Archive | March, 2013

Online Shopping Reconfigured by The Mobile Workforce

26 Mar

beige-16875_640In recent years, the major changes in mainstream retail have happened online. Consumers are taking quickly to shopping from their couches, with speed of delivery steadily decreasing. However, the latest development for America’s ‘big box’ retail industry is happening (partly) offline.

Walmart, Amazon, and eBay, among others, are trying something different. These companies are fighting to revolutionize ordering. They’re starting to implement same-day delivery – where things ordered online show up at customers’ doors in a matter of hours. What makes this possible? The creation of mobile workforces to carry out this specific arm of their business. For this type of fulfillment, stores must begin to serve as both retail locations and small warehouses for local deliveries.

Last week, a Wired article broke down the process of how Walmart fills one of these same-day orders.

1. The order is placed online. Selection is limited by the inventory at your local store.

2. An Hour Later: Workers must fill the order in under a few hours. At the store, a ‘picker,’ specifically working on same-day orders, pushes a cart down the aisle, placing items in different bins.

3. 3-6 Hours Later: Walmart trucks carry orders from the store to customers’ houses.

eBay:

eBay’s new same-day service is called eBay Now. Currently active in San Francisco and New York, the ordering process happens over an iPhone of Web app. The program involves partnering with Macy’s, Target, Office Depot, and Best Buy so that an Ebay Now ‘Valet’ delivers it on the same day for a fee of $5. Their team of valets operates like bike messengers. Dispatched from a central hub, they move all around the city, shopping in stores for items ordered over the app and delivering them immediately.

Amazon:

Amazon already has same-day delivery in place in nearly 10 cities. Now, the online retail giant is opening warehouses across the country, and is looking to greatly expand the range of their same-day delivery. To do this, they will be building massive warehouses in the backyards of every major region on the US. In total, Amazon will spend about $500 million and hire 10,000 people to staff its new warehouses in California. Amazon is also in talks of automated ‘delivery lockers’ at certain affiliate retailers such as Staples and 7-Eleven, and drug stores. These would be drop off points where it’s mobile workforce would drop orders throughout the day for customers who live in close proximity to the locker locations.

These distribution models require a lot of moving parts. Each one is different, but from pickers and delivery trucks to dispatchers and couriers, mobile, distributed workforces are making it all possible.

Tags: , , , , ,

WordPress: A Company Collaborating on It’s Own Terms

19 Mar

We believe that organizations have the power to design the type of work structure they want, unbounded by spacial or technological constraints. Our mission is to help teams work better and improve collaboration no matter how they work. In this post, we want to put a spotlight on Automattic Inc., a company that’s thriving while employing an unconventional management style.

In most industries there exists a somewhat standard structure, whether it’s employees sitting at rows of computer terminals, mobile workers directed by in-office dispatchers, or remote freelancers. For many businesses, their industry’s standard structure works quite well. Often, it’s a tried and true model and something that helps employees feel comfortable. Other times, the standard structure remains unchallenged simply because it’s taken for granted or because altering it seems organizationally daunting. In these instances, we have deep respect for organizations that craft work styles which fit their own unique goals perfectly.

Automattic Inc., the company that runs WordPress.com (the blogging platform you’re reading on right now), is an example of an organization that has crafted an unusual style of workforce management, but continues to grow and truly believes they’ve found the perfect solution for their company. WordPress.com is the 15th most trafficked website in the world. Nonetheless, Automattic doesn’t have a single office. Every employee works from home, or wherever they please (There’s also no limit on employee vacation days). They even display a map of their employees’ locations around the globe. The company is growing, profiting, and believes their distributed nature is central to what they do.

From Automattic, Inc.

From Automattic, Inc.

In Daily Tekk’s interview with Sara Rosso, the WordPress.com VIP Global Services Manager gives a good sense of how they understand the significance of their work style. Sara explains, “I would describe Automattic’s culture as Distributed. Not only does this refer to our physical organization and lack of offices, it’s also part of the fabric of the company.”

In another recent HBR piece, former “Automoattician,” Scott Berkun breaks down the philosophies that underpin the company’s novel approach to the distributed workforce. He points to five things that companies’ thinking about including remote work in their process should know:

 

1. Creativity thrives online

“…Chat rooms, social media, and blogs provide many chance encounters and serendipitous ideas. Dozens of times a day, WordPress.com releases new features and updates, and they collaborate intensely around them on internal blogs and in chat rooms. Remote work certainly changes the nature of interaction, but to assume this inhibits creativity is ridiculous.”

2. Not all remote work is the same

“To evaluate remote work as a singular idea is a paper tiger. There are many policies to choose from and those choices matter…Any progressive idea can be made to fail if the people in charge don’t support it.”

3. Culture is critical 

“If employees are self-motivated and empowered, remote work can accelerate productivity. However in autocratic or bureaucratic organizations the freedom of remote work runs against the culture. Of course remote workers will be less productive if they’re in environments that depend on centralized, rule-oriented, or committee heavy processes. But even then it can work if managers care more about results than pretense.”

4. It should be up to the employee

“If a worker proves they can perform as well, or better, from home there’s little reason to complain. Even at a bureaucratic company, a motivated worker may be able to find ways to do their job productively in a remote environment. Why not let them try? If they’re right everyone wins.”

5. Tools make a difference

“Automattic employees rarely use email…A special kind of blog, called a P2, solves many of the annoyances of email, and simultaneously facilitates remote work…At Automattic, even when employees meet in person they use the same tools as when working apart. This helps ensure no one feels left out or misses conversations, regardless of their time zone.”

 

As new technologies for collaboration and communication emerge, organizations are inspired to rethink the way they work. At Lua, We don’t favor any style of work over others and believe that the right type of organizational structure is determined completely on a case by case basis. However, we have a deep respect for organizations that craft unique work styles with intentionality. Through this mindfulness, we  organizations are creating efficiencies, making employees happy, and doing good business all around.

Tags: , , , ,

Companies Feel Their Efforts at Mobility Are Failing

11 Mar
noun_project_1071

Francesco Peleari, The Noun Project

Companies are increasingly beginning to understand the importance of fostering a productive mobile workforce. Unfortunately, as is made overwhelmingly clear in the new Global Mobility Survey conducted by Deloitte, this knowledge is not the same as action. It seems as though there is a widespread desire among HR, talent and global mobility professionals to make strides in developing good mobile workforce practices, but that few of them feel their efforts have been successful.

Full Survey Here

Survey Snapshot Here

Here is a quick look at some of the findings:

  • Only 2% of organizations see their global mobility function as world class
  • 70% of business and HR stakeholders say global mobility in their organization is underperforming or needs improvement
  • Nearly 40% of organizations say they are currently reviewing or are about to review their overall mobility strategies
  • Only 12% perform assessments of their mobility practices and make links back to improvement efforts

Tags: , ,

Telework Week 2013

6 Mar

This week officially marks second annual Telework Week. The event is a global effort ‘to encourage agencies, organizations, and individuals to pledge’ to telecommute. Marissa Mayer’s announcement about the elimination of remote workers at Yahoo has been in the news over the past couple of weeks, however this initiative (and its rapidly growing number of participants) offers a stark contrast to that development. This year over 130,000 workers have pledged to telecommute in observance of Telework Week, up from 71,000 last year.

Further highlighting the emergence of the mobile workforce in the public sector, 90 percent of the workers pledging this week are federal employees. 80 percent of those are based in the D.C. metro-area. While it may seem surprising that so many government employees/agencies are buying in, it’s clear that they see the far reaching benefits of telecommuting for employees, organizations, and the environment.

“Telework increases employee productivity, reduces traffic congestion, and improves business continuity through incentivizing flexible work arrangements.  By participating in Telework Week, individuals and organizations have the opportunity to stress test systems to ensure that in the event of an emergency or inclement weather, operations can continue.” – Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA)

Telework Week 2013 Stats:

  • 93% of people using a laptop to telecommute
  • 3.5 hours saved on average by every employee not commuting to work this week
  • 75 dollars saved on average by every worker
  • 489,000 gallons of gas spared by workers not commuting
  • 15,651,821 pounds of pollution not emitted by employees staying at home this week

Tags: , , , ,

[Infographic] The World’s Mobile Workforce

1 Mar

Another nice infographic representing the growing mobile workforce globally. Click the image below to view the whole graphic. via Yast.

Screen Shot 2013-02-28 at 4.13.25 PM

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.