Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction: Ready, Set, Get Virtual 1
Work, Forever Changed 1
Virtual Intelligence 3
Section 1 Virtual Presence 4
Section 2 Setting the Stage 5
Section 3 Technology's Role 6
Section 1 Virtual Presence
Chapter 2 Getting to Know You Online 11
Good to (Virtually) Meet You! 11
Colleague vs. Friend 12
Social Media Visibility 13
Forcing Connections 14
Virtual Office Gossip 15
Summary: Musings on Creating Connections Virtually 17
Chapter 3 Feeling Human Online 23
Our Imperfect Virtual Senses 23
Can You Hear Me Now? The Problems of Delay 25
What Can We Learn from Online Gaining? 26
Virtual Reality's Value Proposition 27
Personality Online 28
Summary: Musings on Our New Virtual Reality 30
Chapter 4 The Video Experience 33
Video vs. Voice 33
What to Use When? 35
Visual Gaze and Mindsight 36
Self-View 37
Exhaustion, Thy Name Is Zoom 39
Summary: Musings on Life on Video 40
Chapter 5 Language Online 45
English, Spanish, Flemish, Text-ish? 45
"You Want to Go There" vs. "You Want to Go There" 47
Emoji, $$$ or $$$? 48
What Does the Curly Loop Even Mean? 50
A Brief History of Voice Assistants 51
Summary: Musings on Verbalizing Online 52
Section 2 Setting the Stage
Chapter 6 Have Cubicle, Will Travel 59
The Not-at-Home Office 59
The At-Home Office 61
Finding Inspiration 62
Work-Life (Im)Balance 63
Role-Switching Woes 65
The Gender Tug-of-War 66
Summary: Musings on Designing Home Spaces 68
Chapter 7 Our Virtual Fashion Aesthetic 71
The Dress Code Is Dead. Long Live the Dress Code! 71
You Are What You Wear: Dressing for Ourselves 72
Fashion Is Instant Language: Dressing for Others 74
What We Wear, Where 77
Summary: Musings on What We Wear Online 78
Chapter 8 Bridging Divides 81
Onboarding Onward 81
The Difficulties of Dispersion 82
Who Gets Heard? 84
Trust and Conflict 86
In Technology We Trust 87
Summary: Musings on Building Connective Tissue in Virtual Teams 88
Section 3 Technology's Role
Chapter 9 Perception and Judgment 93
Feeling Far Away 93
The Upside of Distance 94
Artificial Intelligence and Human Judgment 96
The One Best Way 97
Bias Baked into the System? 98
AI at Work 99
Summary: Musings on Human and AI Decision-Making 101
Chapter 10 The Internet-Based Marketplace 105
The Rise of the Gig Worker 105
To Gig or Not to Gig? Part 1: Individual Gig Workers 106
To Gig or Not to Gig? Part 2: Employers 107
To Gig or Not to Gig? Part 3: Society 109
Outsourcing Knowledge Work 110
Summary: Musings on How the Internet Is Changing the Face of Work 112
Chapter 11 Tech as Lifeblood 117
The Digital Revolution 117
Tech Drives Change 118
The Closed-System Model 119
Change Drives Tech: The Open-System Model 120
Tech Adoption and the Emotional Cycle of Change 122
What Hits the Market and Why? 123
The Beating Heart of Virtual Work 124
Summary: Musings on Gateways to Technology and Gateways by Technology 126
Chapter 12 Looking Back and Looking Forward 129
Uncharted Waters 129
There and Back Again 130
The Struggle Is Real 132
Owing My Soul to the Company Store 133
Hybrid Work: The Best of Both Worlds (Once We Get It Right) 135
The New Charter 137
Virtual Work Is Here to Stay 139
Notes 141
Index 173