Your desk job makes you fat, sick and dead …

Podio co-founder Jon Froda along with panelists Cali Williams Yost, CEO and Founder of Work+Life Fit Inc, Kate Lister from Telework Research & Richard Leyland, Founder of Worksnug explored the potential of ‘workshifting‘ and how working from anywhere has immense possibilities when it comes to productivity & work-life balance.

Avoiding the big sucking sound of a time waster

We’ve all been there. Whether it is said explicitly or not, the clear message of the project is “I’ll know it when I see it.” When you hear or sense this you hear the big sucking sound of a time waster coming on. Invariable it creates an endless cycle of, “hmmmm not quite right.” If the architectural drawings, high-heeled shoes or ad campaign doesn’t meet their unstated standards, you’re back to doing it again.

Sometimes you can make a handsome profit on all the fees you charge to redo things that indulge the ego of the customer, but more likely than not, your time is wasted until they’re happy. If you have a client who feels the same way, you can work together to save time and money by being clear with each other about what’s wanted. I think helping a client say what they want before they see it is a worthy endeavor.

Here are some good ideas from Seth Godin on how to avoid all this.

1. Do it on purpose. When engaging with a new client, intentionally create an environment where personal taste is described in advance, and as much boundary-building as possible is done when it’s cheap to iterate, not at the end when it’s expensive.
2. Demand benchmarks. The world is filled with things that are a lot like what you’ve been asked to create. So mutually identify them. Show me three other websites that feel like what you’re hoping to feel like. Hand me a hardcover book that has type that reads the way you want yours to read. Walk me through a building that has the vibe you’re looking for…
3. Describe the assignment before you start. Using your words and the words of the client, precisely state what problem you’re trying to solve. “We’re trying to build something that does a, b and c, and not d…”
4. Then, before you show off your proposal, before you hand in your work, restate the problem again. “You asked us to do a, b and c at a cost of under X. What I’m about to show you does a, it does b and it does c… and it costs half of X.” This sort of intentional restatement of the scope of work respects your client by honoring their stated intent, at the same time it focuses your work on the stated goals.
5. Make a decision about whether you want a reputation for doing this sort of focused work. If you do, don’t work for clients who don’t buy into the process. Over time, you’ll earn the kind of clients you want.

via Seth’s Blog: Avoiding “I’ll know it when I see it”.

Related articles

• How to Give Your Clients Exactly What They Want (bizsugar.com)

The anywhere office

Over the last year, we have been experimenting with an office anywhere approach. We have combined this with a new collaborative environment in our physical office. So … after a year in, how is it working? Here are a couple of recent quotes from 2 of our staff.

I feel like I have the best of all worlds… I can come into our open area at work when I need to meet with staff or someone in particular. I can hole away in my home office to do solitary work, and I am in fact, in my home office most of the time. My home office is a quiet environment (most of the time) and I can actually think and work. While there, I feel totally connected just by having my Lync window up showing all my team’s status colors. I think the work-life balance benefits of this arrangement are incredible and I feel empowered knowing that I don’t have to “show up” in the collaborative area just to be seen.

And another.

I enjoy telecommuting because I have the option of staying away from the masses, the drive byes, and the side conversations if I wish.  My favorite days are those where I have few meetings and I can actually do work.  Unfortunately that doesn’t happen very often so I have to find other ways to get real work done or to just think/strategize.

So, what do you think? Are you an anywhere office kind of person?

Related articles

• 8 Perks of Coworking Spaces for Savvy Entrepreneurs (grasshopper.com)
• Home Office Roundup: How and Why to Work From Home (notes.envato.com)
• A Visual Breakdown Of The Benefits Of Working From Home (fastcoexist.com)
• Outfit Your Home Office Without Going Out of Business — Savings Experiment (dailyfinance.com)

Are workers who can and do work anywhere (including home) more engaged?

I am a remote, or as I prefer to believe, an anywhere worker. I can work anywhere. And I do. It works for me and a lot of my colleagues and friends. We are a very productive and motivated group. I love it when I find evidence to support what I do and believe.

What do you think? Are you more productive being an “anywhere” worker?

If you work from home, you’ve probably gotten an eye roll or two from your office-bound friends. But as consultant Scott Edinger explains, working from home or in a remote office can lead to increased productivity, more effective communication, and better teamwork.

Who is more engaged and more committed to their work and rates their leaders the highest?

A. People who work in the office

B. People who work remotely

If you picked A, you might be as surprised as the investment firm I worked with recently, which found in reviewing results of a 360-degree feedback process that the answer was, in fact, B.

The team members who were not in the same location with their leaders were more engaged and committed— and rated the same leader higher—than team members sitting right nearby. While the differences were not enormous (a couple of tenths of a point in both categories), they were enough to provoke some interesting speculations as to why this might be happening.

via Why Remote Workers Are More (Yes, More) Engaged.

Related articles

• Report: Remote Workers More Engaged, Committed (inc.com)
• Tablets vs. PCs — What’s best for remote employees? (lenovo.com)
• Remote Working Comes of Age (remoteworker.wordpress.com)
• Managing Freelance Workers and E-Lancers that Work Remotely (themarlincompany.com)