If you thought working from home meant you had to stay at the home office, think again. Teleworking is attracting hard workers to the neighborhood cafe and coffee shops to continue the web’s growth in networking and collaboration around the world.
Sabah Karimi:
For hundreds of internet startups and independent business owners, taking advantage of the power of online collaboration has become a necessary outcome. Teleworkers unite online in a variety of forms; telecommuting is becoming increasingly common for outsourcing projects because of its reduced costs, and companies that have a focus on productivity can benefit significantly from a teleworker-based business design. Today’s teleworkers don’t meet in an office, a conference room, or even from a home-based locale. Instead, a noticeable trend is found in the nooks and corners of coffee shops and cafes across the country.
Cafes that offer wireless internet access are an instant attraction for study groups, researchers, or just browsing the online version of the local newspaper over Sunday coffee. The coffee shop atmosphere can provide just the right environment for creativity and insights to prosper, and some of today’s trendiest hotspots offer complete dining menus and snacks for the all-day enthusiast. Teleworkers are making use of the decreased overhead of office space by just plugging in and settling down at the nearest locale. Entire companies constructed of teleworker employers can make use of this standby office, and it may just prove to be a valuable opportunity for many startups or young entrepreneurs looking to save costs and improve efficiency.
What happens when you strip away the corporate or office setting, the day-to-day interaction of fellow employees, and the watercooler gossip? Teleworkers can focus instead on their strengths: a higher standard of productive work, or instilling fast turnaround on projects. When networking is needed, there’s always the option to share online space through webcams and video conferencing. Technology and the Internet are growing and adapting to new needs at a record pace; the possibilities for collaboration are becoming more streamlined and easy to manage. Distance is no longer an obstacle, and information can be exchanged within seconds. Faxes and phones seem extraneous when online tools such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets, or wiki-based sites become the norm.
Home-based businesses that want to reduce costs immediately can also fare well with an online-focused organization that relies on telecommuters and teleworkers who work from the neighborhood café. As long as the establishment has no qualms about hours spent at a table (frequent drink orders and high tips are recommended), spending time at the pseudo-office can be an attractive and wise choice for many growing businesses today. Switching to online communication systems for collaboration, file sharing, e-faxing, and even VOIP teleconferencing, are fueling the trends toward web-based productivity. Coffee shops and other public venues that cater to teleworkers and their counterparts are helping support the technology trends of today.
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