Work Together Anywhere by Lisette Sutherland & Kirsten Janene-Nelson Summary

Work Together Anywhere is a comprehensive guide to thriving in remote and hybrid work environments. It provides actionable strategies for fostering collaboration, productivity, and team cohesion across distances, covering tools, communication practices, virtual leadership, and workflow optimization. Key topics include setting up remote-ready offices, running effective online meetings, and crafting team agreements to align distributed teams.

This book is essential for remote workers, hybrid team managers, and organizations transitioning to distributed work models. It offers value to individuals seeking productivity tips, leaders aiming to build inclusive remote cultures, and teams navigating time zone challenges or communication gaps. Startups, HR professionals, and freelancers will also find actionable frameworks for seamless collaboration.

Yes, its principles remain relevant as remote work evolves. The book addresses timeless challenges like trust-building, asynchronous workflows, and hybrid meeting efficiency. With insights from global remote experts, it balances tactical advice (e.g., documentation practices) with cultural strategies (e.g., virtual team bonding), making it a practical resource for modern workplaces.

• Remote Readiness Assessment: Evaluates tools, skills, and infrastructure for distributed work.
• Team Agreement Templates: Clarifies communication norms, response times, and role expectations.
• Virtual Meeting Protocols: Strategies for engaging hybrid discussions and decision-making.
• Camaraderie-Building Exercises: Activities to strengthen trust and social connections remotely.

The book advocates for “remote-first” meeting design: standardized agendas in shared docs, asynchronous pre-work, and tools like round-robin speaking to ensure equal participation. It emphasizes recording sessions, using visual collaboration platforms (e.g., Miro), and separating brainstorming from decision-making phases to accommodate time zones.

Some note it focuses more on team practices than organizational policy changes. Critics suggest supplementing it with resources on compensation equity or legal compliance for global teams. However, its actionable micro-strategies for daily remote work remain widely praised.

While both address distributed work, Sutherland’s book emphasizes human-centric collaboration (trust, communication) and hybrid meeting tactics. The Async-First Playbook delves deeper into technical workflows, documentation systems, and reducing real-time dependencies. The two are complementary for teams balancing async efficiency with relationship-building.

• “Presence over proximity”: Prioritize intentional engagement over physical co-location.
• “Remote work is a team sport”: Success hinges on collective accountability, not individual habits.
• “Hybrid isn’t a location policy—it’s a collaboration strategy”: Focus on flexibility in how work happens, not just where.

Absolutely. It offers resume tips for highlighting remote competencies, negotiating flexible arrangements, and building cross-border professional networks. Sections on time management and boundary-setting also help freelancers or career changers adapt to non-traditional work structures.

It advocates “virtual water cooler” channels for informal bonding and protocols for addressing misunderstandings (e.g., “assume positive intent” guidelines). The OSCAR model (Observe, Share, Clarify, Agree, Resolve) is recommended for structured, empathy-driven conflict navigation.

• Collaboration: Miro, Trello, Notion
• Communication: Slack (with structured channels), Loom for async updates
• Meeting Facilitation: Butter, Zoom breakout rooms
• Culture: Donut for virtual coffee pairings, Kudos bots for recognition

It pioneered the “remote-ready office” concept, emphasizing digital infrastructure over physical spaces. Its hybrid meeting frameworks are widely referenced in post-pandemic work studies, and its team agreement templates have been adapted by Fortune 500 companies and remote-first startups alike.