Distributed Work (we're writing a book about it) | Friday.app

We're writing a book on distributed work

Posted by Luke Thomas

As I've mentioned in other posts, I've worked for several fully/partially distributed companies ranging in size from three people (an early stage startup) to over one-hundred-and-fifty employees (an established company).

I've spent a ton of time leading and being a part of a distributed team. I've also spent many hours researching and writing on the topic of working remotely. I've seen the best of remote work and I've seen the not-so-great of distributed work arrangements. As I've built Friday, I've had the chance to learn and hear stories from customers who have embraced distributed work inside their organization.

Long story short, I've been collecting a ton of data points over the years about how to make remote work....work.

Current State

After surveying the current state of blog posts and books, I've come to the realization that there's a need in the market for a book that covers foundational principles of distributed work in an unbiased way.

I've become bored of the posts. It's the same thing repeated in a different way.

A pet peeve of mine in the remote community is that people offer advice like, "you should have a company onsite", but they don't dive into why you should have a company onsite. From my perspective, this is a bit of a cargo cult and while the advice may be good, it doesn't provide a framework for thinking and applying the principles to your team/company.

These principles may make sense for you...they may not!

I enjoy living outside of a major city while still having the freedom to pursue meaningful work; I'm very interested in making remote work a bit more popular. I don't believe we will get there by sugarcoating reality and making it seem like distributed work is working on a beach while sipping a piña colada.

Working remotely is tough and challenging at times, but worth it. At least for me. It may not be your cup of tea and that's okay. This book we are writing on distributed work will give you clarity so you can make a better decision.

There are too many people who believe that everyone should work remotely. I disagree with this notion and will outline why in the book.

Why should you care what I have to say?

This is a very good question.

I clearly have opinions about remote work, but I will do my best to present them in an unbiased way. I want to help you make a better decision about remote work by laying the cards on the table.

Unlike other writers, I'm not trying to convince you to work remotely.

I started writing about remote work several years ago. This has been a topic of interest of mine for many years.

Here's some samples of my writing:

  1. Thoughts on Remote Work (I wrote this when I was 23)
  2. Working remotely (track my progress)
  3. Working remotely - progress update
  4. Communication redundancy
  5. Making remote work more common
  6. What is asynchronous communication?

While some of the examples above are old and outdated, I've been writing and thinking about this for a long time and I want to share everything I know.

About the Book

Title: The Anywhere Operating System

Book Chapters

We've created a hands-on user manual on how to run your business from anywhere. If you read this book, we promise you will save years of trial and error.

Part #1: The Foundation

  • What if the office is the new invention?
  • Is working from anywhere a fad?
  • How our environment shapes how we communicate
  • The open secret that’s hiding in plain sight
  • Asynchronous communication: the #1 ingredient of working from anywhere
  • That meeting should have been an email: how to pick the ideal communication tool for the job at hand

Part #2: The Tactics

  • How to create a company handbook
  • How to cut your internal meetings in half
  • How to build company culture from anywhere
  • How to feel connected to your team
  • How to create accountability from afar
  • How to build trusted working relationships
  • How to stay aligned
  • How to hold company meetups
  • How to hire from anywhere
  • How to onboard a new hire remotely
  • How to lead a team
  • What about hybrid work?
  • How to stay productive & avoid burning out
  • 12 Mental Models for success
  • Tools for the journey

If you'd like to get early access, feel free to drop me your email and visit the landing page where we share more information.

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