A few months ago, an interview was published in which Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stated he didn’t think that remote work should persist past the pandemic.

This is Netflix, whose values of Freedom & Responsibility seem to make it an ideal company to embrace Remote Work!

Luckily Mr. Hastings had just come out with a book talking about these very things.

So I picked it up to try to understand his perspective. Here’s what I learned.

Remote work offers flexibility

When I think of companies that enable remote work, I think of companies that trust their employees to be responsible and get their work done without micromanagement.

This enables those employees to have the flexibility to work when and where they choose.

And this is why I was originally taken aback by Mr. Hastings’ stance on remote work.

Here is a company who has been very intentional about empowering their employees to own their decisions by cutting red tape and bureaucracy.

Indeed, one of the examples in the book No Rules Rules is of an employee being able to do their work from a hammock on a beach.

The Culture Map and Netflix Intentionality

Another benefit of remote work is that the company gains access to a wider talent pool by means of being able to hire from anywhere.

Netflix is growing very rapidly internationally, so they know all about the intricacies of hiring across the globe.

One of my favorite parts of Mr. Hastings’ book is the intentionality in which Netflix brings their corporate culture to employees across the globe.

One tool that they use is the Culture Map, written by the Erin Meyer, co-author of No Rules Rules.

There’s one example in No Rules Rules of how a senior leader from America modeled the importance of taking vacations to his team in Japan.

The result was that his team, who apparently are culturally hesitant to take vacations, began taking them.

Building culture is hard

I think sometimes those of us calling for a Remote First mindset in the future of work are a bit flippant about building teamwork and culture.

Teams that trust each other are more productive.

Trust is built over time from thousands of interactions, many of which are not work-related.

When you are around your team in the office, this trust can be built very fast.

When you’re not, this takes a lot longer and can feel unnatural and awkward.

For remote teams, it is good to get together periodically.

And when that’s not possible, you have to make the best of it and push through the awkwardness to get to trust.

The candor and context needed for Netflix’s culture to work would be strained if their teams were full time remote.

Remote work communication is typically written, which loses a significant portion of communication context.

And because its asynchronous, the right timing for Radical Candor is difficult.

Conclusion: remote work takes Netflix Intentionality

From experience, I know that building culture and rapport with a remote team is significantly harder than an in-person team.

Netflix approaches building their corporate culture with extreme intentionality that few companies probably imagine.

Netflix has no doubt counted the cost of growing internationally and weighed the benefits of remote work against the negatives.

From reading No Rules Rules, Netflix already exhibits a Remote First mindset, even if not labeled as such.

If your company is thinking of embracing remote work, make sure you are as intentional as Netflix in building your culture and trust amongst your teams!