Remote

Office Not Required

By: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The classic guide to working from home and why we should embrace a virtual office, from the bestselling authors of Rework “A paradigm-smashing, compulsively readable case for a radically remote workplace.”—Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet

Does working from home—or anywhere else but the office—make sense? In Remote, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of Basecamp, bring new insight to the hotly debated argument. While providing a complete overview of remote work’s challenges, Jason and David persuasively argue that, often, the advantages of working “off-site” far outweigh the drawbacks. In the past decade, the “under one roof” model of conducting work has been steadily declining, owing to technology that is rapidly creating virtual workspaces. Today the new paradigm is “move work to the workers, rather than workers to the workplace.” Companies see advantages in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves their ability to conduct business across multiple time zones. But what about the workers? Jason and David point out that remote work means working at the best job (not just one that is nearby) and achieving a harmonious work-life balance while increasing productivity. And those are just some of the perks to be gained from leaving the office behind. Remote reveals a multitude of other benefits, along with in-the-trenches tips for easing your way out of the office door where you control how your workday will unfold. Whether you’re a manager fretting over how to manage workers who “want out” or a worker who wants to achieve a lifestyle upgrade while still being a top performer professionally, this book is your indispensable guide.

©2013 Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Remote is the book that twenty-first century business leaders have been waiting for: a paradigm-smashing, compulsively readable case for a radically remote workplace. If you're intrigued by extreme teleworking, but have your doubts, Remote is the place to address them. Not a day goes by that I don't think about, talk about, and actually apply the insights in this game-changing book." (Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet)

“Remote is the way I work and live. Now I know why. If you work in an office, you need to read this remarkable book, and change your life.” (Richard Florida, author of the national bestseller The Rise of the Creative Class)

"What you'll find in Remote is profound advice from guys who've succeeded in the virtual workforce arena. This is a manifesto for discarding stifling location- and time-based organizational habits in favor of best work practices for our brave new virtual and global world. If your organization entrusts you with the responsibility to get things done, this is a must-read.” (David Allen, internationally bestselling author of Getting Things Done)

Great Book For Those Wanting to Know the How of Remote Work

I really like the way the Arthur broke down good, the bad, the ugly remote work. And compared it to today’s work world. He mentions lots how they overcame hills which not all businesses have the flex to do what he is saying, but the point is made well.
Recommend to both leaders and employees.

Love it!

Good listening to while working remotely on the laptop. Kills two birds in one go...

It's a long sales pitch

As a digital nomad, I've found this book to be a superficial sales pitch. It feels like 37signals has become more focused on sales than anything else. I would recommend this book for selling the idea to your CEO over a weekend, if you would like to start working from home. It is far from truly helping you make the shift required though. There is very little truly useful information in the book.

Great overview, slim on the how to.

I found that this book was great for a general overview of what remote work is, but it didn’t get too detailed as far as the how to actually go about doing it. A good driver for a psychology shift.

I've been working remotely for over 15 years

It's great to know that it is a trend that is coming of age. This book is a good primer for anyone considering remote work.

Like it. Not too relevant post covid-19 wfh era

I regret not having this around before I tried to advocate for WFH days at my company. I like it, but most of the content is making a case for remote work but is not relevant to our post-COVID-19 mandatory WFH period.

A good one

Clear ideas about remote work and building a remote team. Concise so it's a good investment of your time.

If you want to understand remote working this is great

In my case I had been working remotely for some time so much of the content was not new for me.

Id you’re working in an old fashion company and want to understand remote working this is a great book.

Excellent advice great book!!

It covers all of the bases on the subject of remote working. From discussion points to initiating in your business.

Great review of the overall for remote work

If you could sum up Remote in three words, what would they be?

Succinct
Direct
Informative

What other book might you compare Remote to and why?

Rework, it's the same writers and has a similar feel.

Which scene was your favorite?

N/A

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it just really drilled down into the benefits of having a remote workforce and how to handle the pitfalls.