I was amazed when I learnt that Zapier actually had no office for their (then) 140 member team and everyone works remotely from all over the world. 37 Signals, now Basecamp championed the idea in their 2013 Book – Remote : Office not required. Written by @Jason Fried co-founder of Basecamp it is a must read to understand the changing dynamics. I highly recommend this.
In the meanwhile data is piling up. One report shows the number of people telecommuting is increasing rapidly (79% between 2008 & 2012). A recent Gallup Survey reports that people who spend 60% of their time out of office show the maximum commitment to work. Studies demonstrate that remote working can increase productivity, happiness and reduce stress.
An article in Inc. by Brian de Haaff discusses the 3 top reasons why remote workers outperform those in office –
- 1. Zero office distractions and greater autonomy gets more done
- 2. Remote colleagues make better teammates
- 3. As employees can design their own workday, it reduces absences and need to sneak out to run errands.
Wade Foster, Co founder of Zapier wrote an e-book on Remote Work .
