Book review: Remote

The modern office has become an interruption factory, not a place where quality concentrated work can be done. This is the premise for this book that sings the praises of remote working.

This is a model new companies should consider adopting as cultures grow over time and it will be a lot easier if you start early in your life cycle, the book advises.

According to the authors, remote working can be used as a source of competitive advan- tage in the talent market. If you pay big city rates to someone who works in the provinces – where wage rates are often significantly lower – chances are you’ll get a highly motivated employee who will be unlikely to want to leave.

Traditional office meetings tend to take place more frequently because of easy proximity and can be dull and tedious, whereas in remote working, conversations tend to be productive and to the point.

Among the other observations are that the main risk in setting workers free to work remotely is not that they will underwork, it’s the exact opposite. Overwork is often a major consequence of remote working and this is especially the case when you have people working in multiple time zones across different locations.