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krystleblake's review against another edition
2.0
I manage a remote team and really hoped this book would offer some new tips. Sadly, I discovered that it’s outdated and framed more as a persuasion to try remote work. In 2022, we’re already doing it and have been for years. Perhaps this book was more useful in the year it was written, but not so much today.
The good news: this was a short and easy read, so I didn’t spend too long on it.
The good news: this was a short and easy read, so I didn’t spend too long on it.
trib's review against another edition
5.0
Like their previous effort, [b:Rework|6732019|Rework|Jason Fried|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391275636s/6732019.jpg|6928276], Remote is short, sharp and eschews lengthy management book pontification in favor of to-the-point ideas and examples. As a book, it's very much an illustration of how [a:Jason Fried|60619|Jason Fried|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1284934282p2/60619.jpg] and David Heinemeier Hansson have built their company, 37signals into the success it demonstrably is; absent of anything not necessary.
Reading Remote, I was reminded often of the kind of culture espoused in Rework, and felt Remote makes a fine companion to it. While both are eminently readable on their own, they make a fine pair together, espousing a view on 21st Century business and how things should be done (I should say ought, but that would be a cop out, as I believe the authors are absolutely right in their views).
If you want to explore remote working for yourself or your staff, you're well advised to read Remote to avoid the pitfalls common in doing it badly, and for some sage advice on how to get it right and the necessary corporate culture shift that comes along with it.
Reading Remote, I was reminded often of the kind of culture espoused in Rework, and felt Remote makes a fine companion to it. While both are eminently readable on their own, they make a fine pair together, espousing a view on 21st Century business and how things should be done (I should say ought, but that would be a cop out, as I believe the authors are absolutely right in their views).
If you want to explore remote working for yourself or your staff, you're well advised to read Remote to avoid the pitfalls common in doing it badly, and for some sage advice on how to get it right and the necessary corporate culture shift that comes along with it.
rodhilton's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a little disappointing, not because it's bad but because it wasn't quite what I was looking for. The book advertises itself as a collection of solutions to problems people encounter when embracing remote work, but more than anything else the problem it solves is "how do I convince management to embrace remote work?"
Most of the book is structured as a work of persuasion, something that's intended to convince people to go remote. A lot of it seems geared toward executives and managers, or giving lower-level employees ammunition and counterarguments for common objections. That's all well and good, but as someone who is already on-board with remote work and pretty experienced doing it for over 5 years, I don't personally need any convincing - I need help.
Going remote poses unique challenges and difficulties, and I thought the book might help give me some practical solutions to issues I've had with remote work as someone who prefers it and wants to be more successful with it. There's a little of that in the book, but it's mostly meant to persuade. I decided to read the book because I'm joining a new team that is fully distributed and having some struggles, and I was hoping this book would help me help them - but that's not really what's in here.
That said, since reading the book by total coincidence I've found myself involved in multiple conversations with people skeptical of remote work, and I used multiple arguments and examples I got directly from the book during the section of the book I felt like I wasn't getting much from, so maybe it's better than I give it credit for.
If someone is on the fence about remote work, this book is great. If you want to go remote and you need help convincing your team, your manager, or your company executives, this book is great. If everyone is already on board with remote work and needs practical solutions to issues that arise, the book is... fine? I guess? It's mostly fine.
Most of the book is structured as a work of persuasion, something that's intended to convince people to go remote. A lot of it seems geared toward executives and managers, or giving lower-level employees ammunition and counterarguments for common objections. That's all well and good, but as someone who is already on-board with remote work and pretty experienced doing it for over 5 years, I don't personally need any convincing - I need help.
Going remote poses unique challenges and difficulties, and I thought the book might help give me some practical solutions to issues I've had with remote work as someone who prefers it and wants to be more successful with it. There's a little of that in the book, but it's mostly meant to persuade. I decided to read the book because I'm joining a new team that is fully distributed and having some struggles, and I was hoping this book would help me help them - but that's not really what's in here.
That said, since reading the book by total coincidence I've found myself involved in multiple conversations with people skeptical of remote work, and I used multiple arguments and examples I got directly from the book during the section of the book I felt like I wasn't getting much from, so maybe it's better than I give it credit for.
If someone is on the fence about remote work, this book is great. If you want to go remote and you need help convincing your team, your manager, or your company executives, this book is great. If everyone is already on board with remote work and needs practical solutions to issues that arise, the book is... fine? I guess? It's mostly fine.
beeeeg's review against another edition
4.0
A bit more about the benefits of remote working and it's application for global teams as opposed to the more practical advice I was looking for, but still a short well written primer for remote working primer on remote working.
kar5300's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
2.5
Reading this before 2020 would have been very interesting. But reading this now makes it very outdated and all the points are very obvious or not relevant. But it is a very fast read.
lizliu's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty preachy, not informative or persuasive. We’ve been forced to work remotely with COVID and have experienced much of the behaviors described in this book but I otherwise wouldn’t have felt convinced after reading this. Only read for my book club
zaphod46's review against another edition
3.0
OK read. Decent on the "convince your boss/company to allow remote work" arguments, but less helpful on the "doing it well" part.