June 18, 2013

Humanizing Online Communications

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Evolution of (Physical) Workplace

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Evolution of (Physical) Workplace

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Physical Space is Evolving

From offices & cube farms…

…to open floor plans

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Campuses with Central Areas

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•13.4% of workers work at home 1+ days/wk (2010 US Census)

•41% of people will work from home in next 9 years (Forbes)

•30-45% of companies have alternative work program (Coleman)

•Best talent for a job is rarely in the same zip code

•Work & personal time blend together

• IT trends – more choice, less top down control

Evolution of Workforce

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Net-Net

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•No social group whether a family or work group can survive without constant informal contact among its members (A Pattern Language - Alexander)

First Principles of Human Interaction

•People crave a sense of belonging

…but the further apart we are, the less we talk

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•Co-locate

•Eliminate set-up

•Create Daily habits

Adding the Human Dimension Back

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(Emulate) Co-Location

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• Long running text-based chat rooms

• Everyone in the same context

• Blend planned with the informal

• Helps get people together but the fidelity is very low

Group Chat

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Persistent Video

•Long running video sessions

•Good for connecting multiple physical locations

• Isolated remote worker can feel part of co-located group

… requires setup and you’re always “on camera”

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Virtual Office

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Visualizing your workspace

Virtual NOC

Agile Space

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Eliminate Set-up & People Talk More

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Eliminate Set-up & People Talk More

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Pop in and Talk

Factoid: average Sococo user talks 2+

hrs/day

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Daily Habits

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Summary

•Work is no longer a destination – it’s what we do

•Technology allows us to connect and work from anywhere

•Which means we are further apart than ever

•We need new habits and patterns of communication

…and technologies that bring the human dimension back to our online communications