“The World is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation”
by Prithwiraj Choudhury
2025
Harvard Business Review
$32
208 pages
You don’t have to think hard to remember the beginning of the pandemic, and what it was like to commandeer a corner of your bedroom as your new workspace. But now, you’re not eager to see the whole return-to-office thing return as the default.
Author Prithwiraj Choudhury says there’s another way that’s a “win-win-win” for everyone: Work from Anywhere (WFA). This frees up workers to do their jobs from literally any location with an internet connection.
For workers, WFA allows flexibility, quality of life, and monetary savings. Commutes would be limited or eliminated, work attire restrictions would be nonexistent, and flexibility would be built in. Employers would no longer need a formal workplace, which would eliminate mortgage or rent. WFA also offers the opportunity to hire the best employees, no matter where they live.
Communication is key, and Choudhury suggests ways to keep it efficient. Set up a virtual storehouse for employees to find instructions, meeting transcripts, handbooks, memos, and other information. Hold virtual water-cooler sessions. Give established employees a chance to e-mentor new hires. Offer your employees yearly offsite retreats.
With technological advances, WFA may be possible in almost any industry. Using medicine and assembly lines as examples, Choudhury points out that robotics and properly trained employees can already accomplish many micro tasks remotely. The technology will only get better.
