Beep-beep-beep.
It was the sound of my alarm, waking me up in the darkness. I had forgotten to shut it off after an early appointment I had the previous day.
As I silenced the alarm, and attempted to get back to sleep, I thought about my working past.
Back then at the same time of day, sleep-deprived, I would get ready for work. I’d then accompany thousands of other commuters in our “rush” (now there is a definite misnomer!) to get downtown. Several minutes after pulling into the attached parking garage of our office building, I would join my colleagues at our assigned work spaces in our gleaming office tower.
On our desks set a hulking piece of machinery known as an “IBM-compatible” PC. None of us would ever dream of attempting to move it from its hallowed spot. Sure, there were “portable” personal computers, but to transport one of these beasts, its user would need to deal with the heft of a suitcase – without the benefits of the wheels of a roller bag.
At the end of our day, we would retreat to the underground parking garage, retrieve our vehicles and head home. A welcome blessing would be that the evenings could truly be our own. Sure, we might get an emergency call from the boss or we would need to check voicemail at home, but those rarities would be the only interruptions from a day that was clearly divided between work and personal time.
Today, as someone who speaks and writes on the topic of social media marketing, my work day is much different. In the mornings when I am at home, I have a 10 second commute from my bedroom to my office (okay, a 15 second commute when I encounter another family member on their way to the bathroom).
Without first needing the assistance of any motor vehicle and dealing with daily wasteful and non-productive commuting time, I can immediately begin my workday by firing up my computer, just as I did this morning. I have various forms of this device – on my desk, in my briefcase and on my phone. Using e-mail, Skype and other social networking tools, I will interact with my clients and colleagues.
You see, for my clients, there is no concept of “I am going to take Friday off.” The new global workplace will be a results only workplace.
For instance, last week I had a client who requested that I update the business-to-business social media marketing portion of a conference. The only requirement was: “We need it by Monday.” The client really didn’t care if that deadline fit into a 9-to-5 routine for the remainder of the week.
For many organizations, especially for sales, customer service and IT personnel, their employees no longer commute to a physical office. The companies have realized that it can be a lot more efficient for the organization and for the employee, using the technical tools that are available, to simply work from home. In fact some companies even employ services like Elance.com or oDesk.com to utilize help located anywhere in the world.
How Social Networking Could Revolutionize Your Career
As you develop expertise in a certain area, why do your skills need to be monopolized by a single employer? Since you no longer need to reside in their physical office space and you can instead use the tools of social networking, why couldn’t multiple companies reap the benefit of your expert knowledge, with you taking on more of a consultant role? Not only could you benefit from simultaneous exposure to a variety of organizations, the organizations could benefit from the real-time, cross-pollination of ideas as well.
At the turn of the 20th century, most Americans were employed in agriculture. During the century, there was a dramatic and profound migration toward the cities. As we begin the 21st century, no longer tethered to our desks, will we see an eventual shift of work from the center city to people working anyplace and at any time? Is it “down on the farm and now back again”? What effect will this have on our downtown office buildings?