Remote Work is Product Management

Luke Thomas is the founder of Friday, a remote work orchestration platform headquartered in Portland, Maine.

Launching six months before COVID-19 hit, Friday was at the right place at the perfect time. In reality, though, Luke Thomas began founding his remote work orchestration platform when he was a child in Maine, watching his father spend precious time commuting to work. Luke spent much of his career trying to get back to Maine while working for tech companies in other places. Once he got there, he set about creating a tool that would help others work better remotely, too. And “better” is the operative word. 

Luke says. “Now, compare and contrast that to learning how to use asynchronous communication or written communication more effectively.”

With Friday, Luke tries to help workers get into new routines and use technology to bridge gaps among groups of people trying to collaborate from different places. He addresses the importance of workflow, relationships, communications, and guardrails on the path to a better remote work experience.

Learn more about Luke’s thoughts about the importance of handbooks, creativity through constraints, and what works better in person — as well as his predictions for a post-COVID workplace — on this episode of This Is Product Management.

Download the transcript of this episode here:

Here are the Highlights:

• The importance of guardrails to foster creativity through constraints: 17:37
• The value of writing things down: 21:29
• Creating and maintaining relationships remotely: 22:49
• What the future might hold for remote work: 34:38

Recommended Episodes:

• How Teams Are Handling The Temporary Shift to Remote Work is Product Management
• Managing Distributed Teams is Product Management
• Building Distributed Teams is Product Management