Where, when and how

Our working week consists of five days devoted to work for external clients (not necessarily always with the same client) and 10% of that time, Investment Time, dedicated exclusively to learning, other projects or open source contributions.

We work an 8-hour day, with a fully-flexible schedule. The hours adopted by most people in Nebulab is between 9:30 AM and 6:30 PM, considering about an hour for lunch, but you'll see a lot of people coming in and out of the (virtual) office (on Slack) at all times, depending on how they chose to work during that particular day of the week.

Organizing the scheudle must, in any case, be a team effort: those who choose a very unusual schedule must be careful to inform everyone they are working with so to not prevent others from performing their work.

Work happens from anywhere you want, as long as it's the right place for doing proper work. Nebulab currently has two operative offices in Italy, one in Pescara and one in Latina. If you are close by and want to visit, ask your manager first to make sure there is someone at the office when you visit.

This flexibility in terms of time and place is possible thanks to the discipline of our team and continuous and attentive use of ad hoc tools.

Remote work

We are remote-first by default. At Nebulab, we strongly believe in the remote-first philosophy, as it not only improves the productivity of individuals who are in an environment most congenial to them, but especially instills the habit of continuous communication and transparency.

That said, remote work comes with serious challenges that must be handled in advance, to prevent them from negatively affecting your productivity and that of the entire team. In this section, we explain some of these challenges and how they can be overcome.

Basic principles

First of all, we must always remember some basic principles when we work remotely:

• Remote work is not simply a benefit, but a philosophy in itself and an alternative to co-located work. As such, it should be approached with the same focus and care we use when working from the office.
• Remote work requires the collective effort of those who work remotely and those who work from a physical office. If one of these two groups is not sufficiently involved, it will not work.
• A well-implemented remote-first philosophy improves everyone's work quality, bringing calmness and transparency to communication, decisions and daily work.
• If you are working remotely, you are at the office. If you need to do anything else, inform the team and ask for permission. Working while you are doing something else is not acceptable, because it affects not only your productivity, but also the productivity of those you work with.
• Adopt transparency by default. Ensure that all communication takes place in public channels, unless it is strictly necessary to keep it private, so that everyone is informed on what is happening.

Work space

Our work space is our temple. This applies both to co-located and remote work. The difference is that, while the office is a space where we all create a comfortable work environment, when you work remotely, it is up to you to ensure you have the tools and the environment to be as productive as possible.

Here is a list of essential things for working remotely:

• Your productive space. A space dedicated exclusively to work. When you are there, you are at the office. This space must allow you to do your work without disrupting your or your coworkers' productivity (e.g. if you need to hop on a call, you can't work from a coffee shop!).
• A good Internet connection. It is frustrating to be in a meeting with someone you can't understand or who disconnects continuously. If you intend to work remotely, invest in a good Internet connection. If you need help, we can find a solution together.

Exceptions

Life is complicated and things happen. We all need to make a small exception to the rule every now and then. Perhaps someone in your family is sick and nobody can take care of them, but you don't want to take a whole day off. Communication is the key in such situations. Inform others that you may not be accessible at all times; nobody will object.

In any case, if situations of this type happen often, talk to your manager and we will find a solution together.