I recently spent a month away from home and it offered me an opportunity to lead and experience a more simplified life during this period of time. Armed with a computer, smartphone and an internet connection, not once did I feel the need to reach for the filing cabinet, the mug on my desk containing over 30 writing instruments, or a book from the floor to ceiling bookshelf. What I realised was how much of our everyday lives is already, and can be ‘lived’, online.
This experience was not anything new or ground breaking. However what it did highlight was how costly aspects of our life become if they are not online, as they remain grounded at their point of origin or point of storage.
In education we have recently seen Google Classroom launch as a streamlined learning management system for schools that ties together many Google products. Classroom allows teachers to create a ‘class’ at the touch of a button. Students and teachers can interact on homework, assignments and coursework. The aim here is to move to a paperless school learning environment.
For most of us, our days in the classroom are likely well behind us. However, we do see a similar trend emerging with online application portals, utilizing latest technologies, to become the central space for managing internal and external work responsibilities. The ability to provide employees with an online work portal that can be organized, customized and utilized to a personal level, offers organizations a strong competitive advantage.
As we become increasingly mobile in terms of our work location, hours and collaboration, the reliance on information that is not readily available online is only going to become more difficult and expensive.