Be Productive Anywhere: Strategies for Better Remote Work
Remote work is like catnip to me.  Not the actual work thing (I spent 18 months working for a Texan university while five time zones away, so I know a little about it) but the thing for me is the <i>movement</i><p>Remote work <i>should</i> be everywhere. Almost every office job could be done remotely with far less crappy distraction.  I think that there are genuine difficulties with close co-ordination, with productivity etc, but these are far far out weighed by the gains (I got some real work done remotely and I was not the one of the best)<p>There are I think three things preventing remote working taking off<p>- managers cannot manage.  With remote worker you have to manage the work itself, which means the proxies for good work (ie telling if someone is a good worker, is engaged is enthusiastic etc) are gone, and so it is necessary to define the work upfront, decide if you are getting that work and correct. This is really hard and usually the managers reporting line wants them facing up most of the time thus reducing the time they have to manage.<p>- companies cannot compete.  If your company is the only factory in say a thirty mile radius, you are a monopoly employer and get to pick the best workers for a pittance.  If more factories spring up, you are now competing with those other factories for the best workers and salaries should rise.  Now imagine the radius is 30,000 miles.  Companies are now competing against <i>every other </i>company for their workers.  It is possible remote workers will act like football superstars and extract majority of profit from firms<p>- the &quot;out of place&quot;&#x27;tipping point. Untill 51% of coworkers are remote the company culture does not change and you are a second class citizen<p>I think these are big headwinds for remote working