A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Permanently Flipped Workplace

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Wait, we’re doing this forever?

The second wave of COVID-19 infections has dashed all illusions of going back to the way things were before. Permanent, radical shifts in corporate policy are becoming more mainstream every day. Whether you call it indefinite WFH, hybrid offices, remote-first, digital by default, or a flipped workplace, there is no question the future of work is here. In Silicon Valley, we are constantly looking for technology that can power these shifts, but technology alone is not the answer. It is critical to first determine your business objectives, needs, and constraints, and then build a framework for achieving these goals. Only then can you select and implement the right tools for supercharging your process.

As a result, my recent conversations with founders, CEOs, and HR leaders have been centered on how to sit down and actually write these new rules for a permanently flipped workplace, one in which employees only come into the office for highly critical, creative, and collaborative tasks, and all other work is done independently. The biggest challenge is creating a playbook that addresses a universal need for clarity while also preserving agility in the face of constantly changing circumstances. Although there is no magic formula, here is the structure I’ve seen most successful plans follow, as well as some additional tools and templates that will help ease the burden of completely redefining your way of working (#nbd).

1. WORKFLOW

Workflow is defined as the physical allocation of time and space, and the corresponding processes for production. It is the most urgent need, and this part of the plan provides the most relevant answers that employees need to feel somewhat in control of their lives again. Note that this portion can (and should) vary from team to team as processes and needs vary by function.

• Leverage your HRIS or payroll system to map who does what where. This may sound reductive, but many leaders don’t have a truly comprehensive, real-time view into their teams. Consider using a tool like Charthop to visually map your organizational structure and how it may have changed since the pandemic.
• Permanently upgrade all employee’s work from home environments so they are the same quality as their in-office stations. This may come in the form of stipends, lump sum payments, or redistribution of office property, depending on job function.
• Establish and communicate clear guidelines for when one can and cannot use the office, and the corresponding safety procedures. Establish a regular schedule for each team to access the space as necessary, as well as guidelines for the ideal ratio of in and out of office work once safety has been restored (I’ve seen 2–3 days per week in-office work well, with 4–5 better for very early-stage teams). Services like Envoy or Proxy can help monitor physical access and allow you to adjust the schedule as needed.
• Solicit feedback about future working needs. How often do employees want to be using a physical office? Would they consider relocating if constraints changed? Here is an example survey, for reference, which will provide much-needed insight into employee needs, constraints, and corresponding capacity.
• Engage managers in building the right workflow for their respective teams. Invest in a company-wide solution for project-management like Asana, Monday, or the Atlassian suite. While these can be purchased at the team level, clarity into cross-departmental workflow solves some of the “what does that person do all day?” questions that arise from not physically seeing each other.

Additional resources: Elaine Zelby of Signalfire has built a great map for remote work tools, while Merci Grace of Lightspeed focuses on collaboration and productivity, and Pietro Invernizzi of Stride.VC looks at future of work through an investor lens.

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2. CULTURE

Culture is the framework that directs workflow. It is defined as a set of institutionalized priorities that facilitate efficient decision-making at the executive, team, and individual level. Unlike Part 1, cultural participation is non-negotiable and should be 100% consistent across all teams.

• Do whatever is necessary to achieve executive-level clarity on your priorities, values, and goals. Coaches or facilitators can be a worthy investment to clearly define this for yourself and your leaders.
• As part of that process, authentically identify and communicate your mission and purpose. Mission-driven organizations have been shown to outperform by engendering loyalty and support from both customers and employees.
• Interview team leaders and managers on what unites them as a team in both theory and in practice. There are plenty of pulse surveys and employee engagement platforms like Qualtrics, Culture Amp, Lattice, Reflektive, Ballon, TinyPulse, SurveyMonkey that can help, but sometimes a Typeform or a Google Form works just as well.
• Questions can include: What in-person interactions have the highest value and how often do they happen? How often are you communicating with your direct reports, peers, and cross-functional teams? How are you currently communicating feedback on work product, and how often?
• Set clear guidelines for what should be communicated where (meetings vs. e-mail vs. Asana vs. Slack vs. text message, vs. phone calls) and what are expected response times on each medium. Hold everyone at every level accountable for abiding by these guidelines. I strongly suggest a blanket policy for video-on during all Zoom calls.
• Tools like Cultivate can help measure and support consistent communication between managers and direct reports. Data shows that regular 1x1 check-ins, as well as soliciting opinions and offering feedback in written form have a big impact on performance and satisfaction.
• Find ways to replicate your in-person culture through events, check-ins, team-wide celebrations, happy hours, lunch & learns, whatever tools you have at your disposal. Slack, Zoom, Tandem, Donut, Icebreaker, and Rally are all good ways to re-create what used to happen in person. Encourage employees to take charge, make suggestions, and organize themselves.
• Accountability and performance management is essential. Software can help to structure clear goal setting and KPI tracking at both the individual and team level. Consider adopting OKR practices, facilitated by tools like Betterworks or Ally.io, as well as adopting coaching resources like Lingo Live, Hone or BetterUp to ensure managers learn how to communicate them properly.

Additional Resources: There is no shortage of resources on the topic of company culture, but Tribal Leadership is my favorite. If you need a starting place for how to communicate this effectively, here is a template for a flipped workplace plan that may be a good starting point.

3. COMPENSATION

Different behavior requires different incentives. Adjusting compensation strategy is an effective means of rewarding and reinforcing a new workflow and culture. This piece of the plan will take longer to implement, but it is essential for long-term success.

• The most common question I get is whether or not to tie base pay to cost of living, which would require salary adjustments for employees that choose to leave major metropolitan cities. In my view, the best companies have national pay bands that reward employees based on productivity, not presence.
• If employees choose to relocate but their presence is required on a regular basis (1 week per month or several weeks throughout the year), depending on your budget, it is reasonable to expect them to cover their own travel costs.
• A renewed emphasis on diversity, equality and inclusion has led many HR leaders to do a full audit on pay equity. Tools like Carta, Synd.io or Payscale help analyze how you’re compensating employees vs. each other, as well as your peers.
• Be sure to have your bases covered regarding legal and compliance requirements for employees moving to new states as taxes, benefits regulation, and other factors can vary based on location. Your HRIS, payroll provider, or legal administrator should be able to answer these questions for you, and there are a variety of new tools like Deel, Remote, Papaya Global, Pilot, or Terminal that provide full-service solutions for paying a diverse bench of contractors.
• In-office perks and commuter benefits can be converted to more relevant solutions, such as additional childcare benefits like Cleo, mental healthcare like Spring Health, Headway, Lyra or Headspace, eldercare coordination services like Wellthy, and financial wellness tools such as Brightside, Northstar, Harness Wealth, or Holberg Financial. Alternatively, marketplace solutions like Compt.io or Fringe.co allow employees to select their own benefits.
• In the long run, many companies are exploring a shift toward more project-based compensation that allows for increased internal mobility, organic upskilling, and inter-departmental collaboration. Internal networking tools like Structural, Rimeto (recently acquired by Slack) help map and connect team members, and internal mobility platforms like Gloat, Paddle and Flux help maximize the diverse skill sets of existing employees.

Additional resources: Jomayra Herrera of Cowboy Ventures has a great piece here on the Empowered Economy, and Mercedes Bent of Lightspeed emphasized education as a benefit — both trends we’re seeing play out across companies of all sizes.

Ok great, but how do I *actually* make this work?

• Once you’ve built and communicated your plan, set expectations with your team that full participation is required. Lead by example, everyone will be watching you to shape their own behavior.
• Build and communicate a clear process for regularly assessing how the plan is working, taking suggestions for improvement, and iterating according to any new information.
• Be authentic in your communication with team members, listen to what they have to say, but also lead with authority. In a world where the only certainty is uncertainty, sometimes having an answer is better than having the answer, or at least letting people know you’re working on it.
• Invest in a community of trusted peers — they are invaluable resources for emotional validation, creative solutions, and additional resources when you need them. Just be sure to choose your network wisely, as your daily contacts have a subtle, but outsized impact on your outlook.

Additional resources: Many of our partners have built amazing communities of founders and leaders who are in constant discussion round how to adapt in the current environment. Check out HR Transform, Sequoia’s Return to Work Center, SHRM, EHIR, PeopleTech Partners, and our portfolio and HR advisory community at SemperVirens for ways to get started.

Ready, set, go!

Our workplaces are never going back to the way they were before coronavirus. We are hurdling toward a flipped future, whether you like it or not. Instead of getting lost in nostalgia, let’s focus on the fact that we are experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-mold the workplace in a way that actually works for us. Technology is not a panacea, but it is an essential part of the solution. I look forward to identifying the patterns and corresponding tools that are here to stay, and finding ways to partner to accelerate their momentum!

Thank you to my colleagues Colin Tobias and Kalee Gardella for helping bring this guide to life!

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