Yes! Yes! Yes!… Yesterday I finished writing the #NoOffice book. It’s still a rough draft, because the final chapters need more editing and I want to review the book completely before the launch date this September. However, you can read it all online today for free as the book is completely published as an open source project and licensed under Creative Commons license. I’ve already presented part 1 of the book on this blog, and also talked about it on my show so it’s time for Part 2 of #NoOffice book:
- Part 2 - What if there was no office?
- (Ch.18) Having control over work is good, but having trust in others to do the work is so much better!
- (Ch.19) Modern businesses are paperless and mobile, with a virtual cabinet in the cloud.
- (Ch.20) Being in sync is overrated. Efficient, asynchronous communication means fewer interruptions.
- (Ch.21) How to create a work environment at home - practical tips on setting up a home office.
- (Ch.22) How to deal with family life and other work-at-home challenges.
- (Ch.23) You can get the best people for the job and not care where they live.
- (Ch.24) Working remotely doesn’t have to be lonely. You can remain connected
- (Ch.25) You can meet your customers even if you don’t have a physical HQ.
- (Ch.26) Reunite the team regularly in one physical space. Here’s how we do it
- (Ch.27) How to socialize outside of work and build great relationships.
- (Ch.28) Time off is critical to properly disconnect from work and recharge life batteries!
- (Ch.29) Different task, different office. You can work from anywhere, right?
- (Ch.30) Security is key. Have handy checklists that will help securing your virtual office.
- (Ch.31) Your team will be more transparent than ever, even if it’s spread geographically!
- P.S. You can read this book already online for free at NoOffice.org
- Launch plan: how the book will be released and how you can help improve the final version of it and spread the word
Part 2 - What if there was no office?
I deliberately chose to dedicate the first half of this book to making office work better. As we reach the second half, I want to show you how all this can be done without a physical office. After all, an office is just a tool that you may or may not choose to use.
(Ch.18) Having control over work is good, but having trust in others to do the work is so much better!
People want to work in a trusting environment. They want to work on a team where they are trusted to do the work they were hired to do. A place where they can experiment and sometimes fail. Where they can be themselves. Where their motivation isn’t a result of corporate tricks and techniques, but is intrinsic – it comes from within because of their desire to do great work.
(Ch.19) Modern businesses are paperless and mobile, with a virtual cabinet in the cloud.
Modern companies and teams should embrace the digital world and go completely paperless and mobile. This ensures everything is more securely stored than in a physical office and yet everyone who needs access can have it from anywhere. That’s the proper #NoOffice way of working.
(Ch.20) Being in sync is overrated. Efficient, asynchronous communication means fewer interruptions.
Learn to work asynchronously. It’s a skill, and everyone on the team needs to learn it to have enough time and space to do great work and give meaningful feedback. Working like this creates a culture of trust and respect in a team and makes everyone feel like they’re in the same boat, rowing in the same direction towards a common goal.
(Ch.21) How to create a work environment at home - practical tips on setting up a home office.
Your home office shouldn’t be a random place in the house where you work. I recommend giving it a lot of thought and setting it up in a deliberate way. Think about your physical health as well as your sanity, especially taking into account the other members of your family who live with you. Make your home office your own favorite space where you enjoy spending time. This will make all the difference in the output of your work.
(Ch.22) How to deal with family life and other work-at-home challenges.
The key to successfully working from home is to learn to communicate expectations. Talk to your partner and have a chat with your kids. Communicate clearly what you’re working on, when you’re planning to do what and exactly how much you can do to help out the family chores. And enjoy the work-life balancing act that’s so much better than commuting every day to an office!
(Ch.23) You can get the best people for the job and not care where they live.
A “No Office” company has the amazing luxury of hiring the best candidate, not just a good enough candidate within close proximity to their office. You can hire a brilliant person from anywhere in the world. The talent is everywhere, so it’s time to look beyond geography and start hiring not just the best person around, but truly the best person for the job.
(Ch.24) Working remotely doesn’t have to be lonely. You can remain connected
Cultivate one-on-one relationships with people and be vigilant if some of them start feeling lonely. As much as I encourage you to avoid having too many meetings, some are just necessary to keep the spirits of the team going. Especially with people working remotely, you must have a system of interacting with them regularly to make them feel included and accepted.
(Ch.25) You can meet your customers even if you don’t have a physical HQ.
Meet customers and talk to them. Virtual coffee is really easy to organize. People will appreciate your time, and you’ll build great relationships in the process. Thanks to current technology, you can meet anyone in the world! And if you want to talk to me, don’t be a stranger – just get in touch!
(Ch.26) Reunite the team regularly in one physical space. Here’s how we do it
A true #NoOffice team needs to meet up from time to time. After all, we are just humans who like to meet other people and connect with them on a deeper level than an exchange of comments or chats via a computer terminal. That’s why it’s important to organize such retreats with care and lots of preparation. To treat them like an event worth remembering. This brings the entire team together – to feel as one.
(Ch.27) How to socialize outside of work and build great relationships.
Working from home gives you and everyone on your team an amazing opportunity to meet people outside of work. So make it a priority. Close down your computer and go out. Meet folks, get to know your neighbors and cultivate hobbies. As most of the day you are alone in your home office, you have a lot of energy and emotional bandwidth to socialize after work. This will make you happier and indirectly make you better at your work!
(Ch.28) Time off is critical to properly disconnect from work and recharge life batteries!
Encourage everyone on your team to take time off. Really disconnect from work even if you have no plans of traveling and you’ll stay at home. A generous vacations policy that’s really tracked and used makes for a healthy work environment for everyone involved and makes your business more resilient.
(Ch.29) Different task, different office. You can work from anywhere, right?
The #NoOffice lifestyle gives you amazing flexibility about where you work from. Your home office doesn’t have to be the only place where you get stuff done. Sometimes the easiest way to fight procrastination is to change the context or your environment for just a few hours. Use the examples from this chapter as your inspiration to go out more, find your favorite places for your favorite tasks and socialize with friends or colleagues. For additional inspiration check out the reference links mentioned in this chapter.
(Ch.30) Security is key. Have handy checklists that will help securing your virtual office.
Follow the steps and checklists in this chapter. Send them to everyone on your team and establish a regular review of all of your security infrastructure. Use 2FA when possible and consider setting up a VPN server for your team. Trust your team to keep the systems secure but review them regularly just to be on the safe side.
(Ch.31) Your team will be more transparent than ever, even if it’s spread geographically!
Let’s redefine capitalism and the future of business where instead of holding off on one another we create transparent and open rules about how things are done. Let’s share, inspire and learn from each other. Let’s work together in an increasingly transparent and fair work environment. When in doubt, let’s default to transparency.
P.S. You can read this book already online for free at NoOffice.org
I chose to write this book in the open and you can find the source code and all of the versions of the drafts of each of the chapters on GitHub. I decided to do it for many reasons, but the most important is that I want to be able to keep improving this book with the community of readers. Ultimately I’m hoping that together we’ll make it the definite #NoOffice guide book. Thanks for being a part of it!
Launch plan: how the book will be released and how you can help improve the final version of it and spread the word
Even though the book can be read online now, I want to take the next two months to build a “Launch Team” - a community of people who want to help me go through all the chapters of the book. Together we’ll do the final edits, make smaller or bigger changes and improvements.
If you want to be a part of this launch team subscribe to my Newsletter and you’ll be the first to know all the details about it.
In September we’ll do a big launch of the book. The book will be self-published with three versions:
- Free online version on the web
- Free PDF/ePub/Mobi version to download
- $10 Kindle version on Amazon
- $10 Paperback version
I want the book to remain free so that as many people as possible read it. I want the book to spread like wildfire.
The paid-for versions will be distributed through Amazon and we’ll see if we don’t use some other fulfillment ways. The price will be used to just cover the costs and all the profits will be distributed to charities the “Launch Team” will help me choose.
I will earn no dime from this book. If you want to support me financially, sign up for Nozbe - convince your team to give Nozbe Teams a try - this is where I earn my paycheck. The book is supposed to be available for free and is not designed to generate profit for me.