Quoted in “Remote Works”

I started reading Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus by Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson. It’s good stuff for any manager or leader on a remote team.

It was also cool to see a few of my own quotes in print!

Cover of the book Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus by Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson Book page quoting me on when synchronous communication is useful Book page quoting me on why written text is the default for async work Book page describing my management style and quoting me on pushing code

On when synchronous communication is still the right tool:

“There are a few cases where synchronous communication is really good: one-on-ones, relationship building, anytime there’s more of an emotional or sensitive topic, like when people are upset about something or are getting frustrated, or if asynchronous back-and-forth discussion is just taking too long.”

On why async should be the default:

“By default, written text is your friend. Unlike on a call, it gives each person time to think about something before responding. Async can also be spoken audio or a video using Loom or Yac, or even Slack. You can drop a video recording. It’s so powerful, especially when people are working in different time zones. You’re not interrupting whatever they’re doing. They can answer you asynchronously later.”

And on staying hands-on as a leader:

“I try to push some code, even if it’s something extremely tiny. Every single time, I learn something, like ‘Ah, there’s so much pain in our developer environment.’ It gives me more empathy.”