Thanks to Remote Access, I worked from home yesterday along with many others in the area – missing (well, not really MISSING) much of an ice/snow/sleet/rain storm.
Unlike other remote sessions, the response was slow (too many people working from home, perhaps?) and way too often, the connection would freeze up. Which brings up two questions:
1. Are remote connections completely ready for prime time if more and more people start working remotely (see also STORMS, $5 per gallon GAS PRICES)?
2. Are we ready to move to the Remote Workplace on a large-scale basis?
The first answer is probably, possibly yes, or at least very soon. My faith in high-tech solutions is not easily dampened by torrential downpours.
Second answer is more complicated. I learned all about work in a group environment – whether an office, a warehouse, an ice cream shop, whatever.
It wasn’t just about learning the job skills, but also about co-existence. It’s not that much of a stretch between cooperating on the temperature of the heating/AC and cooperating on a project.
Change the scene to people – many people – working from home much of the time. Not getting into the day-to-day interactions, the smiles at seeing somebody receive flowers on Valentine’s Day or the shared sadness of somebody leaving. Will people learn all they need about “the way we’ve always done it here”?
I’m trying to get a mindpicture of what the workplace will look and feel like in 10 years. The warmth of an office atmosphere gets replaced by the coolness of long-distance. And I’m not quite figuring it out – how it will work, will it work?
Will we all be OK as essentially independent contractors? Some thrive, some don’t. Some (who happen to be in the office that day) will love having the whole place to themselves.
Or will the entire office disappear? Will it even be necessary?
What do you think – what’s your vision?
photo by Mr. Tu
Thursday, February 14, 2008
It’s FREEZING in here! (Not what you think)
Labels:
career,
job search,
remote access,
workplace problems
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4 comments:
In the past I worked on two engineering projects that were multi-site. Part of the team was in my office, part elsewhere. No matter how good the team was at returning calls and emails plus our nearly glitch-free videoconferencing, it still wasn't nearly as smooth and effecient as projects where everyone was in the same office.
So perhaps working remotely may work well for some vocations, it's not a good option for large-scale engineering projects.
Most people I've spoken to seem to agree with you, and not just about engineering projects.
What I hear is that it's extremely difficult to coordinate long-term remote teams. (Short-term, and/or individual contributors seem to do fine).
Anybody have successful remote work stories?
I do have experience with online education which is relevant to this topic as it, too, is increasing in popularity in many education venues; higher education included. I vision education in the future as students remotely accessing courses from various locations (home, coffee shop, and break at work) to many education venues and building a degree. My experiences as a teacher and student are similar to the post. The challenge with online education is building a community of learners that will share with other students in order to learn from dialogue; albeit typed. Online voice conferencing (at least in my experience) has not been part of the courses and developing cohesive teams requires everyone involved to openly share reflections of the educational topic and of themselves; sometimes in context and sometimes to simply expose personal lives. As in social situations some learners have difficulty being open with one or the other. Many times online education is a benefit for people who are shy, not as ready to jump into a conversation, or answer questions because online brings a sense of security and anonymity. It is perceived as ‘safe’.
I feel that this translate to working online as you and readers have defined the issue. My husband worked from home for three years or so as a senior systems analyst and did very well with his work and work group. By ensuring that he was on the social and business wave length as his co-workers he was able to stay connected. From my observation he learned more about his co-workers personal lives, and because he really cared about them he would consistently inquire and share personal dialogue, than he did when he worked in the office. When he worked from home he did not put in the “8-5” but was speaking to clients and co-workers at night, early morning, etc; whenever it was appropriate for the situation. The hard issue, then for us, was learning how to turn off the job. Many times we would go to dinner and he would be outside or in the lobby talking to someone regarding work. (Of course, I was no better in I was doing the same with employees and clients!) We live and learn. S. J. Martin, PHR
Really important observations, thanks. Online education in general is facing this enormous challenge, and in a very real sense they are trailblazing the entire future of remote work communities.
You made another point that was equally interesting -- should there be courses that deal with online voice conferencing and remote work (or education)? Not just in online schools, but in all workplaces that have people working remotely.
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