Shift

The Freelancers Union does great work bringing together those people who define themselves as  independent professionals by aiding this group in finding solutions to things such as health care, retirement, wage security, and other broken systems. [1] They are addressing the current gap which has developed as more freelancers, contractors, consultants, etc. become an increasingly common alternative to traditional, full-time employment. This movement towards independent work is not slowing down though, and there is a serious need for each individual to be supported in their work, and ultimately supported to be who they are in the world. There is a need to rethink how work is done, to shift out of the box-- away from predefined job-titles, and away from the concept that presence equals product. A solution is needed to help incorporate all aspects of an individual so that people no longer need to rewrite their resume for each new job or industry, and instead can let all of ...

In my last post I wrote about the struggle of how, what, and when to prioritize all aspects of the day when engaging in a flexible work environment. I have been studying alternative work modes such as freelancing and consulting to gain a better understanding of different types of self-management. The top two (contracting the most business) freelance sites right now are: Odesk and Elance . Both have a focus on the business, not the employee as their primary target. This focus furthers the dichotomy of how best to produce good work. The focus on the business side continues to foster the industrial mentality (as I mentioned here ) that the only valid work is the work that is observed by management. This furthers the concept that people need some external checks and balances, and that internal, intrinsic motivation, being driven by your own passion and willingness to do good work is not enough. Odesk even goes so far as to use a type of spyware to perform random check-ins throughout...

Working remote takes some getting used to. Managing your own time is not a skill that is fostered in traditional work environments where employees are expected to fulfill certain hours of the day instead of producing a defined amount of measurable work (more in this post ). When switching to a remote environment, people need to learn how to manage their time and any conflicting diversions. Learning to prioritize is the first step. Knowing your goals, and tracking your own ability to produce will help to hone in on how and when to work.  It is actually more common for employees new to a remote environment to overwork. It is difficult to set clear boundaries. There is often a general assumption that if work is not seen it is not done. However, there is actually nothing more effective than personal accountability.  No manager will ever be able to manage an employees time or hold them accountable as well as any one person may do for themselves. From the book "The intellig...

There are many things that should go into the decision of working remote. Largely it is dependent on personality, as I mentioned in this post , but many other factors play a part. Another primary factor is space. After the question of who, it is where and when people work.  It is important to find an appropriate space for each type of worker. Remember too, working remote does NOT mean work from home. Remote also means virtual and can be applied to team members working in other locations, countries or time zones. Each situation denotes remote engagement, and needs to be managed accordingly. Space matters when considering an employee or a team to be remote. This situation may refer to outsourcing a department or team to another country. Think about the infrastructure involved in running a business abroad, and so from a remote location. Think about the time zone differences, and cultural barriers that may come up while doing business together. Either in sending employees to anot...

A large portion of being able to shift to a successful remote environment is centered around how work is defined within the organization. Many companies still operate in an outdated fashion- employees that are present in the office from 9-5 are productive. If managers are able to see employees, they assume that is enough. It’s not. Work should be focused on product, not presence. Every individual has an optimal time and preference of production. If all employees are asked to occupy the same time and space in order to produce, then the majority of productivity is lost. Productivity is no longer based on a Fordist concept of parts per hour, so there is a need to redefine what product looks like. Product should be defined per industry, organization and individual, not to be confused with physical presence. Collaboration is an important factor in any organization. With the virtual collaboration tools that are available however, physical presence is not as important as shifting an o...

It’s always been a big question- how to maintain social connections in a remote environment? Not only social, but how does a team stay involved in a way that will continue to foster creativity, collaboration, and work to further solidify the team? All is not lost. Much of this relies on the tools and technologies used to foster engagement, but even more so on shifting the groups mentality to understand how to engage in a virtual environment.   Remote does not mean detached.  There are a lot of time-tracking tools out there with the intent of tracking just how employees spend their time during the day. How do you track those connections that happen in passing though, those conversations that start in the hall on a whim and lead to the next big breakthrough in a project? Not every hallway conversation is the next big breakthrough, but they still serve to build a stronger team-bond. The social side of anything has always been more difficult to track, such as- how to track...