Lessons from a remote worker, hiring remote workers and managing remote workers

1. WORK HERE,
WORKTHERE,
WORK
EVERYWHERE!
—
HAMMOCKS,
WIFI
&
DOLLARS
WANDERINGJON.COM
@JB510

3. Curly:
One thing. Just one thing.
You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.
Mitch:
But, what is the "one thing?"
Curly:
That's what *you* have to find out.

4. MY ONETHING IS….
Traveling the world

5. Pre-1996
1 Mexico
2 Canada
1996
3 England
4 France
5 Holland
6 Germany
7 Czech Republic
8 Hungary
9 Italy
10 Vatican City
1996 Transits
Belgium
Slovakia
Switzerland
Austria
2006/7
11 Thailand
12 Cambodia*
13 Laos
14 India
15 Nepal
16 China
17 Hong Kong
2013/4 Transits
Korea
Japan
2014
20 Spain
21 Bulgaria
XX Italy x2
22 Poland
23 Turkey
XX Thailand
2014 Transits
England
China
2015
XX Mexico
24 Cuba
25 Dominican Republic
Running Total
25 Visits
5 Transits
2006 Transits
Malaysia
2013
XX Thailand
2013 Transits
Japan
2013/4
XX Thailand x2
18 Indonesia x2
XX Laos
19 Singapore

7. IS REMOTE WORK RIGHT FORYOU?

8. YOUR ONETHING…
…IS PROBABLY SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Time w/ family
no commute
flex time

9. OTHER BENEFITS FOR ME
Setting one’s own schedule
Working for high wages from places with low cost of living

10. REMOTE WORK
Home
Cafes & Restaurants
Coworking
Off-grid

11. HOME
Home can be both the best and worst location to remote work
from.
Predictable in good ways and in bad…
Climate / Ergonomics / Interruptions or lack there of
Power / Internet Bandwidth

14. CAFES & RESTAURANTS
Fewer domestic distractions…
Unpredictable
Climate / Ergonomics / Interruptions
Power / Internet Bandwidth

15. CAFES & RESTAURANTS

16. CAFES & RESTAURANTS

18. COWORKING
Shared professional focus
More Predictable
Climate / Ergonomics / Interruptions
Power / Internet Bandwidth

19. COWORKING SPACES

20. COWORKING SPACES

21. REMOTE WORK (CONS)
Lack of human contact (emotional)
Coping Tools: Get out, be social - Coworking, Cafes
Lack of peer assistance (learning)
Coping Tools: Get involved with groups - Meetups,
Lack of external accountability and feedback
Coping Tools: Make Lists, Set goals, Scheduled Check-ins

22. HIRING REMOTE WORKERS
Market job openings based on value of flex time and flex location
(and have business culture that supports it)
Don’t leave out how you support remote workers
Develop public visibility in WP Community

23. INTERVIEWING REMOTE WORKERS
Interview not just on technical ability, but also heavily on culture
fit.
Interview using the same communication channels you use for
working together

24. INTERVIEWING REMOTE WORKERS
Talk upfront about how productively will be monitored.

25. INTERVIEWING REMOTE WORKERS
Ask in depth about how remote workers solve problems on their
own.

27. MANAGING REMOTE WORKERS
On-boarding documentation
Communication channels
Ongoing Team Building
Visibility and transparency

28. REMOTE AND OFF-GRIDTOOLS
Software:
Dash — https://kapeli.com/dash
Airplane mode — https://github.com/norcross/airplane-mode
(also in https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-local-toolbox/ )
VPN — https://www.getcloak.com/

29. REMOTE AND OFF-GRIDTOOLS
Hardware:
WiFi Repeater
USB Monitor
External Laptop Battery

30. BACKUPS PLANS
Cell Phone Tether / WiFi Hotspot
Clone of primary hard drive
Two power supplies
Two sets of headphones

31. 9seeds.com
Yes of course…
We’re hiring remote workers

32. WORK HERE,
WORKTHERE,
WORK
EVERYWHERE!
—
HAMMOCKS,
WIFI
&
DOLLARS
WANDERINGJON.COM
@JB510