In the dentist's office, there is a sign that reads: "You don't have to floss all your teeth, only the ones you want to keep." With a little re-working, this would be an excellent directive for the future of work: "You don't have to trust all your employees to work where, when and how they are most productive, only the ones you want to keep." TRUST is the key to optimizing creativity and performance and there are two sides to the equation:
1. If you (as management) do not trust employees to make wise decisions regarding freedom to work where, when, and how they are most productive Ü why are you employing them?
2. If you (as an employee) do not trust that your organization will provide the tools and encouragement to work where, when, and how you are most productive, why are you working there?
Before reading further, please take a moment to close your eyes and visualize what it would mean for you to have the freedom to choose the context for your work. What do you see? Are you working on a laptop on your sailboat? Talking on a cellular phone at the beach? Putting work aside to spend some time with your daughter when she comes home from school? Video-conferencing with colleagues around the world? Whatever you envision the future of work to be, it is likely that it involves three concepts:
1) performing work from outside the traditional office (telework);
2) working in a setting that is not the traditional office; and,
3) using technology that, for the most part, already exists today but is not being used to its fullest potential. Let's examine each future trend more closely.
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