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The Office is Closed V3.0
In 2013, I wrote and published a book on the subject of remote working:
The Office is Closed – Work Remote – Work from Home. How, and Why – January 2013.
The Office is Closed: Go Collaborate – Work from Home – May 2013
Since then, things have moved on, they have moved on a lot. The technology sections in the previous books was intended to show that the tools are available for teams to be widely dispersed, flexible and effective. Today those tools are mainstream and being widely adopted, even if the immediate impact is not to send people home working remotely, they are affecting the dynamics of the office and team collaboration in the office.
Team building in general and the special needs of remote teams have remained unchanged though the enhancement and implementation of updated and newer technology platforms has helped ease many of the earlier issues.
There is a new and expanded section dealing with commuting and electric cars. Did you know that electric cars are polluters in their own right regardless of the fact they do not have a gasoline or diesel engine? That the driver in the electric car next to you is making more of a statement about their status and the car being a status symbol than the environment?
One of the new questions that comes up in this eBook is not that we commute, or how we commute, but why are we still commuting?
The New Normal Small Business Going on Line
During the COVID Pandemic of 2020/2021/2022 most governments have initiated lockdowns and restricted the type of businesses that can open to the public in order to control person-to-person transmission of the virus. For business with only a bricks and mortar presence this has been a dangerous financial time and dramatically separated them from those business who have an online presence, and who can continue to do business.
The restrictions have led to complaints, arrests, and fines, some highly punitive for those who ignore or try to subvert enforcement of restrictions.
When restrictions have been temporarily lifted, behavioural changes such as face coverings, social distancing, and the unwillingness of people to enter stores and engage in close quarters buying has been evident as has the cost of sanitizing store facilities and providing staff with PPE. In person shopping will not return immediately, even after vaccination because people have learned new ways of achieving what they need. Why shop for groceries in person when you can use the stores online marketplace and have them delivered.
Small businesses without an online presence will be constrained for years to come because we have all experienced the New Normal, long enough for it to become ingrained. Now is the time to address the need for an online presence, not just for Small Business, but for all who want to have something more in their lives than they have had up until now.This overview is intended as a simple, quick, primer to many, but not all of the factors affecting your first steps to develop your online presence.
