With more and more technology to help us work together, it turns out that a better solution for a future workplace might already exist–we just have to use our tech to get us there.
There is a fascinating thing happening in today’s world of work. Employees are drowning in technology, yet they want more and better devices and applications to do their jobs. At the same time, millennial workers, whom we all assume are the most enthusiastic about technology, are expressing a desire for more human, face-to-face interaction while also lobbying for more effective collaboration and productivity solutions. Organizations would be making a mistake if they overlook this “weak signal” of an emerging culture shift.
In the late 1960s, Dr. Ed Lindaman was the director of program planning for Apollo, working for North American Rockwell (formerly North American Aviation). In that role, he was responsible for combining the efforts of multiple work centers, contractors, NASA officials, and Rockwell people. He used to tell the story of how critical a rudimentary form of teleconferencing–communicating via television and telephone feeds–was in keeping that fast-paced and high-stakes project on track and on time. Since the people involved were spread all over the country, it could not have been done without teleconferencing.
Such early experiences with teleconferencing, and the subsequent development of the personal computer, computer networks, then the Internet, the cell phone and, finally, the World Wide Web, all took us into the 1990s in a very advanced mind-set about the future of work. “In the future, we will travel to get together, but not to do most basic work,” said cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw at a teleconferencing conference in Seattle in the mid-1990s.
Fast-forward to early 2013. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer shocks the business world by announcing that she was ending a policy that allowed a high level of remote work at Yahoo, asking people to come to the office instead. As she explained in an interview shortly after:
“When you look at things like the Yahoo! Weather app, that wouldn’t have happened if those two people hadn’t run into each other,” she said. “You needed someone from Flickr to say, ‘Hey, I’ve got these geo-tagged photos, and I know where these photos were taken and we can probably detect whether or not there [are] faces in them or whether they’re a scene’ and them running into someone from Weather who says, ‘Hey, could we make our app more beautiful?'”
“I sort of call it the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups effect,” she added. “The chocolate and peanut butter taste great together, but that only happens when people really say, ‘What happens when we combine these things?'”
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Future Of Collaboration
- Future Of Freelancers In The Workplace. Companies Shift Hiring Model
Explore how businesses can harness the freelance revolution, fostering collaboration and offering equitable benefits for a competitive future workforce.
- Multi Level Group, EHang and ADIO seal strategic collaboration to drive eVTOL development in the UAE
Collaboration with global eVTOL player EHang announced during Abu Dhabi’s inaugural DRIFTx eventAgreement aims to promote eVTOLs to transform the ...
- Why 5 leaders want to see more collaboration in dentistry
Discover the outdated aspects of the dental industry that leaders are calling for an update on, and gain insight from experts.
- AmCham Business Summit 2024: Charting the Future of U.S.-East Africa Trade and Investment
The 4th edition of the AmCham Business Summit, held on April 24-25, 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together over 1,200 delegates from the region to discuss the future of U.S.-East Africa trade and ...
- Beauty Experts Assess the Future of Sustainable Packaging
Beauty industry experts address accomplishments, challenges, opportunities, & roadblocks—and why collaboration is key to future success. See our Q&A below.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Future Of Collaboration
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Future Of Collaboration” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Collaboration
- How I optimized an old office space for greater productivity and collaboration
The PanaCast 50 is reliable, easy-to-use, and provides a solid 180-degree view for small to medium rooms. However, the audio could be a bit louder and it would be nice to integrate Jabra Speak mics ...
- Multi Level Group, EHang and ADIO seal strategic collaboration to drive eVTOL development in the UAE
Collaboration with global eVTOL player EHang announced during Abu Dhabi’s inaugural DRIFTx eventAgreement aims to promote eVTOLs to transform the ...
- Review: Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in a spirited, if uneven, collaboration with the CSO
For this latest visit, the first in a while, the two orchestras went for selections from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet.” ...
- Emergency management collaboration is essential for some counties
Last week, we talked to Bonneville and Bannock county's offices of emergency management to see exactly how they work.
- Collaboration for Equitable Health improves rates of colorectal cancer screening and improves care access for underserved communities
In a concerted effort to reduce health disparities and improve access to care for colorectal cancer screenings in Chicago, Sinai Chicago Health System (Sinai), Chicago Family Health Center, and ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Collaboration
[google_news title=”” keyword=”collaboration” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]