7 tactics that made Work from Anywhere (WFA) an amazing benefit for us.

Please read our Part 1, to check out why we do so, but we want to take the opportunity to share a few great measures we took to make work less stressful and prepare us to better meet targets. We have been a WFA company all the way from Dec 2019, so we do have about 5 months of data to base our theory & suggestions on.

Extraordinary challenges have always ended up producing extraordinary companies from long ago. These stressful scenarios challenge the world to its fullest, wipes out all the extra flab, but goes all the way to the skin and muscles, all the way till our bones get exposed. But there are silver linings about all global economic disasters. They force us into:

1. Rethinking our forecasts, spends and alternative plans

2. Rethinking pricing, distribution, and customer acquisition channels

3. Rethinking about product engagement & retention

4. And much importantly, what is the new biggest problem my customers are facing given that the landscape

This crisis has been different than other economic crises of the past, and it has forced most companies to work remotely if they can. For certain companies, it is a challenge of another magnitude, but for some, it's been a productive move. We wanted to take the opportunity to share why WFA is an awesome thing and also motivate others to fully realize its exclusive benefits. We wanted to share some strategies we adopted here:

7 WFA "Easy & free to implement" tactics we embraced

To make ourselves a WFA startup that can meet its targets and still be an attractive place to work:

1. Thorough documentation via Slite/Google Drive/GitLab/Clubhouse/Asana: This saved us so much time and kept everyone on the same page about progress, bottlenecks and helped the team introspect and bring corrections early enough.

2. Communication through Workplace/Zoom/Google Meet/Gmails/Phone calls: We encourage everyone to drop messages and proactively reach out to anyone they will need help from in the team. Since we are a small team, everyone is able to schedule calls really fast. At the same time, most employees spend less than 8 hrs a week on meetings/discussions, maximizing time for independent R&D at their own pace and timing.

3. Well defined performance, growth goals & termination policies: To ensure we set the right expectations and drive the right motivation for maximum growth of employee & firm. No one ever has to wonder what will they be working on next month, at the same time everyone suggests well researched, fact-based, executable ideas on the table. What's exciting is that we implement employee-led ideas a few times every week, as they drive improvements.

4. Open & Real-time group messaging: Helps everyone feel better connected with the vision, development, opportunities, and news about the company. We also break into polls, virtual brainstorming rounds to involve the team and gather their inputs/ideas. We often discuss about process improvements to see which parts we are losing time or are troublesome currently and how do we introduce better resolve for the same.

5. We are living our product: Headstrt is a pure-play internet platform where users partner to solve the mentee's problem. We are working online all the time to realize the hurdles, struggles, and fixes when people are collaborating online. When problems (And they do, as we are a Start-up) we acknowledge them positively and find fixes by brainstorming as a team. Once we are able to discover & execute a solution, we celebrate because we have solved a problem not just for ourselves but also for our users.

6. Employees can work & take rest as they need: Being a virtual startup with the team distributed across 8 cities, with everyone coming from a different walk of life we have to be accommodative and empathetic to our colleague's needs. We have whip-smart 21-year-olds, who are fresh off the boat at the same time we have people with a handful of years of international work experience. This makes us an attractive cultural cocktail and fills us abundantly with diversity & inclusion. We don't expect colleagues to be hooked to their computer all the time or even every time we message them. This lets us get work done at night, morning, weekends, moons and anytime you name it as different people are chasing weekly targets across day schedules.

7. "No exclusivity agreements": We are a High-Tech startup and to attract quality talent across multiple functions is a very hard job, given that there are several Tech giants & buzzy startups, who are also going after the same talent. To keep ourselves at an advantage we dropped the "exclusivity" clause, so people who are working for us can also freely work for other employers, finish their universities or be involved in Research or non-profits. This not only lets us hire people who would otherwise be reluctant to spend their time at startups but also keeps them happier as they are able to get a lot done, earn more money in the same 12 months of the year without burning out. There are many more benefits to this but you will have to try it out yourself or take Insights from employers who have done it first-hand.

Ok, I get all of that, but are employees actually happy?

Data speaks for itself and we have kept a high bar for the quality of work, always pushing people to their limits when it comes to creativity. We did have our share of departures/parting ways, but that only allowed us to work with people that aligned even better with our mission and who take pride in growing with us.

Thanks so much, Officevibe, by keeping us more aware of where we stand and how we can do better.

Wellness looks concerning but its also the lack of freedom to move around happily in this Great cessation that is affecting much of that, besides we chasing deadlines.

Re-defining Work from Anywhere and raising the bar

Headstrt is all about empowering & incentivizing users to Share Insights with each other. We look forward to gathering a lot more Insights from other successful Internet/Tech startups on how to make the process even better. We are confident that human beings only grow more clever and avoid mistakes by learning from others. We can't wait to have you on our platform and grow with you.