Foundations of the Social Age MOOC 2017 Q1: Unit 03 - The Nature of Work

This post contains publicly available content and my responses to exercises from this unit of the course created by Julian Stodd and Sea Salt Learning.
As I started the course,  I decided that I would go for 100% completion of all exercises given that there was a leaderboard for completion and learner engagement. On the back of that decision, I decided to do the exercises using “wild mind writing”.
 

The Nature of Work

In the old world, we worked in an office. In the Social Age, we work everywhere, or, more specifically, we work in places that let us be productive, collaborative, connected, and comfortable. In this level, we’ll explore the new Nature of Work, and consider how organisations should adapt.

Overview

Video
How has work changed in the Social Age?
My response:

I have been able to work remotely for the last 17 years of my life subject to the agreement of line managers in multiple employing/ customer organisations. I have all the tools I need to do any aspect of my job wherever I am in the world.
Not everybody can do this. There are jobs that currently demand and need face-to-face presence in one geographical location or building e.g. manufacturing, nursery and older education. Again, we need to be careful we do not over-generalise the situation.
An emerging area of interest for me is how to more effectively manage virtual teams and perform as part of a virtual team and how best to use the associated tools to best effect.
Any recommended resources for working in and managing virtual teams would be gratefully received.
I found this book really helpful: Mastering Virtual Teams.

The Intersection of Formal and Social

Article
Today we see a widespread convergence of formal and social spaces but, more importantly, a breakdown of the rules that apply in those spaces. What are the new rules?
As we lose the boundary between 'work' and 'social' there is great potential for crossover and confusion.
List three things the organisation might do that are unfair.
Then list three things that we might get wrong as individuals, ways we may trip up in this new grey space.
My response:

We still have cultural norms in all these spaces that are set by their "owners" and that people are expected to adhere to. This has long since applied to domestic spaces e.g. are you expected to take your shoes off when you enter the owner's house? and is the front room used exclusively for visitors and the like! I agree that these norms are getting more flexible as the years pass by and as technology has become ubiquitous.
I note that the tech is leading to new norms e.g. Simon Sinek recently stated that some organisations are now banning mobile phone use in meeting rooms and people now have to actually talk to each other before meetings as a result (and presumably concentrate on the meeting at hand during the meeting ... shocker!).
Clearly, the owner of any space can apply and enforce rules for our behaviour in their space if they choose to do so. E.g. in a recent #ESNchat, an example was quoted of an organisation that does not allow chat about politics and religion on their ESN because of issues arising from such chat previously despite those people being work colleagues in the same organisation. Some people will always be incapable of playing nicely.
Spookily timing-wise, earlier today, a Twitter friend was witness to a person talking loudly and inappropriately about a company that he was either employed by or delivering services to. See this Storify.
Things orgs might do that are unfair
1) ban personal devices
2) block public web sites
3) rules for social media use as organisational user that are so restrictive as to cripple the user from doing anything
Things individuals may get wrong
1) using social media inappropriately as organisational user causing reputation as damage
2) personal use of Internet crowds out any work at work
3) using personal devices for work putting corporate data at risk

The Nature of Work

Podcast
This an introduction to the ways the nature of work has changed, such as the type of work we do, and the environment in which we do it.
How has the way you 'work' changed over time? Give two examples.
My response:

Employers often leave it to employees to want to work from home. Other employers keen to save property costs by staff working from home and using hot desks.
Blurry edges between home and work are a challenge.
Deeply challenged by Cal Newport's Deep Work and his view of the impact of distractions.
Any data we publish in a public domain is fair game for using against the user.
Christmas parties are a great example of social and work spaces colliding. Personally, never thought of these events as being anything other than a work space given who usually pays for the event.
I have never worked in an amazing work space and have never physically been in such a work space.
To answer the question we were asked. The majority of my working life has been in IT roles and working in electronic offices. I would love to work as part of a team which is fully connected online with opportunities to meet face-to-face regularly and may be even globally.

1.4. Challenge

What does it mean to 'work' somewhere?
My response:

Defo need to address knowledge walking out of an organisation if more workers work for less time for an organisation.
Work is where we are working on the mission of an organisation wherever that is and collaborating either face-to-face or virtually.
Doing a WOL circle virtually has been an eye-opener in terms of working relationships and how work could be done.
I believe that people who are not good at teamworking face-to-face have similar issues when doing so virtually Eg standups in Slack mean ideally people update Slack with work done and doing todays and then only leave discussion for the face-to-face. Those who are not prep-ing for face-to-face updates will usually be those who do not update Slack.

1.5. Beyond Organisations

Article
Thinking about the future of the organisation.
Think of the Organisations that you work in or deal with: which seems to be the most susceptible to disruption? Why?
My response:

This presentation came to mind: The Four Horsemen: Amazon/ Apple/ Facebook & Google - Who Wins/Loses (Scott Galloway, L2 Inc.) | DLD15.

Interesting being part of the Christian Church with a 2000 year history and still thriving globally. Seeing how people's needs and desires and concerns are still fundamentally the same. Also utilising the same tech as those at the forefront of tech developments. The church is still as relevant today as it always has been.
Key challenge facing economies is preparing kids for the new world of work when jobs are changing so rapidly. Automation will have a significant impact on employment globally including the UK.

What is your new nature of work?

Describe how the new nature of work relates to you and/or your organisation.
My response:

Yesterday, I sent my 50,000th tweet the vast majority of which are me sharing content and contributing to others. 
This is my 21st MOOC in 4 years. 
I am in week 10 of a 12 week Working Out Loud circle with 4 others in 5 timezones communicating via Zoom and Slack. 
I cannot remember the last time I played a CD.
I have worked in IT for 32 years. 
Whilst I live extensively online, I still lead and participate in a number of communities in real life. 
I am looking to marshal and leverage this vast real life and online experience in new ways to better reflect who, how and why I am the person I have become and am becoming. I am definitely a person in transition.