Trend: Future Tools for Future Work

Working in the future is all about working at your own pace, and in your own way. It’s a lifestyle, not a way of life – a choice, not a necessary evil.  Whether you are working remote, collaborating across time zones, or managing far-reaching, all-encompassing projects – the future world of work has been propelled by tools and tech to help us work harder, better, faster. Here, we’ve compiled a few of the forward thinking movements and tech trappings emerging or shaking up the working world right now. Are you up to date? Working life It seems we’ve finally come to the conclusion that the concept of work life balance is an improbable, tiresome challenge. Instead, we’ve evolved our concept of a hard day’s work, and allowed some of life’s little luxuries to blend and blur seamlessly both within and beyond our nine to five. Technology and the internet have been the gateway to much of this thinking – and will continue to be into the future. While the work-life overlap has allowed us freedoms – and for some has meant we can work hardest when we want to – for others, it simply means we are endlessly available, with work and life interchanging and overlapping in a stressful, dangerous constant tango. Happily though, new HR tech and time management software are helping us to be present in the moment, while still being as organised, efficient and online as we should be in the new working world.  ATracker will feed you data on how you spend your time, so you’ll be able to develop a realistic proportion of working and not-working, and answering emails to actually relaxing.  Alternatively, Space will help you take a real digital detox – and offer up some much needed phone life balance. Working mobile The concept of remote work isn’t new – but it’s probably only recently that we’ve really been properly equipped to take it on.  From web based file sharing and project management tools like Google Docs and Drop Box, to team communication platforms like Slack or community building Facebook Workplace (join The Office Space community, here), it’s never been easier to work productively in your pyjamas from the comfort of your own couch. Technology to support working mobile continues to evolve too – platforms are as flexible as you, and are able to be cleverly moulded to your working style, your project, or your desired output. In a list of best remote working tech for 2018, Forbes included Fuze for video meetings and conferences. It’s ideal for small to medium size businesses, and is free for meetings with less than 25 (virtual) attendees. For project management and productivity enthusiasts– we recommend trailing Asana. Right now there are so many robust platforms out there; it’s easy to find something that suits your business and your team to a tee. Working new As well as an overriding open and flexible mindset – the future world of work will ask us to be nimble and brave, and think outside the office block. In the past decade or so, we’ve watched industries ride the wild wave of ‘disruption’ – from taxis to hotels, and maybe most devastatingly, journalists and publishers too. Thanks to technology, both now and into the future, the customer, reader, or client is driving businesses in new directions in new and inspired ways – and, it suddenly pays heed to consider seriously, how can trends and tech future proof your business? Thanks to the development of a digital ledger called blockchain back in 2008, cryptocurrency has skyrocketed into the mainstream, or at very least – our dinner table discussions. Whether it will disrupt the banking ecosystem and become a stable investment is yet to be confirmed – but there are still interesting emergent work practices arising from within the digital currency concept. Content makers and bloggers can potentially expand their revenue stream with Steemit – a very new cryptocurrency platform that allows members to post content and earn ‘Steem’ and ‘Steem Dollars’ via other members’ up votes. The concept is a little like Reddit, except content makers and curators are rewarded for their contribution. The platform is still in beta, and the currency is only worth about USD$7, but it might just pay to be an early adopter and get experimental in this space. Just this month, Australian artist Ben Lee released a new track on Steemit.   Stay in touch, and learn about our upcoming events. Subscribe here.