SUPERSTRUCTED ORGANIZATIONS

GLOBALLY-CONNECTED WORLD

virtual collaboration

R E L AT E D D R I V E R S

Superstructed organizations:Social technologies drive new forms of production and value creation

Globally-connected world: Increased global connectivity puts diversity and adaptability at the center of organizational operations

A confluence of factors will continue to drive remote working in the next decade: connective technologies make it easier than ever to share

content from anywhere; employees demand more flexible working arrangements to juggle work and family life; organizations acknowledge

that traditional office environments rarely offer the extended blocks of uninterrupted time needed to complete tasks. But perhaps most important is

the changing nature of work itself. Many work tasks require contributions from multiple people, often located in different places, some overseas. Technologies are

also enabling division of work into micro-tasks that can be performed by an ad hoc team that can be easily assembled “in the cloud.” In response, many Fortune 500 companies are already partially or entirely eliminating traditional office spaces. About 40 percent of IBM’s employees have no fixed office space, which saves the com-pany around $100 million per year in real estate costs.

Virtual work will demand a new set of competencies. Comfort with col-laborating remotely will emerge as a key skill. There are already a host of tools available to facilitate remote collaboration (for example, wikis, instant messaging services, shareable virtual whiteboards and Google docs). But remote workers will also need to become adept at demonstrating and signaling presence. Micro-blogging platforms enable workers to share what they are working on currently, and keep colleagues informed about their availability. A number of web-based platforms allow colleagues to create a virtual office on their screen. For example, Team Space gives each worker an avatar, and an office space that colleagues can “visit” through-out the day, with meeting rooms and kitchens for social moments.

Remote workers will also seek ways to create a more embodied sense of presence. Telepresence robots, while still expensive, are beginning to be priced within reach for small and medium-sized businesses. These remote-controlled, Wi-Fi enabled devices can “represent” workers in an office space, allowing them to check in on colleagues, and have the kind of ad hoc encounters and conversations that are usually excluded by virtual work.

Virtual platforms can help to create a sense of ambient sociability, but finding a forum for “real-world” interactions will remain important for the growing band of digital nomads. Coworking spaces offer workers something between the isolation of a home office and the public nature of a coffee shop. They provide facilities, IT support, meeting rooms and opportunities for develop-ing a broad professional network and a social work environment. In the next decade, coworking spaces will become a familiar part of work culture, and in many places will be seen as preferable to traditional offices.

For those trying to manage virtual teams, there are a different set of challenges: how to engage and motivate a distributed group. The physical space of a company serves as a strong embodiment of its culture and values—managers will need to find ways to develop this in the absence of shared space. As the mechanics of gaming are better understood and applied to diverse disciplines, manag-ers will be expected to find ways to integrate gaming features such as immediate feedback, clear objectives and a staged series of challenges into the way they structure projects.

Ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team

VIRTUAL COLLABORATION

Source: newsroom.cisco.com

signals

Institute for the Future | 124 University Avenue, 2nd Floor, Palo Alto, CA 94301 | 650.854.6322 | www.iftf.org© 2011 Institute for the Future for Apollo Research Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without written permission. SR-1443

C H A N G I N G AT T I T U D E S A B O U T T H E O F F I C E

In a recent Cisco global survey, three out of five of the 2,600 respondents said they felt it was unnecessary to be in a physical office to be productive. This sentiment was more prevalent in China, India, and Brazil.

R O A M AT L A N TA

Coworking spaces are proliferating, and not just in urban environments. Roam Atlanta is an innovative workspace club based in a suburban town, Alpharetta. Members get a desk, access to conference rooms, shared office equipment, and a café. It was cofounded by an IBM employee who had endured home-office isolation for 11 years and wanted to create a welcoming, community-oriented workspace.

Source: anybot.com

Source: teamspace.com

Source: www.roamatlanta.com

A N Y B OT S

Anybots are “personal avatars” that you control remotely, giving you a physical presence at offices, meetings or conferences. At $15,000, the company is targeting a business rather than personal market. The first Anybots were shipped in spring 2011; the company aims to have 100,000 Anybots in operation within five years.

T E A M S PAC E

Developed by social communications company Sococo, Team Space is a virtual work environment enabling remote teams to solve problems and work together more efficiently. By integrating people, applications, processes, and communications within one spatial user interface, Team Space provides a socially-aware work experience that enables both ad hoc and scheduled interactions. Team Space is used in 64 countries by more than 3,400 teams.

Fried, J. (2010). Why work doesn’t happen at work. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_hap-pen_at_work.html

Trapani, G. (2009). Master the art of working remotely. [Blog post]. Retrieved from: http://blogs.hbr.org/trapani/2009/06/master-the-art-of-working-with.html

Resources for Further Reading