Working remotely is a huge perk – and for many, it’s the future of work. For Modash, it’s built into our DNA as a remote-first company. 

But if you’ve never done it before, you might be wondering how it works. I’m going to walk you through how we work remotely at Modash, and give you some tips to make it go smoothly if it’s your first time. 

How we work remotely at Modash

At Modash, work is flexible. If you prefer the office and you’re local to Tallinn, you’re more than welcome to join us in the office. 

We have colleagues spread all over Europe – and many of us love to travel too. So chances are, you’ll be remote full time. Some of us aren’t local to Tallinn but prefer to go to a physical office. We use coworking spaces to have a clear delineation between work and home (and on a case-by-case basis, we have supported non-Taillinners with coworking budgets).

Not to mention, if you want to come visit the office for a week, you’re welcome to join us there too! No matter what you prefer, we’ve got you covered. 

What does remote-first mean?

There are tons of companies that have remote employees, but aren’t remote-first. Remote-first means that remote is the default way of working. 

Here’s what that looks like at Modash:

• We assume that others are working remotely: we’re using async methods to get in contact with each other. We work flexibly, so it’s important to set boundaries to maintain your work/life balance. 

Eleni Papaioannou

Brand and Product Marketing Manager, Modash

Flexibility is really important to me (and the parents among us)! I love that I can make a doctor appointment (or any appointment) during the “workday” and work later or on the weekend to catch up. It’s also really comforting to not be crazy-stressed out while going to those appointments (in case they take longer than expected).

• We make remote a comfortable experience for everyone: Meaning you won’t be connecting into a meeting on a lone person’s laptop in the middle of a noisy conference room pointed at a wall (don’t laugh, it’s happened to me in a previous company). We all connect in from our own computers in separate rooms to make it a comfortable experience. 
• You’re responsible for managing your own time and bandwidth: Someone might be working when it’s after hours for you, and vice versa. This means you should turn off your notifications when you’re not working to save your mental peace. This also means you should feel comfortable sending anyone a message at any time. You’re never obligated to get back to someone quickly when they’re working different hours from you. 
• We prioritize async communication: Instead of randomly calling someone and interrupting their workflow, we prioritize methods like Loom, Slack texts and voice notes, and written communication to help the other person find a natural stopping point in their work to answer. This also means you should send written recaps after meetings with more than one person to make sure everyone has their action items and a written trace of what was discussed. All of our Slack channels are public, and you’re encouraged to participate or start your own discussions anywhere – in fact, it’s preferred. We prioritize public spaces over DMs constantly. This helps us work flexibly and comfortably.
• With freedom comes responsibility: Modash is a high-trust environment. We don’t hire junior employees, so we’re all competent and independent from day 1. This means that we’ll trust you to do what you do best, and support you in any way we can. We rely heavily on constant feedback, and expect you to be proactive with that.

Lucas T

Product Engineer, Modash

In my experience in the monitoring team, it’s 50/50 between calls and async. But it’s always ‘Can I call you?’ so 100% no random calls.

Working remote-first helps us coordinate across time zones easily. As our team is spread across half the world, it’s important to use these methods so we can be efficient together. 

Does that mean you’re not allowed to jump on a call with someone? Absolutely not. It means that we prioritize asynchronous communication in case the other person is busy. Chances are, they’ll want to talk something through with you – which is a great way to meet and get to know other colleagues. 

How do we manage scheduling?

There are only a few meetings that are mandatory – this is to help free up as much of our time as possible for deep work, customer or sales calls, or other tasks that might suffer from context switching. 

At any time, you can place a meeting in someone’s calendar when they have space available. It’s important to set up your working hours so colleagues can see when it’s a reasonable time to set up a meeting with you. 

If I want to create a meeting between my teammate Eleni and I, I just add her calendar to mine to see where we have overlap. 

I can also see exactly when her working hours begin and end so I don’t plan something when she’s asleep. 

If you don’t feel like blocking out personal time in your calendar, it’s easy to just pop a message back to someone and say “Hey I’m not available at that time, would X time work instead?” It’s a relatively painless way to figure out meeting times. 

At Modash, you’re encouraged to speak to anyone at any time about anything. This means you can plan a meeting with Avery (our CEO) and get feedback on something, or pull Willi (our Head of Product) to explain a new feature or give him an idea. We have an open meeting policy, and we like to be as transparent as we possibly can. 

Just plan it in advance if you can, add an agenda in advance so we’re all prepared, and help others organize their day. 

How do I connect with my colleagues?

A big challenge with a remote-first company is figuring out how to maintain a strong culture and foster relationships between colleagues. Not every company nails it, unfortunately. 

One of the coolest things about Modash is the way we interact with each other. The culture is very open, and feedback is enthusiastically encouraged. This means that everyone will be understanding and receptive if you message them on Slack or asking to jump into a quick call. Naturally, some of us have busier schedules than others, but if they have the time to help you out, they will. 

The best part? Absolutely no one makes you feel like your messages are unwanted. Our policy is that the person receiving the message is 100% responsible for their own bandwidth – meaning that if they can’t get back to you right away, that’s okay. 

How do I avoid loneliness?

We also plan out watercooler-style virtual meetings that are completely optional. This is a great way to meet people from outside of your immediate team. These little half-hour chats help us connect with one another, ask questions, and just get to know each other better. 

When first starting out in a remote environment, some people can really underestimate how important it is to connect with colleagues. Later, as they keep working, they find themselves feeling "off."

Fact is, it's just energizing to work with other people. The key to enjoying your time at Modash lies in connecting with one another.

Avery Schrader

Founder and CEO of Modash

"You're going to spend a lot of time working. You might as well do it with people who care about you, and who you can giggle with. Give them a chance!"

We also have informal All-Hands meetings on Friday. This is an opportunity to meet up with the entire team and chat about various things. Sometimes, we plan a more formal presentation given by someone in the team, and sometimes it’s just quick updates and chit chat after. It depends on what we need most as a team. 

 Then, of course, there are killer off-sites to places like Madeira, Portugal. 

And in 2024, we’re off to Split, Croatia! 

Hopefully, you’ll want to join us there! 

How to work remotely (for first-timers)

If, for whatever reason, you’ve never worked remotely before, it can be a challenge. I’ve been working remotely since 2017, and when I first started, I did not do well. I had trouble staying focused at work, and often, I let my work life balance suffer because I didn’t create distinguished boundaries between work and home. 

So here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years to help you out. 

1. Use a dedicated “work” zone

Having a particular zone specifically for work helps out so much. For me, it started off at the kitchen table, and then moved to a separate room in my home. Sometimes, space is limited. So having a particular spot which you can call your “work zone” helps you distinguish between work and personal space. 

If you can, and have the space for it, I can’t recommend a good office chair and a decent desk. I’ve recently moved to the standing/sitting desk – which is super helpful for me. If you plan to remote work for a long period of time, it’s a good idea to invest in a setup that will save your back. 

2. Turn your camera on

We all have those days. We all feel like we don’t want to get camera-ready, or don’t feel like putting on makeup. 

But it’s a good idea to anticipate putting on your camera most of the time. Not only does it help you create a face-to-face connection with your colleagues, it helps your colleagues humanize you. It’s so much easier to relate to a person with expressions than it is to a faceless black box with a name in the center. 

You’ll probably have those days where you aren’t feeling up to it, and that’s okay. Just make sure you’re getting your face-time in most of the time. 

3. Get dressed

As nice as it is to work in pajamas, when you’re first starting out, it’s a good idea to get dressed. 

You don’t have to put on a three-piece suit and tie. You don’t have to even be “business casual.” Most of us are in t-shirts most of the time. The tech industry broke a lot of those barriers. 

But, it’s a good idea to get dressed before “going to work” for a few reasons:

• It helps that psychological process of going from home to work
• It helps you leave your house to go do things after work

I want to touch on that second thing quickly – when you work from home, it’s really easy to just stay at home. Obviously, that can take a toll on the most introverted of us. 

Sometimes, it’s nice to get out and away from your house. But if you have to get dressed after your workday, it’s yet another obstacle that might prevent you from going out. Being dressed for your workday helps you remove that obstacle. 

One of our colleagues dresses in her sports clothes when she gets ready for work. According to her “They’re comfortable, and then I’m already ready for exercise, so it’s easy to stay motivated.”

Which brings me to my next point: 

4. Leave your house

I get it. I’m already home, why would I leave my house? It’s really easy to fall into that trap of just staying at home all the time. 

In sociology, there’s a concept of a “third space.” Your first space is home, and the second space is the workplace. These are places where we spend most of our time. 

A third space is a place that isn’t your home or work. It’s a café, bar, club, library, gym, or other palace where you go to be around others. These third spaces are great for mental health, and to just kind of make you feel a little less like a house troll. 

When your first and second place (i.e., home and work) are in the same place, a third space becomes even more important. Get out of your house and go do things regularly:

• Go have lunch or get coffee with a friend
• Go grocery shopping or just walk around shops
• Take a creative class at a community center

Any activity outside the home and around others really helps. 

5. Make a clear distinction between work and home

For some, it’s helpful to have a little ritual to help you transition from home to work and then work to home. 

I’ve had colleagues in the past that used to go for a walk after their workday. For them, it felt like a commute home and helped them get out of “work mode.”

For others, sometimes the simple act of closing your laptop is enough to end the workday.

Whatever it might be, make sure you’re doing something that helps you make that transition, and saves your work/life balance in the process. 

And then enforce that. If you’re working traditional hours because that’s what works best for you, don’t check your Slack or email when you’re not working. There are only a few positions where something like that might be necessary. 

For me, I usually align my workday with my partner, and so I work the traditional 9-5. Sometimes, I might have to stay later. If that happens, I’ll start later the next day, or leave earlier another day that week. It’s important to balance your work with your home life. 

6. It’s okay to take breaks

In my experience, sometimes remote workers beat themselves up over taking a break in the middle of the workday. 

You have to think and consider how things would be at the office – it’s normal to make yourself a cup of coffee, have a chat with a colleague, or take a small walk to stretch your legs. 

Remote workers tend to feel, especially when they start off, that they have to prove that they’re working. That’s okay – but remember to enforce your working times, and take the little breaks you need throughout the day to rest and recharge. The proof is in your output and the communication with the rest of the team via Slack. 

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Remote working isn’t for everyone (wild, I know). But if you can successfully balance work and personal life, while embracing flexible async work, it can shave hours off your workday. 

And if you’ve wondered how it all works at Modash, we hope that this article helped answer those questions!