Week of 5/17/2013:

Forbes: The Re-Definition Of Entrepreneurship And Rise Of Freedom-Seeking Freelancers
Is the definition of entrepreneurship evolving? A recent survey by oDesk and Millennial Branding found that 90% of professionals define entrepreneurship as a mindset—not founding a business. Dan Schawbel, the founder of Millennial Branding, writes about the growth in entrepreneurship among millennials, many of whom are embracing the independence of entrepreneurship as the starting place for their careers. Striving for the freedom to pursue their passions, Schawbel states that millennials and seasoned professional alike are joining the freelance revolution.

Knowledge@Wharton: Productivity In The Modern Office—A Matter Of Impact
Marissa Mayer’s decision to rein in Yahoo!’s far-flung workers has resulted in a renewed debate on how we define productivity in the workplace. While productivity was once simply measured in production figures, the knowledge economy presents new challenges for managers looking to quantify their employees’ achievements. Jordan Cohen suggests that managers must tailor policies to the work of individual employees, eschewing blanket policies for productivity measurements that recognize the nuances of modern work.

The Globe and Mail: When The Boss Is In Another Area Code
When Libby Cantwell was recently offered a big promotion, she found herself torn. While the new position would be a great step for her career, she was reluctant to move away from friends and family to an entirely new city. Luckily for Ms. Cantwell, she did not have to choose. Taking advantage of email, instant messaging and video conferences, Cantwell manages a thirty-person team without having to leave home. Wallace Immen discusses the growing prevalence of remote management and collaboration in the workforce, and outlines how managers can adapt to the challenges it presents.

Business2Community: How Cloud Computing And Mobility Are Changing The Hiring Process
While cloud storage and collaboration technologies are commonplace in the workforce, there is one area where the cloud revolution has yet to reach its potential—hiring and recruiting. Sajjad Masud suggests that cloud tools will fundamentally change recruitment, making the process more participatory and painless. From recruiting to contacting potential employees on the go and sharing employee referrals in the cloud, new technology is poised to transform how we recruit new employees.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

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We recently surveyed the professionals on oDesk about their views on entrepreneurship, their career paths and the future of work, and today we are excited to announce the results. The study, “Millennials and the Future of Work,” was released in partnership with Gen-Y consulting firm Millennial Branding.

We were especially delighted to partner with Millennial Branding’s founder Dan Schawbel, a recognized expert on career development and personal branding. Dan’s insights, combined with the firsthand experiences of more than 3,000 oDesk freelancers surveyed (including almost 2,000 Millennials), provide a fascinating glimpse into what the future of work will look like.

Here are some of the survey’s most compelling findings:

• A hidden sector of the workforce is just biding its time: 72% of freelancers “moonlighting” after regular work hours say they want to quit their full-time jobs to be entirely independent, and 62% say they’ll quit within 2 years.
• Flexible work arrangements are becoming table stakes: the top reason freelancers who are also at regular jobs want to quit is to have more freedom.
• Entrepreneurs start young: Students are turning to freelancing to get experience, pay those loans and jumpstart their careers—21% of oDesk freelancers are still enrolled at a university.
• Freelancers are “solopreneurs”: 60% classified themselves as entrepreneurs, and 21% have hired other freelancers within the past year.
• Entrepreneurship is a state of mind: 90% define entrepreneurship today as a mindset, describing someone who is a “risk-taker,” “self-starter” and “visionary.”
• Digital nomads unite: 64% of freelancers want the ability to work as they travel.

For the full results, visit the survey page here.

The post oDesk Announces New Study on Millennials and the Future of Work appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 5/10/2013:

ReadWrite: Remote Work vs. Collaboration—8 Startups Weigh In
Marissa Mayer’s decision to eliminate teleworking at Yahoo! has resulted in the widespread re-examination of remote work. But are startups following Mayer’s lead? Scott Gerber of the Young Entrepreneur Council asks eight entrepreneurs why, how and when they allow their teams to work remotely. While their answers varied, a common thread was the role great collaboration tools and consistent communication play in their telecommuting success stories. 

Forbes: Why Investing In A More Mobile Workforce Makes Sense
The expansion of the mobile workforce has toppled cubicle walls and replaced the standard 9-to-5 workday with a new paradigm for the modern office. With distributed teams, companies can form and operate in new and exciting ways—finding new workers online and collaborating via the cloud. Ryan Galloway discusses mobile technology’s impact on workplace transformation and offers a number of key tips for adding mobile talent to your team. 

LinkedIn: Why Employees Shouldn’t Have Hours
Is your company stuck in the 20th century? Ciplex founder Ilya Pozin argues that set office hours are outdated—and could be hurting your business. Pozin advocates eliminating schedules and giving employees the freedom they desire, suggesting that increased autonomy will boost productivity, build trust and amplify teamwork.

TechCrunch: There Is In Fact A Tech-Talent Shortage And There Will Always Be
A recent Economic Policy Institute study claiming that the ‘tech talent shortage’ is little more than a myth set off a media firestorm over the past two weeks, bringing increased attention to the immigration reform debate. The study suggested that a surplus of U.S. graduates in STEM fields and stagnant wage growth in these areas demonstrate that there is far from a dearth of tech talent in the U.S. Gregory Ferenstein provides a critical summary of the EPI study, concluding that without programs allowing foreign entrepreneurs into the U.S., the ‘talent shortage’ will be a perpetual problem. 

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of May 10th appeared first on oBlog.

These individuals were frustrated by their inability to find work, let alone a meaningful career. But the more she tried to help her clients, the more she recognized that these vanishing jobs were heralding a foundational shift in the way companies hired.

Maxwell noted, “I realized that what I was seeing was not just springing from an economic recession or an employment recession. This wasn’t just about lost jobs. It was about something bigger than that.”

This realization prompted Maxwell to team up with her friend Tim Houlne, CEO of a company that specializes in virtual work platforms for call centers. He was seeing similar trends in his industry, so they decided to co-author a book on their discoveries. During their research, they uncovered two startling facts: The jobs her clients had once held were indeed gone, and the reason they were disappearing was a change so seismic, it was akin to the Industrial Revolution.

Based on their research, they recently published The New World of Work: From the Cubicle to the Cloud. In this interview with oDesk, Maxwell tells us more about how the workplace and the economy are being transformed by what she and Houlne have termed “the work revolution.”

Through your work, you realized that jobs were changing. What gives this time a “revolutionary” feel?

The work is still there, it’s just that the jobs have changed and they’re not going to change back. More and more work is moving into the cloud; jobs are being fractionalized and virtualized. This isn’t a little shift. It’s a new way of work.

The reason for this is twofold. First, work skills are changing faster than we can keep track of. A business doesn’t know what skills they are going to need in six months, so it’s better to hire a freelancer.

Second, having good talent on-hand is a way to effectively compete. But the talent needed might not live within 50 miles of the office, so companies have started to hire virtually in order to win the talent wars.

Why should people care about this brave new world?

What’s happening is the creation of a new breed of worker, a new business model and a new job marketplace. If people don’t understand this new world of work, they’re going to be left behind!

Another reason to care is because if you are passionate about what you do and accomplish great work, you can make just as much money or more by avoiding the long commute and working virtually instead.

What’s your advice for people who want to make the leap from the cubicle to the cloud?

Figure out who you really are and what you love. Instead of trying to “fit” a job, find a job that fits who you are. That’s the key. At the end of the day, you have to find a job that is based on what you love to do. In the book, we give a decision tree that walks people through how to make that switch. Some of the things we suggest include:

• Finding the work platform that fits you, whether that’s with an established business or as a freelancer
• Learning how to monetize your passions and skills
• Learning how to market yourself by creating a personal brand

How do you think the work revolution impacts businesses?

Our current work model is inefficient. If you really think the people inside an office are working the entire time they are in the office, put some cameras around and you’ll see that’s not the case. You have to approach your work model differently and not just think, “Oh, I see you. Therefore you must be working.”

Instead, put key metrics in place and you’ll get much better productivity per hour than if your team was physically in your building. There are numerous studies we’ve cited in the book that validate that approach.

How can businesses use fractionalization to their advantage?

Technology is changing so fast that generalists don’t help a business unless they are in a key management position. What is needed are specialists in small areas. Let’s say I’m a small business and I can hire a full-time marketer for 40 hours a week. In this new world of work, I could take the same number of hours and give:

• 10 hours to a social media person
• 10 hours to a content person
• 10 hours to a researcher
• 10 hours to a communications expert

I’d get a much better result than if I had hired someone who is a generalist and not highly skilled in all four of those areas. It just makes sense to break projects into smaller pieces and then hire people who are really passionate and truly skilled in those specialty areas.

How would you suggest that a business transition into this mindset?

It really starts with businesses defining their culture as being less about the location and more about performance and goals. Second, companies need to build a culture based on freedom – the freedom to work where you want, how you want and when you want – as long as you are meeting those goals. Culture is the hardest thing to change. Rewarding performance with freedom is paramount at this stage.

How has your professional life been shaped by the work revolution? What do you think the future will hold? Share your perspective in the comments section below.

The post Terri Maxwell: Old Jobs Are Now Gone — The Work Revolution Is Here appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 5/3/2013:

Harvard Business Review: Impress Your Foreign Boss

Work cultures around the world vary greatly, and Enrique Llamas discovered this the hard way at his new job. Adhering to the workstyle he had learned in Mexico, Enrique’s reserve around his boss was taken as a sign of disengagement with his team. Brandeis professor Andy Molinsky shares great tips for impressing your foreign boss and assimilating to a new culture.

The Financial Times: Future Hiring Will Be All About Reputation

Is it time to throw away your resume? Belinda Johnson argues that with contingent labor on the rise, companies are starting to stray away from the traditional resume and focus on reputation, productivity and achievements—not your grade in English 101. Johnson concludes that the future of recruitment lies in businesses’ ability to tap into ‘specialist communities,’ where recommendations and reputation will drive hiring.

Forbes: Coworking—Is It Just A Fad Or The Future Of Business?

The transition to the mobile office and the rise of independent professionals have redefined the ways millions of people work today. Moving out of the office and into the world, contingent professionals are constantly on the lookout for new, creative work environments. Adriana Lopez shares her take on why freelancers are flocking to a new generation of co-working spaces.

Mashable: The Trick To Managing Remote Employees

New technologies have enabled companies to find great talent around the world at the click of a mouse. But now that you’ve built a great team, what’s next? A new study from University of Illinois business professor Ravi Gajendran found that subtle tweaks in management behavior can greatly improve relationships with remote talent. Rejecting traditional top-down management styles, the study found that relationship-based approaches can help ‘bridge the virtual gap’ and build strong partnerships with dispersed employees.

CiteWorld: Embracing Mobile And Cloud Means Spending Less On Office Space

Remote employees are happier, less stressed, and more productive than their in-office counterparts. One more reason to support flexible work policies in your office? Embracing mobile technology can save you a bundle. Matt Rosoff deconstructs a recent survey by Rackspace and the Manchester School of Business  on the cost-saving benefits of mobile technology and the cloud.

The Morton Report: How To Work From Home Efficiently

The many benefits of remote work have spurred the increased adoption of flexible work policies by businesses around the world. Working from home, however, brings new challenges that typical office-goers may have yet to experience. Freelancer Nancy Perkins shares three tips to working efficiently from home, urging budding freelancers to create an environment conducive to work, create a realistic schedule, and focus on their achievements.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of May 3rd appeared first on oBlog.

Our MCF Tech team has grown to something in the range of 60 resources, spread across five continents — including resources in more than seven states as well as Colombia, South Africa, Nepal, China, India, Philippines and the UK. The other day I stumbled into an article about the failure of recent JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson, which cited his attempt at creating a virtual leadership team as one of the major issues. This, along with other headlining moves (i.e. Marissa Mayer de-virtualizing Yahoo!), certainly puts a spotlight on the challenges of the virtual organization.

As we’ve been growing our virtual operation, one thing that has become clear is that being virtual can’t be a casual or accidental thing. A virtual workforce needs to be implemented intentionally and with specific tools and rituals to support and encourage behaviors that create similar experiences to on-premise working.

1. We don’t always get this right but we try our best to level the playing field by not grouping up people on Webex conferences. What this means is that each person who joins a conference does so from their own line, even if in the same location as others. This helps avoid sidebar conversation and assures everyone is heard clearly.
2. Initially, our team used Skype primarily for chat. We recently adopted Lync and spent several months enforcing a no-Skype policy. The reasons are that Lync tends to have much fewer non-work distractions and does a lot more for quick sharing, group conferencing and logging chat content. The status lights on Lync also make it easier to tell if someone is really free, which leads to more frequent impromptu connections.
3. Every Friday we have a team call-in that lasts about 30 minutes. We present company news, important topics and also use the time to present new technical discoveries, cool things we’re doing for clients, and especially personal stories or videos (recently we’ve had a rash of skydiving escapades).
4. Knowledge-capture sessions are another great way to generate shared information and knowledge virtually. We have a weekly Use Cases session where we present short blocks of content about various subject matters over Webex. The recordings are then sliced and converted to YouTube videos on an MCF channel. This provides the effect of having a DVR-like experience of knowledge sharing, where team members  — and especially new staff — can quickly get information about a range of subjects relevant to the company.
5. In the end there is likely no true substitute for the water cooler conversation, so we use the savings from not having offices to get key team members together in places like Costa Rica, Lake Winnipesaukee and Jamaica.

I do expect that as we continue to grow there will be new challenges that will require new ways of thinking about how we operate virtually. What’s clear is that success as a virtual organization can’t come from virtualization as an afterthought — it has to be an explicit choice and requires specific tools and rituals to support creating the cohesion that can be lost without real face time.

Any other virtual organizations out there? If so, tell us what tools and processes work best for you, by sharing in the comments section below! 

Govind is co-founder and CEO of MCF Tech, a full-service Web 2.0 PaaS provider and the world’s largest Intuit QuickBase solution provider. The company is focused on solving complex business problems for many of the world’s leading companies, from the Fortune 50 to Main Street. At the helm of MCF Tech, Govind is responsible for the company’s strategic direction and growth, driving a staggering 2000% growth over a five-year period. He also serves as the head of Venture Projects at MCF Tech, bringing experience designing and developing business-related technology solutions such as Periscope — an SMB-focused financial analysis tool (recently acquired) — CorePM, Fundraising Matters and others. He received his MBA from Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management, in 2003.

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Week of 4/26/2013:

The Atlantic: How The Decline Of The Traditional Workplace Is Changing Our Cities
Technology has inarguably changed the way we work. Will it change where we live as well? Emily Badger, staff writer for Atlantic Cities, discusses the sweeping changes the mobile workforce may soon bring to cities. With today’s communities reflecting the working realities of a bygone era, Badger suggests that cities must adapt to accommodate the changing needs of the modern workforce.

Huffington Post: Is ROWE The Future Of Work? Or An Unworkable Fantasy?
Is an empty office a sign of a thriving company? In a Results Only Work Environment (“ROWE”), that just might be the case. A “comprehensive re-evaluation of the goals and methods of work,” ROWE allows professionals to work when and where they want, as long as the work gets done. Despite Best Buy’s recent cancellation of the policy, results-only work programs are thriving in offices around the country as companies realize that the increased freedom leads to greater productivity and significant cost savings. “There are practical benefits,” one ROWE employee told Huffington Post. “Better work, higher productivity. But there are also philosophical reasons. It has always struck me as paternalistic at its core when management dictates how people work and where they work. This is a more respectful way to work.”

Business Insider: If You’re Managing Remote Workers, Give Them Tools To Increase Efficiency
For Daniel Barnett, the mere “thought of sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day literally brings a cold sweat.” A veteran remote worker, Barnett turned his passion for working outside the office into a successful business as the founder of WORK[etc]. A fully dispersed company, the WORK[etc] team telecommutes from around the world, collaborating from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur. Daniel Barnett and Business Insider’s Max Nisen discuss the strategic rationale behind building a dispersed business.

Financial Times: Business Leaders See Benefits Of Flexible Working
According to a recent survey by the Institute of Leadership and Management, a full 82 percent of managers are confident that flexible work “benefits their business.” This confidence has increasingly spurred senior executives to move out of the office and work on the go, with 77 percent of chief executives and 54 percent of senior managers working flexibly in the past year. Tim Smedley remarks on changing attitudes towards telework, and discusses the impact of the 2012 London Olympics in kick-starting the adoption of flexible work in the UK. 

Harvard Business Review: How To Avoid Virtual Miscommunication
Virtual communication can be tricky to perfect — when voice inflections and facial expressions are replaced by exclamation points and capitalization, there is a lot more room for confusion (and miscommunication). With the right tools and execution however, virtual communication can be just as easy as a stroll down the hall. In this post, HBR contributor Keith Ferrazzi shares six best practices for helping your team collaborate in the virtual world.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of April 26th appeared first on oBlog.

You’re oDesk’s Art Director. What does that role entail?
My role is a bit hard to define; essentially I’m a design resource for the entire company. So I work on anything from print collateral and office space design to lots of interactive.

Do you always work in the oDesk office? Or do you work at home too?
I work at home two days a week, and at the oDesk office three days a week.

Do you work differently at home than you do in the office?
Yes. When I’m in the office, I use that time to meet with people, ask questions and be accessible to others. When I’m at home, I put my head down and just power through on design projects. I do a lot of execution at home, because it’s usually uninterrupted time.

What does your workspace at home look like? Why did you set it up like that?
I basically have an allocated office space in my house, and I make sure that it’s colorful and creative, so I’m able to be inspired. I do sometimes work in the living room as well, for a change of scenery.

It’s important for me to be in an environment that’s highly creative. Having my own space — my own cave — that I can decorate with whatever inspires me keeps the creativity and productivity going.

What does your workspace in the office look like?
My desk is out in the open, surrounded by all my wonderful, fabulous work buddies. [Editor’s note: She really did say that, through no coercion on my part!] I have my Wacom tablet, which is easier for me to design with. (It also helps me avoid carpal tunnel syndrome.) I have an extra monitor, and I definitely have some visual elements around that inspire me. I love having my Pantone swatch book handy (because color is a big source of inspiration for me), and I have pictures of my family in my line of vision. I also have my T-square and Schaedler ruler on hand, because you never know when you need to measure something!

Do you collaborate with other people remotely on design projects?
Yes, both with coworkers and freelancers.

I work with freelancers mostly for web development, but I also occasionally hire freelance illustrators and photographers. And when I’m working from home, I collaborate remotely with all my coworkers, especially the other half of our creative team (our Creative Director, Laura). It’s really important to have access to her, because when I have a question or something I want to pitch to her, I need to have access to her. If I don’t talk to her about 10 times a day, I feel like I haven’t had enough time to talk to her. We Skype a lot.

How do you do collaborate remotely?
I use Skype, Evernote and InVision to help me show visuals. Skype allows me to make video calls and share my screen, and Evernote and InVision are really helpful because other people can mock up designs directly. Google Docs is also really great because you can see all the changes as they’re made. When you’re working together in a collaborative way, it’s great to see those instantaneous edits.

What do you think are the three most important things to do or consider when collaborating with people remotely, especially on design projects?
1. Find a quiet space, where the people on the other side can hear you clearly. In the past I’ve done remote meetings and the person decides to go to a coffee shop, and then you hear all the ambient noise. Sometimes a headset is not enough. Similarly, make sure you have your mute button handy, because some sounds can be out of your control (like an ambulance driving by).

2. Make sure you have a good Internet connection, so when you’re sending files back and forth or sharing your screen, there are no lag times or dropped calls.

3. Be prepared. You never know when you’ll have to turn on your camera [for video calls], so be in a space that you would be okay with others seeing. You just never know when you need to have that face time. More than anything, you want to project that you’re organized and put-together. If you’re presenting designs via Skype, for example, make sure they’re all ready in a pdf document or a gallery of images, so you don’t have to search around your computer during the call.

Why do you like working remotely?
It gives me freedom. Especially with creative stuff — it’s hard to be creative only from 9 to 5. Sometimes your best ideas or best designs will pop up at night, or early in the morning. For example, if you’re having a design roadblock, it can take some time to get yourself out of that haze. So you can answer emails, go get a coffee, do whatever you need to do. And then all of a sudden you have an amazing idea, so you prop up your computer and burn the midnight oil. Being creative, there is no 9 to 5. So for days that I work in the office, a lot of the times during the day I use that time to do administrative types of things, like emails, answering people’s questions, collaborating on upcoming projects, etc. And once I get home and settle in, I’m inspired to get back on the computer, and that’s when I start doing some design that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

What has been your biggest challenge collaborating with people remotely?
When you’re in a meeting that has four or five people together at the office and you’re remote. It becomes a little chaotic and it can sometimes make you feel a little left out for not being physically there. Those tools I just mentioned are great, but a lot of voices at once kind of muffles the sound.

Do you have any last advice for other designers who work remotely?
1. Make sure to surround yourself with things that inspire you, whether they’re visual things or particular music playlists. If you’ve hit a roadblock, it’s always great to pause, put the computer down, take a walk, etc., and when you least expect it, the answer will come to you. Especially when you’re working remotely, a lot of the times it’s just you there by yourself. In the office there are more natural breaks and distractions, but when you’re at home, you’re in a bubble. So avoid working in a vacuum; try to go get a coffee, do something to activate your creativity.

2. Cloud technology is your friend. A tool like Dropbox is great, because you’re able to upload and save files into your Dropbox folder, and you can access them anywhere. For example, I have an art assets folder that I can’t live without; it has a lot of my essentials that I need (all my color palettes, branding stuff, etc.). So with Dropbox I can access my source files there, regardless of whether I’m at the office or at home, or if I’m on my iPad or work laptop.

3. Try to go to events that get you connected with other creative people. Remote work can be isolating, so find ways to get out and talk to other people — whether it’s a membership to a museum, or something like the monthly art walks we have in Oakland. Be moved, create!

Do you work differently in the office than at home? How have you set up your workspace? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

The post The Way You Work: Behind the Scenes With oDesk Art Director Lorena Pinon appeared first on oBlog.

Today, the way we work and create value has shifted. Several recently published books explore not just what has changed, but how individuals and organizations can adapt and thrive in this new reality:

• The New World of Work: From the Cube to the Cloud, by Tim Houlne and Terri Maxwell
• 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era, by Nilofer Merchant
• Rebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship, by Maynard Webb and Carlye Adler

Change doesn’t always come smoothly, however, and two books set for distribution this fall seem poised to provide insight and action plans straight from the trenches:

• Remote: Office Not Required, by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried
• The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work, by Scott Berkun

How Work Has Changed For Individuals and Organizations

The New World of Work: From the Cube to the Cloud
By Tim Houlne and Terri Maxwell

Throughout history, there have been pivotal technology advancements that revolutionized the workforce. In The New World of Work, Tim Houlne and Terri Maxwell define the current movement “from the cube to the cloud” as one of those transformative shifts — one they feel people need to embrace or risk being left behind.

The ones who succeed, they say, will “see the benefit of the change rather than [only] the change itself.”

The New World of Work is a guidebook to help individuals retool their skillsets and compete in the world of online work. It also shows businesses how to win the war for talent and maximize the potential for success through virtual hiring.

In a recent interview with oDesk, Maxwell compared the current situation to that of displaced agricultural workers during the industrial revolution.

“Other than a few rare exceptions, those who refused to embrace technology and instead chose to stay with the farm…also went down with the farm,” she explained.

Houlne and Maxwell say the future workforce will likely be increasingly driven by virtual, contract work. The current work revolution, they believe, is still in its infancy.

11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era
By Nilofer Merchant

Once, you needed to be part of an institution to have an impact; they held the power, capital, resources and information that enabled scale and competitive advantage.

In 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era, Nilofer Merchant describes a new set of rules for business in this new era that empowers the individual.

The social era “starts with a single connected human,” she explained during a recent presentation to Google, “whether or not you belong to an organization or work for an organization [is] pretty much a secondary effect.”

The challenge for individuals, she says, is to think about the value we each bring and how best to direct that energy. “If I’m a lego block,” she continued, “what are the other lego blocks I want to join with so I can start creating value?”

Merchant says that organizations, on the other hand, need to explore ways to engage those connected individuals and ask themselves, “Why are we all together?”

For companies that get it, she wrote on the Harvard Business Review blog, “notions like distributing power to everyone, working in extended community to get things done, or allowing innovation to happen anywhere and everywhere are, well, ridiculously obvious.” Companies that don’t do so, she added, are destined for failure.

For a closer look at this book and Merchant’s theories, check out our recent blog post here.

Rebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship
By Maynard Webb and Carlye Adler

“When I began my career, everyone ‘went’ to work,” wrote tech industry veteran Maynard Webb in the intro to his rebooting work manifesto.

It was a time, he explained, when work couldn’t logistically take place outside of the office: From access to computer power to paper-based inboxes and no voicemail to capture missed calls, “offices and office hours actually made sense.”

“Now,” he concluded, “it’s an unbelievably outdated concept.”

Written with journalist Carlye Adler, Rebooting Work captures Webb’s belief that traditional models no longer work. Instead, as he told TechCrunch earlier this year, he feels that “everybody needs to realize that their future is in their control.”

We don’t all share a common path to success, however, so Rebooting Work offers advice tailored to four different mindsets:

• Company Man or Woman
• CEO of Your Own Destiny
• Disenchanted Employee
• Aspiring Entrepreneur

This advice is intended to help each type of person thrive in their life and work. As Webb explained to Forbes, “The framework distinguishes between those who are self-motivated and those who are waiting to be discovered, those who are happy and those who are unfulfilled… It’s designed to help individuals become accountable for their own success.”

Coming Soon: Books Set for Release This Fall

Remote: Office Not Required
By David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried

“Face time is incredibly important,” David Heinemeier Hansson, a partner at web-based software development firm 37signals, recently told Forbes in an interview about remote work.

At 37signals, he explained, they get together several times a year to see each other in person and have fun. “Because that’s what it’s important for: Having a good time. It’s far less important as a tool of getting things done.”

Jason Fried, one of the co-founders of 37signals, is Hansson’s co-author on Remote: Office Not Required, a book set for release in September 2013.

After years of asking people where they go when they really need to get something done, Fried noticed a pattern. “You almost never hear someone say ‘the office,’” he told the crowd at TEDxMidwest in 2010.

“Businesses are spending all this money on this place called ‘the office,’ and they’re making people go to it all the time. Yet, people don’t do work in the office.”

Remote will explore why more businesses should look at the distributed team model and explain how to establish a remote setup that works.

The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work
By Scott Berkun

“They do some unusual things [at WordPress.com] most workplaces would never do,” Scott Berkun wrote on his blog when he announced that he was well into his book — since named The Year Without Pants — about his time with the 100% distributed company.

Scheduled for release in September 2013, The Year Without Pants will explore his experiences with WordPress.com, both good and bad, but also look at how the workplace has changed.

“One theme of my upcoming book is questioning aging work practices,” he wrote, citing a list that includes everything from dress codes to measurement by time, not performance.

While Berkun isn’t all for abandoning more traditional practices that work, he says it’s important to look at what helps each individual perform. “Any unilateral decision by an executive about how creative people work is a mistake,” he blogged about Yahoo!’s decision to eliminate remote work.

“Not all remote work plans are managed well,” he continued, implying that there’s much to be learned from companies that are successfully distributed. “Remote work as a concept is probably not the problem.”

What recently published books about the future of work have landed on your bookshelf lately? Are there any you would recommend? Tell us about books that have caught your attention in the comments section below.

With contributions from Julia Camenisch.

The post Perspectives on the Future of Work: The Book Edition appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 4/19/2013:

The Wall Street Journal: Telecommuting Boosts Firms’ Revenue Growth
For many startups, revenue growth can be an almost singular concern. Strong growth can help firms scale their businesses, expand their offerings, and gain more funding. Rachel Emma Silverman writes on a recent IDC study, which found that businesses offering telecommuting options were likely to grow faster than those that did not. While the study does not claim the relationship is causal, IDC research VP Ray Boggs hypothesized that the growth might be due to the greater productivity of remote employees.

Forbes: Want To Go Green? Shut Your Office Down
The business case for remote work is clear—higher productivity, lower costs, and happier workers can all provide a substantial boost to a company’s bottom line. But what about the environmental benefits? The Cutler Group founder Zach Cutler argues that remote work and virtual communication tools now allow companies to largely do away with waste in the workplace—eliminating paper waste, fuel consumption, and even the office itself. In this article, Cutler provides four great tips for ‘greening’ your home office.

The Guardian: How Flexible Working Can Benefit You And Your Employees
With flexible work policies, employees can get the job done wherever and whenever they need to. This freedom and agility is just one of the benefits cited by Vodafone UK marketing director Peter Boucher in his thorough explanation of the benefits of flex-work. Boucher shares the reasons he believes remote work policies are an innovative business strategy, while offering five tips for successfully adopting flexible work policies.

Huffington Post: Turning Desks Into Dosh
Could freeing your workforce aid your bottom line? A recent survey conducted by Yougov suggests that by allowing professionals to work flexibly, UK businesses could save a combined £34 billion. Peter Boucher explains how allowing your employees to work remotely can bring substantial savings.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of April 19th appeared first on oBlog.

How and why would you create a business entirely online, with virtual workers that have never met each other in the “real world”? Because the advantages can be huge. Here’s how it works for us.

As a career marketing professional for a long stretch (manual typewriters were my first “blogging” tool), I can safely be called an early adopter of all things Internet. I had a black and white Macintosh computer in the 1980s. I taught desktop publishing at local colleges in the 90s, while working in a Marketing Communications “corporate land” job by day. Back then, I always knew that technology was the way of the future for the marketing and publishing industries, and my enthusiasm never waned. I used to dream of a day when we could be free to work online.

Although I have been hands-on in all things web-related since Google was just a twinkle in Larry Page’s eye, it was only really at the launch of my content marketing agency, Webdirexion LLC, that I really began to explore online work as a staffing option.

One reason for doing so was the ability to source experienced team members that brought high-level skills to the table. As freelancers and entrepreneurs, they were not looking for full-time regular employment. Each were open to flexible working hours that afforded the option to expand or contract depending on our company workload. Additionally, I knew the costs of hiring full-time staff, paying salaries and benefits, and providing office space would have been prohibitive, and not the right “agile” model for our business. And having worked for years from a home office, I knew that you could find team members with great experience and a “guerrilla” mindset like my own — online. So I decided to build my company as an entirely virtual business, using freelancers on oDesk.

When creating a virtual team, you have to consider that even though you are not sharing office space, you are sharing a lot of intellectual space. It is as important that the people you hire virtually are a good team fit as if they sat at a desk facing you. I have been lucky with the people I found on oDesk — often we are on exactly the same page when it comes to using new strategies, tools and tactics.

At Webdirexion we use a lot of communication tools like Google Hangouts and Skype. We have a few scheduled “face-to-face” meetings (via video link) each week, and at any time may have an impromptu brainstorming session or client meeting. As far as client meetings go, we have a good number that actually favor virtual meetings as opposed to those in an office, because it takes less time out of their day and it allows for team members from all corners of the globe to be present if required.

A number of business contacts in my own city (near Portland, Oregon) have asked me why I don’t seek local clients. One main reason is that there are still a lot of businesses that want you to drive to their office for meetings. This means you lose about 20-30 minutes of work time on each leg of that drive. But more importantly, you have a much bigger target prospect “ocean” online. We have done work for clients as far away as Australia and the UK, with a number of current clients on the East Coast of the U.S. — all of whom we have never met in person.

For those considering setting up a virtual team — just do it! But do it always with “the end in mind” — know your goals and objectives for your team and agency. Here are a few tips we’ve learned along the way:

• You will need an efficient system to match hours worked by your team to hours estimated and budgeted for each job and project. We use the project management software Teamworkpm.net for this.
• Optimal team performance is seldom about finding the lowest dollar amount you can negotiate with a worker. Instead, surround yourself with five-star achievers and pay them well. You will actually come out financially ahead.
• Have fun. Enjoy your team and fellowship. It’s about work, for sure, but there’s more to life than that.

Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC, is a career MarCom professional focused on content marketing, social media, and WordPress web development. Scott also serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Previously, he worked in advertising, marketing and PR. He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in the past he has taught HTML, CSS, Photoshop, eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute.

The post Creating A Successful Virtual Company: The Webdirexion Story appeared first on oBlog.

“In the future, organizations’ competitive success will hinge on a highly unlikely suspect: workers who aren’t employees at all.”

A recent report from the Accenture Institute for High Performance takes a critical look at human resources (HR) and its pivotal role as the way we work evolves.

Trends Reshaping the Future of HR: The Rise of the Extended Workforce examines trends that are making organizations more adaptive and nimble — the increasingly strategic use of highly skilled and highly educated contract workers, and the shift toward project-based work.

The authors then summarize best practices they feel HR professionals should put in place to take advantage of this shift.

A “just in time” workforce fosters success

The report finds that external specialists are increasingly used for critical roles — less the reactive solution they once were, and more of a strategic, proactive asset that gives organizations a competitive edge.

Trends Reshaping the Future of HR says this dynamic workforce enables companies to be agile in a “highly turbulent business environment” and have access to “high-performing, highly skilled talent.”

However, the report describes changes in the way we work, too, predicting that ongoing work will increasingly be replaced by projects. “This could give rise to a highly mobile workforce whose members rapidly assemble and reassemble around projects,” it says.

“We believe that enterprises could radically boost their performance by sourcing talent for each task from anywhere inside or outside the organization on one criterion: who is the best person to perform the task?”

Such an open approach, the report’s authors note, allows core employees to focus on what they’re best at, enables new ways of thinking, and potentially sparks innovation as new people and fresh ideas come and go.

Fluidly matching tasks to talent

Trends Reshaping the Future of HR recommends eight approaches for human resources that reflect the new nature of work.

• Redefine HR’s customers. The report suggests that everything from recruiting to performance management to learning should shift beyond full-time employees to include those working on a freelance or contract basis. “The goal is to balance the needs and expectations of each type of talent with the strategic goals of the business.”

• Integrate processes and systems. An “integrated talent management system” is needed to capture data on everyone connected to the organization — to help track skills, training and certifications, and to facilitate decision-making and manage security.

• Create new organizational structures or roles that cross boundaries and disciplines. Managing an extended workforce may require new or different skills; existing corporate hierarchies may not fit the new model.

• Use analytics to become an expert advisor on the talent landscape. Data can indicate where to source talent from and help anticipate what skills need to be sourced.

• Become a talent broker. The role of the HR professional, the report explains, is to find the right fit for the right position, and understand what data and key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used to track results.

• Forge new relationships with partner organizations. Work is increasingly being done in cooperation with complementary organizations, and those relationships may need to be created or readjusted.

• Apply talent management practices to the extended workforce. Retention matters within a workforce, whether that workforce is permanent or structured according to need. From onboarding to incentives and career development, HR professionals will need to look for ways to push talent management beyond core employees.

• Segment the extended workforce. A more distributed workforce means more segmentation: by culture, geography, and even the strength of the connection to the organization (i.e. professional consultant vs crowdsourcing participant). Each group will have different needs and requirements that will need to be addressed.

“Quickly bringing together globally dispersed, blended workforces to achieve an organization’s goals will require no less than a management revolution,” the report’s authors note in their closing. Is your organization ready?

Click here to read the full report.

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Week of 4/12/2013:

Huffington Post: Congress Finally Has A Good Idea—Telecommute
A common critique of American politics is that because congressmen must leave their districts to serve in Washington, they are prone to push aside constituent concerns in favor of the opinions that surround them. New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce recently introduced legislation that some believe may remedy this issue—a resolution creating a “virtual Congress” that enables lawmakers to work virtually from their home districts, even debating and voting remotely. Sara Sutton Fell explains why she believes a telecommuting Congress could could have a widespread positive impact in the U.S.

The Economist: The Jobs Machine—Immigration and America’s High-Tech Industry
Immigrant entrepreneurs have contributed to some of the greatest business innovations in the U.S., founding an astounding 40% of Fortune 500 companies. But is America abandoning this job-creating contingent? In the midst of an enormous talent crunch, as well as stagnant jobs growth, many are suggesting that arcane immigration policies are constraining the country’s growth potential. High-tech firms—one of the largest sources of job growth in the U.S. economy—are hoping the remedy will lie in the ability to tap far-flung talent along with recent efforts to reform antiquated immigration policies.

Forbes: Will Leaders Embrace Talent In A Cloud?
Is ‘Talent-as-a-Service’ the next logical step in the cloud revolution? The movement towards project-based work has given companies the ability to find the talent they need, when they need it most. In this article, Meghan M. Biro discusses the potential impact ‘Talent-as-a-Service’ will have on freelancers and businesses. She concludes that a new focus on contingent hiring promises to fundamentally change the ways that businesses access talent, bringing a world of new opportunity to freelancers.

The Atlantic Wire: How To Make Working Outside Work For You
Are you ready to venture out past your desk and into the world of outdoor work? With summer just around the corner, it is as good a time as ever to break out of your home—or office—and get a change of scenery. Jen Doll offers great advice for professionals looking to work in the great outdoors, from what to wear to what to work on. 

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of April 12th appeared first on oBlog.

One of life’s greatest challenges has to be knowing when we have enough of something — to stop ceaseless craving and accept where we are with satisfaction.

In another post (“It’s Not About Balance”), we were discussing the issues of balance and the misnomer of work/life balance. Once we accept that balance is not really the issue — or at least that a 50:50 work:life ratio is not feasible and we focus on getting our priorities right — we can make progress.

More and more people are changing the way they work from full time, one company at a time, career-ladder climbing to a more open approach of freelance, interim or contract work — what we refer to as “Portfolio Life.” All generations seem to be involved in this shift — from Baby Boomers who refuse to be “retired,” to Millennials seeking to maximize impact and flexibility.

With this approach to career-building, the additional flexibility can allow non-paid work options to come alive. In fact, I believe that there are three key factors in Portfolio Life – Pay, Purpose and Play. Pay: we all need money and financial rewards for our efforts. Purpose: we need to be fulfilled, to feel that those efforts have meaning. Play: we need leisure time to refresh and refuel.

When people stop to think about their situations, they see the ideal intersection of those three areas in Portfolio Life — largely because it offers the independence and autonomy to adjust the ratios accordingly. By developing an approach to a career that recognizes when “enough is enough” in each of those three dimensions, you can make adjustments depending upon your desires and needs at any given time.

‘Enough’ is a variable, conditioned by life context and often driven by ‘in the moment’ decisions. In the developed world, money — or the conspicuous things it buys — are often taken as the glow of success. But it is a pale glow at best. The reality is, we do need money, but we need our purpose to be fulfilled, too. Long- or short-term goals and objectives will influence the ‘enough gauge’ on the dashboard of Pay, Purpose and Play meters.

The regular world of work can prevent this, since the demands on our time and energy are often too high to accommodate. But as Portfolio Life becomes more prevalent, so too will the choices of what to do with our time and when. For example, does the highly experienced engineer want to drill for oil every day? Or perhaps apply the same competencies and experience to drilling for water, thus saving lives instead? In order to do this, you have to understand what is “enough” at each point in time, and fine-tune as you go along. Needs change, and what may be “enough” to satisfy your requirements to earn money will no longer serve you well if your focus shifts to “purpose” or “play” down the road. Whatever we decide we will do, we have made a decision to allocate time and energy. As a friend of mine puts it, every decision to do something is an irrevocable use of time.

So, how does your Pay, Purpose and Play dashboard look? Have you ever looked? Chances are you have a flashing red light somewhere in there that needs your attention. I encourage you to take a look and evaluate where you are — and then make a plan to get where you want to be.

Do you agree that the independent ‘Portfolio Life’ gives you more flexibility to live a balanced life? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! You can also join the continuing coverage on Portfolio Life here.

Jon Glesinger is the founder of Expert Alumni and gleXnet. Prior to founding Expert Alumni, Jon was Managing Director of Norman Broadbent’s Energy and Natural Resources Practice and Client Partnership Director for the BNB Group. Jon built an industry leading team that operated globally providing a wide range of solutions for clients in Executive Search, Recruitment, Corporate Branding and Advertising. He also developed a unique and highly effective method of engaging with clients on a consultative basis, redefining the way in which a multi-brand international company engages with its employees, clients and prospects.

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Following February’s positive report (which we discussed on CNBC), March results showed the lowest rate of labor force participation (63.3%) since 1979 — turning optimism into depression.

According to the March report, almost half a million people simply dropped out of the workforce. What’s happening? This NPR blog points to “frustrated job seekers” who are giving up.

Two days prior to the March report, Bloomberg cited some companies’ efforts to help people find work by using advanced data analysis.

We had more than 1.5 million projects posted last year on oDesk, spanning a huge breadth of skills. In fact, in 2007 just four categories represented 90% of total dollars billed on oDesk. Last year that number was up to 35 categories, and another 41 smaller categories were growing quickly.

We decided to look at our job listings and identify skills that could represent opportunity for frustrated job seekers. I worked with Greg Little on oDesk’s Research team to pull the data shared below.

We analyzed the fastest-growing skills on oDesk from February 2012 – February 2013, using two factors:

1. Fastest-growing skills by overall percent growth in job openings during that period
2. Consistency of growth, by number of months in which each skill grew (with a maximum of 12, of course)

Based on these factors, interesting themes in top growth skills emerged.

Bright spots in the oConomy

(Based on skills showing the highest percent growth and most consistent monthly growth, between Feb. 2012 – Feb. 2013. We used a minimum of 100 job openings for each skill in our first and last months, measured in order to provide a floor preventing rapid growth indicators simply due to a low starting point)

1) All things social: Pinterest was the top growth skill, at 415%, and Facebook marketing saw almost 150% growth.

2) Academic writing: This category grew at 312% and was consistent in its growth, at nine total months.

3) Design in all dimensions: 2D and 3D—in both animation and modeling—dominating our top growth list, ranging from 190% growth up to 233%.

4) Data analysis and infographics: “Big Data” is not just a buzz term—there’s a clear need, with “analysis” growing almost 140% and infographics growing 133%.

5) Virtual Assistants: Even the Wall Street Journal highlighted this bright spot recently. In 2008, VAs earned a total of just under $250,000 on oDesk; in 2012 they earned more than $6 million. This represents more than a twentyfold increase in spending on VAs over 5 years. Over our period measured for this list, growth was 144%.

6) Language translation: This weekend an Associated Press article, “Online Translation on the Rise, Changing Lives,” said that Google is doing a billion translations on any given day. It went on, however, to cite the importance of human translators: “For high quality translations, literature, marketing materials or complex syntax, a human translator is still essential.” We’ve certainly seen this growth in demand for translators on oDesk, with Asian languages especially notable—Japanese translation grew 164% and Korean translation grew 152%.

7) And of course tech: Despite its large base already, tech continues to grow rapidly as specialized skills emerge. For example, Ruby saw 222% growth.

Some of these surprised me (academic writing is a newcomer to our list), others didn’t at all (tech has always been a top category on oDesk). What are your thoughts on the skills we see emerging? Do you have any questions regarding where growth is happening?

The post Fastest-Growing Skills in the oConomy: Bright Spots that Represent Job Opportunities appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 4/5/2013:

Inc.: Trouble With Telecommuting? Technology May Be To Blame

A close-knit company culture is a huge boon for worker engagement and productivity, but do you really need to be in the same room to achieve it? John Brandon argues that whether your employees work from the office, a coworking space, or even a houseboat, the right technology can keep them intertwined with the company culture. An experienced nomadic professional, Brandon highlights a number of key technologies that can help dispersed teams stay connected.

Fast Company: Tips For Transitioning An Office-Based Company To Remote Work

As more companies ditch the water cooler in favor of the chat room, collaborating with global teams is becoming an increasingly important skill. In an interview with John Mancini, president of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), David Lavenda discusses different ways firms can embrace telecommuting and the strategies that helped AIIM become a successful remote organization. Frustrated by traffic congestion, AIIM began allowing employees to telecommute in an appeal to flexibility. Finding the policy a success, AIIM decided to unleash their workforce, hiring new remote workers and allowing formerly in-office employees the freedom to work as they desired. Mancini shares the story of their success, as well as 10 key lessons he learned along the way.

Forbes: Every Employee Should Work From Home

Despite decisions by Best Buy and Yahoo! to end remote work programs, fans of dispersed labor continue to share their reasons for supporting and implementing flexible work. Dan Schawbel interviews 37Signals partner David Heinemeier Hansson about the benefits of remote work, great tools for dispersed teams and the impact of millennials on the growth of remote labor.

The Guardian: America’s Silent Freelance Army

A rapidly evolving economy has changed the face of the workforce, as more and more professionals decide to abandon the 9 to 5 and pursue the independent ‘gig economy.’ While the contingent workforce is large and growing, there is a dearth of information on this key demographic. Writing for The Guardian, Helaine Olen argues that new information about the freelance workforce—both its size and the unique challenges freelancers face—is necessary to define the needs of today’s workers and give them the legal protections they deserve.

Forbes: Flexible Workspaces: Employee Perk Or Business Tool To Recruit Top Talent?

By 2020, an estimated 1 out of every 3 professionals will be hired to work online. Reflecting the emergence of distributed teams, this projection is driven by the significant value-add remote professionals can bring to the job. Jeanne Meister reframes the flexible work discussion and considers the relative merits of remote work as an employee perk versus a business strategy. Her conclusion? Flex work can truly provide the best of both worlds.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of April 5th appeared first on oBlog.

Jaleh has spent time on both sides of the argument; she served as VP of Marketing at Amazon.com when her children were young, and then made the difficult decision to leave the company so she could spend more time with her family. In the past couple weeks she has weighed in on several different aspects of her career and personal decisions — from telling The Next Women about her career path and current role, to co-authoring an article in Women 2.0 with her daughter Valerie about the impressions she made as a working mom. (These follow from her perspective on flexible work, in response to Marissa Mayer’s telecommuting ban at Yahoo, in VentureBeat and The Huffington Post.)

If you haven’t yet had a chance to hear Jaleh’s perspective on women in leadership, working moms, flexible work and more, I highly recommend you check out one of her recent articles above. And if you would like to read more about Jaleh’s career path and her advice for working parents, take a look at her previous blog posts here and here.

Want to weigh in on these topics? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

The post Insights on Women, Work and ‘Having it All’ appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 3/29/2013:

Forbes: The Young And The Restless—True Tales From The Location-Independent Workforce

While ‘remote work’ may conjure images of the home office or kitchen table, a new generation of independent workers are taking the concept of the ‘global office’ literally. Taking their skills on the road, these freelancers combine work with travel, exploring the world while they work. J. Maureen Henderson shares the stories of four young professionals for whom borders are not boundaries.

The New Yorker: How Does Telecommuting Work?

As the media frenzy surrounding Yahoo!’s decision to eliminate remote work dies down, James Surowiecki once again weighs in on the growing trend of telecommuting, this time providing a thorough review of the pros and cons of remote work. Lauding the cost savings and freedom of remote work, Surowiecki refutes a number of remote work myths and stresses the importance of integrating remote employees within the larger organization.

Harvard Business Review: Reaching Across Cultures Without Losing Yourself

In order to harness top talent businesses must think globally, looking far and wide to find the best candidate for the job. As a result, this new age of global networks has brought new challenges to managers who are coordinating the efforts of multicultural teams. In this interview with the Harvard Business Review, Andy Molinsky discusses his new book “Global Dexterity,” and shares his insight into the ways managers can tailor their management styles and use cultural knowledge to motivate and engage employees on distributed teams.

Forbes: 3 Ways To Take Advantage Of The Virtual Workforce

From VoIP and video conferencing to VPNs, professionals have more ways than ever to connect outside the office. While most businesses are aware of the substantial benefits remote work can bring, getting started can be a daunting endeavor. Entrepreneur Louis Lautman shares three great tips for employers looking to take advantage of the virtual workforce, from recruiting top talent quickly, to boosting output, to leveraging the talent you already have.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of March 29th appeared first on oBlog.

“Sharing knowledge is a synergistic process – you get more out than you put in.”
— David Gurteen, knowledge management consultant, speaker and facilitator

What makes your business unique? Whether you realize it or not, your company has its own “secret sauce”: a competitive edge that generates revenue and wins new customers. While that success is partly built on external-facing factors (such as a stellar product or insanely great customer service), it also depends on something even more fundamental: specialized knowledge.

The knowledge that undergirds your company’s operations is an intangible asset, yet it clearly has an impact on tangible results. It encompasses the nitty-gritty details of your approach to source code, competitive market intelligence, accounting operations, data analytics – basically any and every process that keeps your business ticking.

The problem with specialized knowledge

For many distributed teams, the problem is not how to apply your organization’s specialized knowledge, but how to share it. Without access to this needed information, your team can’t be as effective.

Too often, vital knowledge is held by just a handful of team members. This turns these individuals into either an information bottleneck, because everyone needs to go through them to access that knowledge, or a brain drain when they leave – taking valuable know-how with them.

Another issue arises when discussions occur within subsets of the team and aren’t fully communicated to everyone else who should be in the loop. This impedes collaboration, and frustration often ensues.

Getting the right information to the right people

The answer to these harmful knowledge silos? Establishing a transparent flow of information and a central site for knowledge access. Here are some ideas on how to make that happen:

1. Prioritize the information that matters

There’s a lot of data stored in your team’s collective conscience and, despite the importance of distributing key information, the truth is that much of it doesn’t need to be shared. Knowledge management strategies that get bogged down trying to capture irrelevant data are headed for failure.

In order to figure out what’s important, first poll team members. What information do they see as valuable for their jobs? Your team will be much more engaged in sharing and learning when the focus is on topics that are meaningful to them.

Next, find out who the “go-to” people are within the team. Which freelancers are constantly fielding questions from others? Which ones have the most history on the team? The knowledge these freelancers possess is an important business asset, and you need to figure out how to transfer their expertise to others.

2. Record the (electronic) paper trail

For distributed teams, relying solely on certain communication methods such as email, phone calls and Skype can be problematic. Why? Because the knowledge shared through these outlets is hard to keep track of.

Using programs such as Evernote, OnTime Team Wiki or Campfire instead allows you to keep records of conversations and enable easy sharing and tagging of information for later reference.

Paul DeJoe, co-founder of sales productivity tool Ecquire, recognized the importance of this “paper trail”; to keep the information flow transparent, Ecquire’s team avoids using email for internal matters. Instead, they use Flow and HipChat to keep the knowledge exchange accessible to everyone.

“It just seemed inefficient to use email as an exchange among the team when most of the thoughts, questions and exchanges were around ideas, tasks or projects anyway,” he commented. “If we keep them in Flow then everyone is privy to the thoughts and exchanges. They’re not in a silo.”

3. Make it standard to document and share new discoveries

According to a study by the University of Colorado, knowledge sharing will only succeed when the process is actively encouraged from the top down. Your freelancers need to know that you view this as essential!

The same study also pointed out that knowledge sharing must fit the employees’ existing work habits. Get input from your team members on how they keep track of the information surrounding their job. Set up a process that plugs into their workflow as seamlessly as possible.

Another idea is to employ wiki-style documents. If an answer to a question could be applicable to multiple parties, forgo email and instead type it up in the wiki and share the link. Use a standardized tag set so people can find the information they need within the document quickly.

Finally, any knowledge-sharing database must be a living document. Give employees freedom to update as needed and to edit each others’ work. This requires a certain level of trust, but if you’ve hired a good team, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Sharing the “burden” of knowledge

Knowledge sharing is essential for efficiency and effective collaboration. But its benefits run far deeper.

In his 2009 paper, The Burden of Knowledge, Benjamin Jones pointed out that the ability to reach new levels of knowledge is highly dependent on the learning (and thus sharing) of discovered information.

“If knowledge accumulates as technology advances,” he wrote, “then successive generations of innovators may face an increasing educational burden.”

In other words, to increase innovation, your team members need each other. The “educational burden” must be tackled together. As individual freelancers share needed know-how with their teammates, your business’ “collective mind” will deepen and your distributed team can blaze new trails.

How does your team share and track information? How do you avoid knowledge silos? Share your insights in the comments section below.

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Where it all began

As our co-founder Odysseas Tsatalos likes to say, oDesk was born out of the best entrepreneurship inspiration there is — “personal pain.”

At his previous startup, Odysseas wanted to work with one of his closest friends, Stratis Karamanlakis. The two grew up together in Greece; Odysseas had become an entrepreneur (he was then on his third startup), and Stratis had become a talented developer. They were a perfect pair for Odysseas’s new venture, but there was just one problem — Odysseas and his startup were in Silicon Valley, and Stratis was still living in Athens, with no plans to move anytime soon.

Co-founder Odysseas Tsatalos

The co-workers at Odysseas’s startup knew Stratis was truly the best person for the job, but how could they be comfortable working with someone who happened to be halfway around the world? In response, Odysseas and Stratis created a new technology platform to provide visibility into ‘remote’ work and instill trust in work relationships happening via the Internet.

The technology and remote work arrangement went so well that the two realized their solution had much broader value. They were confident that many companies could benefit from gaining access to a broader pool of quality talent, and that workers would want the freedom and flexibility to work on the projects they choose, whenever they like, from wherever they are. They decided to found a company based on the technology, and oDesk — an abbreviation of ‘online desk’ — was born.

oDesk as we know it officially launched in 2005, when the network of clients and freelancers were added to our tech platform.

Chickens, eggs, and a remote work culture

As is all too familiar to any business with a marketplace model, oDesk initially experienced the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma — trying to balance acquisition of both clients and freelancers. We had to build out both sides at the same time, knowing that clients wouldn’t join a network with no freelancers and freelancers wouldn’t join a network with no clients.

Co-founder Stratis Karamanlakis

“It was really high-touch,” oDesk CEO Gary Swart says of building out the platform at this stage, adding that we hand-screened each freelancer and personally matched every client with the right worker. “But we quickly realized that wasn’t scalable. We also got a wake-up call when a client asked us to accept a freelancer he knew was great and wanted to hire, but who we had already rejected in the phone screen. We thought, you know what, maybe we’re not the best judge of which freelancer is right for which business. So we opened the floodgates.”

From there, demand exploded. Today, our market (the online work market) is more than $1B, and is expected to reach $5B within five years, according to Staffing Industry Analysts.

PS: Wondering what happened to Stratis? He is still happily living in Athens, helping guide the company’s direction from thousands of miles away. His remote presence has shaped a culture of remote-friendliness — in addition to having 250 full-time-equivalent oDesk contractors that work for us every day from around the world, our office has big-screen TVs in every conference room for Skype and Google Hangouts, and we have company-wide work-from-home days every Tuesday. Stratis visits our Silicon Valley headquarters several times a year, but we’re still keeping our fingers crossed for a company retreat to the Greek islands…

The post What Does ‘oDesk’ Mean Anyway? Our Startup Story appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 3/21/2013:

Harvard Business Review: How WordPress Thrives With A 100% Remote Workforce
Automattic Inc., the company behind WordPress, exemplifies the concept of a truly distributed company. Working without an office, Automattic has succeeded in making WordPress the 15th most trafficked website in the world. Intrigued by the company’s accomplishments, author Scott Berkun decided to join the company for a year as a team leader to explore the world of distributed work. Writing for Harvard Business Review, Berkun shares his takeaways from his time in the remote workforce—finding that, when managed efficiently, dispersed workforces can offer companies staggering benefits.

Fast Company: Telecommuting Works If You Intentionally Design It
From American Express and JetBlue to GlaxoSmithKline, telecommuting has been sweeping through the working world. While working remotely may be more convenient than ever, navigating the path to remote work success is hardly so simple. Using Yahoo’s remote work ban as a case study on outdated management, Daniel W. Rasmus shares tips to help businesses build accountability, foster collaboration, and stimulate employee development.

Associations Now: 3 Ways To Manage Your Telecommuting Workforce
With more than 11% of the American workforce already telecommuting, the ability to effectively manage remote workers will be a crucial skill for the next generation of professionals. While interacting with colleagues outside the office brings greater challenges, the right preparation and policies can bring remote collaboration to new heights. Anita Ferrer offers three great tips for successfully managing remote teams, emphasizing the importance of trust, technology and tools.

Business Insider: 15 Awesome Free Office Spaces For Freelancers, From Singapore To Brazil
As a freelancer, the freedom to work wherever you like opens the doors to a realm of new possibilities. With more and more firms embracing the creative benefits of a vibrant work environment, many companies are opening up their offices to freelancers. If you are on the go—or just looking for a new place to work—check out Jim Edwards’ list of inspiring office spaces for freelancers.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of March 21st appeared first on oBlog.

According to a recent survey by Accenture, work-life balance is the top definition of career success — above money, recognition and autonomy.

Additionally, a majority of people surveyed for Accenture’s Defining Success survey said flexibility in their work schedule is very or extremely important to finding that balance. In fact, more than half of the survey’s 4,100 respondents — across 33 countries — had turned down a job because they were concerned about its impact on their work-life balance.

The survey also found that most people believe that they can have it all — just not at the same time. It’s a sentiment that’s echoed elsewhere: “I had thought I had it all. But the three people I loved most in the world felt differently,” Jaleh Bisharat, VP Marketing at oDesk, wrote on this blog last summer.

Adrian Lajtha, Accenture’s chief leadership officer, explained in a news release that the way we define success is always in flux. “For many, career goals and personal priorities will take precedence at different times. As today’s professionals strive to find the right balance, leading companies will find innovative ways to help them develop, grow and thrive.”

Other key findings:

• 78 percent agree that technology enables them to be more flexible with their schedules.
• 70 percent note that this also brings work into their personal lives.
• 75 percent say that they frequently — or at least occasionally — work during paid time off.

For complete results from Defining Success, you can find the full report here.

What factors have shaped your career — is work-life balance at the top of your list? Tell us about your priorities in the comments section below.

The post When It Comes To Success, Work-Life Balance Trumps Money appeared first on oBlog.

For all the benefits of working as an independent professional, there is one common challenge: an unpredictable income stream. According to MBO Partners’ latest State of Independence in America report, the top source of concern for freelancers is a lack of predictable income, followed by similar concerns—worries about job pipeline and planning for retirement.

Getting by without a predictable paycheck requires organization, preparation, and budgeting. Fortunately, in response to this need, a plethora of online services and software have become available to help the growing number of freelancers and contractors manage their incomes and stay prepared in the face of financial uncertainty.

Best Practices

An architect doesn’t build a skyscraper without a blueprint, so how can anyone expect to build and manage a financial structure without a plan of attack?

The key tool in getting a handle on fluctuating finances is a budget. Online services like BudgetTracker, BudgetPulse, and Billster all provide a platform to organize every financial aspect of life. They help users set reminders and priorities, and collect information so that potential problems can be spotlighted and solutions offered.

The first step in most of these programs is to project a monthly income. The second is typically to plot out expenses. It’s also common to classify expenses according to importance. For example, home payments, energy costs, and food expenses are non-negotiable musts. Gym membership dues, cell phone insurance, and high-speed internet may be priorities, but not vital, while other expenses like vacation budgets, movie tickets, and restaurants are luxuries that can be slashed from the list if a monthly income doesn’t allow them. This kind of categorization can be particularly useful for adjusting a budget as you go, in response to a fluctuating income.

Best Tools

There are countless financial management and online accounting tools that go beyond basic budgeting and also address a range of financial strategies and situations (check out our review of the top options here).

Quicken, QuickBooks, and TurboTax are reliable tools for managing finances and preparing taxes. There are also tools, such as Manilla, that incorporate financial management with online bill payment and tracking.

Expenser is one of many innovative programs that allow users to compare their spending habits with other users in similar financial situations. PearBudget relies on common third-party software like OpenOffice, Microsoft Excel or Word, and nests its program within it. The very popular online tool Mint.com allows users to link checking, savings, and credit card accounts under a master password and to make money transfers and bill payments within the program itself. There are also programs, such as Personal Capital, that offer both investment advice and personal budgeting services to high-income users. And these days, most programs have apps available on both Android and iOS platforms.

Managing personal finances can be difficult for any type of earner, but poses unique challenges to freelancers. Fortunately, freelancers have a variety of products and options to choose from, and most of them are free. As the workforce continues to evolve, there will undoubtedly be additional tools and innovations that appear in this space, so stay tuned.

Do you use any of these tools for financial planning? Do you have any favorites to add to the list? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

David Bakke is a contributor for Money Crashers Personal Finance, a site that covers online business, money management, technology, and more.

The post Navigating Through Unpredictable Income: Tools & Best Practices for Financial Planning appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 3/15/2013:

CNN: Benefit Of Office Face Time A Myth
Do great ideas truly arise at the water cooler? Writing for CNN, professors Catherine Albiston and Shelby Correll confront this ‘rational myth,’ arguing that a concrete focus on time spent in the office is more likely to hurt businesses than help. Citing a recent Harvard study on workplace dynamics, Albiston and Correll state that a work culture focused on face time is likely to create mass inefficiencies and promote groupthink—in turn reducing the innovation that companies so desperately want. Their solution? Breaking from an outdated labor system and doing away with the ‘face-time fallacy.’

The Wall Street Journal: More Americans Working Remotely
According to a recently released Census Bureau report, nearly 10% of U.S. workers spent at least one day a week telecommuting in 2010, up from 7% in 1997. Neil Shah shares interesting statistics regarding teleworking in the U.S., including the finding that workers who mix time in the office with time at home are compensated about $30,000 more per year than their in-office peers. Shah concludes that the movement towards telecommuting promises to lower costs, boost productivity, and improve professionals’ lives.

Harvard Business Review: Want Productive Employees? Treat Them Like Adults
The relationship between any worker and manager pivots on the strength of one key characteristic: trust. Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, writes that the most important factor in Marissa Mayer’s and Hubert Joly’s decisions to reign in remote workers was the issue of trust. Believing that their employees could no longer make responsible decisions about how to get work done out of the office, they decided to remove the choice altogether. Schwartz concludes that the best way to build employee value is to trust their talents and their ability to get their best work done, at their own discretion—even if that discretion includes an 8-month trip to Amsterdam. “As an employer, I stay focused on one primary question about each employee: What is going to free, fuel, and inspire this person to bring the best of him or herself to work every day, most sustainably?” he writes. “My goal is to meet those needs in the best ways I can, without undue expense to others. In the end, I’m much less concerned with where people do their work than with the value they’re able create wherever they happen to do it.”

Fast Company: The Telecommuting Genie Isn’t Going Back In The Bottle; Here’s How To Strengthen Its Magic
Telecommuting is growing quickly, as more firms embrace the benefits it holds for both their bottom line and their employees’ lives. For managers, this transition will necessitate the fine-tuning of existing policies and processes, as well as the development of new skills. Shawn Graham advises managers on how to make the most of the remote work movement, from hiring the right talent and building employee trust to embracing the technology that brings it all together.

Harvard Business Review: The End Of ‘Results Only’ At Best Buy Is Bad News
In the wake of the Yahoo! telecommuting ban, Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly’s decision to eliminate the company’s Results Only Work Environment (“ROWE”) initiative was largely lost in the media shuffle. EDHEC professor Monique Valcour argues that Joly’s decision was in fact more significant, as it dismantled “one of the most innovative and celebrated examples of a company redesigning work to focus on results and boost performance through motivation-enhancing trust and autonomy.” Institutionalizing the lessons learned from decades of studies on the workplace, the ROWE program enabled corporate employees to work wherever and whenever, while being judged solely on the quality of their work. Valcour suggests that the real tragedy is the elimination of a program that can be so clearly successful.

Forbes: How To Overcome The Five Major Disadvantages Of Virtual Working
Virtual work has the potential to give both companies and employees what they want—flexibility, productivity, satisfaction, cost reduction and higher retention. Despite these benefits, remote work still has its downsides. Sebastian Bailey discusses five potential pitfalls of virtual work, and shares great solutions to help distributed teams overcome them. Bailey argues that the key to success in the online workplace is management that can communicate well, while creating a spirited and trusting culture.

Business Insider: Kick-Start Your Independent Career—5 Tips For Millennials  
Within the next five years, more than 23 million Americans will have joined the United States’ booming independent workforce. Choosing to shape their own careers, more and more young professionals are leaving corporate America and turning to independent work. Ready to get started yourself? Shama Kabani provides five useful tips for navigating the road to freelance success.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of March 15th appeared first on oBlog.

In the past, he explained, developing nations looking to spur economic growth had to build large, co-located facilities and bring in workers from surrounding areas. This traditional Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) model is not only expensive, but provides only a limited number of jobs and requires workers to live near the new facility. With the emergence of online work, the model has become outdated. Governments can now bring the work to the worker, rather than the worker to the work.

As a result, the future of work is geographically distributed teams performing work online — which is much more scalable than the BPO model. This flexible workforce model allows anyone with access to a computer and an Internet connection to find job opportunities. But how can developing countries that have yet to tap into this shift make themselves a potential hub for online work? Matt laid out four key criteria:

Broadband Access

Widespread broadband access is the absolute minimum requirement for fostering the spread of online work. It means more than providing basic Internet services in major cities — both cities and rural areas need access to reliable, fast Internet connections that can support video chat, as it’s one of the key components of successful online collaboration.

Banking and Finance

A country’s banking and finance institutions need to be mature enough to match Western standards for trust and safety. Without robust safeguards against financial crimes like fraud and money laundering, the flow of money across borders will be expensive and difficult. Matt gave a good rule of thumb: if PayPal is willing to come to your country, you have met the bar.

Education

Online workers need in-demand skills to be competitive in the global economy. In order to foster the right talent, a country needs an education system that encourages computer literacy and teaches students marketable skills.

Regulatory Framework

There is currently little regulatory framework in any country to support online work, the U.S. included. Governments can either facilitate or discourage the growth of online work through policies. For example, Bangladesh has recognized the economic impact of online work and has made all earnings through online work tax-free.

Matt’s talk prompted some excellent live tweets from attendees at the World Bank event. We’ve shared a few of our favorite insights below.

“Global online payment, efficient and safe, is the unsung hero of microwork” says Cooper of @odesk at #SmartDev #WBlive

— Andrew Stott (@DirDigEng) February 28, 2013

Impressive presentation by #oDesk VP at #SmartDev on the future of work: $20M e-work exports from Bangladesh alone twitter.com/oleg2030/statu…

— Oleg Petrov (@oleg2030) February 28, 2013

Matt Cooper: skills emerge to meet demand. great example is Bangladesh owning of the @odesk market for SEO optimization. #smartdev #wblive

— Joshua Goldstein (@african_minute) February 28, 2013

@matt_cooper the future of work is remote, online… And all you need is broadband, e-payment, skills and right regulatory environment.

— J. P. Nsengimana (@nsengimanajp) February 28, 2013

Hearing about how the microwork done through @odesk has expanded from tech work to lots of other types: go.worldbank.org/APTJW6SJZ0 #smartdev

— Tariq Khokhar (@tkb) February 28, 2013

What are some of the other key factors governments should consider to foster online work? Are there particular countries that are doing this well? We’d love to hear your perspective in the comments section below!

The post Fostering Smarter Job Creation Through Online Work: Insights from the World Bank ICT Days appeared first on oBlog.

The judge insisted that expert testimony from the victim’s doctor was essential for proving the facts of the case. The doctor was willing to testify, but he was in Pittsburgh, PA; the hearing was in Georgia, hundreds of miles away.

What would have been a major headache several years ago has become a relatively simple matter thanks to online conferencing technology and an innovative court reporting company, NextGen Reporting. Because of NextGen’s investment in customized video conferencing technology that uses military-grade security, they were able to create a secure video link between the doctor and the courtroom using the conferencing equipment already installed there.

The NextGen blog reports that the setup worked amazingly well. The judge and attorneys were all able to talk to the doctor while the jury looked on. The assistant DA had the testimony needed to prove her case.

For NextGen’s David Noteware and Jason Primuth, enabling these types of cross-country legal proceedings is all in a day’s work. The company routinely helps attorneys set up remote connections whenever and wherever needed. From their vantage point, remote solutions make legal processes faster and more efficient.

Court is in session (and out of the room)

As Bob Dylan once famously observed: “The times, they are a-changing.” Even Lady Justice can’t escape untouched by the Work 3.0 revolution. While justice for all is still the order of the day, the nuts and bolts of how proceedings take place are slowly being freed from traditional constraints.

One such change is how and where people give sworn evidence—also called a legal deposition. These out-of-court testimonies are key to building a courtroom-worthy case and are heavily relied upon by all attorneys involved in a matter.

In bygone days, if an attorney needed to hold a deposition, a whole bevy of people were required: The witness, legal counsel for both sides, court reporters, secretaries—they all had to be on hand. These days? The attorneys can recline in their respective office chairs, the witness can testify from his home or office, and the court reporter can transcribe the proceedings from her digs clear across the country.

As the CEO of NextGen Reporting, Noteware has seen requests for remote court reporting skyrocket in recent years. He stated: “We do about 60% on-site reporting and 40% remote. More and more of our clients are choosing to give it a try.”

One big reason for this demand is the increased efficiency it offers. Primuth, the company’s executive vice president, explained that “conducting remote depositions expands the reach of the attorney and enables them to cut down on the wasted time and effort required to travel.”

He noted that, since attorneys generally bill by the hour, cutting out extra travel time also saves money for the client.

Noteware pointed out that remote depositions offer another benefit for the client. “The attorneys and their clients can either participate in the event in real time or view the recorded video stream later, kind of like a DVR…they review the witness’ credibility and [can thus] make better decisions about how to manage the case.”

For court reporters, the rise of remote depositions is opening up new employment opportunities. They’re no longer limited by driving distance. By using cloud-based video conferencing solutions, reporters can be involved in depositions on the other side of the country—or simply on the other side of town—without incurring increased travel costs.

However, court reporters should still log hours in the courtroom before jumping into the world of remote reporting. In an interview with the Journal of Court Reporting, court reporter Toni Christy advised new reporters to make sure they have plenty of on-site experience first. “There’s a myth out there among students that they can just jump into remote work…But you need some years of experience behind you and all that writing where you’re really comfortable being on your own and being able to troubleshoot your own equipment.”

Justice that’s more accessible to everyone

Online work tools are impacting other areas of the legal system as well. In Florida’s 9th District Court, for example, the cost of providing on-site translation services to defendants was increasing exponentially. In response, the District’s Internet Technology department implemented a virtual interpretation service.

As explained in public sector IT journal GCN, “using live video captured through courtroom security cameras and an audio platform, interpreters at…remote locations are able to securely interact with the court through Web browsers.”

Thanks to these remote interpreters, the court has seen significant cost savings, as well as the ability to service a greater range of languages effectively. Other judicial districts are taking notice and implementing similar programs.

From court reporting to criminal arraignments (where a defendant is called before a court and formally advised of the charges against him or her), more and more legal proceedings are taking place outside of the hallowed halls of the courthouse. While the justice system is often much slower than other industries to adopt change, virtual conferencing and cloud-based technologies are already making their impact in courtrooms and legal proceedings around the world. Thanks to the rise of online work tools, the cause of justice is marching on.

The post Court Is In Session (And Out of the Room): The Legal Industry Embraces Remote Technology appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 3/8/2013:

New York Times: Why Five Days In The Office Is Too Many
Is the office the best place to get work done? In this op-ed for The New York Times, Prerna Gupta argues that commuting to the office five days a week is hardly the most productive way to work. Gupta, currently the chief product officer at Smule, states that while the office should enable employees “to communicate ideas and to reinforce personal bonds,” professionals should be given the respect to work “on their own time, from wherever they choose.” In the context of Yahoo! (and now Best Buy) banning remote work, Gupta explains that while distributed teams must surmount greater communication challenges, people still work best where they are the happiest—whether that be in the office or on the couch.

CNET: Marissa Mayer Wouldn’t Approve Of These Spots I’ve Worked From
While working from hammocks, houseboats and travel trailers is far from standard, freelancer Eric Mack claims that these unique remote work experiences have made him a more focused and efficient professional. Mack left his last traditional office in 2006, choosing instead to report in virtually from all over the globe. Contending that time spent dealing with office politics and meetings can impinge on focus and productivity (especially for creative roles like writers), Mack reports that some of his best work has been done in solitary comfort while on the road.

Techno Buffalo: The Mobile Office—How To Work On The Go Like A Pro
As a mobile worker, the world can quite literally be your office. Whether you choose to work on a boat, on a plane, or under the Brooklyn Bridge, working on the go creates exciting new opportunities to venture out and explore the world. Adriana Lee shares great tips to help you successfully adjust to the world of remote work, from locking up your laptop at coffee shops to ensuring you have enough power to last you through the day.

The Globe And Mail: Telework Or Teamwork? Yahoo And The Evolution Of The Office
While Yahoo! is pulling its employees back into the office, many major corporations are setting them free to work as they please. Omar El Akkad and Suzanne Bowness discuss the innovative ways companies like Telus Corp. and IBM are promoting flexibility among their workers. Aiming to move 70% of its workforce out of the office by 2015, Telus provides a compelling look into the tangible benefits of remote work.

Business Insider: Is Working From Home Really Right For You?
While the idea of working in pajamas (and just a short jaunt away from a fully stocked kitchen) attracts many professionals to remote work, the true rigors of telecommuting are hardly so idyllic. For any remote superstar, true success is built on a foundation of solid planning and the right personality. Freelance writer MaryBeth Matzek shares five traits she believes are crucial for great remote employees.

Tech In Asia: Why (Almost) Every Startup Should Be Working From Home
Early-stage startups often face organizational challenges almost as large as the problems they aim to solve. C. Custer suggests that giving startup employees the option to work from home will help minimize those challenges and build a strong foundation going forward. From reducing office costs to finding killer talent and keeping employees happy, Custer believes that startups can reap the benefits of a remote strategy. “Working from home saves you money, makes workers happier, and allows you to broaden your searches for talent and to spread more easily and cheaply into new markets,” he writes. “As I see it, that’s a win-win-win-win.”

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of March 8th appeared first on oBlog.

But both sides are forgetting that this is not an either/or scenario. Instead, we should really be talking about how to make each worker most productive, whether they’re in a cubicle or a cafe.

When the Yahoo news originally broke, Shane Kinder—a director of product management at oDesk (who also happens to be a former Yahoo employee)—had an insightful comment on the work-from-home debate; he explained that certain types of workers actually work better out of the office.

“A lot of modern workplaces aren’t conducive to productivity, especially for creative roles like developers or designers,” he said. “If you look at the productivity curve of a developer or designer, as the hours go by they get more and more productive. They’re thinking on a deeper level. So constant context switching is unproductive. You can’t get in the zone in 15-minute stretches. At big companies where there are a lot of meetings and distractions, this can be a problem. All our good code updates used to happen between 8pm and midnight, because that’s when developers were most productive.”

To determine which types of workers may be better suited to working remotely, we can look to the “maker/manager” theory. Coined by Y-Combinator co-founder Paul Graham, this theory argues that ‘makers’ (people who do concentration-intensive work like writing or coding) work best when they have large spans of uninterrupted time. Meanwhile, ‘managers’ are most effective when they have a day’s worth of meetings; they can spend their time problem-solving, making new connections, brainstorming and collaborating.

This makes managers well-suited for days in the office, while makers struggle to be effective. It can take as little as one meeting to disrupt an entire day of productivity for someone on a ‘maker schedule,’ not to mention the constant flow of tiny interruptions that come along with an office environment.

“There’s an uninterrupted brain state you have to go into when you’re coding, and it requires an uninterrupted train of thought,” said oDesk’s VP of Engineering Jeff Jackson. “Interruptions are very disruptive to developers when they’re in that brain state. So one of the major advantages of working remotely is that you’re not being subjected to constant interruptions; any of our developers will tell us that. It’s a clear advantage to not be in the office.”

The benefits of the ‘makers schedule’ are not limited to writers or developers; it can be a big advantage for anyone who does flow-based work. This includes oDesk’s Staff Economist John Horton, who has worked out a system to optimize both his ‘maker’ time and his ‘manager’ time.

“For some kinds of work, I really need long stretches of uninterrupted time,” he said. “I often use our work-from-home Tuesdays for this kind of work. I also find it effective to use ‘office hours’ to condense my meetings into pre-determined times, so my ‘manager time’ is used efficiently. Before we do have face-to-face meetings, I often prefer we start asynchronously (like via email or commenting on a Google Doc) so I can prepare when I have the time and so our face-to-face meeting time is used most effectively.”

Unlocking high performance is not about picking the right dogmatic policies to implement; it’s about setting up teams to perform at their best. It may seem like having the whole company co-located will lead to innovation and collaboration, but your most creative people may be struggling to keep up amidst incessant interruptions. It’s also tempting to think that sending everyone to work from home will improve employee satisfaction and productivity, but your most extroverted team members might be craving the interaction that the office brings.

The truth is that each worker knows their own unique productivity formula—the key to supporting their success is to find out what that is, then structure their teams accordingly and manage them effectively.

The post Ditch the Desk: Why Some Work is Better Done Remote appeared first on oBlog.

Improvisation (known as ‘improv’) is a form of spontaneous comedy that ditches pre-determined scripts. Instead, improv performers ad lib their way through the development of scenes during a live show. These skills don’t usually make it into the typical resume, but otherwise decorous businesses are increasingly looking beyond the same old interview questions to find contractors with a knack for improv.

One such company is TeamSnap, which produces web-based software that makes it easier to manage sports teams and other groups. Their development team is distributed across the U.S., and when they’re looking to fill a position they often seek individuals who can bring on the laughs.

Not Just for Laughs

The focus on spontaneous comedy skills at TeamSnap comes from the top: The company’s vice president of product management, Andrew Berkowitz, performs at least once a week in a Portland, Oregon improv troupe and also works as a theater’s artistic director.

“It’s very, very fun!” said Berkowitz. ”Improv keeps your brain limber, makes it easier to think on your feet and keeps you in a positive frame of mind. Performing in front of an audience with no script, just the trust of your fellow actors, is amazing.”

But improv is about so much more than comedy, as he readily admits. “There’s no script for life or work, so we improvise all day in everything we do. Using improv techniques can make it much easier to face unexpected challenges, deal with surprises and work better with others.”

And when it comes to distributed teams, Berkowitz emphasized that those skills are especially important. “You miss the kind of non-verbal cues from in-person communication that help you read tone and meaning. Improv teaches us to ‘listen between the lines’ and catch the subtext and tone. Good improvisers are great listeners.”

How To Strengthen Your Team’s Improv Abilities

There are plenty of skilled contractors who don’t have improv skills — but that doesn’t mean you can’t still lighten up your team culture.

Here are a few ways to strengthen your remote team’s camaraderie and effectiveness by incorporating some improv techniques and games into your company’s culture.

Keep moving forward with “Yes, and…”
One rule that Berkowitz pulls from improv is the “Yes, and…” mindset. He says that in improv, “[Saying this to your fellow performers] helps scenes move forward without blocking or grinding things to a halt. Approaching your work environment with the same ‘Yes and…!’ attitude helps projects move forward and lets you give a positive spin to problem solving.”

Shift mindsets from “me” to “us.”
According to John Sexton, a consultant with GroupMind, improv is so powerful because it shifts mindsets from being about “me” to being about “us.” In a blog post he wrote on the subject, he said, “…in improv, when someone compromises the integrity of the scene for a joke or a self-promoting laugh, they let everyone else down. Conversely, successful teams and respected leaders are those who honor and support the contributions of others and who give and take equally.”

Lead the charge by signing up for classes.
Berkowitz suggests taking a class yourself. “It will open your eyes and change your life forever,” he enthused. Many cities have improv groups that offer classes. If your city doesn’t have one, then you might find it helpful to read Business Improv by Val Gee and Sarah Gee, or Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo.

Give people creative breathing room.
Berkowitz says a great way to initiate change within your team is to have a rule in meetings that nobody can disagree with any idea that’s proposed until all the ideas are out on the table.” Have a 10-minute brainstorming session where you put two dozen ideas in a shared Google Doc as fast as you can, and THEN start discussing,” he recommended. “You’ll be amazed at how much better your corporate ideation is when you empower people to come up with solutions.”

The Distributed Troupe

Aside from strengthening collaboration, a good sense of humor will help keep your distributed team connected; the lack of in-person interaction can be offset by the camaraderie of fun.

Writer and academic Eva Hoffman once observed that “there is nothing like a gleam of humor to reassure you that a fellow human being is ticking inside a strange face.” The same holds true for your online team: There is nothing like a few wisecracks to remind us that a real human being is typing away on the other side of that computer screen.

Are you involved in improv? If so, what parallels do you see between comedy and business? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post Comedy in Business: What Improv Can Do For Your Team appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 3/1/2013:

Forbes: Marissa Mayer Is Wrong—Freedom For Workers Means Productivity For Companies
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s recent decision to revoke Yahoo’s telecommuting privileges—banning working from home and requiring remote workers to relocate to a physical office—has been quite a controversial one. In this article for Forbes, oDesk CEO Gary Swart discusses how flexible work (including online work, remote work, telecommuting, distributed teams, etc.) is not only a win-win for both companies and workers, but it’s increasingly becoming table stakes for businesses to be competitive in the future. “The future of work is flexible, and policies like [Yahoo's] are essentially swimming against the tide, making it more difficult for them to compete for talent,” he writes.

The Huffington Post: Flexible Work Can Revolutionize Your Company (If You Do it Right)
In the wake of Yahoo’s recent memo revoking work-from-home privileges, there has been a flurry of debate about whether flexible work is a smart strategy or a foolish perk. oDesk VP of Marketing Jaleh Bisharat weighed in on the discussion in her article for The Huffington Post, noting that it may be time to rethink and articulate how we attract, empower and manage talent. She writes that successfully managing non-traditional teams requires frequent communication, crisp objectives and milestones, results-focused performance measurement, a remote-friendly culture, and more.

The New York Times: Yahoo Orders Home Workers Back to the Office
Marissa Mayer’s decision about Yahoo’s telecommuting policy has raised a firestorm of media coverage, ranging from proponents applauding her efforts to create a culture of collaboration at Yahoo, to critics concerned about the precedent it sets for the future of flexible work in Silicon Valley. Claire Cain Miller and Catherine Rampell remark on the implications of this new policy, putting it in context of the larger flexible work movement. They also explore whether remote work brings efficiency and productivity or diminishes collaboration and innovation, using Silicon Valley case studies from both sides of the fence.

AllThingsD: “Physically Together”—Here’s the Internal Yahoo No-Work-From-Home Memo for Remote Workers and Maybe More
The Yahoo buzz was loud and expansive this week, but this was the post that started it all. AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher originally broke the news of Yahoo’s telecommuting ban last Friday, and followed up with this more detailed post. The article included the full Yahoo memo issued by HR Vice President Jackie Reses, which read, “Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home … We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.” Swisher’s reporting and analysis on the issue was a harbinger of the media flurry to follow.

The Wall Street Journal: Hunt For Engineers Leads To Scattered Workforces
An acute ‘talent war’ in Silicon Valley has motivated many startups to expand their search for talented engineers outside the Bay Area—and even all the way to Brisbane. Finding that ‘top talent is spread out,’ more and more companies in SIlicon Valley have begun expanding their teams on a global scale. Deborah Gage provides insight into the new ways companies are coping with local hiring challenges.

The Globe And Mail: A Working World Without Borders
Are contract work and on-demand expertise the future of the workplace? Authors Tim Houlne and Terri Maxwell definitively say ‘yes.’ In this interview with The Globe and Mail’s Wallace Immen, Houlne and Maxwell share their insight into revolutionary new developments in the world of work. From task fractionalization and online workplaces to ‘virtualpreneurs,’ they discuss the key work trends driving change today.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of March 1st appeared first on oBlog.

But in the wake of Yahoo’s recent memo revoking work-from-home privileges, there has been a flurry of debate about whether flexible work is a smart strategy or a foolish perk. oDesk VP of Marketing Jaleh Bisharat weighed in on the discussion in her article today for Huffington Post.

“Why is Yahoo now requiring all its employees — even those who were hired with the understanding that they could work from home — to report to an office beginning in June?” she writes. “Is working from home a bad policy? Or is it time to rethink and articulate how we attract, empower and manage talent when it is remote some or all of the time?”

Jaleh writes that, as powerful as flexible work is, it can’t be implemented and forgotten about. Managing non-traditional teams requires frequent communication, crisp objectives and milestones, results-focused performance measurement, a remote-friendly culture, and more.

To read more about Jaleh’s six best practices for managing remote or blended teams, check out the full article here.

UPDATE — March 7, 2013: In response to the news that Best Buy is now following in Yahoo’s footsteps and revoking work-from-home privileges (taking with it their pioneering Results-Only-Work-Environment), Jaleh writes for VentureBeat about how great work can happen from anywhere. Read her latest article here.

The post Flexible Work Can Revolutionize Your Company (If You Do it Right) appeared first on oBlog.

Today on Forbes, oDesk CEO Gary Swart discusses just that. “The future of work is flexible, and policies like [Yahoo's] are essentially swimming against the tide, making it more difficult for them to compete for talent,” he writes. “Work is increasingly distributed and ‘customizable,’ from entirely virtual companies at one end of the spectrum (even companies as large and successful as WordPress creator Automattic), to those with work-from-home policies or blended teams of in-person and remote workers. According to Telework Research Network’s data, regular telecommuting grew by 73% between 2005 and 2011—exponentially more than the 4.3% growth rate of the overall workforce.”

“Companies need to resist the urge to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the changing reality of today’s workforce,” he adds. “The most competitive companies of tomorrow won’t shy away from this uncertainty—they will experiment and innovate, and pioneer new ways of working.”

Check out the full article here!

The post Freedom For Workers Means Productivity For Companies appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 2/22/2013:

Harvard Business Review: Independent Work May Be Inevitable
Is the attraction of a secure corporate job quickly fading? According to Rose Park Advisors co-founder Whitney Johnson, it may already be gone, as the ranks of independent workers are swelling at a rate far exceeding growth in the traditional workforce. Whether driven by economic circumstance or a desire for greater independence, Johnson states that these workers are creating a new economic reality outside the bounds of traditional employment. “The disruptions that are changing the landscape of American working life have been a minefield for so many,” she said. “But they are also making a new level of work-life flexibility possible that didn’t exist previously … letting work freedom ring is changing the American dream, hinting at the expanse of a frontier on the other side of the industrial revolution.”

Mashable: How To Solve The Top Pitfalls Of Working From Home
Moving work from the cubicle to the kitchen table brings serious benefits to the mobile professional, eliminating stressful commutes as well as office distractions. Nevertheless, remote workers face potentially growth-stunting challenges in the transition to the home office. Nellie Akalp breaks down four issues common to new telecommuters, and shares useful advice to help remote professionals hone their focus, create boundaries, set a concrete schedule and incorporate social interaction.

Forbes: One In Five Americans Work From Home, Numbers Seen Rising Over 60%
Whether it’s for one day a week or every day of the year, more than 30 million Americans are embracing the freedom of remote work. With the typical telecommuting employee saving an average of $4,200 — and 15 days in commute time — each year by working from home, businesses and professionals are taking serious notice of the teleworking trend. In addition to cost savings, companies from Best Buy to Dow Chemical are touting the productivity-boosting effects of the mobile workforce. Kenneth Rapoza writes on the ever-expanding flexible workforce, and the reasons more employees (and companies) are joining the remote work revolution.

WorkSnug: 4 Reasons Big Companies Are Embracing Coworking
According to Jeremy Neuner, freelancer dominance in coworking spaces may soon be coming to an end as a growing number of corporations encourage employees to experiment with workdays away from the corporate campus. From Plantronics to Cisco, corporations are beginning to take advantage of coworking’s numerous benefits. Whether it be a shorter commute, greater productivity, lower costs, or a smaller carbon footprint, firms are finding that expanding coworking privileges pays off in many ways.

ZDNet: Exciting Work Venues For The Mobile Professional
Working remotely can be a great way to explore your surroundings while experimenting with the ways that you work best. Despite the allure of your couch or the local coffee shop, a new atmosphere might just provide the creative boost you need to take your work to the next level. Veteran mobile worker James Kendrick explains why he prefers to energize his workday at museums, zoos and libraries.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of February 22nd appeared first on oBlog.

Earlier this week we looked at an overview of the SBA loan process, and presented a few steps to get started. Now it’s time to get into the nitty gritty — the numbers.

The bank is going to look at a few things:

• How much money you’re asking for.
• The maximum amount of risk the SBA will guarantee. If your loan is for more than $150,000, the SBA will only guarantee payment of 75% — so for example, if you borrow $1,000,000 and default on the loan, the SBA is only going to reimburse your bank for $750,000 and the bank has to absorb the remaining $250,000.
• What sort of assets you and your business have. Generally, if you can show personal and business assets that total at least 75% of the loan amount you’re requesting, your bank is going to approve your loan application. The wider the gap between your assets and this amount, the more the bank is going to look at your business plan, your financials and your resume to decide if they want to accept this risk.

The post Getting an SBA Loan for Your Small Business: Part II appeared first on oBlog.

But I do know a bit about the latter — finding the money to power the growth of your small business, and specifically your oDesk-based business. As the owner of an oDesk-based business and someone who recently completed the process of applying for (and receiving) a Small Business Adminsistration (SBA)-backed loan, I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned.

Step 1: Take an Honest Look at Your Business

Before I explain how to obtain an SBA-backed loan for your oDesk-based business, I want to first warn you — this type of loan should not be used to solve a fundamental flaw in your business. Specifically, if you’re not generating positive cash flow, and if you don’t have a clear plan for how to do so, an SBA-backed loan is not the right option for you. Here’s why.

The SBA and your bank are going to require you and any other person who owns at least 20% of your business to sign a personal guarantee. This means that if your business fails, or if your business is unable to make the payments on the loan, the SBA and your bank are going to require you, personally, to pay back the loan. Even if your business is set up as a corporation, because of the personal guarantee your obligation to repay this loan will survive the failure, bankruptcy or dissolution of your business. So, understand that an SBA-backed loan can be a powerful tool to grow your business, but it comes with significant personal risk that you should be aware of.

Step 2: Understand Your Options

A Small Business Administration-backed loan (often called an ‘SBA Loan,’ although it’s your bank, not the SBA, making the loan) is a bank loan made for business purposes where a majority of the debt your business takes on is guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, an agency of the U.S. government.

The most common loan program the SBA has — and the one I’ll be focusing on — is called the 7(a) loan program. These loans may be used for a number of purposes; those most likely to be applicable to an oDesk-based business are:

1. The purchase of equipment, machinery, furniture, fixtures, supplies, or materials
2. Long-term working capital, including the payment of accounts payable
3. Short-term working capital needs

These loans are typically structured on a 7-year term with an interest rate that varies and is usually 2.75% over the prime rate — so currently, most of these loans have an interest rate of 6%, which is significantly better than the rate you would get by financing your business using credit cards or other financing options. The average 7(a) loan is approximately $370,000, but loans as small as $25,000 and as large as $5 million are possible.

These loans do carry packaging and guaranty fees, and require significantly more paperwork than a typical business loan. You should certainly do your homework to evaluate all your financing options, but if your business is young or does not have significant assets, chances are an SBA-backed loan will be one of the best financing options that your bank will make available to you.

Step 3: Planning is Half the Battle

The SBA loan process is not a quick one; it’s a safe bet to plan on it taking several months. To kick things, off, you should first:

• Write a business plan, if you don’t already have one.
• Ensure that you have accurate financial records for the past three years (or as many years as you’ve been in business, if it’s been less than three years) for both your business and your personal finances.
• Prepare financial projections. While it varies from lender to lender, most will want to see two sets of projections — a ‘worst case’ and a ‘best case’ projection. While at their heart projections are merely guesses, make sure to research your projections and base them on the past history of your business and what you reasonably feel your growth will be moving forward.

N.B.: If you need help getting your financials up to date, writing your business plan or developing these projections, look to online workers! I have hired accountants, researchers and writers via oDesk in the past, all of which were instrumental in helping me assemble the information I needed to provide as part of the loan application process.

In your business plan, you should include an overview of why you’re asking for a loan in the specific amount you’ve asked for, and how, exactly, you plan to use that money. This will form the basis of the loan application, and these numbers, once submitted to the SBA, can’t be changed. So be careful when putting this request together — you may tend to focus on the total amount you’re requesting, but how you allocate that amount into individual expenses or categories is just as important. If you say you want $10,000 to purchase equipment and $15,000 to hire a new employee, if your loan is approved, your bank is going to make sure that you spend $10,000 to purchase equipment and $15,000 to hire a new employee.

In addition to these records and plans, expect to be asked for a copy of your resume. If you have any specialized training, a degree, etc., that relates to what you do for your business, include that. Banks are looking at more than just your financials — they want to see if you can reasonably be expected to succeed in the implementation of your business plan. This isn’t a time to skimp or put forth less than your best efforts. For example, when we obtained our first SBA-backed loan at Creatuity, our loan officer was very blunt and stated that the time and attention I put into the business plan and other documentation is what finally convinced the bank to approve the loan and submit it to the SBA for consideration.

Once you meet the minimums with your paperwork — you have a good business plan, a resume and financial records, and projections that show you can reasonably afford to repay the loan — it all comes down to numbers. In the part II of this article, we’ll look at the numbers the bank will use to guide their decision to approve or deny your loan application.

Do you have any questions about the loan application process? Have you received a loan to operate your oDesk-based business? I’d love to discuss it with you in the comments! 

The post Getting an SBA Loan for Your Small Business: Part I appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 2/15/2013:

Consumer Affairs: Telecommuting Could Save You Time, Money—And Your Sanity
Do you wake up dreading the long trek to the office? James Limbach details the increasing costs (and often length) of daily commutes, and suggests that expanding telecommuting practices could reduce environmental impact, boost worker productivity and improve companies’ bottom lines. Limbach states that while workers are open to remote work, companies trapped in the ‘old work’ mindset are stalling the transition to a new style of work.

Harvard Business Review: Where The Green Jobs Really Are
The ‘green jobs revolution’ has largely failed to bring the economic—and environmental—revolution it promised. But are there other ways to make strides towards an eco-friendly workplace? Maynard Webb argues that remote work policies could succeed where other environmental initiatives have failed, encouraging sustainability while it “positively affects employee morale and productivity, as well as company efficiency and profitability.”

Harvard Business Review: Keeping Work Organized When Your Team Is Fragmented
From Forbes to Apple, more and more companies are discovering the benefits of accessing outside talent. But once you have found great talent, how do you ensure that your blended team lives up to expectations? Brad Power shares three best practice tips for successfully integrating external contractors, urging firms to create a roadmap for success, share information excessively and implement social networking tools.

Information Management: Sayonara Cubicles—The Knowledge Worker Revolution Is Here
The Internet has fundamentally changed the world of knowledge work, untethering workers from their desks and enabling them to conduct business on site, in a coffee shop or even from bed. Eccentex CEO Glen Schrank claims that today, technological changes are enabling a ‘knowledge worker revolution,’ changing how and where work is done—as well as the nature of work itself. Schrank moves beyond the demise of desk phones and the exploding tablet market to consider the deeper implications of this new paradigm shift.

Forbes: 2025 Workplace—Intel Predicts The Future
From the exponential growth of computing power to the widening talent gap, the next decade promises to bring interesting—and often challenging—developments to the working world. Kevin Kruse remarks on these challenges and argues that by 2025, factors such as a growing population and rapidly improving technology will dramatically alter the workforce as we know it. Kruse suggests that in the coming years, flexibility, remote work, distributed teams, and consumer technology will guide a transitioning workforce, necessitating drastic adjustments—and thoughtful preparation—by businesses.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of February 15th appeared first on oBlog.

In the old days, you could only hire people who would commute to your office every day, you had to call ahead for a car service, and you were limited to choosing from a pre-selected display of artisan goods at a local store. A new generation of online platforms is reimagining the marketplace model by providing on-demand, frictionless access to these types of services. We can now directly access talented workers, luxury drivers, and handmade products with the click of a button.

Last week, thought leaders from oDesk, Uber and Etsy gathered in Sydney, Australia, to discuss how their businesses are stripping away friction and providing people with direct access to what they want: staffing, transportation, and craftsmanship, respectively.

The engaging panel generated some great live tweets—we’ve selected a few of our favorites below. You can see the entire #ondemandaccess Twitter stream here.

#ondemandaccess people want to create own destiny without intermediaries. Great quote! @odesk

— Karalyn Brown (@InterviewIQ) February 7, 2013

Australians use of @odesk outpaces the rest if the world, particularly in nontechnical tasks #ondemandaccess

— Lisa Fox (@_lisafox) February 7, 2013

@garyswart says… Execution starts with the right people! #ondemandaccess

— Elisa Chan (@PinkEChan) February 7, 2013

Forcing users to give feedback before booking their next gig works to promote community feedback. @uber_sydney #ondemandaccess

— Seb Eckersley-Maslin (@sebeckmas) February 7, 2013

#ondemandaccess talent war? 70% SMBs won’t/ can’t hire locally @odesk

— Karalyn Brown (@InterviewIQ) February 7, 2013

“Focusing on the customer is the best way to compete” @garyswart @odesk #ondemandaccess

— MitchelLake (@MitchelLake) February 7, 2013

“Businesses should be empowered to get access to the best talent, regardless of where it lives.” @garyswart#ondemandaccess

— oDesk (@odesk) February 7, 2013

#ondemandaccess @odesk as the world wakes up to putting everything in the cloud including work – regulations will need to change.

— Karalyn Brown (@InterviewIQ) February 7, 2013

89% of Australians reuse odesk again and again. @garyswart #ondemandaccess

— BlueChilli (@BlueChilliGroup) February 7, 2013

For a related discussion of ‘direct access,’ check out Gary’s recent blog post reflecting on this year’s DLD conference.

What are your thoughts about on-demand access? What services or goods do you access directly? We’d love to hear your perspective in the comments section below!

The post You Can Always Get What You Want: oDesk, Uber & Etsy Discuss On-Demand Access appeared first on oBlog.

Of course, the ultimate “connector” today is the Internet. It’s disrupting traditional work and life models as we know them, from the way we connect with other people and the way we structure our organizations to the way we publicly present (and even define) ourselves and our lives.

It’s also changing the way we access the services and products we want and need, by eliminating the friction of intermediaries. This new model, which we call “direct access,” is revolutionizing both the consumer and enterprise world. Whether it’s on the business side, such as server space (Amazon Web Services) and software (Salesforce.com), or on the consumer side, like rides (Uber) and accommodations (Airbnb), the on-demand model has quickly become very in-demand as well.

For oDesk, this shift towards “direct access” means that businesses can find and hire independent professionals with the skills they need, on demand, via the Internet. But we’re not alone—at DLD, discussions of the ‘direct access’ model abounded, disrupting industries such as:

• Manufacturing: 3D printing has reinvented the entire manufacturing supply chain, allowing consumers to directly produce their own products (from ceramic cups to, in the very near future, food)
• Journalism: Forward-thinking news outlets are recognizing the need to build platforms that enable communities to provide news to each other, with publications adding value on top instead of controlling information delivery
• Music and literature: Platforms like Rap Genius aim to “annotate the world,” disrupting the traditional model of learning via expert interpretation by enabling the community to annotate rap lyrics, and eventually to add commentary on books

In just one day’s sessions, you can see the wide range of ways in which innovative people are using the direct access model to solve the world’s most pressing issues:

It’s clear that direct access represents not just a new business model, but a new way of thinking about things like ownership, organizational structure, and even how we collaborate with others. It also has particular importance for the next generation of entrepreneurs and professionals, many of which are struggling to find their place in the job market.

Someone recently asked me about my advice for this generation, considering the competitive employment landscape they are facing. I told them that opportunity still abounds for those who are creative and entrepreneurial—especially those who embrace the direct access model, who use their innate fluency with digital platforms to their advantage. We have only scratched the surface of what this model can do; it’s up to them to take it to the next level.

So my advice to the entrepreneurs and game-changers of tomorrow is this: open your minds to new ways of working, learning and thinking. Use direct access to create your own career path—and even to create your own business that uses this model to further disrupt the status quo. Just as direct access empowers businesses to be more efficient and agile, it empowers professionals and innovators to blaze new trails.

I look forward to seeing the amazing things you will create.

The post Disruption Ahead: Reflections on DLD13 appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 2/8/2013:

Stack Exchange: Why We (Still) Believe In Working Remotely
Upon launching, Stack Overflow embarked on an ambitious plan to build a blended team, seamlessly integrating remote and in-office employees to grow their business. Three years and many lessons later, the company’s VP of Engineering David Fullerton shares takeaways from the experience, providing a detailed account of why they decided to go remote, how it has played out, and what they have learned about being successful in the world of dispersed work.

The Globe And Mail: Public Service Begins To Embrace Remote Work
From cloud computing to video conferencing, ever-improving technology is enabling professionals to get work done wherever they may be—and governments are beginning to take notice. David Israelson discusses government endeavors into the world of telework, noting that in the U.S., the UK and Sweden, governments have taken steps to extend the benefits of flexible work to their employees, while other countries like Canada are starting to do so informally.

ASTD: Effective Leadership In A Virtual Workforce
The increasingly global workforce has redefined what it means to be an effective leader, requiring collaboration across languages, cultures and continents. For managers looking to benefit from the global expertise of dispersed teams, these changes necessitate adaptation and even a reexamination of leadership itself. Donna Dennis, Deborah Meola and M.J. Hall consider the new challenges of management in the virtual world, finding that clear execution is a must-have for a new generation of managers. “Virtual work and learning environments with dispersed teams are here to stay,” they conclude, “so finding ways to work effectively to harness the collective energy of these teams is critical to the success of organizations for now and in the future.”

Huffington Post: The Redefinition Of Work
With traditional employment levels at a 20-year low, turmoil in the job market has become a significant widespread concern. But the key to thriving in this job market may be to reject the word “traditional,” argues Shelby Clark, founder of RelayRides, who writes that new platforms such as Lyft, TaskRabbit and oDesk are creating new opportunities for self-made entrepreneurs. Clark concludes that, even though traditional jobs are still hard to come by, ever-expanding opportunities in the world of entrepreneurship and self-employment are creating a new market for bold professionals.

The Globe And Mail: Mobile Workers Are The ‘New Norm’
More than two-thirds of Canadian professionals work outside the office every week, and according to Krista Napier that number is likely to increase in the coming years. Discussing data from IDC’s Canadian Mobile Worker Forecast, Napier shares key takeaways on current and future trends in the world of mobile work—including the finding that the Canadian mobile worker population will increase from 12.1 million in 2012 (representing 68.9% of employed Canadians) to 13.3 million in 2016 (73% of the workforce). “The future will see work becoming increasingly flexible,” she told The Globe & Mail. “It can be done on any kind of device, anywhere and anytime. And it’s secure. The good news is we are not that far away from the future.”

Worksnug: Maximize Mobile Workers’ Potential—Mentor Them
Integrating remote workers into the office culture is no easy feat. One way to jumpstart engagement? Establishing a mentorship program with mobile workers, to help build flourishing relationships. In this article, Jessica Stillman espouses the benefits of engaging with remote employees, noting that it can strengthen on-the-job learning and connect distributed employees with the home office.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of February 8th appeared first on oBlog.

Thanks to innovations being pioneered by remote medicine advocates, however, all that changed in 2010.

Botswana, a country of approximately two million people, has one of the highest cell phone density rates in the world — 144 mobile phone subscriptions for every 100 people.

Clinicians at remote hospitals began to use this readily available technology to their advantage. Using their phones, they began sending pictures and detailed information to the specialist so their rural patients didn’t have to make that initial visit to Gaborone. As a result, patients were able to receive better care in a shorter time.

While the specialist shortage in Botswana may seem extreme, forecasts indicate that the number of health workers is on the decline worldwide. This, in turn, will prompt a corresponding rise in the amount of medically underserved areas — particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

That’s where the fledgling field of telemedicine is poised to change everything. It’s a sector with such great potential that the World Bank has invested $1.5 billion in it.

Telemedicine is the use of technology to diagnose and/or treat patients remotely. Sometimes that is through video consultations, such those used by Nantucket Hospital to connect patients with experts anywhere in the world. In other instances, it can be through sending photos and conducting patient interviews with mobile devices, like the process that ClickMedix is pioneering.

Serving the Underserved

Ting Shih is the founder of ClickMedix, an innovative telemedicine company that won the 2012 Cartier Women’s Initiative award for its compelling business plan. While getting her MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Shih was challenged by a professor to create a business that would impact one billion people. She chose to focus on health care by harnessing the power of the mobile phone.

“There are never going to be enough doctors in the world,” she said. “We have to be smart on how we are going to address the [medical care] bottleneck. The way we have been successfully addressing the problem is by using a mobile phone to send the symptoms to the [remote] doctor so they spend just a quarter of the time [in diagnosis].”

One example of ClickMedix’s power was shown in a clinic in Botswana. Nurse midwives were trained in a simple procedure to diagnosis cervical cancer. They took pictures using camera phones of precancerous lesions, then sent them to a women’s health specialist who returned a diagnosis.

According to Shih, the initiative did more than just provide same-day diagnoses, which is a significant achievement in and of itself. “After the nurses saw several months of the back and forth ‘cancerous or not’ decisions, several of them became just as accurate as the women’s health expert in making the diagnosis,” reported Shih.

Major humanitarian crises are another sphere in which telemedicine is making a major impact.

Randy Roberson of Disaster Logistics Relief made use of telemedicine during the Haiti earthquake in 2010. By using a solar-powered telemedicine backpack coupled with the VSee video conferencing platform, Roberson was able to partner with a doctor in the United States who could examine the patients remotely and give treatment recommendations. They even had an electronic stethoscope so the doctor could listen to patients’ heartbeat and lungs.

The Doctor of the Future

Shih sees telemedicine as crucial, not just for developing countries, but also for developed nations like the United States and the United Kingdom.

“If you look at the aging population, most people 65 or above have various ailments that require them to need five to 10 different doctors,” she said. ”They spend a lot of time visiting doctors and driving to and from visits.”

Shih sees telemedicine as a way to save time for many of these patients, while also simplifying their health care needs. And she’s not the only one.

Dr. Linda Godleski of Yale University recently published an article showing that mental health patients prefer remote sessions over face-to-face ones. Not only are the remote sessions easier to schedule, they are also providing better results. According to the study, patients were 24 percent less likely to need hospital care after participating in remote psychiatric care.

Meanwhile, in El Paso, Texas, the closest dermatologist for Medicaid patients is more than six hours away. But thanks to Texas Tech’s telemedicine department, low-income patients in need of specialized care can simply come to the university’s center and receive specialized consultations with remote doctors. This not only cuts down on the burden of travel for these patients, it also cuts down on Medicaid transportation costs.

If the advancement of telemedicine sounds similar to online work, that’s because it is — they have the same foundation of using technology to enable remote collaboration and facilitate types of work that weren’t possible before.

“We are just scratching the surface of this new way of working. The possibilities are endless,” oDesk CEO Gary Swart commented about the online work revolution; the same could easily be said for telemedicine. As new technologies continue to disrupt the industry, it’s very possible that for millions of people around the world, access to reliable health care will soon be only a click away.

Have you seen telemedicine in action? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The post The Doctor Is In — 8,000 Miles Away appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 2/1/2013:

HR Magazine: The Future Of Work Is Mobile
Is the end near for cubicles? With close to 40% of the workforce predicted to be working remotely by 2015, time may be short for the office as we know it. Steve Hemsley discusses the predicted demise of the physical office and why a growing number of companies are embracing the mobile workforce. Despite cultural resistance from some managers, Hemsley suggests that corporations are beginning to accept the business case for remote work, especially as a tool to attract the next generation of professionals.

Fast Company: Why You Should Work From A Coffee Shop Even If You Have An Office
When Family Records found themselves in between leases, they moved out of the office and into the coffee shop. Almost a year—and a new office—later, many of their employees still choose to spend a few days a month working off-site. Wesley Verhoeve, founder of Family Records, outlines the rationale for why it’s smart to work outside of the office, and shares useful tips for those working on the go.

Perkins+Will Blog: The Potential Of Teams
With teams spread across the country, employees at Perkins+Will have experienced firsthand the challenges of perfecting teamwork at a distance. Maria Manion, Rachel Casanova and Roshelle Ritzenthaler share the key strategies that have enabled them to collaborate seamlessly from hundreds of miles away. They advise teams working remotely to find a rhythm, be flexible, be sociable, and find the tools that work for them.

Business2Community: Internal Communication—And Lots Of It—Keys To Telecommuting Success
As a remote worker, touching base with colleagues is no longer as simple as a walk down the hall. Luckily, with some smart planning and intuitive technology, it can feel like you never left the office at all. Experienced remote worker Erin Lawley advises rookie telecommuters to bypass any potential communication mishaps through discussing expectations, calling your coworkers, and attending meetings virtually to stay in the loop.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of February 1st appeared first on oBlog.

“Recruiting technical talent … is probably the key gating item for most of our startups,” said Benchmark Capital general partner Kevin Harvey at a recent panel event on “Talent Wars: How Startups are Fighting Back.” “I think the unemployment situation masks the reality that we all know, of how hard it is to find people right now … I think this situation is going to continue for a while—it’s going to be really hard to find talent.”

The numbers are startling:

• A report last year from McKinsey Global Institute found that when U.S. unemployment was more than 9%, 30% of U.S. companies surveyed had positions open for more than six months that they couldn’t fill.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual Global CEO Survey of more than 1,200 CEOs found that 24% were “forced to delay or cancel a strategic initiative,” and approximately 30% “couldn’t innovate effectively or pursue a market opportunity” because of talent constraints.

• A study by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that 66% of multinational companies surveyed said “talent shortages are likely to affect their bottom line in the next five years.”

Why is it so difficult to recruit talent, when so many people are looking for jobs? There are a number of theories. One focuses on an actual skills shortage, especially for in-demand science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. However, some believe a shortage is not to blame. For example, Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management and Director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources, argues that what some businesses see as a dearth of talent is really just their unrealistic expectations about finding the perfect full-time employee.

Whatever the cause, businesses are hurting—and the problem extends far beyond the availability of high-caliber candidates. Even when great talent shows up at your door, odds are you may not recognize it; in my experience, the most exceptional interviewers are right only about 60% of the time. Then there’s the time it takes to find the best candidate, and the high cost of putting together a competitive compensation package to attract them. The right people are well worth the time and money, but the expense of being wrong—especially 40% of the time—can be astronomical.

And the war doesn’t end with hiring. When it comes to keeping star workers on board, you face the Silicon Valley competitive climate; even heavyweights such as Facebook and Google are having trouble retaining talent.

So what is a startup to do, faced with such stiff competition and limited resources?

If you can’t win the game, change the rules.

The traditional way to hire—fighting over local applicants for permanent (read: high-investment) roles—is quickly becoming unsustainable. To win the war for talent, you need to be innovative in your hiring approaches. Here’s how:

• Look for the rough gems. Knowledge and skills matter, but don’t be rigid. There is no perfect employee, and the importance of motivation and personal characteristics is often underestimated. You can teach a chicken to climb a tree, but you’re better off getting a squirrel in the first place. In other words, you can always teach skills, but you can’t change motivation and personal characteristics.

• Look to alternative staffing models, and leverage different types of workers. There’s a reason the ratio of temp workers to all employees hit a five-year high of 1.9% in June, according to the Labor Department. Businesses are realizing that not all positions require full-time, permanent employees, and that incorporating different types of workers—from permanent to on-demand—gives their teams exponentially more leverage while keeping the company agile.

  Businesses are also finding that there is no need to restrict their talent search to a 50-mile commuting radius, which essentially forces them into a hiring corner. Many are turning to distributed teams and online workers, which erase geography as a limiting factor.

  These approaches are not just a stopgap to weather a competitive hiring climate; they are expected to become even more pervasive in the future. According to oDesk’s recent study, which surveyed almost 3,000 businesses that have hired online workers, 94% of respondents agree with the statement: “Within 10 years, the majority of businesses will have blended teams of online and on-premise workers.”

• Be crystal clear about what you want, and what you can offer. Be realistic about what you can expect to find in a single person. Looking for a product manager who also knows Django and can do a bit of financial planning? You may need to split it up into two different positions to find someone who excels at each. Prioritize what is most important and hire accordingly.

  And just because we are in the midst of a talent war doesn’t mean you should oversell or over-promise when talking to candidates. We live in a transparent world, and inaccuracies don’t stay quiet for long—especially once the person comes on board. Candidates deserve to hear the good, the bad and the ugly; and the ones who will thrive on your team are eager to tackle all three.

Fighting the war for talent diverts energy and resources away from what’s most important—running your business. You may not be able to escape the war entirely, but you can fight smarter by rewriting the rules of engagement.

The post The Talent War: Winning the Game by Changing the Rules appeared first on oBlog.

Now in his 60s, Doolittle isn’t necessarily what comes to mind when you think of the future of work, but he’s one of a growing number of experienced professionals leaving the traditional office life behind.

A report last year by MBO Partners found more than 40 percent of independent workers are over the age of 50. Many of them are turning to online work.

“Not that many years ago, the idea of working online meant you had to be a young geek — I don’t think that’s true anymore” echoed Denise Loubert, a long-time corporate writer who has also started four businesses during her career.

“The Internet opened up the world for anybody,” she added. “There are all kinds of people of different experience levels, it’s not just young whippersnappers.”

Jim Nayor

Jim Nayor, who spent his career working for major ad agencies in New York City, thinks it’s that deep experience that enables the freedom of online work. “Once you’ve established your career, you can afford to go on [online platforms]; once you have your credentials and you’re confident of those credentials, you can make a go of it.”

Nayor noticed that those who find greater success online often have significant offline experience — something supported by oDesk’s own statistics.

When we looked at earnings growth among contractors, there was a clear relationship between higher education and greater experience — a 2.6 percent increase in rates for every year of experience listed.

Bending Work Around Higher Priorities

By its very name, the “future of work” points to a destination, a path experts estimate will have 1.3 billion people working virtually within a few years. It speaks to a new generation of workers who define work on their own terms, connected via an office that moves whenever — and wherever — they do.

However, mature workers like Doolittle, Loubert and Nayor often have a different set of priorities than newer freelancers.

“We live for our grandchildren,” Nayor said of himself and his wife. “They are the loves of our lives; anything and everything we can do for them, we do.”

Nayor says he turned to freelancing because of a lack planning. “I did a poor job planning for our future; I retired, and I needed to do something.” Initially, he travelled and did work for different marketing agencies; then he learned about oDesk and moved his business online.

Now, he says, he can work whenever he needs to. “My time is my own.”

Denise Loubert

Loubert appreciates the flexibility of online work, but also likes the efficiency of it. She briefly considered pairing with a graphic design company but eventually decided against it. “I was going to all these meetings and dealing with issues around payments,” she said, calling such use of time “unnecessary.”

“I make a living through oDesk,” she explained, adding that if she worked in the offline world, “I’d spend my time going to networking events and trying to convince people to pay me; I’d only work half the time I do now.”

Loubert thinks an entrepreneurial spirit like hers is perfect for online work. “I have to keep reminding myself I want to retire,” she said. “It’s a worldwide market; you can work with anybody.”

A Change of Pace

After a career of running his own businesses, heart issues caused Doolittle to step back. He says he was pretty sick when he started working online.

Hiland Doolittle

“In many ways, it saved my life,” he explained. “I couldn’t do much more than write, but [online work] kept me abreast of what was going on in the real world.”

Managing his own online business is more or less second nature for Doolittle anyway. “I’ve always had a lot of entrepreneurial endeavors; some were successful, and some were not,” he said. “It’s just a way of life for me.”

Online work lets Doolittle pursue a wide variety of interests at whatever pace suits him at the moment. “I love to work and I love to learn — my present career lets me do both.”

The Future of Work — For You

Loubert schedules her work around her social life, but she avoids getting distracted by it. “I have daily and weekly goals — you have to be disciplined for this kind of work.”

She also says it’s easier once you figure out how to focus your energy. “This time last year I was struggling, but now I turn work down every week. I learned that if you home in on what you actually want to be doing, people eventually just come to you.”

Doolittle has had the same experience, explaining that when he first started working online he wasn’t sure it would work out. “It took me a while to figure out that I really needed to establish a niche in a few things.”

When it comes to building good relationships with clients, Nayor says mutual respect is important. “I use Skype or call people directly,” he said. “Once you connect in other ways than just email, you start to develop a rapport with them.”

He advises giving clients more than they expect or pay for. “It’s the old adage: Promise them anything and deliver more.”

In their 2012 State of Independence report, MBO Partners found that 58 percent of baby boomers chose to become independent — and rarely turn back. While it’s a path that has its ups and downs, these three professionals have found a way to make it work for them.

Are you a mature professional who turned to online work for more flexibility or a change of pace? Leave your stories — and your advice — in the comments section below.

The post Does Online Work Favor Experience? Mature Pros Take To Indie Lifestyle appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 1/25/2013:

The Globe and Mail: The Benefits Of Telecommuting
Numerous studies have confirmed the wide-ranging benefits of telecommuting, from better time management and fewer interruptions to lower expenses and reduced stress. Surveying about 2,000 studies from recent years, the Telework Research Network shares its list of 10 proven reasons to join the telework revolution.

Lifehack: 31 Simple Ways To Maximize Efficiency In Your Home Office
As a freelancer or solo entrepreneur, your home office needs to be more than a mere desk and chair; it should be an oasis of productivity where you can truly get work done. A great home office can counteract the distractions and challenges of remote work, spurring increased productivity. Lifehack offers 31 ways to improve your home office in the new year.

Spin Sucks: Getting Things Done—Why Working At Home Is Better
Between wandering co-workers, non-stop email alerts and constant ambient conversations, the average professional is interrupted every three minutes while in the office. One way to escape? Working from home, writes Gini Dietrich, can give professionals solace from the distractions of the modern office. While a knock at the door from the mailman may replace a gossipy office colleague, Dietrich suggests that careful planning and some smart precautions can help workers thrive without leaving the house.

The Globe and Mail: Still On Worker Productivity? Think Profitability Instead
It is a rare day for Paul Barter when even a third of his employees are around the office—but this does not worry Paul one bit. Eschewing cubicles in favor of laptops and data plans, most of Paul’s colleagues work virtually, rarely coming into the office altogether. Wallace Immen explores the ways innovative firms are using flexible work practices to drive business productivity and keep their employees happy.

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of January 25th appeared first on oBlog.

According to KPMG’s study, “Rethinking Human Resources in a Changing World,” talent is increasingly critical to a company’s success—81% of executives surveyed said talent management will serve as a key competitive advantage over the next three years.

However, that’s easier said than done, according to McKinsey Global Institute’s report, “Preparing for a New Era of Work.” Their study found that—thanks to global competition, changing demographics and persistent “geographic mismatches” between the supply of workers and the demand for them—a stark skills shortage is emerging worldwide. In the U.S., McKinsey reported, the gap between the number of people graduating from college and the number of college graduates businesses need could reach 1.5 million graduates by 2020. China, meanwhile, faces a shortage of 23 million college-educated workers by that time.

The effects of this skills shortage are already being felt by businesses worldwide, with finding, attracting and retaining top talent more difficult than ever. According to a survey conducted by Genesis Research on behalf of oDesk, 70% of businesses surveyed reported that “traditional hiring methods are painful.”

To gain or maintain a competitive advantage in this increasingly harsh talent climate, businesses need to get really good at three things: going global, becoming virtual, and being flexible.

Going Global

KPMG’s survey found that expanding workforces in new markets (including identifying and hiring talent internationally) was the second-biggest concern for HR departments, second only to talent retention. And there still remains a lot of work to do—only one-quarter of respondents said their HR departments “excel at sourcing key talent globally.”

Dave Ulrich, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and an expert on HR competencies, told KPMG that “HR has truly become a global profession with global standards for HR competencies.” The executives surveyed worldwide back him up—71% told KPMG that working across borders and collaborating with teams in different geographies has increased over the past three years.

This shift towards global HR is only expected to grow stronger, especially as the skills shortage is exacerbated. According to oDesk’s Online Work Study, 95% of businesses surveyed agreed that “in the future, hiring will be more dependent on having the right skills than on location.”

To make the most of this new global workforce, KPMG suggests having unified HR goals and strategies across the entire company, but customizing HR practices according to the needs of each local geography.

Becoming Virtual

“Thanks to broadband, cloud computing, and a burgeoning market for online collaboration tools, many more jobs that once required in-person interactions can be performed anywhere,” McKinsey reported. “These jobs range from administrative assistants and insurance claims processors to law associates and corporate workers in functions such as finance or HR.”

KPMG’s survey reinforces this, finding that:

• 60% of businesses surveyed have increased their use of virtual workspaces
• 48% have reduced their reliance on physical office premises
• 72% maintain that “their companies should increase the use of both virtual and flexible workers”
• However, only 24% said their HR department “excels at supporting an increasingly virtual/flexible workforce”

Similarly, two-thirds of respondents in the oDesk study believed that at least half their workforce would be online by 2015.

The advantages of going virtual are plentiful, from access to a global talent pool to reduced overhead costs and improved employee productivity. But it can be a challenge to keep remote employees engaged, and for that, KPMG said the most important thing you can do is to offer meaningful work.

“People are motivated by different factors,” Professor Ulrich told KPMG. “But more employees want to do work that is meaningful. If remote work is meaningful, people will stay.”

The report also suggests investing time upfront in training remote workers and integrating them into the culture, and recommends setting clear objectives, roles, metrics and measurements for all workers. Regularly using technological tools like videoconferencing and instant messaging can also “build connectivity and deeper relationships,” said the report.

Being Flexible

“Leading companies we’ve studied…are exploring ways to revamp how, where, and by whom [highly skilled] interaction work is performed,” McKinsey reported. “Companies that succeed in these efforts will enjoy productivity gains, greater flexibility in responding to opportunities, and better access to scarce talent. But to get there, they must rethink how they manage their workforces.”

It’s clear that the traditional workforce structure is shifting, and team composition is changing along with it. According to KPMG, 55% of respondents have hired more contractual or temporary workers in the last three years.

“Some companies are already exploring a spectrum of mix-and-match work arrangements: traditional full-time workers in the office, part-time or temporary workers, and contingent, remote workers who can help meet spikes in demand,” McKinsey reported. “Companies that optimize such configurations and manage them effectively can begin engaging talent as needed, thereby lowering overhead costs and improving response times. The key to this talent-on-demand model is the availability of workers with specialized skills who are willing to work on a contingent basis.”

This shift is only expected to become more pronounced in the coming years; 95% of businesses in oDesk’s survey plan to increase or maintain their hiring of online contract workers in the next year. And within 10 years, 94% of respondents believed, most businesses will have “blended” teams composed of both on-premise workers and online contract workers.

When you build these flexible teams of on-demand workers with specialized skills, you can empower employees to do only the work they do best by breaking down projects into skill-specific tasks. Indeed, 67% of businesses in oDesk’s survey reported that online contract workers allow them or their in-house employees to focus on higher-level skills.

“Nearly all high-skill interaction jobs include tasks that can be hived off to allow the best-paid workers to focus on the most value-creating activities,” McKinsey added. “Breaking jobs down into more specialized tasks will not only help companies economize on scarce talent but also make it possible to perform those tasks more efficiently and effectively.”

To make the most out of this fluid and flexible workforce structure, the McKinsey report recommends overcommunicating, making managers into coordinators/coaches who ensure that information is shared effectively, and defining goals but then getting out of the way so employees can run with their expertise.

Looking Ahead

From the convergence of these studies, it’s clear that the war for talent is fierce, it’s hugely important, and it’s just beginning. The businesses that arm themselves today with the tools to compete tomorrow—namely global, virtual and flexible teams, along with the management skills and technological tools to support their success—will be the ones advancing on the front lines, looking back at slower-to-adapt companies that are still wading through the mud. Which side would you rather be on?

The post Want to Win Tomorrow’s War for Talent? Go Global, Virtual and Flexible appeared first on oBlog.

There’s no escaping the devastation that a natural disaster like Sandy causes. However, as the United States government’s telework initiative proved, having a plan for off-site work can go a long way towards minimizing productivity loss. According to the Office of Personnel Management, almost one-third of federal employees in the area kept working during the storm, even though their brick and mortar offices were shut down.

The government wasn’t the only organization keeping its virtual doors open when its physical doors were shut: TheLadders, an online job-matching service based out of Lower Manhattan, discovered that online work was the key to keeping productive. Thanks to the hurricane, the company’s office was without power for 10 days. But with a previously prepared remote work plan, TheLadders didn’t miss a day of operations.

Christina Kane, the support center’s director, said that as soon as she heard Hurricane Sandy might hit New York City, she kicked into contingency mode. ”We [had] an emergency plan in place…we created a phone tree, distributed instructions for accessing our systems remotely, and ensured that everyone knew to check for Sunday’s company-wide email regarding possible complications for Monday morning travel to the office.”

Even though the office was closed, Kane knew it was of paramount importance to keep communication channels open with their clients. Having their main email management system in the cloud helped keep customer support online.

“Our phone lines remained down due to loss of power in our office building [in Lower Manhattan]. However, since our site never faltered once throughout the hurricane, our customer support team was able to use our Help and FAQ sections, as well as Facebook and Twitter, to provide daily communication to [our clients] regarding the best ways for reaching us while we worked remotely.”

It’s all about the plan

Some businesses already integrate online work into their existing model; for others, creating a remote setup will be more time-intensive. But even if telework isn’t a part of your company’s current policy, it’s worth taking the time to set up an emergency preparedness plan.

If your business doesn’t regularly use online work, a key step is deciding which positions are mission critical; those workers will then need to be set up with remote network access and trained to use it.

It’s also important to have a communications system that can still function when everyone is working from home. Based on their Hurricane Sandy experience, Kane said that keeping the phones open is one part of the disaster plan that they are reevaluating. “Our tech team is focusing on having calls forwarded to other lines in situations where the office is closed so we can continue providing support via all three channels (social media, phone and email).”

If your company already uses online work, you still need a contingency plan. As Hurricane Sandy proved, even online work is vulnerable when cell service and electricity is disrupted. If you want to keep work going, you have to be proactive and provide a Plan B for your team members. You could find hotels to put your staff in while power is out, or you could provide backup generators and mobile wireless network cards so they can stay online even if their community is in the dark.

Second, make sure you have alternate communication lines to rely on. If someone on the team can’t get online, do you have their cell phone or land-line numbers so you can check in on them? Do they have yours? If you know a potential disaster is on the horizon (such as with a hurricane), talk to your team ahead of time to go over the plan together.

If you have a plan in place, have you tested it yet? Mid-disaster is not the time to discover that half of your workers didn’t understand remote workflow procedures. Or that your virtual private network (VPN) can’t handle the load of everyone in the organization trying to log on remotely at once.

Kane reiterated that preparation is key. “Go back to basics! Make sure that your teams review all the conveniences that you take for granted (internally accessed sites, logins/passwords already saved on your computer, etc.). Assume the worst and plan accordingly, and you will be in good shape.”

Prepare now, benefit later

As Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Without remote work contingency planning, you’ll find yourself in the position of one New York investment bank; their operations ground to a halt in the storm’s aftermath. It’s that kind of failure to plan that makes the price tag of lost productivity so high.

Especially given current climate change forecasts, the appearance of another superstorm like Sandy isn’t so much a matter of “if” as a matter of “when.” With the certainty of future natural disasters almost assured, now is the time to put an online work contingency plan in place.

Is your business prepared for a natural disaster? What type of contingency plan have you put in place? Share your advice in the comments section below.

The post Disaster Proof: How Online Work Can Protect Your Business appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 1/18/2013:

Harvard Business Review: The Third Wave Of Virtual Work
From coworking spaces to nomadic employees, technology has enabled today’s professionals to work in new and exciting ways. Writing for Harvard Business Review, Tammy Johns and Lynda Gratton discuss the three phases of virtual work’s evolution, and explore the future of an ever-changing workforce. Johns and Gratton also share five great tips for organizations looking to successfully implement new work models and move forward into the future of work.

The Globe And Mail: The Office Of Tomorrow Is Anywhere
Whether conducting business from a boat or on the beach, Allan Rakowsky finds little need to spend time in his Toronto-based law office. His story reflects the new reality of the workforce—the office of tomorrow is truly anywhere. A recent study from Sara Mann, professor of organizational behavior at the University of Guelph, claims that flexibility is now the norm, and that the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of work have become essentially irrelevant. The article concludes that this transition exemplifies a marked change in employer mindsets, reflecting how corporations have realized the benefits of flexible work policies. “The trend is clear,” Kate Lister, president of the Telework Research Network, told the newspaper. “Both employers and employees are seeing the overwhelming advantages of workplace flexibility. Those organizations who aren’t already working toward it need to start if they expect to compete in the years ahead.”

Fast Company: The Future Of Coworking And Why It Will Give Your Business A Huge Edge
Flexible work environments have enabled companies to cater to the needs of their employees, while taking advantage of the numerous benefits that creative and collaborative workspaces can bring. One great way to reap the benefits of alternative workspaces? Promoting coworking among your employees. Lydia Dishman discusses the numerous reasons both small startups and large corporations are integrating with the coworking community.

Harvard Business Review: Elements Of Great Communication According To Aristotle
Great communication often makes the difference between a remote team thriving and floundering. Scott Edinger harks back to the wisdom of Aristotle to help solve modern-day collaborative issues. Summarizing the critical elements of communication—ethos, pathos, and logos—Edinger provides great tips for becoming a better leader today.

CNN: No Office, No Boss, No Boundaries—Rise Of The Nomadic Rich
While a three-month tour from China to Argentina may sound like a fantasy to many, some young professionals have made this lifestyle their reality, working hard while they travel the globe. Whether channeling Tim Ferriss’s ‘Four Hour Workweek’ or merely leveraging the mobile nature of their jobs to seek new experiences, the so-called ‘new rich’ have successfully disconnected from the grid to chase their dreams. Mark Manson recounts his travels, while discussing the challenges and benefits of life as an entrepreneur on the run.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of January 18th appeared first on oBlog.

But working with a virtual assistant isn’t as simple as pressing an “easy button” and walking away. For many people, hiring, delegating, and managing are entirely new skill sets to learn and master.

This article won’t turn you into a pro overnight, but will give you some insight into five very common mistakes people make when hiring virtual assistants, and how you can avoid them.

1. Skipping the Prep Work

The work you do prior to hiring a virtual assistant is a huge factor in your success, but it can be difficult and there’s not a lot of immediate gratification.

First, you need to document your daily and weekly activities to analyze which tasks could be delegated out. Then you need to come up with detailed instructions on how a brand new person would accomplish those tasks.

And finally, you need to write The Killer Job Description. The Killer Job Description explains in detail what your requirements are, and describes the ideal candidate. This document serves three important purposes:

• It sets expectations in advance.
• It shows a bit of your personality to applicants.
• It sets both you and your new hire up for success.

For more guidance on writing The Killer Job Description, check out this post on the oDesk blog.

I would liken the prep work for hiring a virtual assistant to the prep work necessary to paint a house. In both cases it’s not initially rewarding, but it’s impossible to do a good job without it.

2. Forgetting That You Get What You Pay For

When compared to hiring someone full time and in-house—or working extra hours to do the work yourself—it’s clear that hiring a virtual assistant can be the most cost-effective option. And while the potential low costs of hiring a virtual assistant are very real, it’s easy to get caught up in cost savings and try to pinch every penny.

The truth is that in most cases, you get what you pay for. A low bid may look attractive, but treat it as an outlier in the dataset, and consider that maybe the applicant didn’t really understand the requirements laid out in The Killer Job Description.

It should be noted that higher prices don’t always translate to higher quality, but that going with the absolute cheapest option is often a recipe for disappointment and higher costs in the long run.

3. Expecting a Plug-and-Play Solution

Like the best Christmas presents, “some assembly may be required” when working with a new virtual assistant for the first time.

Don’t disregard the time it takes to successfully onboard a new team member—they’ll need to be trained in your systems and processes, and will take some time to ramp up. Even with highly skilled workers hired in-house, there is still some “runway time” before they reach full productivity. The same is true with virtual assistants.

4. Aiming for One-Stop Shopping

In real life, we wouldn’t expect to hire a Web-Developing, Content-Writing, Graphic-Designing, Bookkeeping, Appointment-Scheduling, SEO-ing, Customer-Servicing Pro, so why expect all that from a virtual assistant?

As with any professional, virtual assistants have certain areas of work they specialize in. Sure, you can find some jack-of-all-trades people, and this may actually fit well with your objectives. But how good are they going to be at any one area if their attention is spread across so many different roles?

It’s like eating at The Cheesecake Factory. When the menu is the length of a short novel, what are the odds that any one dish (aside from perhaps the cheesecake) is going to be best-in-class?

Hire people to do what they’re good at, and you’ll both be happier.

5. Micromanaging

Aside from saving money, the other reason most often cited for hiring virtual assistants is saving time. So it is surprising that many first-timers undo their time gains by micromanaging their virtual assistants.

There is an understandable fear in working with someone far away. How will you know if they’re really working?

To combat this, consider establishing a set of deliverables and ask for daily progress reports. This should help avoid the urge to be constantly checking up on your virtual team.

If you prefer a little more oversight you can check oDesk’s Work Diary, which gives you information about your team members’ activity. But the easiest way to tell if your virtual assistant is working is to simply keep an eye on the results.

Do you have any best practices to add about working with virtual assistants? We’d love to hear them in the comments section below!

Nick Loper is an online entrepreneur and lifelong student in the game of business. His most recent project is VirtualAssistantAssistant.com, a directory and review database for virtual assistant companies. He has been using online work since 2005 and is the author of Virtual Assistant Assistant: The Ultimate Guide to Finding, Hiring, and Working with Virtual Assistants.

The post The 5 Most Common Mistakes People Make When Hiring Virtual Assistants (and How to Avoid Them) appeared first on oBlog.

“The reasons that firms first had advantage—economies of scale and information efficiency—are substantively and fundamentally changed,” she told us. “Today, seemingly disparate but networked individuals can create value in a way that once only centralized organizations could. This shift is radical enough that it changes how much organizational design matters in what I term the ‘Social Era,’ to signal to leaders just how much has changed and why it warrants their attention.”

Merchant, an author, speaker and corporate director, discusses the new age of “social business” in her latest book, “11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era,” which was recently named one of Fast Company’s 12 best business books of 2012. The Harvard Business Review digital book discusses how incorporating a social foundation into an organization’s very structure and design can give it an edge in the coming years, making it more innovative and agile.

So how can businesses harness this shift to compete in the new Social Era? It’s not just about implementing internal collaboration channels or embracing social media marketing; they need to focus on individuality and co-creation, or what Merchant termed “onlyness.”

Value is not created in a top-down way, she says—it is created throughout all levels of the organization, as well as from different points in the value chain. Embracing ‘onlyness’ means that innovation and decision-making are distributed across employees at all levels and departments, and to consumers and partners as well, so every individual is empowered to create value.

“Onlyness is that thing that only one particular person can bring to a situation. It includes the skills, passions, and purpose of each human,” she said. “Without this tenet of celebrating onlyness, people are simply cogs in a machine—dispensable and undervalued. Which returns us back to the Industrial Era. Organizations need to really get this—this talent inclusion, across ages, genders, cultures, sexual orientation—is essential for solving new problems as well as for finding new solutions to old problems. Be the one to enable that connected individual in your enterprise through systems and leadership, and you’ll win.”

As a testament to the power of this approach—and its ability to foster innovation and agility—Merchant cites the example of Singularity University, a leading academic institution that aims to “leverage the power of exponential technologies to solve humanity’s grand challenges.” How does this university tackle such a weighty mission? With a small full-time staff of just seven people—plus the leverage of many, many more.

The seven employees represent the core of the university, handling program management, operations, and communications. They also recruit and manage 10 expert thought leaders from around the world, one for each of SU’s curriculum domains, who in turn act as “curators” to staff their domain with 10 or 20 experts. This global operation is often coordinated virtually, via Skype and other online collaboration tools.

“While the core group maintains the mission and continuity, the curators act as talent recruiters for the next layer: the extended outer circle of specialized talent that adds topical expertise and content delivery,” Merchant explains. “The talent ratio is 5% program management, 15% curators, and 80% content experts. As market needs change, SU is in a unique position to fluidly respond.”

“Imagine being able to do that across all parts of your business? Many organizations have been doing just that,” she added. “Instead of hiring direct staff, organizations have been using flexible resources. Instead of doing it themselves, organizations have been asking networked communities to co-create new outcomes.”

Essentially, the Social Era model embodied by Singularity University—leveraging a network of individuals as co-creators instead of relying on rigid employee roles and hierarchies—frees businesses to explore a dynamic range of ideas and strategies, all while getting the best input from diverse sources. It’s something we believe strongly in here at oDesk, as we’ve seen businesses grow by leaps and bounds by leveraging a flexible network of talented individuals—in our case, online contract workers—from around the world.

As a result, Social Era businesses are fluid, nimble, collaborative and powerful. Merchant’s mission statement for this new generation of organizations is described on her website:

Rather than try to power through with size, we’ll have to find power through shared purpose.

Rather than hiring and directing inside the walls of an organization, we’ll tear down those walls altogether and allow everyone to own a part of the big picture.

Rather than taking long stretches of time to perfect something, we’ll build fast, fluid and flexible organizations.

What we create in the end will be a different type of organization, one that embodies a culture of innovation.

So how can a business build this social foundation, transforming itself into a thriving Social Era operation? Merchant believes it’s achieved in phases, echoing the perspective of oDesk CEO Gary Swart and his Work 3.0 framework. She described it to us as follows:

Phase 1. Everyone works in the same building, in the same time zone, because the culture is so tacit that anyone working away from the building doesn’t integrate into the core.

Phase 2: The organization has remote offices—major hub centers in different cities allowing for different time zones. This lets them have access to talent not found near the headquarter. Online platforms are starting to be used to coordinate work.

Phase 3: People work across time zones and cities, and some portions are freelance. The flexibility is built into location and time zone, across all talent levels. Online platforms are central to everyone being able to hand off to one another, and share status.

Phase 4: The organizational design is set up to optimize for flexible talent. The purpose of the organization is sharable such that it can be clear and you don’t have to belong to the organization to create value with others. Online platforms become strategic to the flexibility of the organization, which is central to an organization’s ability to adapt to whatever happens.

What’s particularly fascinating is that while this path seems to mirror the evolution of global business as a whole, it is still an individual journey; even today, the business landscape is spread across this entire continuum. For example, many large and change-resistant organizations may still be stuck in Phase 1, while innovative organizations such as Singularity University are on the leading edge of Phase 4. While each business must follow this trajectory at its own pace, it’s becoming increasingly evident that those who lag behind will have a tough time competing in the Social Era—and that’s in the not-too-distant future.

Is your business incorporating elements of this Social Era model? If so, what results have you seen? We’d love to hear your perspective in the comments section below! 

The post Competing in the ‘Social Era’ of Business: oDesk Catches Up With Nilofer Merchant appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 1/11/2013:

USA Today: New Virtual, Flex Workforce Stands Ready
Labor force participation is predicted to decline in the coming years as Baby Boomers retire, posing a significant challenge to long-term economic growth. One potential solution? Laura Vanderkam suggests that virtual work can help broaden the workforce and combat this economic threat. She argues that the widening world of virtual work is enabling professionals to work in new ways—ways that will allow a greater proportion of the population to find work on their own terms.

Wall Street Journal: Designing Offices With Mobile Employees In Mind
The impact of the mobile workforce can often be seen most acutely in a place they rarely set foot—the office. Liberated from their desks, mobile workers’ needs have fundamentally altered workplace design at forward-thinking companies around the globe. Rachael King discusses the various strategies companies are taking to maximize space for their flexible professionals (if they are not eliminating the office altogether).

Harvard Business Review: Your Employees Are Not Mind Readers
In virtual teams, effective management and clear goals are crucial for ensuring team success. Douglas R. Conant, formerly the CEO of the Campbell Soup Company, shares his thoughts on how leaders can engage in a meaningful way with employees and successfully champion new goals. His takeaways? Great leaders must share their values, respect employees’ autonomy, and always be ready to adapt to the challenges that may lie ahead.

Central Desktop: How Remote Collaboration Can Give You A Competitive Edge
From communicating across different time zones to evaluating the work of employees thousands of miles away, managing a remote team introduces new challenges to any business—but Varsity Tutors founder Chuck Cohn wouldn’t run his business any other way. Cohn discusses the competitive benefits of building remote teams, as well as the techniques he uses to keep his dispersed team running strong.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of January 11th appeared first on oBlog.

But what does online work really mean? And how do you become good at it? These are questions we hear everyday. If you search on Google, you’ll find several articles discussing the ins and outs of contracting. Go on Facebook, and you’ll find several groups dedicated to online work topics. And even on our own forums, there are hundreds of contractors sharing their wisdom about working online. There’s a vast wealth of information out there, but we found that it’s not well-aggregated or focused enough to outline a clear path for success.

We thought contractors on oDesk should have one unified, comprehensive guide to online work success. And who knows that topic better than our very own users? So we talked to many successful oDesk contractors, to find out what it really means to build a career in online work.

We heard a lot of great stories, and it became clear that everyone had his or her own online work style. Amid all the nuances, though, there was a thread of consistency throughout the stories—and these best practices make up the holy grail of online contracting. It’s this path that we have woven into the new oDesk Contractor Manual, our first ever comprehensive contractor guide.

In this manual you’ll find not only guidance from oDesk staff experts, but also tips from leading contractors. For example, oDesk contractor Sayeed Islam advises: “For your first few jobs, I recommend working with clients who have oDesk experience. They understand how to manage an online project, how the Team App works, and how to budget for your hours. This helps you showcase your skills, get acquainted with the platform, and improve your chances for positive feedback.”

From finding great jobs that fit your skills to increasing your earnings and getting stellar feedback, this manual has you covered. We recommend paying particular attention to the sections about marketing your services through a profile that showcases your value, and about crafting cover letters that sell. You’ll also find practical tips for project management, a productive workspace, and effective communication.

We invite you to crack it open and learn from some of the most successful contractors on oDesk. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re already well on your way to success, the oDesk Contractor Manual can give you the edge in landing more jobs and growing your business.

The post Your Go-To Guide to Working on oDesk: Introducing the New oDesk Contractor Manual! appeared first on oBlog.

Here at oDesk, we analyze our data to better understand trends and growth — plus, we just like exploring the world of online work.

As it turns out, you find the numbers just as interesting as we do! All but one of our top five oDesk posts from 2012, as determined by viewership, center around the “oConomy” — not just the world of online work, but the role oDesk plays in this ecosystem. Here’s a quick recap of the year’s most popular posts.

1. Visualization of the oDesk “oConomy”: Exploring Our World of Work

In July, we launched the oDesk Country Dashboard — an interactive way for everyone to dive into oDesk’s data and explore who’s doing what across 180 different countries. The dashboard provides an easy way to visually:

• compare activity between countries by day and time;
• follow oDesk’s overall level of activity; and
• explore the types of work being completed in each country.

Check it out, and let us know if there are other data cuts you would like to see visualized!

2. The Blackouts in India, Seen in oDesk Data

At the end of July, India was hobbled by a nationwide blackout; some 620 million people were left without electricity (roughly half of India’s population).

India is one of the most active countries on oDesk, so our staff economist John Horton was curious to see how such a widespread disruption might impact online work. “The Blackouts in India” post presents his data-driven look at the oConomy during those disconnected hours.

3. Contractors Average 190% Earnings Growth in 3 Years: What’s Driving This Potential?

We’re always excited to hear about oDesk success stories, but anecdotal evidence highlights limited parts of the big picture; only data can reveal whether that success is widespread.

By analyzing information from 90,000 contractors, Horton found that tenure on oDesk translates to significantly higher earnings for contractors. He also identifies other non-tenure factors that can influence this earnings potential.

4. Digitization of the Supply Side of the Labor Market

The growing use of vast amounts of information to analyze and predict behavior (also known as “big data”) has made a significant impact on how information is presented to us — particularly in retail, where we increasingly see highly customized promotions and content.

So far, the impact of “big data” on the labor market has been limited, at least for the “supply side” of the market (i.e. the job seekers, as opposed to the job openings). However, Horton predicts that this is changing, led by sites like LinkedIn and oDesk. One day soon, instead of the traditional job search, our ideal jobs may come find us.

5. Welcome to the New Home of oDesk’s oConomy

When we introduced the oDesk Country Dashboard (see post #1), we wrote this accompanying article that describes some of the who, what and how of the larger effort behind it — known as the oDesk oConomy.

Classic Advice for Online Work

Beyond the popularity of data-driven posts, these older blog articles — which focus primarily on the essentials of online work — continue to make their mark.

1. How to Write a Cover Letter. You get one chance to make a first impression; this post explains how a great cover letter can help you shine.
2. Top 25 Project Management Blogs. If you want to manage projects — and your teams — more effectively, the blogs highlighted here are a great place to start.
3. Top 10 Online Resources to Learn and Master Microsoft Excel: Training and Tools. Complementing the interest in oDesk data is the number of people learning to use Excel to analyze their own numbers. From forums to training programs, these free resources can help you figure it out.
4. 5 Steps to Improve Your Online Resume. Making the most of your oDesk profile is a big step towards finding success. Use this list to improve and refocus the way you present yourself.
5. 7-Item Contractor Checklist for Finding Remote Work. The first question most new oDesk contractors ask is: “How do I get started?” This checklist will walk you through seven key steps to get you on your way.

What posts influenced your work over the past year? Add your favorites in the comments section below.

The post oDesk Data Reveals the Future of Work: Our Top Posts for 2012 appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 1/4/2013:

VSee: Remote Work—A Big Weapon For Small Companies In The War For Talent
How can your small company run with the big boys in the talent wars? Jessica Stillman suggests that while small companies might not be able to compete with tech giants on compensation alone, offering candidates the option to work remotely can help small firms stand out in the recruiting arena. Stillman discusses numerous benefits of remote work initiatives, highlighting its ability to help firms transcend geographic constraints and find workers with the skills they need.

Harvard Business Review: Get Ready For The New Workforce  
With baby boomers set to retire in droves in the coming years, the U.S. labor force is on the verge of a stunning transition—one that holds significant implications for how companies will hire and manage talent in the years ahead. Ron Ashkenas discusses the likely impacts of this shift, as well as the steps managers can take to minimize potential disruptions. His advice? Plan for the transition well in advance to ensure organizational continuity and prepare your firm for a new generation of workers.

Business2Community: How To Prevent Your Work-From-Home Job From Taking Over Your Life
While leaving the office behind to pursue the freelance life may sound rather idyllic, for many, the transition comes with growing pains. One of the largest issues new telecommuters face is the struggle to find an effective balance between their work and personal lives. Nancy Perkins shares three tips to help freelancers minimize any conflicts that might arise.

The Wall Street Journal: How To Be A Better Boss In 2013
When looking at how to improve your team in 2013, why not start with you? A team of Wall Street Journal contributors and management mavens offers a handful of great tips to sharpen your management prowess. From minimizing clutter and breaking through skills plateaus to motivating your team, this expert advice should help you lead your team to new heights in the coming year.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of January 4th appeared first on oBlog.

So, how much of that made sense? If you aren’t a native English speaker, probably not much. In fact, one might think I was in an overgrown Belgian garden, my head on fire, only to be doused by a possibly demonic flood while people around me discussed garbage.

Welcome to the wild world of English idioms! Where nothing is as it seems and phrases like “you’re pulling my leg” have nothing to do with someone truly tugging on your lower limb.

As oDesk’s official word wrangler, this is a subject I spend a lot of time pondering. (Like, waaaayyyy too much time.) So I thought I’d share a few thoughts on how both sides of the communication equation can navigate a notoriously wacky language.

When in doubt, KISS

There are a few ways you could read the title above: When in doubt, 1) pucker up and smooch, 2) listen to an awesome 70s glam rock band, or 3) Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I meant the last one. (And, no, I don’t think you’re stupid. It’s just part of the saying.) So I’ve basically started off by ignoring my own first rule, which is to keep things simple.

If you’re learning English, spend some time on the Voice of America website. They have a truly wonderful section with shows in “Special English”—a slowed down, easy-to-understand pace that covers interesting topics in a way that’s super accessible to new English speakers.

If you’re on the other end of the equation (as I often am) attempting to communicate across language lines, always go for the easy word. Forget trying to impress and focus on the essential meaning of what you’re trying to say. See? Simple.

Say what you mean

According to Wikipedia, the English language contains about 25,000 idioms. And I love every one of them…which is why I’m constantly reminding myself to avoid them when I write for my oDesk audience.

Take a look again at the opening paragraph of this blog. With the exception of one statement (“I was late for a deadline”), pretty much all of it is written as idiom and metaphor. Here’s how I would change the language if I were writing for an international audience:

I was late for a deadline to write this blog post, and people were starting to talk. But I was going to get it done, no matter what!

It misses the playfulness of the original, but that’s okay because there is a 99% chance that my readers would have been too confused to pick up on any nuance anyway.

If you are new to the language and you run into a saying that just doesn’t make any sense, refer to one of many websites out there like Using English, which has a special section for idioms and figures of speech.

Learn from a pro

While I may write for an international audience, Paul Gomez is the real deal when it comes to teaching people not just how to speak English, but how to truly communicate.

As founder of American Spirit, a conversational English school based in Novi Sad, Serbia, he and his students find the formulas in basic sentences, then write and speak purposefully and repeatedly using those formulas. For example:

Subject + Verb + Article (if necessary) + Adjective + Noun + Preposition + Article (if necessary) + Noun

I rode a white horse in the parade. (with articles)

She is cooking dinner for us. (without articles)

He has his students listen to public speakers, often using lectures from TED as a resource. For reading, Paul recommends Raymond Carver for his use of everyday vocabulary and elementary structure.

And, remember, whatever side of the communication equation you may be on, a little patience and a sense of humor will go a long way.

Do you have a funny communication (or lack thereof) story to share? Or a trick to help make navigating the language a little easier? Enquiring minds want to know, so take a minute to post your personal English-language experience in the comments section below.

The post Say What?: Why the English Language is Weird and What To Do About It appeared first on oBlog.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for choosing oDesk this year. I am proud to be part of such an engaged, hardworking and innovative community of clients and contractors. By making oDesk your work home, you have continued to make it the largest and fastest-growing online workplace in the world. Thank you.

You’ve done some remarkable work this year. Contractors, you have continued to amaze us with the impressive (and still expanding!) breadth of skills you bring to oDesk, from animation and mobile app development to project management and statistical analysis. Our team was fortunate to meet many of you this year, especially at Contractor Appreciation Day events in Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Texas, and we loved hearing your stories about the careers you’ve built on oDesk. We wish you all the best for your continued success in 2013.

Clients, we loved hearing about your successes and best practices as well. From meeting with various startup groups throughout the year — such as General Assembly most recently — and at various user groups we’ve hosted, we have met so many remarkable businesses that are using oDesk in really exciting ways. One of my favorite stories of the year is that of Jay Shapiro, whose mobile app business is powered exclusively by 30 to 40 oDesk contractors across the globe; Jay runs the business from a 33-foot trailer as he and his family travel the world. We learned how clients like Jay and so many others use online work, including what they would like to see on oDesk. We are eager to put that feedback to good use in the coming year.

Here are a few more things we did this year that will help us make oDesk the best it can be in 2013:

• Based on your feedback, we redesigned major flows on our web site. This includes a unified ‘My Contractors’ page that enables clients to find — in one place — their current team members, their past hires, candidates they’ve interviewed, and contractors they’ve saved. It also includes a streamlined Message Center, which now features easy links to a thread’s attachments as well as to the profiles of those you’re communicating with.

• We’ve also made significant investments in our matching algorithms — which help clients find the best contractors for their job and helps contractors find the best jobs for their qualifications — starting with a substantial upgrade to our skills infrastructure.

• We launched a new look and feel for the oDesk brand, which better reflects the long-lasting professional relationships users build on oDesk. Love the way you work!  

(But it wasn’t all work and no play — we did have some fun in 2012 too.)

So thanks again, oDeskers, for making the past year such a great one. You are the heart of oDesk, and you are also trailblazers for the rest of the world — you have shown that incredible things are possible when you embrace the freedom and boundless opportunities that working from anywhere, with anyone in the world, can bring. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful things you will accomplish in 2013, and I hope the New Year is a happy, healthy and prosperous one for all of you.

GS

The post Thanks for a Great Year! appeared first on oBlog.

We’ve pulled together a collection of quick and easy ergonomics tips that you can implement in your daily routine to keep those muscles and joints from complaining.

Tip #1: Back to the Basics

One of the most common complaints of office dwellers and workers everywhere is back pain. After all, when you’re sitting all day, it becomes painfully apparent if your back isn’t holding up well. For those of you in an office setting (whether on-site or in the comfort of your own home office), you might want to invest in an ergonomic chair. A chair with lumbar support curves with your back to support your spine. And the ability to swivel and roll around isn’t just for impromptu races down the hallway; they extend the distance you can reach so you don’t strain your body.

If you’re working from a coffee shop, train, or flying spacecraft, never fear! There are ways you can save your back as well. Your grandmother was right—when sitting at a desk, don’t slouch and try to keep your elbows close to your body and your wrists straight. Keep your shoulders nice and relaxed so that you don’t end up with any pinched nerves.

Tip #2: Don’t Forget Those Eyes

As someone who is admittedly blind as a bat, this is a particular area of concern for me when I’m working. According to studies, when people are working on a computer they blink about five times less than normal. To avoid dried-out eyes, you’ll want to remind yourself to blink more (even if that sounds a little silly).

Another way to make things easier on your eyes is to make sure you have proper lighting and to reduce the glare on your screen. Try not to work outside where the glare will be too strong, but avoid coffee shops and areas with low mood lighting. If you’re in your home office, you might want to replace overhead fluorescent lights with floor lamps; this will provide friendlier indirect light.

To reduce eye strain, experts say you should look away from your monitor every twenty minutes so as to avoid focusing fatigue. You want to look at a distant object for about 20 seconds. So give yourself permission to people-watch or just consider the distance from your desk to the water cooler… but just for a little bit.

Tip #3: Keep Moving

And finally (and perhaps most obviously), please remember that our bodies were not made to sit in one place for eight hours or more at a time! You should get up occasionally and make sure your body parts are all accounted for.

“How will I know when to get up?” you might ask. Well wouldn’t you know it, there’s an app for that!

StandApp reminds you at a regular interval to stand up and move around, even suggesting different stretches and exercises you can do in your office or wherever you happen to be.

If you’re on a PC, you may want to download Workrave, a program that reduces Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) by alerting you of when you should take mini and regular breaks. Like StandApp, this program also demonstrates stretches that you can do during your breaks.

There you have it—some truly painless ways to keep your workday, well, painless. Feel free to sound off in the comments below as well. What do you do to keep your workspace friendly and healthy?

The post Keeping Your Body Happy While You Work: Ergonomics 101 appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 12/21/2012:

Entrepreneur: The Workspace Of The Future
Is the office becoming obsolete? According to Gartner’s Tom Austin, it certainly looks that way. With the rise of online collaboration tools like virtual conferencing and the rapid advancement of enterprise software, professionals are finding it easier than ever to work from anywhere. In addition to allowing some firms to become entirely virtual, the transitioning workforce will drive the traditional office to evolve into free-flowing, collaboration-friendly spaces, Austin predicts.

Harvard Business Review: Evaluating The Employees You Can’t See
With more and more employees working virtually, the paradigm of ‘management by observation’ is fading quickly. Keith Ferrazzi suggests that the transition to the virtual workplace is leading companies to more accurately assess employee performance by focusing on results, instead of just the “face time” spent in the office. Still, for most companies, finding an effective way to monitor employee productivity in this new era of workforce flexibility is no easy task. Ferrazzi provides five best practice tips to avoid common pitfalls and evaluate team members’ performance effectively, regardless of whether they’re in the office or at home.

The Wall Street Journal: For Some, Home=Office
In 2006, a mere 9% of Aetna’s workforce chose to telecommute. Just six years later, an impressive 47% of the company has chosen to forego the commute and work from home full time. Originally a tactic to boost employee retention, Aetna’s remote work program has taken a new direction, enabling the reduction of almost 2.7 million square feet of office space and resulting in an annual savings of approximately $80 million. In this article, David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal’s economics editor, explores historic workforce transitions and discusses the success of Aetna’s work-from-home initiative.

CBS News: 5 Ways To Make Telecommuting Work For You
From barking dogs to interruptions from the neighbors, working from home poses unique challenges not often found in the office. Recognizing these challenges but also emphasizing the work-life balance benefits of working from home, veteran telecommuter Kathy Kristof shares six great tips to help eliminate distractions, keep in touch, and focus on the job at hand.

eWeek: Intel Offers An Image Of The Workplace Of The Future
How will we be working in 10 years? What about 20? Asked to consider the changing nature of work, Intel’s Steve Brown and Tim Hanson share five key trends that are likely to impact workers in the near future. One key issue? Workforce flexibility. From office-less employees and dispersed teams to open innovation and “dynamic teams,” Brown and Hanson emphasize the increased importance of agile work strategies in the decades to come.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

And please note that this column will take a brief hiatus next week for the holidays. We look forward to seeing you in 2013!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of December 21st appeared first on oBlog.

As technology continues to advance rapidly, what does that mean for the way we will work in 2013? Or even 2020? oDesk CEO Gary Swart shared his vision for the future of work in an article today for VentureBeat, outlining 4 major trends that will shape the world of work in 2013. All of them lead to the conclusion that 2013 will be the year of the specialized, the customized and the analyzed. Specifically:

• Specialists will dominate the job market
• More custom catered education will serve up training for these specialists
• Big use of big data will power agile staffing (as analytics-driven HR takes off)
• A new disruptive skill will see explosive growth

What will that new disruptive skill be? How can professionals take advantage of tailored education to become in-demand specialists? To find out, check out Gary’s full article on VentureBeat here.

The post 2013: The Year of the Specialized, the Customized and the Analyzed appeared first on oBlog.

When it comes to virtual assistants, a common misconception is that they are just virtual secretaries for you or your business. While they can certainly perform that kind of work — from processing emails to addressing holiday cards — the truth is they can be more than that.

Much more.

In fact, if you limit your virtual assistant (VA) to traditional administrative jobs like playing gatekeeper, booking travel, or setting appointments, you’re missing out on a great opportunity.

Here are seven out-of-the-box tasks a virtual assistant can help you with:

1. Customer Service
Keeping your customers happy is critical in any business, but it can also be time-consuming. A virtual assistant can help manage the volume of customer service phone calls, emails, and live chat requests that come in, as well as help streamline your support process.

Bonus Opportunity: If you have your virtual assistant respond to customer queries early in the sales cycle, you can award them a small bonus for each sale they help “close.” It’s a small gesture to help keep them motivated and increase their income, while at the same time boosting the bottom line with incremental sales.

2. Writing Content
Content marketing can be a powerful tool in capturing new business, and there have never been more avenues in which to publish that content. Unfortunately, writing great content is a very time-intensive process — which means it is the perfect job to give to a talented virtual assistant.

Bonus Opportunity: Sometimes writing the content is the easy part; the hard part is coming up with the idea! Your virtual assistant can help keep an eye on industry trends by subscribing to HARO (Help a Reporter Out), creating Google Alerts for certain key phrases, and reading related blogs. All of these will help them come up with ideas to create content about.

3. Proofreading
If your virtual assistant is a skilled writer, they probably also have an eye for editing. You can have them look over your written work before you make it public. Whether it’s an important email, a sales letter, or even a book, having an extra set of eyes on it can be a big help.

4. Research
As an entrepreneur or simply a busy professional, odds are you’re always thinking of new ideas, but may not have time to fully research them. A virtual assistant can be an extension of yourself and do the digging for you.

For instance, there was a car that used to park near my place that was plastered in advertising. I wondered what the IRS rules on vehicle advertising were (for example, if I put a company ad on my car, could I write off ALL of my mileage as an advertising expense?), so I had my VA look into it.

(In case you’re curious, the answer was no.)

5. Lead Generation
If you’re in sales (and everyone is to a certain degree), a virtual assistant can help identify leads. Simply give them a list of instructions and criteria and have them run with it.

For example, in real estate investing that could be, “Contact ‘For Sale by Owner’ listings and ask them these qualifying questions.”

6. Social Media
Maintaining a strong social media presence is crucial these days — both for increasing exposure to new customers and building relationships with existing ones. The problem is it’s always on, and it can be a major time suck.

However, you can give your VA some guidelines (what kind of content to post/retweet, how often to post, how to reply to questions, etc.), and effectively remove yourself from much of the process. Even for personal brands, there is an opportunity to free up a lot of time with a social-savvy virtual assistant.

7. Human Resources
As your business grows, you may need to bring on additional help. Why not have your virtual assistant coordinate your human resources efforts by handling job posting and applicant screening?

You should still interview the final candidates, but in the meantime you’ll save much of the trouble and headache involved with the hiring process.

What kind of work does your virtual assistant help with? Please share your experience in the comments section below!

Nick Loper is an online entrepreneur and lifelong student in the game of business. His most recent project is VirtualAssistantAssistant.com, a directory and review database for virtual assistant companies. He has been using online work since 2005 and is the author of “Virtual Assistant Assistant: The Ultimate Guide to Finding, Hiring, and Working with Virtual Assistants.”

The post Think Outside the Administrative Box: 7 Key Tasks Your Virtual Assistant Can Do For You appeared first on oBlog.

oDesk’s weekly column brings you the latest news on labor markets, innovation, and online work.

Week of 12/14/2012:

Bloomberg: Alternatives To Running Your Business From Home
When working from home, the line between personal and professional can quickly become blurred. If that sounds too familiar, check out Karen E. Klein‘s tips for finding flexible work options outside your home office. Beyond local coffee houses, Klein recommends venturing out to libraries, hotel lobbies, co-working spaces and even incubators for a refreshing change of scenery, some networking and collaboration opportunities, and often a great cup of coffee.

Forbes: Is Your Employment Model Too Stateful?
Is your workforce stateful or stateless? Rawn Shah discusses the concept of “Workforce-as-a-Service” or “talent in the cloud,” repurposing the IT descriptors ‘stateful’ and ‘stateless’ to describe allocation of human resources. Shah writes that a stateless workflow—one in which people can contribute to multiple projects at the same time instead of being stuck in one role or task—can help businesses be more flexible than with a stateful model. The benefits of going stateless include accessing the right employee expertise every time, while fostering greater business agility.

Business Insider: Mary Meeker’s Must-Read Presentation on the State of the Web
Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins shared her annual 2012 Internet Trends presentation this week. In it she discusses the state of the Internet, with analysis and forecasts on everything from mobile advertising to tablet adoption. She also discusses disruptive technologies and how they are transforming traditional industries, shifting the world away from a heavy dependence on fixed assets to one in which assets are lean and resources are on demand. This certainly applies to organizational structure and workforce models—check out one of her slides below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of December 14th appeared first on oBlog.

Sights and sounds that many of us will never see or hear are just another stop on the road for Bernard Vukas—from Ottoman mosques in Turkey, to rice and curry shops in Thailand, to a beachfront office in the Philippines.

With a lifestyle that is nothing if not location independent, Vukas—a Microsoft Office Business Applications (OBA) developer originally from Croatia—has embraced the “work anywhere” freedom enabled by online work.

Taking work on the road

Vukas’ adventures started with a rather inconspicuous piece of furniture: His couch.

When a friend referred him to Couchsurfing—an offbeat networking site that connects travelers with available “couches” (i.e. local hosts) in cities throughout the world and uses karma for currency—Vukas was intrigued. He began hosting couch surfers from around the world and, in the process, was bitten by the travel bug himself.

Soon after, he read the book The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau and realized that perhaps work and travel could go hand in hand. Since his freelance developer work was all conducted online, he decided to give it a try.

Vukas’ first stop was Istanbul, Turkey. Using a travel agency to book his trip, he took a bus tour from Serbia to Turkey.

As vacations go, however, he wasn’t thrilled with the experience. “The fact that we stayed in a hotel and ate quasi-European food wasn’t appealing at all. This motivated me to strive to stay as away from hotels (and as close to the locals as possible) next time.”

While his travel arrangements didn’t meet his ideal, his work experience went well. As the bus wound its way from Serbia to Turkey and back again, Vukas made use of the time between stops to accomplish work; he’d brought an extra battery, but it wasn’t needed as the bus had electrical power. When he wasn’t working, he took in the sights and sounds of the former Ottoman empire.

When his trip wrapped up, Vukas was hooked: Working while traveling opened up almost any place in the world as a place to call “home.”

It wasn’t long before he was preparing for his next destination.

Home is where the couch is

Vukas decided to venture even further from his home country of Croatia, ditching the cold European winter for the tropical climes of Thailand.

This time, however, he decided to give couch surfing a try himself.

“[Thailand] was my first time using Couchsurfing…and it was awesome!” he said. “I’m not a huge fan of planning, so I hired a girl on oDesk to help me organize everything. She had been to Thailand before and she connected me with Phiseak Klanutai, the organizer of weekly Bangkok Couchsurfing meetings. I ended up staying with him…for almost four months.”

Vukas spent a total of six months in Thailand before returning home. After logging another trip to Thailand, as well as a trip to Bangladesh, he was convinced: Location was completely irrelevant to his ability to make a living.

This realization freed him to take an even bigger step: Uprooting himself and moving halfway around the world to the Philippines.

For this decision, Vukas credits Google. “Pictures of Boracay that appeared on Google Images were part of the reason I moved. I’ve had 30 years of winter in Europe, and I wanted a change. This seemed like a perfect destination!”

What two years on the go can teach you

Based on his experiences, Vukas has some key advice for other contractors who want to embrace travel while still making a living:

• Establish a work center: ”I try to set up a home-base as soon as possible, so that I’m able to work,” he said. “When I travel, I usually work from my room. On rarest occasions I go to coffee shops. I rent on a monthly basis, usually apartment-style 1- or 2-bedroom units with a kitchen.”
• Stay longer: ”I try traveling as little as possible, spending at least three to six months in one location. Renting on a long-term basis is important, as well as arriving to your destination in the off-season.”
• Make sure your costs are covered: Make sure to set or adjust your travel plans according to how much you expect to work and earn while you’re there—this means researching what your costs will be and setting a budget. And don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth, Bernard advises contractors. “I usually recommend starting in the $20-30 range, especially if they have a good career track record.”

For Vukas, online work has been the key to changing travel from a mere vacation into a way of life. Have you had a similar experience? Share your travel adventures and on-the-road work advice in the comments section below.

The post Location Independent: Bernard Vukas’ Travel and Work Experiment appeared first on oBlog.

This post originally appeared on the 7Geese blog.

Last week, I attended a fireside chat event with Gary Swart, the CEO of oDesk, where I was blown away by the concept of an on-demand online workforce and how Gary predicts that by 2020, one in every three employees in the workforce will work remotely online. This topic also came up a few days ago at an event I attended at Stanford, where Mary Meeker gave her talk on 2012 Internet Trends. Mary asserted the trend towards an on-demand Workforce-as-a-Service (WaaS) using platforms like oDesk, which enable employment to be asset-light with very minimal fixed costs. I’ve now realized that the on-demand workforce is a reality and many tech giants here in the San Francisco Bay Area are embracing it. In this blog post I’m going to discuss on-demand workforces and how oDesk leverages this trend.

oDesk is the world’s largest workplace that brings the job to the worker rather than the worker to the job. oDesk addresses the problem of job opportunities not always existing where the talent lives by creating a platform with a time-based compensation model for workers. The service has over 500K clients and more than 2.7M on-demand workers with rapid growth. Gary mentioned three trends that have helped them with their growth:

• Internet and technology: More bandwidth and tools like Skype and Google Docs have made it much easier to work remotely. The internet has also made it much easier for people in the developing world to keep up with the latest technologies and learn market-needed skills.
• Globalization: Many businesses, including SMBs, are expanding worldwide and need a global workforce to sustain them. Furthermore, the number of English-speaking people is increasing around the world.
• Economy: The economy is forcing businesses to be agile and do more with less. An on-demand workforce is elastic and scalable.

On-demand workforces are not perfect and have some challenges associated with them. However, the main reason that I personally have not been a big believer is the importance of alignment to company values and bigger objectives, and how I thought it was impossible to have it with an on-demand/remote workforce. I posed my thoughts to Gary during his talk (image from the talk on the left) and his response changed my perspective. Gary admitted to this growing challenge and mentioned a few ways they overcome this problem in their own company, which employs a high percentage of remote workers:

• Giving an opportunity to have impact: People want the feeling of belonging to something bigger. oDesk enables its remote workers to work on a platform that has visible global impact.
• Learning and development: oDesk engages its remote workers to continuously learn and enhance their skills. Furthermore, people on oDesk’s platform are taking ownership of their own learning which is needed to stay competitive.
• Fair compensation: People want to be paid fairly and oDesk usually exceeds that expectation by enabling workers to get paid more than the market average for their geographic location.
• Balanced life: Many people join oDesk because of the flexibility it offers to work from anywhere. This is what they value and this is what oDesk can offer them. oDesk attracts top-notch talent who leave big companies like Amazon to gain the flexibility and life balance they desire.
• Face time: oDesk occasionally flies in its remote workers to work in its head office or sometimes flies people from head office to go spend time with remote workers around the world.

After listening to Gary’s talk, I realized that what we are doing with the 7Geese platform to align employees to company values and objectives can be utilized to align on-demand and remote workers as well. Suddenly, the vision for 7Geese became more in alignment with the future of work.

Amin Palizban is the CEO and Founder of 7Geese, a social performance management tool for the agile and entrepreneurial workforce to track goals, receive recognition, and gather feedback. He has always been interested in entrepreneurship and has started few successful businesses. Amin is passionate about utilizing technology to improve society, user- centric design, visual arts, and shared-value capitalism. He holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering from the University of British Columbia. When not at work, you can find Amin reading blogs at a coffee shop, freehand sketching, jogging by the ocean, practicing Yoga, or playing Capoeira.

The post The New Era of Workforce-as-a-Service is Here appeared first on oBlog.

While Jay Shapiro watches his daughter perform in her Montessori school glee club in New Jersey, an international team of contractors works on videos promoting his startup, Infinite Monkeys. As his daughter sings:

• A team leader in Louisiana hires translators to script the video in seven languages, then brings on a voiceover artist.
• A producer in the Philippines adds the audio tracks.
• A team in India mounts the videos on the seven language-based Infinite Monkeys websites.
• A contractor in India search-engine-optimizes the videos for YouTube, and a U.S. contractor uploads them.

A few weeks later, as the project is completed — on time and within budget — Shapiro; his wife, Alice Gugelev; and their children, Maya and Kurt, are comfortably worlds away at the family summer cabin on Gibson Lake in Ontario.

“There is no way I could have done that before oDesk,” says Shapiro, who started working with online teams more than a decade ago when he founded Singapore-based BLUE, an award-winning digital advertising agency that he later sold.

Life at BLUE — without VOIP or even a thought of cloud storage and real-time communication — was different than Shapiro’s approach to work today.

Back then, with satellite offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, China and on both U.S. coasts, Shapiro lived in a narrow seat with no leg room at 30,000 feet and ate unevenly heated meals from an airline commissary.

“I would typically spend three weeks of every month flying circles around the planet. At the height of the stupidity, in 2007, I had a house in Singapore, a house in San Mateo [CA], a leased flat in west London and a leased flat in Beijing. I’ll never do that again,” says Shapiro.

He still works more than 50 hours per week, but now he does it from anywhere he wants. That has included a glacier in Alaska, as well as stops in southeast Asia and many parts of the United States while the family was traveling.

“I’ve learned that I don’t have to be tied down with a permanent staff or have to be headquartered in one location,” says Shapiro, whose company — which allows anyone to build their own mobile app — reached a milestone of 10,000 created apps in its first year.

The startup’s sprint initially involved about 140 contractors, Shapiro says. Today, he uses 30 to 40.

“Infinite Monkeys presented the rare opportunity to have a clean sheet of paper. No legacy teams or structures,” he says.

“With the advent of online project management tools and access to a huge talent pool, we could assemble a team with all the skills you could possibly need to build a company. We have staff literally spread across six continents. They are an incredible team that brings us a level of skills and cost-efficiency we could never get in the past,” says Shapiro.

Infinite Monkeys, launched in February 2012, grew out of Shapiro’s recognition that evolving technology was making mobile app development easier, just as it had with website design.

His site, a drop-and-drag app that requires no coding knowledge, operates on a freemium model and provides its professional app builder free to any 501(c)3 nonprofit group. Infinite Monkeys also donates 10 percent of every dollar earned to a foundation to save orangutans in Borneo.

Alice, his wife, also runs an oDesk team in support of the couple’s charity: Muskoka Foundation. The non-profit group works with a broad network of travelers who use their skills to teach workshops ranging from business to photography, at orphanages, children’s shelters and community centers around the world.

Although Shapiro’s home is in northern New Jersey, his preferred business address is “global nomad,” as he runs Infinite Monkeys from a laptop with no fixed address. Often it’s from his lake house in Canada, but occasionally it’s from his custom-built motor home — a carbon-neutral, heavily modified Ford F650 he calls the “EcoRoamer,” in which his family tours the world.

“If you had said to me three years ago that we could work this way, I would have said it would be impossible” he says.

Shapiro leverages oDesk’s tools and others, such as cloud storage, white-boarding, screen-sharing and video-conferencing.

Says Shapiro: “It doesn’t matter if a person is in the cubicle next to me or a couple of time zones away, we’re working together as a team. We’re really living the dream.”

Brought under one roof, Shapiro’s team would need about 4,000 square feet, plus support services and equipment — costs that could choke a startup launching in a conventional way.

“With a virtual organization, we don’t worry about the typical overhead because we don’t need all that space and equipment,” Shapiro says.

And having a global workforce can bring unexpected benefits.

For example, when Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast in late October, Shapiro lost power at his home for three days, but Infinite Monkeys never missed a minute of work.

“Because of the distributed nature of our team, the company just kept going, that’s pretty powerful.” he says.

Tom Opdyke is a B2B/B2C public relations and marketing thought leader specializing in branding for enterprise systems developers, financial services institutions and start-ups. He is a veteran print, broadcast and digital writer/editor, with more than three decades as a journalist. Also an actor and commercial voice talent, Tom has written two movie scripts (in option), contributed to an anthology of southern culture and written and voiced scores of regional commercials. He especially likes voicing video games and animated characters. When not otherwise occupied, Tom is a high school and college baseball umpire, public speaker and voice coach.

The post The Latest Coveted Business Address: ‘Global Nomad’ appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 12/7/2012:

Xconomy: Maximizing Value and Minimizing Risk With Remote Workers
A veteran in the world of remote work, Nathaniel Borenstein shares what he’s learned about ensuring that virtual work arrangements are successful for both the employer and the employee. Borenstein emphasizes the importance of trust as a building block for great remote work relationships, allowing teams to collaborate efficiently and work cohesively. While hardly a simple exercise, virtual work is a great way to attract new talent and reward employees for a job well done, he writes.

Deloitte: Making Virtual Work ‘Business As Usual’
The construct of ‘work as a place’ has been replaced by the recognition of work as an action—a thing you do as opposed to a place you go. In this Deloitte report, Julianne McInerney, Omosede Idehen and Leah Goodman write that, due to a multitude of pressures, the way we work is becoming increasingly virtual, diverse and dispersed—changes which present significant challenges for firms looking to compete in the global workplace. While infrastructure issues certainly must be addressed in the shift towards a remote workforce, the authors argue that the entrenched mindsets of managers and employees are the largest barriers to progress. Deloitte provides a useful roadmap for overcoming these barriers, concluding that making virtual work into ‘business as usual’ might be the best way to achieve your goals.

99U: Why You Should Treat Your Freelance Portfolio Like A Stock Portfolio
One of the main priorities of any freelancer is establishing a steady stream of work—and ensuring your skills stay relevant enough to keep that pipeline full. Sarah Horowitz, the founder of Freelancers Union, advocates for the use of a “freelance portfolio” to fine-tune your project mix, allowing you to stabilize your income flow and minimize risk. In addition, by establishing the right distribution of clients and projects, you can meet income goals and focus on fine-tuning your most in-demand skills.

Workbar: 5 Questions Good Managers Ask When Managing Remote Teams
With an astounding 61% of the Fortune 500 reporting they will broaden their telecommuting policies in the next few years, the ability to manage distributed teams is becoming an increasingly important skill in the workplace. Workbar shares five tips for maintaining company culture and improving efficiency when managing virtual teams. Their takeaways? Define goals, integrate communications, and make sure to show appreciation for the work they do.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of December 7th appeared first on oBlog.

These solo professionals are also a pretty happy group. The 2012 State of Independence in America report from MBO Partners, for example, found that 71 percent of independent contractors have a high level of satisfaction with their work—and the vast majority expect things to stay the same or get better over the next year.

However, it’s increasingly evident that being self-employed isn’t without its challenges; with the continuing shift in the way the world works, many traditional systems and safety nets don’t fit the independent lifestyle.

In particular, despite the rise in independent contractors, their interests are generally unprotected. Even their numbers are unconfirmed; the Bureau of Labour Statistics stopped tracking contingent workers in 2005, before the economic downturn.

As a result—as cynical as it may sound—there’s only one person who is able to look after you and your self-employed future: You. Here’s some guidance on two of the most important considerations for long-term freelance career planning—protecting your finances, now and in the future, and staying professionally relevant.

Thinking About Finances

Retirement planning is a fairly universal challenge. “Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day,” wrote economics professor Teresa Ghilarducci in a New York Times opinion piece.

Financial issues are perhaps more magnified among self-employed professionals who have no employer—or employment support—to turn to for assistance with healthcare expenses, household emergencies, or periods of low or no income.

According to a survey from 24 Seven, cash flow is the number one concern that impacts freelancer happiness.

Providing advice for a freelance couple on CNN Money, financial planner Colleen Weber recommended a robust emergency reserve to help cover unforeseen shortfalls and protect against the feast-or-famine flux of freelance work. “The ideal target for freelancers: six months to a year of readily accessible funds,” she wrote.

That’s no small amount of change to squirrel away when you have other bills and expenses to pay on an ongoing basis. While a financial planner can give you the best advice for your particular situation, taking stock of your current income and expenses—plus setting a reasonable budget and sticking to it—is a starting point many know but still forget.

When you’re primarily focused on paying your bills this month and next, retirement can seem far on the horizon. In fact, many retirees turn to freelancing as a meaningful way to stay active and engaged while supplementing their income; for example, nearly half of working Canadians plan to ease into retirement by continuing with part-time or freelance work.

However, banking on a lengthy professional career instead of savings adds more risk to an already unknown future. U.S.-based freelancers have four basic investment options:

• a Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Arrangement (SEP IRA);
• a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA;
• an individual 401(k) or Roth 401(k); or
• a defined benefit plan.

You may also consider the Freelancers Union’s 401(k) Retirement Plan, open to anyone who receives 1099 income and tailored to help meet the needs of independent contractors.

Keeping Up With Your Industry

“Staying professionally relevant” is the challenge that most frequently keeps freelancers awake at night, 24 Seven’s survey found.

When it comes to ongoing education and the competition for talent, there’s extra pressure on the self-employed to manage their own career and guide it towards not just the skills needed now, but those needed in the future.

Given the rapid pace of change in the world we work in, how can you anticipate where you should focus your energy?

• Social media provides a phenomenal opportunity to stay on top of industry trends, whether you’re participating in conversations on Twitter or in LinkedIn groups.
• In-person networking is another way to learn what others are doing, as well as how general client needs in your industry may be shifting.
• In addition to networking opportunities, trade shows and conferences are some of the best ways to learn what’s new and coming soon in your particular sector.

You can also turn to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for a forecast: Their Occupational Outlook Handbook projects out to 2020 in a number of sectors, providing an overview of broad skills required and the job outlook.

What are you doing to plan ahead—for yourself or your business? Share your ideas in the comments section below.

The post Planning for Contractors: Managing Your Money And Your Skills appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 11/30/2012:

Harvard Business Review: Make Results Matter More Than Face Time
If performance—not face time—drives organizational success, why are workers still so focused on punching the clock? Ellen Galinsky, President of the Families and Work Institute, considers the lagging implementation of results-only work environments, concluding that it may be due to employee skepticism and the inability of managers to accurately manage performance. Regardless of potential obstacles, Galinsky challenges businesses to put results ahead of face time. She uses the example of Ryan LLC, a global tax firm, to highlight the benefits of a successful transition.

McKinsey Quarterly: The Evolution Of Work—One Company’s Story
Virtual collaboration has revolutionized the way we work today, but how can companies adapt to these changes? Rebecca Ranninger, Chief Human Resources Officer at Symantec, reflects on her company’s implementation of a virtual work program and discusses the dissonance between the tremendous benefits of a flexible workforce and the issues that can occur when employees are no longer in the same room. Ranninger highlights the importance of tailorable solutions, and recommends training managers to utilize remote work as they see fit.

Harvard Business Review: How To Manage Conflict In Virtual Teams
There are few threats to productivity as significant as workplace conflict, but how do you resolve conflicts in the virtual realm? Keith Ferrazzi shares his knowledge about conflict resolution in the virtual workplace. While conflicts are less likely to surface in the virtual world, a lack of face-to-face contact can exacerbate issues that do arise. Ferrazzi suggests that the use of online discussion boards and shared virtual workspaces can help quell issues through promoting frank, productive discussions and helping defuse potential conflicts.

Huffington Post: Commute Smart Means Work Smart
Tired of the morning commute? Ray McGroarty, Global Director for Enterprise UC Solutions at Polycom, urges workers to skip the commute and move towards the flexible, mobile future of work. With ready access to the necessary technology, McGroarty suggests that teams must surmount “cultural and behavioral barriers” to thrive remotely. In order to reap the benefits of mobile working, McGroarty advises corporations to set ground rules, which can shorten the learning curve for both employees and managers. He also recommends establishing support mechanisms for technical issues, bolstering communication on IM and video chat, and creating a culture of trust.

Business Insider: How To Boost Morale In A Virtual Workspace
Workplace collaboration has become increasingly virtual now that teams are often spread around the country, if not the globe. As a result, teamwork has never been more important, relays Katherine Graham-Leviss, founder of assessment and virtual coaching company XBInsights. In her interview with Business Insider, she shares her insight into the intricacies of virtual collaboration. A veteran of managing virtual teams, Graham-Leviss emphasizes the importance of adjusting communications strategies to best fit the personalities on your team, as well as the benefits of a structured virtual work environment.

Fast Company: Remote Worker Disaster Response Checklist
From floods and hurricanes to blackouts, oDeskers have overcome incredible odds to get work done in the face of adversity. In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, Cali Williams Yost shares some great tips to help freelancers prepare for any trouble that could come their way. From power to security, Yost provides a short checklist of freelancing necessities to help online workers prepare for any disruption.

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of November 30th appeared first on oBlog.

As Andrew Phelps discussed on the Nieman Media Lab blog, NPR’s programming staff needed a new approach. That’s when a development process already being used in the IT department was re-purposed to create radio programs. That methodology? Agile software development.

“[Agile is a] philosophy that products should be released early and iterated often,” explained Phelps. “The shows are live (cheap) and/or adaptations of existing shows (easy)…Listeners and local program directors are invited to help shape the sound of the programs, making it something of a public beta.”

Bringing An Agile Mindset To A Different Industry

Built on several decades of academic theorizing and real-world experimentation, agile is a project management approach that’s traditionally been geared towards software.

The specific principles that define the agile process were formalized in 2001 by a group of like-minded developers in the Agile Manifesto. Since that time, it has become a de facto standard for efficient, adaptable, customer-oriented web and software development.

When NPR began implementing agile, they didn’t employ every aspect of it. Instead, they made use of the elements that were most relevant to developing radio programming, including:

• iterative development (i.e. shows are changed based on listener and station feedback), and
• embracing simplicity (i.e. using live production and basing new shows off existing shows).

As NPR’s example illustrates, the principles that make agile such an effective software development tool can have extensive application to the rest of the business world as well, making non-IT teams equally adaptable and efficient.

How Agile Can Transform Your Business

Here are a few key agile hallmarks and how they can apply to your business—whatever sector you happen to be in.

Your highest priority is to satisfy your customer.

Jason Little, an agile expert and organizational change coach, helps non-IT industries successfully implement agile principles. One client was struggling to manage 12 different groups of customers. When they stopped to consider how they were interacting with their customers, however, “they immediately discovered they were over-saturating their audience with too many messages and were able to self-correct,” explained Little.

One way any industry can implement the customer satisfaction principle is by actively listening to the customer throughout every stage of product development; only develop incrementally and get the customer’s sign-off at each new level. This isn’t about allowing your client frequent opportunities to completely change the project, but instead making sure the work you are doing meets their expectations at every stage.

Conduct regular reflections on how to become more effective, then change accordingly.

Often called a retrospective, this agile methodology encourages teams to have regular meetings in which they talk about what worked and what didn’t in the last project they accomplished. Based off that discussion, improvements are made to the team’s workflow and management.

Little emphasized the importance of the retrospective in strengthening teams—and online teams in particular. “Regardless of industry or products and services being offered, getting into a rhythm of making small incremental improvements is a strong, positive habit for management teams to build,” he said.

He added that when team members see their supervisors investing in improving, they’ll embrace its importance for themselves.

The best products emerge from self-organizing teams.

Projects that are micromanaged rarely turn out well for anyone—a key reason behind the agile principle of self-organizing teams. Little summarized it by noting that “the people doing the work are the best suited to figuring out how to do the work.”

Mary Poppendieck concurred in her book, Implementing Lean Software Development. “Respect means that instead of telling people what to do and how to do it, you develop a reflexive organization where people use their heads and figure this out for themselves.”

In any industry, teams that are given ownership of their project are more creative and driven than their micromanaged counterparts. By implementing this agile principle, you’ll be walking in the steps of ROWE-inspired organizations.

Daily and/or weekly meetings keep the team on track and coordinated.

Many software development teams hold daily and/or weekly “stand-up” meetings to keep each other abreast on a project’s progress. These meetings, if kept short and sweet, are an incredibly valuable tool for any business. What should these focused meetings cover?

• The state of each attendee’s project work and what has been accomplished since the previous meeting;
• What work is going to be accomplished in the next period; and
• Any obstacles that a team member is facing.

These meetings are often referred to as “stand-ups” because, ideally, they should be short enough that everyone could stand during the meeting.

Little suggests regularly including both clients and stakeholders in at least some of these meetings. “I was working with a software team on one of those doomed projects and the simple change we made was to include the customers and stakeholders to the daily stand-ups twice a week,” he said. “Regardless of the methods and tools used to deliver the project, the flow of communication dramatically increased which helped the stakeholders realize how much work they were actually asking for and they found out about problems much sooner.”

Radio isn’t the only non-tech field to be inspired by agile. Marketing, freelance writing, book publishing and education are just a few of the industries being transformed by an innovative production methodology.  After all, if it works for Morning Edition, you know it’s got to be good.

Do you know of other non-tech fields that are successfully using the agile approach? Has your company tried it? Share your input in the comments section below.

The post Beyond Tech: Agile for Anyone appeared first on oBlog.

I wish planning an international event was now that easy — at least, that’s what I thought as I planned two large events for oDesk this year.

Early in 2012 we decided to recognize our most active contractors by hosting oDesk events, which we named Contractor Appreciation Days, in a city near them. We held a Facebook contest to determine which locations had the most active and engaged contractor communities, and two of the winning countries were Bangladesh and the Philippines. The goal was to host fun events in each country, where we could engage with a large group of our members, reward top earners, share news from oDesk and enable contractors to network.

I had never been to Bangladesh or the Philippines, nor do I have relatives there. Plus, in addition to planning the events from 7,000 miles away, I was working with a rather conservative budget. At first this project seemed extremely daunting and nerve-wracking, particularly when one event was estimated to have 1,000 attendees! But with a little prep and on-the-ground support, I’m happy to say that these events were a success. We had excellent feedback from our members and we learned a lot about contractors, their countries and ourselves in the process.

As a result, I wanted to share my experiences to help future event planners. I won’t sugarcoat it, it does involve a lot of work. But with the tips laid out here, I hope you can benefit from my experience.

Tip #1: Leverage local talent

One of the best things you can do is find a local event planner — one that lives in the area where the event will be held — who has a lot of experience planning previous events in the area. For Bangladesh, I found a contractor on oDesk who specialized in project management. After an interview over Skype, I knew Saidur would be knowledgeable, capable and proactive. We started with a small task: send me three locations where we can host at least 500 people. I requested pictures of the locations, quotes, and availability. Within a matter of days we had a venue selected and Saidur proved himself invaluable in helping with all the other logistics.

In the Philippines, the event was much larger and needed more than one local contact. This is where a few great contractors came in, two of which were Judy and Jasmine. Judy is a professional event planner who not only works on oDesk, but who also works for an event planning company in Manila — which means she had the connections we needed to secure a facility, food, A/V and security. Jasmine connected with a large network of oDesk contractors. She scoured the talent of colleagues in that network and found us a DJ, registration desk staff, photographers and entertainers.

The big lesson I learned here is that online talent is not just for online work! These contractors were my eyes, ears and feet on the ground, helping to pull these events together in ways that I couldn’t.

Tip #2: Preparation is key

With the proper planning, you’ll find that putting together an event is easier than you thought. First, create a planning document that can be easily understood by both you and anyone you may pull in to help with the event. I’m a big fan of checklists — mine included the basics like the facility, travel, and presentation content. It also included uniquely international items like getting vaccinations, hiring security, and packing every type of AV adaptor we could possibly need.

And when it comes to materials, over-prepare. For example, bring back-up copies of all your presentations (we had copies in an email inbox and a thumb drive, on our laptops, and sent to our local staff) and bring printouts of the attendee list, the presentations and nametags. Try to order all of your promotional items and giveaway products through local vendors. Don’t be afraid to hire an assistant event planner to manage these details.

Tip #3: Plan ahead with payments

In many locations, cash is the only payment option, particularly if you are looking to minimize costs. Some contractors are willing to make payments and be reimbursed; others would like the cash upfront. For any expense that was paid by a contractor, I requested a signed and scanned official receipt from the vendor. Make sure you have the vendor’s contact information, so if you have any concerns, you can call him or her to verify the expense before you send a payment. Remember that it can take several days for a contractor to be able to withdraw the funds they receive through oDesk.

The day of the event is when the bulk of the expenses need to be paid. If you are uncomfortable traveling to a country with upwards of $3,000 with you, there are a couple of options: You can wire funds to a local Western Union outlet and pick it up when you arrive, or you can contact your bank to pre-approve the ability to withdraw a large sum of funds from a bank or ATM in the country you are visiting.

Tip #4: Communicate early and often

It’s good to check in with your online team once a week, over the phone or via Skype. As you get closer to the event, increase the frequency of your calls. You can also keep everyone on the same page between calls by having a daily email check-in and a shared spreadsheet with the budget and task lists. After you have hired people to staff the event, you can make on-the-ground collaboration easier by creating and distributing a document with all their photos, names and mobile numbers. And don’t forget to have a call with all of them in the weeks prior to the event to address any questions or concerns.

Tip #5: Make the most of your trip

Flying halfway across the world is a big investment. Depending on how many people you send, one-third of your costs can be the flight alone. We had about four days on the ground for each trip and not a second was wasted. Prior to the trip, we contracted with a PR specialist for that region and had interviews scheduled with target media outlets. Through our networks we were able to secure meetings with government officials to discuss online work opportunities, and our contractors also organized a little sightseeing trip. (Clearly, sleep was not a priority.)

While we did put a great deal of time and effort into these events, in retrospect it really was a treat to be able to plan and attend them. Not only did I meet many great contractors and establish a team of resources in the local community, I learned so much about each culture and now can better visualize the daily lives of the people I work online with every day.

If you are planning an international event, I wish you the best of luck and a bon voyage!

For those who have already experienced planning an international event, what did you find most important? We would love to hear your tips in the comments section below!

The post A Voyage into International Event Planning appeared first on oBlog.

They both make intriguing points, but one that I feel strongly about falls on Kurzweil’s side of the argument—which is that Internet technology is creating a revolution in employment, one that’s for the better.

Using mobile apps as an example of new technology that has created employment opportunities, Wadhwa says there have “only” been 500,000 or so jobs created in the mobile app economy. But what I think is important to note is that the mobile app economy is much earlier in its evolution than the Internet is, and there is still significant growth ahead of it. On oDesk for example, we saw mobile app development demand take off just a few years ago and it’s now growing rapidly, at a rate of more than 115% over the past year.

It’s also important to remember that advances in Internet technology have created exponentially more jobs than in the mobile apps sector alone. We see this in online work, where the Internet has catalyzed job creation across the board by eliminating geographic barriers—and not just in industries that deal with new technologies. Even in age-old professions such as legal work and writing, the Internet has brought growth to countless industries by creating opportunities that didn’t exist before, that are unrestricted by geography. And the growth is staggering: from 2009 to this year, hours worked on oDesk have grown 8x.

Everyone’s talking about the rise of “telecommuting” and “virtual work” — all of which refer to leveraging the Internet to bring work to the worker, rather than the worker to the work. Today, it’s about enabling the best minds to work together, regardless of where they happen to be. Technology makes this possible. And we predict increasing connectivity and Internet savvy is going to continue to fuel this employment revolution, with one in three workers hired to work online by 2020. Now that is what I call an employment revolution.

To read the article in full, find it on The Washington Post here.

The post The Future Workforce: Technology Fueling a Revolution in Job Creation appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 11/16/2012:

Time: Hurricane Sandy Shows It’s Time To Embrace Workplace Flexibility
Peter Bacevice reflects on the impact of Superstorm Sandy, and the lessons we should take away about the future of the workplace. A proponent of flexible work, Bacevice highlights the benefits of allowing professionals to work on their own terms, from improving employee productivity and well-being to trimming company costs. By embracing what he calls “slow work”—a combination of workplace flexibility and results-only work environments, or “ROWE”—organizations build resilience and adaptability to adverse conditions. In addition, “companies that give employees the autonomy to work in ways that suit their needs are rewarded by workers who add value to the business,” Bacevice writes.

Smart Company: What To Do To Make Sure Working From Home Works
With so many benefits to flexible working, why aren’t more companies promoting it? Writing for Australian publication Smart Company, Cara Waters encourages managers to try implementing telecommuting and shares best practice tips for how to successfully navigate the transition. The technology is already there to facilitate it, so Waters advises managers to focus on trust, security, communication and frequent evaluations to help their teams run smoothly even at a distance.

Cantankerous Robots: Why I Decided To Spend More Time Working At Home
Sachib Kandar, CEO of Parse.ly, chronicles his experiences working remotely during Hurricane Sandy. No stranger to dispersed teams, Kandar was surprised to initially struggle when working from his apartment in New York. His solution? Kandar embraced a disciplined routine by clearly delineating between “work mode” and “relax mode,” and by using the Pomodoro Technique—a practice where bouts of productivity are interspersed with short breaks. Once he got into the habit of structuring his work-from-home days like that, he “realized not only how working from home was plausible, but why it can be beneficial,” he writes.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of November 16th appeared first on oBlog.

Hiring online can reduce much of the upfront investment required to bring on a new team member, but if you truly want to make sure they are positioned for long-term success, you should take a look at how you train and integrate new hires—a process often referred to as onboarding. When done right, onboarding is a powerful tool. But when the process is given only a hasty, cursory nod, consulting firm Egon Zehnder International notes, companies can lose up to 50 percent of their new talent.

A New Approach

“I’ll invest my money in people” – W.K. Kellogg

If you’re like many clients, you probably have some sort of orientation process—maybe a brief one- or two-day training session and a Google Doc manual to read. According to the Wynhurst Group, you should take it one step further. They point out the need for an extended process, saying that “22% of staff turnover occurs in the first forty-five days of employment.”

One reason the basic orientation process often falls short is that it merely introduces the new team member to your business. For long-term retention, your new hire needs to be integrated. Your goal should be to transition them, starting on day one, from being a team outsider into a team insider. For this to work, they need extended help navigating both social relationships and team culture.

After the orientation, what should come next? We spoke with Darleen DeRosa, a managing partner with OnPoint Consulting and co-author of Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide to Working and Leading From a Distance. She’s seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to the onboarding process. According to DeRosa, successful onboarding is really about good coaching.

“Virtual team leaders need to consistently monitor progress and provide frequent feedback and coaching,” she stated. While this may sound like a tall order for your already busy schedule, it’s not impossible. You can start by implementing the following four basic strategies:

1. Prioritize Relationships
Distributed teams don’t have built-in opportunities for socializing. And for a somebody new, it can be a bit awkward to know how to interact with other team members. Add to that, they’re often lost about who to turn to for help and how to properly interpret communication from other team members.

That’s why DeRosa says the onboarding process must prioritize relationship-building. “A common pitfall is where leaders focus on the task and neglect helping the [new] team member build relationships and foster trust with the other existing team members.”

She recommends that from the very first team meeting, managers work to integrate the new team member. “The majority of the agenda items should be directed toward helping team members get to know each other better, building a sense of community/team, and clarifying when collaboration is needed and what it looks like when it is,” she said. A creative use of “always-on” technology is another important tool to help ease new hires into the social landscape of your online team. (For more on this, check out another oDesk post, “The Power of Relationships.”)

2. Share the Big Picture
A new hire who knows how his or her job is advancing the bigger picture is more engaged and motivated. DeRosa noted, “Having a sense of purpose and a clear understanding of how the virtual team contributes to the organization’s overall goals helps build a sense of unity and provides direction and motivation…These matters should be communicated early and often while a team is working together.”

3. Recognize Achievement
The newbie on your team will likely have a hard time discerning whether or not they’re living up to expectations. Without feedback, they can become demoralized and start to disengage. That’s one reason DeRosa emphasizes recognition as part of the onboarding process. “When virtual team members are consistently recognized and rewarded for their achievements, their commitment to the team and organization is reinforced and they stay motivated.”

4. Provide Constructive Criticism
All feedback is important, both positive and negative. If a new team member doesn’t realize they’re regularly breaching team protocol, how are they ever going to change? “Provide constructive criticism to improve performance by citing specific examples of what the person did and did not do versus your expectations in specific situations and by describing the impact of his/her behavior. Agree on next steps for improvement and a time for a follow-up conversation,” DeRosa advised.

Online Onboarding In Action

Wondering what those strategies look like for an online team? John Mertic experienced a well-thought out onboarding process when he was hired by a San Francisco Bay Area company in 2007. Based out of Ohio, Mertic was several thousand miles away from his team. But the distance did not put him at a disadvantage—thanks in part to the coaching process the company employed.

Mertic was assigned a mentor, someone to help him integrate into both team culture and workflow. From his experience, he outlines what makes a good mentor: “One part teaching processes within the team, one part learning the personalities of the team members, and one part (which I consider the most important) showcasing to the greater team the value of the new team member.”

For Mertic, the need for companies to provide long-term coaching for new hires is absolutely essential. “It’s hard to join a new organization,” he said. “But having that person there to guide and support you is essential to your happiness and wellbeing on the team.”

Now it’s your turn. Have you experienced a great onboarding process? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

The post Beyond Orientation: Successful Online Team Onboarding appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 11/9/2012:

Financial Post: Telework—A Productivity Alternative That Hits Close To Home
Dramatic attitude shifts regarding remote work, especially among executives, have enabled wide swaths of the workforce to work from anywhere. Formerly seen as just a tactic to attract top talent, remote work has become recognized as a successful way to improve worker productivity and reduce overhead costs. While research continues to confirm the benefits of flexible work strategies, pushback from middle managers has delayed the diffusion of telecommuting. Denise Deveau advances the sentiment that managers—and HR departments—should embrace and promote the shift to a more flexible workforce.

Washington Post: In Sandy’s Aftermath, More Openness For Remote Work?
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, corporations should radically rethink their stances on remote work, suggests Jena McGregor. From CEOs to new hires, the devastation of Sandy forced professionals to adapt, working wherever and however they could. McGregor states that the resilience of employees during the hurricane proves that they can be productive even while working remotely in the most difficult of circumstances—which makes standard flexible work options almost a no-brainer.

Harvard Business Review: Is Technology Making You More (Or Less) Of A Jerk?
From email to Skype to Yammer, distributed teams rely on technology to collaborate from around the globe. But are you using virtual communications for good or for evil? Michael Schrage, research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business, offers an interesting perspective on the impact of communications technology in the workplace, noting that it tends to make good managers better and bad managers worse. Schrage argues that while communications technology has enhanced what managers can do, they should remember to use these technologies to enhance their management and mentoring abilities—and not to micromanage.

IT News Africa: Remote Working The Key To Productivity
Can remote work help professionals seamlessly integrate work and life? Citrix’s Sean Wainer highlights the life-enriching benefits of remote work, while arguing that its productivity-boosting benefits make it a crucial strategy for competitive firms. Heralding the advantages of mobile work, Wanier outlines the key operational considerations corporations need to address in order to integrate remote work into their organizations.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of November 9th appeared first on oBlog.

“I missed spending time with my son,” she admitted. “It ate at me, every summer, that he didn’t get a summer vacation, because that was something I looked forward to every year growing up.”

Deciding to leave her job earlier this year to work online, doing social media marketing, has turned that around. “I stepped out of my comfort zone to do what I love,” Angela said, noting that her decision has given her much more time to spend with her family. “I’ve never been happier. I’ve never been less stressed. It’s very liberating.”

High levels of work-family stress are causing many people to look for more flexible solutions—and often, that solution is the life of an independent worker. A recent survey by professional staffing company Mom Corps found that 52 percent of employees would start their own business in order to get the flexibility they’re looking for.

“As professionals come to terms with the idea of flexibility, they are gaining confidence in seeking their preferred work environment and shaping their careers accordingly,” said Allison O’Kelly, founder and CEO of Mom Corps.

The Sandwich Generation: Looking For Balance

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, more than 87 percent of American families have at least one working parent.

“It’s impossible to parent-shift,” observed C. C. Chapman, founder of Digital Dads, in The Working Parent’s Guide to Working from Home (or Anywhere Else). “While the right tools make it easy to work on your terms, it’s tough to do the same with parenting.”

For people in what is known as “the sandwich generation,” flextime isn’t just about being available for their kids. According to a survey by the Families and Work Institute, one in five working adults is also currently caring for an older relative—and slightly less than half of those adults also have at least one child under the age of 18.

“There really aren’t any easy solutions to this work/family conflict,” Chuck Ross wrote in a recent blog post for the AARP.

“Yes, enlightened employers who understand that our need to leave early to sit in on Dad’s next kidney appointment is just as valid as a coworker’s desire to attend a son’s soccer game would be great,” he noted. “In the short term, though, it’s up to each of us to truly understand the limits of what we can and can’t do, and not beat ourselves up when we fall short of our own or someone else’s idea of ideal.”

Scheduling Work Around Family

Before she left her job, Angela juggled both her property management job and her freelancing work. When she finally made the leap, the shift was practically seamless. “There was no downtime at all,” she said. “I started applying to jobs and I started getting them…making just as much as I was when I was doing the 9-to-5, commuting 40 minutes each way.”

Now, Angela says she can put money away into savings and has the freedom to flex her schedule around her family. “[My fiancé] does maintenance in property management, and his busy season is in the winter–shoveling or salting the walkways—whereas mine [as an assistant property manager] was in the summer,” she explained.

“The window of opportunity for us to do anything was very, very small. We would have to plan everything so far in advance. [Freelancing] gives me the freedom to do more things with my family, and not worry about things like: Is someone going to get fired if we take this vacation?”

Resources for Flexibility Seekers

• To coincide with the recent 2012 Workflex Conference, the Families and Work Institute recently launched The Workflex Employee Toolkit. This resource provides advice for employees on how to ask for a more flexible schedule, and information about how you can make it work for you.

• Targeted to moms and dads, Chapman’s free ebook takes an honest look at balancing commitments like deadlines and business travel with family time and good communication.

• oDesk’s own VP of Marketing Jaleh Bisharat shared her recommendations in Love the Way You Work, and Be a Parent Too.

Has flexible work helped you create better work-family balance? Share your stories and advice in the comments section below.

The post Creating Work-Family Balance Through Flexible Work appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 11/2/2012:

HRE Online: Unleashing The Workforce
When executives at Unilever wanted to supercharge their workforce, they implemented an ambitious agile working policy, freeing employees to work whenever and wherever they desired. Initially meeting resistance from some senior managers, the program has become a resounding success, increasing productivity as well as worker loyalty. Will Bunch narrates Unilever’s shift to a flexible workforce, and discusses how the use of flex-time has revolutionized their company.

Harvard Business Review: Digital Staffing—The Future Of Recruitment-By-Algorithm
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of Business Psychology at University College London, discusses the impact of social media and the Internet on the future of recruiting. Spending much of their lives online, modern professionals are making access to their preferences, capabilities and personal information plentiful—information that Chamorro-Premuzic argues is making it easier for recruiters to find great talent online and for candidates to find the best jobs. He argues that the Web is transforming recruiting, making it easier to find employees, widening the pool of recruits, and ramping up operational efficiencies.

Forbes: To What Extent Can A Startup Work Without An Office?
Can startups succeed without an office? Paul DeJoe, Co-founder and CEO of Ecquire, speaks to his experiences building a ‘virtual’ company. Quick to mention the difficulties faced by his team, DeJoe provides an honest look at life in a remote company. He concludes that while there are a number of reasons to adopt remote work, managers must consider their team’s dynamic and personalities of their employees before choosing to go virtual.

Washington Post: Storm Ramps Up Federal Teleworking
While Hurricane Sandy has sent most workers on the East Coast home, many government workers will not be sitting idly and waiting for the storm to pass. According to the Office of Personnel Management, during government building closures the number of government employees working remotely almost quadruples in size. Joe Davidson finds that barriers to telework are largely related to management, and not technology access, or workers ability to be productive at home.

Business Insider: Survey Says Telecommuters Happier, Healthier, And Better Balanced
Did you know that the average remote worker saves their company $10,00 per year? Ryan Mack, partner at TruYuu, writes that the positive impacts of remote work are simply too substantial to ignore.  From less stress and better health, to millions in savings, working from home promises to improve the lives of your employees–and your companies bottom line. Citing recent studies on telecommuting, Mack outlines some of the key benefits of the work from home revolution.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of November 2nd appeared first on oBlog.

“Self-organizing systems have what all leaders crave: the capacity to respond continuously to change,” they wrote in The Irresistible Future of Organizing.

Nearly two decades later, this organizational capacity for change is even more critical; the new business frontier has emerged as what some business leaders call chaos. “When businesspeople search for the right forecast…no credible long-term picture emerges,” wrote Robert Safian earlier in Fast Company. “The next decade or two will be defined by more fluidity than by any new, settled paradigm: if there is a pattern to all this, it is that there is no pattern.”

As described on the oDesk blog in the past, in order to respond to this uncertainty the workplace of the future needs to be creative and adaptable and focused on results over process. In many ways, forming this kind of work environment means growing your business as a living organization and empowering your individual team members.

Lead With Intent

According to Wheatley and Kellner-Rogers, self-organizing works because the individuals involved are able to form a collective. Observing social relations between insects, termites and even drivers in traffic jams, they noted that order emerges—even in the absence of leadership—because of a shared objective.

“Members develop connections with one another,” they wrote. “Each determines its behavior based on information about what its neighbors are doing and what the collective purpose is. From such simple conditions, working communities emerge, self-organizing from local connections into global patterns and processes.”

From an organizational point of view, supporting this kind of ground-up collaboration squashes the traditional management pyramid; layered hands-on management isn’t as relevant in a 24/7, anytime/anywhere business environment.

Instead, every individual is empowered to act. Organizational leadership becomes focused on intent and clearly communicating global goals and vision, and the role of the manager becomes one of mentor, connector, and advocate.

Help Team Members Find Meaning

“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood, sweat and tears.”
– Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why

A workforce of empowered individuals can be an intimidating thing; you have to trust that your team members will make decisions that support the organization.

That’s where being able to clearly communicate your vision becomes critical—first you need to find people who believe what you believe, and then you need to show them the link between what they do and the organization’s success.

“A company can spend lots of time developing a perfect strategy,” wrote Jacque Vilet on human resources blog TLNT. “But it means nothing if it is unable to ‘cascade’ that strategy down to the day-to-day work of its employees.”

Further, drawing a line between day-to-day work and overall vision gives people a sense of purpose—something that will stop people from walking out the door. A survey by Deloitte found that even in an uncertain economy, people want meaningful work that challenges them and makes good use of their skills and abilities.

Leading an organization with intent creates an environment where individuals can self-organize and self-direct—an environment that will prepare your company to compete as the future of work unfolds.

Do you think this kind of empowered workforce is the future of business, or is it more of an ideal? Please add your thoughts to the comments below.

The post Create a Fast-Moving “Living Organization” by Empowering Individuals appeared first on oBlog.

Michael Dumont, an area businessman, realized that something had to be done.

“One in four people were out of work and when there was a job opportunity available, the demand for it was high,” he explained. “We were facing worse unemployment numbers than during the Great Depression, when unemployment was only 25 percent.”

A New Economic Focus: Online Work

A community development group, VisionPerry, was formed to begin addressing some of the county’s employment problems. Unfortunately, recruiting more manufacturing plants wasn’t a possibility; the lack of multi-lane highways in the county was considered a big drawback. As the task force pursued other options, it didn’t take long for them to see the potential in online work.

They decided to take part in a pilot project that focused on training rural residents in the skills needed for online job opportunities. In a press release for the new initiative, Dumont—who became director of VisionPerry—noted that when first approached with the concept, they “immediately saw the opportunity to shift the community from a manufacturing mindset to a knowledge and services-based economy mindset.”

But it wasn’t just about training. VisionPerry also wanted to be able to provide actual jobs for the program graduates.

They began to aggressively pursue online work partnerships and discovered that many companies were excited to work with them. “We got some leads on various companies and started sitting down with them to talk about the situation. There was an emotional draw because of our high unemployment and our people that were in need,” Dumont said, noting that companies wanted to help.

The county initiative was able to take advantage of federal funding, and established a training facility in the county seat of Linden, Tennessee. Because the county’s workforce had previously relied heavily on factory manufacturing work, the VisionPerry task force decided to take that expertise and transfer it to the world of online work.

“We coined the word ‘digital factory’ to show that we would have different opportunities, like “factory lines” within the work center,” Dumont explained. “It wouldn’t just be a call center or just a programming shop or just a web content management place. It would be multiple lines of work within one facility.”

In a matter of months, the first batch of program graduates had not only successfully completed the training, they’d also embarked on a whole new career—one in which the possibilities for advancement were no longer limited by the lack of four-lane highways.

Course Offerings Create Foundation For A Career

VisionPerry and its sister program, VisionGibson, provide two different training tracks. The course offerings include customer service, web design and programming. They’ve also used online microwork opportunities to provide short-term employment.

Ashlee Starkey is a customer service trainer at one of the area’s Digital Factories. She has seen firsthand the transformation that occurs as students progress through their training.

“The majority of people we have come in here have only flipped burgers or worked on an assembly line at a factory. We even have people…[who’ve] never turned on a computer before. They go from having almost no customer service skills and even no computer skills to being able to work on a computer daily and being able to handle customer service situations.”

One such graduate was Ashley Brown. He previously worked as a farmhand, but had been struggling for three years to find steady work. After completing the programming training course at the Gibson County Digital Factory, his employment prospects changed dramatically. In an interview with the Tri-City Reporter, Brown said that going in, “I had no prior computer programming experience.” Since his graduation, he says, “I don’t have a job; I actually have a career.”

Results? Placement Close To 100 Percent

Between the two Digital Factory locations, close to 300 people have been trained. Of that 300, the placement rate is close to 100 percent. “If they make it through our program, almost everyone gets hired afterwards,” Dumont said.

As he looks towards the future, Dumont sees the success of the VisionPerry initiative expanding across the region. “We’ve got a good program and good corporate partners. And what’s happening now is that we’re being asked to help set these up in various communities throughout the region. This is bringing 21st-century jobs to rural communities that have been overlooked for many years.”

How can online work training programs be expanded to other communities? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post How a Rural Tennessee County is Fighting Unemployment With Online Work appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 10/26/2012:

Harvard Business Review: How Successful Virtual Teams Collaborate
Great collaboration often makes the difference between average and exceptional projects. Keith Ferrazzi writes that while the difficulties of effective collaboration can be exacerbated when working remotely, effective management can remove barriers and help teams flourish. Sharing insights gleaned from recent research on virtual teams, Ferrazzi provides five best practice tips to help virtual teams successfully collaborate.

World Bank: Influence Of High-Speed Internet On Job Creation
Wonki Min, Senior ICT Policy Specialist at the World Bank, discusses the substantial impact high-speed Internet access has had on global job creation. Min states that the spread of Internet access has been a disruptive force, but one with a net positive impact—it has spurred significant job creation through connectivity and productivity increases. He also highlights how broadband connectivity has opened markets and connected professionals in developing economies to global employment opportunities.

Huffington Post: Workplace Flexibility Gives Companies Unique Access To Professional Talent
Despite the fact that more than 20 million Americans are out of work, businesses are still struggling to fill open positions. Allison O’Kelly examines the paradox of high unemployment and high job vacancies, suggesting that this disconnect is due to disparities between the work environments professionals are seeking and those that businesses are offering. She states that, with millions of qualified Americans unemployed, integrating remote work and other flexible work arrangements into a company’s operations will help them effectively compete for great candidates. It also has the added benefit of making the business more nimble in its execution. “This is a time for agile business practices,” she writes. “A flexible, variable and as-needed workforce comprises a recession-proof hiring strategy that will move projects forward and adjust with the needs of the company.”

Lifehacker: How Being Unreachable Makes Me More Productive
Though working remotely can help you avoid the distractions and interruptions that come with working in an office, it also introduces potential distractions of its own. Craig Jarrow, a self-proclaimed ‘time management ninja,’ shares eight great tips for limiting interruptions and maximizing productivity.

SmartBlogs: 5 Simple Tips For Teleworkers
When you work from home, separating your professional life and personal life can pose a unique challenge. With dirty dishes down the hall and no commute to provide a mental transition, it can be difficult to segment your time. Telecommuter extraordinaire Lea Green provides some useful (and creative) advice for freelancers looking to perfect their work-life balance.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of October 26th appeared first on oBlog.

“The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.”
— Alvin Toffler

The slow recovery from the global recession is highlighting—among other issues—the gap between jobs and skills.

There are 40 million people unemployed in advanced economies around the world, yet millions of jobs are available. In Europe, there are 1.2 million unfilled positions;  the latest numbers from the Department of Labor show that there are three times as many vacancies in the U.S.

While there is significant need for job creation, many jobs are sitting empty. One in four European employers say they have had difficulty finding the right candidates; in Japan, that number climbs to 80 percent. Bridging the gap between these jobs and the people who need them is a complex balance of skills, experience, culture, geography, language and policy.

In trying to address the gap—now, and increasingly in years to come—some companies are taking matters into their own hands. To succeed over the next decade, independent professionals will need to do the same.

Where Jobs Are Growing

The McKinsey Global Institute describes three types of jobs: Interactions, Transactions and Production. Only one of these categories—Interactions—has seen any growth since 2000.

Interaction jobs “involve complex interactions and often require deep knowledge, independent judgment, and experience,” McKinsey defines. These jobs are a mix of “non-tradable” jobs that are relatively localized (e.g. welding and health care), and “tradable” jobs that can increasingly be done anytime and anywhere—which are the crux of Work 3.0.

While the necessary skill level may vary, the growing majority of Interaction jobs require some form of post-secondary education. Studies indicate that 80 percent of jobs created in America over the next decade will require skills in science, technology, engineering or mathematics—otherwise known as STEM skills. Unfortunately, interest in these subjects is generally low; a study by Accenture found that just 1 in 8 degrees awarded in the U.S. are for STEM degrees.

Employers Are Encouraging Development and Education

To reduce the shortfall of STEM-trained workers, a growing number of companies are investing in initiatives to help generate interest in these subjects and build the skills needed in the longer-term. Most of these efforts focus on students, but some also target the workforce.

Amazon, for example, launched the Amazon Career Choice program over the summer: The company will pre-pay tuition and associated fees “for courses that lead to technical and vocational certifications or associate’s degrees in eligible in-demand fields,” like computer-aided design or machine tool technologies.

By educating staff in these targeted fields—identified as high-growth by sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics—Amazon is equipping its employees with in-demand skills that won’t just help them compete individually; the company can potentially use these skilled employees to meet their own future needs.

And for Germany, education is one of many factors credited for the country’s rapid recovery from the recession. Kurzarbeit, a reduced work initiative designed to protect jobs during hard economic times, also has a professional development aspect: if an employer invested in staff training, the government committed to subsidize the cost.

The result, explained Wolf-Bertram von Bismarck, is a workforce that’s better prepared to compete in the post-recession economy. “The program enabled German companies not only to retain their qualified employees and talents…but also enabled the companies to better position their employees after the crisis ended,” he wrote for Human Resource Executive Online.

For Independent Professionals, Education Leaves the Classroom

“There is no good job today that does not require more and better education to get it,
hold it, or advance in it.”
— Thomas Friedmann

The jobs of tomorrow are changing, so developing your own skills is critical to keeping up with demand. Fortunately—similar to the growth of online work—higher education has become increasingly digital and accessible.

Douglas Shackelford, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and dean of its new online business degree program, said in an interview with Knowledge@Wharton that the confines of a brick-and-mortar school increasingly make little sense.

Describing one student who works with five people—whom he’s never met in person—across four continents, Shackelford said: “The idea that he would go back into a classroom to do his MBA seemed like something his granddad would have done. It’s a Facebook world now.”

This is not a new concept, but it is a newly popular one. The OpenCourseWare movement, whereby universities share course materials for free via the Internet, first launched in 1999. It didn’t gain much momentum until it was spearheaded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002. Now, more than a decade later, the online education movement has expanded and evolved into initiatives like edX and Coursera (university programs), the Khan Academy (K-12 subjects) and Lynda (general skills).

While it still falls short of common practice, access to online education is on the rise—although you need to find the right program for your needs. Some of the university-level online courses, called “massive open online courses” (MOOCs), are offered for free and no tests are done to access your knowledge; others are part of expensive full-degree programs.

How we learn, how we build our careers and what those careers might be—these are all evolving at a rapid pace. Taking an active role in developing skills for the future will likely mean the difference between a thriving career and a stagnant one. But thanks to innovations in online education opportunities, keeping up with skills development may be easier than ever.

What steps have you taken to stay ahead of the curve? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post Education And The Competition For Talent—Are You Ready? appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 10/19/2012:

Harvard Business Review: Metacognition—The Skill Every Global Leader Needs
Technology has fundamentally changed the structure of teams, enabling businesses to work with the best talent from anywhere around the globe. Having geographically distributed employees poses a unique challenge to managers, who must learn to adapt their current management styles to unlock the true potential of multicultural teams. In this article, Columbia Professor Michael W. Morris discusses a recent study he conducted on cultural ‘metacognition’ and its impact on the success of cross-cultural teams. Morris suggests that high cultural metacognition will be a crucial trait in successful managers, and offers four key tips to help develop it.

NBC: Here’s What’s Holding Back The Job Market
Jim Murphy, the CEO of Almac Clinical Technologies, wants to hire. His biggest issue? Finding the skilled workers he needs. This apparent contradiction—high unemployment coupled with unfilled jobs—is the product of a fundamental mismatch between the skills employers are seeking, and the skills American workers can offer. CNBC’s Jeff Cox discusses the impact staffing issues are having on the U.S. economy, while offering potential solutions to help close the talent gap.

ChannelWeb: Opportunities In A More Mobile World
The ubiquity of mobile connectivity has allowed professionals to work anytime and anywhere, enabling companies to unlock significant productivity gains. However, it also brings substantial IT and security challenges to businesses. Terry Erdle of CompTIA outlines a number of issues introduced by the mobile workforce, concluding that security implementation is key to reaping mobility’s benefits.

FastCo.Exist: A Visual Breakdown Of The Benefits Of Working From Home
Did you know that the number of regular telecommuters grew by 66% from 2005 to 2012, compared to just 3% growth for the U.S. workforce? Or that the average commuter spends $1,500 a year in gasoline alone? Check out this fun infographic, which shows the substantial benefits of telecommuting. Some of the best perks? Lower stress, higher productivity, smaller waistlines, and substantial savings on gas and insurance.

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of October 19th appeared first on oBlog.

Overall, we had a great time meeting our Texas clients and contractors, and getting a firsthand look into the city’s thriving startup community—a great model for a startup ecosystem that is very tight-knit, where everyone goes the extra mile to help each other. In particular, Capital Factory—the coworking space and accelerator where we held the events—and Conjunctured, a coworking community we visited with, are great examples of how Austin is nurturing its startups.

Most of all, it was extremely valuable to hear users’ perspective on both best practices and areas where oDesk can improve. We are looking forward to hosting similar events in the future!

Do you have any best practices to share about building your business through oDesk? We would love to hear them! Please add them to the comments section below.

The post “Straight-Shootin’” Insights from oDesk’s Events in Texas appeared first on oBlog.

In his article last week for Forbes, Gary discussed how “today’s millennials don’t like to own anything—besides businesses, that is.” He referenced a recent Atlantic Magazine article, which called millennials the “less-owning generation,” because they prefer “access to ownership” over ownership itself. The Atlantic article cited declining home ownership and vehicle purchase rates among millennials, concluding that a combination of economic and demographic factors—such as stagnant wages, high gas prices, re-urbanization and technological fluency—has shaped the millennial generation’s preference for “on-demand access to assets” instead of actual ownership of assets.

Currently, this mentality applies to everything from music, movies and cars to dresses and vacation property (enabled by services like iTunes, Netflix, Zipcar, Rent the Runway and AirBnB, respectively).

“There is, however, one thing millennials are clamoring to own: their own business,” Gary wrote. Millennials have an entrepreneurship rate that’s 10% higher than the general population, with a 2011 study by the research network Affluence Collaborative finding that almost 40% of millennials “have started a business or expect to do so.”

The combination of millennials’ entrepreneurial focus and their on-demand mentality has interesting implications, Gary wrote:

What does that mean for the future of entrepreneurship? It means that the startup owners of tomorrow—and already some of those today—will be building companies that are nimble, lean and liquid … Forget inventories, servers or even offices; already we’ve seen a huge shift towards services that cater to “less-owning startups.” Rackspace allows companies to provision cloud servers within minutes, while co-working arrangements eliminate the need for proprietary offices. Everywhere you turn there are new ways to do more while owning less—hence the proliferation of “as-a-Service” acronyms.

With the growing adoption of online work, we’re already seeing the expansion of this startup structure into “Talent-as-a-Service,” Gary noted.

That shift is only just beginning. Gary highlighted a few results of oDesk’s Online Work Survey released last week, which found that those on the leading edge of this trend—businesses that have already hired online—envision the workforce of the future to look very different than it does today. Here’s what they said:

• Hiring and working online will be the new normal. The study found that 85% of millennials surveyed believe that the majority of contractors will be working online by 2020.
• Virtual teams will take off. According to 82% of the millennials surveyed, within 10 years many businesses will be built completely with virtual teams of online workers.
• The concept of teams will be redefined. According to 90% of millennials surveyed, “in the future, employees will bring their favorite online workers with them as part of their own team” when they start new jobs.

While this certainly doesn’t mean that employment as we know it will come to an end, it does have exciting implications for the next generation of startups and businesses. For a closer look at millennial entrepreneurs and the shift towards “Talent-as-a-Service,” check out the full article on the Forbes website.

What do you think? Will millennial entrepreneurs drive the shift towards “Talent-as-a-Service” as the new normal? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

The post “Less-Owning Startups” and the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs appeared first on oBlog.

The panel confirmed that many businesses are finding it extremely difficult to access the right people, and that the problem is especially acute for startups — which are in dire need of talent in order to grow, but do not have the resources to compete with large companies.

Top tips from the panel:

1. “Talent is everything,” but we are experiencing a “nuclear talent war” — in Silicon Valley especially, which has a 20% turnover rate.
2. Startups are looking for new ways to scale, and many are using online workers to empower their teams (60% – 80% of Benchmark’s portfolio).
3. “At the end of the day it’s about execution” and finding the right people able to perform the tasks needed.
4. Empower your team to make an impact. Not only does this lead to more engaged and productive teams, but it is key for recruiting efforts.

#1. “Talent is Everything”

“When it comes to startups, I think talent is everything,” said Benchmark’s Kevin Harvey. “Recruiting technical talent … is probably the key gating item for most of our startups. I think that the unemployment situation masks the reality that we all know of how hard it is to find people right now.”

A key point in the discussion was that once you find the best people, not only is it competitive to attract them, but it’s difficult to keep them there. Harvey noted that the average Silicon Valley company has a 20% turnover rate, calling what we are currently experiencing a “nuclear talent war.”

#2. Startups are Looking for New Ways to Scale

Consequently, many startups are looking for new ways to access the talent they need to grow. A study released last week by oDesk found that 64% of businesses surveyed were actively looking for an alternative to traditional hiring.

Harvey estimated that 60% to 80% of Benchmark’s portfolio companies are hiring contractors online.

Singularity University’s Sandra Miller added that learning how to leverage online workers as well as on-premise employees is “setting the groundwork so that your company has the potential to scale.”

Harvey agreed, noting that “learning how to have people work somewhere else is a key attribute that [startups] have to learn as a company, early … The constraint of Silicon Valley is very localized. And if you have only local capabilities, you’re hamstrung.”

With online work still in the early stages of widespread adoption, some startups may be concerned that investors will not be supportive of this hiring model. Foodzie, for example, found that to be the case, so they scaled gradually with individuals working remotely from Buenos Aires. They worked with a team of three individuals for six months, and even sent their VP of Engineering to meet with them, before they started scaling their remote team.  “It was a gradual transition into doing that that built confidence for our team and the people that were backing Foodzie,” co-founder and CEO Rob LaFave said.

#3. “At the End of the Day, It’s About Execution”

Panelists also discussed how you know when to hire online versus on-premise.

“One of the first questions we ask ourselves is, ‘Can this job be done online?’ If not, then let’s hire locally,” said Swart. “And typically locally, we’re looking for more the ‘figure-outers’ — people who can figure out the what, the why and the how.” For the people that are the ‘do-ers,’ those who will actually execute on that strategy, Swart advised hiring online.

Foodzie’s Rob LaFave agreed. “The ones that we would really go to battle for are leads,” he said, noting that he specifically looks for “VP-level types of individuals who are going to be managing and recruiting for talent beneath them.”

“At the end of the day it’s about execution,” said Miller. “Sometimes that means having the expert in something very specific,” and that person may or may not be local. If they’re not, she added, you have to figure out a way to work with them, and you have to determine how much value they are adding for your startup at that particular point. “Because that’s what it’s about every day in the trenches, is making progress,” she said.

#4. Empower Your Team to Make an Impact

One of your best resources in winning the Talent Wars is creating a culture where people are empowered to make an impact, said Swart. Perhaps the most powerful way to appeal to great talent is offering the opportunity to make a big impact on the company and on the world, and to own a meaningful part of the company’s mission.

“People want to work for a great company with high growth and good people, but those are table stakes,” he said. “They’re looking for impact. People want a job where they can make a difference and can get recognized for making an impact. And if the company is doing something impactful, that’s even better.”

If you’d like to read more about this discussion, check out these great posts from ZDNet and Staffing Industry Analysts.

The post oDesk Hosts Panel on “Talent Wars” Moderated by TechCrunch appeared first on oBlog.

CIO.com: Why Remote Offices Mean Better IT Teams
While companies large and small have embraced the use of remote teams, some managers remain skeptical about the loss of face-to-face relationships. This article encourages skeptics to be open-minded, if for no other reason than the fact that remote employees gain an average of six extra weeks of productivity over the course of the year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In this article, Rich Hein chronicles the experiences of Geoff Perlman, the CEO of REAL Software, who chose to leave the office behind and transition his team to an entirely virtual workplace. Hein provides practical advice for finding great remote employees, fostering collaboration, monitoring progress and avoiding potential issues.

Forbes: How To Manage The New Mobile Workforce
Mobile connectivity has transformed the business world as we know it, enabling professionals to work wherever and whenever they choose. Although it effectively ‘cuts the cord’ that kept workers tethered to their desks, mobility presents unique challenges for managers looking to lead and motivate distributed teams. Mark Dixon offers four best practice tips for managing virtual teams, claiming that a focus on engagement, connectivity, flexibility and consistency will lead to great remote teams.

Harvard Business Review: How To Build Trust In A Virtual Workplace
Great teamwork is hard enough to achieve in person; when employees are working virtually, many managers are entering unknown territory. Keith Ferrazzi, the CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, shares four tips for building great remote teams. He advises managers to help their virtual teams build trust through sharing experiences, communicating predictably, and creating an environment that’s conducive to effective bonding.

Chicago Business: The Pros And Cons Of A Completely Virtual Workplace
One year ago, Gini Dietrich decided to take her company entirely virtual, moving her staff out of their office and letting all her employees work remotely. A year later, she couldn’t be happier with her decision. Dietrich writes that working remotely has been an effective way to not only decrease overhead, but to eliminate the workplace distractions and increase productivity by almost 30 percent.

Business Insider: Here’s A Map Where You Can Find The Most Americans Who Work From Home
Have you ever wondered where American telecommuters set their laptops for a day’s work? Take a look at this U.S. Census graph to see where remote professionals are choosing to live (and work). The Census released a report this month showing that the percentage of Americans who work from home has grown from 4.8% of the country’s workforce in 1997 to 6.6% in 2010.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of October 12th appeared first on oBlog.

But there’s a way around this productivity ceiling. In fact, you can structure your team so that accomplishing close to two weeks of work in a mere seven days no longer requires overtime. For many teams, the secret of this hyper-productivity is simple: go global.

The Time Zone Advantage

An internationally distributed team, if designed correctly, has the ability to keep work going over a 24-hour time span. As one team member clocks off, another comes online to take up the mantle. For Yiota Tsakiri, lead product architect at oDesk, this is the working reality of her development team.

From the oDesk office in California, Tsakiri manages a team of six engineers who are located all over the world. She commented, “One of the benefits of this is that we get to work 24/7. There’s always someone online who can take care of things. You can use the whole 24 hours of the day to work.”

Roy Kim, director of services at application development company Rykorp, also uses an internationally distributed development team. With contractors based in the U.S., Russia and China, there is someone working on projects almost every hour of the day.

Kim sees this as a strong advantage. “For the types of projects we work on, which tend to be smaller and have clear and defined road maps in the short term, there is a huge benefit to having distributed teams across different time zones,” he noted. “It allows one team to pick up where another team has left off, which creates a more fluid, continual development cycle.”

Clear Communication = Success

Working with an online team that’s geographically scattered isn’t without its challenges. If not handled correctly, culture and time zone differences can present roadblocks that are serious enough to derail the project.

Tsakiri emphasized the importance of clear communication in ensuring a truly productive team. She holds regular team meetings and also keeps a communication channel open for unscheduled conversations. “I have weekly meetings with everyone,” she said. “We also communicate during the week, even when we don’t have meetings. They will ask me questions via Skype or I’ll send e-mails during the day, and they’ll reply to me during the night.”

She also spells out expectations clearly. “For bigger projects, we use Google Sites where I spec features that are coming up. The developer will read through the feature specs, then come back with questions if he needs to.”

When language barriers are an issue, Kim says he works to minimize any potential confusion by using a different framework. “The self-documenting characters of well-written code can easily be understood by teams regardless of their location…we try to minimize the amount of natural language required and maximize the amount of code language.”

It’s a Team Effort

Building and structuring this type of online team takes planning upfront. All team members must understand their roles and know what’s expected of them. They also have to be committed to working together, rather than in competition. Kim believes that team chemistry is important; “a lot of this relies on the competency of the development teams and their ability to interact with one another,” he said.

He also relies on regular project reviews in order to maintain work quality. “On a daily basis, the U.S. team is responsible for code, reviewing the work of the development teams overseas and then for coordinating with the teams on milestones. The coordination [happens] once every two or three days, unless we’re in crunch time.”

By staying on top of these milestones, Kim is able to quickly discover if there are any misunderstandings regarding the project or if his teams need further clarification on what is needed.

The Sun Never Sets on Work

Tsakiri admitted that it was difficult at first to get used to working across time zones. But now that she’s adjusted? The productivity gain is worth the initial pain. “When I’ve asked my engineers to fix a bug, by the time I come into the office the next morning the bug is fixed and ready for review,” she said.

A case study written by several IBM engineers back up her findings. The study’s authors noted, “The net effect [of using a global team] was that the project plan gave the appearance that the team was working six out of seven days, each of these six days being effectively 16 hours in length, without the exhaustion resulting from having any single individual work 96-hour weeks.”

This type of amazing productivity is no longer the pipe dream of efficiency experts. For internationally distributed teams, it’s just another 24-hour day on the job.

If you’ve worked as part of an international team, what steps did you take to encourage a productive, well-functioning team? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below!

The post 80-Hour Work Week: Increasing Productivity With An International Team appeared first on oBlog.

McKinsey Quarterly: Mobility Disruption—A CIO Perspective
Abandoning a purely consumer focus, mobile technologies are poised to dramatically disrupt the enterprise tech sector and boost business productivity in the near future. This McKinsey Quarterly report argues that improvements in IT are “on the brink of a revolution” that promises to “[expand] office functionality beyond the brick-and-mortar location.” While mobility has the potential to unlock substantial productivity gains, effective implementation must surmount the key challenges of security, cost and governance.

CNN: Work From Home Soars 41% In 10 Years
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 13.4 million Americans currently work from home, a staggering 41% increase from just 10 years ago. Driven by exciting IT innovations and small business creation, remote work has enabled employers to reduce office expenses and has given employees greater workplace flexibility. An unexpected leader in this fast-growing segment? The state and federal government, which have seen respective 133% and 88% increases in telecommuting.

OpenForum: The Face Of Today’s Independent Worker
Alexandra Levit writes on the emergence of ‘solopreneurs,’ workers leaving the corporate world to strike out on their own. Currently contributing “about one trillion dollars in revenue to the U.S. economy,” freelancers are becoming an increasingly key segment of the U.S. workforce. Levit shares interesting metrics on the growing ranks of freelance professionals, and predicts the mainstream emergence of freelancing.

Huffington Post: How To Be The Happiest Freelancer On Your Block
Entering the freelance workforce can seem like a daunting endeavor. Need help navigating the transition? Freelance writer David Hochman provides seven guiding principles to help you meet your deadlines, build a support network, and stay motivated when striking out as a freelancer.  

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of October 5th appeared first on oBlog.

“Isn’t it funny that we reward people for putting in long hours when we don’t know for a fact that those long hours are amounting to anything?” — Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, from their book Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It

In 2003, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, Best Buy human resources managers, were tasked with creating a more productive work environment for headquarter employees. They initially explored the idea of flextime, but discovered that for many, adjusting their work schedule wasn’t all that appealing. In fact, flexible office hours were surprisingly low on the list of priorities for employees.

After a bit more research, Ressler and Thompson realized that what truly motivated the Best Buy corporate staff was freedom to pursue results. After all, they’d been hired to accomplish a job. But the traditional office setting was stifling productivity and instead fostering complacency. That’s when the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) management philosophy was born.

Since that time, many companies have revolutionized their work environments, embraced remote work and experienced amazing spikes in productivity — all thanks to ROWE. Even the public sector is beginning to jump on the bandwagon.

At Georgia-based Highgroove Studios, this trend towards empowering employees was the answer to the CEO’s managerial woes.

No More Clocking In

“People come into the office because it helps them get results. If it doesn’t help them with their results, then they should definitely not be there,” said Charles Brian Quinn, president of Highgroove Studios. While this isn’t your normal management statement, Quinn has good reason to say it: His firm, which specializes in Ruby on Rails development, became a ROWE-certified workplace in early 2011.

For Quinn, the journey to using ROWE began not long after his firm’s founding. His first employee was “brilliant,” according to Quinn. “He would get on a roll and stay up all night working. He’d nail the job and our clients were happy.”

However, the more all-nighters his employee worked, the more Quinn began to wonder what role regular office hours should play in measuring employee performance. “It became less apparent to me that office hours were really the thing that mattered, especially when clients were happy and the product got delivered,” he said. So Quinn started looking for some other method of management that would empower employees while also holding them accountable.

A friend told him about ROWE, and Quinn decided to give it a shot. The first experiment was a failure as they struggled to define which results were important to measure. Quinn laughed when talking about it. “A result of ’40 hours a week’ was not a good result, I can tell you right off!” But he tried again. After more experimentation, it finally clicked. And ROWE became Highgroove’s guiding philosophy.

Tracking What Matters

“We interpret ROWE as being that people should focus on results, and really nothing else. It no longer makes sense for us to say that work should take place from 9-to-5 and that the employer dictates when and where the work takes place,” said Quinn.

While it seems as if tracking results should make a manager’s job easier, he admitted that the opposite was really true. “The role of managing in a ROWE workplace is not easy. It would be much easier to have everyone work 9-to-5.” For Quinn, switching to ROWE meant some serious digging into what made his company tick.

As he explained, the key was learning to ask the right questions. “You have to think of the metrics that matter. Do we really care about this? Does this person really have the ability to meet this? It requires thinking up front about what things really matter for the success of the business.”

ROWE Collaboration

With the freedom to work whenever and wherever they want, is team collaboration ever a challenge? Quinn admitted there have been some speed bumps, but argued that it all boils down to hiring the right people. “ROWE lends itself to the team. If you do the right type of hire, you get people that are results-oriented…people find a way to make it happen.”

Even with the right hires, consultant Katy Tynan advises ROWE managers that whatever results you implement across the team, make sure they foster collaboration. “If your team members are being judged solely on their own performance and being allowed to create a totally flexible schedule, it can put a big damper on teamwork…reward people for supporting one another wherever possible,” she wrote.

Empower Your Workers

The essence of ROWE boils down to believing in the people you hire and empowering them to make your business a success. In effect, you’re allowing each and every team member to drive company results. In the end, this will create a team culture bent on success.

Highgroove developer Charlie Tanksley sums it up this way: “This respect [for employees] has another result… I was struck with an overwhelming feeling that I wanted to further the goals of the company. That is, I want to respect Highgroove by making sure that the company achieves its goals. I kind of don’t even care what those goals are. If they are important to the company, they are important to me.”

What better result can a company ask for?

How do you measure results for yourself or your teams? Leave your advice in the comments section below!

The post How Results-Focused Management Empowers Remote Teams appeared first on oBlog.

Federal News Radio: Telework Rate Jumps As Agencies Take Advantage Of New Law, Guidance
In 2010, President Obama signed the Telework Enhancement Act, allowing the Federal Government greater flexibility in its telecommuting policies. Two years later, the bill has changed the way many government employees work, with 25% of eligible employees working remotely at least one day a week. Teleworking has helped government organizations reduce office space and lower costs, while being cited by policymakers as a crucial tool in “recruiting and retaining the best and brightest workers.” It took some initial attitude shifts, especially for managers to get used to not being able to see their employees working, but executives learned that “you need to focus on the results and the rest will follow from that,” as one federal official told the news program.

Inc.: Letting Employees Work Remotely Pays Off
Have you ever dreamed of leaving winter behind, taking your work with you and setting off for the tropics? This past January, mobile app development firm Dimangi did just that, sending much of its staff on a ‘work-cation’ to Brazil. After securing a high-speed Internet connection, the team found they had all the tools they needed to interface with the home office and work effectively. Far from a vacation, the team experienced improved communications, impressive productivity and “a really cool level of bonding” during their stint in Brazil―benefits that carried over when they returned home.

Intuit Blog: Six Mobile Apps For Recognizing and Rewarding Employees
Rewarding employee achievement is a great way to engage your staff, reduce turnover and improve productivity. When you’re managing workers located around the globe, however, recognizing a team member’s success is no longer as simple as a kind word and a pat on the back. Liz Magill reviews six mobile apps that help you virtually give your workers the credit they deserve.

Mashable: Six Etiquette Rules For Coworking
Coworking spaces have become a mainstay in the entrepreneurial community thanks to the flexible work space they provide, as well as the collaboration and networking opportunities they support. Eager to try coworking but not truly sure what it entails? This article from Mashable should get you started, providing six best practice tips for successful interactions with your fellow ‘coworkers.’

Harvard Business Review: Mind The (Skills) Gap
The true value of an undergraduate education has become a popular topic of debate in an era rife with high student debt and widespread unemployment. In this article for the Harvard Business Review, William D. Eggers, John Hagel, and Owen Sanderson claim that the skills attained through a bachelor’s degree will be outdated within five years of graduation. They argue that an increasingly technical focus among high-growth jobs has made—and will continue to make—the skills of many contemporary workers obsolete. In order to remedy the ‘skills gap’ and to help businesses address the talent shortages they are experiencing, the authors propose a renewed focus on retraining—both within firms and by the government—to prepare workers for the jobs of tomorrow.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of September 28th appeared first on oBlog.

1. Unit testing
2. Functional testing
3. UI testing
4. Performance testing

Here’s a closer look at how we approached each one.

Unit Testing

We invested quite a bit of time to cover our code with as many unit tests as possible. Of course the decision on how to develop unit tests was pretty easy, given that we are working on Django. We used Django’s testing framework and standard library unit test from Django utils. Currently we have an overall coverage of ~85%, and here is an example of how it changes over time.

Functional Testing

Selenium is the standard way to perform functional testing, as it simulates a user’s browsing behavior on a site. This is also what we used for oDesk’s functional testing. Since version 1.4, Django supports native selenium testing.

[...] LiveServerTestCase allows the use of automated test clients other than the Django dummy client such as, for example, the Selenium client, to execute a series of functional tests inside a browser and simulate a real user’s actions.

For every basic group of pages the oDesk visitor site supports, extensive functional tests are written to identify and report broken pieces of the site.

UI Testing

This is where things got really interesting. When we talk about UI testing, we mainly refer to testing the actual visual result that the user sees in their browser, and also making sure that the structure of the page is as expected. To give some examples of what our expectations were, we wanted to detect:

• broken images in the site
• broken layout on a page
• missing text

There are various tools that can do this, but integration is not always easy. The tools that we ended up researching were:

1. Quality Bots
2. Fighting Layout Bugs
3. validator.nu

All of those looked pretty promising and are open source.

Performance Testing

We used—and continue to use—various tools to test our site’s performance. A well-known tool we use is Apache’s ab tool, used for benchmarking Apache’s HTTP server. It shows how many requests per second (RPS) an Apache installation is capable of serving.

We also use Apache’s JMeter and bash scripts to produce heavy load on our servers to test their strength on different load types. With those tests:

• we check response codes for various groups of pages
• we measure the minimum, maximum, and average response times for accessing these links
• we display the success rate for accessing all of the links
• we issue random requests to our servers with various concurrency levels

Last but not least, something that we are currently looking into is a log replay mechanism to measure our performance. In general with performance testing, we can test with various loads and for some specific URLs, though the traffic we produce is not realistic. With log replay functionality we have the ability to “replay” requests based on Apache’s access log. This way, we have the ability to measure our performance under traffic that is produced by real users.

I would strongly recommend, if you’re interested in reading about performance testing, to go through this very useful resource.

Testing Results Presentation

All our tests are run with a single Fabric command, to which we can pass arguments to disable specific stages if we want to. This command is invoked in every build we run via Jenkins, and if our tests fail, the build also fails. Code coverage, counts of failing tests, screenshots of broken layouts (found via UI testing) and soon performance results are all presented through graphs in Jenkins. Here are a few example screenshots:

Screenshots of broken URLs in UI

Counts of successful vs broken tests

Example of text overlapping with edge

Testing a large webapp, like oDesk’s visitor site, can be really challenging. We heavily invested in our testing infrastructure, because we strongly believe that this is an essential component for the project’s success. We still continue our research and experimentation with various tools, as we strive to provide the best possible user experience.

What testing tools have you had success with? We would love to hear your experience in the comments section below!

The post Behind the Scenes: Testing oDesk’s WebApp appeared first on oBlog.

“Joie de vivre is an attitude. It’s a decision you make to live a life of joy. It’s an invitation to this dance called life. All you have to do is leave the door slightly ajar and listen for the music.”
— Jamie Cat Callan, from Bonjour, Happiness!

Work, family, friends, self — I spend so much time considering work-life balance it’s practically a hobby. And I’m not alone: The Society of Human Resource Management found that 89% of working Americans think it’s a problem.

A life where work is part of you but doesn’t define who you are — despite my mobile office, it’s my ideal more than reality. A few days spent wandering in northern France this summer gave me plenty to ponder, however. I couldn’t help but wonder: Have the French had it figured out all along?

La vie en rose

(“Life through rose-colored glasses” or, literally, “life in pink.”)

Long leisurely lunches. Bikes everywhere. Cell phones off the table. Gourmet food and excellent wine around every corner. A schedule that prioritizes time with friends and family.

If you’ve read anything about balanced living and stress management, you’ll know advice generally follows a theme — like these pillars of happiness recommended by the Mayo Clinic:

• Devoting time to family and friends
• Appreciating what you have
• Maintaining an optimistic outlook
• Feeling a sense of purpose
• Living in the moment

In living color, I’d found a beautiful country that seemed to have evolved around these principles of healthy living. Within a few short hours of landing, for example, I had stumbled into town with nowhere to go as shopkeepers stepped out for their noon to 2 p.m. lunch break.

Sunday shopping was off the agenda, too. “We take Sundays to indulge in parks, picnics and socializing,” noted one Parisian on a TripAdvisor forum.

I had landed in France, and found myself surrounded by people effortlessly living the kind of life I strive for. The question I couldn’t help but ask: Does it work?

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

(“The more it changes, the more it’s the same thing.”)

“Alternating periods of activity and rest is necessary to survive, let alone thrive. Capacity, interest, and mental endurance all wax and wane. Plan accordingly.”
— Timothy Ferriss, from his book The 4-Hour Workweek

The French seem to revel in the moment, holding fast to a lifestyle that prioritizes friends, family and self.

Legislation to allow Sunday shopping in select regions passed by a slim majority a few years ago, with opponents arguing against what they saw as the erosion of family values.

And French workers rank third for fewest hours worked among 35 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — likely due in part to the cultural emphasis on leisure time.

These details point to work-life boundaries that echo what so many professionals struggle to put in place. The problem is that the numbers don’t seem to back it up.

Just a few years ago, Business Insider argued that, when GDP per capita was compared against the number of hours worked, the French were the most productive people in the world. However, the recent economic lag has been tough on developed economies — the Eurozone perhaps most acutely among them. While France weathered the recession better than many of its neighbours, recent indications hint that all is not well. For example:

• Economic growth in France has stalled, with the most recent data from the Bank of France showing that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink in the third quarter.
• Peugeot-PSA’s recent decision to eliminate 8,000 jobs in France has highlighted France’s difficulties competing with neighbors like Germany.
• France has dropped from 15th place two years ago to 21st in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index for 2012-2013.

The numbers today paint a weaker picture than the French have come to expect, a fact that’s been driving controversial labour reforms in France that business leaders and French President Francois Hollande hope will put the country on more competitive footing.

The mental health numbers aren’t much better. Given that stress busters seem to come so naturally for the French, I was surprised to learn not only that the World Health Organization (WHO) found the U.S. and France almost nose-to-nose when it comes to depression rates, but that another survey found French women to be among the most stressed in the world.

“There’s no change in biological depression, but what’s going up is the more mild depression,” Ronald Kessler, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the WHO study, told Bloomberg News regarding the rise in depression rates for U.S. and France.

“Objective things haven’t changed,” he said. “We have an expectation that everything’s going to turn out perfect but it doesn’t.”

Le bon vivant

(Literally “the good liver”; someone who loves life, loves pleasure.)

“Our needs and interests are different. Our hopes and responsibilities are different. You must create the optimal individualized work-life balance strategy for yourself.” 
— Mireille Guiliano, from her book Women, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire

Economics and statistics aside, I still think the French are on the right track — although many an expert has noted that it’s not about copying a particular formula but figuring out what works specifically in your life.

Back on this side of the Atlantic, I’ve been on a mission to recapture some of the joie de vivre that inspired me:

• Making time for a real lunch break, and even a quick walk, instead of dropping crumbs over the keyboard as I eat and type;
• Visiting my local farmer’s market for local produce and fresh baking;
• Defining clearer boundaries between time at work and time at play;
• Keeping my phone in my bag — on silent — when spending time with family and friends;
• Appreciating what I’m doing in the moment, whether I’m working or relaxing, without worrying as much about what comes next.

Old habits die hard, so my conversion is very much a work in progress. However, with a clear vision of lively bistros and lounging in the park on a sunny Sunday afternoon to draw on, I remain hopeful.

How have your travels inspired you? What cultural elements have you worked into your life? I would love to read your tales and observations in the comments section below.

The post Joie de Vivre: Inspirations From the French in the Quest for Work-Life Balance appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 9/21/2012:

BBC: The Workplace Of 2025 Will Be Wherever You Want It
Would you like to be “virtually transported” to the office? Ever wish you could interact with your colleagues via holograms? Writing for the BBC, Mark Heraghty suggests that those scenarios might not be too far off, because by 2025 telecommuting will be standard for workers everywhere. Citing corporate studies, MIT research and emerging technologies, Heraghty makes his case for why the future of work will be dispersed, interactive, and extremely fluid. The best part? He argues that “technology will be able to set us free from many of the restrictions of current work patterns” and even allow us to draw clearer work-life boundaries.

Bloomberg Businessweek: Don’t Ignore Those Non-Job Creating Entrepreneurs
While the growth of small business has been a prominent topic in the current presidential election, issues affecting freelancers have largely been missing from the political rhetoric. Richard Greenwald, a professor at St. Joseph’s College, argues that the explosion of self-employment in the United States is a key issue that politicians must address because all too often, the self-employed “fall through the cracks” in the current legal system. As the freelancing community continues to grow in size, policymakers must recognize and meet the needs of an increasingly nuanced employment system.

BBC: Speeding Up Work For People With Disabilities
While advances in telecommuting have enabled millions of professionals to clock in from home, these breakthroughs have had an especially significant impact on professionals with disabilities. In this article for the BBC, Barbara Otto describes the many ways that technology is helping people with disabilities find satisfying employment opportunities around the globe. Otto singles out oDesk for creating “a very level playing field for people with disabilities,” as it is accessible to all. She concludes that continued innovations in the online work area will have a huge positive impact on the economy, as these talented and creative individuals enter the workforce.

The Asian Age: For Tech Savvy Youth, Home’s The New Office
According to a recent survey by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), the majority of Indian workers prefer working at home to commuting to the office. This article, published last Friday in The Asian Age, suggests that in today’s ultra-connected society, a trip to the office does not necessarily increase productivity or even the ability to collaborate as a team. While the virtual workplace continues to develop in India, the spread of crucial infrastructure (such as high-speed Internet connections and secure servers) will be a deciding factor in how quickly online work will become a reality for the majority of Indian professionals.

Open Forum: Why A Flexible Workplace Makes Sense
In this article for the American Express Open Forum, Millennial Branding’s Dan Schawbel discusses the rise of “workplace flexibility programs” in large corporations, and why he believes fluid work strategies can help your business thrive. Schawbel states that implementing flexible work policies can fundamentally improve your business, from attracting (and keeping) top talent to lowering costs and increasing engagement.

Harvard Business Review: The Rise Of Co-Working Office Spaces
Motivated by a desire for greater community and efficiency in the workplace, workers and companies have begun ditching traditional office paradigms in favor of new, alternative working spaces. From open offices and local coffee shops to futuristic corporate campuses, work is moving to new and exciting spaces (and away from the traditional cubicle). To better understand the ever-evolving workplace, author Anne Kreamer spent time at Grind, a popular coworking space in New York City. In this article for the Harvard Business Review, Kreamer explores the coworking experience of various Grind members, and discusses why she believes the trend will hold an important place in the future of work.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of September 21st appeared first on oBlog.

The user group — oDesk’s second to date — featured an introduction from oDesk CEO Gary Swart and a presentation on product initiatives by oDesk Vice President of Product Strategy Michael Levinson. It also included a panel with Sigma Partners Senior Associate (and former oDesker) Josh Breinlinger, TalentBin founder Peter Kazanjy, and Stanford Fulbright Scholar Tayyab Tariq (an oDesk contractor). The panel, moderated by oDesk’s Client Marketing Manager Shareen Lal, centered on online work best practices. Here were some of the most helpful tips from these veteran users:

1. When evaluating candidates, ask contractors for sample work or hire them for a small test job. Tayyab said, “That to me as a contractor is more important than an interview over Skype. There’s only so much you can know about a person’s skills from a 10-minute Skype interview, and you don’t want to miss out on a great contractor because they’re having a bad day. It’s very important to take the time to work out a small mini project on the fly that they can do, and use that as a benchmark for short-listing or hiring.”

2. Speaking of test jobs, think outside the skill-evaluation box with real-time tasks. Tayyab noted that one client he has worked with requires contractor candidates to write code in a Google Doc, so they can observe the coding process in real time. This can be a great way for clients to get a sense of how a contractor works, and for contractors to showcase their skills in action.

3. Leverage long-term relationships; they are a powerful thing. Both Peter and Josh are no stranger to long-term projects. In fact, Josh’s oDesk contractors are almost all long-term, since it’s more efficient than finding and training people for each short-term project, he said.

From a contractor’s perspective, Tayyab added that it’s important for clients to make their timeline commitment clear upfront. “What motivates contractors is the promise of a long-term, healthy relationships,” he said. “It’s very important for contractors to know that clients aren’t going to disappear. It’s good to give people job security, or at least be upfront about when the project is going to end. Tell your good contractors you want to work with them for a long time. It’s the same whether you’re in a brick-and-mortar office or online — you want to make the people you hire feel secure and enjoy their work.”

As a testament to the power of long-term projects, Josh told the story of how, in the early days of oDesk (when he used to work for the company), he wanted to hire someone for voiceover work and needed a female voice. There was only one female contractor on all of oDesk at the time, named Stephanie, and he hired her. That project has long ended (and of course there are many female contractors on oDesk now!). But eight years later, not only is Stephanie still on oDesk, she leads a Customer Support team for oDesk itself.

4. Keep an open mind — the possibilities are unlimited. Who says work can’t be fun? Peter talked about one of his most interesting oDesk projects, which involved hiring comedy writers on oDesk to turn a standard questionnaire into an entertaining experience. He even used a crowdsourcing site to grade the questions for humor, and picked the 10 most successful writers out of the original 100 to bring on board.

Or, on a more serious note, Josh told the story of how one entrepreneur decided he wanted to move on from his startup, and found someone on oDesk to be the CEO and take over the company reins.

Josh also reminded attendees that just because it’s online work, doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of geographic perks — for example, one user uncovered his family history in Belgium by finding a contractor in that country to do in-person research. The contractor found postcards the client’s grandmother had written 80 years ago, and helped piece together the family history. “Most of what you can do with online work is location-agnostic, but you can also leverage the fact that there are millions of contractors just about everywhere in the world,” Josh said.

What are your top online work best practices? We’d love to hear them, so share yours in the comments section below!

The post Veteran oDesk Users Share Their Best Practices at Recent Bay Area Client User Group appeared first on oBlog.

Week of 9/14/2012:

NPR: The ‘Skills Mismatch’: Failing To Meet Demand
oDesk CEO Gary Swart was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition show on Saturday, discussing the issue of unemployment in the U.S. With more than 3 million jobs currently unfilled in the United States, Gary suggests that online workplaces such as oDesk can help match companies to workers with in-demand skills. This has clearly resonated with businesses, as “demand we’ve seen year-on-year [for online workers] is growing off the charts,” Gary said. The article additionally features an interview with UC Berkeley economics professor Brad Delong, who believes that the issue of unemployment is due to a lack of demand in the economy, as businesses and the government are not spending sufficiently to employ the entire population.

FastCoexist: Working From Home Makes You More Productive
In this Fast Co.Exist article, Ariel Schwartz discusses the results of a recent remote work experiment conducted by the Chinese travel company CTrip. The study, run by Stanford researchers Nicholas Bloom, John Roberts and Zhichun Jenny Ying, assigned a randomized sample of CTrip employees to work from home for nine months and monitored their productivity during this period. The results were impressive, with telecommuting employees outperforming office-based workers by 13%. The most impressive gains were made in the number of minutes worked per shift and the volume of work each employee could handle. You can read oDesk’s coverage of the report here.

Inc.: How To Interview A Job Candidate–The Best Technique You Never Use
When hiring online workers, interviews are a crucial tool hiring managers can use to gauge a candidate’s fit and qualifications. Want to get the most out of your interviews? Slow down and listen. Jeff Haden writes that by “listening slowly” and pausing between questions, an interviewer can turn the exercise into a conversation, and elicit further insight from the candidate.   

Harvard Business Review: Bring Courtesy Back To The Workplace
Between dispersed teams, busy schedules and global travel, modern professionals are increasingly turning to digital methods of communication in order to collaborate with colleagues. Ron Ashkenas, a managing partner at Schaffer Consulting, suggests that a byproduct of the switch from personal to virtual communication can be a breakdown of courtesy in the workplace. Ron suggests that speaking openly about workplace courtesy and encouraging team members to speak out against poor behavior can help improve team relations and “bring courtesy back to the workplace.”

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of September 14th appeared first on oBlog.

It all started with a pink slip. For both Dini Jaskowski and Suzanne Davis, economic downturns meant the end of one chapter of their working life and signaled the beginning of a new career in online work—one that freed them from commutes and time restraints, and provided the ability to work wherever life took them.

Laid-off to full-time

Davis lives in Burns Flat, Oklahoma. This rural Midwest community has one main thoroughfare and one stoplight. “I chose to move here for my kids. I wanted to be close to family,” she said. Her previous job as an executive assistant was in a larger metropolitan area. But in Burns Flat, there’s not much demand for that skill.

As she discovered, that’s okay.

At the time Davis lost her job, there weren’t a whole lot of other options. “The economy at that time was not conducive to finding another office job,” she recalled. But there was a silver lining in the cloud. “I wanted to be home more with my kids. I wanted to be able to take them to school and pick them up from school.”

Knowing she needed a flexibility that couldn’t be found in the few in-office jobs there were, Davis struck out on a new path.

“I started doing a lot of Internet research,” she said. “Through that I came across a company that was hiring online workers.” This initial job provided part-time work, but it took several years and perseverance before Davis ended up with a full-time job that paid all the bills.

The journey hasn’t always been enjoyable, but Davis, who does customer support and writing work, thinks it’s been worth it. “I don’t have to make a long commute, I’m available for my kids after school and I can live in a peaceful community with less stress,” she said.

From hillsides to seascapes

Jaskowski’s hometown of Picabo, Idaho is barely a blip on the map. With a population that, as of the last census, numbers 128, life is nothing if not quiet. But while the peaceful surroundings can be relaxing, employment prospects aren’t so sanguine.

“There’s no work here—none,” Jaskowski commented. “If it wasn’t for online work, I wouldn’t have a job.”

Online work not only makes living in rural Idaho possible, it also allows Jaskowski to freely travel from one side of the country to the other. Six months out of the year, she and her husband live in Idaho. But the other six months find them located in Mexico’s sunny Baja California Sur.

“Our home is our fifth wheel trailer. The back of the trailer is all windows,” said Jaskowski, an accountant and bookkeeper. With a desk and a laptop situated in front of the windows, she enjoys scenic views that most of us only dream about. “In Mexico, I look out at the sea of Cortes. In Idaho, I look out at the view of rolling foothills and green pastures.”

This mobility is a perk made possible by the ability to work remotely. Jaskowski loves the freedom. “I can work as little as I desire or as much as I desire,” she said. “My hours can start early in the morning or late at night.”

Learning to succeed

As technology has matured, Burns Flat, Oklahoma has developed the infrastructure to make online work easier. But as Davis remembers, it wasn’t always so painless. “When I first moved here, there was no DSL available. I had to connect through a radio-frequency provider and speeds just weren’t that great.”

Even now, Davis admits, there aren’t a lot of options for high-speed connections. “Our choices are limited,” she noted.

In Idaho, Jaskowski also faces connection issues. “The challenge is the speed of the Internet, plus I have to watch my broadband to make sure I don’t go over 10 GB. Internet and phone service are expensive in the U.S. But it’s the cost of doing business here.”

Creating a successful career working online involves more than just a good high-speed connection, as both women will tell you. Jaskowski advises serious commitment. “This is a job, not a hobby. Set your hours and work them. You are not working for a boss, but you’re working for your client. Stand up for customer service. Go the extra mile to do what it takes to be a professional.”

“Be patient,” Davis added. ”Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get that first job. Also, don’t underbid just because everyone else is doing it. You need to value your abilities and be confident in what you can do.”

Living where smog is never an issue. Escaping the long commute. Traveling cross-country while still earning a paycheck. These are just a few of the benefits accompanying the online-work life. As Davis and Jaskowski can attest, big-town jobs aren’t dependent on urban living; you can work for anyone, anywhere, while living in a locale that’s home to fewer people than a New York City apartment complex. That is truly freedom to work.

What’s your remote work story? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

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The topic is an important one: currently 19 million Americans are without Internet access. That represents 19 million Americans who could be working online, building their careers and bringing money into the U.S. economy. For a sense of the opportunity lost there, consider that, to date this year, businesses have spent $32 million hiring U.S. contractors online through oDesk. But that’s just the beginning—the overall online work market is expected to reach $1B by the end of this year.

The issue of broadband Internet access and its impact on job creation is especially critical when we look at people living in rural areas, where Internet connectivity is often lacking and local job opportunities can be limited. For the FCC’s visit, we looked at the potential for rural Americans in particular.

oDesk CEO Gary Swart & oDesk client Marjorie Asturias

There are currently 2.5 million unemployed rural Americans, not to mention the number of underemployed. When you calculate the earnings potential of working online, bringing broadband Internet access to just the unemployed population represents billions of dollars in potential income from online work.

The Chairman and I also discussed the FCC’s goal to provide high-speed broadband Internet access to all Americans by the end of this decade. Chairman Genachowski noted that, while more than 80% of Americans have access to networks technically capable of high-speed service (100 Mbps or more), just 27% are being offered broadband services at those speeds. What’s more, U.S. prices for these higher-speed services are greater than in many other countries.

High-bandwidth categories of online work are growing particularly rapidly—135% year-over-year globally on oDesk. But without a high-speed Internet connection, contractors are unable to access that rapidly growing segment of work at all. Expanding the reach of high-speed Internet services will allow workers to capitalize on this promising opportunity.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski

The FCC is doing many great things to ensure that all Americans have access to broadband Internet access, from establishing the Connect America Fund and investing $4.5 billion to increase broadband deployment in difficult-to-reach areas of the U.S., to a Broadband Acceleration Initiative that aims to improve Internet speeds throughout the country.

Considering that between online work, telecommuting, distributed workforces and flexible work arrangements, the majority of workers will be working online in some capacity in the very near future, we believe these types of initiatives are essential to improving job competitiveness and work opportunities for everyone. There was a palpable energy that night around this discussion and the possibilities it brings, and we look forward to working with the FCC to help make this vision a reality. In addition, I encourage countries worldwide to think critically about their own broadband infrastructure and initiatives, to determine how they can best position their workers for success in the online economy.

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The Wall Street Journal: Step Into The Office-Less Company
Do companies need an office at all?  The Wall Street Journal’s Rachel Emma Silverman discusses the rise of the virtual office. While the number of “office-less companies” remains low, a significant increase in the number of employees working from home (66% from 2005 to 2010) shows that the segment is quickly expanding. Silverman concludes that while using a remote workforce lowers overhead costs and widens the available talent pool, the lack of personal contact (and the ensuing communication issues) can be an issue for some employees, leading virtual companies to adopt creative solutions.

Harvard Business Review: The Rise of the New Contract Worker
The contingent workforce is rapidly expanding, projected to grow at potentially three to four times the rate of traditional workforces. In this article, award-winning author Tarara J. Erickson delves into the reasons why professionals are going independent, and discusses how “tapping the contingent workforce as part of your talent strategy” can provide significant advantages for businesses. Erickson argues that leveraging independent professionals can help businesses allocate capital effectively, adapt to competitive challenges with more speed and agility, and boost innovation.

MBO Partners: State Of Independence Career Study
MBO Partners, a staffing organization for independent consultants, released its yearly report this week on the state of independent professionals in the U.S. The report provides useful insights into the lives of high-end professional freelancers, as well as data about the independent workforce in the United States. The takeaways? Independent workers are satisfied, committed, and their ranks are growing fast. Small Business Labs has a helpful summary of key findings here.

Chicago Tribune: Temp Workers Carve Out Alternative Careers
The Chicago Tribune’s Cheryl V. Jackson investigates the state of temporary staffing in the United States through chronicling the experiences of four contract workers in Chicago. Ranging from a freelance television producer to an experienced finance executive, the stories of these workers serve as a window into the impressive breadth—and success—of the freelance community.

BusinessWeek: When Your Personal Assistant Is Virtual
Govind Davis, an oDesk client in Cleveland who runs business software firm MCF Technology Solutions, is no stranger to distributed teams and remote work. His business is almost entirely virtual, with most of his 45 employees working from home, and they work with six to eight virtual assistants. Govind is one of a growing number of business owners turning to virtual assistants to get work done while containing costs and improving payroll flexibility, Verne Kopykoff wrote for BusinessWeek.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of September 7th appeared first on oBlog.

It’s funny. What started out as a couple of nice, friendly emails a week turned into more than 20 hours a week of stressful emails three years later.

I used to enjoy reaching out to customers (and I still do), but after a while it became less and less personal and more of a chore because I was getting so bogged down with sending emails every day. I wasn’t able to do to things that I really wanted, or needed, to do. The support issue had become a bit of a nightmare.

What’s worse was that I knew customer service is probably the most important part of any business, and the customer must know that they are valued and that we have all the time in the world for them. In reality though this wasn’t true, because while I was writing the emails I knew I was supposed to be getting on with some development or a new marketing campaign.

The emails I was sending to customers were getting shorter and less friendly. Not good. I was getting stressed by it, and the business was being affected.

Enter the VA

The solution? A virtual assistant.

I had thought about hiring someone full time to do support. I figured that getting someone full time would be better because they’d have more time to ‘get’ the business and be much more committed long-term. However, the budget was tight and we couldn’t really afford it.

I had also been reading a book by Rob Walling about staying lean in your startup. He makes heavy use of virtual assistants (VAs) and talks a lot about it in his book. His methodology is to have lots of small, automated businesses that use virtual assistants for marketing, development, and of course, support.

I didn’t think you could even hire a virtual assistant for customer service; I thought they were just for things like “make a spreadsheet,” or “create some backlinks.” Rob encouraged me to explore oDesk for some VAs, to create a job posting and see what happens.

My First Job Posting

I was very excited because I was about to make my first hire. Apart from me and my wife, there was no one else on the team. We’d hired a few local contractors from time to time on a project basis, but I’d never hired anyone in the U.S. dedicated to a particular task, either part time or full time. So this was going to be a fun project.

The job posting went up, and within about two hours I had about 30 requests for the job. Wow! Most of them were actually people who fell outside of my requirements, but I had a short list of about five to work through.

Hiring is an interesting process. One the one hand you have the side of you that wants to find the perfect person for the job and who will benefit the business. On the other hand there’s a side to you that thinks, “I really want to help this person out and give them a great opportunity to work for a cool startup.”

There were some who looked less experienced in the field but more likeable characters, there were some who seemed like they really needed work and could have valued the opportunity, and there were others who were really experienced but were expensive and seemed rather cocky, like they just expected that you would hire them.

I then came across someone who ticked most of the boxes, but what stood out was that she had taken the time to read about us and actually respond to my points in the job posting.

She wasn’t the most experienced and also looked a little less comfortable in tech and startups, however I had good feeling about her and wanted to give her a shot. The fact that she had taken the time to research us and also expressed a passion for learning about what we do made me quite excited about the prospect of hiring her.

So I did.

The next few days were incredible as she basically learned our system in about 24 hours. She also had initiative, which was the main thing I wanted but couldn’t really describe in a job posting. She went over and above what I asked, and did things like read our blog when a customer asked a question about something she didn’t know. She only reached out to me when absolutely necessary.

The Results

After a week she was very comfortable responding to emails and she knew the system pretty well. She was even taking the initiative to create a training manual, documenting what she had learned so she could ultimately pass it on if necessary.

Now I don’t know if all of that is just her, or if that’s the general experience you will get from a virtual assistant, but I was very impressed.

The results were that after a week or so, I had stopped needing to spend three hours a day on emails. I was now spending about 10-20 minutes a day on emails, if I wanted to. Also, the speed at which customers were getting replies was dramatically improved from about 8-10 hours to 1-2 hours on average.

Happy Customers, Happy Business

Customers are now happier, and so am I.

I’ve been able to spend time doing other important things like marketing and development without worrying about support emails. Also, when I do jump on the emails, I’m a much nicer person!

We are also saving money, as she will only work the hours she tracks time for. You can also set a weekly budget so she won’t go over the number of hours I specify. For a growing startup, this is perfect.

At the end of the week I can find out exactly what she has been working on, with screenshots, as well as find out when she worked and how much for. The report is then emailed to me at the end of the week for me to look over.

4 Tips for Finding an Amazing VA

So here are some tips that might help you in hiring the right VA.

1. Put together a cover letter with specifics on what you want from the candidate and details on the company. Give them something to read through and you’ll notice those who actually took the time to read about the role and those who didn’t.
2. Don’t be in a rush. Take your time to prepare the job posting and take time to search through the candidates. Don’t be afraid to wait for candidates to come in a few days after posting. You’ll get those that initially respond but then those that come a few days later who might be just what you’re looking for.
3. Arrange an interview over Skype or phone. Be friendly with them and see if they are behind what you’re trying to do. Get a gauge for their enthusiasm and passion, because this is what will make the difference to your business.
4. Welcome them to the team and be really proud of them. Make sure you encourage them once they are hired so that they don’t just treat it like another job. Don’t forget they are likely working for other businesses too, so you want yours to be their favorite.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on via Twitter (@stulogy).

Stu Green is the founder of Project Bubble, an online project management and time tracking tool for small businesses.

The post How a Virtual Assistant Rescued Me From a Support Nightmare appeared first on oBlog.

Fast Company: Can A Corporate Culture Be Built With Digital Tools?
With telecommuting professionals making up an astounding 20% of the global workforce, companies are increasingly exploring new methods for helping teams build a cohesive corporate culture. Fast Company’s Austin Carr discusses the spread of corporate culture into the digital realm, highlighting the new strategies and technological tools companies are using to bring workers together and create an inclusive work environment for remote teams.

Forbes: Hacking Work
Should your business adopt the hacker mindset? Once considered the territory of criminals, hacking has been reframed as a mentality that challenges convention, seeking creative and disruptive ways to jumpstart progress. In this article, Salesforce VP Daniel Debow states that adopting the “hacker mentality” can help companies adapt to fundamental changes in the way we work, consequently improving workflows and promoting innovation.

Yahoo Finance: 10 Top Telecommuting Jobs To Live Abroad
As more companies give their employees the freedom to work wherever they choose, professionals are finding new opportunities to work remotely. Yahoo Finance discusses 10 of the top professions for remote work, ranging from IT and software development to health care and education.

WorkSnug: Got Mobile Workers? Here’s Why You Need Wikis
Information-sharing can be a significant challenge for companies collaborating remotely. Jim Secord, the CEO of Kashoo, suggests using company wikis to simplify information flows by allowing employees to access (and curate) the information they deem necessary. These “living documents” can arise out of necessity, improving the onboarding process for new hires and helping existing employees stay on the same page.

Did we miss anything? Are there any insights you find particularly interesting? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post This Week’s Perspectives on the Future of Work: Week of August 27th appeared first on oBlog.

Being an entrepreneur is hard, and finding great talent to help you scale your business can be especially difficult. However, having the right team is a major key to success in the startup world. But here’s a hint: you don’t have to be limited to people in your local area. Here is what I’ve learned about becoming a successful entrepreneur with online workers.

1. Entrepreneurs don’t have time

My quest started about 3 months ago when I was searching for a researcher for my blog. I needed someone with expertise in pay-per-click marketing to write some killer posts and do research for me. I tried out several sites, but one day I was reading on a well-known affiliate marketing blog, zacjohnson.com, about oDesk. Zac said that he had used the site several times and had a lot of success finding great people to write killer posts. So I gave it a try.

I discovered that entrepreneurs like myself can leverage these talented online workers to manage their workflow more easily. The average job I post takes about two minutes to put up, and within 24 hours I typically have 30+ people that have applied for the job. The site makes it easy to navigate their profiles and choose the best contractor for each particular job, and as an entrepreneur this time in invaluable to me. Spending 30 minutes or less each day on things that I can hand over to my online team has been amazing and has helped me grow my business 10x in the past year.

2. Most entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of resources

The first project that I posted on oDesk was to find a couple of good people to write posts for my blog. I hired about 5 or 6 people, and found one in particular that worked out really well for me: a technical writer from Pakistan named Imran.

I started off having him write an article or two, then it turned into 10, then 20, then 100 articles for me. He’s been one of the top writers that I have ever worked with, so I kept hiring him to complete my articles. oDesk has been there for me the whole time to facilitate the payment transactions, and one nice feature that works really well for many contractors is the ability to get paid through MoneyBookers. Many services out there don’t allow this or only pay through Paypal. This has made my life very easy as Imran lives in Pakistan, where Paypal isn’t accepted.

Without oDesk, I would have never been able to find the help for my blog. Since finding Imran, I have found countless other people willing to help me out and work with me on my projects and tasks, at a rate I can afford.

3. Entrepreneurs need major help, and most of the time they don’t realize it

oDesk has been great for finding researchers, writers, and a variety of other helpful roles that have helped me and my business jump to the top of the search engine rankings. Entrepreneurs can benefit immensely from this. For example, the second person I hired through oDesk came to me the next day with 10 different things I needed to do with my website to make it better. I don’t know if this is typical of every contractor, but I loved it. Some of his tips are still on my website today and have helped me convert many visitors.

Entrepreneurs think they can do everything, but unfortunately they can’t. All they can do is work as hard as possible and do all that they can. Online teams can help take you to the next level, a level that you can’t reach alone. Perhaps most importantly, with online contractors, your business can become scalable. Plus, some of the best relationships I have formed with my team have helped me realize things that I need to be doing to make my business grow, most of which I would have never known had I not found the amazing online team I have today.

So here’s my final, bonus tip: Let your business grow. Allow it to grow to be bigger than you. Build real relationships with your contractors and it will come back to you tenfold.

John Rampton is an entrepreneur, writer, full-time computer nerd, and founder of PPC.org. Follow him on Twitter at @JSRampton.

The post 3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Are Finding Success With Online Workers appeared first on oBlog.

However, as many distributed teams can attest, the innovative use of always-on communication tools is making remote team members feel not so distant anymore. Just talk to Elizabeth Yin, former Googler and founder of LaunchBit.

Yin needed to hire an engineer for her burgeoning startup, but couldn’t find the right fit for her team in her immediate vicinity. So she took what felt like a bit of a gamble at the time: she hired a remote team member.

Yin remembers her initial concerns. “I thought that communication would be too tedious over email/IM,” she said. “I thought there would be miscommunication galore. I thought it would be harder to keep morale up when you can’t see someone or talk with him/her face-to-face.” But she wasn’t to be deterred. “I knew that I had to crack the nut of being able to benefit from choice [of talent], but removing the issues that crop up more easily with remote hires.”

Finding a way to bring remote teams face to face

Enter the hero of this story, Apple’s FaceTime. Yin decided to use the Mac app to give her remote employees an office presence, virtually. “We give every full-time employee an iPad when they join and they whip it out every day. Very simply, we just leave FaceTime on all day. So it’s easy to ask a colleague a question, regardless of where they are based. It really feels like you are in the same room.”

Always-on video conferencing was the partial answer — but there were still a few kinks to work out. “One of the pieces of feedback I received from my team was that they thought it was eerie to use video conferencing software on their computers, because the built-in computer-webcams were focused right on their faces,” she said. “It felt stalkerish.”

So Yin improvised. She had employees position the iPads off to the side. Not only did this solve the continual “Big Brother watching overhead” vibe, but it also felt more natural. With the new arrangement, employees saw each others’ profiles and felt almost like they were sitting side by side. According to Yin, “this resonated with the team.”

For Yin and other managers in her shoes, building an effective team is about so much more than just finding the right talent. It’s about imparting vision and creating camaraderie so that people want to come in to work every day. As Peter Chester of Tri.be states,”[The] most important part of building an enduring team of remote contractors [is that] great teams are great friends.”

Video conferencing helps build team relationships

In Yin’s experience, always-on communication tools such as FaceTime create that rapport in spite of distance. She says, “Leaving FaceTime on all day has brought our team as a whole closer together. You can see if someone is in the middle of something or just grabbing a snack. This makes it easier to instigate water-cooler conversations at the right time in a way that IM chat can’t. This has led to serendipitous brainstorms, much like having everyone on the team in a real office. Or even just a crazy joke to lighten everyone’s day.”

As blogger Larry Irons points out, “…shared experience, not just shared information, is fundamental to the social networks underlying collaboration and community.” When your employees are geographically scattered, creating a strong, connected team takes an extra investment of time and technology. But the payoff is worth it. Using always-on technology allows your team to share stories, deepen relationships and even pass around a bit of gossip. And when this happens, your distributed team becomes more than just a collection of scattered employees — they become a true team.

What have you done to help bring your teams closer together? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below.

The post The Power of Relationships: Building a Stronger Team Through Always-On Technology appeared first on oBlog.

One major Chinese company recently decided to find out for sure. In perhaps the largest-scale remote work study conducted to date, CTrip—China’s largest travel agency with a $5 billion valuation on NASDAQ and 13,000 employees—set out to investigate the benefits, drawbacks and feasibility of implementing a widespread work-from-home policy.

The Study

CTrip selected 255 call-center employees to participate in the experiment, out of those who volunteered and met predetermined criteria for their home work space and company tenure. Half stayed in the office as a control group, while half worked from home four out of five days a week, on the same shifts as their in-office counterparts. The experiment lasted a full nine months.

The results, published by Stanford’s Economics Department and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, with cooperation from CTrip, were overwhelmingly positive:

1. Those who worked from home had significantly higher performance than before, with a productivity increase of 13%.
2. The attrition rate of the home workers dropped 50% compared to the control group, and they reported significantly higher work satisfaction.
3. The company saved approximately $2,000 per employee working at home (due to increased productivity, office cost savings, and lower turnover), leading them to expand the work-from-home initiative to the entire firm with “an aggressive poster campaign to persuade employees to take up the home-working.”

Source: Stanford University and CTrip

Source: Stanford University and CTrip

Other interesting findings were as follows:

• After the experiment ended, the work-from-home group was allowed to choose whether to continue working from home or to return to the office. Almost half decided to return to the office, which “led to much larger long-run impacts from working at home as workers with relatively better performance at home remained at home while those performing relatively poorly at home returned to the office.” In fact, the researchers estimated that the positive impact detailed above was likely doubled after the experiment.
• The work-from-home group reported “significantly higher positive attitude and less work exhaustion,” largely because they didn’t have to commute.
• The theory that working from home negatively impacts your career due to the absence of face time was disproved. Looking at the duration of the experiment and the nine months following it (a total of 18 months), the researchers determined that there was no negative impact on the telecommuting employees’ promotion rates.

Theory in Practice

oDesk knows a little bit about this topic. In addition to being an online work platform, oDesk has been rocking Work-From-Home-Tuesdays for many years. Similar to the Chinese company’s post-experiment policy, oDesk’s “WFH” day is not required, but approximately 75% of the company participates.

“I really like working from home,” said Mollie, oDesk’s Director of Customer Marketing. “It leads to some really focused working time; I specifically set aside projects that need a lot of concentration and a big chunk of time. It also helps me maintain a little sanity in my life, knowing there’s one day that you can a little flexible.”

And not only does it make employees happy, but it is beneficial strategically.

“Work-from-home Tuesday is awesome,” said oDesk CEO Gary Swart. “We love it. It gives us the opportunity to empathize with what our users are facing every day, not to mention that our employees love it and they get more work done. You have a greater appreciation for what remote work is about when you have to walk in the shoes of people who work remotely. It helps us build a better product for our clients.”

Does your company have a work-from-home policy? If so, what results have you seen?

The post Large-Scale Experiment Shows Working From Home Improves Performance, Reduces Costs appeared first on oBlog.