Remote: Office Not Required [Kindle Edition]

Jason Fried

Jason Fried (Author)

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(Author), David Heinemeier Hansson

David Heinemeier Hansson (Author)

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Book Description

The “work from home” phenomenon is thoroughly explored in this illuminating new book from bestselling 37signals founders Fried and Hansson, who point to the surging trend of employees working from home (and anywhere else) and explain the challenges and unexpected benefits.  Most important, they show why – with a few controversial exceptions such as Yahoo -- more businesses will want to promote this new model of getting things done.

The Industrial Revolution's "under one roof" model of conducting work is steadily declining owing to technology that is rapidly creating virtual workspaces and allowing workers to provide their vital contribution without physically clustering together.  Today, the new paradigm is "move work to the workers, rather than workers to the workplace."  According to Reuters, one in five global workers telecommutes frequently and nearly ten percent work from home every day. Moms in particular will welcome this trend.  A full 60% wish they had a flexible work option. But companies see advantages too in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves the ability to conduct business across multiple time zones, to name just a few advantages.  In Remote, inconoclastic authors Fried and Hansson will convince readers that letting all or part of work teams function remotely is a great idea--and they're going to show precisely how a remote work setup can be accomplished.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The authors review the pros and cons of telecommuting, suggest ideas to enhance efficiency, and tools to optimize output and build a collaborative spirit….easy to digest [and] useful ideas that are worth checking out.”
--Success Magazine

“Presents powerful arguments…the book is an eye opener to the endless benefits that come with remote work...a worthwhile investment of your times and money.”
--Tech Vibes

"Remote is the book that 21st century business leaders have been waiting for: a paradigm-smashing, compulsively readable case for a radically remote workplace. If you're intrigued by extreme teleworking, but have your doubts, Remote is the place to address them. Not a day goes by that I don't think about, talk about, and actually apply the insights in this game-changing book."
--Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
 
"What you'll find in Remote is profound advice from guys who've succeeded in the virtual workforce arena.  This is a manifesto for discarding stifling location- and time-based organizational habits in favor of best work practices for our brave new virtual and global world. If your organization entrusts you with the responsibility to get things done, this is a must-read.”
--David Allen, internationally best-selling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity 

“Remote is the way I work and live.  Now I know why.  If you work in an office, you need to read this remarkable book, and change your life.”
--Richard Florida, author of the national bestseller The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life
 
“In the near future, everyone will work remotely, including those sitting across from you. You'll need this farsighted book to prepare for this inversion.”
--Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick for Wired Magazine and author of What Technology Wants
 
“Leave your office at the office. Lose the soul-sapping commutes. Jettison the workplace veal chambers and banish cookie-cutter corporate culture. Smart, convincing and prescriptive, Remote offers a radically more productive and satisfying office-less future, better for all (well, except commercial landlords).”
--Adam L. Penenberg, author of Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today’s Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves

“Fried and Hansson show how remote working sets people free--free from drudgery and free to unleash unprecedented creativity and productivity. This workday disruption is necessary if we want to use our new digital tools to full effect. The first gift copy I buy will be for my boss!”
--James McQuivey, PhD, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, and author of Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation
 
"Just like we couldn't imagine a cell phone smaller than a toaster in the 1970’s, some companies still believe that they can't get great performance from their employees unless they show up at an office. Virtual work is the wave of the future, and Jason and David do a brilliant job of teaching best practices for both employees and employers."
--Pamela Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation
 
“Jason and David convincingly argue the merits of remote work, both from the perspective of manager and of worker.  For the former, working remotely means more productive teams.  For the latter, there is the ultimate luxury: control over one’s environment.  Remote work gives you the power to craft your own life, and this book is a roadmap to get that.”
--Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success

"The decentralization of the workplace is no longer fodder for futurists, it's an everyday reality. Remote is an insight-packed playbook for thriving in the coming decade and beyond."
--Todd Henry, author of The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice
 
“Remote shows you how to remove the final barrier to doing the work you were meant to do, with the people you were meant to do it with, in the most rewarding and profitable way possible--this book is your ticket to real freedom!”
--John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide

About the Author

JASON FRIED and DAVID HEINEMEIER HANSSON are the founders of 37signals, a trailblazing software company. They have been profiled in such publications as Time, Newsweek, and Wired. They're also contributors to Signals v. Noise, one the of Web's most popular blogs.

Product Details

• File Size: 7036 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business (October 29, 2013)
• Sold by: Random House LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00C0ALZ0W
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,772 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #2 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Management > Telecommuting
  • #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Money > Skills > Office Management
  • #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Management > Human Resources & Personnel Management

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

148 of 168 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Mainly relevant to employees and traditional companies October 30, 2013

By NickK

Format:Hardcover

I run an established small but growing remote business. Given how helpful Getting Real and Rework were for small, growing businesses, I assumed Remote would be full of great actionable strategies for being an effective remote team.

While there were 1 or 2 minor tidbits of useful information, the vast majority of the book is aimed at why non-remote companies should become remote, and how employees can convince their bosses to become remote.

There is very little useful information for someone who is already convinced a remote company is the way to go, and is looking for strategies for managing a remote company effectively.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars philosophic with good ideas October 31, 2013

By W. C. Hess

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

philosophic in the sense that an effective case for WHY working remotely is the right idea, and ultimately inescapable.

Some good ideas on how to implement.

Not present: detailed "how to". Just as well, too many variables.

Finishes with a good selection of best-of-class tools.
And an endorsement of 37Signals.

Those of us who use 37Signals know their software is indeed best of class, and we are successfully implementing remote work as early adapters.

An easy 2-hour read.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book about remote work that has ever been written. Period. November 4, 2013

By Chuck in NJ

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I only recently became aware of Jason Fried's writing and his company 37Signals.com, but instantly fell in love with his clear, concise, no-bull, crystal-clear communication style. After reading some of his articles in Inc. magazine, I found the 37Signals blog and instantly bought the book REWORK and felt invigorated by it. Finally, here is someone who understands that securing venture capital funding is not necessarily the key to success nor to a happy, fulfilling life. He simply makes products (the online software Basecamp, Highrise, etc.) that are amazingly simple to use, and therefore valuable and in demand because they save people time and money. The previous book, REWORK basically throws everything you were taught about business out the door and gets back to basics focused on what will work today, in today's world that changes daily. Ridiculous concepts such as five-year business plans are ridiculed and dismissed, and Jason restores sanity to business ideas and concepts. With REMOTE, he applies the real-world experience of running a distributed company and explains the biggest advantages to hiring remote teams. My two favorite facts about remote working that the book explains: Reason #1: Hiring remote employees allows companies to hire the best talent in the world instead of being handcuffed to only the best talent living in a tiny geographical area. Reason #2: Offices are what the authors call "interruption factories" in which anyone can walk into your cubicle or office uninvited and interrupt your work many times throughout the day. Working remotely allows you to get into the zone and focus on the things that make you productive without the productivity-killing environments of the interruption factories. REMOTE lists the most common excuses that bosses often use to dismiss the idea of remote work, and then the authors proceed to blow every one of those excuses right out of the water with common-sense-filled nuclear missiles. The book refutes those common misperceptions about remote work humorously sometimes, but with factual, common-sense reasons why visionary leaders will actually choose to embrace remote work in the very near future if they want to keep up with their more innovative competitors who keep hiring the most talented people in the world right out from under their noses. The remote revolution has already begun. The visionaries were the first to jump on board. This book will sway anyone on the fence toward the huge benefits of remote teams, and those who refuse to read this book will simply get left behind in the dust of their smarter competitors. If you've never worked remotely and have been trapped commuting to an office, this book will set you free. Also, if you have not already read Scott Berkun's book The Year Without Pants, you should read that too. It's a perfect companion piece to REMOTE, and tells the story of Scott's year working as a member of a distributed team at Automattic, the distributed company behind Wordpress.com. Read more ›

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A sane, lucid and potentially career-changing guide to modern knowledge work. October 30, 2013

By Phil Caravaggio

Format:Kindle Edition

"Remote" is a career-changing read for any modern knowledge worker. Remote work, once a pipe dream, is now a realistic career option. You can make the money you need and the difference you aspire to make -- while living where you want to live, actually seeing your family, and never commuting again.

This book is the most coherent argument for remote work I've seen, and the most practical guide to getting a remote career off the ground and living up to its promise.

We all feel it, don't we? Being together in a shared, physical workplace every moment of our working life is, professionally, both unnecessary and even counterproductive at times. When you factor in the personal toll (grinding daily commutes, time away from loved ones, etc.), inevitably you start asking, "Why the hell am I doing this?"

"Remote" takes that question as far as it can go, unpacking it into short essays that dismantle so many of our basic assumptions about work. And then, it poses another question: "If not 'this,' then what else?"

The "what else" is working remotely, and that too is unpacked. How do you do it? What if my boss doesn't trust me? Won't I be cut out of major decisions, alienated from my peers, even just plain lonely? And what about the work: don't we need the "bandwidth" that comes with frequent face time to get important things done? How will the creativity happen? The special, impromptu moments around the water cooler?

"Remote" does a great job of addressing all those things and more. The end result is a sort of career guide for meaningful, dignified modern work. Remote work is not a panacea, it will not solve every work problem ever identified, and it will pose challenges of its own. But it will change your career -- and in so doing, perhaps even your life -- and this is the book that will show you how.

(If you're interested, my longer review of the book: [...]

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How to make remote working operate efficiently October 31, 2013

By John Gibbs TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition

Marissa Mayer might have put an end to Yahoo's work-from-home policy, but working remotely is alive and well in many other organisations, according to Jason Fried in this book. A company that embraces remote work gets access to the best talent and frees its workers from soul-crushing commutes, and if remote work is managed correctly the company can gain significantly increased productivity.

Arguments which the author presents in favour of remote working include:

* Work in an office is often unproductive due to constant interruptions
* Commuting wastes an enormous amount of time, energy and resources
* Technology now allows highly effective remote working
* The shift to asynchronous collaboration accommodates everyone's availability
* Remote working allows you to base yourself anywhere in the world
* Expensive office rental costs can be avoided

There are, of course, issues that need to be addressed for remote working to operate efficiently. It appears that employees of the author's organisation do work of a type which is readily measurable, so that it is easy to ensure that people are doing the work they are paid for. A business could quickly deteriorate if work results were not measurable or if some employees started feeling that others were not pulling their weight. It is also important that employees have a sufficient level of interaction with each other, and the book provides a number of strategies to address this.

In my opinion this book will be very useful for any organisation which is thinking about allowing employees to work remotely, as well as for any organisation which currently has some remote workers but needs to improve its remote work management processes.