The pros and cons of working virtually

We decided to go completely virtual, and give people the opportunity to work from home, save on commute time, and be more productive with little to no daily interruptions.

At the time, I said we’d revisit it in 10 months to see if, at the year mark, we should go back to having an office. The answer was a resounding no.

How it works

At the time, there were only two of us in Chicago, with other members of the team spread across the country. And I was spending a good three days a week out of the office. So it wasn’t a big deal.

But during the past year, we’ve not only added new team members from other states and Canada, we’ve added some from Chicago. And everyone works from home.

For the people in Chicago, I do in-person meetings with each of them on Mondays. I do the others by phone or Skype, depending on the person’s preference.

On Tuesdays, we do an all-staff meeting where we have the chance to discuss client work, upcoming projects, and business results. We’ve tossed around the idea of having the people in Chicago in one room and the rest join us via Google Hangouts.