Kevin Maney, technology writer for USA Today had an interesting column on April 21st. He posed the question of whether technology would indeed supplant the need for offices. Maney reports many technology companies are pitching products for the coming era of the virtual office. Companies such as AT&T, Lotus and Nextel see a time when people will no longer cluster in buildings to work. Instead they will use wireless phones, laptop computers, video phones and electronic software.
Employees of the virtual office will be able to work from home, customer locations, telework centres, the library... just about anywhere. They'll even be able to live in different cities or different countries. Maney explains "this goes way beyond telecommuting. It's the idea that technology, not walls, will hold a company together."
There is a wide range of opinion on this topic. Maney interviewed two business executives for their views. Dick Grove, CEO of Primetime Publicity and Media, is all in favour of the virtual office. Grove explains he "invests in people and technology, not in fancy offices." Grove hires the best people no matter where they live. Everyone keeps in touch electronically. Success is defined directly by performance not politics.
Grove is a strong supporter of the virtual office concept as he has seen his operating costs drop significantly while his profits are up. He admits there are trade-offs. "Part of human nature is to gather around the water cooler to share pros and cons of the day. It's more difficult to do this electronically."
Neal Thornberry, management professor at Babson College in Boston has been studying the trend to virtual offices and is not convinced of the benefits. Thornberry believes "an office is far more complex than walls and desks. It is a living, political organism that can't be duplicated through machines. Problems often get solved in teams that randomly come together. Meaning gets conveyed not just in words but in gestures, tone and attitude."
Thornberry suggests being in the virtual office might mean you're left out of the loop, hurting your career. People and companies who pursue the virtual office will find it's a mistake. "We have the technology. The question is: Are humans ready to accept it?"
Editor's Note
Maney, Grove and Thornberry bring up several interesting points. The bottom line seems to be an organization's ability to handle change. The global marketplace is certainly closer to reality today than ever before. Today's technology allows us to effectively communicate with those who are in other time zones, states or countries. Grove's attitude of hiring the best people regardless of geographic location shows his company has clearly made the paradigm shift. The traditional office satisfied our needs in the past. Iin my opinion it will not be the most effective way of running our businesses in the future.
The virtual office will take time to become socially acceptable. But it will come. The need to reduce costs and increase productivity, revenue and profits is forcing many people to look at their corporate real estate investment. For most organizations this has been a "sacred cow" -- something which would not significantly change. The world marketplace is changing. The European Commission (EC) is moving toward telework and telecommunications as being a way of having citizens of one country work for organizations in another country without the employee having to relocate. The EC sees this as a way of improving the economic conditions of countries by having citizens stay in the country and reinvest their earnings in their own region (See Telework International - Spring '94).
If you are extremely skeptical of the virtual office concept, give it some more thought. As Maney describes in his column many products are coming out to support this new way of working. The future will include some type of virtual office. The key is to determine to what extent your company can benefit from these evolving concepts.
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