Mobile Worker: Does it Work for You?
The Wall Street Journal‘s Sarah Max just did a piece on the rise of mobile workers and the challenge of staying connected. One company runs its annual meeting completely online with a employees doing everything you’d normally do at an annual meeting - from schmoozing over a muffin to raising a hand to comment – online. “The CUNA Mutual team is outfitted with webcams and Cisco’s WebEx, a software program that allows users to see as many as six other people at a time on their computer screen, share desktops and ‘raise their hands’ to speak.”
Working from Los Angeles for Herman Miller – who are based in Michigan – I often phone in for meetings. And as Max points out in her article, you don’t always feel as tight a part of the team as the people in the room. But there are simple solutions. Often it’s as easy as turning up the volume on the phone so you can hear all the participants a little better. And visits to head office a few times a year are essential for building connections with the people you work with directly. One thing Max didn’t mention was the power of email. A quick note sent to someone after a meeting just recapping can really help reconnect to a project.
We’d love to hear how you stay connected? What works for you?