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Taking a five person start-up to a 100 remote employee workforce: An interview with Paul Hartge, COO of RevolutionEHR

Remote_working_Interview

Remote Nation had the chance to speak with Paul Hartge of RevolutionEHR, the COO of a completely remote software company that has grown from small, modest beginnings to a country-wide operation. They offer cloud-based electronic health records for optometrists while solely connecting to their customers and employees via phone, skype, and the internet.

RevolutionEHR is now home to over 100 employees and Paul gave us some insight on the challenges and benefits of being a growing remote business, what steps they currently take to stay connected with everyone in the company and why they decided to not get an office.

Let’s start with the basics, what is RevolutionEHR? When did you guys start?

We are a software company that provides electronic health records for optometrists. The company was founded in 2007.

Did you work remotely before RevolutionEHR or have you worked in an office? If so, what was change like?

My previous job was out of Toronto and I worked remotely for about five years prior to RevolutionEHR. Before that I worked in an office for nearly 20 years. Initially, the change required more rigid and careful planning for meetings since the impromptu office meeting was out of the question. I did find it easier to focus without all of the distractions that come with an office setting, though.

What were the reasons behind starting a company remotely? Any big factors or was it just a desired quality with you and the rest of the team?

Each of the founders was in a different city, so no one really wanted to make the bet on relocating. A lot of the work could be done independently among people as well. But mostly it was because all the founders were in different cities. And we didn’t have any money to fund an office.

Can you tell me about the process you and your team underwent from start-up to a now well established company and how being remote played into that process? Was it a challenge or a gift?

We have 100 employees now all working out of their houses, so there was a need for technology solutions once we got to ten or fifteen people.   We built a custom collaboration tool for posting information. It is an internal collaboration tool called “nerve center.” People can blog and communicate on it. It can be serious content or fun stuff. Everything from human resources to March Madness will be posted on it. It is sort of like a Facebook, but just for us.  It is definitely helpful for introducing new employees. Just an overall good way for people to stay connected.

As we got bigger and bigger we needed to plan more physical meetings, so depending on the groups, we schedule quarterly or annually meetings. We do an annual meeting once a year in January where everyone gets together to plan for the next year. It’s like a beginning of the year kick off. Other than that, smaller groups will meet a couple times a year. We probably have employees in 20 states or so it is hard to get everyone together in one place.

Down the line, it became apparent that we didn’t want to open an office, so when we hire new people there is the expectation that they are willing to always work remotely. So that may limit us to certain demographic, but we have the ability to pull from people across the whole country

Now that you guys are out of startup mode, what are your reasons for staying completely remote?

A couple things, one it would be hard to bring everything together since we are so spread out. And now it would be just kind of weird since we are so used to operating in a remote situation.

From a recruiting perspective, we can hire anyone from everywhere, which I think it is a huge staffing advantage. We hire support personnel from optometry offices to have that insight. To try and hire all those people in one area would be extremely difficult. To be able to hire across the country is a huge advantage.

With 100 employees it must be hard keeping in touch with everyone.  What are some strategies you use to keep in contact with everyone and manage them remotely?

The technology aspect is definitely important. Skype, google, Grasshopper, those are all important for keeping in touch with everyone. But just as important, we like to empower our workers to be self-motivated and self-managing. It allows for a nice distribution of work.

Any downsides with remote working that people should know if they are looking into remote work?

From an individual’s perspective, I always try to make sure that people are aware of the social aspect of it. There is a bit of isolation, physically. The social aspect is taken out of it. The communication is all done online. So people that go on lunch breaks or coffee breaks with you is taken out of the mix most of the time. You also have to prepare yourself from the distractions at home.  Working at home is not an alternative for the need for day care.

On an organizational level, the biggest difficulties, depending on the type of the business, is the perception that if you don’t have an office you aren’t a “real company.”  You have to keep in mind how you present yourselves to potential investors, clients and other companies so that you look like a real company and not a fake company! We do all of our customer selling and support online, so there is no reason for physical meetings. But if you need that physical aspect, the external image is important.

Any distractions at home?

Yeah, depending on your office environment there can be stuff that gets in the way. But it really comes down to how disciplined you are.

What are things that keep you focused?

I think the work itself keeps me focused. There are no real specific steps I take to make sure that I am focused. There is so much to do in a startup environment. I find it easier to focus when there aren’t people around. I just think of things that I need to do during the day and I just start cranking!

Any technology you use that you just can’t live without now?

We live and breathe in Skype all day long. We use GoToMeeting a lot. We use Salesforce extensively. We use Grasshopper too, which is a virtual phone system. But I am on Skype all day long. That is the one that I really couldn’t live without.

Do you like to listen to music at home when working?

Rarely, sometimes when I am doing really mundane work I will. But I am on the phone much of the day, so generally I don’t listen to music.

With so many people all working remotely, has there been any funny stories worth sharing?

There are the usual funny stories of people not realizing that the webcam is on and regretting that later. But there was a particular situation that caught us off guard.

One customer’s software implementation wasn’t going well. There were just issues with the setup. So the unhappy customer looked on our website and came across the address where our physical mail was going to at the time. Since we had no office, this address was one of the owner’s home addresses! The customer Google-Earthed the address to see where the company was “located” and they got a house with a big lawn and a swimming pool! So that did not go over well with. I highly recommend a P.O. Box for remote startups.

***

If you’d like to learn more about RevolutionEHR, be sure to visit their site @ http://www.revolutionehr.com/

April 29, 2015by remotenation
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Blog, Guides, Tools, Working Remotely

The Best Video Conferencing Solutions for Businesses and Remote Teams

best_video_conferencing

What is the best video conferencing tool for business & remote teams? We get this question a lot, and it’s a tool we use for the majority of our day, everyday. For a long time, it was hard to find a good video conferencing tool that actually added value to the interactions of a remote team. Now there are finally a number of viable options serving different needs, so we’ve created a series of categories winners, allowing you to pick the best tool for your needs. To get the most out of your video conferencing solution, we recommend checking out our article on the best audio and video setup for remote teams.

We’ve divided our review into the following categories: Large Teams, Small Teams, Cost Sensitive, 1 on 1’s & overall winner.

Best Video Conferencing Tools for Large Teams

 

1st Place: Zoom.us

At FullStack, we typically have monthly release planning meetings with our biggest clients.  Our biggest client, Higher Learning Technologies, asked if their department heads could be on the call, in addition to the development team. We were already at about 9 people at that point without the other department’s, and the Google Hangout quality was not sufficient and had a hard limit of 10 participants. After extensive research, we found that Zoom.us was the best for large teams because of:

Positives:

  1. Quality of the Audio – Light on the background noise, and very few problems throughout our many calls.
  2. Quality of the Video – Consistent video
  3. Chat functionality- an easy to use chat if you need to share links to drive folders or URLS
  4. Recordable – Users are able to download the entire conference (with Audio + Video) for later reference or to share if people weren’t present.
  5. Screen sharing – Zoom also allows users to share screens, great for large conference calls.
  6. Up to 100 video people on a call

Negatives:

  1. Cost. Zoom is relatively cheap if you use the service every day, or @ least on a consistent pattern, or if you’re not paying for it 🙂

2nd Place: Skype

In second place is Skype, but it seems as though Microsoft is making Skype a priority once again and the feature set & price is starting to improve. Most people in the US have a skype account (even if they barely use it) but it’s much more popular across the world. Skype was the first VOIP startup and defined the category, but has been pretty light on its extra features.

Positives:

  1. Best Video & Sound Quality
  2. Popular – Most people already have it installed on their computer, so there’s rarely a messy installation process.
  3. Mobile – Skype has both iOS and Android apps, allowing you to continue (or begin) your call through your phone.
  4. Price – Free!  Skype recently made their group calls free
  5. Screen Sharing – Skype has the capability to share your calls w/ others.

Negatives:

  1. App Based – Skype is a desktop application, so even though most people have it already installed, there’s some friction to getting a call started.
  2. Limit on Group size – Like Hangouts, there’s a limit of 10 people per call.

Overall, Skype is an awesome option, but there were some things that are better suited for large teams / conferences with Zoom. Interestingly, Skype is creating a feature that ‘instant translates’ your language into another if you’re speaking w/ someone from a different country.  We can’t wait to use that!

3rd Place: Google Hangouts

Our 3rd place finisher, Google Hangouts, is also the most convenient. Google Hangouts has great audio & video, but is very inconsistent w/ quality. We’ve had calls that were flawless from start to finish, but also seem to be asking each other ‘Can you hear me” for a minute (of wasted time) at the start of about one third of our calls (Quick Tip = We find that taking your headset out & plugging it back in usually fixes this). Although Hangouts is more reliable when headsets aren’t used, audio quality suffers.

Hangouts does have many features, such as chat, sharing a screen & inviting people via a phone number.  There’s also some fun features that allow you to add faces and mustaches (for example) w/ their Draw feature.

Positives:

  1. Web Based
  2. Mobile App
  3. Screen Share
  4. Extra Features

Negatives:

  1. Quality w/ Volume – The biggest flaw of Google Hangouts is that the quality of both the audio and video diminishes w/ the # of people on the call, and we routinely see people that drop off.
  2. There’s a max of 10 people on a Group Video Call. 

Hence, the stability most of the time and the convenience factor (it’s a total web application, nothing needs to be installed) makes Hangouts our 3rd place.

 Honorable Mention: AnyMeeting

We recently tried AnyMeeting which has a lot of good features, but is ultimately lacking in elite quality of audio. Anymeeting has 2 options, free (ad-supported) and paid, but if you can put up w/ the ads, the free version should be all you need.

Positives:

  1. Free – Ad supported version allows you to do almost everything you need.
  2. Up to 200! users on a call
  3. Features – ScreenSharing, chats, custom surveys, etc.

Negatives:

  1. Quality – Not the best
  2. Inverted camera – This is nitpicky, but all the other services use the same angle, and this really throws me off 😛

Overall, if AnyMeeting invested more into the sound quality and made the actual video screen sizes larger, this could compete w/ any of our Top 3.

Best Video Conferencing for Small Teams

 

1st Place: Google Hangouts

Hangouts is the winner because the primary negative isn’t a factor (audio & video quality diminishing w/  the # of people). The convenience factor of most people having Gmail, or having gmail as their work email, outweighs the quality of Skype. It’s very easy to schedule a calendar invite (through google calendar) and then use that link for everyone.

2nd Place: Skype

In a close second, Skype’s superior quality shines once again. We can safely assume that small teams have each other’s skype names, and can continue using their skype ‘group’ for calls & to hold all their chats. 

Overall, it’s hard for us to really recommend any other services simply because of the convenience, quality, features, and lack of negatives of Skype + Hangouts.

Best “Cost Sensitive” Video Conferencing Solutions

 

We understand that startups, small businesses, and individuals typically like to save their resources (aka $$) for other essentials, when ‘free’ services are available. However, the services on the following list shouldn’t be looked at as inferior as to the other options. Rather, we think that the features list + the free aspects still make these excellent options for users in the need for video conferencing solutions.

Tie for 1st Place: Skype

Skype is once again a winner because of it’s premier quality, popularity, and features.  For most situations, skype’s product suite is a perfect fit

Tie for 1st Place: AnyMeeting

AnyMeeting is a very close second to skype because it has almost every feature a user would need to host large scale conference calls (up to 200), have good quality team calls / chats or to share screens.  While the ads can be somewhat annoying after awhile, the ability to have 200 people for an unlimited time is an extremely great value and makes up for any shortcomings.

3rd Place: Google Hangouts

Hangouts is in 3rd place because the quality does not compete w/ Anymeeting, nor their features w/ AnyMeeting. The convenience of Hangouts is always a huge plus, but we can assume that those who are cost-sensitive don’t mind taking one extra step to get a feature they need or have a problem with ads.

Best Video Conferencing for “1 on 1” Meetings

1 on 1’s, or just quick chats between two people are definitely the most common type of video call or chat, but really come down to two things: convenience & speed. Sometimes a quick 5 minute call is infinitely better than a 20 minute email, but it’s obviously based on the situation.  For this review, we’ve assumed that the two users speak to each other frequently.

1st Place: Hangouts

This is the only category where we find that Hangouts is a clear #1 and shines above the rest.  Most of the quick 1on1’s we have are the result of a miscommunication through chatting, either on Slack or Hangouts, and it’s incredibly easy to stop chatting and just ask “hey, want to have a quick call to figure this out?”, & press the video call. However, one big drawback of Hangouts Calls is that all chats during the call are not saved. We’re not sure why this feature isn’t updated, but we’re sure google is on it 🙂

2nd Place: Skype

The consistently awesome Skype jumps into the #2 spot here, simply because our common chat situation which we explained in our Hangouts review.  However, if you typically have Skype open on your desktop, and don’t use hangouts, then we suggest Skype as your #1. 

3rd Place: Built-in Service

Our #3 might be a head scratcher to some, but it all is based around our main criteria for greatness in this category, convenience & speed. We’ve decided to not select one application, but a few that are built into some very popular other services.

  1. Hipchat – If you only use Hipchat as your communication tool, then you’ll love how quickly you’ll be able to do a Hipchat Video.   The quality is average, but it’s acceptable for 10 minute calls and under.  The only drawback is that it’s only available w/ their premium package.
  2. Facetime – We’ve only used Facetime a handful of times, mostly when one of our other tools aren’t working.  Facetime should be getting more popular since Apple has worked it into Yosemite (their new Operating System Version) and people are just getting the hang of it.  The biggest positive is that many people have Macbook’s for work (in the tech world) as well as an iphone.  However, the biggest drawback is that it’s not available for those without Apple products.
  3. Slack– TBD – Slack recently acquired screenhero, which we’ve used a few times in the past.  We currently use Slack as our main chat application, and can safely assume that the integration w/  screenhero will make video calls seamless.  Slack might move up in the charts soon, but only time will tell!

Overall Winner 

Google Hangouts! There are many different use cases for having a video chat, but the convenience, cost, quality, and built-in functionality of Hangouts makes it the best overall choice for teams both big and small. We did consider Skype because of their superior quality for video and audio, but Skype didn’t have the overall feature set of Hangouts.

We do expect that this list will change over time, so please let us know what you think of our rankings!

April 13, 2015by remotenation
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Advice, Blog, Working Remotely

Remote Working: On the Rise & Creating Happier Employees

remote_working_happy_employees

A recent study by AccountTemps of 2,100 CFO’s across the US said 35% of their companies have increased remote work opportunities in the last three years, but only 3% have decreased the number of opportunities.

Employees like the flexibility of working remotely, but employers are also seeing a variety of benefits. The study revealed that the 35 % of the executives surveyed see higher employee morale and greater retention rates as the primary advantages of offering remote-work options, and 28 percent said the best aspect is an increase in productivity by eliminating commute time.

Other benefits employers cite include the ability to save money on office space and gaining access to a broader talent pool when hiring.

Bill Driscoll, a district president of Accountemps, recently said in a statement “Although telecommuting isn’t suitable for every role, it can be a powerful incentive for employees who want greater flexibility. It offers other advantages to businesses, such as greater productivity, cost savings on office space, the ability to tap into talent in different geographical areas and time zones, and more around-the-clock client service.”

Accountemps offered several tips for employers thinking about setting up a remote workforce:

Security:  Since Employees will be working from home, Employers need to make sure that all confidential and important documents and information is secure from the home office.  Each company will have their own requirements for this, but employers must create some security baseline.

Promote it!:  Working remotely is a HUGE plus for many employees, even if it’s just a day or two a week.  Companies need to promote their remote opportunities  (full remote or part-time) to increase the scope of their talent pool

Communication: Setting up proper communication channels is a must for remote workers.  There are plenty of video conferencing, business focused chat tools, + normal email & phone calls that allow this, but it’s something that needs to be normalized ASAP for new employees.

Guidelines: Employers must set guidelines on how employees must work from home.  This is highly dependent on the job, but could require the employee to track their time, to have a few calls w/ their manager, or whatever makes the most sense for their environment.

Expectations:  Employers need to clearly explain expectations for remote workers, so employees don’t view it as ‘day off’ from their normal schedule.  Ideally, since there’s much less of a commute time and less distraction, employees should exceed their normal work capacity on these days.  However, all this needs to be communicated to the employee.

Overall, we at Remote Nation see this as just another set of hard data that proves remote working is on the rise and provides tangible benefits to both employees and employers.

Please let us know what you think of this article in the comments!

 

April 7, 2015by remotenation
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Advice, Blog

Office Free? How to go 100% Remote

Office_Free_Team

Were you ever curious on how you can take your office 100% remote? Neil Patel has written a great article on that topic and has presented 6 quick tips on how to create this perfect environment.The trend of working remotely is growing, and we don’t expect it to stop for a long time. There’s many ways to create a successful remote work environment for both yourself and your team, but Neil Patel, Founder of QuickSprout, CrazyEgg, & Kissmetrics, recently wrote a great article in Entrepreneur on the subject. Be sure to check out Who Needs an Office? How to go 100 Percent Remote and read about his 6 great tips on the subject!

March 25, 2015by remotenation
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Blog, Working Remotely

Remote Working: It Works For Us

Remote_Working

With all the news about big companies ending their remote working arrangements, it’s nice to read about other companies, like StackExchange, experiencing the same successes that we have.

I have personally experienced or witnessed almost all of the points in this article. In particular, the observations regarding increased productivity and hiring are spot on.http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2013/02/why-we-still-believe-in-working-remotely/Here’s to more of the same.
January 27, 2015by Ryan Kearins
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Blog, Developers, Working Remotely

A Day in the Life of a Remote Developer

remote_working_developer
So what’s an average day like in the life of a remote developer? Let’s find out.First, a little background. I work on the engineering team for Fullstack, an organization that employs people all across the US. Fullstack has its headquarters in Iowa City, and while three of the four continental time zones are represented, the majority of people are either on Central or Eastern time.

The Beginning

I like to start my days at 7:00 PST. I’m on the west coast, so starting early helps me feel like I haven’t missed out on too much.

We use Skype to keep in touch, so firing up Skype and catching up on the various conversations that’ve been happening is my first order of business. After that’s done, I catch up on email and any feedback I’ve been given on the stuff I got done yesterday.

We follow an agile methodology at Fullstack, so we have daily standup meetings (via Skype). Usually within an hour of starting work, I have my first standup of the day. There could be more than one of these, depending on how many projects I’m assigned to at any given time. Standups are usually pretty brief, and once they’re done, I have a full list of things to accomplish for the day.

The Middle

After meetings are over, the actual work starts. This part is pretty typical of any engineering job. I have stories assigned to me in Pivotal Tracker, and I keep track of what I’m spending time on using Harvest. Once I get rolling, the day goes by pretty fast.

And The End

Afternoons are occasionally punctuated by random calls from co-workers, or other ad-hoc discussions. Around 4:00, I sign off Skype and pack up my things.

Roll Credits

Sound similar to an ‘office’ job? It is! Other than my physical location, not much has changed and that is kind of the point. Working remotely as a developer is fundamentally the same as if my location were in an office.

Still not convinced? Give a try some time, ask for a single day of working from home. The odds are that most of your coworkers won’t even realize you are ‘away’.

November 28, 2014by Josh Black
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