Remote: Office Not Required

Great book. I'm a fan of Rework which is the other Jason Fried book on making the work-world more efficient and this one meets the bar. If you liked Rework you'll like this book too. Contrary to some of the reviews, I found that there were plenty of suggestions for how to implement what he suggests. There are in fact full sections where he mentions tips. If you currently work remotely this book might seem basic but for the vast majority of office workers that either do not work work remotely or do so poorly, this book is a great help. It's also short enough that it makes for a quick read (I suggest the eBook). If you're already sold on the idea of working remotely, move straight to section 3, "How to Collaborate Remotely" and read from then on. Only suggestion for the author/editor is that some of the chapters should be a bit larger. In particular, "Beware the Dragons" could use more concrete examples and/or references to content outside the book.

I love the books from these two gentleman. Always succinct and to the point. There is a lot to like about about this book and much of it had matched my experience working remotely and some of it has given me some new ideas to help work remotely even more. One of the things that I think the authors have always done particularly well is talk about what has worked well for them. They have picked paths/products that gives them the life that they want to lead. And this is to be commended as it shows how to execute a strategy that works for a great life doing good work. I love it and try to live like this to. Will it work for everyone? Not really. A surgeon cannot work remotely. A company that has 24x7 service levels may not be in a position to schedule customer support staff in a way that works for everyone customer. Not everyone can be 37sjgnals but you need to be pragmatic about what you can do. I do like this book a lot. 4.5 is what I really want to give it.

Fantastic book from Jason Fried on the exciting life of Remote working. Our typical preconceived ideas regarding remote working is "out of sight, out of mind" or "if I can't see them, they must not be working". This book debunks those myths and share successes from their own company 37Signals. This book highlights: * Success is how productive you are, not location * You can work from anywhere, anytime * Measure success on project / task completion rather than how visible you are at the workplace. * Have crossover times when all / most employees can attend meetings regardless of time zone. * Work and Life are both important - not one or the other. * Certain groups are more pre-disposed to success in working remotely - not every job can do this. * Start small and build the program. Experiment. * Don't let geographic location restrict you from getting the best talent possible. * Much more. I love this book. The world's workplaces are exploring this concept more and more to support environmental sustainability as well as procuring and maintaining the best talent possible. It is a quick read or listen and it is full of simple advice.

Like many others, I liked Rework and I like 37signals, not only for what they do but also how they do it. They're just a cool bunch of people doing really great things, contributing to the world of IT - and to regular people and businesses every day. So I was really, really looking forward to Remote as a sequel to Rework that would be at the forefront of the remote work revolution. Unfortunately, the book falls short of expectations - at least mine. Don't get me wrong - it's a good read and it can be of value to many people. But I think the suggestions and solutions don't go nearly as far as they could go. And, as mentioned by others, it does lack in practical advice on how to set up things in your remote business. Essentially, it's promoting remote work concepts that could be implemented in existing businesses. However, in many areas the structure described in the book is still very rigid. People have fairly fixed working hours allotted per week and it is expected that they do put in about 40 hours. Why? What for? How is 40 hours better than 30 hours or 50 hours? I can't shake off a feeling that it's written for somebody who wants to loosen up existing corporations - but just a bit. I speak from a position of somebody who has been completely remote for the last 3 years, working with clients and a team of my partners on several continents. With most of them I've never even met face to face. Yet, we do complex marketing, design and web projects, we liaise with manufacturers in other countries (if need be) and designers 10,000km away from them. The concept of hourly work is, to me, completely out-dated, unless you're doing very time-bound activities, like customer support. For others there is simply one requirement - requirement of quality delivered by a specific dead line. How many hours of work you put in is irrelevant - it's the result that matters. And this approach creates completely new opportunities for remote work, because once you put stress on deliverables, not time, you don't have to supervise anybody. It's their job to do it within a time frame agreed. You don't pay per time spent, but per value delivered. That's the gateway to productivity increase - and growth in worker's happiness, because they are free to do whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want it, as long as they get things done. Remote doesn't even touch on these, focusing instead of making your existing enterprise a little bit more bearable for people. But many people are already way ahead of that.

If you're interested in remote working you should not miss this one. After reading you will believe that remote working is not so difficult as it's made out to be. This book concentrates on all the relavant stuff including the main tools required for remote working, importance of communication and the importance of trusting the employee to get work done remotely. A short book, but with so much of value, packed in it.

I've worked remotely in the past, and in-house more recently, as an employee and manager, so I certainly didn't need convincing that remote work offers a lot of positives for employees and businesses willing to let go of some traditional staples. What I enjoyed most about Remote was how inspired I felt while reading it, I kept thinking "Yes, they GET it." It's not an in-depth instruction manual, nor an overly analytic case study. Rather, I found it a relatively and refreshingly easy read with some solid examples covering key areas of consideration. I went away feeling hopeful, not just about the state of remote working, because as the authors mention, it's not a new fad and it's not going away. No, I went away feeling hopeful about how 37signals talk about their team and talent, how they view the business value of employees being able to live how and where they want, while still contributing to a driven team. Want to travel? No problem, grab your laptop and go. Want to work in the office, sure thing. Afternoons with your children, easy. You don't/shouldn't have to give up what you love in life just to make a living. It's an ethos I really believe in, and I think this book serves as a great positive introduction.

I am a big fan of Jason’s work philosophy in general. In this book he explain what remote work is (it is not necessarily WFH neither offshores). He builds a good argument on why it can be a good thing for your company and specially how you can be a good remote worker. Although it is claimed from a tech/office work perspective, one can draw a good connection for other jobs.

Ce livre a, bien sûr, un parti pris et prêche les avantages du travail à distance (ou télétravail). Je pense même qu'entre les lignes ce livre remet profondément en cause le modèle social du travail tel que nous le connaissons depuis des années. Finalement, l'auteur démontre simplement que le travail à distance n'a aujourd'hui qu'un véritable obstacle : le manque d'entrain des dirigeants d'entreprise. En démontant, chapitre après chapitre, les excuses qui sont le plus souvent utilisées contre ce qui sera à l'évidence un des enjeux majeurs des prochaines années, ce livre met aussi en évidence un grand nombre de défauts du modèle de travail le plus répandu actuellement : un bureau avec des horaires imposés.

Ottimo. Illuminante, soprattutto nella decostruzione di falsi miti e nel suggerire un nuovo modello lavorativo, spesso anche più efficace del tradizionale, i cui benefici sono innegabili.