08/26/2013
As cofounders of software company 37Signals, which provides tech architecture for telecommuters, Hansson and Fried (authors of Rework) are great believers in working remotely. Eager to proselytize, they offer a short volume extolling the virtues of telecommuting, detailing the benefits to both employer and employee, and explaining how to introduce the concept into a company. In seven sections and a conclusion, the authors attempt to provide guideposts on some of the major issues, such as how to convince management to allow employees to work outside of the office. While the book’s overall organization is reasonable, the individual chapters are so brief that they give the impression that Hansson and Fried have extremely short attention spans. Although 37Signals clearly prospers under the management strategy extolled here, the authors appear unaware of the difficulties of telecommuting in some sectors (for instance, in the service industry). Hansson and Fried’s amateurish and haphazard case fails to convince, not because it lacks merit, but because the authors seem to be phoning it in. (Oct.)
The "work-from-home" phenomenon is thoroughly explored in this illuminating new audiobook from best-selling 37signals founders Fried and Hansson, who point to the surging trend of employees working from home (and anywhere else) and explain the challenges and unexpected benefits. Most important, they show why - with a few controversial exceptions such as Yahoo - more businesses will want to promote this new model of getting things done.
The Industrial Revolution's "under one roof" model of conducting work is steadily declining owing to technology that is rapidly creating virtual workspaces and allowing workers to provide their vital contribution without physically clustering together. Today, the new paradigm is "move work to the workers, rather than workers to the workplace." According to Reuters, one in five global workers telecommutes frequently and nearly ten percent work from home every day. Moms in particular will welcome this trend. A full 60% wish they had a flexible work option. But companies see advantages, too, in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves the ability to conduct business across multiple time zones, to name just a few advantages. In Remote, iconoclastic authors Fried and Hansson will convince listeners that letting all or part of work teams function remotely is a great idea - and they're going to show precisely how a remote work setup can be accomplished.
The "work-from-home" phenomenon is thoroughly explored in this illuminating new audiobook from best-selling 37signals founders Fried and Hansson, who point to the surging trend of employees working from home (and anywhere else) and explain the challenges and unexpected benefits. Most important, they show why - with a few controversial exceptions such as Yahoo - more businesses will want to promote this new model of getting things done.
The Industrial Revolution's "under one roof" model of conducting work is steadily declining owing to technology that is rapidly creating virtual workspaces and allowing workers to provide their vital contribution without physically clustering together. Today, the new paradigm is "move work to the workers, rather than workers to the workplace." According to Reuters, one in five global workers telecommutes frequently and nearly ten percent work from home every day. Moms in particular will welcome this trend. A full 60% wish they had a flexible work option. But companies see advantages, too, in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves the ability to conduct business across multiple time zones, to name just a few advantages. In Remote, iconoclastic authors Fried and Hansson will convince listeners that letting all or part of work teams function remotely is a great idea - and they're going to show precisely how a remote work setup can be accomplished.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940169263909 |
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Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
Publication date: | 10/29/2013 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Sales rank: | 1,026,774 |