Culture and connection: Remote work at Nutrient

I started working for my first remote company in 2011 when I joined Muhimbi. I enjoyed this initial foray into remote work, and when the company was acquired by Nutrient in 2022, I continued to work remotely, as Nutrient is a remote-first company. One thing I learned from my experience is that any company can be “remote” — as we clearly saw during the pandemic — but not every company has a remote culture.

Connecting online and in person

Muhimbi was a very small company when I started working there, and it remained that way until it was acquired by Nutrient. Because of the size, it didn’t seem to me to have much of a work culture. Nutrient, on the other hand, is large enough that you would expect a culture — though that begs the question of how it’s possible to have a company culture when people often work asynchronously from across the globe.

I’m happy to report that Nutrient’s culture is wonderfully vibrant and alive, largely due to the company’s conscious efforts to foster and scale its culture, even as it has expanded. Though we get to know one another through regularly scheduled Zoom meetings and discussions on the tools we use, we also talk about our interests, families, and other things going on in our lives in various Slack channels. For people who are new to the company, this means they’re instantly privy to a social network filled with nearly 150 people living in more than 30 countries waiting to interact with them. We also have a weekly Friday social meeting (open for anyone to spontaneously attend) and many events throughout the year, such as an annual holiday party and a semi-annual talent show.

Then there are the larger initiatives, like our annual company retreat that allows everyone to come together in one place and work and socialize. Though it only happens once a year and it’s an in-person event, it’s still an important part of remote work. This is because the opportunity to meet face-to-face reinforces work relationships that have been created and strengthened throughout the year.

I like to think of it this way: While our interactions online are like planting seeds, meeting in person is like fertilizing our culture and allowing it to thrive. And with a little bit of water and sunshine — in the form of diverse, engaged, and welcoming people — our culture is able to grow.

Living our values: What makes our culture thrive

So, Nutrient has a culture, but what’s it like? Our culture here is very much a reflection of the people themselves. Everyone understands that a remote company can quite easily become filled with disengaged and disinterested people who don’t feel connected to the company’s goals or their own coworkers, and that culture doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s up to us to create and sustain it. This knowledge makes everyone quick to share a kind word with one another, want to help out when someone is stuck, and eager to connect with their coworkers on a personal level.

In my own personal case, this took the form of me and my wife meeting a coworker and her husband while they were in town for a night during their holiday. There’s nothing in our culture that requires us to meet with one another, but the fact that this colleague reached out to me while on vacation demonstrates just how important connection is.

Beyond culture, what is the job itself like here and how are the people? As you can imagine by the number of countries represented (~30) and people who work here (~150), there’s a wealth of different views and opinions, and the one constant is a respect for everyone’s views and beliefs. We don’t always agree on the best approach to work challenges, but we do agree that a variety of perspectives working together has the highest chance of discovering the best approach. And at the end of the day, when I ask myself how it went, my answer is that Nutrient’s work culture is collaborative, constructive, and extremely satisfying.

Remote work — Is it for everyone?

Would I recommend remote work to everyone? The obvious answer is no, but there isn’t really a specific “type” of person who wouldn’t be suited to work at a remote company that puts the right amount of effort into nurturing its culture like Nutrient has. If you can work effectively without constant supervision, enjoy a relaxed approach to everyday work interactions, and thrive in a diverse environment, you may just be a candidate for remote work.