WHO I AM
➤ Aaron Douglas
➤ Milwaukee, WI USA
➤ Mobile Maker for Automattic
(WordPress.com)
➤ Remote full time 3+ years
➤ @astralbodies
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YOU WANT TO WORK REMOTE
You’ve decided to be in this talk because you are working remote or want to.
[SHOW OF HANDS] How many work remote already
[SHOW OF HANDS] How many want to work remote
What type of remote? Maybe you want to work remote where you are? Or find a remote job?
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REMOTE WHERE YOU ARE NOW
Which may or may not be possible
Company policies, security protocols
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CONVINCE THE BOSS
First step is to convince the boss
Show them they get more productivity & happier employees
One day a week like Fridays
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CONVINCE YOUR COWORKERS
They need to support the idea
I never wanted to be “that guy” where everyone had to pick up my slack
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DON’T BECOME
SECOND CLASS
The real key is to not let yourself become second class
There’s a great quote from Jason Fried
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“
Feeling like a second-class worker doesn’t take much. Case in
point: a roomful of local people and a shitty intercom system that
makes it hard for the remote worker to hear what’s going on and
even harder to participate. There’s also the annoyance of having
every debate end with “John and I talked about this in the office
yesterday and decided that your idea isn’t going to work.” F***
that. – from Remote by Jason Fried
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REMOTE AT A NEW PLACE
Sometimes its easier to just find a new job
Even if they don’t have a remote program it can be part of a job offer
But how do you find a good remote job?
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JOB BOARDS
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WORD OF MOUTH
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REMOTE WITH TRAVEL
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REMOTE 100% DISTRIBUTED
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TRUST
The key is working for a place that trusts its workers to be adults and self-directed.
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WHY WORK REMOTELY?
Maybe you’re not entirely convinced remote work is for you.
There are a lot of benefits
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LOCATION / RELOCATION
Why get up and move your home for a job that may not work out
Make the job come to you
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REDUCE DISTRACTIONS
Have more control over your environment - you work how you want to
Remote quote: When everyone is sitting in the same office, it’s easy to fall into the habit of bothering anyone for anything at any time, with no regard for personal
productivity.
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COMMUTING
1 hour each direction, 260 days out of the year, over 21 DAYS worth of commuting
Reduce gas, car maintenance, parking, stress
Mention the power of 5 minutes idea
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HOME
Make your office what you want it to be
Separate room if possible try not to use the room for non work
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FLEXIBILITY
Work the hours you need
Effort doesn’t necessarily mean 40 hours
PTO
CHALLENGES
Working remote sounds magical
There are challenges with remote working
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INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Email overload
Multiple channels, too much information to process
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ATTENTION
While some distractions are eliminated, you have nothing but yourself to tend to
Ooh shiny
Facebook, Twitter, email, IM, phone calls
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LONELINESS
At some point you will miss other humans
Becoming a shut-in isn’t the right way to work
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VISIBILITY
How to go up the ladder without being seen by coworkers
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COMMUNICATION
It is the foundation of remote working
Advances in technology and Internet speeds make this possible
Several types or channels of communication that have to be in place to be successful
ASYNCHRONOUS
There are times where you can’t pay attention to chatter
E-mail, Forums, Blogs
Ticketing - GitHub, JIRA
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VIRTUAL WATERCOOLER
Need to have a way to gab
Animated GIFs, cat pictures
WHAT THIS ALL COMES DOWN TO is when the communication is good your brain will start forming memories about conversations with coworkers; you’ll have a hard
time distinguishing the difference.