eweekchat

Trends in Collaboration Tools
JOIN US: This is a chat-based conversation about what tools we're using in working from home and in teams and whether we're more (or less) efficient. We'll have expert guest hosts!
   4 years ago
#eweekchatTrends in Data OrchestrationJOIN US: This is a chat-based conversation about what we're seeing in the organization of all that data we're collecting. Data orchestration--using Kubernetes or other platforms--is a key topic right about now. We'll have expert guest hosts!
   4 years ago
#eweekchatTrends in Mobile Apps, DevicesJOIN US: This is a chat-based conversation about what new mobile devices and apps are out there to help us work from home during the pandemic. Samsung's new 5G phone is among the pioneers. We'll have expert guest hosts!
Chris Preimesberger
Q5: Looking ahead, when we're out the back end of the pandemic, how will your workplace be changed, and will you add new collaboration tools?
Seth Elliott
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.
Andrew Filev
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
Tom Randall
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
Andrew Filev
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
@usmcjost
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.
Sean Broderick
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.
Kurt Schrader
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.
Dan Lahl
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
Andrew Filev
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
Sean Broderick
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
Seth Elliott
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.
@usmcjost
A5: Corporate travel may come under more scrutiny across the board, the why can't you just use Zoom argument may bubble up.
Sean Broderick
@thomaserandall I feel like WFH means far more meetings and web-conferencing all day is exhausting!
Dan Lahl
@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!!! :-)
Peter Burris
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.
Tom Randall
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.
@usmcjost
A5: Maybe new ways of measuring "productivity" or moving some companies from "productivity to outcomes"
Seth Elliott
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.
Seth Elliott
@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
Mike Jumper
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.
Dan Lahl
@editingwhiz HI Chris, have to drop, thanks for the conversation!
Jose Pastor
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.
Molly Presley
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
Seth Elliott
@danlahl now you have to disclose this in every conversation to be safe :(
Sean Broderick
@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
@usmcjost
@sethaelliott You are ahead, many still measure "throughput" or what a manager can see being done.
Tom Randall
@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
Sean Broderick
@danlahl I hope for your sake that I am :)
Seth Elliott
@Molly_J_Presley you have several masks to coordinate against your daily outfits i assume?
Chris Preimesberger
@sethaelliott There are no boring answers, Seth, only good ones!
Sean Broderick
@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!
Molly Presley
A5: @editingwhiz Will things change at eWeek much?

(edited)

Molly Presley
@sethaelliott I certainly plan to! YES!
Tom Randall
@sean_broderick Thank you, much appreciated!
Chris Preimesberger
@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!
Chris Preimesberger
Q2: From a recent Wrike survey: More than half of U.S. companies say a work from home policy would seriously harm productivity. Depends on the use case, I know--but what's your take?
Sean Broderick
A2: @uplandsoftware has a remote first culture with limited offices in the US and EMEA. I think mindsets will change during the current crisis and people can see that employees work just as hard at home as they do in the office.
Dan Lahl
Q2 HOGWASH! My team is spread all over the world, from Israel to China and India. The management of companies have to get on board with the new normal of remote workforces...
Tom Randall
A2. This is likely based on a bad perception of what 'work' is. Work is a process, not something inherently tied to a place. As remote work becomes a norm over the next few months, we'll see focus on results/outcomes, not how many hours you spend in an office #eWEEKchat
Seth Elliott
A2: For us we have been operating as a distributed team across multiple locations from the start: Bulgaria, Berlin, London and Denver. We've also had a very liberal work from home policy and this has all driven more productivity for us personally
@usmcjost
depends on the company, culture, and role. WFH is very prevalent in our company and we have highly collaborative and productive teams. For the most part, I think many "knowledge worker" roles can easily WFH.
Mike Jumper
A2: Strongly the opposite. We use @ApacheGuacamole for essentially everything, and now rely on it. It is true that some businesses cannot avoid requiring physical presence. For all others, it doesn’t make sense to knowingly turn away from flexibility.
Seth Elliott
A2: Having said that we obviously (given our product) have an intense OKR culture in our DNA. We see that it's highly situational in regards to whether WFH fits into both company culture and strategy-execution management capabilities
Dave Vellante
I'm seeing mixed data on that Chris...on the one hand, it's true many companies are scrambling to put in #WFH infrastructure & are not prepared. On the other hand I see customers rapidly getting better and ramping up productivity. #less #Travel
@usmcjost
Also keep in mind these are not "Normal" WFH times with kids being out of school, sports, etc. So there are many more distractions.
Dan Lahl
A2 glad this panel is dispelling the notion of work only happening in a corporate or satellite office...
Kurt Schrader
We've had a mostly remote team at @clubhouse for several years now and we haven't seen a drop in productivity (the opposite in fact). There's definitely a lot work to be done to make sure that you have the right processes in place though.
@usmcjost
Personally I have seen a dramatic increase of video use, getting to know co-workers, their families, pets, etc. We are reconnecting humanity back into the workplace.
Andrew Filev
A2: That was actually a survey of 1,000+ workers, and half believed their companies weren't ready to go remote. With the proper tools in place, orgs can make it happen. Here's the survey info: https://www.wrike.com/blog/are-employees-ready-to-.... #eWEEKchat
https://www.wrike.com/blog/are-employees-ready-to-go-remote/
Ready or Not: Are Employees Ready to Go Remote? | Wrike
Ready or Not: Are Employees Ready to Go Remote? | Wrike
There's been an increase in remote work due to the novel coronavirus, but are employees ready to go remote? Get insight on the statistics by reading more.
Tom Randall
@usmcjost absolutely agree - this is something that will require structural change so that labour not traditionally seen as a part of the economy (childcare, etc.) definitely ought to be. Several hundreds years late!
Seth Elliott
A2: I'd add anecdotally a guess that companies fearing WFH productivity erosion are likely to be organizations in which 'Agency' for each employee skews lower
Peter Burris
A2. For rote activities with no physical component, no effect on productivity. For an activity that changes in response to time or context, having folks proximate can be better. But, of course, most offices are poorly managed and run!
Dan Lahl
@usmcjost so lots of videos of sap employees bringing their kids and pets to work right now. Humanizes the situation :-)
Sean Broderick
A2: Working from home with the kids in the house has a huge impact on productivity :) Maybe that's what the Wrike study was highlighting!
Tom Randall
A2. 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
Seth Elliott
@mtjmpr A2: I think this is a strong point - the infrastructure in place to create efficacy for WFH is critical
Molly Presley
A2: WFH will become more productive as data moves to the cloud. Much of the sensor data lands in a data center today. Once policies to move that data are put in place, research from home will be easier. And likely that shift to cloud will be permanent.
Dave Vellante
21% of respondents in a recent @etrnews survey indicate they're actually planning to spend more in 2020 as a result of #COVID19 - the offset to the precipitous declines is all related to #WFH infrastructure (not just video but networking, security, VDI, etc.).
Dave Vellante
https://wikibon.com/breaking-analysis-cios-now-exp...
https://wikibon.com/breaking-analysis-cios-now-expect-budgets-to-decline-4-in-2020/
Breaking Analysis: CIOs Now Expect Budget Declines of 4% in 2020 - Wikibon Research
Breaking Analysis: CIOs Now Expect Budget Declines of 4% in 2020 - Wikibon Research
The latest survey data shows CIOs expect budget declines of four percent (4%) in 2020.
Kurt Schrader
@kurt You need to make sure that you're over-communicating everything and have feedback loops in place for everyone. Right now we're seeing what it looks like if everyone is just thrown into the fire without thinking their processes through.
Dan Lahl
A2 I've asked 2 development colleagues about development productivity during wfh at SAP. Both report they are ahead on most of their project timelines (both run 500+ person units at SAP)
Seth Elliott
A2: using the tools we'll all talk about - and having in place a method like OKRs that is not 'command & control' and that empowers workers while enabling progress evaluation massively helps this process
@usmcjost
There is a ton of "Real Estate" budget that can to optimizing operations if WFH can really transform certain business models.
Dan Lahl
@kurt agree - we are having Zoom video meetings just to keep things human. For me, I have a Monday noon meeting and a Friday breakfast meeting with my team - no work, just talk - video mandatory
Molly Presley
A2: Qumulo has always had Agile dev teams face to face. They have moved seamlessly to WFH and met their biweekly releases as planned. No slow down and possibly an acceleration in productivity reported.
Sean Broderick
@kurt Love that sentiment. Over-communicating in this period is crucial
Peter Burris
@danlahl A2. Good use of Zoom.
Jose Pastor
A2: We are hearing that productivity is still strong from many of our customers. Work has changed. For now a shared mission and good tools are a winning combination. #eWEEKchat
Jeff Miller
I've been working remotely since 2007, and have worked for remote-first companies. If the culture and infrastructure support it, remote-work is at least as productive as in-office, in my experience.
@usmcjost
@danlahl Yep Zoom lunches, happy hours, just saying hi. We may be more connected now than ever?
Dan Lahl
A2 @danlahl Gartner is expecting database sales to retract up to 10%, so the spending decrease for CIOs is real...
Molly Presley
@JosePastor We have seen the same, particularly in markets service media data to consumers, researchers working on COVID. Activity in those environments have spiked while others are more or less status quo.
Chris Preimesberger
@dvellante Hi Dave! Thanks for joining
Dan Lahl
@usmcjost Erik, I found out I have 2 people on my team that are Orchid experts - they are coaching me!!!
@usmcjost
@danlahl This hits home my dad was and Orchid grower for many years!
Mike Jumper
@thomaserandall I think you're right regarding companies viewing work as being tied to a place, but I'm surprised that any would continue to hold this view in light of the current pandemic.
Tom Randall
@mtjmpr Agreed. This is a paradigm shift in how we understand work.