The principal difference between the 21st century workplace and the 20th century (19th century?) work culture in which so many of us live is flexibility. While some organizations have made a commitment to an outcomes-based approach to meeting mission objectives, others are still stuck in a compliance culture that values by-the-book processes and policies overRead… Read more »
If you are committed to exploring options for workplace mobility, then you should check out an organization called New Ways of Working (NewWOW). This organization, a consortium that focuses on alternative workplace solutions, has just released a benchmarking study based on data from July 2013 that sheds light on what is happening in the privateRead… Read more »
It’s time for those of us who promote a mobile work concept that seeks to get people out of the office to celebrate what happens when they are in the office. We have seen the articles quoting Federal workers on how happy they are to be back at work after the shutdown. And many ofRead… Read more »
We spend a lot of time talking about why the mobile workplace is important, how to create a mobile workplace, what technology to use, and how to overcome manager resistance. All of these topics are important, but I thought it might be worthwhile to consider how one person makes it work on a regular basis.Read… Read more »
Have you seen the interesting article in the June Harvard Business Review by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh called “Tours of Duty: The New Employer-Employee Compact”? It gives us a new way to think about our careers – with an emphasis on increased flexibility. Instead of thinking of a career as a seriesRead… Read more »
There are a great many insights we can get on the Federal workforce by looking at the Best Places to Work survey conducted by Partnership for Public Service, but one struck me as particularly revealing. In looking at the data from the 2012 survey, we can see that only four in ten Federal employees believeRead… Read more »
A recent GAO report reviewed OPM’s 2012 annual report to Congress on the Federal government’s telework programs. While it acknowledges the progress that has been made in agency reporting on this issue, it also makes the interesting point that agencies have not yet focused on assessing the cost savings associated with telework programs. That’s aRead… Read more »
Today is International Women’s Day, a holiday that originated as a way of recognizing working women and promoting fair and safe working conditions. Many women across the globe face the most basic issues with respect to the conditions in which they work. In the US, we are lucky to have made great strides in thisRead… Read more »
With Telework Week fast approaching on March 4th and the leaked memo from Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, turning back the clock on workplace flexibility, it seems like a good time to comment on the twin concepts of “connection” and “innovation.” Whatever Mayer’s real motivation for wanting to bring the Yahoo workforce back into the office,Read… Read more »
Our recent June 29th derecho event, featuring lightening, thunder, rain, wind, trees falling, and power lines failing, has provided yet another opportunity for people in the Washington, DC area to experience what the Federal government calls “unplanned telework.” As it did when our area suffered through snowstorms and earthquakes, the government provided employees with theRead… Read more »