Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus

by Ali Greene, Tamara Sanderson, Matt Mullenweg (Foreword)

The future of work is here. You can no longer survive by copying and pasting old office techniques into a digital environment; it’s exhausting, unproductive, and unsuccessful. There is a better way! Are you ready to rethink everything you know about how remote works ?

Drawing on their years of experience working at remote companies DuckDuckGo and Automattic, plus dozens of interviews with leading experts, Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson have written the ultimate playbook for managing remote teams.

This book addresses challenges such as communicating effectively (with fewer meetings!), eliminating frustration over what tools to use, establishing team norms, and focusing on getting things done. You will learn how to work best remotely and create a workplace designed for freedom, flexibility, and focus.

For decades, we’ve planned our lives around our work. Now it’s time to intentionally design work to fit our lives.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2023

Reviews

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hello, We are so excited that you’ve picked up this book! Not only because we believe you’re on a path to designing the remote work life of your dreams, but also because it contains all of the remote work lessons we’ve learned firsthand along the way (along with doz- ens more from our fellow remote work leaders). It is all the advice we wish we had when we first started, and we can’t wait to share it with you!” write Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson in their new book, Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus. Then, they continue, “…we need you to do one thing: Drop your remote work baggage at the door. We get it. We also have a love-hate relationship with Zoom and have been in countless conversations where eyes glaze over the second we say we’re advocates for remote work. The thing is, when we started writing this book, the world was at the height of a global pandemic that looked nothing like the remote work we’ve known and loved. It’s been exhausting, even for us. All of this to say . . . there must be a better way…Remote work is no longer a futuristic pipe dream for a few lucky people. It is the present—whether or not companies are ready to adapt. If you are sending emails, saving data to the cloud, or using countless other forms of technology, you have the tools you need to design the how, where, and when to do your best work. The real challenge lies in changing the human behaviors on your team, your- self included, to have true remote work fluency: something we define as having the right skills, behaviors, and mindset to easily navigate work in an anytime, anywhere environment as if it is second nature.”

As indicated by the aforementioned, highlighted passages, Greene and Sanderson have this decidedly familial, plainspoken, effective communicatory style. Yet they’re so good at this surface-level delivery that it’s easy to miss the craft, calculation, and depth-laden way they embed ideas, concepts, and strategy that is complex, well-reasoned, and genuinely makes logical, applicable sense. It’s something to serious commend, particularly when Greene and Sanderson are able to have the proverbial cake and eat it too. They’re able to keep things casual and comprehensible for the widest possible audience, while not dumbing anything down for the sake of affability and easy reading digestion. “The idea for this book came up during a casual catch-up while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic,” they write. “We saw midlevel man- agers struggling, and executive teams didn’t know how to help, given they were also unfamiliar with remote work. We saw them largely copy and paste traditional ways of working into a virtual environment. And then we got to work…We created this book for you and your team, each writing from our corners of the world. With multiple versions of stories in Google Docs, WhatsApp threads, and Asana tasks, we’ve strengthened our own remote working muscles as well. (Trust us, there’s always room for improvement.) We became even more confident that remote work fluency is here to stay. Strong remote work skills will improve your work game, even if you decide to be colocated part of the time. We are excited to share everything we have learned. Saddle up. Let’s get started.”

[Steve S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ali and Tamara have done an excellent job of providing a roadmap for remote workers and managers alike on how to function in the new remote or hybrid workplace. I felt the sections on team building / team dynamics in a remote work environment and digital tools to support your team were especially enlightening.

I would recommend it to anyone who is dealing with the dynamics of the remote workplace.

[Kenisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

[Theodora (paper.bag.reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guide for both managers and anyone looking to further develop their remote work muscles, be inspired and try out little experiments to improve things & question assumptions. Designing your remote life can change your life, and this book is showcasing all the different flavours of what's possible, as a remote worker.

[Guus Witjes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read "Remote works - managing for freedom, flexibility, and focus" by Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson.

And I would like to add to the subtitle: "all the while being much more productive in the process and becoming a better human for yourself, your friends and family, and your colleagues and thus creating the best work you can for the company you work for"

But that would make it too long, wouldn't it 🤔

Why I was reading this one?
👀 Not only does one of the authors write on her LinkedIn that remote literally changed her life: it literally changed my life too and only for the good. So I was sure I could relate to this book. And I became totally zoomed in when I read this in the preface:

"Fundamentally, remote work puts a magnifying glass on all aspects of an organization: the good, the bad, and the ugly. We believe the bad and the ugly are merely areas to improve and problems to solve. Why we don't claim to have all the answers, we do believe in you - a competent, capable, and creative human being"

(talking about a perfect growth mindset! 😎)

But there are so many more diamonds in this book:

💡 "in remote, we all become managers, at least over our workflow and environment" 💡

💡 "It is time for a mindset shift. You begin asking questions (like where and when you do your best work)" 💡

💡 "You probably heard the phrases: "the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed" or "the lottery of birth". Remote work can level the playing field and give more people access to opportunities, regardless of their zip code or passport" 💡

(This last one is one I have real-time experience with as a trainer for African SEO students 🙂 it's unbelievable what remote work can do on a bigger scale of things in terms of accessibility and equality. I'm so on #teamremote!)

I think I'm in love...🥰😂

Anyway: the future is remote (and async) and it's happening now!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

As both a former Director of People and Culture and a longtime (12 years) remote worker, I have spent a LOT of time thinking about this topic. I'm also often asked for advice on how to roll out certain aspects of intentional culture building - which I love, but don't always have the time or capacity for. I now have an incredible resource to point them to: Remote Works.

While theory has it's place, I'm personally all about action. Tell me how you've done it before, what you learned, and how I can do something similar in my workplace. So often we leave books inspired, but without the language or insight to actually apply what we've learned to our own situations. This is not the case in Remote Works.

Tam and Ali do an incredible job providing frameworks, activities, and guides that will actually help you bring a healthy remote work culture to life.

Tip: I recommend grabbing a print copy of the book. I started with the audio book, which I discovered through my Audible app, but quickly purchased a print version as well. It now joins the rank of books I've marked up, highlighted and bookmarked to death. In my experience, that's the telltale sign of a great read!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic tool with practical, applicable worksheets, templates, and reflection questions. The real-life examples that are shared for illustrative purposes are to the point & appropriately used to illuminate the argument being made. There's no filler/fluff in this book; every page contains useful & pertinent information, and it's a straightforward, easy read that I was able to get through quickly & begin implementing into regular practice immediately. I strongly appreciate the clear communication style & immediate applicability of this guide; I'm not reading Little Women, I'm looking for a tool to improve practical work-related skills!

[Kathy Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you are contemplating working remotely or have been a remote worker for a while and are suffering from a severe learning curve, this book was written for you. It really covers everything you need to know to be a successful remote worker or manager in detail.

Ali and Tamara are two experienced and successful remote workers who share their insights on time management, your digital house( my favorite chapter), developing a successful team and lots more.

Easy to read, concise and tons of tips to improve your skills to help you be a successful remote worker or manager.

Kate

[Meg Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remote Works is an essential book for not only managers but individual contributors. Returning to a remote position early this year, the ideas and strategies in this book were exactly what I needed to set myself up for success on a new remote team. I carefully took time to read and digest each chapter, and since finishing the book, have passed it along to two managers in our organization who can implement strategies and focus on getting work done remotely. Thanks, Tam & Ali for taking the time to write such a great tool for the remote workplace!

[Rebecca Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a really valuable read. Packed full of insights and practical tools for navigating remote work (or for me - hybrid work). Love how it draws from a diverse set of experts, philosophies, and personal experiences making it both a fun and enlightening read. I read it end-to-end but the tldr's and tip sections also make it an excellent book to dip in and out of to address specific challenges.

[Debbie Aiken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for work after listening to the authors on a podcast and it was very enjoyable! Relates directly to a lot of the work I’m doing in my job right now and the book is now full of sticky notes. It really helped me define some of the ambiguous issues my work culture is experiencing and provided some actionable steps for addressing them. I would recommend this to anyone working in People Ops in an early post-pandemic world.

[Tom Aveston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for anyone managing in a remote or hybrid work environment. I particularly appreciate how it draws from the wisdom of management and leadership experts, as well as the authors own experiences, and balances this with practical tools: a great mix of theory and practice! I also found the writing to be lively and humorous - all in all an informative and enjoyable read!

[John Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for any CEO or business leader. A true playbook of how to navigate this seismic shift in work practises and make them a competitive advantage. Highly recommend it as a "must read"!