Remote: Managers aren’t babysitters
‘Remote: Office Not Required’ by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
One of the parts which are cover more extensively in this book is about how managers and company leaders react towards remote work.
Most of the managers out there need to keep an eye on the other employers, of course, it’s their job but do they literally have to keep an eye on them? No based on the book.
The authors did a nice job of trying to read the minds of managers. As believed by the authors of the book it exists a great deal of uncertainty among managers who can’t see their employees.
If I can see them I can control them.

Will people work hard if no one is watching them. Or they just play around and don’t do the job they are really paid for. But can managers really control their employees, well no conforming to the book.
As explained by the authors, even if workers are in the office, they are capable to waste time while playing video games, staying on social media. So staying on their desks in the office doesn’t guarantee productivity.
Another good thing about this book is that the authors speak with study results and accurate figures. So according to the book at clothing retailer J.C Penney’s headquarters, 4800 workers spend 30 percent of the company’s bandwidth watching Youtube videos.
Trust is really an issue between employers. Running your ship with the conviction that everyone’s slacker your ship will sink. Managers should believe in those people who work under them. Believe that the employers would excel because it’s their duty to manage their time, their schedule and bring good results. Adults don’t need anyone to babysit them.
Remote work is about setting your team free to be the best it can be, wherever that might be.
Losing control is one of the biggest fears of leaders according to the book. To a lot of people, the control you have over your employers determines your power. You should be able to shout to your army. The authors of this book give us a solution on how to behave towards such a boss. To be more precise some tips on how to handle these situations and benefit from it. First of all, take initiative, and start small by asking just one day of the week to work from home, try your best by doing extra work and letting your boss notice the difference. A couple of weeks after start by asking for two days, no one stops you for asking for more flexible hours. A problem can have more than one solution, so create one. Find a way to convince your boss that remote work is more effective.

One of the reasons that remote won't work is because of the thoughts of people that all the meetings must be face-te face but the book give us a different perspective. The authors believe that the main cause of not getting work done are actually those meetings. If meetings are a great opportunity to sit and communicate directly what is actually wrong with meetings and managers or for short as they refer to M&M. As judged by the authors the wrong thing it’s more about the way that situation is actually treated. Authors believe that if too many salts can destroy a dish than too many meetings can destroy morale and motivation.
Related Articles
Yes, there are two more articles in which I discussed thoroughly parts of the book because I really think that those are the key parts of the book but you can judge it for yourself.
I’m just gonna leave it here the links: Remote: Freedom of remote work and Remote: Find a space that fits your workstyle. I know you will go and look into them.
