Author:amasa1313
Don’t Pressure Digital Nomads To Stay Hyperconnected
by Joshua Howe / Jan 2
Don’t pressure digital nomads to stay hyperconnected
Ask almost anyone if it’s important for them to stay in touch with their coworkers and they’ll say “of course!” Digital nomads will respond the same way, and at surface level there are a variety of services available to keep in touch with peers. But before listing off a variety of trendy new web sites to visit with the latest twist on sending text and media to each other, it’s important to stop for a moment to think about why people stay connected with their teammates in the first place.
Why should digital nomads stay connected with their team?
- Team members can point out new problems they’re encountering in the field with customers or business processes and share it with the greater group.
- For leadership, it’s important to regularly communicate with the team on what initiatives are the highest priorities, and share any changes to the strategic direction. It helps everyone continue to focus on what benefits the overall success of the company instead of tunneling into pet projects.
- Whenever a team member shares a story about how they screwed up with a customer and what they did afterward, it’s an immense payload for any company. People are drawn to problems, they’re curious about situations that don’t look squeaky clean and perfect. They’re more likely to take the time to read a post about a problem, and if there isn’t already a happy ending they may assist with working toward a good solution. In the end team members are learning from their peers’ mistakes.
- Sometimes it can also be effective to hear from customers directly and collaborate on solutions. Get Satisfaction does that very well, in a fun way.
- Logistically, communicating helps to organize events like product launches, conferences and networking opportunities. It keeps schedules in sync.
- There are a variety of solutions, but Google Calendar works well (installing Google Apps is even better). Backpack is another good option with lots of collaboration and project tracking built in.
- Brainstorming is always the most effective with multiple people. For digital nomads that’s difficult without an easy-to-use digital communication medium.
- A great way to share ideas online is through digital whiteboards. That allows digital nomads to quickly sketch out ideas for discussion. Skrbl is a great example.
- The web is big on mob wisdom right now, and it’s no different for teams inside a company. Whenever a problem surfaces, exposing it to many viewpoints all at once will usually result in a pretty smart suggestion or decision.
- Yahoo Answers, Digg, and Mixx are all examples of sites that use mob wisdom effectively.
Even with all of those advantages, there are times when it makes the most sense for digital nomads to work independently. Help point them toward effective communication tools but don’t create an expectation of hyperconnectedness. That will add stress and detract from productivity.
Why is it important to preserve independence for digital nomads?
- Sometimes people need space to experiment without fear of judgment. Working independently creates space to work with different ideas without the pressure of delivering an instant, ideal solution.
- Independent exploration frequently yields more diverse idea sets. After creating those ideas digital nomads will be looking for ways to share and grow them with peers.
- Too much collaboration can distract from individual goals.
Beyond the services listed above, a combination of phone, e-mail, instant messaging and a little Twittering usually takes care of the essential communications.
Planning and Structure For Mobile Productivity
by Joshua Howe / Dec 20
Working independently requires a variety of tricks and techniques to stay productive and on time. As a college student, I was a competitive swimmer and always did better in classes when in season. That was fine since it ran from September to February. However, when not in season I struggled with not having a structure. I had too much time, and didn’t have practice or meets to fill large blocks of it which had the effect of forcing my studying into the other available slots.
Thankfully, I’ve improved since then. Staying productive while working independently requires structuring projects as well as my schedule. Each project has a number of elements that aid me in staying on task and productive.
Project Plan: Each project starts with a good project plan which identifies the various elements. These allow me to keep track of the large picture while working through the details of a project. More than this though, it also allows me to triage my attention when other projects are competing for attention or new problems arise.
- In scope and out of scope elements: Its just as important to know what you’re not responsible for doing as what you are. It helps you stay focused on the project at hand and not get burned out by irrelevant, out of scope, tasks.
- Milestones: What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Knowing what steps I’ll achieve on the way to completing a project helps me stay focused and not get overwhelmed by the entire project.
- Deliverables: Knowing the end point means having a clear goal and understanding what the milestones amount to. Whether its an item or a recommendation or achieving certain metrics, identify what the goal is.
Supervision: Supervision is a bi-weekly check in to review progress, set short term goals, review any barriers and get feedback. Whether in person, by phone or video conferencing, supervision time is a chance to get project support and stay on top of project tasks.
Create Structure: Controlling your schedule can be a major element in remaining productive on the road.
- Scheudule time for paperwork or work on a particular project and stick to it. Barring an emergency, don’t let other projects steal this time. Ignore the phone and e-mail and use this time to focus on the project at hand. You’re still serving your customer by not answering the phone.
- Schedule appointments with customers and colleagues in blocks. Don’t intersperse appointments and meetings between paperwork or screen time. There’s plenty of lost time traveling to, waiting for, and wrapping up meetings. Clustering appointments allows you to minimize this lost time
Triage Attention: For as useful as e-mail, text messages, phone can be, they can also be time enormous drain on your time. Minimize their disruption of your work by waiting to respond until you’ve finished what you’re working on or changing focus. It will help you better focus on your task at hand and be better prepared and focused when you respond to those waiting e-mails.
Preparation: Ensure you have all of the materials and information you need to work from the road. There’s nothing like lost time due to missing materials or phone numbers.
Location: Where you work can be a key component to how productive you’re able to be. Coffee shops, home offices, the car, shared office spaces can all be viable road alternatives for the digital nomad. Like your morning coffe but easily distracted? Get it to go. Love your home office but have a 2 year old at home? Hit the road. Pick a location that matches your work style.
Staying productive on the road requires more than one strategy. It is about planning, monitoring and creating a structure. Doing each of these will ensure you’re meeting your goals and targets while leading the nomadic lifestyle
Why use a Hammer When You Need a Saw?
by Joshua Howe / Dec 17
Keeping a dispersed workforce on the same page relies on multiple tools. There is an array of technology available to businesses, however if its not the right tool for the job then, rather than enhancing productivity and communication, it frustrates and impairs the effectiveness of a dispersed workforce.
It is imperative that managers and employees identify what they are seeking to accomplish, and defining the best method for achieving that end. The first step in this process is identifying clear goals and targets for the employee, identifying milestones, deliverables, and time lines. In this process, different steps or aspects of the work are going to require different methods to keep employees on the same page.
There are many tools available, and each has it’s own strengths and weaknesses depending on the task being attempted. Too many times e-mail is seen as the way to communicate with a distributed workforce. Too much time is spent reading long chains and multiple responses to an e-mail, or trying to sort out a draft of a document that has been circulating. A hammer is a great tool for pounding nails, but useless to cut a board. Its about using the right tool for the job. Start with the task you need to accomplish and match the tool to the task.
Resource questions, brief updates or short answers are well suited to e-mail, as is a notice that doesn’t require feedback you want to get to field staff immediately. E-mail should be intentional communication rather than generalized information. It should have a clear purpose and be directed at the recipient. However, despite its usefullness, e-mail is not well suited to conversations.
Short conversations between two people can be had using text messaging, while longer ones are suited to direct communication using cell phones or video conferencing. With groups, video conferencing can be useful, especially when topics are more amorphous. Another alternative is message boards where information can be posted and responded to. The structure of message boards allows employees to follow a clear flow of the conversation and responses. Where as e-mail allows immediate connection, message boards allow people to go to the information when they have the time to dedicate to it and provide thoughtful feedback. Separating the use of e-mail and message boards in this way allows employees to triage what needs their immediate attention, and this is a way for us to help them do this.
Group project work may benefit from the use of message boards for discussion on the project, but having this as part of a shared workspace can be invaluable. This workspace may include working documents, shared calendars, goal and target monitoring, and message and bulletin boards. These virtual spaces can keep project teams on the same page by keeping all the materials in one place which avoids duplication and loss of important information, reduces the load on e-mail, and can serve as a way for teams to stay connected.
Staying on the same page does not always mean direct communication between two or more people. At times, communication is being able to share the same information, such as when evaluating or tracking productivity. Having already defined what productivity looks like, you are able to identify how to measure it. If productivity means sales or billable hours, then being able to generate a report of these may be important. Reviewing that report as a team may be in a meeting, but just being able to access and view accurate mectrics helps people stay on the same page regarding achieving identified targets and goals that are quantifiable.
Ultimately, keeping teams on the same page is challenging at the best of times, even when they’re not digital nomads. It starts with having a shared understanding of project goals, milestones and targets. By evaluating what we need to accomplish from our communication allows us to choose the right method for that communication. Being intentional about how we are sharing information allows us to sort information better and achieve better outcomes more efficiently.
Cost Savings For Employers of Digital Nomads
by Joshua Howe / Nov 15
With any employee there are questions of return on investment. The two components of the calculation is the income, what people are producing, and the outgoing, the cost of having individuals decentralized and working from the field
Measuring what people are producing does not vary greatly whether an individual works in an office or from the road or home.  There is an assumption that because an employee works in an office and can be observed, that they’re doing their work and being productive. The opposite is true of those who are nomads. There is the assumption that because they’re not being observed, that there is ample opportunity for slacking off. Both of these have some truth, however, ultimately how we measure an employee’s work is by productivity.
Project management theory focuses not only on the the product but the process, and identifying measurable steps in that process. In order to measure a digital nomad’s work it is important to have agreed time frames and short term goals. Maintaining good communication with in house employees and nomads is imperative. Whether this is completed by e-mail, telephone, video conference or in person depends on the needs of the industry, project, and individuals. For industries which don’t have a project focus, but are service delivery orientated, there are other metrics which can be used to measure productivity, such as billable hours, contact hours, or units sold.
Measuring the cost of digital nomads has two components. There are the cost savings by having a worker decentralized and additional costs compared to office based employees.
- Office Space: Saving on rental or purchase of office space.
- Heating, Cooling and Electricity: With fewer office based employees, and less floor space, heating cooling and electric costs are minimized could mean a substantial savings to a large business.
- Equipment: This can be an area of either savings or cost. Though not working in an office, thus saving on equipment there, individuals may need the equipment in their homes to work effectively.
- Insurance: If the customers are being seeing their homes and offices rather than your business’ office, liability insurance premiums are reduced.
- Personnel: More and more employees are looking for flexible work spaces and schedules. Providing this to digital nomads can translate into happier employees which means more productivity and less turnover resulting in significant recruitment and training savings.
- Travel: Having employees spread out over large geographic area allows employees to be closer to the work rather than having to travel which results in reduced travel costs. This also has the added benefit of better customer service by having better local knowledge and greater face to face contact with your customers.
- Technology: Digital nomads would require a different set of tools to be effective in the field versus in the office. Rather than desktop computers, they would require laptops which traditionally have a shorter life. They may require remote access to files stored on company servers, wireless Internet access, and mobile phones and accessories.
Having a mobile workforce means exploring what productivity means to you as the employer and having clear communication of goals and progress. The benefits of having digital nomads outweighs the costs. It can lead to reduced infrastructure costs, better connections with customers, and happier employees. All of which are cost savings to the employer.
Join the conversation…
Collaborate with some of the leading minds in technology and define what it means to be a digital nomad. The community will collaborate to answer questions about:
- Security challenges of a mobile workforce
- Connectivity and access for nomad employees everywhere
- Ensuring productivity when employees are on the go
