How to become a distributed company: a step-by-step guide

Description

I lead a company called TEN7 and up until the spring of 2017, we were all in on the idea that a company needed a physical space to function. In fact, I was so sold on the idea that my wife and I purchased commercial real estate in Downtown Minneapolis in 2011 just so that we were committed to making a physical space work for the company. Fast forward to 2019 and the office space is no more, TEN7 is a fully distributed company, and it's been two years since we decided to take the jump.

This session will review the process of becoming a distributed company from the point of view of someone who was fully committed to not being one, but whose point of view changed.

I'll go through:
* how we approached the evolution (staggered number of days in and out of the office)
* team requirements from a cultural perspective: mission, vision, values
* what you'll need at home
* tools we use to stay connected
* actual in-person time that we have
* effects on hiring staff
* cons (there are cons!)

I'll provide the list of steps we went through to become truly distributed, and you'll be able to use that for yourself. YMMV.

More info:
* https://www.yonder.io/post/2017/6/7/episode-16-ivan-stegic-of-ten7
* https://ten7.com/blog/post/goodbye-minneapolis-hello-world

Learning Objectives & Outcomes: 

For someone who is considering changing their work model to see that converting from fully physical to fully distributed is possible and can be successful from a business and quality of life aspect.