“Anyone who launches new products will immediately appreciate the power of this resource to influence design direction, target appropriate price points, and select materials with high consumer appeal. What I love most is that it facilitates open and powerful discussions across the marketing, design and business teams. It minimizes reliance on “the gut feel” of just one individual in an organization and helps create a unified vision for success.”
The Virtues of a Home Office
As mentioned earlier, Design Research went virtual two years ago. We all work from home and we’re very happy with the arrangement. From a global environmental perspective our lack of commuting time isn’t very impactful – we estimate 1500 gallons of gasoline saved per year. That’s more than $3000 saved on fuel. That doesn’t mean much to the planet, but it means a lot to us. For two of us, it eliminated one hour commutes each way. That’s two hours saved per day. That’s a lot in personal time freed up and extra energy for personal pursuits. It also means saved time in the morning – no more need to get up at the crack of dawn to shower, eat or grab breakfast on the go and then brave traffic or the weather to get to the office on time. You’re never late when the office is the extra bedroom. Also, we have no fears of getting that cold or virus that’s going around the office.
Many jobs can’t be done from home but probably more than you might think can be. Senior management, product, marketing, sales and administration can all be done from home through email and conferencing. We see our clients going virtual because we often don’t present research results in their offices anymore. We just join their conference calls and hear their people calling in to join the conference from all over. And remember that virtual doesn’t have to mean employees are home everyday, they may be home a few days per week. Dedicated people will work hard and get more done on their days at home than they do on tiring in-office days that are filled with inevitable interuptions. Plus, you’ll cut down on sick days. So, give your people and our planet a break and move to implementing work from home as an option for your team today, and in the future.