Remote - Control: How we should work today

We’ve been experimenting with working remotely for a year now, and boy, how it works.

Remote work is a working style that allows us to work outside of a traditional office environment. Work can be accomplished at home, in a cafe, at a co-working space, or even at the beach!

Ask anyone about the time in office in which they’re the most productive- it’s usually in the mornings, or the evenings when the office is eerily (but peacefully) empty. Mindless chatter with colleagues, distractions from an open office format and meaningless huddles and sync-ups take away productive work time. 

Technology has given us designers and project managers the capability to coordinate and collaborate remotely: out of office, offsite, and out of sight. 

We have 12 people working at Build Built. Our studio is situated in central singapore, but members of our team reside in the far corners of the island. Though we inhabit a tiny island with a ridiculously small footprint built on fantastic transportation infrastructure, commuting to work still kills at least 2 hours per day for each member. Multiply this number by 12 people over a work year, that’s approximately 5,760 hours all together. We take about 90 hours to design and coordinate works to build a regular sized apartment. So that’s roughly 64 more beautiful homes we could have potentially designed and built! Or we could use that time to value-add, innovating processes or spending more time on creativity. 

Furthermore, commuting is a huge energy burner. Assuming you survive rush-hour, you will arrive at office sweaty and knackered. Huffing and puffing, you will be grateful that you’ve arrived on time in office (all that anxiety from punctuality expectations!). Inevitably, you will try to cool down from the commute whilst trying to forget that stinky, nosy guy who was trying to co-binge your Netflix drama over your shoulder on the squishy train. You then ramp up your work engine and begin to try to be productive- another 20 minutes gone. 

Without naming certain designers at Build Built, they have formed a nice habit of rolling off their beds and powering up their laptops to start work immediately. Once all that’s out of the window, they’ll start their morning routine- breakfast with a loved one, feeding the dog, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or taking an extended shower before continuing part 2 of their work routine. 

We use Slack to coordinate client projects and passion projects internally. 

We use Google Business Suites to store and update schedules and drawings. These are shared externally with clients as well. 

We use WhatsApp videos, pictures and cute doodles to report site happenings to clients. 

We use a mixture of simple native apps like Notes, Reminders or Evernote to help with the mental load of running multiple tasks and projects. 

We use Autodesk’s Autocad to carve out layouts for spatial planning purposes.

We use Sketchup for quick 3D conceptualization and preview of spaces. 

We use Enscape to present high definition 360° walk-throughs of completed homes. Clients really appreciate these. Links and QR codes can be sent, and our clients can view their homes through their mobile devices. Even better if they have a Google Cardboard for that impressive VR experience. 
We also use Squarespace to build these pretty websites you’re viewing now.

Our standard of operations will just be flashy (and often expensive) software applications and empty programmes if they’re not applied with skill, finesse and discipline. An independent worker with the understanding of technology will not only wield an arsenal of work tools, but win them a lifestyle of freedom, filled with meaningful days ahead. 

A hearty cheer for Jason Fried’s Remote. If you have not read this yet.. what are you waiting for?