Paying Your Employees To Innovate and Party “Somewhere” In the World

(Before you start, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @debaenes)

Everyone (~116 employees as of July 3rd, 2015) from GSoft, Sharegate and Officevibe is going to work remotely from a nice little apartment in Barcelona for 2 weeks this year. 

How crazy is that?

The story

A few months ago, I announced to the entire company that we were opening a new office somewhere in the world. They all asked where and I told them that they would have to decide.

The idea was very simple: everyone suggests their favorite destination in the world and the most popular one would be selected as the location for the new office. Every two weeks, a new team of 6-8 people travel to the office to work remotely. Once every employee has had the chance to work from there, a new destination will be voted on and we’ll start the ball rolling again. It’s easier said than done, but you get the idea.

So I sent a survey to the entire company and asked for a city name and a picture. Here are the top 10 destinations voted by everyone in the company:

1) Barcelona 2) San Francisco 3) Hawaii 4) Berlin 5) Stockholm 6) London 7) Rio de Janeiro 8) Tokyo 9) Reykjavik 10) Hong Kong

Barcelona won the battle.

Thanks to AirBnB, we managed to rent this beautiful apartment for a few months in the center of Barcelona.

And the first team just left the office this week. It’s getting real.

10 Reasons Why

Spark innovation

All the teams working from the remote office (aka “The GHouse") are challenged to bring back something new that can help the organization reach the next level. We provide an environment in one of the most inspiring cities in the world, more than two weeks away from home with great people and a lot of freedom to solve an existing problem, prototype a new product, explore new technologies or just work on their current project with a different approach. We strongly believe that this is a good recipe for innovation and this is the gamble we’re willing to make.

Focus and Productivity

A few years ago, we completely pivoted our product, Sharegate, that was on the brink of disaster and it became the biggest business success of all time for us. This major pivot started in total isolation in the mountains where the team could focus and be very productive. I didn’t realize it for a long time, but that week away made a huge difference in our resurrection as a product. In just one week, we did more than we usually do in one month at the office and it helped a lot since we only had 3 months of time and cash to rebuild the product completely. Our remote office is the opportunity to reapply the same thing to other projects.

Here’s the picture of the house in the mountains taken in 2011 when we pivoted Sharegate:

Build a strong team spirit

For two weeks, as a team, people will be travelling, sharing the same apartment, visiting the city, cooking dinner, brainstorming, listening to each other, drinking, and much more. It can either go very wrong or create a very strong team spirit that will come back to the office with them and help the organization accomplish great things in the future. One of our core values is that we’re an ambitious family and our remote office is the chance to fully experience it.

Travelling is the best education

I strongly believe that travelling is one of the best things in life and I want to make it possible for everyone in my organization. It’s the opportunity to learn a new language, to experience a new culture, to eat a new kind of food, to explore new streets and so much more. At GSoft, we value personal growth very much and travelling is clearly a fast track for it.

Working from a different timezone helps to disconnect

Working from outside the country in a different timezone makes you kind of an outsider and you almost feel like you’re living in a parallel world. People are starting their day while you're finishing yours or the opposite depending on your location. While you still need to synchronize with your team at home, most of the time there’s no interruption at all and you can really focus on the work that needs to be done. It requires a lot of discipline and you can sometimes feel very lonely, but once you master the art, the potential for great work is huge.

I did something very similar in Hawaii a few years ago. It’s 6 hours behind Montreal’s Time Zone. I was starting my day while people were leaving the office in Montreal and I could strictly focus on things that really mattered to me since most of the minor issues that would usually distract me were already dealt with by the team at the office. Sometimes, I was waking up very early in the morning to work with the team in Montreal and I was finishing my day early in the afternoon and I could go chill on the beach for the rest of day. That’s a nice lifestyle, don’t you think?

This is me working from New Zealand in the middle of nowhere:

Alignment with our vision to be the best place to work

At GSoft, Sharegate and Officevibe, our vision is to build the most epic place to work, have fun and innovate. Travelling the world while innovating sounds like something that’s really aligned with what we’re trying to build. It’s not just some nice words written on the wall just to look cool, but something we strongly believe in. I wonder if it’s just luck, but the more we invest in this vision, the more we’re successful, so it sounds like we’re on to something.

Stepping out of your comfort zone

The more comfortable it gets, the more we want to keep it that way, it’s just human nature. It’s dangerous since personal growth usually comes from new experiences. But how can you experienced new things if you’re stuck in the same routine and you’re never challenged to step out of your comfort zone? Meet new people, learn a new language, live in a new city, work from outside the office, build new things and walk in new streets are the kind of things that will force everyone to step out of their comfort zone.

We like to be crazy

I have to admit, we really like to push the limit here at GSoft. Epic office, free lunch, no-vacation policy, no dress code, no schedule, trip outside the country for the Christmas party and now the remote office in Barcelona are just the kind of things we like to do here. It brings a sense of empowerment to the employees and the results are just outstanding. A lot of people think we’re crazy and my response is yes we are and we’re very proud of it.

Trip to Miami (2013):

Trip to New York (2012):

Trip to Punta Cana (2014):

This remote office is one of many other initiatives that all share the same goal: build the most epic place to work, have fun and innovate. We proudly invest in the people, because it’s the people that define who we are and shape our company culture.

I'll keep you posted on the success of this project! :)