chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Threading Some Trends Together

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

youtube downloader — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:56:19 -0000

It costs you more money to house a work staff than it does to manage them remotely. Cost per cubicle, per in-house service, per enterprise service license. Your network bandwidth costs, your power and cooling costs, the things you have to do to keep people comfortable in an office space, are all worth reconsidering.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

gucci new jackie — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:58:26 -0000

Based on the resumes we are getting, people still ARE clamoring to get into Forrester.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Lhb2007 — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:21:14 -0000

Great! Thank you for sharing!

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

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Re: Threading Some Trends Together

spower — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:18:50 -0000

It is a great post. It is very useful for me. Thank you Chris.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

wan acceleration technologies — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:22:36 -0000

I've found that in our network WAN accelerators have made a big difference

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

TatianaT — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:16:57 -0000

Great post, Chris!
I’m looking forward to that time when it will be perfectly normal to work from home or, as you wrote, “remotely.” I find myself much more productive when no one walks by my cubicle every other minute, when the printer isn’t growling behind my back and when I don’t have to listen to my co-workers speaking on the phone.

Sure, some people will have to learn how to discipline themselves. And many employers will have to begin trusting their employees. But if you think about it, there is just as much destruction in the office (co-worker, computers, water-coolers and coffee machines) as there are at home or any other place.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Francine hardaway — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:58:25 -0000

Fascinating aggregation of thoughts and thinkers.Interesting that I also wrote about this coming change in a post today.http://blog.stealthmode.com/2008/0...
I wasn't so much thinking about the concept of the employee as half-owned brand, which I think is a fascinating one, but more of the enterprise as adopting the social media tools of its youngest members. But all these things are related, and it would take a book to understand them all. Good start, and keep going.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

spirit — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:24:04 -0000

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Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Scott Fox, Author of Internet — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:19:59 -0000

Nice, timely post, Chris.

I agree with all the work remotely points made by other commenters, too.

Tim Ferris' coverage of the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) at Best Buy validates much of this approach.

Also, I was just talking with Gary Vaynerchuk of Winelibrary.com video fame about "personal brands" on Thursday as an interview for my online radio show about Internet marketing.

He and I are both convinced that there is a "personal branding revolution" underway that offers major opportunities to anyone with expertise to share. They can do this independently or under a corporate umbrella as Scoble has proven.

The interview is up now here if anyone wants to hear how Gary V. has used online video to build an explosive personal brand online for himself with his wine-tasting videos: http://www.scottfox.com/blo...
(or archived at scottfoxradio.com for later readers...)

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

chrisbrogan — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:24:29 -0000

Well, okay .That's true, but a whole book on it. : ) I loved Rise of the Creative Class. I tried connecting to him via his blog, but that went nowhere. Maybe at a speaking gig.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Brian Clark — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:49:43 -0000

Florida's been talking about physical location and creativity since 2003's Rise of the Creative Class, and he really hammered on it in the follow-up Flight of the Creative Class... good stuff.

I think we've resolved to remain based somewhere like Austin, but spend summer's abroad (or at least in a different state). Good for the kids, and great to get away from the Texas sun. :-)

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Angela Stringfellow — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:38:58 -0000

Great post. While more companies seem to be embracing the concept of a remote workforce, we still have a long way to go. I think the problem with some companies is that they see allowing their workers to work remotely as a loss of control for them, instead of seeing it as a perk that could improve morale, motivation and loyalty. I used to work for such a company, and have since decided to break out on my own as a freelancer. That's scary for some, but due to the remote working trends, there are now resources available for those who choose the freelance lifestyle: I work with a company called MBO Partners, which acts as an employer of record and handles my back-office tasks. So, I have all the benefits of both worlds: access to everything I would have if I worked for a big company, but all the control, freedom and tax perks associated with having my own business.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

chrisbrogan — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:33:46 -0000

Brian - so as you were typing in this comment, I was writing back to someone on Facebook that, although I might fantasize about living anywhere in the world, WHERE I live will still matter to me, if I want to connect to a community, if I want to meet up with interesting people, if I want the occasional conference in my own backyard.

I live an hour north of Boston, and even that is impetus to miss several events a month. With that in mind, I can't imagine just living somewhere willy nilly for the family and pleasure side of it, because it would impact the business/professional side of things. It has to be a blend for me.

Interesting that Florida was way out ahead of this, though. Meaning, we're kind of thinking about this now, but he's been writing that book for about 16 months.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Brian Clark — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:45:38 -0000

Great post, and a topic I think about often.

It's interesting that connectivity and tools allow us to work and live anywhere, but Richard Florida's findings say that it matters where you live and who you see face to face.

So, even though I could be in Boca del Toro Panama permanently, Florida says it's better to be somewhere like Austin, Texas for the interaction with other creative people.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Shannon Ehlers — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:12:52 -0000

Hey Chris,

Happy 4th, hope it was a "bang-up" good time. Cheesy-geeky humor for you.

I think I can echo most/all of the other comments here, this is excellent and something I can re-read a couple of times.

I have a relaxing twelve-minute commute through nine miles of beautiful farm land to my laboratory job. I can't imagine myself staying in a vehicle for anywhere near an hour in order to get to a place like an office. Even though my commute isn't a killer, I'm still on board with the idea that "work from anywhere" is more productive than "work from office park" for many people (your noted exceptions are, well, noted).

What you are saying is so "on", so timely. A great Independence Day theme. American productivity. It is almost certain that several who could benefit from this will refuse to implement it. They will pay a hefty price for not adapting. Many towering redwoods will crash down to earth and it is already starting. By the end the roar will be deafening, the dust blinding.

I think that the efficiencies to be gained here can be of the sort that might save an industry like automobile manufacturing in the USA. Let's roll up our sleeves and do it, as we always have (a little patriotic nod to American ingenuity on this Fourth of July).

I helped instigate a (somewhat) flexible schedule at my own company, a manufacturing plant. I drew many a sideways glance from our execs. I spoke up in memos and in a meeting on behalf of a group of employees requesting the "freedom" to work 10 hour days instead of 8 hour days, with one extra day a week spent away from the plant. This effectively gave us an extra ten hours of work when we examined the available manpower and eliminated some redundant activities. NO ONE in a decision making capacity was happy that I was pushing for this, and it was something that I never took part in (I still work a 5-day, 8-hour rotation). As a result, I could staunchly claim objectivity throughout the negotiating phase. Several months after implementation, the fact that we are doing more with the same labor has not been lost on management and everyone is happy about the changes now.

Imagine the productivity gains for companies that make REAL flexible schedules, those that implement SUBSTANTIAL remote worker programs to eliminate the need for costly office real estate, and the few who will try out ROWE (results only work environment) programs such as that at Best Buy. Better still, imagine the speed with which companies could work if they embrace your idea of employee-as-brand-as-employee.

Fascinating stuff! This will come about as a matter of necessity, whether the command & control folks like it or not.

My best to you and yours on this Fourth of July! Thanks for the great post.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Connie Bensen — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:15:56 -0000

aha! so Charlene's leaving Forrester struck a chord in you too Chris? You have a # of things that resonate with me so I'll reply on my blog. I have another quote from Seth to add to this conversation.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Adam Singer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:41:10 -0000

I liked this post alot Chris, I forwarded to a few people. You have *quite* the commute BTW, you gotta do something about that ! =)

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

David Murray — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:03:55 -0000

Thank you for sharing great info and insight - yet again!

Currently managing an online community and social media strategy - I know I could do my work from home or anywhere. I've often thought of proposing the idea to the company I work for.

Location close to work is everything to me - not just for the money one saves in gas, but for the simple fact that I refuse to spend an hour or hour and a half in a car 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months and year... and how many years I chose to stay employed.

Currently I live 3 minutes from work.

The few times I have been able to work from home my productivity was significantly higher – less interruptions.

Any conference I attend really needs to offer something of value – all do – but now I need to know I’ll learn something that I otherwise couldn’t learn buy spending some time online. Networking and learning can be done from anywhere and you don’t need to go to a conference – though it does help.

You proved that perfectly with your Twebinar.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:13:46 -0000

Nice post, Chris. There has been a lot of rumbling about this lately. I'm glad to see you wrap it up in one article.

I think established companies with a cubicle farm will be the ones least capable of adapting this way. The need for middle mgt to walk around and kick someone in the pants is just too great. How can you justify your mgt style if it's based on actively interrupting work to put out your latest fires? How can you measure productivity that way? I think it's easier to hide how screwed up goal setting is when you can just count a persons hours in office as "productivity".

For smaller, younger companies like the one I'm at now, a soft-phone and a laptop with a 'net connection is all I need to have a working office. The soft-phone is optional. maybe just IM and email.

Luckily, the people who matter in my office are aware of this and accepting of it. I might even go so far to say that it has been encouraged. A few comments have been made in office like, "why don't you work from home once in a while, you could save a few bucks."

Maybe I will...

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Amy Lenzo — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:13:27 -0000

Another fabulous post, Chris.

As an independent online communications designer & consultant, my work is almost completely remote, but I was particularly stimulated by your thoughts about the "loosely joined" employee or "half-owned" brand.

Mine is not a high-profile brand but it's still an issue for me and it's been an interesting challenge to hold my own identity and "brand development" in the right relationship to my ongoing work with clients. It's simple when I'm just a designer or short-term consultant - I leave my link as a credit in the appropriate place and move on to the next job - but in my long-term work, as the community tech steward for the World Café for example, the question is more complex.

As far as conferences go, I'm lucky to live in my industry's mecca and don't really have to travel much to find fabulous opportunities for learning and networking. I will and do travel for unique events that I really need or want to attend, however.

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Rodney Rumford — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:26:23 -0000

People need to realize that they are their own personal brand. It goes with them from employer to employer. Companies and individuals can benefit by brand association.

I am my own brand. I just happen to own a company and have different publishing and distribution vehicles.

Jeremiah is his own brand. Charlene Li is her own brand. Forrester is their own brand; but the intermixing of these talented people and their brands (influence) is great than the sum of the individual parts.

Cheers!

Rodney Rumford

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Lissa Boles — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:23:56 -0000

Nice tie-up of multiple interrelated themes. I agree, appreciate MH's used of the phrase 'office independence movement' (new one - at least for me). I'll also throw one side thought into the discussion.

There's the additional side benefit to all this of reduced of green-house gas emissions.

Reduction of office space/stuff means significantly reduced energy requirements.

Office independence/remote collaboration means less fuel burned on the road/in the air and more efficient use of what already exists, eliminating needless (and costly in often invisible ways) duplication.

Though I agree with Amrita: face to face collaboration and networking beats remote handsdown.

Lissa

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Josh Bernoff — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:02:57 -0000

Based on the resumes we are getting, people still ARE clamoring to get into Forrester.

http://tinyurl.com/63pw5l

Re: Threading Some Trends Together

Meryl Steinberg — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:58:11 -0000

Chris, your posts are thought provoking. The idea that corporations will be coupling personal brands while building brand equity fascinates me. To be effective using social media, companies will need to loosen rigid control so employees can be go off script and genuine when fostering relationships with prospects and customers. It will be interesting to see how large enterprises wean themselves off big, centralized systems to grow smaller, more adaptable ones more effective at creating a positive customer experience.