First entry on this Blog:
It recently occurred to me that physical location is less and less relevant for many of our jobs.
In the past, as part of a professional profile I always cited "company", "job title", "duration", "achievements", or "job description". I would also have included "location". But now my location is misleading.
When I tell friends/family/acquaintances that I am based in Grenoble (France), they immediately presume that my work is completely based in France, with French people and French work systems. In reality I work completely with US offices, US employees and mostly US work systems.
When I tell colleagues that I am based in Grenoble (still in France :) ), people immediately apologize for contacting me so late, but in reality I work largely US hours - sometimes eastern, sometimes pacific.
So how is location important in todays world of work.
The great advantage of working for a company that lets people work to their potential is that if you can do your job, where you do it from is not important. In my case, this work environment is provided by Sun Microsystems.
The great advantage of being able to choose your location is that you can choose the location that makes you the most productive - i.e. personally happy.
My office is in my home in the foothills of the Alps. My office window looks out on these sometime snowy mountains. So for a personal wellbeing, location is all-important.
From a professional perspective, depending on the job, and your flexibility, location can be less and less important.
In the past, as part of a professional profile I always cited "company", "job title", "duration", "achievements", or "job description". I would also have included "location". But now my location is misleading.
When I tell friends/family/acquaintances that I am based in Grenoble (France), they immediately presume that my work is completely based in France, with French people and French work systems. In reality I work completely with US offices, US employees and mostly US work systems.
When I tell colleagues that I am based in Grenoble (still in France :) ), people immediately apologize for contacting me so late, but in reality I work largely US hours - sometimes eastern, sometimes pacific.
So how is location important in todays world of work.
The great advantage of working for a company that lets people work to their potential is that if you can do your job, where you do it from is not important. In my case, this work environment is provided by Sun Microsystems.
The great advantage of being able to choose your location is that you can choose the location that makes you the most productive - i.e. personally happy.
My office is in my home in the foothills of the Alps. My office window looks out on these sometime snowy mountains. So for a personal wellbeing, location is all-important.
From a professional perspective, depending on the job, and your flexibility, location can be less and less important.
Agreed, my team members are located all over the world, so location does not matter anymore. Having said that, meeting face to face from time to time is important, and that is a challenge. But we are exploring virtual worlds such as Second Life and Project Wonderland to help us with that.
But I could do my job from anywhere. Was thinking a lot about that when on the beach in Jamaica a few weeks ago :-)
Posted by Marc Dierens on June 16, 2008 at 08:45 AM PDT #
I think the answer to the question "does location matter" varies depending on the individual. As Antoinette's manager I can attest that she does an amazing job of ensuring that her location is irrelevant. She travels whenever I ask, she works U.S. hours, she is incredibly available and responsive at all times. I think she is actively discovering and incorporating the best-practice remote work skills for the 21st century. They aren't written down anywhere, we are figuring it out as we go, but the old rules don't apply any more. Now it's about showing your value, not your face.
Posted by Diane Kerdock Kremer on June 17, 2008 at 06:56 PM PDT #