Ever since technology first made it possible for people to work remotely from their colleagues, there has been speculation that the physical office could be dispensed with entirely; and with it the idea that people should come together to work in the same place at the same time to achieve common goals and to share in a common identity.
This is a perfect example of the tendency we all share of confusing what is possible with what will happen. This appears to be a particular issue when we consider the effects of new technology. Hence the enduring talk of the death of the office, which technology makes possible but which people make impossible.
The latest study to challenge the death of the office narrative shows that more than half (59 percent) of flexible workers feel their skills and knowledge are falling behind that of their colleagues, Two-thirds (65 per cent) of 1,700 part-time workers questioned for the Part-time work: The exclusion zone? report from Timewise said they felt isolated from their teams, particularly as it was harder for them to attend social events. Three in five (61 per cent) noted they felt less up-to-date because they missed meetings.
People are drawn to the idea of remote working, but the office exerts its own gravitation. One of the key areas of research that describes the tension between these two forces is found in the work of Tom Allen at MIT.
Allen made his name in 1984 with the publication of a book called Managing the Flow of Technology which first popularised the Allen Curve, a graph of his research findings which shows a powerful negative correlation between physical distance and the frequency of communication between colleagues. So precisely can this be defined, that Allen found that 50 metres marks a cut-off point for the regular exchange of certain types of technical information.