Remote work offers incredible flexibility and freedom, but recent findings from the 2024 Distributed Work Report highlight a common challenge: fostering communication, collaboration, and connection within geographically dispersed teams.
Challenges of Remote Work
Misunderstandings, inefficiency, and difficulty explaining complex ideas can arise due to time zone differences, limited access to collaboration tools, and lack of in-person interaction. Moreover, building a vibrant and fun team environment where employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work can be a hurdle.
Building a Thriving Async Culture with Whimsical
As an advisor to Whimsical's Head of People, Diana Lace Davidova, we collaborated on cultivating a thriving async culture.
Whimsical is the interconnected workspace for projects, docs, and visual collaboration. 10k+ teams — from startups to the Fortune 100 — use Whimsical to centralize their ideas, plans, docs, and tasks. Whimsical is the answer to using multiple disconnected tools that create productivity-killing confusion, friction, and silos.
Whimsical has a fully remote workforce spread across twelve countries and prioritizes focused async work. Let's explore how they make it work.
Calm Collaboration Across Time Zones
Whimsical prioritizes craftsmanship and, at the same time, values sustainable and calm 40-hour work weeks. You might wonder: how do they achieve both goals amidst a seven-time-zone workforce?
The answer lies in first-principle thinking and a foundation of async collaboration tools. Utilizing the Whimsical platform alongside clear communication guidelines, the organizational design facilitates seamless teamwork. This approach not only bridges physical gaps but also enhances collaboration and productivity.
Work in Async, Build Relationships in Sync
Whimsical recognizes the importance of face-to-face time to build strong relationships. The company invests in regular communication rituals, e.g. bi-annual in-person Summits, monthly all-hands, weekly demos, and Donut chats. Every six months, the company comes together in locations across North America and Europe. They've organized events in Miami, Barcelona, Lisbon, LA, and Riga, spending three days aligning on company goals and socializing together.
The “Me” Board: Building Trust One Profile at a Time
While collaborating with Whimsical, a key focus was promoting trust and inclusivity. Their "Me" boards emerged as the most successful activity in bringing your whole self to work. During onboarding, everyone is tasked with creating a personalized board (created using Whimsical's platform, of course!) showcasing their life milestones, career journey, family, hobbies, and more. No two “Me” boards are the same and it is a great way to learn about the team's diverse interests.
Building a Thriving Distributed Culture at Your Company
Whimsical's success story demonstrates that fostering a thriving remote culture is achievable for any organization, but requires deliberate effort. Companies must design their workforce strategy with intention, fostering a culture of trust, providing direct feedback, and maintaining a high caliber of talent.
I'm here to help!
If you’re interested in building a thriving distributed culture at your company, I’m here to help:
Schedule an "Ask Me Anything" micro consulting session to get personalized advice
Purchase a Remote Work Playbook to accelerate your progress
Advisor to your leadership and people team to build a strong people operations foundation and best-in-class employee experiences
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