This week it seems the topic of teleworking has garnered more attention than who wore what at the Oscars.

You may have noticed that I’ve been missing from the Cisco blogosphere the past few months. Don’t worry it’s not because I’ve become any less passionate about telepresence and collaboration and what we’re doing here at Cisco. I’ve had a recent addition to my family. But with the recent conversation heating up on the topic of telework, I thought it was the perfect time to share my experience.

Putting on my “new mom” hat has me believing that the greatest benefit of telework is the flexibility it provides. As an employee of a company that encourages teleworking, I’ve never been more grateful for the opportunity to choose when I work in the office and when I don’t. And I know I’m not alone. People want the convenience of working from home and they want to avoid the time-suck of the daily commute.  This does not mean they are less productive or innovative, in fact, I find the contrary to be true; which I expressed in a previous blog post.

Based on last year’s Telework Week, participants found that productivity was a top benefit – 71 percent of organizations reported increased productivity from working at home. The Stanford University Study, as referenced in the Boston Globe, also noted similar statistics with a 13 percent increase in work performance of those that volunteered to work from home.

On the other hand, I am Read More »

Tags: Cisco, collaboration, Economist Intelligence Unit, TelePresence, telework, telework week, video conferencing, vni, work life balance

Have you ever sent an e-mail that’s been misinterpreted and it took a long time to sort out the miscues? I have. And I suspect that many of you reading this blog have too.

So, it wasn’t surprising to see that a recent study by the Economist Intelligent Unit found that 88% of business leaders feel that a significant misunderstanding will slow them down. And 75% believe that in-person collaboration is critical to their business success. Perhaps that’s because 54% consider gauging engagement and focus to be the most important part of communications. And you do that through a combination of visual and audio cues, such as facial expressions, gestures and body language, tone of voice.

In my own interactions I do believe this is critical, but in today’s world you can’t always be there in person. Read More »

Tags: collaboration, Economist Intelligence Unit, in person communication, in-person, kids, remote meetings, survey, TelePresence, video collaboration