Fully Remote and Decentralized Teams Still Benefit from In-Person Collaboration

Last week, Curebase managers and executives got together in San Francisco for the first annual company leadership summit. For some, it was an impactful opportunity to meet in person for the first or second time. For others who joined Curebase pre-pandemic and previously worked side-by-side out of a cozy office in San Francisco's Mission District, it was a reinvigorating moment of reconnection.

Curebase is a decentralized clinical trials company committed to helping the vast majority of potential patients that currently cannot access clinical research. Our vision is that any patient, no matter where they are located, should be able to participate in clinical trials at home and with their own doctors. We are reinventing a $45B market, enabling drug and device companies to increase the volume, quality, and speed of data collection regardless of patients’ physical location. 

The decentralized clinical trials space became extremely relevant during the pandemic, as many patients with immuno-comprimising conditions could not risk visiting a hospital or academic site to participate in a trial, and sponsors needed a way to continue to run breakthrough studies. Patient convenience has emerged as a necessity for clinical trials even as we seek to put the pandemic behind us. Curebase has been an essential partner helping three sponsors obtain FDA Emergency Use Authorization and a Digital Therapeutic company receive FDA clearance, as well as helping the DCT industry gain momentum as a standard for conducting medical research across over 50 Curebase studies. 

Curebase has certainly grown over the years, with teammates across the Americas, Southeast Asia,  and now in Europe. We have taken full advantage of remote work and have created exciting opportunities to hire and attract the best talent from around the world. Interestingly, since Curebase went fully remote due to Covid-19, our team has continued to achieve exponential growth thanks to a work culture that encourages tight-knit community with dynamic collaboration and communication.

But, there is something to be said for face-to-face idea generation and inspiration. Over the course of last week’s leadership summit, Curebase managers took time to appreciate all the progress that had been made to date, deep dive on our company’s current position, and set a course for a robust 2022 growth plan. The impact of hosting this event in person was universally recognized across the team, as cross-functional disciplines like Commercial, Engineering, and Operations had opportunities to plan collaboratively and share their perspectives.

“Seeing everyone together for the first time in a while was not only refreshing, but you could see the spark of collaboration that was lit, as the environment set the stage for a lot of cross-functional talk that would usually only happen in the context of set virtual meeting times. It was great to see the melting pot of ideas on display, through both structured exercises and informal conversations.” explained Tom Lemberg, CEO and Founder Curebase.

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Each of the main teams (Commercial, Engineering, and Operations) took turns presenting the past performance, present state, and goals for the future of their organizations and how to support Curebase’s objectives overall. To maximize collaboration, a brainstorming white board was set up with a section representing each function for the broader team to contribute ideas on sticky notes for potential goals moving into 2022. The team voted on the top ideas and placed them on a swimlane calendar for quarterly goal planning to help set the 2022 milestone calendar. Embracing the flexible nature of being “remote-first” we set up a hybrid meeting design that allowed participants to alternatively join via teleconference. Cameras were set up to visualize in person and remote participants, and live stream physical whiteboards, coupled with a mirrored virtual whiteboard available for virtual participants to contribute their ideas. At the end of the day the team debriefed on the hottest topics, and prioritized the goals for Curebase’s 2022 vision in continuing to revolutionize the clinical trial industry.

While embracing the successes of a fully remote work culture, the leadership summit last week proved that collaborating in-person is still fundamental to team growth and morale. There was an opportunity for each team to conduct a deep dive on their current status, and discuss openly with the rest of leadership what 2022 should look like. 

And of course, we also made time to celebrate our successes, appreciate the opportunities we’ve been given, and cheers to a new year.

As the only full-service decentralized clinical trial company that provides a complete software platform, virtual sites, community clinic recruitment, and clinical trial execution services, Curebase is positioned on a path for even more exponential growth in the upcoming year. 

Learn more about the Curebase team: Why "Decentralized" Doesn't Mean "Virtual" In Clinical Trials.