The Remote Work Handbook The Definitive Guide for Operationalizing Remote Work as a Competitive Business Strategy

The Remote Work Handbook: The Definitive Guide for Operationalizing Remote Work as a Competitive Business Strategy is for readers seeking to leverage the business benefits of a flexible, remote workforce. It is a practical guide for building and implementing remote work at any size organization. C-suite executives, operation leaders, business owners, or entrepreneurs who recognize the workplace is changing can use it to re-tool their operations for a strategic business advantage. Mari Anne Snow, the author, is a recognized remote work expert with over 20 years of experience leading remote teams and has re-written the rules of leadership to unlock the potential in remote and distributed teams. In this book, she shares all her secrets. The book explores the untapped potential of remote teams and lays out the business case for adopting a new, flexible workplace model to build organizational resilience and a competitive edge. It takes the reader through the step-by-step process of constructing a remote work operating model, staging an implementation, then institutionalizing and sustaining the change. It includes down-to-earth professional and personal stories that alert the reader to the top priorities and operational realities they will face as they craft their own implementation plan for operationalizing remote work at their company.

Chapter 1: Workplace flexibility is a smart business move Testing your assumptions - what is a remote team? Competitive advantages of remote teams Why adopt remote work as a business strategy now? Chapter 1 Highlights Chapter 2: Build it right Identify the remote work operating model that is right for you Start with the end in mind, then recruit help Take a multi-discipline approach, but assign a remote work champion to lead Recruit from the top, middle, and line level Seek support and buy-in from executive sponsors and key stakeholders Chapter 2 Highlights Chapter 3: The 5 organizational components of remote work Chapter 3 Highlights Chapter 4: Component one: Infrastructure Networks, the cloud, and business system access Devices, apps, and backups Systems, data, IP security Legal, compliance, regulatory considerations Role of the helpdesk Business continuity and disaster recovery planning post-2020 Chapter 4 Highlights Chapter 5: Component two: Operational protocols Work processes and workflows Communication protocols Work schedules and defining availability Software and business systems Remote workforce and system user security responsibilities Remote workplace safety Chapter 5 Highlights Chapter 6: Component three: Performance accountability measures Organizational mission and core values Business goals and deliverables Universal performance metrics Job descriptions Functional requirements and existing KPIs Interpersonal interaction protocols Remote team meeting protocols Chapter 6 Highlights Chapter 7: Component four: Talent Management Systems Universal remote work skills and competencies Compensation, benefits, and employee policies Remote team recruiting and hiring 30-60-90 onboarding systems The leader-led accountability cycle Performance review process Career paths for remote employees Disciplinary process Chapter 7 Highlights Chapter 8: Component five: Remote workforce training Integrate new hires thoughtfully Upskill leadership Rethink mentoring Build team resilience Incorporate contractors into your culture Institutionalize continual learning Chapter 8 Highlights Chapter 9: Operationalizing your remote work business model Leverage pilots to test your plan Build a network of remote work experts Recruit engaged executive sponsors Collect and analyze data to measure progress Create a robust reporting process Expand the rollout past the pilot Chapter 9 Highlights Chapter 10: Managing change LISTEN: Conduct a listening tour and shop your ideas EXPLAIN THE "WHY": Shape the narrative OVERCOMMUNICATE: Share information freely RECRUIT: Focus on the convertibles CELEBRATE: Celebrate progress strategically STAY ALERT: Assess, iterate, and adapt Chapter 10 Highlights Chapter 11: Multi-channel communications Leverage the online to offline (O2O2O) communication flow Communication in remote teams works differently Build communication systems then standardize them Create touchpoints that build remote team engagement Teach yourself and your people channel etiquette Recognize digital communication limits Reduce message distortion by connecting directly to your audience Chapter 11 Highlights Chapter 12: Institutionalizing remote work Plan beyond the rollout Budget to support the new model Build business goals tied directly to remote work Hire and promote using the new model Align the performance review process Track progress, communicate, and report gains Chapter 12 Highlights Chapter 13: Build on team achievements Recognize achievements, become a spokesperson Keep iterating Up the ante over time Chapter 13 Highlights

Mari Anne Snow, CEO of Sophaya and Remote Nation Institute, successfully led remote/distributed teams for over twenty years. Early on, she sensed the growing strategic business implications of remote work as a global financial services executive where she launched an online corporate learning university that served 28,000 people in 32 countries. And as a professor at Bentley and Suffolk Universities during the early days of digital/social media, she helped position her students for success by helping them craft a place for themselves as the first digital professionals at Reebok, Mike, the New England Patriots, Fidelity Investments, and other notable organizations. Early on, she saw the strategic implications of these new technologies on remote/distributed teamwork. A passionate businesswoman committed to people-centric leadership; Mari Anne recognized both the enormous potential of these emerging technologies to support remote work. She developed new leadership approaches to meet the needs of the people impacted by this seismic shift. Then she left corporate life in 2010 to launch her remote work/distributed team consultancy, Sophaya, to help visionary early adopters transform their organizations to accommodate the structural needs of their growing remote/distributed workforce. Over the next ten years, Mari Anne devoted herself to refining best practices for leading a productive, engaged remote workforce. During this time, she focused on two questions: 1. How do we maintain meaningful human contact over distance? 2. What actions can smart leaders take to build trust and engage people who work remotely? Her research spanned multiple continents, testing alternate operating models, and gathering input from hundreds of remote work practitioners worldwide. The results? A new set of business principles for creating highly productive remote teams to support the workplace revolution that’s happening right now.