So, here we are some years after our new “normal” with COVID 19 spending much of our time at home working and going to school. Before COVID, things looked a lot different, right? You would go to school, go to work, go to the store, go, go go to physical spaces and physical environments to conduct activities that propel our daily lives forward.
Now, we are right in the midst of a massive transformation of our workplace culture, having sent all our workers home except for ones we have deemed “essential.” For everyone else, including your profession of being a student, we are no longer going to physical spaces to conduct our activities. While some non-essential businesses will return to a physical workplace, many will remain remote. This will continue to impact business in ways that we really don’t understand yet, but will profoundly impact working life with significant consequences.
Chapter 2 discusses teams, communication, listening, and other concepts that are largely dependent on physical spaces to facilitate such activities. However, in the virtual environment, this kind of communication is even more important that it was before due to virtual spaces being such limited spaces to be with team members.
This discussion is dependent on doing some learning prior to joining the discussion. This week’s discussion depends on 2 TED talks, which is a bit out of the norm for how I want students to prep for weekly discussions. However, I think it will be time well spent and you will enjoy it.
- Watch 2 TED talks-
- This Jason Fried talk is from 2010, well before COVID shutdowns.
- This Chris Anderson and Ben Pring talk is from 2020, during COVID.
- Consider how both speakers talk about work, specifically productivity and office space, teamwork and communication.
- What is your opinion about how communication was facilitated or hindered prior to COVID, and how it looks during COVID?
- Since we don’t know when, if ever, things will go back to normal, how do we ensure teams are productive, communication is effective, and workers are connected to ensure businesses are getting things done?
- (Pay special close attention to the 11:48 mark when Chris and Ben talk about online professors who are inspiring) Your first response should be a minimum of 100 words. You should reply to a minimum of 2 other classmates’ responses with 50 words minimum.
- To earn full credit you need to answer more than “I agree” or “good job.” Your discussion replies may ask a clarifying question, may relate and apply to another situation, or you can probe the question deeper. But it needs to have substance in order for you to earn points.