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Automattic: Building Virtual Teams and Happy Tools

Automattic: Building Virtual Teams and Happy Tools
Case Code: HROB218
Case Length: 9 Pages
Period: 2005-2020
Pub Date: 2020
Teaching Note: Available
Price: Rs.200
Organization: Automattic Inc.
Industry: :Technology & Communications
Countries: United States
Themes: Team Management, Organizational Design Leadership & Values,Employee Development
Automattic: Building Virtual Teams and Happy Tools
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts

Abstract

The case ‘Automattic: Building Virtual Teams And Happy Tools’ describes the key factors that helped Automattic Inc. (Automattic), a San Francisco, US, based company operate remotely almost entirely since it was founded in 2005 by Matt Mullenweg (Mullenweg). Automattic began operating from the very beginning as a distributed company where employees had the option of working either from its offices or from any coffee shop or co-working space near them. The company did not have fixed office hours and productivity was measured based on the final outcome. Mullenweg designed Automattic to accommodate growth based on core beliefs such as open communication and feedback that significantly contributed to the employees’ ability to work in a distributed and remote manner. The core beliefs at Automattic stemmed from Mullenweg’s experience in building an open source business model at his previous venture WordPress.

Automattic had a comprehensive field guide which was the central knowledge repository for the company’s processes. It worked on the principle of trust and any employee could update the internal documentation. As a fully remote company, Automattic ensured that all employees understood and embodied the belief in open communication on a daily basis. To facilitate this, the company used private or instantaneous internal conversation systems such as P2s, Slack 3, and video hangouts and avoided using e-mails. Automatticians were encouraged to demand constructive feedback from their managers. The managers were also encouraged to improve their feedback skills and learn from how other managers gave feedback. In addition, an all-company Grand Meetup was organized once a year as well as Team Meet-ups where teams met for five to seven days to brainstorm team-level strategy and bond with each other over activities, dinner, and conversations.

As part of its hiring strategy, Automattic selected people who were self-starters/had a high degree of independence, valued continuous learning, and were receptive to feedback. Applicants were asked to undertake a short, paid trial with the company and it selected individuals who were long-term team players rather than short term problem solvers. In 2019, Automattic launched a suite of products called ‘Happy Tools’ based on internal tools initially designed for its remote distributed working spanning many time zones.

Issues

The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:

  • Understand the importance of having guidelines and processes to facilitate remote working.
  • Learn about activities that facilitate remote working.
  • Understand the role of day-to-day open communication in a remote set-up.
  • Become aware of the different tools that support teleworking.
  • Learn about the importance of regular meet-ups in distributed teams.

Contents

Keywords

Organizational Design; Remote Working; Distributed teams; Open Communications; Constructive feedback; Continuous Learning; Team Building; Trust and Motivation; Remote work culture; Freemium business model

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