Books for remote work and virtual team success
The shift towards remote work and virtual collaboration has transformed the way we work and connect with others. As more organizations and teams embrace these changes, understanding how to effectively work and collaborate in a virtual environment has become essential. To help you navigate this evolving landscape, here’s a curated list of books on remote work and virtual collaboration. These books offer valuable insights, strategies, and practical tools to help you thrive in a remote work setting.
1. “Remote: Office Not Required” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Written by the founders of Basecamp, “Remote: Office Not Required” is a pioneering book that explores the benefits of remote work and provides practical advice on how to implement it effectively. The authors share their experiences of building a successful remote company and provide insights on hiring remote workers, managing a distributed team, and fostering a strong company culture without a physical office.
Amazon Description:
Does working from home—or anywhere else but the office—make sense? In Remote, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of Basecamp, bring new insight to the hotly debated argument. While providing a complete overview of remote work’s challenges, Jason and David persuasively argue that, often, the advantages of working “off-site” far outweigh the drawbacks.
In the past decade, the “under one roof” model of conducting work has been steadily declining, owing to technology that is rapidly creating virtual workspaces. Today the new paradigm is “move work to the workers, rather than workers to the workplace.” Companies see advantages in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves their ability to conduct business across multiple time zones. But what about the workers? Jason and David point out that remote work means working at the best job (not just one that is nearby) and achieving a harmonious work-life balance while increasing productivity.
2. “Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere” by Tsedal Neeley
In “Remote Work Revolution,” Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley provides a research-backed guide to thriving in a remote work environment. The book explores key elements of successful remote work, including setting up your workspace, managing work-life balance, leading virtual teams, and leveraging technology to enhance productivity and collaboration.
Amazon Description:
Succeeding in a hybrid work environment comes with unique challenges. Managers must lead virtually more and more, keep teams motivated and productive, employ the most effective digital tools, and build trust. Employees need to feel connected, foster creativity, and continue to learn and feel supported. Remote Work Revolution answers the eight questions Tsedal Neeley gets asked the most about overcoming hybrid and remote work challenges, such as: How can I trust colleagues I barely see? How should I use digital tools in remote work? What do I need to know about leading virtually? Can my team really be productive remotely? Providing evidence-based answers to these and other pressing issues, key takeaways, and an interactive action guide, this book will help leaders and team members quickly develop an actionable plan and deliver results previously out of reach. This book is essential reading for navigating the enduring challenges teams and managers face in remote and hybrid work.
3. “Work Together Anywhere: A Handbook on Working Remotely—Successfully—for Individuals, Teams, and Managers” by Lisette Sutherland and Kirsten Janene-Nelson
“Work Together Anywhere” is a comprehensive handbook for individuals, teams, and managers navigating the remote work landscape. Lisette Sutherland and Kirsten Janene-Nelson provide practical advice on everything from setting up your home office and communicating effectively to managing a remote team and fostering a strong team culture. The book is filled with actionable tips, case studies, and real-world examples that make it a valuable resource for remote workers and managers alike.
Amazon Description:
IN TODAY’S MODERN GLOBAL ECONOMY, companies and organizations in all sectors are embracing the game-changing benefits of the remote workplace. Managers benefit by saving money and resources and by having access to talent outside their zip codes, while employees enjoy greater job opportunities, productivity, independence, and work-life satisfaction. But in this new digital arena, companies need a plan for supporting efficiency and fostering streamlined, engaging teamwork.
In Work Together Anywhere, Lisette Sutherland, an international champion of virtual-team strategies, offers a complete blueprint for optimizing team success by supporting every member of every team.
4. “The Long-Distance Leader: Revised Rules for Remarkable Remote and Hybrid Leadership” by Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel
The updated version of “The Long-Distance Leader” focuses on the unique challenges of leading remote or hybrid teams. Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel offer a set of principles for remote/hybrid leadership, emphasizing the importance of trust, communication, and accountability. The book provides practical strategies for leading with confidence and effectiveness, regardless of where your team members are located.
Amazon Description:
As more organizations adopt a remote workforce, the challenges of leading at a distance become more urgent than ever. The cofounders of the Remote Leadership Institute, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, show leaders how to guide their teams by recalling the foundational principles of leadership whether their teams are remote, hybrid, co-working, or something entirely new!
The authors’ “Three-O” Model refocuses leaders to think about outcomes, others, and ourselves—elements of leadership that remain unchanged, whether employees are down the hall or halfway around the world. By pairing it with the Remote Leadership Model, which emphasizes using technology as a tool and not a distraction, leaders can navigate the terrain of managing teams wherever they are.
5. “Reimagining Collaboration: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and the Post-COVID World of Work” by Phil Simon
Phil Simon’s “Reimagining Collaboration” explores how digital collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom have reshaped the workplace. The book provides a detailed analysis of how these tools can be used to foster collaboration, increase productivity, and create a more connected work environment. It’s particularly useful for teams looking to make the most of these tools in a post-COVID world.
Amazon Description:
Every day, hundreds of millions of people use these über-popular collaboration tools, but only in decidedly limited ways: as email and Skype replacements. Because these folks are merely scratching the surface of what these robust collaboration hubs can do, they fail to realize their massive benefits.
Blame ignorance, not malice. With rare exception, organizations, executives, and rank-and-file employees have historically worked in piecemeal fashions. They have lacked a holistic framework to fully understand the remarkable power of these applications, much less unleash them.
At least until now.
Reimagining Collaboration—the eleventh book from award-winning author and world-renowned collaboration expert Phil Simon—provides this essential gestalt. Simon introduces a bold new model of work. Ideal for HR professionals, knowledge workers, executives, remote workers, and small business owners, this timely, ambitious, and provocative book offers concrete tips for companies and groups on how to transform the way they work by embracing hubs and spokes.
6. “The New Corner Office: How the Most Successful People Work from Home” by Laura Vanderkam
Laura Vanderkam’s “The New Corner Office” provides a fresh perspective on remote work, focusing on how successful people can leverage their home environment to enhance productivity and achieve work-life balance. The book offers practical advice on setting boundaries, staying focused, and building a productive routine while working from home.
Amazon Description:
How do you do great work while sitting near the same spot where you watch Netflix? How can you be responsive without losing the focus necessary for getting things done? How can you maintain and grow your network when you spend less time face to face?
The key is to detach yourself from old ways of working and adopt new habits to match your new environment. Long before public health concerns pushed many of us indoors, some of the most successful people fueled their careers with carefully perfected work-from-home routines. Drawing on those profiles and her own insights, productivity expert and mother of five Laura Vanderkam reveals how to turn “being cooped up” into the ultimate career advantage.
7. “The Art of Working Remotely: How to Thrive in a Distributed Workplace” by Scott Dawson
Scott Dawson’s book is a practical guide for remote workers who want to excel in a distributed work environment. “The Art of Working Remotely” offers advice on how to stay productive, manage your time, communicate effectively, and build relationships with remote colleagues. Dawson draws on his own experiences as a remote worker to provide relatable insights and actionable tips.
Amazon Description:
People aren’t typically taught how to thrive in a distributed workplace. Sure, they formally study to learn a specific occupation: design, marketing, sales, development, finance, law, or education. But can they perform that occupation at a high level when they’re not physically with other people? Remote workers have to learn on their own. If you work from home, a coworking space, or coffee shop, this book is for you. The author’s anecdotes about his 21-year remote work journey will inform and entertain you. Discover how to set up a quality workspace. Learn the behaviors and practices that contribute to remote worker success. You, too, can thrive in a distributed workplace.
8. “Virtual Teams: Mastering Communication and Collaboration in the Digital Age” by Terri R. Kurtzberg
“Virtual Teams” is an essential read for anyone leading or participating in a virtual team. Terri R. Kurtzberg provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities associated with virtual collaboration. The book covers various aspects of virtual teamwork, including communication strategies, technology tools, and techniques for building trust and maintaining team cohesion in a virtual setting.
Amazon Description:
Electronic communication is now embedded in our daily experience, as is work involving off-site collaborators. Virtual communication has become an essential job skill that is critical to individual and group success, yet most people just muddle through it without giving it any thought. Drawing on decades of scientific research in the fields of psychology, organizational behavior, and sociology, this book explains how to master the art and science of communicating virtually.
The author first analyzes the subtle but significant changes that result when conversations are moved online, providing examples and tips to avoid common pitfalls, then discusses how team behavior and decision making can best be guided in this realm. Readers will fully understand what makes teams “click”—what inspires trust, how to get a team “off on the right foot,” and what steps to take in order to make good collaborative decisions—as well as other key topics for virtual teamwork, such as best practices for working in the cross-cultural environment. The book serves as an ideal guide for anyone who participates in or manages a virtual team but is also suitable as a supplemental textbook in a business school course on organizational behavior or business communication.
Remote Work and Virtual Collaboration Books Conclusion
These books provide tips, knowledge and practical advice for anyone looking to excel in a remote work environment. Whether you are an individual contributor, a team leader, or an organizational manager, these resources will help you navigate the complexities of remote work and virtual collaboration. For more resources on remote work and virtual collaboration, be sure to explore other articles on our website, including: