Remote First or Remote Friendly?

>> The survey

There are as many models of remote organizations as there are organizations. While some have always been remote, by design, others have adapted to fully remote or hybrid models in recent years. Others have been mostly or partially remote since remote work was known as telecommuting or working from home.

Some of the terms you’ll hear most often these days are remote first, remote forward, remote friendly, distributed workforce, hybrid and even digital nomads. Many organizations offer it as a perk while others have it built in from the start.

From the employee side, some love it, some don’t. For employees that love it, they are making decisions on where to work, how to work, where to live, what company to partner with based on remote status.

For those organizations joining us in our survey and further, those to be recognized with our distinction, here’s a guide, for practical purposes to see where you fit. As well, for practical purposes, we are primarily referring to organizations that have employees on payroll rather than those outsourcing to external contractors.

Remote First	Remote Friendly
All possible jobs are remote	Many jobs are enabled for remote
It's who you are by design	It's something your organization does
Recruitment is based on talent needs	Recruitment is based on available talent within geographic limits
Productivity often measured in results	Productivity often measured in activity
Video conferencing is the preferred and most inclusive internal, real-time communication method	Video conferencing is implemented to allow teams to work with collaborators that are remote
Document and software management is designed to suit remote working	People working in hybrid situations are often more comfortable with the in-office equipment and systems and save some tasks for when back in the office
Remote working is not a career-limiting move	Remote working can put colleagues out of the growth path unless well considered plans are in place
Asynchronous communication is the norm	Synchronous communication is the norm
Meetings happen when needed	Meetings are sometimes saved for when colleagues are in the office