Ah, working from home – smells like Millennials in their underwear typing up ad copy on their Macbooks. But what would the world look like if everybody got to work from home?

We gave it our best guess:

But seriously now – remote work is on the rise. And while firefighters should probably stick around where fires are, there are more and more jobs that don’t require you to sit at an office anymore (because you know, the internet and all).

Strangely enough, it’s not even millennials who make up the bulk of telecommuters – apparently your typical telecommuter (fancy word for remote worker) is a 49-year old college grad working for a big firm.

Could you work from home?

Probably! Though you probably also shouldn’t trust a blog post written by marketers.

If you are, however, in a position where you could do your work from home (and if your boss is OK with it), there’s a few things you should keep in mind. Remote work is not without its challenges (both for employees and employers) and you’ll need to think about its pros and cons, and how you can mitigate the latter.

To help with that, we recently published “Out of Office”, a comprehensive guide about remote work featuring tips and tricks from some of the big & bold companies who have either fully or partially committed to the new way of running things.

The insider’s guide to working remotely

“Out of Office” was mostly written with team leads, CEO’s and managers in mind, but it also has some great insight on how remote workers should set up their home offices and tips on how to communicate better with their peers.

Also, remote work will only be successful if both employers and employees are clear on how the set up looks like and what they should look out for.

We’re not gonna post a long summary of the guide here, but here’s how the chapters break down:

1. The pros and cons, and making the case for remote work

Chapter 1 is all about weighing the positives and negatives of working from home, that also offers some expert tips on how to deal with the tougher aspects of it all.

2. Building remote teams and hiring the right people

The second chapter looks at what managers should look for in prospective remote employees – but it also goes into detail of what kind of traits make someone suitable for working from home.

Luckily, a few of these things can be learned, so future remote employees should check it out too.

3. Onboarding new team members

Next up the guide looks at how to start off on the right foot with a new remote employee. Setting proper expectations is key here.

4. Taking care of the company culture

Culture is always tricky – and limited face time between team members presents a huge challenge for remote companies. The fourth chapter is all about lessons on building & maintaining positive relationships in the team. Spoiler alert – some face time is kind of a must.

5. Leading remote teams

The final chapter explores the leadership challenges in remote teams. Being away from your team means you’ll have less oversight, fewer cues and slower communication.

Trusting your team is vital, as is keeping an eye on how they’re coping in their cozy, but lonely home offices.

Mart Virkus

Mart has a background in anthropology - a discipline which has turned people-watching into a science. He most enjoys working on projects that make you go from “that’s stupid” to “hmmm”.