Working from Anywhere Anytime

“Working from anywhere anytime is no longer the preserve of freelancers working in exotic locations. It is a corporate imperative, however it is much more than simply taking a Zoom subscription…”

Working from anywhere anytime is no longer the preserve of freelancers working in exotic locations. It is a corporate imperative as the COVID-19 crisis has shown. However enabling working from anywhere anytime is much more than taking a Zoom subscription as everyone seems to be doing these days. Implementing effective work from anywhere anytime capability requires a detailed review of tools, culture, leadership, processes, and security and compliance - each of which is a big enough topic and it is difficult to cover them all in one article.

In this article, I highlight seven different areas where you need to evaluate workflows and determine the best tools to implement a comprehensive working from anywhere anytime capability.

Synchronous Communication aka video conferencing

These are tools that help remote teams stay in touch by allowing them to conduct audio and video meetings with one or multiple people. E.g. Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts

Asynchronous Communication

Tools that enable ongoing communication between team members regardless of the presence of another team member. E.g. Outlook, GMail, Slack

Team Collaboration

Tools that facilitate synchronous ideation and innovation by enabling remote teams to work on projects or documents simultaneously and receiving or providing real-time feedback. E.g. Office365, G Suite

Collective Intelligence aka knowledge management

Tools that enable curating, accessing and exposing organizational knowledge in a secure and efficient manner. E.g. SharePoint, Inquira Oracle Knowledge, Confluence

File Sharing and Storage

Tools that help remote teams store, send and receive files securely with people within and outside the organization. E.g. Dropbox, Box, Google Drive

Task Management

Tools that allow remote teams plan, manage and execute work by providing capabilities to assign tasks, schedule work and track progress. E.g. Asana, Trello, ServiceNow, Jira

Enterprise Social Networking aka virtual water cooler

Tools that help employees connect and engage with others across the organization similar to how people connect with friends and family through social media outside work. E.g. Workplace by Facebook, Yammer

I Don’t Know every tool on the planet that enables working from anywhere anytime capability, what I know is every organization needs to act now, evaluate tools for all the seven areas and make a conscious decision on how to proceed forward even if it means not digitizing one or more areas in the short term.

Please note most of the tool examples I have provided address multiple areas and digitizing all seven areas which is recommended, does not mean you have to implement seven different tools.