In a time when many companies across the globe have forced return-to-office policies, AuthZed remains dedicated to not being just remote-friendly, but remote-first. We are a distributed global company with the vision to fix access control.
AuthZed is a team made up of individuals who work hard and drive our company forward every single day, and this is a big part of our culture. But another big part of our culture is that we enjoy the people we work with; we hire intentionally and make sure every person aligns with our goals and the ways we work. We have curated an incredible group of people who have the best interests of the company and their co-workers at heart…
… and sometimes we just want to HANG OUT.
Why Off-Sites Are Essential for Remote Teams
Enter another important tenet of our culture: Off-sites!
We get together on a regular basis as an entire company with the goals of (in order of importance):
- Relax and bond with our awesome teammates
- Make decisions and talk through hard things together
- Collaborate
I truly believe that having regular time together as a full team is vital to the life of a remote company. When we have prioritized our time together at AuthZed in this way and fostered the moments to make these goals happen, we have seen so many incredible outcomes, including (not in any particular order):
- More empathy in our daily work lives for each other, leading to more healthy tension as we solve complex problems
- Better communication both within individual teams and across the company
- A renewed sense of inspiration to make cool stuff and grow the company (inspired by our CEO)
- Company-wide understanding of where the company has been, where it is now, and clarity of the vision of the future
As I stood in the ocean the last night of our most recent off-site at 1 a.m. with a few night owls of the group, we had a moment to share and listen. We shared fears, we shared potential solutions, we came to a better understanding of each other and what was important to each other as humans. A new co-worker shared they were leaving our time together with an invigorated drive to automate all the things (a happy song to my operations ears).
This and every off-site reminds me that we are humans behind the technology. We have each other's backs, we enjoy working together, being together, and solving hard problems.
Please never underestimate our need to be human, our need for connection - and as you grow your company and teams, always always prioritize your off-sites and being together in person.
If you came here looking for helpful tips and tricks for planning your off-sites for your small to medium-sized business, my inbox is always open! I have been planning off-sites for over a decade for distributed and remote teams and am always happy to share my notes. jenessa@authzed.com