GitLab’s Head of Remote, Darren Murph, on how to create corporate culture when no one works from the office

My guest today is Darren Murph who is GitLab’s Head of Remote. If you have never heard of GitLab, it’s the world’s largest all-remote company, with over 1,300 team members in 67+ countries with no company-owned offices. Darren has spent his career leading remote teams and charting remote transformations and authored GitLab’s Remote Playbook. Darren also holds a Guinness World Record as the planet’s most prolific professional blogger, having published 10 million words.

In this chat, we cover:
  • How crisis-induced remote work is different from true remote work
  • Darren’s favourite tips from Gitlab’s Remote Working handbook
  • Why companies need to change their default to asynchronous communication
  • How to create a corporate culture in a remote working environment
  • The importance that values play in company culture
  • How to recruit for people who are suited to remote work
  • The key software that you need to make remote work, work
  • How to design for serendipitous moments when everyone works remote
  • How to replace water cooler conversations in the remote environment
  • How to have effective meetings – and more importantly – deciding when NOT to meet
  • Darren’s one page operating manual
  • Darren’s favourite gadgets
  • Companies that he looks to for remote working inspiration.

Connect with Darren on Linkedin and Twitter. Check out Darren’s personal operating manual, GitLab’s remote playbook, and Darren’s book Living the Remote Dream.