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Parallels has 10 offices worldwide: in Russia, the USA, Europe, China, Japan, Australia, the UK and other countries. Therefore, the scale of the current coronacalipsis became clear to us quite early. As early as February of this year, the company recommended that all employees “park” foreign trips. Then in offices appeared sanitizers and personal protective equipment. Next, we began to prepare for the transfer of personnel to 100% remote mode of operation. Today, all Parallels employees are encouraged to work from home. Moreover, in Russia, we decided to stay at home until May 30. Despite the "udalenka" the whole team is in action! Code is being written, business is moving.

In this difficult situation, we decided not to give up under the pressure of difficulties, but began to actively seek new opportunities for ourselves. The company quickly adapted to current conditions.



How we all went home


When the danger of the spread of COVID-19 became apparent, we quickly decided to transfer all our employees to a remote location. The process of moving home took several days.

We informed the team in advance about the transition to a remote mode of operation. Employees had to decide what kind of things and office equipment they needed to bring with them to work from home. Next, we signed with each member of the team an additional agreement to the employment contract, on mutual consent to the udalenka ’. This allowed the company to keep all material payments to staff, since, as you know, the concept of “non-working days” is absent in labor legislation.

At the same time, it became obvious that even with the necessary equipment, people can incur additional costs. For example, the volume of home Internet traffic is growing, there is a need to organize a comfortable workplace, you need to buy some equipment or supplies, etc.

For these purposes, we allocated each employee a certain, equal for all, amount of money to cover such expenses. It is not necessary to report on them for checks. We believe that adult and conscious people work in our company. By the way, we also saved all employee benefits for lunch compensation.

So that the staff does not feel divorced from life, for social interaction with colleagues, we launched weekly video conferences with the participation of the entire team. At these meetings, Parallels management shares the latest news with the team and answers any questions. It really energizes, unites and raises team spirit.



“People are the most important value of our company. The key task today is to ensure their safety and create comfortable working conditions , ”said Nikolai Dobrovolsky, Parallels Senior Vice President .

How to get started without ever visiting the office


Despite the crisis, the company continues to live its usual life, an integral part of which is the selection of new employees. Our recruiters work tirelessly to find the very talents that could ideally join the Parallels team.
Under the new conditions, the usual selection methods have also undergone some changes and are now being carried out remotely. Interviews take place online via video through RingCentral.

As always, careful selection involves several rounds of interviews that also take place online, which allows you to get the full picture of the candidate. As soon as recruitment managers determine the final candidate, HR makes an offer by e-mail, the candidate signs it and indicates the release date. Again, all this is online, without personal contact. All personal data is protected. For these purposes we use DocuSign.

We recruit remotely.

Recruiting new employees, surprisingly, today also takes place online with us. HR prepares all necessary personnel documents and submits it to a new employee for signature. The rookie signs the papers with his physical signature and sends the scanned copies to the personnel department, followed by sending a package of documents by mail.

Career start

On the first working day, a new employee receives a welcome letter to a pre-created account in corporate mail with a presentation about all available resources, benefits, processes, systems and activities in the company. The employee always has the opportunity to ask any questions and get the necessary trainings.

His manager also works closely with the new employee to immerse himself in work, set tasks for a trial period, and he also gets acquainted with the processes of the company and other team members. And it's all also online.

HR remotely provides an employee with access to corporate health insurance and opening an account for a payroll project. Interaction within teams is also online. All tasks are registered in Jira, stand-ups and rallies are gathered in RingCentral.



Vladislav Slepov, Parallels Cloud-team engineer

“ In my case, all the employment took place completely remotely. In the beginning there were three interviews, then registration and going to work. HR colleagues sent me PDF files of the employment contract, I signed everything through a special application for the iPhone and went to work.

I had the experience of “udalenka” at the last place of work. Therefore, there were no inconveniences. Especially when they brought me all the equipment home, and the VPN just works with a click. There are no problems with the Internet either. At home, 500 Mbps, everything just flies. Nothing distracts from work from home. No family yet. Animals too. Therefore, everything is quiet and calm.

As for office communication, then, of course, this is important. On the other hand, asynchronous communications are sometimes important when writing a request to a person and waiting for an answer, rather than knocking him on the back while sitting on an adjacent chair.

For additional pluses "udalenke" I can say that despite the fact that I'm still in the office was not Parallels, a trip from home to the workplace by subway would take me about an hour. Today, not only do I get real savings of time and money, I also manage to get enough sleep. I woke up, had breakfast and was already at work . ”



Eduard Asriyan, Parallels Cloud-team engineer

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As for interesting observations, in the first days of work from home I paid attention to the home environment, sounds and more. Still, the office sets up for work. Now I’m used to it, of course. Immediately aim at work, and nothing distracts.

Well, of course, in the office, communication with colleagues is very charged. In the first week of udalenka ’, the guys with whom we usually go to lunch in the office even arranged joint online dinners. Live communication, of course, is not enough . "

"Udalenka" is not a vacation


Behind the first month of self-isolation. It cannot be said that everything that happens is some kind of trivial plot. Being in a confined space in a constant information pressure is not very pleasant for anyone. Therefore, the competent organization of the workflow, and labor, as such, is, in fact, a salvation pill from despondency.

At Parallels, we were able to quickly rebuild in accordance with the current situation, thereby ensuring the company’s work in the changing environment.

Nevertheless, for the successful and well-coordinated work of the business on the "remote", as it seems to us, it is necessary to ensure the fulfillment of several conditions at once:

  • organize regular information exchange in the team;
  • provide operational material and technical supply for employees;
  • build a simple, convenient and understandable workflow;
  • to systematize work processes, including those related to managing a distributed team (meeting schedules, task execution, Jira, etc.);
  • to be ready to solve any, even minor everyday issues of their employees;
  • regularly request feedback from their employees;
  • be in touch 24 \ 7;

In our experience, we can say that self-isolation and "udalenka" are not at all like summer vacations. But, as King Solomon said: “Everything passes. This too shall pass!".

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