remote work culture

Fostering Positive Remote Work Culture to Increase Productivity

By | Remote Work & Culture | No Comments

Is the traditional office a thing of the past? Thanks to the endless possibilities in the way tech (and other) industries organize work in the 21st century, there has been a huge upturn in the amount of people who are able to work remotely. But what exactly does working remote entail? Remote workers telecommute and telework outside of a traditional office. Some companies combine remote and in-office workers while some companies are completely distributed, without any headquarters (Zapier, GitHub and Mozilla are some of the giants who are hiring remotely in 2018).

Many companies are afraid to implement a remote work culture, fearing a drop in productivity. In actuality, 86% of workers prefer to work alone to hit maximum productivity, which remote work encourages. It can also help to reduce stress, 82% of remote workers report lower stress levels than in-office workers. Remote work even decreases turnover rate, with job attrition rates falling by over 50% when remote working options were offered.

If you want to reap the benefits of remote work, you’ll need more than just wifi, PC or laptop. You’ll need an awesome and positive remote culture to keep your employees engaged and happy in their jobs. Establishing a positive remote culture can help your employees feel more connected to their jobs, increase productivity across teams, and even increase the amount of time employees stay with your company. Remote work, like any office environment can also fall victim to a negative working environment. Keep an eye out for things like workplace gossip and overworking, as these things can tear down any work culture, including a remote work culture.

Communication is Key

One of the biggest things remote workers have to maintain is constant communication. Luckily, tools like Slack and Trello have made staying in touch easy for remote teams. Because almost all communication between remote teams takes place through chat, it’s important for remote workers to over-communicate. Encourage people to speak up when they share a problem, share an accomplishment, or even just to ask a question. This kind of communication ensures that there are no confusions when deadlines come up and that projects move quickly. It also helps remote employees feel like they are being heard and recognized by their coworkers and managers.

Communication is not only important for the business side of things though, it’s also important for building team morale and connecting with your coworkers. Many companies facilitate this by implementing non-work related chat rooms into their company’s Slack. This means you’re not losing out on those water-cooler type conversations that can help employees feel connected to their coworkers.

Encourage a sense of ownership and leadership

Nobody wants to feel like they’re just executing tasks. This is especially true of remote workers. Be sure that your remote work culture encourages ownership and leadership. Give remote employees the opportunity to “drive the ship” and make it clear that there are always ways to advance. This helps your remote team feel like they are a part of the company’s success, not just the people executing it.

Define company values and culture

We’ve already told you community is incredibly important for fostering positive remote culture. But no community is complete without a common goal. The best remote companies have a few core values and principles that bring everyone together. Figure out what this means for your company, and don’t just phone it in. Live and breathe your values, and your employees will do the same. Remote culture is about more than working from your laptop, it’s about being a part of a team that is working together towards a common goal.

Document and Track the Essentials

This is possibly one of the most important things to establish in a remote culture. The real reason managers are afraid of remote: loss of productivity. Though we know this isn’t the case in many remote working environments, clear documentation can put your mind at ease and will let your employees know exactly where they stand and what they can improve.  

Many remote-first companies document absolutely everything. Every set of meeting notes, every conversation that led to every decision. As with communication, over-documenting is always preferable to under-documenting. Many cool project management tools exist today to allow you to customize how you want to document and track your workflow.

Celebrate everyone’s individualism and quirks

Remote workers can come from every corner of the globe, and are great examples of how diverse the workplace can be. Be sure to celebrate and support this in your remote employees. When morning people are given the flexibility to do their work when they’re most productive and night owls are allowed to burn the midnight oil, the whole team benefits from better work. Making your employees feel valued for what makes them great at their jobs is something that should be present in every working environment, but it’s especially important for remote workers who don’t get that face-to-face confidence boost.

8 Reasons to Launch Your Startup in Singapore (And A Few Not To)

By | Entrepreneurship | No Comments

These days, Singapore seems to have it all– a strong and stable economy with growth areas in finance and telecoms, Eduardo Saverin, the largest increase in per capita income any independent nation has seen within 50 years. Frequently dubbed the Switzerland of Asia, it’s known to be one of the best places to launch a startup today. The startup scene is thriving and home to many top-tier startups: Grab, Hooq, MyRepublic. The Singapore government seems committed to nurturing and expanding the tech ecosystem. Pair that with a solid political climate, Singapore seems to be the perfect choice for to launch your startup.

But first, why Singapore?

The Singapore startup space is thriving and growing every year, but there are still some pros and cons to consider before making Singapore your base.

Some of the most common reasons people choose Singapore as their startup home:

  • It has an affordable tax rate
  • A vibrant and thriving startup scene provides ample networking opportunities
  • A healthy venture capital industry
  • The government is actively interested in supporting startups
  • Its location is perfect for connecting with the much larger Asian markets all around
  • It famously takes 2 efficient days to register your company in Singapore

Some of the difficulties:

  • If you’re a foreigner, you’ll need a visa
  • There are a lot of startups in Singapore, so you’ll have some competition
  • Singapore is small, you’ll face all the attendant challenges of a small market
  • Higher costs of setting up your business despite all the advantages of doing so in a developed nation

1.  Vibrant Singapore Startup Scene

Having other startups to network with and bounce ideas off of can help your startup to stay abreast of developing trends. Singapore has this in spades. Singapore’s startup ecosystem contains ample opportunities for growth. Singapore is also home to many accelerator programs, within which you can network and grow your business. These include Startupbootcamp Fintech, Fatfish, Rockstart, and Jungle Ventures. These accelerators can help you get your startup off the ground and connect with people who share your vision.

Singapore also has a lot of places to work, whether you’re a one-man show or a budding business. There are many coworking spaces that offer solutions for startups of all sizes. These spaces allow you to have a professional office space while staying connected with other startups in the community.

2. Attractive tax system

Singapore boasts an incredibly attractive tax system for new companies. It includes tax breaks for businesses within their first three years. This can reduce their tax rate to 0% for the first 100k of income, which makes launching a new startup easy. Singapore’s corporate tax rate is also capped at 17%, making it a great choice for businesses concerned about rising tax rates as they scale up. Dividends are also distributed to shareholders tax-free, which makes investors more likely to put their money in startups.

3. Sizable amount of interested investors

Remember when we said the government in Singapore loves startups? They’ve recently introduced an initiative called Spring SEEDs which allows startups and investors to receive investments from the government.

4. Dynamic Workforce from Many Countries

Singapore has a diverse population of smart and savvy potential employees who can help grow your business. Singapore not only boasts of an incredible education system that prepares students well for the fast-paced startup world, it also has liberal immigration policies that allow you to source talent from a diverse international pool. This can result in creating teams that are smart and agile, the perfect people to take your ideas to the next level.

5. Strict Protection for Intellectual Property

Singapore has some of the strictest IP protections in the world. This makes it easy for startups who need to have IP protocols in place to launch their startups in Singapore feeling confident.

6. Enthusiastic and Innovative Government Efforts

The government in Singapore is making great strides to make their country a startup hub. They’ve fostered tons of grant programs and initiatives to make sure that startups can launch and stay successful while in Singapore. We previously mentioned the Spring SEEDs initiative, which allows startups and investors to also receive money from the government.

There is also Startup SG, which offers support for founders, developing tech, and avenues of equity. This initiative supports startups of every step of the process, from launching to protecting their product.

Singapore has also fostered an Angel Investors Tax initiative, which allows angel investors to enjoy a tax break of up to 50%. This initiative makes it easy for investors to confidently invest in early-stage startups.

Singapore also has a number of grants for qualifying startups. These include the Capabilities Development Grant (CDG), which can cover up to 70% of qualifying project costs, the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC), which can offer businesses a 400% tax break or a comparable payout.

7. Strategic Location for Business

Singapore has a strategic location for new startups looking to connect with foreign markets. 49% of Singapore’s residents actually claim citizenship outside of the country, which means it is a great place to spread the message about your startup. The geographic location also allows easy access to Asian and Oceanic markets.

8. Plus, a great place to live too!

Besides being an amazing place to launch your startup, Singapore is an awesome place for anyone to live. The diverse community allows you to meet people of different backgrounds, and the modern city leaves nothing to be desired. Everything from fantastic food to modern architecture, Singapore has everything a modern tech guru like yourself needs.

Boostrapped Startup Co-Working Space

Bootstrapping a Startup: An alternative to raising funds

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Every business after reaching a threshold size needs an influx of capital to scale and to expand the enterprise.  However, many times entrepreneurs have to decide on how they would want to grow in the early stages, i.e. faster growth by raising funds or gradual growth by bootstrapping. There are many successful entrepreneurs’ stories which depict the advantages and challenges in both, bootstrapping and raising money through either angels or VCs. Read More

Death to Resumes and Cover Letters

By | Remote Work & Culture | No Comments

How can a company spot talent effectively and efficiently? With almost a dozen open roles, hundreds of applicants, and an HR team of one, this was a critical question for our small, rapidly growing company to answer. Doing so lead us to re-think two fundamental pieces of traditional applications, cover letters and resumes, and resulted in increased quality and a more than 10% jump in efficiency. Read More

How to Coordinate a Global Team

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39 time zones. 194 countries. This is the new world of remote work, and it’s a world of opportunity. The benefits of tapping into a global talent pool and reaching customers around the world are tremendous, but coordinating remote, global teams also poses a new set of challenges. These are the tools and practices we’ve found that make coordinating a remote, global team really work.

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Things to Know about the Lean Startup Methodology

Things to Know about the Lean Startup Methodology

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Tech startups are the hot topic in the world of entrepreneurship these days. Since the booming popularity of Uber and Airbnb, more and more people are fixing their attention to creating the next big thing. Launching a new venture, whether it’s a tech startup, an online store or any business in general—requires careful planning and the right adoption of strategy. One of the new catchphrases in the startup world is “The Lean Startup,” which is a method of running a company that favors experimentation, customer feedback, and interactive design. As the founder and CEO of one of Southeast Asia’s emerging tech partners, Guillaume Catella shared his thoughts about the Lean Startup and what that entails for aspiring entrepreneurs. Read More

7 Things that Every Entrepreneur Needs to be Successful

7 Things that Every Entrepreneur Needs to be Successful

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Did you know that young people make up 50 percent of the world’s entrepreneurs? According to the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, those between the ages of 25 to 34 show the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity. The rising popularity of tech startups backed by increased connectivity and technological advancement has motivated more and more people to start their own business.  Read More