The traditional office a thing of the past…. in most cases

A few days ago I was reading “Why the 9 to 5 Office Worker Will Become a Thing of the Past” on Pick The Brain. It’s an interesting read, I suggest you check it out.

I have come to the realization that in many cases, the traditional workplace of showing up every morning, attending scheduled meetings and going home at a fixed time does not make any sense for either the employee or the company.

The obvious solution to this problem is planning around the mental energy cycle by breaking the work day into multiple segments. The traditional office setting doesn’t accommodate this because there are few available recharge activities. People can’t do household chores, run errands, or engage in recreational activities without leaving the workplace.

So, where does that leave us work wise. Do we work from home or do we work more at a “informal office” setting like WorkSpace?

I think the solution is a mixture of both. One does need a traditional office for some things like meetings and to collect mail etc but that’s about it. In many cases, one can rent a virtual office to handle those jobs very easily. No need to spend 2000+ a month on another physical place that doesn’t get used a lot.

With modern communication tools such as

1) Phones (both landlines and mobiles)
2) IM
3) E-Mail (including e-mail everywhere on the Blackberry)
4) Virtual Meetings

We are never out of touch - it really doesn’t matter if you are at home or on a cruise ship - with connectivity you can be anywhere and still work.

For some jobs, you have a fixed schedule - you work when it’s necessary but for many information workers there is no 9-5. A 8-10 and then 6-10 workday might be more productive.

At the end of the day, it’s about results not what time people work at. Breaking up the workday inproves productivity and everyone wins.

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