Jarkko Oksanen - Better Remote Work: Do It Right, And Reap the Benefits

Copyright 2015 Jarkko Oksanen

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a published review.

The information presented herein represents the views of the author as of the date of publication. This book is presented for informational purposes only. Due to the rate at which conditions change, the author reserves the right to alter and update his opinions at any time. While every attempt has been made to verify the information in this book, the author does not assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, or omissions.

Preface

Throughout most of my career, Ive worked either from home or from places other than an office. I grew up in a family where my mother was allowed to work remotely, and I learned the benefits for family life early on. Back then, though, I had no idea of the complex issues involved.

Over the years, Ive been a part of three start-up companies, built an e-commerce business, and have been involved in several web development teams ranging in size from small teams of three to large teams of over twenty-five people working on the same project. Ive learned that every remote work team has its own issues, and in all of these different places where Ive worked, the solutions have varied. But there also have been things that have helped in every case.

Ive discussed with the top minds in the industry their remote work solutions that they have come up with to solve various challenges. During the last three years, Ive read over forty business related books, with five of them about remote work. Ive gone through over twenty papers and studies about working remotely, and Ive found the ideas that are useful and cut out the ideas and stereotypes that arent.

Having worked remotely both as an employee and as part of management, my perspective comes from multiple points of view. As an employee, the issues you have vary from those in a management position. Five years working in web development gave me a good perspective on how remote work feels in different teams and around the world. As a team leader, I know the hard issues that come when working with people who are in different parts of the world and communication is done only through the internet. From my business experience with three start-ups, I know the fiscal benefits that remote work can have for small businesses.

As a young entrepreneur, I felt the freedom when working on my own business and putting in the hours that I wanted. I decided then not to work for anyone ever again. I thought that working for a company meant that someone bosses you around and you work from nine to five.

How wrong I was! After a few years as a freelancer, I joined a large corporation back in Finland. There I realised that what I thought was the standard oppressive corporate work environment could be something completely different. From day one, I was given tasks with complete trust that I would finish them, and I was given no fixed hours dictating when I had to be at the office. This made me realize working for a company that did things right is not bad at all. In fact, when youre in a flexible work position and can work remotely for a big company, the work is very, very similar to being a small business owner or an independent contractor.

Currently Im living in Australia and working as a Drupal developer, while running an e-commerce and consulting business back in Finland.

I wrote this book because I want to share the ideas that Ive learned on working remotely, and I saw that there is no widely published book that presents these ideas in the depth that is needed. There are many books and papers that cover the basics, but I felt that something was still missing. Like everything else these days, some of this information can researched on the internet; but Ive combined it all in this book and added my own personal experiences and solutions to give it more depth. I believe strongly that by embracing working remotely we can change the world to be a better place. And thats what its all about. I hope that more businesses around the world start experimenting with working remotely and improving their existing work by implementing the ideas presented in this book.

Introduction

For many businesses and project teams around the world, there exists the possibility for employees to do remote work. This applies to one-person companies as well as large successful corporations.

Businesses that are effectively using remote work are reaping the benefits. These companies have access to the best talent and the best clients, and are producing superior results. They also have more fun doing it, and are often seen as being the most cutting-edge firms in the marketplace.

Then there are those who may allow remote work but are not doing it to its full extent. They often face a lot of social issues, and productivity that should be increasing is actually decreasing. Many companies are blaming their remote workers for some of these issues, which in a few cases may be true. These companies need something and someone to push them to get back on track.

This book is about those issues and how to overcome them. From building a remote team to going through various ideas that can increase your teams productivity, this book is meant as a guide for both those who already work remotely and those who are considering it. Managers, team leaders, developers, and everyone who works remotely will find valuable guidance in these pages.

Looking from the outside in, remote work might sound easy. We as remote workers know the truth. The benefits are numerous, but the issues are undeniable. In the end its far from easy.

This book can show you how to dodge the many pitfalls of managing remote employees and focus on building your team the way it is proven to work in hundreds of organizations around the world. It offers insight from experienced team managers from around the world and proven working ideas from the trenches.

If your business has not begun working remotely, this book will give you a good idea of what itll be like. Youll find what major issues will most often come up, and the solutions other successful teams and individuals have found in similar situations. If you have not worked remotely yet, consider this: How much of your day do you already work online or through a computer screen?

The ideas in the book are meant to be convertible to many different issues and situations that teams could face. Its designed so that you can skip to the index in the end and find your own issue, or read is as a complete guide to your businesss remote work solution. With examples and ideas from small teams of three people to larger teams of over twenty people, Ive found the key issues and discussed with the people involved to figure out how they managed to overcome the challenge.

Ill also provide a quick glimpse into the future and make educated predictions about what remote work will be like in the years to come. All the upcoming technologies will be very interesting to follow, and taking an early mover advantage on some of these when the time is ripe will give you a strong business advantage.

Im not going to declare that remote work is easy and will solve all of your business and work problems. Thats not what its going to go. It will take time to do right and there will be challenges. But when done right, the benefits will increase your company profits, built a culture of empathy and trust, and make life better for both your employees and the company owners.