The CX Blog

I’ve recently signed on as a full time employee of a small start-up, ending a 6 year consulting practice. There were many aspects of the company and product that were compelling for me, but also intriguing was the idea of being part of a remote workforce.

The company has team members in New York, Seattle, Bangalore and Poulsbo, WA–this last location being the tiny headquarters in a picturesque, if sleepy, port village on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula. I go there from Seattle about once or twice a week–usually once.

I work from home in my West Seattle office–a great spot fully outfitted from my time as a consultant. In fact, I traveled much more as a consultant than I am doing now as part of this far flung start-up.

But there are concerns. Communication is sometimes a challenge. Email is the most efficient way to communicate to multiple people or to disseminate information on the fly, but there’s a hesitation to rely on it too much. Skype is great, and you can include people–as long as they’re on and available. Email hasn’t gone the way of the 8 track tape for me…not yet, anyway.

Video conferencing isn’t really happening yet, but I hope we’ll begin to use it at some point.

Knowledge transfer can be a real challenge in remote workforce situation. Adoption of social biz software like basecamp gets a lot of positive press but takes a long time to integrate into one’s real workflow. People don’t want to learn yet another application. In our specific case, we don’t yet have an intranet, and we need one, if only to keep everyone on the same page.

And finally, there is what something I’ve seen a lot in my consulting practice. A sense of an information “black hole.” This is an interesting issue because it gets down to the very human issue of not realizing that what I know isn’t known by all. What I have shared didn’t get sent out beyond a small circle. Others may feel left out. In a virtual workforce, this issue becomes compounded.

I’m looking around the blogosphere for others’ experience of these issues and welcome any pointers, ideas, etc. I just read a very positive overview (maybe a little too rose-colored) of the state of telecommuting, a trend that is increasing rapidly as a response to rising gas prices.

And here’s a wiki for managing a remote workforce that is evolving. I appreciated the mention of contact–there is a feeling of being “out-of-it” when you are remote. Even if you talk on the phone, email, skype–there’s still a chance to feel a little adrift. That’s a knowledge sharing issue and a human issue.

And another blog that discusses loneliness among those at home, resentment among those still in the office. Not sure that last one applies to me, but maybe–how would I know? They’re not communicating it to me.

If you have ideas or feedback, let me know. Thanks!