The world of work for knowledge and information workers has seen enormous shifts over the past decade, and it is something that impacts a disproportionate number of entrepreneurs. According to the 2006 US Census, 49% of US businesses were based out of the home. While these ranks used to be dominated by the trades (e.g. construction, electricians, plumbers, etc.), advances in technology have swelled the ranks of the home-based knowledge worker (e.g. consultants, web designers, developers, writers, etc.).This creates a whole new set of challenges when it comes to getting work done. Because information-based work is almost never done in a vacuum, most of us work in teams. And a large percentage of those teams can go weeks — if ever — without seeing each other face-to-face. Making this work well sounds like it should be easy given all of today’s technology: email, Skype, ooVoo, Twitter, etc. But, as usual, the issue that requires the most management is not the technology, it’s the people.This creates a whole new set of challenges when it comes to getting work done. Because information-based work is almost never done in a vacuum, most of us work in teams. And a large percentage of those teams can go weeks — if ever — without seeing each other face-to-face. Making this work well sounds like it should be easy given all of
