Smart Work, 2nd Edition

Introduction

The workplace has changed. How we work has changed. The pace of business has changed. How we communicate has changed, and the tools we are using to organise ourselves have changed. It stands to reason that we need to adapt our work practices to deal with these changes.

I wrote these words in 2016. Little did I know things would change even more. I should not be surprised, as it now seems obvious that every few years there will be major issues, or major breakthroughs, that shift how we work. The trick is to be adaptable and to embrace the positives of these changes, while at the same time developing new strategies to overcome the new workplace issues we face.

Productivity in the 21st century

From a productivity standpoint, our workplaces have seen massive changes over the past 50 years. Since the 1970s, we have moved from a traditional workplace to a digital workplace, and now to a hybrid workplace. We are no longer chained to desks and cubicles, or even tied to working in an open plan workspace in the office. Many of us are free to work from the office or from home, and can split our week into time spent working from both locations.

Over the years, the tools we use to organise our work have shifted from paper diaries to personal desktop organisers to sophisticated group scheduling systems. We have progressively moved from a paper-driven workplace to an electronic workplace with a computer on every desk and handheld devices to help us stay organised. Over the ...