Book: "Remote: Office Not Required"; David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried

Why this book?

This was my April 2020 book selection for my Year of Reading 2020. I started reading it on 18 June 2020 and completed it on 8 July 2020.

See my answers to Q1 in Chapter 1 below.

My reading of the book

 

I read each chapter making notes as I read.

At the end of each chapter, I set myself some application questions (that are usable by others) and answered those questions.

I posted my notes with my questions and my answers at the end of each chapter in the Workplace from acebook community of learners that I am community manager for.

I then posted the full set of notes as this blog post.

My overall assessment and response to the book

Glad I read it.

Gives a wide perspective on all things working remotely.

A quick, easy read with each chapter split into a number of sections.

It was straightforward generating questions for each chapter.

I suspect everyone would learn something that they had not considered when reading this book.

As someone who has worked remotely in part for several years, the book made me think deeply in a number of places on how I best work remotely and how I could work better when I work remotely and when I am working with those who are working remotely when I am in a work office.

Specific actions that I plan to take;-

1. As an experiment, spend a day working in a co-working physical space

2. Also as an experiment, spend a day working in a virtual co-working space

3. Experimentt further with working and playing in different spaces to help me associate different environments with different kinds of activity

4. Apply focus and discipline more deeply to deliver more, including use of tools to help me do that

5. Reread my notes on Deep Work and understand how working remotely could contribute to that

6. Actually work out the real cost of commuting in terms of petrol costs

7. Ditto for time spent commuting

8. Learn more of the tools in Skype and Zoom and use them for real

9. Be always on the look out for people who need encouraging with working remotely including showing them the benefits

10. Continue my interest in virtual teams by completing rereading "Mastering Virtual Teams"

11. Be on the look out for other resources to make me and others more effective in working remotely

12. Still want to do a document collaboratively with someone else using the functionality for doing this in Google Docs

13. Always put video on in calls where that is appropriate to encourage more people to do that

14. Take all of this content into my next book reading - Rebecca Sutherns' "Nimble: Off-Script But Still On Track; A Coaching Guide For Responsive Facilitation"

15. When working or learning with those in other timezones be more aware of working time overlaps and likewise with play time overlaps.

16. Do a better job with my start of day and end of day routines, ideally closing off each day in real-time and not the day after!

17. Apply the content of the book when looking for new learning etc opportunities

18. Do better at protecting work and play time to focus on the right things at the right time and not to blur the edges

19. Rapidly process the content from "The Tao of Motivation" and Daniel Pink's "Drive".

Authors’ Note

authors started writing the book in 2013, the practice of working remotely aka telecommuting had been silently on the rise for years

example of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer countering that in Feb 2013 saying they were abandoning their remote working practices - just 6 months before this book's launch

put the subject in the spotlight

all the excuses for not doing this were played out by Yahoo

purpose of book is to look at remote work in a considered way

a set of pros and cons from people who have done this for real

Introduction

still early days for this practice - not as universal or commonsensical as you might imagine

tech works

problem of the human mind in appreciating and understanding the value and the why

book covers:-

• benefits of doing it

• excuses for not doing it

• how to become an expert in remote work

• overview of tools + techniques

• pitfalls

• constraints

authors have a practical track record of remote working - 10 years of building a successful software company

opened up door to a new era of freedom and luxury for the company's workers

a brave new world away from the office

a world where remote work increases quality of work + job satisfaction

"office not required" is not the future, it is the present

this is your chance to catch up

Chapter 1: The Time Is Right For Remote Work

Book Club Q&A

Q1: Why are you reading this book?

A1:

1. This was my April 2020 book selection for my Year of Reading 2020. I started reading it on 18 June 2020.

2. I am a fan of Jason’s work

3. I have never read one of his books.

4. I have an ongoing and increasing interest in virtual teams as a majority of the teams I now lead or am a member of are virtual to a greater or lesser extent.

5. I am confident I will learn many things from reading and applying this book.

Q2: How do you normally read and apply books that you read?

A2: I read each chapter making notes as I read. At the end of each chapter, I set myself some application questions (that are usable by others) and answer those questions. I post my notes with my questions and my answers at the end of each chapter in the Workplace from Facebook community of learners that I am community manager for. I then post the full set of notes as this blog post.

Q3: Where do you go when you really need to get work done?

A3: Somewhere quiet. May be at home if there is no one else in. A quiet meeting room at work.

Q4: What other practices do you use when you really need to get work done?

A4: Try to switch off the phone and notifications. Close email down. Set Pomodoro timers. Try to reserve the time to work ahead of time. Challenge of distractions is real especially if the work I need to do involves internet research - things always catch my eye and pique my interest!

Q5: Summarise briefly where you work and answer in 3 parts:-

1. pre-Covid-19

2. during Covid-19

3. post Covid-19 (as the situation evolves)

A5:

1. In an open plan office Monday to Thursdays in Wetherby. I work from home every Friday that originally started when I was doing school runs for the kids and it has stuck.

2. Working from home in Bradford in my home office every day. I am now in day 99 of being at home in lockdown.

3. May revert to previous working pattern. No info yet on what may happen but I am aware that some colleagues are looking to get back to the office sooner rather than later. We may get more flexibility to work where we choose.

Q6: Describe how you get interrupted in a typical day regardless of where and how you work.

A6: I perform project and service management roles so the former work is more planned and the latter cannot be as we are at the mercy of systems issues. Emails are the main interruption, I tend to leave email always on. IMs. Face-to-face with people showing up at my desk. People wanting immediate meetings with no planning or scheduling. We do not use Workplace, Slack, MS Teams or equivalent thus far.

Q7: Summarise your journey to your place of work including any variations for specific days of the week etc and duration, mileage, mode of transport etc.

A7: Typically, I leave at 7am arriving at work around 7:45. I tend to read a personal development/business book in a meeting room until 8:30 when I formally start working. Leave work at 17:00 and would typically get back around 18:10. I commute in my own car on motorways nearly all the way. 30 miles there, 35 miles back.

Q8: If you already work remotely in part or all of the time, how do your working days differ from when you are in the office?

A9: I try to keep the same routine to help with habits including walking at lunchtime and starting and finishing work at the same time with the same reading at the start of the day. I participate in a Twitter Chat on Friday mornings before I start work.

Q9: Do a list of your technology milestones e.g. when you first sent an email, when you sent your first tweet, first purchase on Amazon, first ebook read, first ebook listened to etc.

A9:

1. use of a typewriter in the 70s with a black and red ribbon

2. use of an IBM PC in my final year at Stirling University in 1984 after I had handed in my dissertation

3. email: struggled to remember but must have been when I worked at Asda in the late 1980s

4. use of the internet during my time at Yorkshire Electricity as-was in the early 1990s

5. Amazon purchase: November 1998

6. internet connection at home: AOL dial-up in 1999

7. broadband internet connection at home in the mid 2000s (fixed line then wireless)

8. blog post; November 2003

9. tweet: December 2006

10. full mobile access to the internet via a smartphone: 2010

11. tablet device (iPad): 2012

12. started/completed first MOOC Q1/2 201

13. Zoom call (January 2017)

14. Slack post (January 2017)

15. Workplace from Facebook post (November 2017)

Q9: What technology do you use in the office and, if you do work remotely at times, when you are working remotely?

A9: MS Office 2019, bespoke ERP system for time recording, commercials etc, jobs, service desk for our clients, Skype for Business for audio/video con calls, WIndows file stores. Use the same kit remotely as at work and that would apply anywhere with an internet connection. Samsung S8 Android mobile.

Q10: If you use technology for other non-employment "work" or hobbies, family etc, what do you use?

A10: MS Office 2019, Zoom, Workplace from Facebook, Slack, Evernote, Trello, iPad, Samsung S8 Android mobile

Q11: If it was your decision, what technology would you want to use to be more efficient and effective in any of your life roles?

A11: Zoom for all calls. Workplace from Facebook or Slack as a collaboration platform ideally with customers and suppliers.

Q11: What technology skills would you want to learn to be more efficient and effective in any of your life roles?

A11: Learn some virtual facilitation tools within Zoom and Skype. Experiment with document etc collaboration with others in real-time.

Q12: When are your normal working hours including start and finish times?

A12: Monday to Friday 08:30 - 17:30 with 1 hour for lunch, I usually walk at lunchtimes for 3 miles in 1 hour.

Q13: How do these differ when you work from home or work remotely?

A13: I try to stick to the same hours for routine purposes.

Q14: Say something about your experience of working synchronously and asynchronously and your preferences of when you use either approach.

A14: Happy working asynchronously if I get responses within a day or as per my request (longer). Some issues cannot be done in that way and need synchronous face-to-face, calls or IMs. The usual challenge of remembering what you are waiting for from which people. Also happy working virtually with people rather than always face-to-face.

Q15: To what extent do you collaborate with others on a day-to-day basis including e.g. collaboration on specicfic documents or specific pieces of work?

A15: As a project manager as my main role, most of my work is collaborative but often is simply planning, assigning work, awaiting & chasing completion. Rare for me to work on same document with others except for e.g. project plans. It is rare that I work with others on the same document where all parties are editing at the same time. I would love to co-create more!

Q16: What is your experience of working or learning etc with people in different timezones? Any challenges?

A16: Lots of experience outside work with all the Working Out Loud Circles, Book Groups and other learning groups having people from multiple timezones. It is a huge challenge and I have had some miraculous examples of scheduling 12 week hourly slots involcing people from all around the world. Clock changes and holidays are also an issue when scheduling people in several countries. I use https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html.

Q17: If you were free to work when you wanted during a week, what would your ideal week look like and why?

A17: I am increasingly aware that I have an energy lull after my lunchtime walk and lunch. I love my reading routine at the start of the day to help me consume useful content and learn on a regular basis. I like to preserve my evenings as non-working times. I have very rarely worked at weekends - minimal - which is the way it should be! Ideally, I would finish earlier on a Friday to start the weekend. So I would probably stick to my normal working time with possibly a half-hour earlier start when working from home.

Q18: If your organisation and you work out of an office, why there geographically?

A18: I am now working out of the 3rd office for my organisation. The current office is just off the M1 and not in a city centre so easy/fast motorway links. We have always sought to be near the motorway network. The moves have been growth related re numbers of staff which continue to increase. We tend to taxi visitors in from the Wetherby or Leeds railway stations. Compared to other places I have worked, there are fewer on-site meetings with customers and suppliers. This is probably due to us being able to use the tech and a better use of everyone's time.

Q19: Say something about where you live and work and how decisions on one impact the other.

A19: My move to Leeds at the start of my career was due to a new job within Asda. I married into Bradford. I have been keen to stay Bradford-based since then. This is where my wife's family all are. I have family in York. No plans to move location currently. I may love to work for other companies that are London-based but would hate living in London and commuting more etc. I should always say never say never. The kids are now in their late teens or older so being at home all the time is less of an issue.

Q20: Do you buy the argument of having the freedom to blur the edges of working and retirement by playing more during your working life? Why? Why not?

A20:  Even though I can work flexibly I have never done so this dramatically. I could work a 4-day week I suppose but I believe I could not do that on a regular basis if it was not contractual which rather defeats the object of flexible when I want to be flexible. This is probably me and my routine life kicking in.

Q21: Speculate about how your organisation's recruitment practices would change if it went completely remote and staff could work anywhere in the world.

A21: Never really thought about it. We seem to not ever use video calls. That would probably need to change. I am a video call fan. I do believe that virtual working accentuates weakenesses in the same skills when done in real life. Would defo need to be video call interviews in my opinion. Currently, we have no formal or even informal working practices for remote workers or teams. We all simply operate how we feel works best or even simply do what we normally do. I suspect that recruitment processes would also need to reflect remote as a standard way of working to explore how you assess people's ability to work remotely.

Q22: What do you see as the benefits to you as a paid employee (or freelancer etc) of working remotely?

A22: Savings of time in not commuting, less wear and tear on me with the motorway driving stress of concentration and less hammer on the car, money saving of no fuel costs, fewer interruptions and they are easier to control (e.g. go offline), more deep work, flexible to do personal things in and amongst the work whilst still working the same total hours.

Time saving in not commuting:

To work is 45m, back to home is 1h 10m = 1h 55m per day.

See figures below:

Number of days I work in 2020 is 219

Time spent commuting is 219 x 1h 55m = 25,185 min = 419.75 hours = 17.5 days

Saving for the 4 extra days working from home = 14 days

Saving for the 1 day I have been working from home = 3.5 days

Q23: What would the financial savings be to you of working remotely 100% of the time?

A23:

Number of days in 2020 = 366

Number of working days in 2020 = 254

Number of weekend days in 2020 = 104

Number of public holidays in 2020 = 8

Number of days annual leave = 27

Number of days I will work in 2020= 254 - 8 - 27 = 219

Fuel cost:

Miles each day = 65

Miles per gallon = 38 (est)

Cost of a gallon of petrol at 22 June 2020 = £1.08 per litre = x 4.54609 = £4.91 per gallon

Miles in working year = 219 days x 65 miles = 14,235 miles

Number of gallons fuel used = 14,235 / 38 = 374.6

Cost of fuel = 374.6 x 4.91 = £1,839.3

Saving for the 4 extra days working from home = £1.471.45

Saving for the 1 day I have been working from home = £367.86

Q24: Say something about the geographical spread of the people on your team and wider organisation.

A24: Wide spread of people from Sheffield , Castleford, Pontefract, Leeds, Bradford, York, Wakefield, Harrogate etc. See 30 mile radius from our office:

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Q25: Which of your normal work activities would you say would always benefit from being face-to-face?

A25: Good to do lengthy facilitated workshops face-to-face but I am open to seeing how successful these could be virtually.

Any event that has a combination of the above and some social getting to know people.

Given my experience of doing WOL circles etc remotely, deep relationships are formed rapidly when the sessions and content is structured and prep is done.

Q26: For the con calls you are involved in, are these audio or video and who decides which?

A26: Can only think of 1 video call at work I have been involved in and that was at client request and there were tech issues at their end.

For my learning work, I decide as facilitator and I would always ideally prefer video even for 1:1 and even for 1st time calls.

Q27: What are your pros and cons of audio calls versus video calls?

A27:

Pros of audio calls

• you do not have to be presentable

• people can't see if you are concentrating

• Familiarity with audio

• More comfortable for some people

• Easier from a tech point of view

• People can't see where you are

Cons of audio calls

• You/others can't see body language

• You/others can't see who is wanting to speak

• More interruptions than video

• Less engaging

• An "old" way of doing calls

• Not as fast a way of getting to know people

• A tidal wave of users moving to video

Q28: Say something about how you maintain boundaries between work and home when working remotely.

A28: I try to stick to the same timings for start/end of working day and start/end time for lunches. I should do more formal breaks for drinks. Often do not have them at home. I try to manage distractions at home more formally at home than in the office. Also try to aim for hard edges so home does not blur into work and work does not blur into home.

Q29: What business functions of your organisation are performed remotely by other organisations?

A29: Lots of our work is infrastructure-related so installation of some of that is third party but lots is us working remotely. Bulk of people who are working remotely is for that reason and out of choice for specific days to be in for delivery etc reasons by utilities, delivery companies etc. All other remote work done for us is due to those suppliers not being part of our organisation e.g. legal, health and safety, accountants, specialist consultancies etc.

Q30: Summarise your organisation's practice of remote working:-

1. pre-Covid-19

2. during Covid-19

3. post Covid-19 (as the situation evolves)

A30:

1. pre-Covid-19: some people work remotely full-time per their contract, some via personal agreement with their line manager on a permanent day a week basis, or ad-hoc, suspect many work from home with no consultation depending on the line manager relationship

2. during Covid-19: all working remotely with increasing numbers of staff now working in the office as lockdown is lifted

3. post Covid-19 (as the situation evolves): no clear statement as yet, may be more flexibility to work remotely for more staff, I do not believe this will be mandated for all re all in or all remote

My book notes

1.1: Why work doesn’t happen at work

ask people where they go when they really need to get work done, not many will say the office - they may say office early in the morning  or late at night = they cannot get work done at the office

challenge of doing work in the office

offices are interruption factories - your day is chopped into tiny pieces

hard to get meaningful work done in these tiny pieces of time

meaningful, creative, thoughtful, important work needs stretches of uninterrupted time to get into the zone

the ability to be alone with your thoughts is 1 of key advantages of working remotely - you can settle into your own productive zone

working outside the office has its own set of challenges  with its own set of interruptions + distractions but these can be controlled by you

1.2: Stop commuting your life away

no one likes commuting

start and end of day stressful, gets in the way of other things you could be doing with that time

eats into weekend time by not having time to do chores in the week

commuting is unpleasant, makes us tired

even applies to short commutes

do the maths of how long you spend commuting

imagine what you could do with that time (and money)

1.3: It's the technology, stupid

remote working is new as the technology now enables us to do it

main driver has been the internet

we are still learning what is possible

we have been brough up with the idea that good work happens 9-5 in tall buildings in offices and cubicles

we have seldom thought about how work could be different but it can be

it is up to you - just need to learn the tech - does not take long

it will take willpower to let go of nostalgia

1.4: Escaping 9am - 5pm

big transition to make to go to a remote, distributed workforce is from synchronous to asynchronous collaboration

we do not have to be physically together or work at the same time as each other to collaborate

we have to do this with timezones

alters how the "home" timezone works to accommodate colleagues around the world

relaxing mandatory working hours accommodates everyone - night owls, early birds, family commitments, child care

37 Signals (the authors' company works 40 hours/week but up to each person how they work that

great for creatives to get into the zone when they can and to stop when they cannot

there are times that people need to work for customer reasons

you will soon see that it is the work not the clock that matters

1.5: End of city monopoly

historical trend of work congregating in urban centres

but this packs lots of people in small spaces and offices

we can access films, books etc from anywhere, so working anywhere is simply part of that same trend

great for people to have the choice to choose to live and work anywhere

1.6: The new luxury

benefits in companies have developed from cars, size of offices etc to free meals, massages etc - compensation for being in the office for so long

why wait for retirement to have freedom in and amongst how you work

live near where your interests are and do those interests now and not wait till later

pursue your passions now while you are working

no longer life phases of working and retirement - blend the two

work is not the only thing on the menu

the new luxury is the luxury of freedom and time

1.7: Talent is not bound by the hubs

some say the best creative work is done where there are geographical hubs with concentrations of like-skilled people

great talent is everywhere

not everyone wants to move to San Fran (for tech) or Hollywood (for films)

37 Signals has staff all over the USA and the world

easier for people to move to competitors when concentrated in one place

those who work away from the hubs seem happier in their work

1.8: It's not about the money

remote working is not a synonym for outsourcing

it is not all about cutting costs

remote work benefits workers and the organisation

1.9: But saving is always nice

great to have the cost savings but is not the priority, it is a bonus

cost saving may help your pitch to move to remote working

for some orgs, huge property cost savings in remote working

savings to workers re no commuting costs

good for the environment

1.10: Not all or nothing

remote does not mean you do not have an office - it is just not required

does not mean you cannot all live in the same city

remote work is all about setting your team free to be the best it can be, wherever that might be

variety of all configs of remote teams

evolves over time

some orgs need flashy office as part of their industry's way of doing business - just do not need to apply it to all your workers

1.11: Still a trade-off

remote work not all benefit

times when you do need face-to-face

needs personal commitment to stay focused to do work remotely

challenge to set boundaries

so this is not exclusively good or bad

1.12: You're probably already doing it

each org will probably have some aspect of remote working happening e.g outsourcing activities to third parties

these are often key functions and they are happening outside your office walls and outside your management's direct control

so if we trust that work to be done OK by outsiders, why not more for the insiders?

note how we communciate via email even to people who sit at next desk - is like working remotely already

your org may already be more remote than you think

Chapter 2: Dealing With Excuses

Book Club Q&A

For the questions for this chapter, imagine you are in a very short 1:1 call/meeting with the person your know (or imagine someone if no one comes to mind) who is the most passionate critic of remote working and then work through the following with the fewest words you can to make your points.

It may be that you hold a different view to the authors on 1 or more of their "excuse" counter arguments. Please feel free to express those views!

"refute" means "prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove."

Q1: Refute the excuse that Magic only happens when we’re all in a room.

A1: Magic can happen anywhere with the right prep and facilitation. It is the combination of people in the "room" that is key not where they are. As someone who has used video calls for small learning groups for nearly a decade, I have personally seen the power of connections that can be made remotely. Video calls are defo preferred to audio calls!

Q2: Refute the excuse that If I can’t see them how do I know they’re working?

A2 Agreed that there is a trust issue that needs to be overcome through experience of seeing how your team works and performs remotely. It does need some skills to manage people remotely that simply build on your existing skills as a face-to-face manager. If trust remains an issue, you have a bigger recruitment and selection process than a working remotely issue.

Q3: Refute the excuse that People’s homes are full of distractions

A4: So is the work office! Often more so! People need to sort out a routine and an environment for working from home to minimise any distractions. Clearly, if the distractions remain for large chunks of  days that needs to be addressed or the person not working from home.

Q4: Refute the excuse that Only the office can be secure

A4: I have worked from home a day per week for many years. My work laptop and mobile are encrypted with sophisticated security measures applied to both. Our working practice includes rules and monitoring of what we can and cannot do e.g. plugging in USB storage devices, installing software etc.

Q5: Refute the excuse of Who will answer the phone?

A5: With the tech available today, people working remotely can function exactly the same as a physical in one location team. The issue of scheduling people for particular contact channels is the same remotely as it is in real life e.g. making sure there is cover for holidays and sickness.

Q6: Refute the excuse that Big business doesn’t do it, so why should we?

A7: There are many examples of organisations and teams within organisations large and small who are working remotely.

Q7: Refute the excuse that Others would get jealous

A7: This is the same as other attractive working practice options. The key criteria in applying all of these should always be could this working practice be improved by making it more efficiemt and effective. If the answer is yes, then we should simply get on with it.

Q8: Refute the excuse of What about culture?

A8: Culture is both invisible and visible. An organisation's culture will persist after people start working remotely and could and probably will improve as people become more self-managing. Culture for me is how the organisation functions person by person and yes working remotely will change how people function and invariably that is in positive ways for the culture.

Q9: Refute the excuse of I need an answer now!

A9: There are some business processes where this is needed such as IT service desks and other customer-facing roles. Invariably, however, immediate answers are not required. This is also about everyone's personal productivity and being mindful of the huge negative impact of interruptions on people's work. This does rely on people establishing a working practice of use of IM, emails, enterprise social network posts etc,

Q10: Refute the excuse of But I’ll lose control

A10: As a line manager, you still need to manage your team, assign work, monitor progress and performance. You are still doing that when part of all of your team are working remotely. You will need to evolve your team management skills for a remote working world including how and when you get your team together virtually and IRL as appropriate.

Q11: Refute the excuse that We paid a lot of money for this office

A11: Clearly, if the whole organisation in an office goes remote 100% of the time the office is no longer needed. However, this may just mean that you can reduce the size of your offices as fewer people work full-time from those offices. Some of these property costs may therefore be recouped. Clearly, remote working needs to be working for your organisation to make these important property decisions.

Q12: Refute the excuse of That wouldn’t work for our size or industry

A12: Yes there are examples of business processes and customer interactions where face-to-face is essential and cannot be done remotely. This just needs an organisation to assess where this is and is not the case and go remote accordingly.

My book notes

2.1: Magic only happens when we’re all in a room

breakthrough ideas do not happen that often

how many such ideas can an org process and build on

most work is not about coming up with the big ideas

if you bring everyone together too frequently for big ideas generation yoiu will frustrate yourself and others as any new big ideas will take priority over the last ones or add to the backlog

we meet in person rarely

you would be amazed how creative you can be on audio/video call with shared screen

when rare, face-to-face meetings become a rare treat, special

you will get magic by a combo of these

2.2: If I can’t see them how do I know they’re working?

most fears about remote working are based on lack of trust

people can mess about even at work so remote is not the issue

working in the office is not a guarantee of productivity

people live up to your expectations - high or low - treat staff as adults or kids

lack of trust means you have an issue with your recruitment and selection processes

be a manager not a babysitter

do not hire people you do not trust

do not work for people who do not trust you

if you are not trusted to work remotely, why are you trusted to do anything?

"To successfully work with people, you have to trust each other. A big part of this is trusting people to get their work done wherever they are, without your supervision."

[ Richard Branson, Give peoole the freedom of where to work ]

learn to trust the people you work with or find oyther people to work with

2.3: People’s homes are full of distractions

with all the distractions at home, how can you do work ... because you have a job to do and you are a responsible adult

we all succumb to temptation once in a while

we need anti-distraction strategies

number 1 counter to distractions is interesting, fulfilling work

our response to distractions is a good indicator about how we are feeling about our jobs

address any environmental issues

change of environment may help

a place where you always work at home may help

all holiday and nothing is a holiday - lots of people want to work

if these are huge issues you need a new job

2.4: Only the office can be secure

your systems can be secure out of the office as well as in

just need a security checklist that all your people fully follow

example of security checklist used at 37 Signals (the authors' company), eg:-

1. hard drive encryption

2. force password entry

3. turn encryption on for all sites you use (https, ssl)

4. mobiles with passwords and can be wiped remotely

5. use unique generated long form passwords via password software

6. turn on 2 Factor Authentication

taking advantage of security protocols is not rocket science

2.5: Who will answer the phone?

just need to put in place a schedule for when contact staff are contactable, can set customer expectation re when you will/ will not repond immediately

is OK to have occasional anti-social call times for being able to work remotely

ensure core hours are covered somewhere in the world, does not need to be one "office" for the whole of a day

working remotely is about making things better for more people more of the time

2.6: Big business doesn’t do it, so why should we?

do not use them as role models

whole point of innovation / disruption is doing things differently from those who came before

just need confidence that you see better ways to work smarter even when it is BAU elsewhere even in your own org

breaking routine is never without struggle

2.7: Others would get jealous

if I let you, all will want to

not  a surprise given that it is a good thing

are we just here to keep people at their desks in the office for their contracted hours or getting the work done most effectively

some roles cannot be done remotely e.g. supply chain

we are all on the same team on a continual quest to do it more effectively

2.8: What about culture?

culture is not the tangible things you can see but is the spoken and unspoken values and actions of the org

examples of opposites with each org somewhere in-between on each one

the stronger the culture the less the need for explicit training in new ways of operating

you can build a string culture with remote teams

culture is all about actions not just words on a values mission statement

in fact remote working means culture not just about in-person social events but the actual work of defining/practicing  culture instead

2.9: I need an answer now!

too easy in the office to interrupt people all the time with no regard to a person's personal productivity

a key issue for getting work done in offices!

not everything is equally important - consider when you need an answer

cf use of audio call, video call, IM, email for different urgency times

plus email means you have record of answer

speed of IM exchanges may save more time than f2f

seeing body language not always critical

ASAP trap takes some getting over

use the calm to be even more productive

2.10: But I’ll lose control

some peoole have a real issue/need to see their people at desks

"if I can see them, I can control them"

cf phobia therapy

start small and show the world does not end

show the extra benefits when working remotely is happening

do need to convince the sceptics with evidence

the toughest to overcome

if you fail, may need to get a new job

2.11: We paid a lot of money for this office

the most foolish excuse

sunk cost - the money is already spent

the only question is how to work more effectively/productively

do the productivity maths of WIO vs WFH

2.12: That wouldn’t work for our size or industry

examples of all sizes of orgs in all industries doing remote working in some way

Chapter 3: How To Collaborate Remotely

Book Club Q&A

Q1: What is your definition of "collaborate"?

A1: More than one person working together on a specific product or service from the same or different organisations. Also see the definition from war time "cooperate traitorously with an enemy."

Q2: What does "working hours overlapping" mean?

A2: Where 2 or more people in different timezones have some hours of the day where they are both scheduled to be working.

Q3: How do you ensure continuity of service delivery from you and the team(s) that you are a part of?

A4: Ensuring that requests for leave etc do not leave the team at zero people available for any periods of time. This also applies for people on call versus people who are planned to do project work. In this example, you would need 2 people to cover - 1 for the on call and 1 for the project work.

Q4:  What is your use of collaboration software as a facilitator/do-er or as a recipient?

A4: Yet to use virtual whiteboards, some use of screen share. I do need to increase my virtual facilitation game with Skype for Business and Zoom. Had 1 recent example of being an attendee in a virtual seminar with avatar-type attendees in rooms including vid. My next book after this one is on facilitation but not sure if it also covers virtual considerations. Not been involved in a virtual call thus far where a virtual whiteboard has been used for brainstorming.

Q5: What would you like to learn about collaboration technology?

A5: I have never worked on docs with other people simultaneously. I am aware that this functionality is availabke in Google Docs, Word 365 etc. I am more used to docs being issued for sequential review and comment updates etc so more iterative. I am aware that there are other features of collaboration software that would be good to learn to use and to then put in practice.

Q6: What is your view and use of video?

A6: All my work calls are audio. Not my choice but never broached the subject. I am aware that there are many benefits of using video instead of audio. Lots of use of video outside of work for learning groups that I host and facilitate, for 1:1 calls, for me talking to my mobile as I walk to record my thoughts and then post, for doing how-to-use-type videos with screen dialogues. Video has become a key comms vehicle for me.

Q7: What is your view of "make everything available to everyone all of the time" and what does that mean for you? What concerns or worries do you have about actually doing that?

A7: This is working out loud and showing your work. This should be easily done in work contexts apart from some very limited company/role confidential content or HR/mentoring-type content. Working Out Loud circles are confidential to the participants but lots of other learning groups do not need to be. Confidentiality is often used as an invalid reason for not sharing content. Likewise with people using docs being work in progress or draft reasons why these are not shared. We just need to be clear what the status of docs etc is so they are used sensibly. For me, this is also an email reduction strategy where ideally if I have access to a collaboration platform, I would post updates there and not email people. This should also include status updates of what work we are doing. No worries from me re work at all. We just need to be doing it!

Q8: For any area of your life, including work, how much of what you do is visible to others? Why?

A8: I am a Working Out Loud / Show Your Work advocate and practitioner so lots of my life is in the public domain to share my knowledge, experience and content. Only the most private aspects of my work and outside work lives are not on platforms accessible to others.

Q9: What changes in your life, including work, would you like to see from yourself and others that you work with or relate to?

A9: I would love to have access to a collaboration platform for all the projects I lead, manage, am a part of. Would like to see the bulk of email disappear as a result. I would love to not have to worry if people will read and respond to my emails. People learning some basic collaboration etiquette along the lines of this book. People using email, posts, IM, video/audio calls appropriately. People using hyperlinks and not attachments or uploading files to a platform (unless that IS the master copy). Labelling commns appropriately, not mixing mutiple projects in comms that then spark of multiple chains of comms impacting different sets of people at the same time. I need to be better at my own content management processes.

Q10: If you work remotely, what would you miss? What would you not miss?

A10: some face to face is good, I can't see myself working  in a role where there was zero face-to-face unless that involved suppliers or customers in which case I could understand that being not as frequent especially where those orgs work almost exclusively remotely which is the case for some of my suppliers. I would not miss the interruptions or having to be careful myself when it is best to interrupt someone myself. I am a fan of virtual working and relating and aware of the power of virtual relationships for work and learning.

Q11: What experience do you have of virtual water coolers? Are these a good thing? Why? Why not?

A11: Some experience. People just need to use them from time-to-time and not spend huge amounts of time using them. There does need to be a specific "group" for this so posts do not clutter project etc type groups. People definitely need to be themselves when posting and have the opportunity for casual chat,

Q12: What is or would be your best practice of managing status updates across teams that you lead or are a part of remotely or face-to-face?

A12: Minimise meeting time where people simply give updates. Can do daily start-of-day posts of work for today, blockers, help needed etc for people to chip in to help, contribute, remove blockers etc. Not used OKRs but would like to explore using them. Not done stand-ups before to a great extent but a virtual version of those would work well with remote workers

Q13: Give any examples of situations where you have been able to concentrate exclusively? How did you feel? What surprised you?

A13: Sadly, these are increasingly rare. I have been thinking I should monitor how many blocks of time I spend doing 1 thing. Often rare to get above 15 mins! I am a fan of Cal Newport's Deep Work and aware of the power  and the importance of such work for moving work on significantly. The challenge gets harder all the time. I do need to make a concerted effort to make this happen and often feel that I am leaving other things go undone and in some cases undone in a timely fashion.

Q14: Give examples of where you have worked remotely and where your office base was for each example.

A14: Spent 18 months on a client site so remote from work colleagues but local to client. WFH each Friday in Bradford at home with the office in Bradford. Examples of working on project sites away from base office. Sometimes work in meeting rooms at work to try to avoid interruptions at my normal desk. Lots of my work is conducted from my desk even though I could walk in 2 floors to speak to everyone I work with. Some colleagues are fully remote and are very very rarely ever in the office.

Q15: With the current Covid-19 lockdown, how ready were you and your organisation to work fully remotely instantly?

A15: for me I needed nothing additional. Some colleagues use specialist business packages that needed specific setup from home to work. Some people needed laptops to access work applications. Mostly easy as we are an IT services organisation.

Q16: What lessons have you and your organisation learned for business continuity when this happens again as many believe it will inevitably will?

A16: I would hope that any lessons per previous A15 would be embedded in our disaster recovery and business continuity plans.

Q17: What is your view of meetings?

A17: The right kind of meetings/calls are essential for getting things done be they physical or virtual. My mantra is that we do not have enough of the right kind of meetings and have too many  of the wrong kind of meetings. I love the power of groups of people marshalling their collective wisdom on seemingly intractable problems or maximising opportunities.

Q18: What is your personal best practice for meetings?

A18: clear stated objective(s), right people invited, agenda with timings and leader, booked in advance (wherever possible) , input papers issued with invitation with expectation that people will have read them prior to the meeting, where status meeting ensure actions from last meeting issued, people prep-ed to give updates, actions taker nominated, stick to the agenda unless agreed otherwise, park things for later separate/different meetings as appropriate, do not monopolise the airtime, ensure chair chairs/facilitates, start and finish on time - a challenge when more senior people are present and are late and talk too much, actions issued ASAP post the meeting, lessons learned from the meeting process each time to check on best practice

Q19: Should best practice for meetings differ between face-to-face and remote? Why? Why not?

A19: my view is that someone's weaknesses in face-to-face meetings are accentuated in virtual ones. Yes, there are some virtual meeting skills that are needed and that is one of the reasons why I am reading this book (and other virtual teams books) to up my virtual meetings game and by so doing I am sure there will be benefits to all my meetings practices.

Q20: If you lead teams of any sort, what are your challenges when this is face-to-face or remote? If you are not currently doing that, what would you imagine are the challenges?

A20: Getting people to do their actions on time. The tech can be problematic re how-to-use but easily sorted. People being on mute when talking. Not seeing people when virtual and not using video so easy for people to fade out of meeting flow invisibly. Chairing well to get everyone's input and that people feel heard. People not being prepared. People talking too much.

My book notes

3.1: Thou shalt overlap

some of your working hours need to overlap with the members of your team

in early days of remote working, lots of issues around delays in comms e.g. of 24 hours

4 hours/day overlap recommended to avoid collaboration delays & to feel like a team

timezones may force change of start/end working times

the hours with no overlap often become the most productive part of your day

for some the strange working hours great for family time and hobbies plus for night owls or early birds

where you can't get overlap that may be a showstopper depending on how much of a star the worker is!

3.2: Seeing is believing

tech improving all the time, collaboration is doable on shared screens + virtual whiteboards etc

people rapidly get into a routine of starting calls with shared screen whiteboard

being able to see the same stuff at the same time is the main reason people want face-to-face but this is doable virtually with the tech

screen share does not need a web cam

use of video-ing screen interaction and commentary of product  functionality for people to play back later - can be used for anything!

so easy to do! worth playing

ship the video - does not have to be perfect

3.3: All out in the open

make everything available to everyone all of the time

culture of good communication

cf products such as Basecamp designed to address this specific issue - single, central repository

we use GitHub as master source of our code

shared calendar - by teams if org is large

products like Dropbox to share files

NEVER use C drives or locations where others do not have access

3.4: The virtual water cooler

beware all work and no play making you dull

use of chat programs to do social chats remotely - single permanent chat room ongoing

primary function to provide social cohesion

does not require constant monitoring just visit as and when

chat about anything

good for shared experience of live events inside or outside your org

you the remote worker are in control of your social interaction - when and how much

this can be quality waste of time with your co-workers and we all need that

3.5: Forward motion

to instil a sense of org cohesion + to share forward motion, everyone needs to feel in the loop

e.g. use weekly discussion thread "what have you been working on?" - not a progress reporting substitute just general comms of who is doing what

reminds all that all are here to make progress

natural instinct not to let team down - making the commitment visual, gets reinforced

harder to BS your peers!

progress is a joy best shared with co-workers

3.6: The work is what matters

secret benefit iof hiring remote workers is that the work itself is the yardstick to jusge someone's performance

the work may be the only thing you see

all other measures become irrelevant because you cannot see them e.g. punctual, visible for 7.5 h work, inappropriate use of web sites

left with what did this person actually do today - show me what you did today

a straightforward assessment re is the work getting done

becomes clear who is pulling their weight and contributing

3.7: Not just for people who are out of town

remote just means not in the office 9-5

may mean just down the road

good low risk start is local remote working

trial period of at least 3 months eg 2 days in, 3 days remote then vv

practice before recruiting 1st remote employee - you will be prepared, know what to expect, successful experiment

3.8: Disaster ready

cf systems, single point of failure (SPOF)

so if all in office and office issue re access etc, no business continuity

more of an issue in places where lots of adverse weather etc - several places in USA

remote work is a good way of implementing business continuity

cf for individuals for personal issues where they can't get to the office but can still work from home

a distributed workforce can continue working regardless

3.9: Easy on the M&Ms

reframe 2 views: viewing f2f meetings as critical and worrying about whether remote workers are working or not

= manages and meetings - M&Ms -

the further you are away from these the more work gets done = 1 of key reasons we are so enthusiastic about remote work

meetings are OK but only when really needed and when they are rare

meetings are overused  and we grow numb to outcomes

too many meetings can destroy morale and motivation

meetings are major distractions

be mindful of the cost of 10 people in a room for 1 hour = 10 hours of work

managers should also be used sparingly

often them who call meetings

constantly asking peoole what they are working on is not helpful

use of collaboration tools means managers input much more purposeful and compressed and we can just get on with the actual work

we can all do with fewer M and Ms

Chapter 4: Beware The Dragons

Book Club Q&A

Q1: When you work remotely, what face-to-face interaction do you have with anyone?

A1: Currently, always at home, so only family members, delivery/post people. Minimal contact. I do walk for 40 mins at lunchtime so see people/cars etc on streets.

Q2:  How do you feel when you are working on your own and not with other people? Give some positives and negatives as appropriate.

A2: Negatives: motivation sometimes, tendency to keep on working etc without breaks, can be a bit tedious, good to chat f2f sometimes

Positives: ability to focus, minimal interruptions, no f2f interruptions

Q3: What is your experience of using coworking spaces? If none, imagine what the pros and cons may be.

A3: None but this book has encouraged me to think about trialling this post lockdown in specific places just to see what the experience is like.

Q4: Describe your typical WFH day e.g. how you start and finish, breaks etc.

A4:

1. Alarm 6am

2. Shower etc

3. Read Bible verses on video and post to a wall

4. Read daily RT Kendall (Christian teacher in States) reading and post in church WhatsApp virus group

5. Breakfast while watching Gary Vee video clip

6. Read a non-fiction book, set Qs, answer Qs and post all that

7. Work starts 8:30, do end-of-day routine, journal iuncluding daily questions, do start of day routine with To Do List and affirmations, minimal breaks

8. Work stops 12:30

9. Walk outside while listening to a podcast etc

10. Lunch

11. Work starts 13:30, minimal breaks

12. Closedown work including time records for that day 17:00

13. Dinner

14. TV, read fiction book etc

15. bed by 23:00 latest

Q5: If you have issues in focus-ing, are these the same issues in the office or WFH? What are your countermeasures?

A5: a continual challenge, not solved yet, love rabbit trails, so fascinated and curious about everything, trying techniques such as Deep Work, pomodoro, similar issues at home as work, interruptions different, defo one that I need to finally sort

Q6: What is your working space setup? Could it or should it be improved? If so, how?

A6: Small home office with desk, laptop, desk lamp, everything I need to hand, Could improve by not having laptop and me facing the window, could try to rearrange when I can make some additional space. Challenge too environmentally of when I am sat at desk, is this work or play? Have been trying to do play elsewhere but a challenge with other family members using other spaces.

Q7: Compare your body movements when working in the office and when WFH?

A7: At work, I walk 3 miles in 1 hour at lunchtime versus 1.6 miles in 30 minutes just based on the route at home. Not much walking during working time. Some walking at work to see people at their desks and meeting rooms but the office is not huge!

Q8: If you were starting a trial to WFH with you as leader, how would you run it?

A8: Would pick a project team that were just starting, agree processes, standards, tools, contract of collaboration, meetings/calls etiquette, plans, deliverables, Project Initiations Document, daily standup based on posts in Enterprise Social Network per agile processes, no email policy, involvement of customers, weekly catchup end of week, start of week, use OKRs

Q9: How did the client's view of their supplier WFH challenge your thinking in how you operate?

A9: Most of my work with clients is for clients who are long-standing so it was good to be reminded of these issues when thinking about new clients who are not familiar with our ways of working and us needing to build trust re how we work and progress.

Q10: How relevant to you was the section on country where working and employees & contractors?

A10: Glad this is not my area of responsibility. Current employer is all UK-based. But we do have 1 person emigrating to North America soon where these are real issues that I assume are all being worked through re employee vs contractor and pay cheque vs invoicing.

My book notes

4.1: Cabin fever

we are not designed for a life of total solitude

chat streams are not a complete sub for real, live human interaction

human interactoon does not have to come from your fellow workers or people in your industry but can come from people at home/nearby who you see more  

may need to make more effort to meet with people e.g. co-working spaces, sharing desks

outdoor activities with others

cabin fever is real for remote workers

you do not have to be chained to your home office desk

4.2: Check-in, check-out

danger of working round the clock because easy to do

beware with passionate people working from home

too much work may get done!

need to set culture of reasonable expectations

no hero awards for working more than contract

marathon not a sprint

did I do a good day's work? a great q to close the day on

if not, explore via the 5 Why's

4.3: Ergonomic basics

WFH = work where you want including outside

proper desk and chair

consider getting org WFH eqt list for people to use from

personalise your space

variation prob better than 1 style

clothes as appropriate

4.4: Mind the gut

WFH makes it harder to exercise and get your 10k steps

encourage a healthy lifestyle

find excuses to move

4.5: The lone outpost

to trial this, need full team to be remote

takes time to break old habits & form new ones

good days of loving it and bad days of hating it

ensure all feel these trade-off re good and bad days

start small meaningfully

4.6: Working with clients

lots of our early clients were nowhere near us

suggestions:-

1. in pitches, say where you are and how you work

2. provide references proactively re remote works

3. show clients your work for them often re progress

4. be very available - rapid returns to comms

5. get the client involved, let them follow along

   1. give them a space online to relate to you

4.7: Taxes, accounting, laws, oh my!

stay within the laws of the relevant jurisdiction

in the States, working remotely for an org may create a "nexus" for your org - having a taxable presence in that state - tax implications

also see issues with working in other countries - establish a local office or hire contractors - start small with contractors in the first instance

differences between employees & contractors

so some additional work to consider when having remote workers

there is a cost but the benefits are worth having

Chapter 5: Hiring and Keeping The Best

Book Club Q&A

Q1: How does your in person and remote working practice differ with colleagues and people in other organisations you work with?

A1: Not that much difference but I am conscious that when I need a meeting with 1-2 others and they are in the same office at the same time, I would usually try to make that a face-to-face if a lot of discussion was required.

Q2: What regional issues for recruiting staff are you aware of?

A2: I am not in a role that requires me to recruit currently so I am largely unaware of this. I would assume that this may be more obvious to people who are looking for alternative roles for themselves to judge the state of the market based on feedback from recuiters.

Q3: How could the location of you and your staff impact your sales efforts?

A3: Not close to our sales process. I sense that face-to-face meetings may form part of key tasks in the sales process but I would imagine any of our prospective clients would know that as an IT pro services supplier we can work anywhere, anytime etc.

Q4: What language challenges have you experienced working with people from other countries?

A4: Minimal exposure to international "team" working which have all been in English. Some minor examples of miscommunication which are quickly identified and overcome.

Q5: How would being able to work remotely enable you to do things that working in a fixed office location does not?

A5: As per a question response earlier, my remote working hours and start/end times are similar to when I am in the office so not much scope there for radical change. By being less interruptible, I can start/stop tasks more readily but really there is not that much difference.

Q6: What human connection skills do you value in a remote and/or face-to-face context?

A6: Clarity of comms in emails, IMs, single subject emails/IMs, open shared calendars (usually private and/or not updated!), hyperlink sharing, social contact not just work contact, humour and not just relentless getting through the work, people making contact even when they do not want anything from me, appropriate use of emails/IMs/collaboration platforms, scheduling "meetings" with the right people, prep and inputs ahead of time and not always "now!", help in doing things when I need help, people open to help if they need it, me and others being able to and happy to ask for help, comms that make it easy to reply to stop email etc chains before they start, would love to have access to a collaboration platform in work as I do for my learning work.

Q7: What asshole-y behaviour winds you up in any context?

A7: Lots of the things in A6 above! Not listening, belittling of others, not responding to IMs, emails, phone calls, not knowing if you will ever get a response to a request/question, never giving status updates on work until asked, someone always critical of others who does not seek to solve the "problem", people who pass the buck and do not own the "problem".

Q8: Do you agree with "put together a team of people who are naturally interested in more than just their work - encourage those interests to bloom"? Why? Why not?

A8: This would be my ideal increasingly as I have done lots of online learning activities outside of work. Not sure how you would recruit for that. Are you allowed to explore this in interviews? The 50 Facts About Me would be a great way of doing this! Being a curious person it would be great to have these sorts of people around me.

Q9: What  would your remote selection process look like for recruiting new members for your virtual team?

A9: It was good to read about and think about this. Some processes:-

1. clarity of role spec and person spec

2. placement of ad in relevant places

3. understand the person's use of collaboration platforms and social media

4. video interview(s) - line manager, others

   1. their best practice for remote working with rationale

   2. role questions

   3. skills questions

   4. life questions

   5. why want to work remote

5. test project - not sure about scale and payment re the how

6. f2f with line mgr and colleagues

Q10: What do you see as advantages of remote workers' work being visible to all in assessing someone's performance?

A10: clarity of progress without asking, dependent on how standups/progress "meetings" are done, continuity , seeing what people are doing, enabing proactive offiering of help, clarification questions, all the benefits of Working Out Loud and Show Your Work

Q11:  What lessons from 10 could you apply to face-to-face working?

A11: implement a collaboration platform for all workers regardess of  work location, this would be a good way in for people prep-ing for working remotely professionally.

Q12: What did you take away from the section on the importance of writing to remote working success? Was that a surprise or not? Why?

A12: Glad it was there! Rare that I consider this. Just frustrated when I get bad examples to respond to. Yes a surprise as not many people talk about it that I associate with it. This extends to formatting re subject lines, post headers etc. We could all do so much better. Very aware that comms can accelerate how we create things and how we do business,

Q13: What training on writing have you done? What personal development on writing have you done yourself?

A13: Did an Information Mapping curse many moons ago but was never applied in the organisation that I was in at the time. Heavily influenced by The Economist Style Guide re lots of info communicated in a few words. Twitter use has made me more concise. Historically I have been a list person with bullets. Learning to be more of a storyteller without lists. Influenced by Wild Mind Writing. Great content on writing and speaking in a US Army manual via Jocko Willinck (https://loopvideos.com/ZFS7jBQFOcU?from=7360&to=8466). Experimenting with journalling - early days!

Q14; What personal development on writing would improve your writing skills?

A14: Always been meaning to work through The Economist Style Guide. I suspect I should really get feedback to target what development would help. Sometimes criticised for length of written comms but that usually is me wanting to nail an issue and seek an easy response from the receiver without starting email etc tag. I should revisit Cal Newport's Deep Work who says some amazing things about how to communicate in such a way to eliminate endless tag streams.

Q15: If you were recruiting for a remote version of you, how would you design a test project?

A15: A case study with explanation of a business problem. Ask for a project plan to be created, what headings to be used in the plan, complete the plan with values. Get some terms that need defining. Using MS Project. Get them to present the plan and how they would manage the project against the plan. What is the shortest time the project can be done in.  Another case study  - ask the person to run a project progress call using the case study and what outouts there would be from that case study.

Q16: What is your view of the suggested selection process for remote workers?

A16: Demonstrates that these guys have a tested process that would get them people who would fit their remote worker spec. Also shows they are willing to spend to get the right people as bad decisions can be costly.

Q17: If you have worked as a contractor, how does that experience help you become a remote worker? (If you have never been a contractor, imagine yourself in that situation and answer accordingly).

A17: As a consultant, amazed how much work you actually get done when the organisational overhead does not get in the way and you can concentrate exclsuively on the work. You are left to it to get on with the work. Helps when the work is tightly defined or you make it so if hazy! But as with most pros, we are self-managing to deliver our services.

My book notes

5.1: It’s a big world

as soon as you have 2 people working in different locations, they could be working within 1 mile of each other or 1k miles

good remote working habits mean you forget where people are

thinking internationally  for recruitment widens the talent pool  & helps you address global markets

e.g what is start of week? in US is Sunday, but Monday elsewhere

having staff in several countries may help you win clients

language barrier issues

note the need for strong written/verbal comms skills in global remote teams

5.2: Life moves on

note that staff will move for a variety of non-work reasons, why not retain them by allowing them to work remotely from their new place

people who have worked for you for a long time are ideal remote workers as they know how your org works

keeping  a solid team together for a long time is a key to peak performance (and improving performance over time)

doing great work with great people is 1 of most durable sources of happiness we humans can tap into

5.3: Keep the good times going

human connection skills even more important for remote workers because they have to work over distance

misinterpreted emails etc

need to keep everyone's outlook healthy and happy

beware when work gets stressful, it puts these skills to the test

ideally have lots of optimistic people - people who go out of their way to make sure everyone is having a good time

sentiments are infectious - good or bad

monitor, not just hire for, the work atmosphere

no assholes allowed

for remote work, extend to:-

1. no asshole-y behaviour allowed

2. no drama allowed

3. no bad vibes allowed

5.4: Seeking a human

challenge for a manager directing a remote workforce is to ensure diversity of human experience happens for their teams like it does for workers on flashy campuses

put together a team of people who are naturally interested in more than just their work - encourage those interests to bloom

e.g. holiday gifts to develop skills, sponsoring pursuit of hobbies and the time to fit them in - help staff do them via time and money

magic and diversity thrive in diverse cultures

small price to pay for a more interesting workplace & to keep people engaged for long term

5.5: No parlour tricks

how to best select people for virtual teams - beware tests

ideally tests confirm what you observe in "meeting" someone

you do need to meet people in person somtimes!

ask for examples of their work as key - work output is main output for remote workers

poor quality work will be immediately obvious as soon as someone starts with you

for roles where output not as visible or obvious, set real world problems to see solutions relevant to your org's products/services

5.6: The cost of thriving

not about getting cheaper labour from different parts of the world

if you are in one place where talent is few and demand high, a challenge to recruit

remote working companies have recruiting an almost advantage

as a remote worker should be equal pay for equal work if not you are opening the door to being treated as 2nd class in other things

5.7: Great remote workers are simply great workers

harder to fake performance as remote worker

visibility of your work in collaboration platforms

you do not have to boast about your work it is visible

shines light into work output not seen before

great remote workers are simply great workers

smart and get things done

cf seeing someone 9-5, they must be working OK

remote work speeds up process of getting right people on bus and the wrong people off

5.8: On writing well

being a good writer is critical skill of remote worker

work gets done in words so you need to be clear

1st filter that really matters is covering letter

be ruthless in filtering out poor writers

no time to review all applicants at length

becoming a better writer is possible

lots of remote work requires collaboration so you need these skills

5.9: Test project

pre-hiring piece of work to prove candidate can do the work

prevents assessment being solely on past work which may not have been all their own work

1-2 week mini-project that we pay for - 1 if unemployed, 2 weeks if in work

make it meaningful for the role they are applying for - something that solves a real problem

5.10: Meeting them in person

hire remotely means sussing out cultural fit so need to meet in person to get a feel for their character - polite, on time, decent, treat people well, other people's views of the person

you can tell a lot from quick f2f

fly 2-3 people in per position for a day to assess the person

lunch with team colleagues

chat with line manager

let them do their own thing in meeting others

when gone, full team review of all the things we observed

video calls for other colleagues

make the call based on talent + character

when start, can work in office for a few days to settle in then remote

5.11: Contractors know the drill

being a contractor is good practice for working remotely

can be used as test drive for both parties

Chapter 6: Managing Remote Workers

Book Club Q&A

Q1: If you were the lead decision maker of how people work in your organisation, what would be the next step you would take in your organisation working remotely? Why?

A1: Identify some best practices for using the tech including some bite-sized training how-to's. Assessing how people prefer to work, their pros and cons of remote working. A free and frank discussion of how we work in the office and remotely and how we could be more efficient and effective. Include clients in that discussion re their needs and wants and assessment. Get the online calendar's open by default re what people have booked, when they are on holiday etc

Q2: What do you think would be (or is) the main culture impact of working remotely in your organisation?

A2: Things get done quickly with fewer interruptions. People more mindful of whether people are Busy per Skype statuses etc.

Q3: Do you see a difference in how different ages of colleagues impact how they work remotely?

A3: Not especially. I am one of the oldest in our org of 55 people with 35 years difference to youngest. Some of us are more tech savvy than the younger ones. BUT not really thought about it until now! Regardless of ages, some are bad at all forms of commns and speed of response.

Q4: What do you see as the main differences between leading and managing an IRL team and a virtual team?

A4: The more I have worked remotely in any way over the years, the more I realise that these are exactly the same but that techniques and skills are slightly different but bith can inform each other to make us more effective regardless of how remote the team is.

Q5: What face-to-face interaction would you want to mandate over a 12 month period if your organisation had a majority of full-time remote workers?

A5: Definitely into full company get-together once a year. I have experienced the power of remote workers spending a week at HQ face-to-face and having the opportunity to collaborate face-to-face on specific work opportunities and challenges during that time.  Depending on need and level of cohesion, increase that frequency but such "events" would need careful setup to ensure value against objectives.

Q6: What experiences have you had of feeling like a 2nd class citizen in any work or learning context? How did it make you feel?

A6: Best example was being a distance learning MBA student with others from organisations acrosss the UK and us having to walk across a city to another building for our weekend sessions when the full-time programme could stay in their "room". It was shocking. I was annoyed and angry and amazed that that happened given we as a group were rarely together.

Q7: How and why could remote workers feel like 2nd class citizens?

A7: Not communicated with directly, comms implies they do not exist, planned "meetings" always at inapproriate times for remote workers, not involved in decision making, promotions only to office-based staff, non-involvement in product or customer "meetings".

Q8: If you were a line manager how would you want to manage your direct reports? Would that differ if either of you or both of were working remotely?

A8: I would want to do this the same as far as possible. Clear setting of goals, objectives. Good understanding of career and life objectives, weekly team "meetings", weekly 1:1s on progress, obstacles, coaching, encouragement, social.

Q9: How would you compare the level of trust of your organisation vs the example in this chapter?

A9: This is about policy for me. Those who are more mobile and customer-facing re sales have company credit cards, I believe. All other costs are claimed back via expenses. Expenses for kit etc would need approving ahead of time. I assume we have a supplier list and preferred/approved products etc that have to be bought from. Decisions on these are speedy and appropriate.

Q10: What danger signs would you look for in your remote workers (including you!) overworking?

A10: Comms at extreme times of day and days relevant to the sender including emails, ESN posts. Changing atttudes/behaviour unusual for the person. Longer response times to queries, no-shows for calls, lack of prioritisation, lengthening elapsed times for deliverables.

Q11: To what extent did the scarcity value section of this chapter resonate with you?

A11: This does need to be part of the culture of the organisation. Scarcity should not get to the point of beng non-existent or once every 2 years. They do need to be properly and thoroughly planned and designed for success. Also they should not be seen as something done to or for remote workers.

My book notes

6.1: When’s the right time to go remote?

in general, best if you start as soon as possible

culture grows over time - easier if yur culture grows with remote workers

cf kids growing up with computers - easy users - not so easy for older people

harder for established orgs but need to start introducing remote workers

allow existing workers to work remotely eg tell best employees they can work remotely 2 days/week

treat remote working as low-risk experiment - iterate + adjust

learn lessons

start early or start small

low risk, see if it works

6.2: Stop managing the chairs

easy to be a manager when just managing chairs

challenge of managing people when you cannot see them

a manager's job is not just ensuring that people are working

instead need to lead and verify the work

can't effectively manage a team if you do not know the intricacies of what their work is

do need to:-

1. know what needs to be done

2. understand why delays may happen

3. be creative with solutions to sticky problems

4. divide work into manageable chunks

5. help put people on the right projects

6. etc

defo do not need to manage the chairs

when/where someone is doing the work is irrelevant most of the time

6.3: Meetups and sprints

remote does not mean never getting together from time to time

e.g. twice a year for 4-5 days

easier to work remotely with people you have seen face-to-face

good to get whole org together

sprints in person to get work over the line together re mad hours

industry conferences good for doing things together - work and play

you do not have to be remote all the time

6.4: Lessons from open source

lots to learn

a triumph of asynchronous collaboration and communication

if this can work, anything can work!

reasons for success:-

1. intrinsic motivation of developers

2. all out in the open

3. meeting occasionally - developer conferences

all remote problems are trivial in comparison with open source challenge ...

6.5: Level the playing field

remote worker are NOT 2nd class citizens

the lower the ratio of remote workers the more likely this is to happen

often happens so take steps to prevent etc

create/maintain a level playing field - all team are equal

ideally, need some senior leaders working remotely

managers need to work remotely for some of the time to understand how it feels, what goes on etc

use the tech so all have the same experience

6.6: One-on-ones

at least once every few months - check-ins - casual, conversational

20-30 mins but schedule an hour for flexibility, not directly specific work-related

= a consistent, open line of communication

the small things may fall through cracks of the more formal 6-monthly reviews

6.7: Remove the roadblocks

need to have trust so that everything does not necessarily need another person's authorisation - delays due to timezones

empower your workers

live with mistakes as learning opportunities

ensure all workers have access to everything by default

some get off on power to block, to authorise, to be courted

streamline all processes

e.g. all have company credit cards, "spend wisely"

authorise own holidays collectively

people live up to whatever your expectations are - make them high

6.8: Be on the lookout for overwork, not underwork

reality is that overwork is more of an issue!

remote workers can have colleagues around the world so there is always someone online

beware putting work in gaps in your personal time

if remote workers do this, more likely to burnout

all need to look out for each other

e.g. May to Oct, extra day off (or when it is summer in your timezone!)

you do not want a bunch of slackers or a bunch of supermen/superwomen

need people healthy and performing all the time

6.9: Using scarcity to your advantage

when we do the same things often, they lose value cf f2f, meetings, calls

when rare, people value them more

scarcity of something increases the value

Chapter 7: Life as a Remote Worker

Book Club Q&A

Q1: Say something about you and routines.

A1: These were mainly subconscious but became more explicit in the past few months via reading James Clear's Atomic Habits and Marshall Goldsmith's Triggers. Looking to create and embed more routines in my life to become more efficient and effective.

Q2: How well do you manage keeping work and home/play separate? Should they be kept separate?

A2:  They do tend to blur into each other. I am trying harder to make the edge firmer and focus much more on work time when it is work time so the edges do not blur. Yes, they should be kept separate unless the edges are more about working at strange unplanned times of the day which I am not a fan of currently. If the nature of my work changed dramatically may be this would be different for me.

Q3: What is your experience of working in different locations during a day or a week? What has come to mind from reading this section?

A3: In the past 12 months:-

1. home (2nd floor office)

2. home (ground floor living room)

3. desk at office

4. board room

5. meeting room 2

6. meeting room 3

7. enclosed space 1 in office

8. enclosed space 2 in office

5 & 6 are used by me for my start of day routine reading non-fiction at work before my working day starts.

In the past I have worked at supplier sites and customer sites. Not mentioned in the book interestingly.

This section has made me think that I do want to get more creative about where I can work.

Q4: How does your tech differ from what you use for work and what you use for play? What issues do you wrestle with in this area?

A4: Work laptop and mobile phone are used for all areas of my life. I do have an iPad for play time (ebook reader, watching videos). I do have a personal laptop which I rarely use - MS Office is not on it - but is my master iTunes library for podcasts and my music collection. Wrestling with my curiosity can make me go off at tangents when at work or play for the other. I do capture things rapidly to prevent that taking loads of time. My process still needs improving.

Q5: What is your response to and experience of the idea of working in a different location with other people other than your co-workers?

A5: Reminding me of school and university library days when there was a strong sense that I was there to work. I want to explore this more to see if it is helpful, not helpful etc. My strong suspicion is that this would not help me work as I would be too interested in what other people are doing.

Q6: Say something about your motivation when working at work or at home or elsewhere.

A6: Motivation about the same at work and at home. Motivation relates to my tiredness and energy levels. The latter two easily outweigh my motivation. I should really be more conscious of my energy levels and tailor what I work on when energy etc is high and when they are low. Interestingly, motivation is coming to the fore in my subjects to review and address (eg books "The Tao of Motivation" and Daniel Pink's Drive. I am currently so tired after my working day and dinner that I am usually fit for nothing and easily doze off in my armchair. This may be lockdown related and spending so much time at my home office desk.

Q7: "The only reliable way to muster motivation is by encouraging people to work on the stuff they like and care about with people they like and care about". Discuss.

A7: I looked up "muster" - summon up (a feeling, attitude, or response).

I suspect this would be ideal for most people. I can think of projects and people with some overlap that have been amazing to work for and with and I do seek to make everything I work on to be like that. My recent reading and applying of Designing Your Work Life has made me think deeply about these and related issues about my working life in all its varied dimensions. Some exercises in that book are helpful in considering responses to this.

Q8: Does nomadic working appeal to you? Why? Why not?

A8: I do find it amazing that I can connect my laptop to the internet anywhere and do anything. Lots of my life is lived online.  This would appeal if the spaces were attractive and you could choose your level of working re Deep Work etc. I am invariably working with people who do not sit near me and where the bulk of our comms are electronic.

Q9: What is your view of how a change of scenery impacts your perspective?

A9: Always been a fan of off-sites to change habits, get out of ruts, forcing change in thinking when people are not in their natural habitats. Clearly, this can apply to individuals too and how we work. Love being on a beach to think. Rare! Only summer holidays. If I was to write a book or needed space for some extensive Deep Work I would love to get away from it all to think etc.

Q10: How does working from home impact your family relationships?

A10: Not that much. Some of the family are usually around when I am working from home but our contact is minimal as I can work in my home office on the 2nd floor- I only close the door when I am on con calls or if they are being noisy.

Q11: One challenge to working from home is the lack of space to work, family members being at home. Do you see other options as being too like working in your organisations's offices? Why? Why not?

A11: Some of us have a special affinity with our home when working. A 3rd location may help feel like working remotely but you would have to travel to  a co-working space and it may feel like the work office depending on how those spaces are laid out. Lots of the advantages of working remotely could be gained from a 3rd space.

Q12: How concerned are you about your lack of visibility to those based in work offices?

A12: We all know when people are online etc. We may get missed for impromptu chats in the office for important things but if all are working remotely then that is less of an issue. As always, there are often issues of people not being good at meeting management in any context so remote is simply more of the same.

Q13: What other suggestions do you have for not being ignored when you are working remotely?

A13: Checking in from time-to-time socially e.g. IMs not asking work questions but how are you, what are you working on questions. I like to wish people well ahead of out of hours work for new software releases to not only show that I care but also that I am remembering who is doing what /when. I would say it would be easier to do this for people using Workplace. Slack, Teams etc. Some proactive comms about successes is good to remind people that you are delivering especially where mgt is hands-off.

My book notes

7.1: Building a routine

benefit of 9-5 is routine, alarm off at same time, breaks same time etc

WFH gives far greater freedom & flexibility

without clear boundaries + routines, things get murky

stay in bed all day may be tempting!

work drifting into evenings

most of us need some kind of routine

tricks to bring structure to your day:-

1. clothes for work or play

2. separate personal and work computing

3. simply looking presentable is good enough

4. divide the day into chunks - Catch-up, Collaboration + Serious Work

5. cf timezones of colleagues when they are sleeping etc

6. physical environment for work and play

7. just suss out what works for you

7.2: Morning remote, afternoon local

remote is not all or nothing

split days remote/office

use one for zero distractions

flexibility is your friend

7.3: Compute different

split between work and play is a challenge esp when use same devices for both

could use different devices

physical barriers to doing work at play and vv

good too if devices different for how you access eg iPad in armchair vs laptop at desk

7.4: Working alone in a crowd

some find it hard working on own in complete isolation

so can use coffee shops and co-working spaces with crowd white noise

may force you into being productive as the only thing you can do in this crowd

7.5: Staying motivated

motivation is the fuel of intellectual work

the only reliable way to muster motivation is by encouraging people to work on the stuff they like and care about with people they like and care about - there are no shortcuts

treat motivation as barometer of the quality of work + the work environment

if working for a week on a 1 day piece of work should be alarm bell to sort something out

beware blaming yourself as procrastinator - often the issue is the world you are working in

need to turn this round by speaking up and acting

line manager responsibility to detect this too

example of sabbaticals to recharge batteries - 1 month for 3 years service

7.6: Nomadic freedom

working remotely means people can be nomads

often all you need is laptop + internet connection

just work to the laws of remote collaboration - overlap of timezones for some real-time comms

can be cheaper lifestyle than mortgage etc

a choice if you want it

7.7: A change of scenery

as often as you like!

home, cafe, library, co-working space

can lead to all sorts of new ideas

see remote as opportunity to be influenced by more things + to take in more perspectives vs what would happen if you stuck to your desk in your office all day

7.8: Family time

many wish they could spend more time with family

change of working hours and no commute time allows more of this

may make up for loss of contact with co-workers

for org, means better work, better collaboration, better results

7.9: No extra space at home

remote work does not necessarily mean at home

lots of options

renting a desk, co-working facilities - half way house between at work desk and at home desk

7.10: Making sure you’re not ignored

danger of out of sight out of mind

solution:-

1. make noise

2. make progress, do exceptional work

people who produce cannot be ignored

8: Conclusion

Book Club Q&A

Q1: Where do you see the world in terms of a tipping point for remote working?

A1: Some organisations will never be able to work fully remotely because of the nature of their products and services. These are becoming much fewer. For those organisations whose workers could all work remotely, I put the tipping point at 25% and needing to get to 50%+ for the tipping point.

Q2: How do you think this has been affected by #COVID19?

A2: More organisations, having had to work remotely to get anything done, are seeing the power and the challenges of their people working remotely. In one sense, this is a continuing experiment. Moving on from here, organisations need to design their work moving forward to fully leverage the power and benefit of people working remotely.

Q3: List your tools and services inventory for your work and for your play.

A3:

1. Work

   1. Dell Windows 10 Laptop

   2. Samsung S8 Android Mobile

   3. MS Office 2019

      1. Outlook

      2. Skype for Business

      3. Word

      4. Excel

      5. Powerpoint

      6. Project

   4. X (internal app for service desk, sales process, payments process etc)

   5. Google Chrome

   6. Spotify

2. Play

   1. Dell Windows 10 Laptop

   2. Samsung S8 Android Mobile

   3. iPhone (used only as a podcast playwe while working or driving commuting

   4. iPad (ebook reader)

   5. MS Office 2019

      1. Word

      2. Excel

      3. Powerpoint

   6. Google Chrome

   7. Evernote

   8. Trello

   9. Zoom

   10. Spotify

   11. Workplace from Facebook

   12. iTunes for podcast library mgt and copying episodes to the iPhone

   13. Blogger

   14. Open Live Writer (for blog post writing)

   15. Twitter

My book notes

8.1: The quaint old office

"In thirty years’ time, as technology moves forward even further, people are going to look back and wonder why offices ever existed."

(Richard Branson)

tipping point is coming for remote working

people's views are entrenched and will become more so

already through 1st 2 stages of Gandhi's change process-

1. they ignore you

2. they laugh at you

3. they fight you

4. you win

old habits, die hard

remote work is here and here to say

will you be early adopter, early majority, late majority, laggards?

8.2: The Remote Toolbox (at 37 Signals)

(note date of book was 2013)

1. Basecamp  - all projects run there

2. WebEx, Go-To Meeting, Join.Me

3. Know Your Company (culture assessment)

4. Skype (video, audio calls)

5. Instant Messaging

6. Campfire - persistent chat room

7. Google Hangouts - video conferences

8. Dropbox - file repository

9. Google Docs - collaboration

10. Co-Working Spaces