Posts Tagged ‘podcast’
25 Reasons to Let Your Employees Work Out Of Office
If you’re a leader or manager wondering whether to allow some of your team to work away from the office, we’ll give you 25 reasons why it might be the right thing to do – for you, them, and your future success.
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The 25 Reasons
Improve Productivity
People are more productive working from home, despite the fear they will slack off.
- No more commutes
– Australians spend 4.4 hours a week commuting - Fewer interruptions and distractions
- Fewer sick days
– They even work when they’re sick!
Improve Work Flows/Performance
- Meetings become more efficient
- Collaboration is improved
- Deferred communication reduces wasted time
- You can operate 24/7
Happier, Healthier Workers
- They are happier
– You’re 87% more likely to love your job if you work from home - And healthier
- They suffer less stress
– 82% of telecommuters report they have lower stress since they started telecommuting
Talent Management
- Not restricted by location
- Freelance talent markets open up
- Employees want it
– 70% of workers would rather telecommute than work in an office
– GWA suggests this number is higher - Attract Gen Ys
- Be competitive
- Keep them when their personal circumstances change
- Help them move
- Keep Gen Ys
- Keep experienced workers
Lower Costs
- Office costs
– GWA has an online calculator - HR costs
Fit for the Future
- Natural fit for the skills of the future
– The Institute of the Future has identified 10 key skills of the future - You’re preparing yourself for future distributed work
- You become a better leader
Professional Development for Distributed Teams
Members of distributed teams value and expect opportunities for professional development just as much as in-office team members. As a leader or manager, you might need to be proactive and innovative to find ways to help accelerate the experience curve for your distributed team members.
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Managing External Experts
External workers (freelancers, contractors, consultants, gigsters) make up an increasing proportion of the workforce. Leading external workers presents both challenges and opportunities, and it’s a leadership skill that will be increasingly valuable in our future.
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Global Teams At Work
In an increasingly connected world, it’s important for leaders to understand the special dynamics of global teams, so they can reduce the perceived distance, manage time differences, and embrace diversity across cultures.
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A Day in the Life of a Future Out Of Office Worker
What will work look like in the near future? In this episode, we walk through a typical workday of a future Out of Office worker.
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The Workplace of the Future
For the last 200 years, the office with a permanent staff has been the default work environment of the knowledge worker. But it wasn’t in the past, and it’s not necessarily the best for the future. What would the workplace look like if offices weren’t an option?
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How To Innovate With Distributed Teams
There’s a common belief that innovation and synergy are weaker in distributed teams, because people don’t bump into each other to spark great ideas. However, that’s not necessarily true. It is possible, as long as you overcome the natural “out of sight, out of mind” bias against your remote workers.
Listen to the episode here:
References
- Sharing ideas: Yammer, Innocentive
- Q&A forum: Stack Exchange
- Talent Markets: Upwork, Topcoder, Kaggle
- Crowdfunding: Kickstarter, Indiegogo
Out of Office Workspaces
Working from home is the most common method of working away from an office, but it’s not the only option. In this episode, we consider four different workspaces for Out of Office workers: the home office, public places like cafes and clubs, co-working spaces, and on the road.
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New Tools for Out of Office Workers
If you’re working in a distributed team, you might already know about some of the more common tools and apps, such as Dropbox, Evernote, iCloud, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, Skype, Buffer, and Hootsuite. These are all wonderful tools, but there are also a whole host of other tools available. We’re going to share some of them today, so you know about them and can consider whether it’s worth integrating them into your workplace.
Listen to the episode here:
References
Productivity:
- HiTask: A task management tool
- Trello: A workflow management tool
- Gmail Streak: A basic CRM integrated with Gmail
Collaboration:
- HipChat: A chatroom application designed to help teams collaborate
- Slack: Competitor to HipChat, with many of the same features
- Sqwiggle: A simple chatroom aimed at distributed teams
- IDoneThis: A simple tool for teams to share what they’ve achieved each day
Connecting with the world:
- Zapier: Automate actions based on triggers
- LinkedIn Pulse: Publish articles directly to LinkedIn
- ContentGems: Serve up relevant articles in your area of interest
Four Key Workplace Trends That Influence Out of Office Work
There’s no doubt telecommuting has increased, and that’s just one part of the changing workplace. Faxes, paper, fixed working hours, desktop computers, landline phones, and LANs are still around, but they are gradually being overtaken by electronic documents, the Cloud, flexible working hours, laptops, smartphone, and WiFi. In this episode we look at four key workplace trends, and how they affect Out of Office workers and their leaders.
Listen to the episode here:
References:
- Read the Dynamic Business article Workplace productivity: 5 of the hottest trends in Aussie offices for 2015
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