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Virtual Workspaces

by on November 10th, 2011

The last few weeks we have been talking about the effectiveness of virtual workspaces.  On any given morning (as long as it isn’t before 10am), you can walk into a coffee shop in Portland, Or and find dozes of free agents at their computers or on their phones working.  This isn’t anything new, but we are starting to realize that working remotely or from a virtual workspace isn’t really an effective way to run a business.  Let me demonstrate what I mean…

A few weeks ago, I spent two hours on Skype with a co-worker having him walk me through a project he had been working on.  The conversation was ridiculous.  For the first 45 minutes I was trying to wrap my head around what he was talking about and trying to communicate as best as I possibly could while staring into my computer.  By the end of the conversation we were both confused, frustrated, and I was no closer to understanding his work than I had been at the beginning of the conversation.  We met face-to-face the following day and it took him 15 minutes to get me to not only understand what was going on but to also give important feedback that he easily rolled into the project.

My question then is are virtual workspaces really a better solution than going to an office?  I am a huge proponent of flexible schedules and balance work environments, but you cannot replace in person communication with virtual workspaces.

What do you think?  Have you found success in working remotely?  How does having (or not having) a virtual office impact your work and communication both internally and with clients?

  • Mark Redshaw

    Two hours were replaced by a fifteen minute conversation….what was the missing ingredient.  Was it touch? Body position? Passion…..what was the missing component that you could not understand over skype?

  • http://www.marahcreative.com/cadre_adam.html Adam Koller

    Sometimes when working through complex problems, being in-person helps move communication more efficiently. You definitely can miss the nuances of non verbal communication over online tools. We love platforms like Skype, (and others) but nothing will fully replace face-to-face human interaction.