If you'd like to give it a spin: https://awwapp.com/
All feedback welcome!
Thanks again!
Our solution for "whiteboard simulator" part is http://sketchboard.io that lets team sketch structural diagrams together in real-time.
It is not the same thing as working on a same room locally and use whiteboard since locally you can communicate a lot with your body language as well. But good remote team tools can give you something back.
edit: direct link to the app is https://sketchboard.me.
Yes, you do the Video calls and you've got HipChat and email. But there's something about being there down in the muck with the rest of the team that builds cohesion, camaraderie, and enthusiasm. I say this as someone who doesn't like crowds or lots of noise. It's also really easy to lose the pulse of the group being remote. I can't easily tell how morale is, what the team's general perception of our future is, and I can't head off issues that would have been obvious in person from 180 miles away.
Perhaps some of this is exacerbated by being a remote Co-founder, but I wouldn't do it again if I had the choice. I wouldn't hesitate to hire the right remote developer, but they probably wouldn't ever enter management or be a partner. You really need to be around each other because of all of those side conversations that happen outside of the meetings. That's where the best brainstorming, dreaming, and bonding happens.
Of course managing remotely is different from managing locally. Coding, and actually being a productive knowledge worker, however, really isn't. Luckily, managers already make a large multiple more than most others in the organization, so asking them to adapt and work harder to accomplish their responsibilities should be less of a big deal than dumping that kind of thing on lower level employees who area already generating far more value for the company than they're being paid for.
edit: Oh, and brainstorming is a terrible waste of everyones time and is worse than a total lack of it. Multiple studies have been done and show that brainstorming results in groups taking far worse actions than if they use other methods of coming up with solutions.
This guy is just looking to be contrarian to be contrarian. I'm not sure you're going to want to take his reply as potentially useful.
No, I think this is pretty far off. I knew it'd be different being remote, and I knew I'd have to work harder to be in touch and involved. Being remote ended up working OK, it just wasn't as optimal as being on-site. I missed being there on-site, and felt like I could have been more effective had I been. It wasn't for any lack of desire or effort, it's just a sub-optimal arrangement for us in particular.
The rest of your reply seemed to assume that I thought there'd be no difference in remote vs on-site (which is incorrect), so I won't respond to the rest.
It doesn't do anything for the camaraderie/happiness/emotional aspects mentioned in the article though.
Except that nobody else has a Surface Pro, so the only time I've tried it was with a friend with a Bamboo on the other end. Maybe someday.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Just having long conversations in chat tends to not be productive, but you need chat. Something like Slack is a good choice if you can't get everyone on IRC.
Somewhat still wanting for better "whiteboard simulator" type options.
Ultimately not having an office not only saves the commute, but it saves a lot of thought-cancelling interruptions. People say this is "collaboration", but usually it's just someone being noisy in another department talking about a football game, or someone repeating the required meme / pop-culture reference to hearing a word.
The advantage of having a great home office and being able to play your own music (or not to HAVE to play your own music into headphones) is pretty much priceless.
It does require hiring the right kind of folks and being able to communicate very clearly what you want.
It's especially valuable as I really believe being able to work on what you work on shouldn't be constrained based on where you live, because that's unfair to a lot of smart folks with reasons to not want to live in the half-dozen or so major tech centers. (Or someone gets bored working for the only major software company in town).