Ultranauts company profile - diverse virtual workforce

[maherou]

Title/Year

Remote but Inclusive for Years, and Now Showing Other Companies How, 2020

Link

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/technology/ultranauts-remote-work.html

Summary

This article profiles the Ultranauts company, which has worked virtually from its beginning 7 years ago. The company focuses on hiring a diverse workforce, especially from among people who are on the autism spectrum (the article says 75% of employees are on the spectrum). They have developed an interaction environment that is flexible and enable contributions from many different types of people. They have created and made available their Biodex tool that enables an employee to describe how they best like to interact with others, including their preference for the current moment. They also have a very transparent leadership structure where leadership conversations are made available to all staff.

Key Points

• Structuring around a diverse workforce enables hiring of talented people whose contributions might otherwise not be realized.
• Virtual teaming enables richer interactions beyond traditional approaches.

Citation

NY Times, October 19, 2020