Where do you work best?

Likely the answer to that question isn't at work. Work doesn't always happen at work because we aren't tied to a manufacturing line or mindset. We have come a long way from the Ford production line, now staffed by robots, where people had to go to make things. A long time ago I worked in the steelworks in Port Kembla making steel ingots before heading off to University because I figured out real quick I wasn't suited to grime, heat and low wages, that was also the last time I made something at work. Work has changed so dramatically that it's hard to think of any friends or colleagues who make anything and that statement should tell you all you need to know about today's so called "work".

Work today is about thinking, creating, relationships and keeping the customer satisfied. The issue, not much of that occurs at work, as it's rare to find the uninterrupted time to accomplish your chosen tasks. Between meetings and management the hours in a "work" day are quickly whittled down to where you rarely get to finish that list you started in the morning.

If you ask people where they work, they will likely give you a range of locations, many away from work. Working with a morning coffee on the terrace or sailing to work on the ferry are two good options for me. Other colleagues love a laptop in the park, the time before their work doors open, the ubiquitous coffee shop and any transport that doesn't rattle them around to much. It's interesting to note how much gets done outside the so called "work" hours.

What all this goes to show is the adaption we have had to make for all the interruptions we encounter at work. The old management adage of "if I can't see you, then I don't know if you are working" has seen its day and management is slowly coming to grips with work practices for the next decade. You need your people to feel they have the freedom to create, innovate and provide solutions for your company wherever they feel the most comfortable and that may not be at "work".

A major bank building a new facility for its staff has decided it will hot desk the whole building to save on costs and because it has researched and realised that staff don't always do their best work at work. They have 6000 staff for the building but have decided to provide only 4000 hot desks knowing that one third of staff will always be away from the office doing their best work somewhere else.

Where are you working now?