Blog Layout

10 Endangered Species Leaving Your Office by 2017

by Dan Gershenson

Dinosaurs are fun to look at in The Field Museum. It’s not actually fun to look like a dinosaur in an entrepreneurial setting.

“Oh, that’s not our company,” you scoff. Well, put down the phone in your cubicle and stop sending that fax because depending on the tools and practices you’re using, you might not be quite as progressive as you think. Especially if you witness the opinions of more than 7,000 professionals surveyed by LinkedIn as part of its “ Office Endangered Species ” study released yesterday.

Here’s the top 10 list of tools and cultural practices that professionals worldwide see as becoming potential relics by the year 2017:

1.     Tape recorders (79%)

2.     Fax machines (71%)

3.     The Rolodex (58%)

4.     Standard working hours (57%)

5.     Desk phones (35%)

6.     Desktop computers (34%)

7.     Formal business attire like suits, ties, pantyhose, etc. (27%)

8.     The corner office for managers/executives (21%)

9.     Cubicles (19%)

10.   USB thumb drives (17%)

The Dream Office

What would these same professionals like to see in the future?

  • Having a clone or assistant to help them through the day’s tasks (practically speaking, I’m thinking more Siri-like technology than literal clones of people)
  • A place in the office that provides natural sunlight
  • A quiet place where employees are allowed to take a nap
  • Amusingly, almost 1 in 5 people surveyed said they’d like a mute button for their co-workers, so they didn’t have to hear them talk.

With the global rise of tablets, cloud storage and smartphone usage, along with flexible work hours and social networks, it’s not surprising that we’re becoming more untethered to our desks, to our offices and to traditional business practices. I see entrepreneurs leading this charge more than ever, but it’s not limited anymore to the up-and-coming startups. The trend here is clear and has implications for future employee recruiting, particularly to the Millennial set – if you’re doing business as usual, it may be time to re-evaluate how you want to be positioned internally and externally.

It begins with asking the question – how truly essential is this tool or practice to our success? Do we really need corner offices and cubicles to appropriately establish a hierarchy or can the CEO sit next to the entry-level person? Do we really need everybody to be at their desks in order to feel connected or can some work virtually, communicate via Skype and accomplish the same goals? Does everyone really need to be there at 9am and leave at 5pm every day or can adjustments be made to accommodate special work / life balances?

I wouldn’t wait until 2017 to figure it out.

The Fractional CMO

Page One on Google Is Your New Business Card

By Dan Gershenson • 22 Jul, 2022
Do a search for your name, your company name, your product or service names. Whatever you find on page one in the Google SERPs amounts to a significant collage of how your brand is seen in the wild today. See, it doesn’t matter if your best client tells their best friend you are the most […] The post Page One on Google Is Your New Business Card appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

Google My Business: The Key to Ranking Your Local Business

By Dan Gershenson • 15 Jul, 2022
For local businesses, ranking your business in Google My Business (the Google maps 3-pack) can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving. All Google products evolve as they find ways to make search better and, let’s face it, make more money from that fact. There are a handful of factors that Google uses to […] The post Google My Business: The Key to Ranking Your Local Business appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

The Local SEO Playbook – Your Guide to Local Rankings

By Dan Gershenson • 08 Jul, 2022
Look, if you’re a local business, meaning most or all of your business comes from customers living in your community, you must get very serious about local SEO. Don’t worry, ranking locally for the kinds of things your prospects are looking for isn’t rocket science, but it does take a serious commitment to a handful […] The post The Local SEO Playbook – Your Guide to Local Rankings appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

“Do You Have Experience In Our Industry? No? Cool.”

By Dan Gershenson • 02 Jul, 2022
The conversation was going well. We felt like we were connecting at the same level. The prospect had gotten to know me and appeared to feel great about my understanding of his process, goals, etc. Then came the question. I’ve received it many times before. “Do you have any experience in our industry?” Years ago, […] The post “Do You Have Experience In Our Industry? No? Cool.” appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

Defeating The Energy Vampires

By Dan Gershenson • 24 Jun, 2022
“The Client Is Always Right,” they say proudly. Nah. If the client is a soul-sucking, verbally abusive monster who makes you feel less than dirt, they’re not right. They’re Energy Vampires and you need to kill them. Not literally, of course. I mean fire them. Tell them to exit, stage left, out of your life […] The post Defeating The Energy Vampires appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

Ready To Hire A Marketing Consultant? Here’s 10 Things To Look For.

By Dan Gershenson • 17 Jun, 2022
First, watch this short video on “How To Hire A Marketing Consultant,” from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. We think it’ll share a great point of view on ten things you should be looking for in a marketing consultant so you can start your search off right.  To John’s points, we’d like to expand on […] The post Ready To Hire A Marketing Consultant? Here’s 10 Things To Look For. appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

Agencies Offering Too Many Side Dishes With The Meal

By Dan Gershenson • 10 Jun, 2022
I recently came across a firm that claims supreme expertise in brand strategy, content, graphic design, web development, SEO, advertising, public relations, video and business operations. Oh really. Is that all? Some web development firms say they are also experts in SEO. Fair enough. But oh, by the way, they also do content and graphic […] The post Agencies Offering Too Many Side Dishes With The Meal appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

The Future Favors The Nimble Agency

By Dan Gershenson • 03 Jun, 2022
Big or small, traditionally focused or digitally focused, only one kind of agency will be left standing in the future: The nimble one. There is a grim future for agencies that have a process that looks like so: Writer and designer team get Creative Brief. Writer and designer concept, concept, concept, concept, concept… Eureka! They […] The post The Future Favors The Nimble Agency appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

You’re Ignoring This Client The Most.

By Dan Gershenson • 27 May, 2022
There’s a popular excuse that many agencies make for themselves when it comes to developing their own brand that has to do with “the cobbler’s shoes” and basically how we’re all like a shoemaker who makes shoes for every customer except his own children. I should know. I used to make this excuse myself. But […] The post You’re Ignoring This Client The Most. appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.

Carnival Barking and Rapid Fire Posting Chaos: Improving Online Communities From Within

By Dan Gershenson • 30 May, 2017
There’s a Facebook community I was recently excited to join, led by one of of the people in our industry I truly respect. Within two weeks, I found I had to leave it. It wasn’t largely the group leader’s fault. It was the people who killed it from within. Why? The entire mission of the […] The post Carnival Barking and Rapid Fire Posting Chaos: Improving Online Communities From Within appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
More Posts
Share by: