Event: The Workspace of the Future - 9.18.08

"It's not the smartest nor the strongest of the species that survive,

but the most adaptable." ~Darwin

Adapt or perish.

No statement could be more true or relevant in today's economic climate. Consider, how many industries have had to change their delivery tactics, processes, methodologies and of course technologies to stay viable over the last half-century?

I can tell you the ones that haven't, of course, have gone the way of the dinosaur. Is your business adapting and evolving? How are you 'adapting' to the economic climate? How are you competing for top talent? How can you cut costs and improve workplace efficiency?

On 9.18 many of these questions were considered and addressed at the Home2Office "Workspace of the Future" / Microsoft Truck Across America Event. Hosted by H2O and Bandwidth Now the turnout was fantastic and the event was a great success!

The event was located in downtown San Diego directly across from the 401 West A, Columbia Center Building.

H2O showcased the latest version of their corporate portal solution featuring embedded collaborative tools which include desktop sharing, presentation sharing and a powerful whiteboard solution. Participants were encouraged to test the portal and try the latest capabilities by connecting, communicating and collaborating all within the Microsoft Truck!

A great time was had by all. A huge thanks to our co-sponsors SENTRE Partners and Bandwidth Now who helped us to make this a stellar event. Thanks too, of course to the many registered guests!

H2O Team members w/ the truck... and shot of portal live...

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Office Space for the Mobile Work Force

There are many documented benefits to Telecommuting. One of the key ones is that employers can realize significant infrastructure costs savings from reduced office floor space, as a result of fewer workers in the office on any given day. Cisco realized that their workforce was becoming increasingly mobile, which resulted in cubicles going unused about 1/3 of the time.

Thinking out of the box, Cisco tore out the cubicles and converted the office into a flexible, multifunctional space where employees can plop down their laptops to work wherever they want. They also used desks, chairs, and dividers on wheels to give employees the freedom to arrange their workspace according to their needs. This not only saved dollars by reducing overall floor space, but also increased the ability to “collaborate” and move quickly between flexible work groups.


Certainly it seems that different types of activities have different requirements for privacy, desk space, and even permanent surroundings.



Someone who works in contracts or finance, requiring cabinets of paper copies files, and who primarily works as individuals on sensitive company information, may need a permanent, closed area.

Others, who develop software, may also need a quiet area while writing code, but then needs to collaborate with others team mates to integrate their individual software modules together as one program. Finally, there may be sales people who perform much of their business over the phone, and may be able to move seamlessly throughout office using mobile communications, while hopping from one open cubicle to another. All of these people can perform some portion of their work from home as part of the telecommuting program, but while in the office, have different office needs.

If businesses are going to realize the savings available to them from telecommuting, they must also carefully evaluate how they are going to still meet their employee’s needs while working with less space. Cisco’s solution will not work for everyone, but does give us an example of how to evaluate what are the requirements of the different activities that people perform, and be creative in how they can meet those using non-traditional office arrangements.

It's important to verify whether the employee works alone all the time, or if interaction with others is critical to their success. How much privacy is needed, and can a simple change in the “trust” model help to remove cubicle walls and turn computer screens to the view of bosses.

Whether in a cubicle, or at my desk at home, I would hope that my work is measured by my output, and not by the few minutes I spend playing solitaire in between spurts of productivity. Creating virtual realities with the use of headphones, can quickly turn an open space into a private office.

In planning an office renovation then, there will be some space that is permanently assigned. Most of the space, however, will probably end up either as reconvertible, such as mobile walls that quickly lock together to create virtual meeting areas with white boards and semi-privacy for a brainstorming session, or as mini-conference rooms with sign-up sheets that accommodate 6-10 people at one time.

Today's office can live with much less space which can be way more responsive to the ebb-and-flow of the mobile work force, solong as the nature of the business, and the needs of the different employees, are fully understood and productive work spaces are cleverly designed.

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The Shadow Layoff!!! AT&T’s telework recall?

OK, here we go, “Biggest network provider (LEC) in the country, AT&T, recalls teleworkers, putting 10’000 employees BACK in their cubicles.” I know this has received lots of attention from critics, but let me pile on, please.

Put bluntly, either AT&T is looking to shed staff or the management is simply VERY MISGUIDED.

I wasn’t buying the second option. So, after some prodding some of my connections (yep, I’m another blogger with inside connections), I found there was more truth to the first idea than I thought. Because I am in the thick of this teleworking world, I know very well that the #2 benefit behind pay an employer can offer their employees is the option to work remotely 1-2 days a week. That said, if you planned on getting rid of a bunch of workers, but didn’t want to pay severance, what would you do? My bet is you would seriously consider taking away the biggest benefits and hope people left on their own.

Really, my hunch followed logical thought. But I was surprised first, that I might really be correct (not because I’m not smart but because it seemed just too in your face) and second that AT&T couldn’t better spin this one. Why would the # 1 network / SP trip up on this? Maybe they have their own “managed telecommute” in the works and are looking for a good set up story. But seriously, AT&T, you sell Voice and Data network services (more than any other company in the country) and you can’t realize how strategic telework is to the growth of a company like yours? Regardless the reasoning, what may be even scarier than a PR miss on behalf of the Communications behemoth is the fact that I have reason to believe there is merit to the press reporting that the corporate suits at AT&T are struggling internally with the idea that telework is of benefit to their own organization!!! So, the press release might actually be accurate in representing AT&T’s belief that they can’t manage remote workers.

All this said, outside of vital jobs being saved, if they are not trying to shed headcount, it sure sounds like another validation of a Managed Telecommute for businesses. I’ll keep on this one and sincerely appreciate you all reading my first blog. Thanks for the fodder AT&T. - richard grunburg

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