I nonetheless get a jolt each time my cellphone lights up with a notification about an electronic mail from my now supervisor, Hailley Griffis.
After weeks on tenterhooks whereas I went by the applying and interview course of for my dream job — checking my cellphone at each out there second for a ‘You’re by to the subsequent spherical’ electronic mail — it’s a tricky behavior to interrupt.
I’ve been Buffer’s latest content material author for just a little over 30 days, and it nonetheless feels just a little surreal that I’m right here. I made it.
I nearly didn’t ship my utility. I knew it might be aggressive — Buffer’s values and perks are like a sirensong for gifted folks everywhere in the world — and, you realize, imposter syndrome is a factor. (I wasn’t incorrect. Hailley and the staff acquired over 1,500 purposes for the position! She wrote about how they dealt with the tidal wave of wonderful candidates in The Content material Author Function at Buffer: What We Regarded For In Purposes).
I’m undoubtedly glad I didn’t understand how stiff the competitors can be getting in, as I doubt I’d have had the boldness to use. (As an apart: that is your signal to shoot your shot. You by no means know what may occur.)
Regardless, I’m so grateful I used to be in a position to ignore that little naysayer in my head and take the leap! Working at Buffer has been every thing I hoped it might be — and an enormous studying curve.
Right here, I’ll share precisely how I used to be onboarded to the absolutely distributed, distant staff, together with a few issues which have actually stunned me about life at Buffer as I bought settled in.
The one with the provide
I had my last interview with Buffer founder and CEO Joel Gascoigne on my birthday — and discovered I bought the position that very same day!
I used to be having fun with a birthday dinner with household, my cellphone inside attain so I may obsessively test my emails when it lit up with a Gmail notification. An electronic mail from Hailley. My first thought was: “There’s no approach they’d have let me know this quickly. They dominated me out after my interview with Joel. It’s over.”
After which I learn the topic line: “We’d love to ask you to hitch the Buffer journey, Kirsti!”
I let loose a sound someplace between a squeal and a squawk, which had my sister and her fiancé going, “What? What? What occurred? Did you hear again?”
I informed them. Cue tears. Extra squawk-squeals all-round. Even our waiter was very excited.
When the hubbub had subsided, I learn Hailley’s electronic mail a number of extra occasions to ensure I understood every thing — it was a prolonged one. In it, she had outlined every thing in regards to the job provide, together with:
She additionally flagged Buffer’s wage transparency coverage: “Another component that I do know you’re conscious of however I needed to say once more is that we attempt to dwell our price of transparency by sharing our salaries brazenly,” she wrote. “In the event you select to return on board with us, we would like you to be absolutely conscious that your first title, metropolis, and wage will likely be added to our clear record right here.”
This was one of many first issues Joel and I had mentioned in our interview, so I used to be already absolutely conscious of and on board with this.
I fortunately accepted the provide then and there. Hailley was thrilled to listen to from me so quickly, and I heard from her once more earlier than the night time was out (she is a few hours behind me). Subsequent, I ought to anticipate to listen to from Jenna Meindertsma from the Folks Operations staff, she mentioned.
“She’s going to attain out with extra data quickly and assist get your accounts provisioned so you’ll be able to log in to every thing in your first day. I am going to additionally arrange an onboarding doc that you will have upfront — you will probably be on-line earlier than me so we’ll guarantee you may have every thing for everytime you begin your day.”
My Buffer onboarding
Onboarding at a completely distant firm is difficult. There’s nobody to greet you whenever you stroll within the door, hand over your gear, provide you with a tour, and introduce you to everybody. To make issues much more difficult, Buffer is absolutely distributed. We’ve teammates in 53 cities in 20 totally different nations. Timezone overlap is a problem, to say the least.
However Buffer has been absolutely distant since 2012, so that they’ve put lots of work into serving to new teammates from Toronto to Thailand really feel welcome and productive.
Right here’s a take a look at the way it works.
Gearing up
I heard from Jenna a number of days later, a couple of week forward of my begin date. She shared every thing I may anticipate over the course of the subsequent few weeks and requested me to fill out some kinds with further data they wanted to get me arrange. Her electronic mail included a well-chosen GIF, which summed up my emotions fairly nicely:
She additionally shared extra in regards to the residence workplace stipend, which I used to be actually enthusiastic about. I’ve been working remotely since 2021, so I already had the necessities within the residence workplace I share with my husband. Nonetheless, I’d lengthy been trying to improve my area for productiveness.
“In the event you’re curious about beginning to arrange (or replace) your house workplace, we offer a $1,000 allowance to reimburse you for any prices to create a comfortable work-from-home area,” Jenna wrote. “We even have a further, yearly $250 private gear stipend for ongoing work wants! These stipends don’t expire so that you’re welcome to make use of them sooner or later as nicely.”
I’m a type of people who want a number of screens to be at my most effective, so I purchased an additional monitor for my desk, some new earbuds (mine had given up the ghost), plus a very enjoyable RGB mouse.
The day earlier than I used to be attributable to begin, Jenna despatched me one other electronic mail that included every thing I wanted to know in regards to the numerous instruments and software program I’d must set as much as get cracking on my first day (together with one other glorious GIF).
As a little bit of a geek, I couldn’t resist getting every thing sorted the night time earlier than so I’d have the ability to bounce straight into onboarding on my day one. Jenna had despatched an invitation to Google Workspace over to my private account, so I may get my buffer.com electronic mail sorted. (Seeing my title adopted by ‘@buffer.com’ almost had me tearing up once more.)
As soon as I had logged into my Buffer electronic mail account, I discovered invitations to all the opposite important instruments I’d be utilizing ready for me in my inbox. “Be looking out for a lengthier electronic mail from me with extra particulars relating to which instruments to make use of for what and which of them we’d suggest getting arrange first!” she added.
Per her directions, I dutifully created accounts on Okta, a workforce administration device, Slack, Threads (not the Meta model — this one is a Slack different, however extra on this beneath), and crucially, Dropbox, the place my onboarding paperwork lived.
“Hailley will likely be reaching out to you to talk and guarantee you may have every thing you want,” Jenna added. “We’ve additionally paired you with a tradition and position buddy who will information you thru your first 90 days at Buffer. Please take a break anytime your mind and/or eyes damage from all of the display screen time!”
With that, I used to be all set for my first day at Buffer.
Week 1
My Cape City timezone is many hours forward of Hailley and a lot of the remainder of the Advertising staff. My fellow content material author, Tami Oladipo, who relies in Nigeria, is simply an hour forward of me, however because of Buffer’s absolutely versatile approach of working, she comes on-line later within the day and works into the night. So after I logged on at 9 am on my first day, I used to be alone for the primary few hours.
However because of the 2 meaty onboarding paperwork ready for me — together with some beautiful feedback from my new staff and a welcome video that gave me the nice and cozy fuzzies — I used to be all set.
There have been two paperwork I lived by in my first few weeks at Buffer: my cultural onboarding and 30/60/90 say plan. As time has worn on, I’ve been in a position to check with them a bit much less, however they nonetheless have pleasure of place on my bookmarks bar.
A lot of my first week (which, since I began on a Tuesday and we’ve got a four-day workweek at Buffer, was solely three days) was spent pouring over these paperwork. This additionally concerned working my approach by the deep library of assets these docs linked to, and ticking off numerous onboarding duties in my guidelines.
Buffer’s Cultural Onboarding doc
I wasn’t kidding about this doc being a meaty one — 4,169 phrases and 30,790 characters lengthy. (Sure, I checked.) It detailed precisely what I may anticipate over the approaching 4 weeks and past: an introduction to my onboarding staff, a high-level overview of Buffer’s numerous techniques and processes, a number of further assets to learn by, and a guidelines of duties to finish.
It was so much to absorb, and greater than just a little intimidating. What helped is that the staff actually acknowledged this — this is without doubt one of the paragraphs that helped put my thoughts comfy:
“The very first thing to bear in mind is that we hope you may have enjoyable! Onboarding and being a part of a small enterprise could be annoying at occasions. Attempt to take pleasure in it. One of many measures of success we’d such as you to make use of to evaluate your onboarding will likely be whether or not you’re having fun with your work and your staff every day. We don’t take this work frivolously, however we do acknowledge that we’re very fortunate to be doing it collectively. Attempt to take a couple of minutes day by day to have fun the methods during which this work brings you pleasure.”
My Onboarding Group
Once I suppose again on this section of my onboarding, I prefer to image Hailley, Tami, Julia, and Jenna performing some form of superhero slow-motion stroll, Guardians of the Galaxy-style. They had been actually the heroes of serving to me settle in so rapidly at Buffer, and made me really feel protected and welcome from the get-go.
Right here’s a top level view of their roles in my onboarding, straight from my doc.
Supervisor: Hailley Griffis: You’ve probably already met along with your supervisor a handful of occasions in the course of the interview course of, they’re excited to start working with you!
Function Buddy: Tami Oladipo: Your position buddy will information you thru the specifics of your position at Buffer. They are going to be your go-to for all role-related questions.
Tradition Buddy: Julia Cummings: Your tradition buddy will information you thru studying Buffer’s tradition (values, transparency, communication, and extra). They need to be your go-to for all culture-related questions.
Jenna Meindertsma: Jenna will likely be helping with the logistics of your onboarding, and is your go-to for any questions on instruments or accounts.
I’ve been assembly with Hailley, Tami, and Julia weekly since I first began at Buffer, and chatting to Jenna often on Slack. I beloved the compartmentalization of this — I knew precisely who I may converse to about what. It additionally meant I wasn’t pinging Hailley always for the primary few weeks (although I did {that a} good bit anyway…).
30/60/90-Day Plan
My inside Hermione Granger loves a little bit of construction and thrives when what is predicted of me is clearly laid out — so she is a big fan of this doc. My 30/60/90-day plan went deeper on precisely what I’d want to perform in my first 4 weeks and what success in my position would appear like past the 30-day mark.
It supplied extra perception into how the Advertising and Content material groups labored and linked out to a complete bunch of undertaking and archive paperwork that painted a full image of every thing we had been engaged on and why.
My private favourite right here was Hailley’s ‘A Historical past of Our Weblog’s Efficiency and Content material Group (2023)’ — as wealthy and various as you’d anticipate from a weblog that began approach again in 2011. She included a video of herself strolling by the doc as nicely, which I absorbed like a podcast as I poured over the historical past of our analytics.
Paperwork like this have been extremely precious to me as I get settled in.
A Buffer historical past lesson
Getting to grasp the ‘why’ of a enterprise is a luxurious most staff don’t have — however Buffer’s default to transparency — and a deep library of documentation — means main moments within the firm’s historical past are all out there for perusal.
Buffer’s historical past has formed a lot of the way in which we work now that I discovered myself scouring the assorted articles in our Open Weblog and documentation on Notion (extra on that Notion area later) for an enormous chunk of my first week.
A extremely attention-grabbing instance of that is how the Buffer values developed over time — they’re comparable, however not precisely the identical as these the corporate began out with. One other fascinating look backstage is Joel’s publish, Reflecting on 10 Years of Constructing Buffer, which uncovers every thing from the start of the product, why he and the opposite firm leaders on the time determined to not promote, shopping for out buyers, and extra.
A really Buffery welcome
The spotlight of my first week was, undoubtedly, my welcome thread.
As is customary follow for brand new Bufferoos, Hailley took to Threads to share that I had simply joined the staff, together with a bit extra about me (some enjoyable stuff Jenna had requested for in these early emails).
I anticipated a few emojis and possibly a handful of messages, however the type feedback I acquired on that thread had been the present that saved on giving — and my first take a look at how Buffer’s values (significantly ‘present gratitude’ and ‘select optimism’) had been put into follow.
The thread spawned conversations about cozy video games, parenting, and fantasy books that lasted weeks, and it was superb to seek out widespread floor with my new teammates on issues that meant a lot to me. 1000’s of miles aside although we had been, it made me really feel linked to them.
Week 2: Discovering my ft
In week two, I used to be able to roll up my sleeves and get to work on my new job: creating content material for the Buffer weblog. However earlier than I get into that, one thing I do know many individuals are inquisitive about: how we work at Buffer.
How we work
Once I began writing this text, I shared on ballot on Twitter and LinkedIn asking people what they’d most prefer to learn about life at Buffer. Overwhelmingly, the response was ‘How we work’. Since this was the week I actually bought to grips with the assorted techniques and processes, I assumed it might be value unpacking right here.
That can assist you perceive how we work at Buffer, the perfect factor to do is clarify how we talk, since good communication is absolutely the spine of every thing we accomplish.
Once more, no imply feat when you may have teammates working in timezones that span 20 nations. That is the place some clear tips turn out to be useful. Whereas all the assorted groups on the firm put their very own spin on this, right here’s the gist, proper out of our firm handbook on Notion:
- Slack: For enjoyable informal chatter, together with real-time collaboration and notifications.
- Threads: Collaboration, decision-making, and inside data sharing.
- Notion: The place we preserve our handbook, which incorporates details about our insurance policies, practices, and tradition. That is the perfect place to retailer reference materials that teammates could wish to check with often. We even have an “inside collaboration” part of Notion, which is used for clear undertaking monitoring.
- Paper (by Dropbox): For in-progress paperwork. Right here you will discover notes for conferences, brainstorming, proposals, and extra. When what you are engaged on is finalized, take into account archiving it, or copying the content material to Notion if others will likely be referencing it.
- Zoom: Video chat device the place we maintain most conferences.
- Electronic mail: Primarily for speaking externally. Please use cc and bcc to maintain issues internally clear when applicable. Some teammates additionally use electronic mail to observe notifications from different instruments.
Together with the instruments we use to speak, we even have etiquette tips to clarify how (particularly vital when some teammates’ peak work time is the midnight for others). Amongst these, you’ll discover ideas like:
- Verify all communication instruments each workday. Some teammates choose to make use of every device’s notification system, whereas some use their electronic mail to handle and triage these notifications. Both approach, just remember to have a system that works for you.
- Please reply or emoji-react to all DMs on to you, in addition to messages that tag you.
- We attempt to be versatile with one another when potential. If you find yourself in a position, please be keen to maneuver a gathering, stand up early, or keep on late to make it simpler for an additional teammate to take part in a synchronous dialogue. They’ll do the identical for you.
- We attempt to be constructive, clear, and sort in the way in which we converse to one another. That is partially attributable to our values (for instance, optimism and gratitude), and partially as a result of it’s not as simple to “hear” somebody’s tone in a written format like Slack or Threads. Don’t fear about mimicking this; simply be your type self. When doubtful, use “further phrases” and emojis to convey your tone.
Going dwell
We had our bi-monthly editorial assembly in my first week, the place I used to be assigned my very first weblog publish. It was as a part of our Ask Buffer collection, answering a query we’d had from a reader: Ask Buffer: How Many Social Media Platforms Ought to a Small Enterprise Be Lively On?
A number of days earlier than publishing, I despatched over a high-level define to Hailley, to which she added a few feedback and ideas. A day or two after that, I filed a draft of the total article. On condition that the reply to this query, in a nutshell, is: “It is dependent upon a complete host of things,” I could have gone just a little too deep in my first draft, and there was some work to be executed.
Fortunately, Hailley’s suggestions was considerate, type, and inspiring, so this didn’t go away me feeling despondent. We labored on the tweaks collectively, and the article went dwell in line with our content material calendar — and seeing my byline on the Buffer weblog was one other close-to-tears second for me.
Weeks 3-4: Hitting my stride
I’d go into element about how the Buffer content material staff works right here, however since Hailley has executed an excellent job explaining all this in her article, How Buffer’s Content material Group Collaborates + Our Content material Calendar Template, I’ll level you in that course for extra.
As is clearly outlined in my onboarding docs, I’m typically anticipated to finish three issues each week:
- One new article
- One content material refresh (sharpening up a number of the older content material on our weblog)
- Getting concerned within the Buffer neighborhood
On prime of this, I’ve been given the area to take the lead on some longer-term initiatives — I’m taking over a bit extra accountability in the neighborhood, plus two Search engine optimisation-related weblog clean-up initiatives, that are already proving to be enjoyable and difficult!
As I’ve gotten settled in and extra snug with Buffer’s techniques, instruments, and processes, my productiveness has elevated week-on-week, and I’m comfortable to report I’m assembly my position expectations each week — in some, even managing to squeeze in an additional article or refresh.
I’m discovering my articles want much less modifying as I adapt to the Buffer tone and elegance, too — largely because of Hailley’s thorough explainers in all of the feedback she leaves in my drafts, relatively than simply making the edits herself.
30-day overview
Because the 30-day mark drew nearer (it got here round very quickly!), Jenna popped me a message to remind me about my 30-day self-review.
This was in my onboarding doc, so I knew it was coming: after their first month on the staff, Bufferoos and their onboarding buddies are requested to fill out evaluations (this can occur on the 60 and 90-day marks, too).
The questions I answered included:
- How is the brand new position and Buffer as an organization lining as much as your preliminary expectations?
- What’s going nicely?
- What targets do you wish to set for the subsequent 30 days?
These turned out to be fairly helpful for this text — a lot of what I’ve unpacked beneath got here from my self-review musings! Additionally, on the time of scripting this, I simply bought off a name with Hailley on my 30-day overview from my onboarding buddies, which I’m comfortable to report had been constructive!
3 issues I discovered stunning after becoming a member of Buffer
The Buffer Values are felt in every single place
From the second I joined the staff, I used to be struck by how nicely folks talk with one another — not solely when it comes to effectiveness however kindness, too. The Buffer values shine by in a lot of what we put out into the world — however I’ve felt it most in how everybody engages with one another.
Speaking the necessities succinctly but in addition in a tactful, optimistic approach is absolutely an artwork and a science. Having come from organizations the place outcomes and effectivity are prized above all else, it’s been like a breath of recent air to interact with individuals who worth their relationships with one another as a lot as they do the work.
It’s genuinely versatile working
There isn’t a clock-watching — or relatively, Slack-watching — right here in any respect. Versatile working is one thing that just about each firm I’ve labored for has marketed, however by no means actually put into follow.
However at Buffer, folks outline once they work and are trusted to get the job executed. Whether or not meaning they’re out there on Slack from 9 am to five pm their time, or choose to work on and off between errands or caring for his or her children. There’s a give and take right here, as you’ll have picked up in our communications steerage. Timezone overlap points may imply you’re round just a little earlier or later than common for some conferences, however you’re free to adapt your working day to make this give you the results you want.
Talking of children: as luck would have it, my toddler daughter had a number of bouts of sickness throughout these few weeks. The primary few occasions I needed to dip out to take care of her or take her to the physician, I felt extremely responsible — how would this look in my first month on the job?
However Hailley was fast to reassure me after I despatched by some flustered apologies on Slack. “I want I had extra recommendation there [on how often kids get sick] however I can simply say we’re a very versatile office and folks genuinely rearrange schedules and transfer deadlines with sick kiddos. It occurs and we will work by that collectively, I’m not anxious about it, in case that helps!”
With this reassurance, I used to be in a position to end up work when my daughter was asleep within the night, and even dip out for entire days to take care of her, with out feeling harassed about work in any respect.
The four-day workweek is actual — and it really works
Buffer carried out a four-day workweek again in Might 2020 and by no means appeared again. I’d already learn how, 18 months later, 73 % of the staff was in a position to work Monday to Thursday and revel in a three-day weekend. However I’ll be absolutely sincere right here: the previous journalist in me was skeptical. I didn’t actually consider a four-day workweek may probably work.
I assumed maybe, best-case situation, there can be a tradition of individuals logging in on Fridays to be “the hero” — however this isn’t the case in any respect.
As a Buffer beginner, I wish to put this on document. Barring a few people on the advocacy staff who work Fridays and take one other day of the week off in lieu of that, or those that have opted for shorter days relatively than 4 days, hardly anybody works on a Friday.
Doing one thing by ‘the tip of the week’ means Thursday. On Thursday evenings, my teammates want everybody an ideal weekend. On Friday, our Slack is a ghost city.
However a four-day workweek requires some strong time administration and prioritization abilities — and it’s one thing I’m nonetheless adapting to. These are each areas of self-improvement for me. So proper now, I largely use Friday as an overflow day, although I undoubtedly take it simpler than I’d Monday by Thursday. As I get much more settled and decide up some momentum, I’m positive that Friday will quickly be the beginning of my weekend, too.
60, 90, and past
My journey at Buffer has simply begun — and it one way or the other feels concurrently like I’ve been round endlessly and no time in any respect. I’m undoubtedly beginning to really feel snug, like I’m discovering a great rhythm, I nonetheless have loads of studying and rising to do.
All of which, in fact, I’ll be exploring in my 60 and 90-day self-reviews — and maybe on our Open Weblog, too. If there’s something you’d prefer to learn about life at Buffer as I get additional alongside in my journey, let me know! Depart a remark right here, or discover me on LinkedIn.
