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Ready to learn the most important takeaways from Remote in less than two minutes? Keep reading!
Why This Book Matters:
Basecamp founders and remote work pioneers Jason Fried and David Heinemeier offer keen insights into how and why to build a high-performing remote organization where every employee gets to “work from home.”
Key Takeaways:
- Thanks to technology, remote companies now have access to a massive talent pool
- Employers no longer need to be hampered by physical location when hiring and retaining valuable team members.
- Example: Jellyvision moved to an optional remote work model so they could retain a valuable employee who relocated with his family out of state.
- Remote work gives employees more freedom and flexibility
- Everyone has different styles, different times of productivity, and different environments that work best for them that don’t always fit within the constraints of an office environment.
- Example: If a remote worker has kids, they’ll have much more flexibility around when they spend time with their kids and when they work.
- Working remotely boosts productivity by removing common distractions
- Although you may still deal with distractions outside the office, you have more control over when they occur and for how long.
- Example: An office day is interrupted by meetings, interactions with others, and noise. Outside of the office, you can set time aside to work uninterrupted.
- Having “eyes on” your employees doesn’t ensure they’re working
- Employees can just as easily waste time at the workplace as they can elsewhere.
- Example: 30% of J.C. Penney headquarters’ bandwidth is used for watching YouTube videos.
- Try testing remote work policies to see if they might work for your organization
- You don’t need to take an all or nothing stance on remote work – you can dip your toes in the water first.
- Example: Offer a remote option to a small group first to see how your company adapts, and to observe any issues that should be addressed.
- Be more deliberate with structuring collaboration for remote work employees
- All employees need time when they can be online together to collaborate and communicate in real time for the sake of productivity.
- Example: The authors implemented a four-hour overlap policy for all remote work employees at their company, 37Signals. This means that all employees must be online and available during these hours.
- Work harder to nurture personal relationships with remote workers
- Everyone needs social interaction, even remotely, to stay engaged in the company and to feel satisfied by their work environment on a big picture level.
- Example: 37Signals does this by maintaining a chat room where employees can “hang out” and chat about non-work events. They also hold company-wide meetups twice a year.
- Don’t let your remote workers burn out
- Productivity among remote workers may increase so much they may feel tempted to overwork themselves, which has long term consequences for their job satisfaction.
- Example: A company could encourage employees to take a “mandatory fun day” for themselves when the weather is especially nice.
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