eweekchat

Key takeaways for me: ensure good security habits for end users, rationalize your collab tools around end user requirements, and keep a look out for how far 'work' is decoupled from 'place'. #eWEEkchat

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The tech is there to support remote work. I think now that so many organizations have been forced to try it, a significant portion won't go back. It's good for employers, too, after all. They don't have to limit hiring to a specific geo region.

These are unprecedented times, forcing tremendous digital transformation, we need to remember that while there is a tool and a setting for every scenario, that IT complexity is what kills an organization and drowns it Tech Debt, keeping it simple wins the day.

Interesting how to e the discussion moved away quite readily from the current pandemic effects - these discussions about how robust the tools are; synchronous vs. asynchronous; adoption curves dependent on size and industry -> none of this is new

Every team is now a remote team and from the looks of things here people are handling it quite well. Tooling still needs to improve though and this is still hard.

A6. Like everything else with IT, start with the work to be done, then look for the tech to do it. Too many orgs still are trying to fit the work into the available tech. It's nice that Zoom humanizes digital, but it better do more than that soon.

Key takeaway for me is that the tech stack is so crowded there will always be a better piece of technology. Implementations need a mixture of strategy, methodology and technology to make sure that the tools implementations are a success

While we didn't talk about this, we have just propelled the next generation of workers even farther forward, so being able to have the technology they will use in the coming years just ups the stakes of getting it right now.

Software often goes through aggregation phases - BI dashboards anyone? - wondering how long before companies crop up to offer Collaboration In a Box solutions that include 'everything'

I suspect the companies that are agile with tools and apps will come out strongest at the end of this crisis. And those companies that are empathetic and helpful to their workers in these COVID months will be most successful in the coming years.

@plburris Love this Peter. What problem are you trying to solve

For me reading through, it strikes me that as we think about collaboration tools, it comes right back to use cases. Horizontal ones (duh!) like Message, Video, Phone, but just as important the workflow enabling tools out there that folks mentioned.

A6. Another takeaway: Have we really gotten through this Crowdchat without any mention of design and UX? I saw one mention of AI-digital assistants. This space is so ready for big, huge, important change.

@JosePastor yes citizen everything will be the next outcome, Developer, Automation Engineer, Analytics you name it.

@plburris For sure. My team rejects ugly and clunky tools out of hand. Much bigger hill to climb.

@sean_broderick I've been trying to generally fix the problem of experts working together to solve complex problems for 20 years. Now, I'm staying pretty narrow: Collaboration tools for evidence-based management. Still a big topic.

Collaboration and flexibility are fundamental to work, but not necessarily physical presence. The pandemic brutally highlights the need to keep this in mind, and what can happen when flexibility is viewed as a perk. Tools that help people work effectively should not be avoided.

@plburris Massive topic! No better man

A5: Boring answer to this for us is it won't have changed much in regards to what we are discussing here - we have collaboration tools we have distributed and WFH activities that were in place before the pandemic so this hasn't change that much.

A5: Even when this is contained, it’s unlikely things will return to normal. Right now, we're seeing the forced acceleration of previously slow-moving trends that are likely to shape the future of the workplace for the long haul. #eWEEKchat

A5. Productivity could increase with less meetings! This pandemic has shown that many ‘would-be’ meetings can actually be resolved through IM, audio/video chat, or email. Employees can now rightfully ask: do we actually need a meeting for xyz? #eWEEKchat

A5: Telecommuting is one way. Any objections businesses had previously, COVID-19 may bring this into the mainstream and show leaders that with the right technology, culture, and expectations, employees can be just as productive and effective from home. #eWEEKchat

A5: Very little I suspect for us, we already have an amazing WFH culture. I expect we may see more of our clients loosen some requirements for on site personnel in some roles.

A5: Samuel Goldwyn said one should "Never make forecasts, especially about the future” but I am definitely in the wait and see camp. We are still very much in the honeymoon period with regards to working from home and a fully remote workforce.

A5: Our workplace will be fully remote first. Still up in the air about whether or not we even get a new office when our lease runs out, and I know that we're not the only company thinking about this.

A5 I think so. Our team is pretty much virtual now, but I think the trend will continue across the board, except for some industries like construction, mfg, leisure. But even those I believe will see a move to virtual

A5: Virtual events is another way things may change. Whether this format sticks is unknown. The measure of success for trade shows is in the value of the sales they generate and peer to peer connections they build. If successful, their appeal may be lasting. #eWEEKchat

A5: I have an inkling that we will bounce back to a very similar pre-covid scenario when the conditions allow. Working from home will become much more accepted and companies may move to a halfway house model where employees work 1-2 at home per week

A5: On the other hand for @Gtmhub and i assume for all of us - this is accelerating adoption of solutions we all offer that address some of the distributed challenges and that genie won't go back in the bottle.

A5: Corporate travel may come under more scrutiny across the board, the why can't you just use Zoom argument may bubble up.

@thomaserandall I feel like WFH means far more meetings and web-conferencing all day is exhausting!

@sean_broderick if your view is true and things return to "normal", then my large buy of Boeing stock at $130 was a good idea!!! :-)

A5. At minimum, a recognition that WHF infrastructure is not synonymous with WFH tools and applications. Most "collaboration" tools aren't that sharp. Lots of talk and experimentation is likely, but not much new adoption until the tools and apps improve a lot.

A5. We have to careful when deciding if we need new collaboration tools, especially if cost-cutting. @infotechRG's research has shown that rationalizing collaboration tools around required capabilities see better results in terms of end user satisfaction, security, productivity.

A5: Maybe new ways of measuring "productivity" or moving some companies from "productivity to outcomes"

A5: So i think that this idea of a different view on infrastructure needed to enable and take advantage of distributed teams will evolve rapidly as a result of a forced trial.

@usmcjost indeed! outcomes is what we deal with every day and i think you're right on this - it is fostering more focus on this

A5: Our workplace - not very much, TBH. We are always remote, even in office, due to our desktops being in the cloud. I'm hopeful that other companies will shift towards WFH as a core requirement that must always be available.

@editingwhiz HI Chris, have to drop, thanks for the conversation!

A5: Trends will accelerate with respect to more distributed and and remote work forces. Many people and businesses are tooling up for remote work, and proving that is can be successful. Tools and practices in place are great enablers for long term WFH change.

A5: Aside from everyone showing up with a new stylish mask at the office instead of a fun Zoom background, the Qumulo workplace won't be changed. But, many of our users' data intensive workloads will have shifted to the cloud, likely permanently. #eWEEKchat

@danlahl now you have to disclose this in every conversation to be safe :(

@andrewsthoughts Very interested to see the return of virtual only conference. @pmmalliance is running a festival in June that looks amazing. Hard to replicate in person events though! I think people will dying for a trip abroad when conditions allow

@sethaelliott You are ahead, many still measure "throughput" or what a manager can see being done.

@sean_broderick I can see how that can happen! At @infotechRG, I'm putting together a communications decision tree to better help end users decide what channel is the right one for the right message. Meetings aren't always necessary #eWEEKchat

@danlahl I hope for your sake that I am :)

@Molly_J_Presley you have several masks to coordinate against your daily outfits i assume?

@sethaelliott There are no boring answers, Seth, only good ones!

@thomaserandall This is the type of initiative that a lot of work places lack right now. Would be a huge time reliever for so many organisations if that was in place across the board. Good work!

A5: @editingwhiz Will things change at eWeek much?

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@sethaelliott I certainly plan to! YES!

@sean_broderick Thank you, much appreciated!

@Molly_J_Presley We've been a distributed company at eWEEK since I've been here, and that's since 2005. Our publishers have offices for corporate meetings and when we reporters need official surroundings, but we're mostly WFH office types!