Summaries Remote Work and Collaboration Managing a Fully Distributed Team: GitLab's Approach

This is a summary of a YouTube video "Gitlab's Secret to Managing 160 Employees in 160 Locations" by Y Combinator!

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GitLab is a fully distributed company that encourages remote work and written communication to streamline software collaboration and allow everyone to contribute to creating end products.

• 👥
  00:00

  GitLab is an open source development tool that streamlines software collaboration.
• 🌍
  01:37

  A global company with 160 remote workers in 37 countries was inspired by employees in the Netherlands who chose to work from home, leading to the creation of collaboration software.
• 📝
  03:41

  The company has an open-source handbook that outlines every aspect of the company and involves contributions from both inside and outside the company.
• 📅
  06:45

  The speaker's workday is filled with video calls and one-on-one interactions with direct reports, but they also use Issue Tracker in Google Docs chat for more asynchronous communication and fewer meetings.
• 💰
  08:27

  Fundraising for a distributor company was tough, but they ended up with great investors.
• 💬
  10:24

  San encourages virtual coffee breaks and open video conferences to combat isolation and stimulate water cooler talk.
• 📈
  11:13

  Company filters for self-motivated candidates, hosts local and Cancun get-togethers, and prefers remote-only communication.
• 🚀
  13:23

  GitLab is successfully running a fully distributed company, encouraging written communication and aiming to change culture to allow everyone to contribute to creating end products.

Detailed summary

• 👥
  00:00

  GitLab is an open source development tool that streamlines software collaboration.

  • GitLab is an open source development tool that allows people to collaborate on software, making the software development process easier, faster, and more efficient.
  • GitHub started as a service that people signed up for, and a year later, they incorporated and got into YC, which helped them grow faster.
• 🌍
  01:37

  A global company with 160 remote workers in 37 countries was inspired by employees in the Netherlands who chose to work from home, leading to the creation of collaboration software.

  • The company has 160 people working in 37 different countries, with most of them working from home, and it came about due to the value of "boring solutions."
  • Employees hired in the Netherlands opted to work from home, inspiring the creation of collaboration software, and even salespeople began working remotely without being told to.
• 📝
  03:41

  The company has an open-source handbook that outlines every aspect of the company and involves contributions from both inside and outside the company.

  • The speaker wrote a 500-page handbook to ensure efficiency and avoid repeating instructions for new employees.
  • The onboarding process involves 80 tasks for new employees and provides visibility on what needs to be done by both the employee and others, with tools to ensure completion.
  • The TLDR is that the company has a handbook that describes every part of the company and everyone is responsible for editing it in an open-source way, allowing contributions from both inside and outside the company.
• 📅
  06:45

  The speaker's workday is filled with video calls and one-on-one interactions with direct reports, but they also use Issue Tracker in Google Docs chat for more asynchronous communication and fewer meetings.

  • The speaker has a normal workday with lots of video calls and mostly interacts with direct reports one-on-one, but also has a weekly one-hour call with the executive team.
  • Use Issue Tracker in Google Docs chat for more asynchronous communication and fewer meetings.
• 💰
  08:27

  Fundraising for a distributor company was tough, but they ended up with great investors.

  • Fundraising for a distributor company was tough due to investors' pattern matching, but the company ended up with great investors.
  • Can anyone work in a company with limited human interaction or does it require a specific type of person?
• 💬
  10:24

  San encourages virtual coffee breaks and open video conferences for the whole company to stimulate water cooler talk and combat isolation.
• 📈
  11:13

  Company filters for self-motivated candidates, hosts local and Cancun get-togethers, and prefers remote-only communication.

  • Recruiting process involves filtering for self-motivated and result-oriented people through MPF scores given by declined candidates.
  • The company has both local get-togethers and a big get-together every nine months in Cancun, and while a hybrid model with a headquarters and distributed workforce is possible, being remote-only makes communication easier.
• 🚀
  13:23

  GitLab is successfully running a fully distributed company, encouraging written communication and aiming to change culture to allow everyone to contribute to creating end products.

  • Running a company totally distributed is working better as they grow bigger and they have been able to avoid the feeling of being left out of gossip and promotional opportunities that satellite offices tend to have.
  • Encouraging people to write things down in the company handbook has been a challenging but rewarding task for GitLab.
  • GitLab's mission is to change culture from read only to read write, allowing everyone to contribute to creating an end product in various formats for books, software, and more.