Modern Work Principles
Principle 1:
A team's highest priority is to deliver business value as quickly and efficiently as possible, while keeping work sustainable and rewarding for its members.
Principle 2:
The best managers focus on outputs and outcomes instead of hours worked or messages sent.
Principle 3:
Creating a calm, sustainable team culture with no surprises and few fire drills leads to faster velocity and better work.
Principle 4:
Projects must always start with the end in mind: work must have a goal and success metrics that are shared upfront and are aligned with all tactics and tasks.
Principle 5:
The single most important way to go faster is to structure work at every phase through defined templates, roles, and processes.
Principle 6:
Collaboration should always start with a document instead of a meeting.
Principle 7:
The more you ask for feedback, the better your end work will be.
Principle 8:
Real-time conversations are best for complex topics without yes/no answers, and should still be intentionally planned and documented.
Principle 9:
Progress and updates should be tracked and shared asynchronously in documents, not discussed in real-time meetings.
Principle 10:
Defaulting to transparency through documentation enables more autonomy, higher quality work, better decisions, and fewer meetings and messages.
Principle 11:
The work of work—creating structured processes and documentation—should be simple, cheap, and flexible.
Principle 12:
Team members are most productive when they have the flexibility to choose the schedule and locations that work best for them.
1
A team's highest priority is to deliver business value as quickly and efficiently as possible, while keeping work sustainable and rewarding for its members.
2
The single most important way to go faster is to structure work at every phase through defined templates, roles, and processes.
3
The more you ask for feedback, the better your end work will be.
4
Defaulting to transparency through documentation enables more autonomy, higher quality work, better decisions, and fewer meetings and messages.
5
Collaboration should always start with a document instead of a meeting.
6
The work of work—creating structured processes and documentation—should be simple, cheap, and flexible.
7
Real-time conversations are best for complex topics without yes/no answers, and should still be intentionally planned and documented.
8
The best managers focus on outputs and outcomes instead of hours worked or messages sent.
9
Creating a calm, sustainable team culture with no surprises and few fire drills leads to faster velocity and better work.
10
Projects must always start with the end in mind: work must have a goal and success metrics that are shared upfront and are aligned with all tactics and tasks.
11
Progress and updates should be tracked and shared asynchronously in documents, not discussed in real-time meetings.
12
Team members are most productive when they have the flexibility to choose the schedule and locations that work best for them.
Finally, we believe these ideas can be championed by anyone inside a team, are useful for every function, and are relevant to companies at every stage of growth.
