• Duncan Thomson (@DuncanThom on Twitter)
• Contract Developer since Jan 2014
• Blog at BanoffeeSolutions.co.uk on Remote Working, Umbraco and Python
• Remote Working since 2007 as a permanent, a freelancer and a contractor
• Slides written using R Markdown

"Everyone still has jobs, but desks exist for only 40% of you."

Remote working

• How many of you currently work remotely?

• From Horses to the Internet
• Civil Service and Enterprises doing it (Scott Hanselmann)
• Many start off 1-2 days a week (esp. contractors)
• Not for everyone or every role

"I'm fine with driving 90 minutes to Melksham each day."

Commute

• Which of you commute more than 30 minutes each day?
• Longest commute?

• Reduce Costs (No Commute | Less Office Space)
• Flexibility (Choose Location | Hire from Anywhere)
• Flexibility (Hours | 24-hour Teams)
• Reduce Work Distractions (Less Meetings & Interruptions | Efficiency from staff)

"Working from home will be easy!"

Remote working nightmare

• How many of you have found it hard to work remotely?

• Having somewhere to work
• Too much freedom (you are in charge)
• Nobody else about
• Harder to talk face to face

"I´ll just work from my bedroom desk!"

• Which of you have people or pets at home during the day?

• Pick somewhere specific to work
• Set Boundaries (for partners, children, pets)
• Configure your environment (standing desks, X monitors, distractions)
• Can combine home life with breaks (washing, cooking, walk dog)

• Easy to find (around 20 for Bristol on google)
• Familiarity of the office
• Community of people around you
• Costs money (company may pay)

• No set office (Dream of Digital Nomad)
• Ultimate freedom combined with ultimate distractions
• Every day is a work day
• Travel equipment (second monitor, router options, noise-cancelling headphones)

I can fit in 30 minutes of gaming at lunchtime

Trial of Routine

• Who is productive 3 or more hours in the office?

• Start each day with a plan in mind
• Regular breaks and an End Time (working too much)
• Consider a technique such as Pomodoro
• Have ways of dealing with distractions (Resetting your day)

I don't really like talking to people anyway

Trial of Solitude

• How many of you regularly go to lunch with co-workers?

• Maybe just being around people (walk, shops)
• Meet others for Coffee, lunch or run / dog-walking
• Group exercise or activity like a meetup
• Co-working or other work-place with people

Going into the office to find there was a fire

• How many have paired remotely? How did it go?

• Regular check-ins with Team and manager
• Learn strengths of Email / IM / Phone / Video-call
• Keep involved in Virtual Team (Slack / Sococo / Standup for Slack)

• Complications of Time zones

• Questions?

"We're moving from remote to an office"

• Check out Podcasts 21st Century Work Life and CollaborationSuperpowers.com
• Check out http://remote.co website for remote resources
• Connect with me on Twitter (@DuncanThom), on LinkedIn or at BanoffeeSolutions.co.uk

• Give feedback about favourite tools for remote working

• Thanks for listening!