title: Remote is Dead. Long Live Distributed.
url: https://medium.com/walmartlabs/we-are-distributed-4c64ec6109f4
hash_url: 3ecaade78d0aa8238013aa0b11f68b81

<figure name="207f" id="207f" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--h3"><figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo: <a href="https://pixabay.com/en/users/14398-14398/" data-href="https://pixabay.com/en/users/14398-14398/" class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4398 / 110 images</a> from Pixabay</figcaption></figure><p name="02a4" id="02a4" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">I am <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">not a </em>remote worker, <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">I am a part of a distributed team.</strong></p><p name="7250" id="7250" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The word “remote” is loaded with negative baggage: something or someone that’s far away, distant; isolated. Something or someone that’s out of touch with the reality of how things really are.</p><p name="272b" id="272b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">As a software engineer, when I think about the term “remote”, I think about accessing a machine that’s out of sight, but one in which I can control. It’s uni-directional, communication is often flaky at best and creates frustration in the ability to be effective.</p><p name="1ccd" id="1ccd" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The term “remote” focuses on <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">where the team member is</em>. It doesn’t address <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">what </em>needs to be done or <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">how </em>to do it<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">. </em>The <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">where</em> is <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">totally irrelevant to the work.</strong></p><p name="a21c" id="a21c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The term “distributed,” however, naturally lends itself to thinking about <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">what needs to be done and how we go about doing it together.</strong></p><p name="710f" id="710f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Communication on a distributed team isn’t uni-directional, it’s not even bi-directional, it’s <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">n-directional</strong>, as each individual now decides how they collectively work towards a common purpose.</p><p name="1b6a" id="1b6a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">An organization shifting from having remote workers to <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">the</strong> <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">distributed model helps teams transcend the “remote vs in-office” mentality</strong>. In a remote model, it’s common for those who are in an office (which may very well be remote from the home office) to ask, “why does that person get to work from home (or co-working space) and I have to be in the office?” It’s also common that a remote worker feels they’re left out of the loop because communication is done in person.</p><p name="a95e" id="a95e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Shifting from thinking about people as “remote” to teams being distributed teams allows us to streamline communication, create stronger connections, expand the candidates we hire so we find the best fit for our teams, not just “local” talent.</p><p name="eb94" id="eb94" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The distributed team paradigm focuses on…</strong></p><ul class="postList"><li name="c215" id="c215" class="graf graf--li graf-after--p"><em class="markup--em markup--li-em">how</em> we work being the driving force to our success (not <em class="markup--em markup--li-em">where</em> we work)</li><li name="98cb" id="98cb" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">goals being concrete and achievable</li><li name="678b" id="678b" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">communication being clear and focused</li><li name="70c5" id="70c5" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">individual self-management equally contributing to the team’s success</li></ul><p name="066f" id="066f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--li"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The distributed team paradigm is <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">not…</em></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li name="1ab9" id="1ab9" class="graf graf--li graf-after--p">an opportunity to shirk responsibility</li><li name="3f85" id="3f85" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">a way to get out of being a part of a group</li><li name="5967" id="5967" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">the chance to get out of meetings or being around people</li></ul><p name="196d" id="196d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--li"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The distributed model</strong> allows us to do our best work when our bodies and minds are most optimal, rather than feeling the need to be “butts in seats from 9–5 to be noticed.” As our technologies become more distributed (as they already have), our <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">teams</em> becoming distributed facilitates our abilities to think of how our software works (and can be better) and how our software works helps us shape the way our teams effectively move our products towards their ultimate purpose.</p><p name="37b6" id="37b6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">So this is a call to join us in our journey to eliminate the idea of remote workers and <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">embrace the idea of distributed teams</strong>. Over the next few months we’ll be posting retrospectives of what we’ve done and how it worked for our teams. We invite you to join us in doing the same and using the tag #distributedteams and sharing what you’ve tried, what worked and what didn’t go so well.</p><p name="05e7" id="05e7" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--last">We are not remote. We are not in-office. <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">We are Distributed.</strong></p>
