The Internet Has Spawned a New Workforce

Because I'm out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean -- on the relatively small Big Island of Hawai`i -- every hope anyone can express about the internet in terms of access to the world is cheered by this old cowboy.

"Insular" is not an adjective of praise, meaning that ideas and such are limited by the many social constraints that living on an island can bring. Connected, we can see IMAGES of paintings in the Louvre, for example. It is an error, however, to suggest that is the same as being there with all that entails.

Our young people seem to have difficulty with internet commercial action that is very close to the problems they express in the hard, unwired world. Too often, they don't know enough of the workings of the world beyond the distant horizon of our ocean home to compete in areas where innovation is a huge part of the game.

 There are problems of this type -- in my view -- that also pervades commerce from the mainland. For example, if you order a product from Chicago, it is virtually always the case that it could be shipped to Hawai`i -- and everywhere else in America -- for less cost and just as quickly if sent by the U. S. Postal Service Priority Mail Insured. The Post Office even goes to your shipping point to pick up the packages. But getting that service offered as one of three alternatives, UPS, FedEx or USPS, is very unusual.

The only way I've been able to break that down -- in a few places -- is to explain that it might be better if I spent the excess money for shipping by FedEx, say, in purchasing more products rather than transportation. It's an "ah ha" moment in too few cases with the norm being, "Well, we just don't do it that way."

That example here is chosen because it is close to universal, getting product shipped but also getting issues understood when there is a difference of view. I do not think the internet has inspired much thinking "outside the box" when that square happens to be a computer monitor, in other words.

My point is that work needs to be done in truly broadening both consciousness and awareness for the "new workforce." There are ample sources for this on the net, no question of that. But many are not known and their value is not apparent. Working in separate places with no "meetings at the water cooler" slows common improvement in work policies that comes from discussions about "that client that I just lost because we don't ship by mail." If you see where I'm going with that.

internet evolution is a great location for excactly this kind of effort and I very much appreciate the opportunity to participate.

Interesting and insightful article. Working in a developing country is saddens me how these new technologies are failing to catch up in developing economies. The irony is, they are the ones that can achieve impressive gains by adopting the new opportunities that technology provides.

The Internet and its growing list of features and offerings, is creating a truly global village, with immense potential benefit for those who can take advantage of it.

On, the other hand there is great opportunity for companies in the developed world to build partnerships with people and organizations in the developing economies to see how they can both expand their business as well as capitalize on some of the rich human resource that is under utilized in developing ecomonies.

Africa, is open for business, and there is great potential for businesses that would want to venture into some of the stable economies and work in a relatively localized (by adapting to local dynamics) manner to bring some of their offerings (services mainly) to these economies and as I mentioned earlier to leverage some of the strengths of the human resource base there. 

The Internet an ever growing network of networks that can be leveraged to build rich (people and systems) networks that work to create value for our world. Let work to make that happen. An in doing that, lets try to help bridge the digital divide in a win - win manner. 

Intersting article.  I have personally managed and/or observed several dozen remote/telecommuting employees - almost all highly successful.  From Virginia I have managed staff as far flung as California, Texas and even a military spouse working from Italy.

I think one of the keys is in one of your last comments "Working in far-flung teams requires that everyone on the team maintain awareness of what each colleague is contributing."  Building that teamwork and trust remotely is not easy.

As successful as I have been, in all case I had existing employees who were trained in the company and the products who, for a variety of family and commuting reasons, wanted to work remotely.  These folks already had the trust of their peers, they had the trust from their managers and they were trained in the company culture.  Even with all that - you had to work to keep the communication and teamwork going.

I struggle with how you take new employees and provide the training and acculturation  on a remote basis.  I have seen an awesome uccess rate with moving trained employees to remote - hiring for remote postions has worked - but with a much higher turnover rate.

Dennis -

Great post and observations. And really rich insights from everyone. The death of the 40 hour workweek has long since past in most industries - we access and work from home, vacation, planes, trains, hotel lobbies - anywhere and anytime we can get a signal and an "ah-ha" moment.

A bigger part of working as we do is that unavoidable intersection we have or have the possibility of collision anyway, with the entire world. Thank goodness for this, since it allows us to resource as deeply as we desire into other cultures and ways of approaching life.

I can inquire about life and love from students at Columbia and NYU as easily as UofIllinois and UCLA - and in Rome and Paris - thanks to their connections, not mine. Similarly, industry issues can be addressed to London and Bangalore as seamlessly as Dallas and Portland.  

In technology and reach, we are well on our way to flattening the world - and after many years of trying to prove its roundness LOL.

Greetings from Chicago! 

For years I worked for a Fortune 500 company that sold telecommuting infrastructure, and they believed in what they sold. I managed people in five different cities at one point, and we had a very productive team. But times changed. Concerns for injuries in the home (if you fall down your own stairs, are you eligible for workman's comp?), security concerns (if you're accessing the corporate network with your own computer, how do we know you're not infested with viruses and spyware), and a need to control the number of hours worked all combined to pretty much kill that company's telecommuting. When I recruited new employees, the ability to telecommute was worth a lot. Being able to earn a living and live a life at the same time is priceless.

And for those companies who are not allowing telecommuting employees and contractors, think about this: If you can outsource a huge bundle of your work to a country halfway around the world, why can't you handle an employee who's probably only 50 or 100 miles away?

Thanks for a timely and thought-provoking article. 

Good article Dennis. Smart employers are ones that recognize this societal shift and adapt their workplaces accordingly.

My company until recently had a very traditional workplace. You'd book a meeting, ensure a meeting room was available and most attendees would show up in person. If a conference bridge was required, it was only used by attendees calling in from another physical, company office location (where another meeting room was booked). 

Over the last year we've started a Workplace 2.0 teleworking program to encourage employees to work at least 3 days from home, and share a desk when in the office. The company provides the laptop, high speed internet, VoIP phone and the government offers the tax break on the home office. 

Initaly participation rates were lower than expected. Many didn't like the idea of being out of the office and out of touch (there's no watercooler at home to gather around). That all changed when gas prices soared and suddenly telecommuting made a heck of a lot of sense. 

Our workplace now is one that replaces meeting rooms with LiveMeetings, telephone calls with IM, and with Wikis. This change isn't just among the younger employees, in fact most of our teleworkers are over 30 years of age. 

So older, traditional workplaces can adapt given the right incentives, circumstances, technology and perhaps most importantly, the support of the highest levels of Management.

Ivan,

They should be.  But, that requires a new breed of manager who is comfortable and capable with agile teams and not so tied to personality but versed in output.  That is why I see many businesses opting for the near-shore model where they have a relationship with the free lancer's management and can hold them accountable.

Again, business is slow to turn.

If anything it seems like the free lancers would be held more accountable for their work, due to the fact that their future earnings potential is tied so closely to the quality of their work.  A corporate 9-5 employee could potentially slide by for months or years with mediocre work because they are judged on so many factors that can cloud managements opinion.  However a free agent's production is the single variable that they are evaluated on.  The free agent in effect becomes a company with brand value which must be maintained or else that "company" will fail.