Secrets of the Remote Workforce: By Employees, For Employees

by Teresa Douglas, Holly Gordon, Mike Webber

“In midsummer 2010, I received a strange call from my manager. I was instructed to make myself available at 4:00 p.m. and to be in a place where I could talk freely without my fellow employees hearing. It was both mysterious and unsettling, but most of all it was intriguing.”

In November of 2010, a 70-year-old, industry leading, brick and mortar organization announced to its employees it was transforming into a company where nearly 90 percent of its workers would soon work remotely. Secrets of the Remote Workforce is written by three of the Kaplan employees who made it through that transformation and thrived.

Whether you are beginning your remote work journey or are a seasoned traveler, this book has something for you. Authors Mike, Holly, and Teresa took different paths over the ensuing years through their organization. Secrets of the Remote Workforce contains their hard-won knowledge over a wide variety of topics, which apply no matter where you stand in your company.

Many people know they need a comfortable work space; what surprises most is the need to set up the right headspace as well. This book covers how to ward off toxic levels of loneliness, how to get what you need from colleagues spread across the world, and how to network and grow in your career when you are sitting in an office of one, plus many other topics that will help you survive and thrive as a remote worker.

134 pages, Paperback

Published August 22, 2018

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike the last business book I read, this one was fantastic! I wish I had had a copy at the beginning of the pandemic. The book thoughtfully reflects on a huge variety of aspects of remote work in a well edited and succinct fashion. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, if you're a knowledge worker sitting at a computer all day long, this book is helpful for framing how you might do a better job maintaining relationships and avoid extra hardships suffered from not being face-to-face.

I like the description of the many types of interactions one might do in a job function and how they vary if you're remote. Not really a self-help book, but instead an index of areas one might pay attention to!

[M]

A bit difficult to rate this one. I'd probably give it 2.5 stars. During the first half, I was thinking 2 stars and 😬😬😬 a bit. Things seemed too basic or obvious. It's possible that someone entirely new to remote working wouldn't feel that way. I found the second half of the book to be more 3 stars and things that might not be so obvious to some people, or just good advice for ways to handle things in general were addressed.

[Michael Levitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of useful tips to successfully work remotely, as well as painting the picture of what working remotely actually looks like. It's not all working from the beach (although you can!)