| The first reaction towards a suggestion of telework is often hesitation. Keep on reading and see for yourself, why telework will roll over us swiftly, whether we are prepared or not. Our economy and our working lives will undergo very drastic, very swift and very fundamental changes in the next two decades. Many companies will not survive these changes. Just take a look back 30 years. In the 70's one company, IBM, supplied 60% of all office machines world wide, from simple electric typewriters right up to huge mainframe computers. Just ten years later the Big Blue Machine missed the turn in the road towards the PC world. Sure, IBM is still around. But how many pieces of IBM equipment do you see around your office? Two hundred years ago the overwhelming majority of people worked from home – in farming, as notary, doctor, blacksmith or violin maker. With very few exceptions, working from home was the norm for the entire history of civilization right up to the beginning of the industrial revolution. Only just 200 years ago did we see the beginning of complex, capital-intensive institutions such as locomotive factories or chemical plants. Or of the „thinking factories“, which dwell in the glass skyscrapers of London, Hong Kong or New York. Centralized work places became necessary to generate the synergy, which can only arise out of the cooperative efforts of a larger group of people. The new millennium has brought us technological advances which make it utterly unnecessary and even counterproductive for a group to gather together in the same building for the purpose of creating synergy. Communications- and network technology now make it possible to tie together groups of people in different locations without really limiting their ability to function as a single entity in a „virtual office building“. One of the most common objections we hear when speaking about the virtual workplace is that this is an awful development“, because humankind is being deprived of the socializing opportunities of the workplace. Well, for one thing, as entrepreneurs we are not sure that we see the prime purpose of the workplace being the „socializing place” of our society. More importantly, though, this objection flies in the face of the normal way of living for the entire history of civilization right up until the beginning of the industrial revolution. | Can anyone really seriously proclaim that humankind has only just discovered the ideal way of socializing with one another when the mass workplace was came into existence with the industrial revolution? We can tell you from our personal experience. Our virtual team, which is scattered over a distance of more than 7000 km, has every bit as much fun with one another as we would if we shared the same premises. In fact, probably more so. Because for us it is little trouble to segregate smokers from non-smokers, just to cite one example. Sure, we cannot drink coffee together, but on the other hand we are largely immune to those irritating habits of our fellow workers which can disrupt the harmony of any workgroup. Just think of what it would mean for the wealth of our society if we could convert the glass skyscrapers in Frankfurt, Sydney or Chicago into luxury apartments - while people meet in the virtual workplace? No more traffic jams, no more lengthy drives to and from work, less money required to build and maintain roads and less fuel oil being used. We could put those savings right back into an improved quality of life. Such as moving our workplace to some place sunny or somewhere in the countryside – with pure nature out the front door instead of big city traffic. You can take it for granted that oil prices will explode in the next two decades! Per capita consumption in China with 1.3 billion people is currently 1.5 barrels per year. The USA has one fifth of the population but per capita consumption is 25 barrels per year. China taken together is already the third largest oil consumer in the world. If the per capita consumption there were to rise even just slightly, then China would quickly surpass the USA as the world's premier oil consumer. And what that will mean for gas prices ought to be clear. The virtual workplace is not an option for the future, it is mandatory. Those who manage the transition to the virtual world early on will be building the foundation for their future success. Those who hesitate too long, risk having their competitors surge past them. We’d be delighted to share with you – virtually, of course - our experiences in managing a virtual team and how simple and profitable it is to go down this avenue. |
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