How Product and Engineering work at KITE — Remote Distributed Teams

With the pandemic causing many more employees to work from home, we want to share some aspects of how we work as a remote team with a few tips and resources. This is the first in a series of posts (inspired by Basecamp) discussing our culture and workflows. Please reach out if you’re interested in learning more.

Dakota Pfeifer— System Administrator & Software Engineer

• Preferred mode of communication — Meet, Slack, Linear, Notion, Phone (emergencies)
• Favorite apps/websites — Atom, Spotify, Chrome, Google, Medium, Stack Overflow, Reddit, Youtube

Mark Anthony Gamab — Designer

• Preferred mode of communication — Slack, Linear, Notion
• Favorite apps/websites — Figma, Slack, Youtube, Spotify, Serato

Tips for WFH

• Set up a space you’re comfy to work in. Do your best to emulate what you are used to in your home.
• Put yourself on a work schedule. If you work from 9–5, try to work on the same routine. Anything to bring in a sense of normal work hours will help keep you productive.
• Take breaks. Working from home can give you the freedom to be flexible on how and when you work. Easing your way into a schedule by giving yourself breaks will help get you on a productive cycle.
• Exercise. Even a simple stretch can go a long way. Whether you make it part of your break, before you get started or when you are done for the day, getting your body active from sitting long periods of time is important for your physical and mental health.

Extra Credit (things that keep me entertained and inspired):

• Expedition Portal — Adventure Blog/Site
• Expedition Overland — Overland Adventure Youtube Vlog
• UNGRAMR Soundcloud — Mixes from a music collective I’m part of
• LoFi Hip Hop Radio — Youtube live stream of lofi hiphop

Jason Parkyn— Product

Preferred Mode of Communication

• Structured writing in Notion.
• Slack or Meet for everything else.

Favorite

• Apps — Linear, Tempo, Muse, iA Writer, Figma, Things, Reeder, Roam
• Recent Discoveries — Mitsuo Katsui, Caribou BBC Essential Mix, VR-OS, NTS Radio, Zettelkasten

Shawn Deprey— Director of Computer Science

Preferred mode of communication

• Sync — Meet, Zoom, Slack — for immediate issues, meetings
• Async — Slack, Linear, Notion, Email — for everything else

Favorite

• OS/Box — Linux running on a gaming machine.
• Apps — VScode, Spotify.
• Websites — Youtube (For those fire Electro-Swing mixes and Joe Rogan podcasts!)

Tips

• Commit to a schedule. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you don’t need a regular work schedule. You will be more productive if you create and commit to a regular work schedule.
• Commit to focus times and stop times. Time in your work is just as important as time out of your work.
• Make a workspace separate from other spaces. Make an office if you can, but a dedicated work desk works just fine as well!

Aaron Careaga — Director of Engineering

Preferred communication — Meet, Zoom, Slack for immediate discussions. Linear, Notion, Email for everything else.

Favorite — VScode, Figma, Notion, Linear, ProductHunt, Increment, YouTube.

Inspired by — Naval Ravikant, Pieter Levels, Patrick McKenzie, Nadia Eghbal, Ryan Singer, Andreas Klinger, Devon Zuegel, Will Larson, John Cutler, Paul Stamatiou, Jason Fried, Sarah Hum.

Tips

• Marathon, not a race — working remote allows us to reach deep focus and higher levels of productivity. Establish healthy routines in your schedule (start and stop times, breaks) to recharge throughout the day.
• Limit the noise — distractions bombard us from every direction, protect your sanity. Notifications will control you if you don’t control them.
• Invest in your space — make it as comfortable as possible with luxuries such as an ergonomic chair. It’s well worth it.
• Switch it up — occasionally change where you work. I’ve found that working outside can boost creativity.