Fanning Out

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bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#080000"> <div> <i>Fanning Out</i></div> <div> Fanning Out</div> <div> News and Analysis from the World of Distributed Work</div> <div> By Toni Kistner </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Welcome!</div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Having written about telework and technology for years, I’ve gone and quit a perfectly good job at <i>NetworkWorld </i>to stake my future (and my kids’ college funds) on the distributed work industry-which, by the way, doesn’t quite exist yet. </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> I really had no choice. </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> The old frumpy telework industry (with its emphasis on pilot programs, government subsidies, business incentives, work/life balance, traffic congestion and the like) is being supplanted by something much grander and compelling: distributed work. </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Distributed work encompasses telework, telecommuting, remote work, mobile work, whatever work-it’s a whole new way of doing business. It’s about streamlining real estate, reconfiguring office space, managing teams across 10 time zones, and working effectively with people you’ll never meet. It’s the competitive advantage of big firms like IBM, Sun, AT&T and small virtual companies alike, and driven by four key elements: </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Hard cost savings in real estate/facilities and HR </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Increased revenue tied to a measurable boost in employee productivity </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Post 9-11  <a name="ole_link5"><img decoding="async" border="0" src="https://www.telcoa.org/files/1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a>imperative to develop continuity of operations (COOP) strategies  </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Broadband-driven economic development initiatives </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> The benefits are real, but most organizations don’t have a clue how to realize them. Even those <i>with</i> telework programs have barely scratched the surface. So I quit my job and joined a visionary firm, Capital Gaines Investments, where we’re “seeking opportunities in the distributed work space.”</div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> More importantly, our plans also include helping to create a new distributed work industry association that will help bring together incumbents, attract new entrants and focus everyone on common objectives-like developing industry standard metrics for measuring productivity, and pushing public policies that spur economic development and new ways of working. </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> I’m hoping this weekly column, <i>Fanning Out–</i>which also goes out as a newsletter –can serve as glue as the industry morphs and grows. Related groups–including The Future of Work <font size="3" color="#0000FF" face="Courier New"><a href="http://www.thefutureofwork.net/" target="_top" title="http://www.thefutureofwork.net/"><u>http://www.thefutureofwork.net/</u></a></font>,  The Telework Consortium <font size="3" color="#0000FF" face="Courier New"><u>http://www.teleworkconsortium.org/</u></font>, The Telework Coalition <font size="3" color="#0000FF" face="Courier New"><a href="https://www.telcoa.org" target="_top" title="http://www.telcoa.org/"><u>www.telcoa.org</u></a></font> and others-are posting <i>Fanning Out</i> on their Web sites as a step towards building this new distributed work community. </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> The name <i>Fanning Out</i> refers to the telework industry specifically, and organizations and workers in a broader sense. The image evokes evolution and expansion, fresh air and freedom, and the room to stretch your legs, take risks, and grow. “Fanning out” also describes a strategy of spreading people and resources over a wide area, both to maximize coverage and minimize the impact of attack or catastrophe.  </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> If you have comments, ideas for stories or direction, or want to pitch yourself as a guest columnist, I’d love to hear from you. Write me at <font size="3" color="#0000FF" face="Courier New"><a href="mailto:Toni@capitalgaines.net" target="_top" title="mailto:Toni@capitalgaines.net"><u>Toni@capitalgaines.net</u></a></font></div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> Please sign up for <i>Fanning Out</i> <font size="3" color="#800080" face="Courier New">[[www.fanningout.com]]</font> newsletter <font size="3" color="#800080" face="Courier New">here [[http://www.fanningout.com/optin.php]],</font> and pass this link to your friends and colleagues, and thanks for reading! </div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <div> <i>BYLINE: Toni Kistner is a former technology journalist and the VP of Business Planning & Development at Capital Gaines Investments. To access an archive of her former NetworkWorld column Telework Beat, go here </i><font size="3" color="#0000FF" face="Courier New"><u><i>http://www.networkworld.com/net.worker/columnists/kistner.html</i></u></font></div> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> <br class="2aemw2t7dg3inqf6r"> </td> </tr></table></body>