Inc.: Going Virtual with Matt Mullenweg
Posted by admin in virtual office, virtual workforce, web conference on March 9th, 2010
Inc.: Going Virtual with Matt Mullenweg
Recently I had a chance to record a Skype chat from my living room with Matt Mullenweg. Matt is the founder of Automattic, the company that publishes Wordpress.com. Automattic was founded without a central office and has 50 employees spread all over the world. (For this reason he uses the term “distributed company” to describe Automattic’s structure.)
Press-Register (blog): Real estate agencies downsize
Posted by admin in office space, overhead, reduce on March 4th, 2010
Press-Register (blog): Real estate agencies downsize
Dauphin Realty plans to downsize in west Mobile, its 24 agents leaving a 4,000-square-foot space for 2,400 square feet at 5613 Cottage Hill Road by mid-April. “The real estate business is undergoing drastic changes because of the economy,” said Johnny Roberts of Roberts Brothers. “It’s no longer a bricks-and-mortar type of industry with the advances in technology, home offices, cell phones, e-mail and the Internet.”
Harvard Business Review Column: Think Outside the Building
Posted by admin in collaboration, health care on March 2nd, 2010
Harvard Business Review Column: Think Outside the Building
Thinking outside the box is a popular metaphor for creativity. But recent major systemic challenges (the financial crisis, health care reform, and climate change, among others) require new ideas significantly bigger than a mere box. The greatest future breakthroughs will come from leaders who encourage thinking outside a whole building full of boxes.
TIME (blog): Do Flexible Work Conditions Make Healthier Employees?
Posted by admin in employees, health care, workshifting on February 25th, 2010
TIME (blog): Do Flexible Work Conditions Make Healthier Employees?
In a review of 10 previous studies examining the health implications of flexible work conditions for more than 16,000 people, researchers from the U.K.’s Durham University and University of Newcastle, as well as the University of Montreal, found that flexible work schedules—when employees can shift their starting times, for example—were associated with improvements in blood pressure, sleep and overall mental health.
NPR: For Telecommuters, It’s Not About Going To Work
Posted by admin in home office, telework, virtual workforce on February 23rd, 2010
NPR: For Telecommuters, It’s Not About Going To Work
There’s no longer anything novel about the way Laura Schoppe does her job. Each workday, she goes upstairs to her office above the garage of her rural North Carolina home. And surrounded by her two dogs, Zoey and Bella, she runs a multimillion-dollar company called Fuentek that helps its clients commercialize new technology.
Inc.: The Real Consequences of Office Clutter
Posted by admin in office space, reduce, tips on February 17th, 2010
Inc.: The Real Consequences of Office Clutter
A rather vocal assistant is what brought Margot Sterns, owner of MTS Promotions, a provider of promotional products for companies, to the realization that her home office in New York City was in desperate need of a makeover three years ago. Since she was the business’ sole employee, Sterns says she had trouble finding space for the orders she processed for the multiple clients she juggled at one time, and had to hired extra hands – despite her embarrassment.
Work Shifting: Has Technology Made the Work Day Longer?
Posted by admin in Uncategorized, mobile professionals, remote work, virtual workforce on February 15th, 2010
Work Shifting: Has Technology Made the Work Day Longer?
By extending the definition of work-day to include workshifting, it opens up a world of possibilities on how to achieve an objective. I can collaborate with social media tools, attend a conference or speaking engagement, have an online meeting and of course (at least in my case) go to the office for a dose of much needed corporate culture. Despite how this post may read, I love going into the office because I need to connect in person.
REALTOR Mag: Design With Staying Power
Posted by admin in cost-cutting, green, office space on February 10th, 2010
REALTOR Mag: Design With Staying Power
With money tight, companies are looking for ways to spend less of their precious capital on expensive buildouts that just get thrown into a landfill when the lease expires. “Companies are getting more prudent about spending on tenant improvements. They also realize that minimizing the cost of construction buildout reduces the amount of security required to guarantee the lease,” says Mike Watts, senior vice president with J.F. McKinney & Associates, a Chicago company specializing in landlord representation.
Soapbox Media: Redefining the workplace
Posted by admin in collaboration, office space, relevance on February 9th, 2010
Soapbox Media: Redefining the workplace
Do office cubicals create a productive work environment? A couple of Cincinnati companies don’t think so. In fact, one organization laid out a cube farm in its original office space, and, over time, realized that many creative ideas got trapped inside these cubes. The bottom line, although not explicitly stated to me, cubes carried a high opportunity cost. They had to go. And along with them, a number of other office artifacts considered “conventional.”
Work Shifting: Developing a Set of Consistent Principles
Posted by admin in plan, remote work, workshifting on February 3rd, 2010
Work Shifting: Developing a Set of Consistent Principles
Recently I have been reading the Starfish and the Spider, a book I have been meaning to read for a while now. Finally I started it and I am half way through. As I was reading the first couple chapters there were a few things that made me think of workshifters. In the book, Brafman and Beckstrom make the point that in a decentralized organization, a starfish organization, to be productive there needs to be a core set of principles that remain constant.