The Way We Work
Matt Mullenweg: Why working from home is good for business
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As the popularity of remote working continues to spread, workers today can collaborate across cities, countries and even multiple time zones. How does this change office dynamics? And how can we make sure that all employees, both at headquarters and at home, feel connected? Matt Mullenweg, cofounder of Wordpress and CEO of Automattic (which has a 100 percent distributed workforce), shares his secrets.
Matt Mullenweg - Democratizer
Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of the open-source blogging platform WordPress, the most popular publishing platform on the web, and the founder and CEO of Automattic. Full bio
Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of the open-source blogging platform WordPress, the most popular publishing platform on the web, and the founder and CEO of Automattic. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:00
The basic problem
with working in an office
with working in an office
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is you're just not in control
of your work environment.
of your work environment.
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00:05
[The Way We Work]
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Howdy, my name is Matt,
and I'm the CEO of Automattic,
and I'm the CEO of Automattic,
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the company behind WordPress.com,
Jetpack and WooCommerce.
Jetpack and WooCommerce.
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We're coming up on over 800 employees,
and they live everywhere,
and they live everywhere,
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from California to Alabama, Mississippi,
to where I live in Texas.
to where I live in Texas.
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They're also in 67 countries.
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Canada, Mexico, India, New Zealand.
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Some of them choose not even
to have a home base, they're nomads.
to have a home base, they're nomads.
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Whether they are in RVs
or traveling through Airbnbs,
or traveling through Airbnbs,
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they are in new places
every day, week or month.
every day, week or month.
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As long as they can find good Wi-Fi,
we don't care where they are.
we don't care where they are.
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Our focus on distributed work
didn't happen accidentally.
didn't happen accidentally.
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It was a conscious choice
from the very beginning.
from the very beginning.
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Notice I don't use the word "remote,"
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because it sets up the expectation,
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that some people are essential
and some aren't.
and some aren't.
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I use the word "distributed"
to describe what we do,
to describe what we do,
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where everyone is
on an equal playing field.
on an equal playing field.
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I think a distributed workforce
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is the most effective way
to build a company.
to build a company.
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The key is you have to
approach it consciously.
approach it consciously.
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When we started WordPress,
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many of the first 20 hires
were people I'd never met in person.
were people I'd never met in person.
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But we'd collaborated online,
sometimes for years.
sometimes for years.
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I wanted to continue that
for one simple reason.
for one simple reason.
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I believe that talent and intelligence
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are equally distributed
throughout the world.
throughout the world.
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But opportunity is not.
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In Silicon Valley,
the big tech companies fish
the big tech companies fish
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from essentially
the same small pond or bay.
the same small pond or bay.
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A distributed company
can fish from the entire ocean.
can fish from the entire ocean.
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Instead of hiring someone who grew up
in Japan but lives in California,
in Japan but lives in California,
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you can gain someone who lives, works,
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wakes up and goes to sleep
wherever they are in the world.
wherever they are in the world.
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They bring a different
understanding of that culture
understanding of that culture
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and a different lived experience.
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At the base of the decision
to go distributed,
to go distributed,
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there's a desire to give people autonomy
over how they do their work.
over how they do their work.
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Unless you're in a role
where specific hours are important,
where specific hours are important,
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you can make your own schedule.
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Everyone can have a corner office,
their windows, the food they want to eat,
their windows, the food they want to eat,
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you can choose when there's music
and when there's silence.
and when there's silence.
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You can choose what temperature
the room should be.
the room should be.
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You can save the time
you'd spend commuting
you'd spend commuting
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and put it into things
that are important to you.
that are important to you.
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A distributed workforce
is ideal for a technology company.
is ideal for a technology company.
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02:01
But people often ask me,
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"This works great for y'all,
but what about everyone else?"
but what about everyone else?"
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If you have an office,
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you can do a few things
to build distributed capability.
to build distributed capability.
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First: document everything.
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In an office, it's easy
to make decisions in the moment,
to make decisions in the moment,
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in the kitchen, in the hall.
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But if people work remotely
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and some members of the team
are having those conversations
are having those conversations
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they don't have access to,
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they'll see these decisions being made
without understanding the why.
without understanding the why.
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Always leave a trail of where you were
and what you were thinking about.
and what you were thinking about.
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This allows others to pick up
where you left off.
where you left off.
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It allows people in different
time zones to interact,
time zones to interact,
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it's also great to think about
as an organization evolves,
as an organization evolves,
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people leaving and people joining.
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Try to have as much communication
as possible online.
as possible online.
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When everything's shared and public,
it allows new people to catch up quickly.
it allows new people to catch up quickly.
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You also need to find the right tools.
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There are so many apps and services
that help with day-to-day communication,
that help with day-to-day communication,
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video conferencing, project management.
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The things that changed how you work
probably aren't objects anymore.
probably aren't objects anymore.
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They're things you access
through your computer.
through your computer.
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So experiment with different
tools that enable collaboration,
tools that enable collaboration,
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see what works.
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Create productive, face-to-face time.
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In a traditional office,
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you're in the same place
48 weeks out of the year
48 weeks out of the year
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and you might have
three or four weeks apart.
three or four weeks apart.
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We try to flip that: we come together
for short, intense bursts.
for short, intense bursts.
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Once a year we do a grand meet-up
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where the entire company
comes together for a week.
comes together for a week.
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It's half-work, half-play.
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The primary goal is connecting people.
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We want to make sure
everyone's aligned and on the same page,
everyone's aligned and on the same page,
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and they have a deeper connection
with their colleagues.
with their colleagues.
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When they work together
the rest of the year,
the rest of the year,
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they can bring together
that understanding and empathy.
that understanding and empathy.
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And the final practice:
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give people the flexibility
to make their own work environment.
to make their own work environment.
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Every person at Automattic
has a co-working stipend
has a co-working stipend
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that they can put
towards a co-working space
towards a co-working space
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or just to buy coffee, so they don't
get kicked out of the coffee shop.
get kicked out of the coffee shop.
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One group in Seattle
decided to pool their stipends together
decided to pool their stipends together
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and rented a workspace on a fishing pier.
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Each person who joins the company
gets a home-office stipend.
gets a home-office stipend.
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This is money they can invest
in getting the right chair, monitor,
in getting the right chair, monitor,
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the right desk setup, so they can have
the most productive environment for them.
the most productive environment for them.
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04:01
Today, there are just a few companies
that are distributed first.
that are distributed first.
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In a decade or two,
I predict that 90 percent of companies
I predict that 90 percent of companies
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that are going to be changing
the course of the world
the course of the world
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are going to function this way.
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They will evolve to be distributed first,
or they'll be replaced by those that are.
or they'll be replaced by those that are.
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As you think about
what you're going to build next,
what you're going to build next,
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consider how you can tap
into global talent,
into global talent,
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give people autonomy to live and work
where they feel they should
where they feel they should
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and still participate fully in whatever
it is that you're creating together.
it is that you're creating together.
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Matt Mullenweg - DemocratizerMatt Mullenweg is the co-founder of the open-source blogging platform WordPress, the most popular publishing platform on the web, and the founder and CEO of Automattic.
Why you should listen
Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of the open-source blogging platform WordPress, the most popular publishing platform on the web, and the founder and CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce and Jetpack. He also runs Audrey Capital, an investment and research company.
Mullenweg has been recognized for his leadership and success by Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, Inc. Magazine, TechCrunch, Fortune, Fast Company, Wired, University Philosophical Society and Vanity Fair.
Mullenweg is originally from Houston, Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and studied jazz saxophone. In his spare time, he is an avid photographer. Mullenweg splits time between Houston, New York and San Francisco.
Matt Mullenweg | Speaker | TED.com