How the Internet Has Revolutionised the Workplace

In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine a working life before the advent of the internet. While personal computing was around for a number of years before the internet really took hold, it has now become so much a part of most people’s working lives that it’s difficult to envision life without it.

While there are a number of obvious ways in which the internet has changed the ways in which we work, there are some less readily apparent impacts that computers and the worldwide web have brought about in our workplaces. It’s also worth noting that while many of the changes will be in office-based work, there are plenty of ways in which other types of work have been irreversibly altered by the internet and its attendant services.

Communication

The ways in which we communicate have changed in the working lifetime of many of the people in most workplaces. Speak to anyone over the age of 30 and they are likely to remember the likes of intra-office memos, post with compliments slips and faxed correspondence.

Things have advanced a little since this point

These days, just about all of those types of text-based communication have been replaced by email and the huge volumes of email traffic and changes in use of postal services can attest to just how large a change that has been. A study by the Radicati Group forecast that this year daily worldwide email traffic would top 500 billion messages per day. At the same time, Royal Mail noted a fall in mail volume of 4 per cent in 2011 alone, a trend that is likely to continue.

In addition to text communication, the internet has revolutionised the way we communicate verbally. Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, powers services such as Skype and Google Hangouts that allow people to videoconference using free and widely available software that’s easy to download and install. This is not only cutting costs for telephone calls, but also allows people to reduce travelling expenses by offering ways to hold meetings online rather than in person.

The virtual workplace

The electronic means of communication, together with more widely accessible cellular data and smartphones, means that the workplace is now able to run virtually rather than being fixed in a single location. Online collaboration tools such as Google Drive, Dropbox and shared calendars mean that projects can be undertaken remotely and shared online for colleagues to contribute.

The virtual office is more than just virtual reality

For those who work out in the field, the ability to search on the go can be a lifeline. Rather than carrying around heavy portfolios, the new generation of sales reps, account executives or even engineers and architects can turn up on site with a laptop or smartphone and access all the information they need to demonstrate to clients, finalise plans and place remote orders.

The ability to work remotely is also altering the way that companies organise their physical workspaces. Gone are the days when workers inherited their own office when taking on a job, replaced instead by hot-desks providing space to charge a laptop and a network connection for those who are in the office to take up minimal space and do what they need to do before packing up and moving on again.

Conclusion

The internet has completely changed the way in which most people work. Whether it’s a garage uploading information on cars they’ve inspected for the MOT or remote working by medical professionals viewing patients through HD video links, there is scarcely a walk of life that hasn’t been touched by the advances brought about by internet technology. The pace of change is unlikely to slow either, and as we grow more accustomed to the tools that the internet affords us to work differently, we will continue to expand our view of work and how it looks.

Image Credits: Benjamin A Smith and FeatheredTar

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Ian Marshall.

Ian has over 20 years experience in the telecoms industry with large corporate organisations such as Vodafone as well as several small startup companies in the mobile, VoIP and call routing sectors. Ian has spoken with over 2000 small business owners in the past ten years since setting up Office Answers with his wife Clare.