The challenges of working remotely

I'm working remote after 7-8 years of working in offices. It's only been just over a month so far, so I don't yet have the insight that this article provides. But I do have a few comments.

It seems that his work with foursquare, is that most of the team is local, and he is remote. I think the dynamic changes if the entire company is remote, there is less 'water cooler talk' that you miss out on, because you all have to make sure to communicate in the same way equally.

Overall I've so far found it much more relaxing. I can work how I want, have far fewer meetings (as things are better spec'ed out). We do meet up in person to go through larger more conceptual things. We also make sure to document well, ticket well, and as 37signals says, we're all expected to be managers of one.

I've worked with a lot of people that I don't think would be able to keep themselves motivated, but if you're someone with a lot of drive, it'll probably be much better than working in an office*

* I think it's much better only if you have things spec'ed out, have clear leaders, etc. Without that getting community consensus, and large discussions would be a nightmare remote.

Another big benefit to working remotely is you usually don't get pulled into other projects. You are generally left alone to work on you assigned project.