Work Disrupted

CHAPTER 4Working from Almost Anywhere: Redesign Workplaces from Where We Work to How We Work: Onsite, Online, and Everything in Between

We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they [are] at their desk or in their kitchen. Yours truly has never worked out of an office, and never will.

—Richard Branson, founder, Virgin Group¹

Rachel was in the middle of her MBA at Emory University when the bustling campus in Atlanta, Georgia, shut down. Social distancing mandates to slow the spread of the coronavirus meant that she and her classmates headed home. When Rachel had a business economics class three days later, it was over Zoom. Emory's prestigious Goizueta Business School, known for encouraging students to work in teams to solve complex business problems, abruptly became a remote-learning institution. Lecture halls, labs, and classrooms were replaced by virtual meetings that offered different ways to learn. Some professors broadcast their lectures live to encourage student questions, others recorded their lectures for students to watch anytime. A professor who teaches advanced spreadsheets presented students with technical problems they could solve together over live-streaming video, or work on alone, giving students the choice of how they preferred to practice applying and assimilating the concepts.

In the spring of 2020, many of the world's schools and offices emptied. ...