The idea that work is something you do, not a place you go, began to take shape in 1995. Yet many companies still struggle with remote work. In this guide, you’ll find best practices refined over nearly two decades to help you create smooth and efficient remote work processes.

First things first: what is remote work for Railsware?

The standard definition of remote work is simple: it’s the ability to perform tasks outside a traditional office. However, from our experience it is more than just working from anywhere—it’s a personal guidebook you write for yourself. It challenges you to discover your most productive hours, refine your time management and master prioritization.

Ultimately, we believe that the most prepared and effective individuals are those who have crafted their remote work style. As a company, we are committed to supporting this journey. That’s why we focus on the following key principles to foster a convenient and productive remote work environment for colleagues from more than 30 countries. Here are some of them:

Personal freedom

We don’t believe in rigid 9-to-5 schedules. Instead, we promote personal freedom in managing the day. While synchronous communication is used for team gatherings, onboarding, one-on-ones, pair programming, and retrospectives, constant meetings should not be always required. To keep workflows efficient, we follow these key guidelines:

• Skip unnecessary video calls for issues that can be handled with a simple message;
• Be clear and follow the documented processes
• Use the time-tracking tool Clockify to optimize task management and improve deadline accuracy through time tracking
• Streamline your meetings using our free calendar analysis template
• Set clear working hours or block time when you’re unavailable.

No fixed job positions or project roles

At our product studio, we focus on two main areas: delivering services and developing our own products. Though the paths differ, with a T-shaped learning approach, we empower Railswarians to transition smoothly between projects without the need for additional onboarding.

Moreover, we avoid traditional hierarchies and micromanagement, focusing instead on trust and autonomy in a remote environment. Regardless of experience, every team member has the freedom to choose their areas of growth and select which projects to work on. This flexibility is key in a remote setup, where everyone can pursue personal development and adapt to different challenges across time zones.

Our approach fosters a culture of continuous learning and collaboration, keeping Railswarians motivated and connected. It’s a strategy that nurtures talent and ensures a strong sense of purpose and excitement in remote teams.

Team collaboration

Work is just one part of life, and promoting a healthy work-life balance is something we genuinely value. Achieving this balance comes down to collaboration, respect, and honesty. Here are a few tips we follow to maintain a positive work environment:

• Clear communication: Document processes and communicate objectives, tasks, and descriptions in a straightforward way—no confusion or unnecessary complexity
• Transparency: Keep everything simple and direct across all channels, from blog posts and social media to Slack messages
• Flexibility: We support team members in exploring the world and joining meetings from around the world
• Engage in interests: Dedicated Slack channels for hobbies, pets, investments, construction, and book clubs provide lively spaces to exchange ideas and inspire each other.

Access to benefits and equipment

As our team grows to 200+ talented individuals from over 30 countries, we’re committed to offering benefits that truly matter. Here’s how we ensure the best experience for every team member:

• Tailored benefits: We regularly research the specific benefits needed in each country to ensure our offerings meet diverse needs
• Flexible vacation policy: Managing an international team has shown us that national holidays and customs vary widely. To address this, we’ve added 10 extra days to our standard 24-day vacation package. This additional time helps accommodate the various national holidays that our Railswarians celebrate around the world
• Comprehensive hardware budget: Each team member can set up their ideal home office, covering all necessary devices and equipment. If needed, our Operations team offers guidance on choosing the right hardware
• Coworking spaces: While remote work is central to our culture, we’re expanding physical locations, including a new Warsaw office and a popular Krakow coworking space, Railswarians can meet and collaborate in person when nearby.

How we manage remote collaboration?

Communication typically falls into two categories: synchronous and asynchronous. Here’s what you need to know:

What is synchronous communication?

The defining characteristic of synchronous communication is that it happens in real-time and requires a real-time response from all participants.

These are the forms of synchronous communication we use at Railsware:

• Daily stand-ups in teams to discuss current progress, ongoing questions, and blockers
• Iteration planning meetings (IPMs) to review a project roadmap, prioritize current tasks, and discuss outcomes
• Retrospective meetings to review project results and sum up what was good and what should be improved next time
• Pair work to collaborate on a particular task or project
• Interviews with candidates
• Onboarding new Railswarians
• One-on-ones and feedback sessions
• All-hands meetings to share important company updates with Railswarians
• Sales calls and meetings with clients
• Calls for networking: random coffee/donut chats in Slack. 

How to master synchronous communication

To make sure Railswarians don’t feel uncomfortable with a large load of meetings, we have a list of conventions teammates should follow when scheduling team calls:

1. Plan team meetings ahead

To make sure attending a meeting is comfortable for all participants, organizers should schedule a call or a video conference 3-4 days in advance.

Here’s a checklist we recommend to use when scheduling team calls:

• Check the availability of all participants;
• Specify the goals of the meeting;
• Share a list of points that will be covered so that all participants can join prepared and get the most out of the conversation;
• Limit and specify the amount of time allocated for the meeting.

2. Be mindful of time differences

While the core team of Railsware is based in Europe, some of our teammates tune into meetings from Latin American countries and the United States. As a result, it takes more time to choose a slot that is suitable for every meeting participant. Here’s how we make scheduling meetings easier:

• All Railswarians indicate their working hours in the calendar to make sure no one bothers them after the workday is over;
• We use FIO, a Google Chrome extension that helps find a suitable meeting time for everyone involved;
• Railswarians keep everyone in the loop by updating their Slack status for real-time availability and using calendar updates to show when they’ll be free in the future. Therefore Slack handles the quick check-ins, while calendars are there for all the planning ahead.

3. Improve the call quality

We encourage Railswarians to implement the following workplace tweaks to improve video and audio quality:

• Test the Internet speed and choose a plan that supports 100 MB/s connection per device. For better quality, use a wired Internet connection;
• Use headphones with a focused microphone (our Operations team helps out with choosing the right model; the company also covers hardware expenses);
• Choose a quiet workplace or install noise-canceling extensions (some of our teammates use Krisp).

4. Record crucial meetings

We record important synchronous meetings to make sure that no important detail is lost or ignored and that those teammates who couldn’t make it to the meeting can catch up on the content and the outcome.

Tools for synchronous communication

• Slack for daily communication, team meetings, and stand-ups;
• Google Meet for group meetings, team gatherings, and calls with clients and candidates;
• Calendly for scheduling meetings without back-and-forth communication to find a perfect meeting time;
• Jira Checklist and Templates for Strategy Planning;
• Figma for brainstorming and inception strategies.

However, the options listed are not exhaustive—Railswarians are free to explore other tools that best meet their needs, such as Zoom, Notion, and more.

What is asynchronous communication?

While we use real-time chats and meetings to quickly address urgent issues, our preferred method for managing projects is asynchronous communication. This approach allows team members to process information at their own pace and respond thoughtfully, without the pressure of immediate availability.

For example, Railswarians choose asynchronous communication for the following scenarios:

• Sharing large-scale updates and news;
• Making edits and running code reviews;
• Introducing new hires;
• Surveys;
• Pull requests.

How to master asynchronous communication

1. Reliable Infrastructure

Managing multiple projects simultaneously requires a well-organized communication system. To avoid confusion and streamline our workflow, we set up Slack channels and threads for each project and topic. This approach prevents task overlap and ensures that communication remains clear and efficient, protecting our teammates’ productivity. For example #craft-pr-guild.

2. Overcommunication

We believe in being as explicit as possible when sharing ideas or asking questions. Here’s how we ensure clarity in our communication:

• Add Context: Attach any links, screenshots, or examples needed to get your point across. It’s especially helpful when you’re aiming to grab someone’s attention and ensure they understand fully.
• Use Clarity Tools: We use Grammarly and the Hemingway app to make sure our messages are clear and easy to follow, so there’s no room for confusion.
• Be Explicit: Our rule of thumb is, “If you’re wondering whether to say it, go ahead and say it.” This keeps misunderstandings at bay and ensures all the necessary information is shared.
• Follow-up: Don’t forget to circle back with updates or mark tasks as done—this keeps everyone informed and aligned.

And a fun tip: emojis are a big part of our style, making communication feel even more natural and engaging.

3. Response Deadline

Thoughtful responses are crucial for effective asynchronous communication. To maintain workplace discipline, we set a 24-hour response deadline. This timeframe ensures that silence doesn’t disrupt the workflow and helps keep projects on track.

Tools for asynchronous communication

• Slack: For sharing small updates and organizing project discussions;
• Vimeo, Quicktime, Screenflow: For creating and sharing video updates and visual instructions;
• Figma: For designing and prototyping;
• Coupler.io and Zapier: For automating repetitive tasks and creating custom integrations.
• G Suite (Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Docs): For data management and document sharing;
• Google Slides, Prezi, Slido: For presentations and guides;
• For surveys and feedback, we use Slack Polls, Google Forms, Airtable, Confluence, and Typeform, along with email and Railsware polls for requests like security or pay portal access.

Staying on top of projects when working from home: Railswarians’ tips

You’ve probably come across countless tips on making remote work enjoyable and productive—even if you’re wrangling kids, a cat, and a dog. But here’s the real deal: we’re dishing out secrets from our own team members who’ve been rocking remote work from Day 1. They’ve turned their home offices into productivity zones and managed to keep things lively and fun.

“

Julia Romanenkova

Product Lead

Don’t rush to solve issues #sync – see if it can be done #async. In some cases, if you start writing down your thoughts, you will find the right solution. In my opinion, writing things down helps organize your thoughts and see the issue from different angles. Having said that, I believe that really important info should always be transferred #sync, even if you discussed it in writing before. For example, your ideas that can change the course of the solution, or personal issues that you want to voice. When using #async, use direct messages in Slack carefully, as direct messages are perceived to be of higher priority. Try not to use direct messages if there is a relevant channel; this also helps other team members to stay in the context. Use direct messages to discuss something only you two should know about, stuff that is not relevant to any channels, or a personal topic.

“

When working asynchronously, you see a constant stream of tasks and messages. Thus, you may feel overwhelmed and lost. For example, if using Slack for async communication, be aware of features such as Slack bot reminders that help you manage communication. I set up reminders to add important stuff to my to-do list or group channels. In my opinion, focus management is more essential than time management nowadays. I believe we should not jump from one context to another – instead, allocate time for focusing on key tasks and cut unnecessary distractions. For example, in the People Team at Railsware, we allocate one full day during the week to perform operational tasks. On this day, we don’t hold any calls or meetings. Thus, we stay focused and productive. During sync communication, everyone should be aware of their roles: there should be a note-taker, a moderator, etc. This way, you’ll get the most out of each meeting.

Anastasiia Honcharova

Operations Director

“

Anton Sivakov

Full-Stack Engineer

Here’s what I try to keep in mind when working remotely. When you switch to work remotely from the office you might need to change the way you are working. Think asynchronously – don’t expect people to respond immediately. Don’t respond immediately either – take your time to reflect on a question. Don’t react to each notification you get. Use tools that help streamline video conferences (I rely on annotating and screen sharing features). Record your meetings and share them with teammates who are involved in the project. Have non-work-related team meetings to improve soft skills and protect mental health.

The key takeaway

In the sea of remote work tips, one crucial lesson we’ve learned is that working remotely isn’t just about having the right equipment and managing an online calendar. It’s about creating a flexible, well-structured system that keeps everyone from getting lost in a jumble of tasks—whether it’s balancing childcare, fixing bugs, washing dishes, or prepping for a brainstorming session. Remote work offers fantastic personal insights, but it requires the right organization to truly shine.