Why working from home is good for business | The Way We Work, a TED series

The basic problem with working in an office

Translator: Penny Martínez Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

is you're just not in control of your work environment.

[The Way We Work]

Howdy, my name is Matt, and I'm the CEO of Automattic,

the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack and WooCommerce.

O problema básico de traballares nunha oficina

We're coming up on over 800 employees, and they live everywhere,

é que non tes o control sobre o teu ambiente de traballo.

[Cómo traballamos]

from California to Alabama, Mississippi, to where I live in Texas.

Ola, chámome Matt, e son o CEO de Automattic,

They're also in 67 countries.

a empresa detrás de WordPress.com, Jetpack e WooCommerce.

Canada, Mexico, India, New Zealand.

Some of them choose not even to have a home base, they're nomads.

Temos algo máis de 800 empregados, e viven en todas partes,

Whether they are in RVs or traveling through Airbnbs,

dende California a Alabama, Mississippi, e ata onde vivo eu, en Texas.

they are in new places every day, week or month.

As long as they can find good Wi-Fi, we don't care where they are.

Viven ademais en 67 países.

Canadá, México, India, Nova Zelandia.

Our focus on distributed work didn't happen accidentally.

Algúns deles optan por non ter nin unha casa habitual, son nómades.

It was a conscious choice from the very beginning.

viven en autocaravanas ou viaxando por Airbnb,

Notice I don't use the word "remote,"

Están en lugares distintos cada día, semana ou mes.

because it sets up the expectation,

E mentres poidan atopar unha boa wifi, non nos importa onde están.

that some people are essential and some aren't.

I use the word "distributed" to describe what we do,

A decisión de traballarmos de modo distribuído non foi casual.

where everyone is on an equal playing field.

I think a distributed workforce

Foi unha elección consciente dende o principio.

is the most effective way to build a company.

Ten en conta que non uso a palabra "remoto",

The key is you have to approach it consciously.

porque suscita a idea,

When we started WordPress,

de que algunhas persoas son esenciais e outras non.

many of the first 20 hires were people I'd never met in person.

Uso "distribuído" para describir o que facemos,

But we'd collaborated online, sometimes for years.

cun espazo igualitario para todos

Creo que a man de obra distribuída

I wanted to continue that for one simple reason.

é a forma máis eficaz de crear unha empresa.

I believe that talent and intelligence

A clave é abordalo conscientemente.

are equally distributed throughout the world.

Cando comezamos WordPress,

moitas das primeiras 20 contratacións era xente que nunca coñecera en persoa.

But opportunity is not.

In Silicon Valley, the big tech companies fish

Pero colaboráramos en liña, ás veces durante anos.

from essentially the same small pond or bay.

E quería continuar con iso por unha simple razón.

A distributed company can fish from the entire ocean.

Creo que o talento e a intelixencia

Instead of hiring someone who grew up in Japan but lives in California,

están igualmente distribuídos polo mundo.

Pero as oportunidades non.

you can gain someone who lives, works,

En Silicon Valley, as grandes empresas tecnolóxicas

wakes up and goes to sleep wherever they are in the world.

pescan basicamente na mesma pequena poza ou baía.

They bring a different understanding of that culture

Unha empresa distribuída pode pescar en todo o océano.

and a different lived experience.

No canto de contratar alguén que medrou en Xapón, pero vive en California,

At the base of the decision to go distributed,

there's a desire to give people autonomy over how they do their work.

pódese ter alguén que viva, traballe,

esperte e vaia durmir onde queira que estea no mundo.

Unless you're in a role where specific hours are important,

Isto trae unha diferente comprensión desa cultura

you can make your own schedule.

Everyone can have a corner office, their windows, the food they want to eat,

e unha experiencia diferente.

Na base da decisión de non ter unha oficina central,

you can choose when there's music and when there's silence.

está o desexo de darlle ás persoas autonomía sobre como facer o seu traballo.

You can choose what temperature the room should be.

A menos que desempeñes un papel onde o horario é importante,

You can save the time you'd spend commuting

and put it into things that are important to you.

podes facer un horario propio.

Todo o mundo pode ter un estudio, as súas fiestras, a comida que lle gusta,

A distributed workforce is ideal for a technology company.

But people often ask me,

pode escoller cando hai música e cando hai silencio.

"This works great for y'all, but what about everyone else?"

A que temperatura debería estar o cuarto.

If you have an office,

Pode aforrar tempo de desprazamento

you can do a few things to build distributed capability.

e investilo en cousas que considere importantes.

First: document everything.

Unha man de obra así é ideal para unha empresa tecnolóxica.

In an office, it's easy to make decisions in the moment,

A xente adoita preguntarme,

in the kitchen, in the hall.

"Isto funciona moi ben para ti, pero e o resto do mundo?

But if people work remotely

and some members of the team are having those conversations

Se tes unha oficina,

podes facer algunhas cousas para xerar aptitudes distribuídas.

they don't have access to,

they'll see these decisions being made without understanding the why.

Primeiro: documentalo todo.

Always leave a trail of where you were and what you were thinking about.

Nunha oficina é fácil tomar decisións no momento,

na cociña, no corredor.

This allows others to pick up where you left off.

Pero se a xente teletraballa

e algúns membros do equipo teñen conversas

It allows people in different time zones to interact,

ás que outros non acceden,

it's also great to think about as an organization evolves,

estes verán que se toman decisións sen entender o porqué.

people leaving and people joining.

Try to have as much communication as possible online.

Deixa sempre un rastro de onde estás e sobre o que pensas.

When everything's shared and public, it allows new people to catch up quickly.

Isto permite que outros continúen onde o deixaches.

Permite interactuar á xente con diferentes horarios,

You also need to find the right tools.

e tamén é xenial pensar mentres a organización evoluciona,

There are so many apps and services that help with day-to-day communication,

na xente que sae e na que entra.

Intenta ter tanta comunicación en liña como sexa posible.

video conferencing, project management.

Cando todo é compartido e público, os novos poden poñerse ao día rapidamente.

The things that changed how you work probably aren't objects anymore.

They're things you access through your computer.

E tamén cómpre atopar as ferramentas axeitadas.

So experiment with different tools that enable collaboration,

Hai moitas aplicacións e servizos que axudan á comunicación do día a día,

see what works.

videoconferencias, xestión de proxectos.

Create productive, face-to-face time.

As cousas que cambiaron o como traballas probablemente xa non son obxectos.

In a traditional office,

you're in the same place 48 weeks out of the year

and you might have three or four weeks apart.

Senon cousas ás que accedes dende o ordenador.

We try to flip that: we come together for short, intense bursts.

Experimenta con diferentes ferramentas que permitan a colaboración,

e fíxate no que funciona.

Once a year we do a grand meet-up

where the entire company comes together for a week.

Crea tempo produtivo e presencial.

Nunha oficina tradicional,

It's half-work, half-play.

estás no mesmo sitio 48 semanas ao ano

The primary goal is connecting people.

e pode que teñas tres ou catro semanas libres.

We want to make sure everyone's aligned and on the same page,

Nós tentamos cambiar iso: xuntámonos por períodos curtos e intensos.

and they have a deeper connection with their colleagues.

Unha vez ao ano, facemos un gran encontro

When they work together the rest of the year,

onde toda a empresa se reúne unha semana.

they can bring together that understanding and empathy.

É metade traballo, e metade xogo.

And the final practice:

O obxectivo principal é conectar as persoas.

give people the flexibility to make their own work environment.

Queremos asegurarnos que todos están sincronizados e de acordo,

Every person at Automattic has a co-working stipend

e teñen unha conexión máis profunda cos seus compañeiros.

that they can put towards a co-working space

Así cando traballan xuntos o resto do ano,

or just to buy coffee, so they don't get kicked out of the coffee shop.

poden usar esa comprensión e empatía.

E a práctica final:

One group in Seattle decided to pool their stipends together

dar á xente flexibilidade para ter o seu propio ambiente laboral.

and rented a workspace on a fishing pier.

Each person who joins the company gets a home-office stipend.

Cada persoa en Automattic ten un sobresoldo

que pode investir nun espazo de cotraballo

This is money they can invest in getting the right chair, monitor,

ou simplemente para mercar café, e que non os boten da cafetería.

the right desk setup, so they can have the most productive environment for them.

Un grupo de Seattle decidiu xuntar os seus soldos

Today, there are just a few companies that are distributed first.

e alugar un espazo de traballo nun peirao.

Cada persoa que entra na empresa recibe un soldo de oficina.

In a decade or two, I predict that 90 percent of companies

E poden investir estos cartos en cadeiras ou monitores adecuados,

that are going to be changing the course of the world

na mellor configuración de escritorio, para ter o ambiente máis produtivo.

are going to function this way.

They will evolve to be distributed first, or they'll be replaced by those that are.

Hoxe hai só algunhas empresas que son "distribuídas".

As you think about what you're going to build next,

Nunha década ou dúas, prevexo que o 90% das empresas

consider how you can tap into global talent,

que van cambiar o curso do mundo

give people autonomy to live and work where they feel they should

funcionarán deste xeito.

and still participate fully in whatever it is that you're creating together.

Evolucionarán para existir sen unha oficina central, ou serán substituídas.

E mentres pensas que crearás a continuación,

considera como aproveitarte do talento global,

darlle á xente autonomía para vivir e traballar onde sintan que deben

e participar plenamente en calquera cousa que estean creando xuntos.