Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Journal of Organization Design

GitLab: Work Where You Want, When You Want

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Kevin Crowston, Linus Dahlander, Marco S. Minervini and Sumita Raghuram
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

GitLab is a software company that works “all remote” at the scale of more than 1,000 employees located in more than 60 countries. GitLab has no physical office and its employees can work from anywhere they choose. Any step of the organizational life of a GitLab employee (e.g., hiring, onboarding and firing) is performed remotely, except for a yearly companywide gathering. GitLab strongly relies on asynchronous coordination, allowing employees to work anytime they want. After highlighting some of the main practices implemented by GitLab to effectively work all remotely and asynchronously, I asked renowned organizational scientists their thoughts on this interesting case and to question the generalizability of the all remote asynchronous model. Understanding whether and under what conditions this model can succeed can be of guidance for organizational designers that are now considering different remote models in response of the COVID-19 shock and its aftermath.

Keywords

New Forms Of Organizing; Remote Work; All Remote; Virtual Organizations; COVID-19; Organizational Design; Employees; Geographic Location; Health Pandemics

Citation

Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Kevin Crowston, Linus Dahlander, Marco S. Minervini, and Sumita Raghuram. "GitLab: Work Where You Want, When You Want." Art. 23. Journal of Organization Design 9 (2020).
  • Read Now

About The Author

Prithwiraj Choudhury

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2023
    • Faculty Research

    TCS: From Physical Offices to Borderless Work Video Supplement

    By: Prithwiraj Choudhury
    • March 2023
    • Faculty Research

    GitLab and the Future of All-Remote Work Video Supplement

    By: Prithwiraj Choudhury
    • February 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Managing the Geography of Work

    By: Prithwiraj Choudhury
More from the Authors
  • TCS: From Physical Offices to Borderless Work Video Supplement By: Prithwiraj Choudhury
  • GitLab and the Future of All-Remote Work Video Supplement By: Prithwiraj Choudhury
  • Managing the Geography of Work By: Prithwiraj Choudhury
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College