Why This Matters
As companies worldwide brace for a hybrid work future, here is a framework to provide inspiration towards an asynchronous, remote-friendly culture where everyone is on a level playing field regardless of location.
The Five Levels of Autonomy
Via Distributed Work’s Five Levels of Autonomy by Matt Mullenweg. A journey from one company’s cautious exploration of remote possibilities to another’s fully realized distributed experience.
Level Zero means a job which cannot be done unless you are physically there. Think barista, massage therapist, firefighter.
Level One no deliberate effort to make things remote-friendly. Much of the world before COVID-19, work happens on company equipment, in company space, on company time.
Level Two everything is still synchronous. 8 hours of Zoom means a day full of interruptions and dependent on real-time meetings for access to information. With the added anxiety of managing productivity without seeing each other.
Level Three is remote-first and starts to see the full benefits of a distributed model. Equal playing field by adopting better tools for flexibility and autonomy (home office, lighting/audio/video). Shared Google Docs with real-time notes, recording the meeting to watch it later, sped up. Written communication takes on more importance. Travel often to bond as a team.
Level Four is when things go truly asynchronous. More inclusive, tap into a world-wide talent pool. Slower, more deliberate decision-making that includes more voices. You evaluate people’s work on what they produce, not how or when they produce it. This is where Automattic is today.
Level Five is nirvana. Teams consistently perform better than any in-person organization could. Practical example of passing the torch worldwide, across time zones, to get 15 work days out of a 5-day work week.
Resources
- Distributed.blog podcast & tools from Automattic
- Twist Remote Work Guides from Doist
- The move toward asynchronous communication — inspired by this framework
The Full Stack Leader 
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