Eric Yuan Quotes

On the simplest level, telecommuting makes it harder for people to have the kinds of informal interactions that are crucial to the way knowledge moves through an organization. The role that hallway chat plays in driving new ideas has become a cliche of business writing, but that doesn't make it less true.

As far as employees are concerned, clearly I like to communicate with them, since we are more than 40,000 people. I like to communicate either through e-mail or through video conferencing, which we do very often, and stream out videos and interviews. But more than that, I believe in traveling to my branches.

When you can't see someone all day long, the only thing you have to evaluate is the work. A lot of the petty evaluation stats just melt away.

The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.

Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.

I always want to have a personal relationship with everybody that works for me.

There's always been something a little pathetic for me at the work parties I've attended, especially thinking back to the restaurants I worked in. I remember a Christmas party in which we all got free T-shirts with the restaurant on the front and our names on the back.

How can you have a director that doesn't go to work with the crew every day and talk to them?

The best remote companies I've seen do almost everything online, via email and telephone. But they also get together face to face on a regular basis.

A lot of people use collaborative technologies badly, then abandon them. They aren't 'plug-and-play.' The invisible part is the social skill necessary to use them.

Sharing information with employees makes them feel invested.

I've decided to take advantage of outsourcing. My next novel will be written by a couple of guys in Bangalore, India.

I carry my iPad and laptop with me everywhere.

I work from home a lot. I think I get as much work done at the office as at home, and I'm used to working with people who don't work in the office. I don't really care where they are, even if they're on a banana leaf somewhere. If they deliver their work, I am completely fine. I don't need someone sitting at their desk to produce.

When you start to prioritize hiring likable people within your organization, these likable people will attract other likable people.

I have made so many friends at Google it's not funny.

Ultimately, this is about having fun at work. You want to enjoy your job. You're going to have higher-performing employees.

Distributed workforces are most likely to succeed if their culture is one that values and prioritizes face-to-face communications.

I was born trying to figure out why other kids were just playing in a circle. What are you doing in the circle? Duck, Duck, Goose? What is the goose supposed to do? You could be organizing; you could be producing products that are for sale. You have a circle, but how are you utilizing it?

I have worked with different managers in the past and different systems.

A fully functioning employee with a healthy self-image is money in the bank.

One works because I suppose it is the most interesting thing one knows to do. The days one works are the best days. On the other days one is hurrying through the other things one imagines one has to do to keep one's life going.

We know when we use the full talents of our population we're more productive. And we know that when people really feel like they can have flexible lives, they're better employees.

If you were your own employer, would you be entirely satisfied with the day’s work you have done today?

I liked interacting with students. I liked having coworkers. For a long time, I was really worried that sitting at home by myself in front of a computer was going to make me crazy.