High Output Work
Posts
☄️3 Lessons From GitLab’s Remote Work Success

☄️3 Lessons From GitLab’s Remote Work Success

How to build leverage with documentation

David Lobo
April 11, 2025

GitLab scaled to 2,400+ employees with no offices or Zoom fatigue.

They avoid endless meetings and Slack pings by using clear, detailed documents.

Their 2,700 web pages-long Remote Work Handbook shows how documentation can free up time for deep work and create leverage for teams.

Here are 3 lessons from GitLab to drive high-output (remote) work:

1. Default to documentation over meeting

Before scheduling another Zoom meeting, write your ideas in a document.

Be it Google Docs or Notion, write with clear context, your suggestions, and the next steps.

GitLab emphasizes that "asynchronous communication is documentation."

This approach lets everyone prepare ahead and often eliminates the need for meetings altogether.

The first step in creating an atmosphere where colleagues are comfortable working asynchronously is to avoid the mentality that meetings are necessary.

2. Kill the "always-on" pressure

GitLab explicitly sets asynchronous expectations: responses are due within 24 hours, not instantly.

Clarify what's urgent vs. what’s async to protect your team’s deep work time.

This reduces pressure and empowers team members to focus and produce high-quality output.

3. Collaborative Documentation = Leverage

Every team member is encouraged (and expected) to contribute by actively commenting, clarifying, and editing.

This open collaborative culture strengthens alignment in the team.

It leads to better, more actionable documentation, generating continuous improvement and knowledge compounding across teams.

As folks at GitLab puts it:

A handbook-first approach to documentation is foundational to any well-run business at scale. While it may initially feel time-consuming, the outsized benefits of intentionally writing down and organizing process, culture, and solutions are staggering.

Bottom line

Cracking the remote productivity code doesn't mean more meetings, it means fewer, better meetings backed by clear and detailed async documentation.

Do a quick audit today:

Can I replace this meeting with async documentation?
Have I set clear expectations around response times?
Are our docs genuinely collaborative or just top-down declarations?

Whether you're remote or not, teams that develop and master a “culture of documentation” create enormous leverage over time.

Until next week,

David Lobo

Head of Growth, Workmate

P.S. Need help with high-leverage productivity? Workmate is your AI executive assistant. It manages your calendar and schedules meetings without the back-and-forth. Join the waitlist here.