Kicksaw's Ultimate Guide to Building a Remote-First Culture

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the majority of companies and office workers into the pretty much uncharted territory of remote work. And what initially seemed like a temporary solution quickly evolved into a new norm, challenging traditional notions of what office-based work looks like. 

At Kicksaw, we were relatively unphased. We’d been 100% remote from the start — our business processes were uninterrupted (other than having to accommodate clients who were adjusting to remote work themselves), and we suddenly found ourselves at an advantage. As the landscape shifted and uncertainty reigned, Kicksaw not only adapted but thrived, showcasing valuable lessons for other businesses suddenly navigating the nuances of the remote working environment.

Post-pandemic, businesses are now reckoning with whether or not to keep remote work as an option for their employees, go the hybrid route, or return to a solely onsite approach. While every business is unique, and we can’t pretend to prescribe a perfect remote-first option that will work for everyone, we firmly believe that a remote work environment is not only capable of producing great work from employees — it’s an advantage. When approached properly, a remote-first culture creates an environment that promotes stellar work, encourages growth, gives employees a sense of freedom, and delivers success for your business.

Why remote work?‍

One of the biggest reasons that Kicksaw is 100% remote is entirely practical — our co-founders are from different countries. That being said…if Kenny and Kyle were next-door neighbors, we’d probably still be 100% remote, for very powerful reasons. 

Kicksaw’s mission is to transform consulting by putting employees and customers first, and this is far from a starry-eyed catchphrase. It informs every decision we make, including the decision to always be a 100% remote company. 

Our remote nature lets us pick from the best talent from around the world, ensuring a stellar experience for our customers. Not being limited to just the best consultants in Bend, or the second-best accountant in Toronto (since the best is already working elsewhere), is liberating. We’re committed to creating immense value for our customers, and having access to the absolute best talent, thanks to remote work, helps us accomplish this.

Just as importantly, putting employees and customers first means always considering our employees as entire people, not as resources. We’ve written about this before, and it’s a key element of our Fractional Operations business model. Life’s complicated, and the flexibility that remote work provides gives our employees options that they otherwise might not have access to. The ability to create their own schedule, forgo a commute, expand childcare options (as well as overall family time together), and more all contribute to increased senses of trust and independence from employees, which in turn lead to greater productivity, reduced burnout, and a healthier work-life balance on the whole. 

We can’t overstate the importance of work-life balance, and not just to Kicksaw — it’s important to humans everywhere, regardless of how or where they work. But it just so happens that remote work is one of the best ways to support work-life balance, and why we will always embrace it.

“In my experience managing People Operations teams, it’s the companies that put team member needs first that experience true success. I love the remote-first culture we’ve built here at Kicksaw, because not only does it support our people — it lays the groundwork for success for the entire company, which leads to higher levels of satisfaction, a lower turnover rate, and a more rewarding experience both for our team and for our customers.” — Kicksaw Director of People Ops Joanne Biggar

So what does a successful remote-first work culture look like? That’s going to be slightly different for every business, of course, but over the course of our existence as a 100% remote company, we’ve learned a few lessons that might help you create your own thriving remote work culture. Some of our biggest takeaways include:

• Encourage connection, and prioritize occasional in-person face time
• Document processes thoroughly 
• Emphasize equity and transparency 
• Be intentional about limiting notifications
• Prioritize employee recognition programs
• Go big on swag, seriously

Let’s take a look at each of these topics. 

Encourage connection, and prioritize occasional in-person face time

One of the key lessons we’ve learned is that occasional, in-person interactions are important. This may be jarring to read so early on in a “remote-first” blog post, but remote-first doesn’t mean “in-person never.” Far from it — despite being a remote company with around 70 employees, we recognize the need for occasional physical gatherings. Yes, company retreats are expensive, but in our experience, the ROI in terms of team cohesion, united vision, and renewed energy makes the up-front expense well worth it.

“Our annual company retreat serves as a catalyst for team building and cultural reinforcement — by providing employees with the opportunity to step away from daily distractions, we significantly strengthen team dynamics.” — Kicksaw Co-founder Kyle Morris

When we aren’t gathered together for the company retreat, we rely on tools such as Donut to encourage our employees to connect with one another, water-cooler style. This Slack-integrated app facilitates informal coffee breaks between employees who may not typically interact. It’s no substitute for an onsite lunch room or a shared cubicle block, but when you’re working remotely, every little bit counts when it comes to encouraging team members to socialize while on the clock.  

Document processes thoroughly

Kicksaw emphasizes the importance of thorough, practical documentation and streamlined processes for all of our internal teams, and for the company as a whole. Working remotely can make it harder to “tap a colleague on the shoulder” for help or clarification on any given question. Clear and accessible documentation addresses this and makes learning the ropes, as well as improving on existing processes, drastically easier. Furthermore, stripping down processes to their essentials ensures that our team members can navigate tasks efficiently, minimizing confusion and enhancing overall productivity.

Exceptional process documentation has another massive benefit for remote workers — it empowers asynchronous work, which is critical to remote companies not bound by any given set of zip codes. When you’ve got teams in multiple time zones, or even countries or continents, it’s imperative that you have a system in place that supports asynchronous communication and work methods. Thorough, easily accessible process documentation is one of the best strategies for providing this support.

It can be difficult to quantify the value of great documentation (it’s not easy to assemble and will take time and effort from your team), and sometimes it can feel like no one reads the wikis and how-to guides that you’ve poured so much energy into. But the benefits of high-quality documentation can’t be overstated: individuals who are empowered to find the information they need are more productive than individuals who are not.

Emphasize equity and transparency

Equity and transparency are important for any business, regardless of remote work, but we’ve found that the remote nature of our workforce gives us a unique opportunity to create an environment that elevates equity and transparency. By standardizing processes, roles, and expectations, the company ensures that all team members, regardless of their geographical location, are treated fairly. 

This commitment to equity extends to compensation — Kicksaw pays employees in the same role equally, irrespective of their location. It doesn’t matter whether they’re an architect living in Guatemala or they’re logging in from Denver. Both of these folks have the potential to bring the same value to Kicksaw, so we pay them the same. We’re always looking for ways to keep things simple, and communicating to our team members that their compensation won’t change if they change locations is simple, intuitive, and consistent with our values.

Furthermore, our commitment to transparency means that documentation on everything from pay ranges to performance rubrics to the company’s financial health indicators is readily accessible. Leadership maintains an “open door” policy and prioritizes answering questions from our team members, even the uncomfortable ones, in our recurring all-hands meetings. An anonymous form lets our folks bring up topics that would otherwise be awkward to talk about face-to-face, and we make sure to answer every single one.

Be intentional about limiting notifications

Turning off notifications is highly, highly encouraged by Kicksaw management, and leadership does our best to set the example for our team to follow. For remote workers, it’s far too easy for boundaries between work and personal life to become blurred — with no commute to physically remove you from your desk, and with everything you need to log in “just for a sec” only a few steps away at any given time, it’s a slippery slope to work-life imbalance. 

So, we tell folks to take advantage of those Slack settings to make sure they aren’t getting pinged when they’re off the clock, and we set reasonable expectations around response times for both Slack and email. Working from home doesn’t mean working all the time. 

By encouraging employees to disconnect and separate work life from real life, we contribute to overall employee health, and healthier employees do better work. That’s just a fact. To further underscore our commitment to providing employees with everything they need to thrive (including the ability to turn off those notifications), we offer a $1,000/year stipend towards a personalized workstation. This allows employees to create a setup conducive to their individual needs, promoting a more comfortable and efficient work experience.

Prioritize employee recognition programs

In a remote environment, employees can often feel undervalued or overlooked because they are not interacting in-person on the day-to-day. We combat this issue by making sure that we recognize our team members for their individualities and successes — our recognition programs are embedded in Kicksaw’s culture and are rewarding, original, unbiased, and personalized. This helps create an environment of connectedness and camaraderie.

We conduct both quarterly and annual employee recognition programs, and we keep the good vibes rolling with a dedicated “kudos” channel in the company chat — this is a space dedicated to calling attention to the great work our coworkers are up to, and it’s one of the most heavily frequented channels for us. Celebrating professional and personal successes/milestones is fun for everyone, and makes a huge difference for overall morale. 

Trust goes hand-in-hand with respect, and remote work has the potential to give employees a greater sense of trust than on-site work. One of the challenges of remote work is that new employees have a tendency to feel completely disconnected from their supervisors. But over time, that disconnection gives way to a satisfying autonomy and demonstrates the trust we’ve put in the employee. This sense of trust is, of course, rewarding for the employee, and maintaining our end of the bargain is top-of-mind for management here at Kicksaw. Theory X managers, who feel the need to look over their employees’ shoulders to ensure work is being done, don’t survive around here. It’s the Theory Y ones, those who inherently trust their employees, who thrive. In turn, their employees do their best to make sure they never break that trust, and we all benefit.

Go big on swag, seriously

It might sound silly, but swag is an important tool for promoting a sense of company pride. When there’s no physical office to frequent, it can be challenging to maintain that sense of connection to a place. After all, Kicksaw is a virtual “place,” and virtual things, by their very nature, are more ephemeral and difficult to relate to.  

So, we regularly invest in high-quality swag as a tangible representation of the business. And by focusing on quality rather than quantity, the company ensures that our team members proudly showcase their Kicksaw-branded items. This approach not only reinforces a sense of belonging but also sets Kicksaw apart from competitors who may overlook the impact of quality swag on employee morale. Plus, who doesn’t love some nice swag?

Final thoughts

From prioritizing in-person interactions to fostering equity and transparency, remote work provides ample opportunity for businesses to thrive — and we’re proof of that. We’re convinced that much of our success is thanks to our remote nature and the freedoms inherent with this approach. As the world continues to navigate the evolving nature of work, we hope that the lessons learned from our experience can provide a roadmap for companies looking to create a successful remote work culture.

Questions? Want to hear more about our experiences as a 100% remote company from the start? We’re ready for you. Feel free to reach out to Kicksaw Co-founder Kyle Morris to learn more about what it takes to create a thriving remote-first culture, or get in touch using the Contact Us form at the bottom of this page.