Dynamic Work : flexible working

People Oriented Architecture - Definition

brucelynn — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:29:31 GMT

As I introduced in ‘Virtual Parallels,’ one of the intriguing developments inspiring my examination in ‘Dynamic Work’ is the parallels between increasingly flexible approaches to resourcing both knowledge work and computer work. In the latter realm of systems, the new approaches are often referenced under the rubric of ‘Services Oriented Architecture.’ The key word – ‘Services’ – refers to an approach to developing computer systems that moves away from monolithic programmes designed and built to do one thing or set of things, to an approach that is more based on a ‘federation’ of ‘components’ being assembled to build the capability required.

Many definitions of ‘SOA’ abound. Microsoft has its own resources on the topic that include a handy definition:

“SOA is a standards-based design approach to creating an integrated IT infrastructure capable of rapidly responding to changing business needs. SOA provides the principles and guidance to transform a company's existing array of heterogeneous, distributed, complex and inflexible IT resources into integrated, simplified and highly flexible resources that can be changed and composed to more directly support business goals.”

One could easily hijack that definition for a description of ‘Dynamic Work’

“Dynamic Work is a standards-based design approach to creating an integrated workplace infrastructure capable of rapidly responding to changing business needs. Dynamic Work provides the principles and guidance to transform a company's existing array of heterogeneous, distributed, complex and inflexible organisation and human resources into integrated, simplified and highly flexible resources that can be changed and composed to more directly support business goals.”

Dynamic Meetings

brucelynn — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:27:57 GMT

Bill Gates also used to comment that the power of the Internet was not in doing the same stuff in a different way (ie. taking orders over the web versus taking them by phone), but rather the interesting stuff was doing those things that you wouldn’t otherwise have been able to do without the capability. Reaching customers you wouldn’t have otherwise have reached, offering them something that you wouldn’t have otherwise been able to offer, processing the order in a way that you wouldn’t have otherwise have been able to do.

Yesterday, my team embarked on a bold new way of having team meetings through unified communication technology. We used Microsoft’s Live Meeting combined with its Roundtable device to hold a remote virtual meeting. The approach certainly presented some challenges to how to conduct such a meeting. How manage the conversations, how to cope with network latency, how to get the best out of the technology.

But the bottom line was that the tools did allow us to do something we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do. We were able to incorporate team members who would not have been able to be in the office itself that day (one had a doctor’s appointment for their ill child and another one was in Australia). Most importantly, on the day, many of us could have come into the office, but the only real reason was for the team meeting. This way we were able to have the meeting with out the expense, time and carbon footprint of the trip into the office.

The whole thing was a bit like a conference call on steroids. We could chat to each other, share presentations, all compose on a shared space and most importantly could all see each other on video. Yes, most of the time, it was just a ‘talking head’ looking not quite directly at the camera. But there is something about having someone’s face present that changes the whole feel of the interaction. It made it personal and ‘real’ and even a bit more enjoyable.

The meeting had its ups and downs, kind of like a person just learning how to drive a car and lurching forward in fits and starts. But at the end, 88% of the team categorised the meeting as ‘Some key learnings to make the next one better.’ And I think that that is the key here. What I used to say about the Internet to companies when it was just starting out was that it was critical for them to engage actively even though it then was quite immature. But, just as important as the maturity of the technology was the maturity of understanding it and its dynamics and how to make best use of it. That learning was best started early so that when it did become mainsteam (and it did become mainstream), then the company was ready and equipped to take advantage. I think the same dynamic applies to ‘live meetings’ and unified communications. Some day we will laugh at how rickety and unfamiliar things were today, but it will evolve into a business tool as central as a email, the mobile phone or wireless networking. And we will learn new skills to exploit it as we have with searching the web or hammering out texts. And with unprecedented pressures for costs savings, environmental conservation and family pressures, the demands for these new ways of working will accelerate very quickly.

Gas prices encourage telecommuting

brucelynn — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:42:38 GMT

Good piece from MSNBC on telecommuting subtitled ‘Employers reconsider traditional in-the-office work week’ looking at the economic drivers to more flexible work.

“Some employers are reconsidering the traditional five-days-in-the-office pattern as the national average price for a gallon of gas hovers around $4. The idea is to whittle down commuting costs for workers by allowing them to work from home or switch to four days of 10 hours each… The [Telework Coalition] estimates that more than 26 million Americans now telecommute at least some days, which would be about 18 percent of people employed nationwide.”

BT Workstyle

brucelynn — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:30:42 GMT

Speaking of partners, whitepapers and workstyles, BT has published a sterling case study on its own Flexible Working web site called ‘Sustainability through Flexible working - BT Workstyle’.

“Happier BT people are enjoying a better work life balance. BT home workers are taking 63 per cent less sick leave than their office-based colleagues. The retention rate following maternity leave stands at 99 percent compared with a UK average of 47 percent, saving BT an additional €7.4 million a year. In terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) BT is avoiding the purchase of approximately 12 million litres of fuel per year, resulting in 54,000 tonnes less CO2 being generated in the UK. Teleconferencing has eliminated the annual need for over 300,000 face-to-face meetings, leading to savings of over €38.6 million a year. This has also removed the need for over 1.5 million return journeys – saving BT people the equivalent of 1,800 years commuting – with further environmental benefits.”

Anyone still wondering about the business benefits of flexible working? The rest of the BT Insights page is full of white papers, other cases, presentations, brochures for reference.

Digital Nomads

brucelynn — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:48:33 GMT

Dell has just started a blog on the dynamic workstyle called ‘Digital Nomads’ (thanks Hugh). It’s strapline is “Where do You work? I work everywhere. These days ‘where’ you work really has little significance to ‘what’ you do. Increasingly, each of us faces no boundaries, whether they are geographic, physical or time-related....”

Technorati Tags: Dell, mobile working

Dynamic Dragon

brucelynn — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:17:15 GMT

The emerging realisation of business benefits to flexible work is being touted by one of the champions of emerging businesses, Dragons Den’s James Caan in last month’s Sunday Times piece titled “Technology is the key to cutting your overheads”. The sub-title goes on to assert, “The television dragon says you can find much more efficient ways of working”.

His article takes the words right out of my mouth – the power of technology, the cost benefits of flexible working, the recruitment and morale dividend, and the scrutiny over investing in physical offices…

“Some options won’t suit some businesses, but it is important nonetheless to embrace new technology to improve performance. Areas to consider might be the introduction of flexible working, outsourcing or simply better time management – all made possible by improved IT.”

If you employ 50 to 100 staff, consider the savings that could be made by introducing flexible working for 5%-10% of your employees. In return for providing them with a laptop and broadband connection you will reduce the cost of housing them in the building and the associated running costs. With advanced communication systems, an employee can be physically relocated but certainly not isolated in any way from the day-to-day operation of the business.

This level of flexibility might give you access to a different spectrum of employees, such as those who don’t wish to commute, or mothers returning to work. Flexible working might also increase productivity by allowing people to focus on specific projects, by improving time management and by generally raising staff morale through a better work-life balance…

As an investor in numerous businesses, I am able to use technology to increase the cost-effective opportunities. To help one recent acquisition secure customers all over the country, I established 10 virtual offices in leading cities across the land. Historically, I would have had to take on property, staff and significant running costs in 10 locations to present the market with the same company profile.

Today the use of virtual office facilities – a prestigious address with a mail-forwarding service and exclusive telephone number with call/message forwarding provided by a dedicated team – has created an immediate national presence without high overheads. Using this technology to present a national – or even global – operation to your customer base will cost as little as £100 a month for each virtual office. Compare this with the costs and time invested in running your “physical” offices, where the only extra value gained is the ability to interact with other employees – all other functions can now be serviced through technology.”

Technorati Tags: flexible work, IT, virtual office, broadband, working families

Portfolio Work

brucelynn — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:47:19 GMT

Last week I had the chance to meet up with Katie Ledger to discuss her growing examination of Portfolio Work (tagline – ‘How to get money, meaning and magic into your life’). I know Katie from her work with Microsoft UK and her activity in the UK blogosphere and so I had been following her increasing focus on Portfolio Work with its natural connection to Dynamic Work.

One of my hypotheses to Dynamic Work is that ‘within a generation, the majority of white-collar/professional/knowledge-workers will work for more than one company at the same time.’ This notion is the symmetric corollary to the premise that businesses will adopt increasingly flexible resourcing including shared jobs (a company hiring more than one person for the same job and the same time).

Businesses have been increasingly flexible in their contracting with ‘employees’ using greater outsourcing, contracting, consulting and flexible job structures. And, employees are starting to and will demand reciprocal flexibility in their work lives and careers.

The premise extends from the observation cited in the stirring ‘Did You Know – Shift Happpens’ presentation which noted, “The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10 to 14 jobs…by the age of 38.” Clearly, the notion of lifelong employment is withering, replaced by a new dynamism in the workplace. Yes, full of transitions, risks and uncertainties, but also full of opportunities for a new generation.

One of the biggest hurdles to widespread adoption of flexible employment are the risks and skills involved with finding the range of jobs in the portfolio. But the Internet is provides a uniquely powerful resource for people finding people. For matching buyers with sellers. And this efficient digital marketplace will provide a critical foundation to this increased flexibility.

While widespread working with this level of flexibility may be a generation away, Katie’s blog provides a superb guide to what people can and are doing today.

Home is Just the Job for Workers

brucelynn — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:49:00 GMT

A little while back The Sunday Times did great piece on remote and flexible working: “Home is just the job for workers” (subtitled ‘A growing number of companies are adopting more flexible employment practices for their staff”)

It highlighted the aggressive strides that companies like BT, My Travel, Lloyds TSB and HSBC were making to exploit this new approach to working.

As head of BT Workstyle, the division of the telecoms group that sells equipment and technology to other large corporations wanting to get their own employees geared up for home working, Dunbar is something of a zealot. Since 1988, he has worked from a purpose-built shed in his back garden, and likes to joke that his daily commute is about ten seconds – two when it’s raining. It might sound eccentric, but Dunbar’s working practices are becoming the norm for thousands of British workers attempting to achieve a far healthier balance between their careers and their home lives than they might have otherwise enjoyed…[A] number of big British companies are shifting more staff over to home working. At BT, for example, a little over 13,000 of the group’s staff have decided to take this option.”

And echoing my post ‘First Kill All the Office Buildings’…

“Michael Geoghegan, chief executive of HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank, threw his weight firmly behind a drive to remove 4,000 of his London-based staff from the group’s Canary Wharf headquarters and get them working from home instead. Speaking at a conference in Lisbon, Geoghegan said: “I’ve challenged us within seven years to have 50% of that building empty, to sublet to someone else. I don’t think we’re a really progressive, perceptive company if 8,000 people have to get up every day at an unearthly hour and go back again. Technology should change our thought process.”

Tech Savvy Heavy Hitters

brucelynn — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:50:00 GMT

I presented at a senior management board for a major investment bank on mobile technology a few years back. Part way through, the CIO interrupted and started my critique for being out of touch with the realities of their business and the requirements of the trading floor. Thinking I had totally missed the mark, I was saved by someone who jumped in and started confronting the CIO. He said, ‘where do you think our top traders work out of? Our City offices?? Not a chance. They are in Monaco, Jersey, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar. I can’t remember the last time I saw them in the office.’ ‘And it not just the big guys either,’ he continued, ‘more and more if we want to attract the very best and brightest out of schools, these hot shot kids are demanding these fancy new technologies that they have grown accustomed to in university. If we don’t offer them, then they question if we really all that sophisticated and ‘world leading’ as we claim and they opt to go work some place else more dynamic.” The interloper was the Head of Trading who had invited me to speak and set up the topic in the first place to shake things up and drive more innovation in the business on new ways of working.

Virtual Parallel

brucelynn — Sat, 24 May 2008 11:41:36 GMT

Curiously, and perhaps not coincidentally, the same dynamics moving towards distributed working in the flesh-and-blood, bricks-and-mortar workplaces is also taking place in the bits-and-bytes of digital world.

One of the hottest concepts or trends in computing right now is ‘Service Oriented Architecture’ (SOA). At its heart, SOA is a collection of principles, guidelines and concepts (ie. the ‘architecture’ bit) that one needs to consider or adopt in order to exploit the flexibility that ‘service’ delivered software introduces. Traditional or conventional software implies a more centralised command-and-control structure where the computing is installed on the device where it is going to be consumed (sort of like a worker who is going to do work in the workplace where they are based) A ‘service’ orientation implies a results-delivery structure where the results of the computing are delivered to the user but the computing itself might be done on some computer where the use as not installed anything, the user just consumes the output of the computation.

Who is Driving

brucelynn — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:15:00 GMT

Given these drivers (energy, climate, social, intellectual), there are a number core constituencies who have an acute interest in these considerations and who will be on the vanguard to driving for change.

Energy/Climate: Public Policy is increasingly re-examining the rules and assumptions of the 21^st century economy with energy supply and climate change in mind. Tax incentives and penalties are being introduced to reduce carbon footprints especially from motor vehicles.

Social: Women/Families – Pressures at breaking points are driving people to demand greater flexibility in working practices (eg. hours, locations) in order to juggle it all. One organisation at the forefront of these reforms is Working Families.

Knowledge work: Top Talent – The constituency with the most to gain by reducing brain dead commute time are those for whose hour of concentrated knowledge work has the highest valuation, ie. professionals with scarce skills. More specifically it is the highest performers. Not only is their domain expertise scare, but their exceptional competency is even more scarce.

The New Tools

brucelynn — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:28:00 GMT

It’s not just a range of pressures that are driving people to these new modes of work, but it is also a wealth of enablers that have emerged to unleash the potential for resolving these pressures in unprecedented and innovative ways.

Asynchronicity - The operative production model of the 20^th Century was the serial, synchronous ‘assembly line.’ All of the resources for production lined up in one space and one shift. As knowledge work developed, this model continued to predominate with processes for planning, approving, assessing, etc. moving from mail tray to mail tray in just as methodical a fashion as a Model-T trundling down the line. The operative production model of the 21^st Century is asynchronous parallelism. Email communication that can be read and responded to today, tomorrow or next week. Collaborative documents where multiple parties contribute.

Communications – A pervasive, increasingly flexible and capable communications network becomes the hub that unites the diverse pieces. It is not just the digital network that it the Internet, but it is also the increasingly sophisticated capabilities developed on top of it, the increasingly varied devices attached to it and the increasingly diverse contexts to which it has been applied.

Modern Management Principles – Knowledge work predominant in the service economy of the 21^st century is much more results based than its manufacturing, production-line focus on activity. Modern management concepts like Peter Drucker’s ‘Management By Objective’ (MBO) harnesses approaches critical to the new modes of flexible working.