If you ask any company working remotely how they work, they would probably have similar answers. We all use similar tools and processes but, surely, they will all give more importance to different things.

The things we value the most about our work at KISSPatent are transparency, horizontal team structure, teamwork, and the use of the right tools.

The way we work is closely tied to our team culture — how we, as humans, work on projects and feel like we’re working together towards the same goals. Our team culture is how we work remotely so every process, task, and project we work on has to be approached with the same values in mind.

Let’s talk more about them.

Transparency is the launchpad for efficiency

We strive to keep everything as transparent as possible. This helps us be accountable and recognize when someone needs help in making decisions.

Trello helps keep our work transparent. We have different boards related to different topics like inbound and outbound marketing, sales, partnerships, and operations. Everything on Trello is synched with Slack so, for example, when we mark a project as finished, it’s announced right away. Even if someone is not checking Trello all the time, they can track projects and keep up with the flow.

And talking about Slack, it’s also a tool that helps us communicate in a more effective and transparent way. Slack makes it easy for us to keep track of pretty much everything. Even if we’re not directly involved, we can know if there’s a new post being published, if someone needs feedback, or if there’s a webinar coming up. Slack helps us keep our work transparent… and our GIFs on point.

Want to grow your startup and ensure you protect your ideas at the same time?

Take our short survey to find out what type of intellectual property is right for your startup!

A horizontal team structure helps us stay productive

Horizontal setups help with efficiency. Direct, straightforward communication saves time and increases productivity. We support the horizontal structure with transparency because it facilitates integration.

Everybody in our team has different responsibilities and is accountable for different tasks but, also, we can reach out to anybody for help or to get things moving faster.

For example, if somebody has a very specific question about patents, they can ask our CEO directly. Or, if someone in the sales team needs a visual, they can ask directly to Justine, instead of asking Carlos to ask Justine to make the visual.

Since everybody can communicate with anybody, it’s very easy to lose track of things or for just two people to decide something about a certain task. That’s why sharing, being transparent, and documenting everything about how we’re working is important.

Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork!

Integration is crucial!

In our case, integration means that we organize our projects in a way where different teams can work together. We make use of each team’s strengths to make working on each project smoother.

For example, it’s common that our partnership and business development teams work closely with the sales team. Also, the sales team work very closely with the marketing team, because they work on sales-related tasks as well.

Since different teams are working together on different projects (and on projects of their own), it’s important to keep communication clear. Trello helps us be clear on what everybody’s doing and that’s also why we have weekly remote meetings. Besides having an All Hands weekly meeting, we have the Lead BBQ and the Bilderberg meetings. The Lead BBQ is for the marketing and sales teams, and the Bilderberg one is attended by the sales and partnerships team.

Every team has their own projects but, when we all spend time on other team’s tasks, everyone is more aware of what is going on with the business. It also brings a broader mindset when working on our own projects. For example, we can start thinking about how any of our tasks will support the goals of other team members… and we’re all for teamwork!

Supporting the work with the right tools

Using tools that support our remote working environment is very important.

All marketing-related tools are maintained, signed up, and used only by the marketing team. In case something happens, we know who to ask. For example, some days ago we had some problems with Intercom. Justine, part of the marketing team, approached the people responsible for that tool (Peter and Rachel), and they could solve it faster.

We also try to use tools that let us easily collaborate, like Google Docs, for example. This post started as a document there where the marketing team could comment and revise. Just imagine trying to do that by sending updated files! It would be impossible.

Although we do not enforce the use of certain tools in anyone, we agree that using the same tools makes collaboration and decision-making easier.

How we work is constantly evolving. As said in our post about why we work remotely at KISSPatent, this way of working is constantly challenging us to innovate and to be on top of things!

Wondering if your idea is patentable? Have a question about this article? We can answer all of your questions — just hit "contact us" down below!