eweekchat

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!

A4. The collaboration tools marketspace is trending toward the cloud, requiring network connection. Some productivity tools can work offline if information can be saved locally, but offline remote collaboration would need to be asynchronous. #eWEEKchat

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A4: Google suite of apps does a great job with this. Work on the plane and sync when back online. That assumes of course that you get to go on a plane and still social distance.

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A4: Absolutely, if they are enabled for that. @Wrike 's mobile app has an offline mode that will sync automatically when a user is back online. This is critical when Wi-Fi slows or goes down, and there is a lot of pressure on the networks now. #eWEEKchat

A4: If you are using a tool in offline mode, make sure changes/edits are tracked when back online so everyone is in sync on the latest version. Now that we're all remote, the last thing you need is version control issues. #eWEEKchat

A4: Depending on how broadly we define this yes. For example, even though we are a SaaS company we also deliver On Premise deployments to select clients.

A4 you could extrapolate cloud sync and share similar to how OneDrive functions to other tools, and cache exchanges for syncing. I agree with @thomaserandall as more and more moves to cloud, you will need a connection.

A4: I think the massive irony here is that being offline or connectivity being down, can provide the biggest opportunity for deep work. Using MS Teams in that way can mean your most productive time is when you are offline

A4. Sure, if context is asynchronous, which in the case of humans, it usually is. But turn and run if you can't sync with integrity.

A4: but this idea of 'offline' to me is more about - you've done some creating/editing in your own space and then it just links back in once you reconnect - not sure how important that distinction is for these tools.

A4: The problem with synchronizing changes in most of these tools are real. The vast majority of collaboration tools don't do a good job when there's a conflict between offline edits and live edits.

@editingwhizA4: although as we move towards the future localize AI agents may be there to "converse with", I imagine a day where there is enough context that your digital assistant can answer questions on the fly "offline".

@thomaserandall I think the issue of synchronous vs asynchronous starts to become one of the critical factors here in definition - if we mean collaboration tools require simultaneity then by definition you can't really use them offline

A4 Not sure this is relevant - offline is old school and as @kurt points out, the sync problem is real...

@sean_broderick Agree. One of the challenges of remote work is that it can be difficult to signal that you're not available to be interrupted, so they happen all day long. In an office, a pair of headphones usually does the trick. Managing interruptions is really important.

A4. Ultimately, this depends on your end user requirements. If you don't need to work synchronously (e.g. IM or simultaneous editing), then there is no oxymoron if collaboration is asynchronous.

A4 agree with @sethaelliott on this one. To me, collaboration tools really do mean online, all the time...

@sethaelliott Absolutely agree.

A4: @sethaelliott @danlahl - agreed. It's certainly possible to do work offline, but the collaboration aspect just won't be there. I personally am more likely to use a network outage as a coffee break.

A4: Collaboration can absolutely be offline, as long as you and your collaborators agree on it. We can all take a pointer from teams that work across broad timezones. Often they key is the etiquette around rate of response and mode to keep everyone moving along.