The future of work has already arrived

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Have you ever had the feeling that at work you are not doing a useful thing, but just wasting time? Thanks to the system proposed in this article, employees will be able to optimize their working time, and company managers will be able to select talented performers who will be result-oriented.

We invite you to read the story of Sean Kim, a well-known entrepreneur and blogger who is confident that the future of work has already arrived, and that companies that will be the first to take advantage of new benefits will become world market leaders.

Today is a wonderful day and I am writing this post at a cafe in Toronto.

At the same time, I am texting my colleague in New York, going to Skype with our community manager in the Netherlands and sending an e-mail to our development team in Paris.

Someone might think that this way of managing a growing company is ineffective and disorganizes employees in many ways. But for us this is the future of work.

In the 21st century, many well-known companies, including Virgin, 37signals and IBM, have built successful businesses in large part by giving their employees complete freedom to work where they want, when they want, and how they want.

Here's how they did it.

Don't waste time on unnecessary things

Flexible schedule. You can work wherever it is convenient for the employee. An opportunity not to waste time on the way to the office.

All of this leads to less time wasted, employee productivity increases and, of course, they feel satisfied.

Many people believe that remote work has many disadvantages, for example, it will be difficult for an employer to measure the number of hours his employee spends on work. But they forget one important thing: if an employee works in an office, this does not mean that he spends all eight hours exclusively on work.

Office workers are constantly distracted, or distracted on their own, approximately every three minutes.

The wall street journal

If the person is distracted, it will take him a long time to focus on the original task again.

Give people the opportunity to work wherever they want. Redefine the traditional nine-to-five workday paradigm. Trust your employees, show that you respect them, and then the results of their work will pleasantly surprise you.

Hire talented employees

We hear it over and over again: always try to hire professionals in your field.

Those who are not shy of telecommuting have significant advantages. For every candidate who is willing to work in your office, there are hundreds of others around the world who are able to do the job much better. And this, by the way, will cost you less. Why deprive your business of one of the most important ingredients for success - talented people?

This is inevitable - more and more qualified specialists are switching and will continue to switch to remote work. And companies that are ready to adapt to such talents now will become market leaders in the future.

Remote work: today it's easier than ever

The good news: today, with the capabilities of the great and mighty Internet, with hundreds of its tools, there is nothing easier than coordinating the work of your employees around the world.

So here's how you can optimize your remote work.

1. Be result-oriented

Focusing on results is the first and most important step. At the end of the working day, what we have achieved in a day is the most important indicator of our work. If I think about the results I am going to achieve, I pay more attention to the tasks set.

Too often in today's workflow organization, we see a similar picture:

• Person A takes five hours to complete the project, while Person B takes 30 minutes to do the same.
• Person A comes to the office first and leaves last. Person B may leave the office much earlier than person A. However, person A is rewarded for “hell of a work” and dedication, although person B has achieved the same results, and maybe even better.

Systems like ROWE (Results Only Work Environment - an approach to working time in which the main thing is your result, not how much time you spent on work) has the ability to work on weekends. This is the most striking example of when an employee's work is judged by his results, and not by the number of hours he spent in the office. This has been done at companies such as Best Buy and Gap.

2. Set SMART goals

Now that we've decided we need to be results-driven, the next step is to set the right goals.

S(specific) - your goals should be specific and clear … With certain dates, interest, amounts of money.

M(measurable) - your goals should be measurable … How will your result be measured? Put in qualitative and quantitative indicators.

A(attainable, achievable) - your goals should be achievable. You should be able to achieve them in this situation. Be prepared for the fact that sometimes your goals will need to be adjusted.

R (relevant) - your goals should be realistic and relevant. You need to identify all the resources (human, financial, etc.) that you will need. You should also make sure that the goals do not contradict each other.

T (timeline) - your goals should be limited in time. There should be a clear deadline by which you will achieve your goals. Since there are often multiple goals, timelines help prioritize them.

If you are a programmer, you can, for example, set a goal for yourself: by the end of next week, roll out a new feature to the site. If you are a sales manager, then set a goal for yourself to call 50 people a day to make sure to complete the plan by the end of the month. These goals are abstract examples, so I encourage you to set your own goals, because you know yourself and your capabilities like no one else.

There is nothing better than waking up in the morning and knowing that you have clear goals for the day, week, or even month.

3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

I cannot express in words how important this is.

The disadvantage of remote work is that non-verbal communication becomes inaccessible to us: facial expression, tone of voice, eye contact.

This is why I use instant messaging. This allows me to be natural and communicate with my co-workers in a less formal manner.

The advantage of online correspondence is that it teaches you to express your thoughts concisely and clearly.

4. Create a project management system

This will allow each employee to see what other team members are currently doing.

Sometimes we are so immersed in the task at hand that we completely forget about our colleagues who may need our help.

For this purpose, I use, but there are other equally effective services, for example, Asana and Trello. This helps me understand which projects are priorities for the company, and this system also allows me to set tasks for employees in full confidence that the load will be distributed evenly among all.

5. Ask for feedback regularly

The leader and employees of the company should strive to achieve common goals. You should always make sure that your colleagues share the values of the company, that you are working in the same direction.

Ask for feedback, for example, every two weeks or once a month. Such a system will allow your employees to constantly improve themselves, they will see their successes and notice their progress, which ultimately will lead to significant benefits for the company.

Avoid email reporting whenever possible and try to accept feedback from video chats. This will allow you to make up for the lack of non-verbal communication, the importance of which we discussed above.

In order to build a successful business, you need talented people. Nowadays it is possible to create a team with members all over the world.

The future of work is here - take advantage of the benefits it has brought with you.