Guest Blogger Kathy Baird of Phrases talks about the Virtual Workplace. Kathy is a fabulous writer and we can’t wait to work with her again. Kathy can be reached kbaird1@columbus.rr.com
With the new year I’m striking out on a new plan – leaving a traditional job to return to consulting from a virtual office, where I spent a good share of my early career. Unlike before, though, this time I have lots of company. Technology has rearranged the world of work teams since I first took the leap to independence 30 years ago.
Back then, it was a bit novel to work from home. Meetings happened in an office. A business office had phones immediately answered by a live and helpful receptionist during standard business hours. Without the Internet, or even without fax machines, deadline-sensitive materials were delivered within several hours by a courier service.
Back then, striking out with only an answering machine for an assistant, I once feared this method of fielding calls was much too impersonal, though vital nevertheless in that pre-voicemail, pre-cell-phone era. Knowing that clients lived in a world of immediate interpersonal access and feedback, I made it a point to focus on quick response. What a contrast to today, when few businesses give a second thought to client convenience. There is no expectation to respond live, or to offer professional customer service. Often customers now need to navigate a series of phone messages even to state their requests.
On the “plus” side, technology has brought many efficiencies to the virtual workplace. Now, it’s routine to team with other skilled independents beyond geographic boundaries, and to work from virtually anywhere – the home, the car, the coffee shop, or even the beach. Skilled teams of independents form and re-form as projects come and go, much like the crew of a movie. Teams draw on the best talent to fit the need, with a nod to budget limitations.
In my world of marketing communications, technology allows small groups of talented writers and designers – many with big-agency experience in their past – to turn out projects for large and mid-sized clients, sometimes even more creatively, efficiently and cost-effectively than larger firms. The overhead of large offices and complex processes is eliminated, and senior talent is focused directly on the project at hand.
Technology can connect such work teams for ongoing communication, around the clock. But on the flip side, the same technology can also be employed as a buffer – to delay response to customers until it’s convenient and to eliminate face-to-face interaction and real-time phone conversation. While clients should not come to expect 24/7 access, responsive and timely client service still matters. So do real conversations and relationships.
A work team that employs technology to heighten service and interaction, rather than using it to keep customers at an arm’s length, becomes even more of a standout team.
