Beyond Folders : collaboration

The New Office Space: Co-Working for Collaboration

Community Manager — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:53:00 GMT

Once upon a time, workers began and ended their career at the same company, either punching a time clock or reporting to the office for a 9-to-5 work stint. Seismic shifts in technology and the global economy have introduced a wave of new ways and places to work (hello Starbucks!).

With an ever increasing number of people working freelance or remote work gigs, what passes for an office these days is often a kitchen, library, airport or coffee house. But what of the worker who needs a more traditional workspace, but doesn't want the expense of office overhead or the confines of a big company? What happens when a coffee shop just doesn't cut it?

When Starbucks Just Won't Do

For a growing number of nontraditional workers, start-ups and digital nomads, co-working, or a shared work environment, is a cost-effective alternative to a coffee house or kitchen.

Co-working allows independent contractors and digital nomads, to share a workspace, without necessarily sharing work or a company. Co-working can also provide a sense of community that is often missing for independent contractors working in isolation. Co-working spaces can also introduce work synergies, heighten productivity by removing the distractions of working from home and provide a professional environment for client meetings.

Co-working sites typically offer monthly membership fees or weekly and day rates for occasional users. Some sites are organized around industry, others are grouped by space, or time requirements.

Interested in finding a co-working space in your area? Visit Co-worker Wiki for a nationwide list. The wiki also has useful information on optimizing a co-work space as well as links to global co-work spaces and special events.

For more, read Co-working: The Middle Ground Workspace and Co-working: How to Find Better Office Space. Do you ever make use of co-work spaces? Does a co-working space sound like a productivity enhancer? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

by Bradley Eggers

Making the Most of Web Meetings

Community Manager — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:06:00 GMT

We've posted in the past about how global teams and nomadic workers can successfully use tools such as web conferencing to work across wide geographies and multiple teams. In our recent post Dial in, Log on: Your Conference has Begun we shared tips for web conferencing best practices.

Now we'll look at other aspects of web conferencing including how to make the most of your money and how to best leverage successful conferences.

Cost Conscious Options

When a team of executives needs to meet, you can book 20 first-class flights or hook up a web conference. The math is pretty simple; web conferencing saves money. Top-flight web conferencing options such as WebEx , GoToMeeting and IBM Sametime make virtual meetings virtually seamless. However, these premium products may be out of reach for small companies or independent knowledge workers.

Here are a few resources on free or low-cost web conferencing options that will have your Beirut-to-Bombay-to-Boston meeting underway in no time:

Leveraging Success

In our Web 2.0 world, gone are the days when meetings were solely a small group of workers sitting around the conference table. Web meetings can now promote your brand to an external audience; use webinars and web conferencing for online product launches and analyst and press briefings. Be YouTube savvy and let your successful webinars or web meetings live on; record and post the presentation so a wider audience can receive your message. For more tips on promoting web conferences, check out the following helpful resources:

Have any tips for making the most of web conferences? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Carly Fadako

Dial in, Log on: Your Conference has Begun

Community Manager — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:32:00 GMT

When the corner office is across the globe, personnel increasingly need to work across wide geographies and multiple teams. In a past post Teams and Time Zones: Tips for a Global Workforce we offer ideas for managing the logistics of working in different offices and time zones. Useful options for bridging the time zone divide include web and teleconferencing: both can help shrink the divide, facilitating both informal meetings among a handful of colleagues and gatherings for audiences into the thousands.

Best Practices

To make web and teleconferences run smoothly, keep in mind a few simple points. Try to schedule conferences at a time that's convenient for all participants. If that's not possible, rotate the times so that all parties have a turn at the less desirable (i.e. late/early) time slots.

Be sure to introduce yourself when speaking at least the first few times; don't assume participants will automatically recognize your voice. As with any meeting, limit side conversations. Make use of that mute button if you must colloquy separately from the meeting.

Practice politeness: limit typing and cell phone use during calls, you want to give your audience your full attention. Add a personal touch; if using a web cam, make routine eye contact just as you would a face-to-face meeting. If a webcam isn't available, consider uploading a .jpeg photo.

For more useful tips on web conferencing, check out these resources:

For more useful tips on teleconferencing, check out these resources:

Do you make use of web or teleconferencing? What tips do you have to make web and teleconferencing productive? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

Leading a Remote Team

Community Manager — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:44:00 GMT

FiFA World Cup fever, which heightened in intensity as the finals neared, united sports fans across the globe in front of their TVs. Global happenings like the World Cup, the Olympics or even Oscar night, can seemingly shrink the world to a small village but when tasked with managing a remote workforce-across continents or cities-the distance between remote team members can seem vast.

Remote is Close to Home

Remote teams and how they work is more than an interesting abstraction at our company. We have subsidiaries in 31 countries and distribution in more than 120, additionally, our global management and sales forces are working from a myriad of locations. In the Beyond Folders blog we've written about managing the challenges of a global workforce in Teams and Time Zones: Tips for a Global Workforce and posted tips enabling employees to gain recognition in Remote Workers Do Not Have to Be Invisible.

Managing remote teams presents a singular challenge: when the old model of "MBWA" or management by walking around, popularized as a catchphrase in the first business bestseller, In Search of Excellence, no longer applies, what is the new model?

In short, successful leaders of remote teams must demonstrate a willingness to travel and be adept users of social media. I am a fan of two fascinating articles making these points; in Management by Flying Around Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kantar argues that "showing up is the number one key to success." And in Leading Virtual Teams to Real Results, two leading businesswomen and writers, maintain that social media is a crucial tool for leading remote teams.

For a constructive read on managing both the logistics and morale of remote teams, I would steer readers to How to Manage Employees in Remote Locations.

Do you lead a remote team? How do you maximize morale and productivity remotely? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

How’s the Tunnel Coming? Tracking Long Term Projects

Community Manager — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:34:00 GMT

It took 20 years for the character Andy Dufresne to tunnel his way to freedom in the Oscar winning movie The Shawshank Redemption. While most of us will never tackle a project of this scope, we all face long-term projects in the workplace. How best to track progress?

There is no one size-fits-all answer. Large companies, with deep pockets and dedicated project managers, can avail themselves of tools such as enterprise project management software, Gantt charts, PERT (Program Review and Review Technique) and Earned Value Analysis .

Looking to learn more about the fundamentals of project management? Visit the Project Management Institute (PMI), a non-profit professional organization, for resources including the seminal A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). PMBOK is the internationally recognized standard on project management as it applies to a wide range of projects including construction, software, engineering and automotive production.

Smaller companies, or independent workers, require simpler project management tools that allow energy to be focused on completing projects rather than tracking progress. Pared down tacking tools for leaner infrastructures can include:

Online Project Management Tools (Use software or for hire-services)
Time Tracking (Critical if you bill hourly; helpful for anyone wondering "what the heck have I been working on?" Keep track manually or with software.)
Task Management (Tasks include document uploads, document versioning, notes and comments, due dates, task status, and daily email reminders about what is due.)
Milestones (Determine deliverables and deadlines, plug these into your time tracking calendar to stay on track)
Evaluate Progress, Analyze Results (Find the right evaluation method or software to analyze your day-to-day workflow and outcomes.)

The bottom line, long-term projects need to be chipped away at a day at a time, much like Andy Dufresne's tunnel. Make use of project tracking tools to ensure that you are staying on track.

How do you track-long term projects? What role do milestones and deadlines play in getting to the end of your tunnel? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

The New Project Collaboration and Management Tools

Community Manager — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:04:00 GMT

Just ask any manager or leader in the average workplace and they will tell you that project management is pivotal to their team's success and to the company's bottom line. They will also tell you that the nature of project management is changing along with larger changes in the workforce.

As we discussed in (past posts here, here and here ), we are experiencing the rise of a mobile workforce that will number in the billions by the end of this year. The new workplace ecosystem thrives on remote collaboration and virtual teamwork. As this article on The Diverse And Digital Workforce suggests, adapting the old to the new is a challenge that every business organization - and each one of us - needs to rise to in order to survive and thrive.

As a starting point, it is important to learn about - and learn how to use - the latest project collaboration and management tools designed with remote workers in mind. To facilitate the learning curve, we culled this library of informative articles and posts:

As we shift how we engage in work collaboration and project management, we do not have to lose sight of traditional approaches that might still suit our businesses and us.

If you have tips on new project collaboration and management tools, please share them with us. We would also like to know which traditional approaches you are still using and why. We will report on your feedback in future posts.

by Bradley Eggers

When Your Office is a Starbucks (or a Safari): Tips for the Digital Nomad

Community Manager — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:46:00 GMT

Technology is increasingly allowing digital nomads-location independent workers-to leverage the internet and devices like smartphones, making any spot on the globe a workplace. Whether your office is at the local coffeehouse, or in a far-flung locale, digital nomads require certain tools in their backpacks for success.

The Digital Nomad

Here are some tips for the nomadic life:

Make technology your lifeline. When your laptop is your office, you need more than yellow post-it notes to make it work seamlessly. Leading social media marketer and proponent of the "I-can-work-anywhere-movement" Chris Brogan says every nomad should pack five-must have tools.

They include:

A cable power strip
Wireless card
Pens and a moleskin journal
Flip Mino video camera
Laptop

According to DigitalNomad.com other essential services include a USPS box for snail mail, Gmail, an online storage service to access documents remotely and Kayak.com and Farecast.com for travel.

Learn from the experts. Journalist and work-lifestyle visionary Daniel Pink first coined the phrase Free Agent Nation in a 1997 Fast Company article.

Since then, seismic shifts in the global economy and technology have created legions of digital nomads and online resources such as LocationIndependent.com which offers a collection of road-tested resources and articles. For best practices for location independent practitioners, follow the pioneers in Ten Digital Nomads to Learn From.

Manage your mindset. Recognize that many of the old rules do not apply. In some offices face time is expected. For location independent workers, time in an office chair does not equal work. Work equals work. You can manage your time efficiently with online tools such as calendars, to-do lists and contact management software.

Police productivity and periodically review goals. There is no corporate year-end performance review. You define your success. Just be sure to take time to measure it!

Ready to say good-bye to the corner office or cubicle? While the promise of increased flexibility and greater productivity (good-bye commute time and office politics!) is a tremendous lure, for some, the loss of office camaraderie, lack of benefits and the stress of managing invoices is too great a downside.

Be sure to examine the pros and cons of being location independent before making the leap.

Do you have tips or tales of life as digital nomad? If so, we invite you to share them here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Carly Fadako

Problem Solving at Work (Part II)

Community Manager — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:37:00 GMT

My last post discussed why problems arise in the workplace and how we typically deal with them when they do. In this post, we will take a closer look at the problem solving process.

"Nothing gives one so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

A mediate.com article on resolving conflict at work cites this Thomas Jefferson quote to point up the importance of keeping calm, cool and collected in the face of a problem. As the article notes, we need to step back and try to see the bigger picture. This perspective-taking includes a candid appraisal of what we might have done/be doing to fuel the issue.

Once you - and everyone else involved - have settled down, you can address the problem step-by-step. As an initial step, it is important to pinpoint the issues by fielding and clarifying different perspectives. A next step is to brainstorm solutions that satisfy everyone's interests. To find the point (or points) of mutual interest, you need some patience and creativity. You also need good active listening skills. When you engage in active listening, you offer physical and/or verbal signs that you understand and appreciate what people are saying to you. Make direct eye contact, nod your head and say "OK, go on" or "I understand." Clarity of understanding is critical here, you may even need to repeat back, "This is what I understand and heard you say, " ---- " is that correct?"

Once you have some possible solutions on the table, you must collaborate to evaluate and select the best option or options. To facilitate this part of the process, you can answer several key questions set out in this article on How to Become an Effective Problem Solver:

How many options do you have?
Which options seem reasonable?
Have you weighed the pros and cons of your options?
Are there any limitations to your options?
Are some options better than others? If so, why?
Are there advantages and disadvantages you need to take into consideration?

One added technique working well for us at our Esselte manufacturing facilities around the globe is "Try-Storming" our options. By using mock-ups and simulations built of various raw materials, we give the team a better, more realistic view of the success of their idea. This process takes mistakes and time out of the problem solving life cycle and shortens the lead time to successful outcomes.

After weighing the options and deciding on a solution, you should memorialize the solution in a written agreement. According to this article on problem solving in the workplace, any agreement should include provisions for revisiting your solution on an ongoing basis to ensure that it still meets your needs.

If you use a problem-solving process at work, we want to know about it. Please share it with us here or on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

Communicating Across Workplace Generation Gaps

Community Manager — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:09:00 GMT

As we discussed in a prior post, four very different generations of workers occupy the typical workplace. According to studies, it is not a particularly easy co-existence.

Last year, Pew Research Center reported that almost eight in 10 people polled perceived a major divide between the point of view of younger people and older people today. The Pew Center's study echoes Randstad USA's 2008 World of Work survey finding that the four generations at work rarely interact with one another. Given these hurdles, facilitating productive workplace communication can be a big challenge for managers and team leaders.

But, the challenge can be met.

As a recent Psychology Today article on the generational divide suggests, it is important to recognize that, unlike their more traditional older coworkers, young workers of Generation Y shun authoritarian communication. Raised on a steady diet of positive feedback and recognition, they also need regular input from their bosses. Expanding on this point, a New York Times piece on inter-generational communication sets out that, to better connect with Gen Y workers, managers and leaders should consider:

Adopting a communication style that is less curt, callous and confrontational and more respectful, conciliatory and indirect
Making requests that identify tangible business goals instead of issuing blanket orders
Supplementing annual performance reviews with more frequent progress reports and informal updates

Another key step is to encourage and empower all employees to use a full range of communication tools. Through workplace learning opportunities, even workers with technophobia can engage with others through e-mail, blogging, text messaging, instant messaging and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Similarly, simulated interactions and role-playing can help workers who find it hard to converse face-to-face or in a written communication of more than 140 characters.

Productive cross-generational communication also flows when managers and team leaders take steps to bring the generations onto common ground. If blended into functional work teams, for example, older and younger workers can share knowledge and collaborate on devising business strategies, developing new products and handling service issues. This kind of close collaboration cultivates understanding, trust and respect.

Have you experienced cross-generational communication failures and successes at work? If so, please share your experiences with us here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Candie Harris

The Demise of the Cubicle: Designing Office Space for the New Culture of Collaboration

Community Manager — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:54:00 GMT

1968.

It was a year marked by political and social unrest here and abroad.

It was also the birth year of that symbol of modern workplace dysfunction chronicled in Scott Adams' wildly popular Dilbert comic strip- the office cubicle.

As highlighted in this Fortune retrospective entitled Cubicles: The Great Mistake, even the cubicle's inventor - the late Robert Propst - came to rue the economical office system he thought would increase the productivity of "a growing breed of white-collar workers, whose job titles fell between secretary and boss." With a nod to the Dilbertvilles he inspired, he openly admitted his "contribution to 'monolithic insanity.'"

In making this admission, Propst might have foreseen the current shift in workplace culture away from worker isolation and towards flexible teamwork, open communication and ongoing collaboration. Perhaps he also knew what recent studies have confirmed: A well-designed office boosts employee morale, engagement and productivity.

Let's face it, we all secretly, or not so secretly cheered during the movie Office Space when the lead character "takes it to the man" by knocking down his cubicle wall with the help of a power drill. The look of accomplishment on his face spoke volumes, to office workers and managers alike.

Companies looking into the benefits of redesigning their physical space can start with a practical tutorial on How to Build a Better Office that walks you through these key steps:

Sizing up your current space
Involving your employees in the process
Deciding what your goals are
Asking yourself if it's time to move
Continuing to tweak

For more inspiration, you can virtually tour office spaces designed to optimize collaboration, including Microsoft's cool research facility, Building 99. Among the featured redesign elements are:

More shared and social spaces for spontaneous collaboration
Smaller cubicles with lower walls
Fewer private offices
Plush kitchen areas
Offices with sliding textured glass doors
Write-on/wipe-off walls

You might also gain some insight from this Fast Company slideshow of 10 Workspaces That Inspire Creativity and this image gallery of the Best and Worst Workplace Design.

by Carly Fadako