On June 7th 2017 a devastating fire swept through the coastal town of Knysna South Africa destroying 973 homes and about 150 informal structures. There was a detailed postmortem of this event...
Remote work support pillars
For a succesful remote workplace or “office-in-the-cloud” to “stand” there are several crucial support pillars that hold up the workplace. You have to understand what all these are in order to be...
Hybrid workplaces are really hard to get right
There are many reasons for this. Candida Sisam, captures one these reasons succinctly: “A hybrid model can seem like an easy solution to the current issues companies face because they can retain...
LinkedIn data: Top reason individuals want to return to a physical office
In this LinkedIn surgery the top reason given as to why individuals want to return to a physical office is wanting to collaborate in-person. Why return to the workplace? Our top reasons defy the...
Beware of communication fragmentation!
I can literally write a book about this! Now no one digital communication tool is perfect, so don’t look for that, rather settle on something that ticks most boxes. If you don’t insist on a single...
Work-from-anywhere prerequisite
A team must possess the skill to communicate and collaborate at distance as effectively as if they were sitting around a table in-person. It must be that seamless. This skill is often referred to as...
Future skills
Back in January of 2020, I highlighted that Carbon Literacy would become a necessary future skill all businesses will need to have. This is becoming clearer now that carbon emission reporting is...
“This is why we have to get everyone back to the office!”
This research proves it! No it doesn’t. What it proves is that you are watching the clock not the output. “Being on the clock” while working remotely is the very opposite of what mature...
“But how do you maintain company culture if everyone is working remotely?”
This is the question we are asked most often by those forced into remote working by the pandemic and who are experiencing a fraying culture. The answer is intentionally. Now, the teams that have...
Why employees want hybrid working
This data point from recent Accenture research is enlightening. We want to focus on the 25% that state their reason for wanting to come into the office on some days is because they want to...
Google Doc vs Whiteboard
“We need to be in the same room with a whiteboard to brainstorm!” Have you heard that before? Let’s see if there is a better way: On a physical whiteboard you can: Easily draw shapes and...
This is a major hybrid workplace challenge
If a hybrid team does not solve the problem articulated here, this workplace will ultimately fail, as it creates a two-tier workplace with remote workers becoming secondclass employees. If you are...