We all have seen it before – if not in our own office, in the movies or on TV – workers gathering around the water cooler to chat about plans for the weekend and squabble over who should get voted off the next American Idol.
With the help of technology, such as video teleconferencing, instant messaging and remote access to PCs, the traditional workplace is quickly evolving. Chitchat around the water cooler is now done through online forums, more professionals have the flexibility to work part-time from home and businesses, in general, are going virtual.
Even HKA is taking a step into the virtual world – we use IM as a means of quick contact with each other and close associates and we access our emails remotely when working from home.
A Chicago-based job placement consultancy, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., recently released a list of workplace predictions that reflect the evolution of technology and rising cost of health care and energy. The list includes: the end of business travel; saying goodbye to corporate headquarters; no more cubicles; and my favorite, four-day workweeks.
Here’s the complete story:
Tags: office trends, virtual businesses
July 18, 2008 at 11:57 pm |
Interesting article!
I think at HKA, our water cooler is actually our really cool, single-cup coffee/tea/hot chocolate maker. I think all businesses are inevitably moving deeper into the virtual world every day, but nothing beats face-to-face communication in certain situations.
For example, I love that the HKA staff is a close-knit group, and everyone is relatively accessible most of the time. But thankfully, technology does help us keep close with our colleagues that work virtually as well. So we have a nice balance!