestions without requiring the recipient to acknowledge or argue with them. Decision velocity is achieved by making decisions faster, giving agency, working asynchronously when possible, and being transparent about measurements and processes. In terms of meetings, GitLab believes they are expensive and aims to make them more efficient. They always have an agenda and continuously evolve it into meeting notes. They discourage presentations in meetings and instead encourage sending presentations in advance and recording videos. They also acknowledge that not all parts of a meeting are relevant to everyone and allow individuals to multitask or ask for a repetition without feeling guilty. Taking notes helps people catch up quickly if needed. Overall, GitLab's approach to all-remote work emphasizes efficient communication, inclusion, decision-making, and flexibility in meetings.
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