Think back to when quarantines were just a trope in zombie apocalypse flicks. For many, Zoom was a loose acquaintance, and remote work was a distant dream. Then, the pandemic hit: Professionals everywhere found themselves thrust into the virtual workplace, far from crumbly break room donuts, desk-side chitchat and any semblance of normalcy.
Despite its harried, quarantine-born beginnings, remote work has become a beloved element of the post-pandemic workforce. Recent studies show that, when given the option, 87 percent of professionals would choose a hybrid work setup. Fortunately for humans everywhere, the tech industry's tectonic shifts have given companies the opportunity to harness the best of both worlds.
Jose Bethancourt, CEO of Method Financial, revels in the limitless reach of remote hiring. “The single greatest benefit has been the opportunity to hire phenomenal talent based anywhere in the country,” Bethancourt said. “Emphasizing our work model in job descriptions has opened the door to building a diverse team with incredible skills.”
Managing a hybrid team, CrowdStrike Senior Sales Development Manager Kristan Caballero leverages in-person connection when the time is right. “A hybrid model has given us back the things we all craved while we were fully remote, like better collaboration and a real sense of office culture,” Caballero said. But when a project calls for solitary focus, Caballero acknowledges the need to give her team space to work remotely: “Being in the office is a cup-filler for human connection, but it can make it more challenging to stay on task in the ways we might at home.”
As tech companies expand their hiring footprint, the key to utilizing the benefits of both remote and in-person work is planning with intention. As Caballero noted, “Everyone’s time is valuable.” Hybrid work gives tech companies the flexibility to honor its employees’ time by scheduling in-office time with care. Built In Austin sat down with CrowdStrike and Method Financial to learn more about their methods for maximizing the power of the hybrid workplace.
CrowdStrike provides cloud-delivered next-generation endpoint protection. CrowdStrike utilizes next-generation antivirus (AV), endpoint detection and response (EDR) and a 24/7 managed hunting service — all delivered via a single lightweight agent. Of the company’s hybrid work model, Sales Development Senior Manager Kristan Caballero is thrilled by the return of in-person collaboration: “We all needed and deeply missed the social interaction piece that wasn’t captured in the same way in those first and last minutes of a scheduled Zoom.”
Tell us a little bit about your company’s hybrid remote work model.
Crowdstrike’s Sales Development organization currently uses a hybrid model with two days in-office and three days remote — so our people can enjoy the advantages that come with both working from home and being in the office.
We stagger our teams so some of them are in on Mondays and Wednesdays, and some are in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have plenty of flexibility, so if a few folks need to come in on a different day, there is space available for them.
Since returning to the office part time, we’ve seen the return of the fun, competitive sales development floor we all know and love.”
What’s the greatest benefit your company has seen from transitioning to a hybrid remote model?
What the team was still able to accomplish during COVID was extraordinary, with continued year-over-year growth, pipeline contribution and workarounds for team building.
However, one of the things that makes the SDR role so incredible is the in-person, team environment where we celebrate booking client meetings by hitting the gong — or overhear excellent objection handling live on the floor. Since returning to the office part time, we’ve seen the return of the fun, competitive sales development floor we all know and love.
We’ve seen increased efficiency in onboarding, faster turnaround on time-sensitive projects and the ability to get key facetime with other organizations and leaders that can be harder to make happen organically over Zoom.
What’s one challenge you’ve encountered while implementing a hybrid remote model?
As a management team we are still learning what the ideal schedule looks like for each of us and our teams. In theory, it’s ideal to do all one-on-ones, team meetings and trainings in-person, but with a hybrid schedule and busy reps and managers, it isn’t logistically possible or necessary.
Everyone’s time is valuable, and we’re still trying to find a balance between what to schedule in-person and what to schedule virtually. More collaboration and facetime often means more distractions. However, we have resources like smaller rooms when extra focus is required.
Method Financial is an application programming interface (API) designed to make it easy for developers to embed debt repayment on their apps as well as instantly access users' debt portfolio using just their phone number — no login credentials required. CEO Jose Bethancourt prioritizes the quality of work over scheduling. “At the end of the day, we care about the impact of the team’s work, not the specific hours they’re working. Our philosophies provide a better work-life balance for our teammates,” he told Built In Austin.
Tell us a little bit about your company’s hybrid remote work model.
We’re a remote-first company — though our founding team is headquartered in Austin, Texas. We’ve built our remote work model around a virtual community, ensuring open communication, trust and inclusion.
Our virtual open door policy allows teammates to drop a line to discuss anything on their minds, helping them feel like they’re working with Method, not for Method.”
Our daily team syncs allow everyone to contribute both business updates and personal updates: this typically involves my team making fun of how many coffees I drink a day. In parallel with a daily check-in, we have an asynchronous communication style: teammates continuously ask each other questions and provide updates via Slack. This works as a way for folks to operate uninterrupted without the pressure of having to be online twenty-four-seven.
Since we have teammates across the country, including in Austin, Miami and Washington, DC, we schedule monthly off-sites at a local WeWork. These week-long meetups are mainly used to strategize from a business perspective and celebrate hitting milestones as a team. Our latest was in Miami.
We believe people do their best work when they’re healthy and happy. Our virtual open door policy allows teammates to drop a line to discuss anything on their minds, helping them feel like they’re working with Method, not for Method.
What’s the greatest benefit your company has seen from transitioning to a hybrid remote model?
Our most recent employee survey showed working remotely actually boosted productivity and provided greater satisfaction both professionally and personally for our team.
From a purely business perspective, the lowered overhead expenses allow us to offer teammates $3,000 per year on making their work-from-home setup comfortable, buying a standing desk, ergonomic chair, co-working subscription — as well as the means to expense $1,000 per year on their personal development and learning like Headspace, MasterClass, books and more. Additionally, it’s also enabled us to contribute up to $5,250 per year towards our employees’ student loans.
Going back to our virtual open door policy: If teammates ever need anything specific to be successful in their role, they can just ask.
What’s one challenge you’ve encountered while implementing a hybrid remote model, and how has your company overcome it?
During onboarding, we emphasize how important communication is for the team. While communication does require a bit of an extra effort given our fully remote environment, we have found there are far fewer downsides than upsides. The key is to implement the right planning and preparation well ahead of time and onboard new hires strategically.
Method’s monthly company off-sites provide teammates with the social interaction they may be lacking on a daily basis as well as the motivation to meet their targets — arguably one of the biggest challenges associated with a fully remote model. We believe it’s each individual’s responsibility to keep themselves organized and ensure they have everything needed to operate at a high level. We’re far from micromanagers!
