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A review by brockboland
Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier Hansson
3.0
Quick read (read it twice within a couple of weeks). Nothing earth-shattering, though I've been working remotely for most of the past three years, so a lot of it is old hat for me. I definitely found myself nodding along to some points I particularly agreed with, but several of the short sub-chapters are definitely written from their experience as a product companies. For example, their vacation policy: "Second, workers at 37Signals needn't ask permission to go on vacation or specify how much time they'll take. We tell them: just be reasonable, put it on the calendar, and coordinate with your coworkers." There's no way that would work in a company that's primarily engaged in client services: I can't just up and take vacation whenever I want, without a set time period, without losing paying customers.
More than anything, I think this would be a valuable book for people who would like to convince their employer to start trying out some remote work. There are a lot of good tips for this: the first two chapters deal primarily with the reasons why remote work is a net positive, and addressing common concerns and excuses. But, there are also a lot of little nuggets of wisdom sprinkled in chapters throughout the book.
If you want to work remotely, this is worth reading. If you already work remotely, give it a miss.
More than anything, I think this would be a valuable book for people who would like to convince their employer to start trying out some remote work. There are a lot of good tips for this: the first two chapters deal primarily with the reasons why remote work is a net positive, and addressing common concerns and excuses. But, there are also a lot of little nuggets of wisdom sprinkled in chapters throughout the book.
If you want to work remotely, this is worth reading. If you already work remotely, give it a miss.