by Lyndon-Jon Martin, CTA, Citrix
Hi folks, this is the third post in my blog series on “The Future of Work is Today NOT tomorrow.” My first two posts are available at The Future of Work is Today NOT Tomorrow Part 1 and The Future of Work is Today NOT Tomorrow Part 2.
I spoke in my previous post about my new way of flexible working in 2019, which has two primary personas. The “creator” persona accounts for up to 12-17% of my workspace on devices that support traditional interfaces with a keyboard + mouse, while the remaining 83-88% is a “consumer” style persona, in which I access my workspace through modern interfaces inputs (e.g., touch, gestures and soft/portable keyboard). It is worth noting that I use my Rocketbook during customer meetings and executive briefings, therefore my screen time is little to nothing during these periods, as I am focused on the people in the room. The only exception is if I am presenting as you’ll notice below on 08-08-2019 when I spent 2 hours and 25 minutes using an office mobile app to present.
Keeping productive using a smart phone today in the field (incl. home) is simple and secure, and offers the best-in-class employee experience because the device can be put into your pocket and your off from home or to your first/last meeting and so forth. Because the device is multifaceted, you can switch from a work to personal context in seconds–for example finish off an important email on the tube, click send (yes it works offline) and then swipe-up + left (iOS users) and then scroll to your personal app that has your unfinished podcast or movie/tv series that you wanted to finish on the journey home or to your first/last meeting (assuming you have already prepared for the meeting in advance ;).
I am not going to write much more to persuade you, but would rather show you how I worked during one week last year in 2019. (Yes, it’s 2020…I have had a lot happening in my personal life hence the seven-month delay, so I’ll share how its changed in 2020 as well using a Citrix Workspace from an iPhone XR.) The key point to take away whilst I personally prefer using a iPhone XR, it could easily be a DEX, iPad Chromebook, MacBook or a Galaxy Tab (frictionless devices) all of which allow me (even you) to get work done on my own terms based upon my device preference or where I am (office vs. home), my energy levels and how I feel. For example, if I am tired after a long intensive day of briefings of workshops I will switch to my MacBook or I’ll cast up my Citrix Virtual Desktop to complete any further work at home on a larger display because I am tired and I’m human.
Notes
1. Telephone calls don’t seem to be accurately recorded when viewing the iOS Screen Time reporting (see 12-08-2019).
2. I take notes on my Rocketbook, which only takes up to 30-45 seconds to scan and then send into my Citrix Workspace accessible through Citrix Files (see 06-08-2019).
3. As a Citrix employee, I rarely ever need to think about bringing in my MacBook or, in fact, any device beyond my smart phone when heading to our Paddington offices as I request a Google Chromebook prior to arrival. However, this is only if I actually need it or to use it in a customer briefing demonstrating how you can work frictionlessly with a Citrix Workspace from a Citrix virtual desktop, to secure SaaS apps like Salesforce or even present directly from Citrix Workspace as Citrix Files is plumbed directly into it and I can present directly from it in a browser.
Can you #work using a smart phone/tablet in the field vs. in a modern workplace setting? Yes, absolutely 100% but it should be the employees choice which a #CitrixWorkspace enables. I switched 12022019 and haven’t look back, the below is a 5 day working week sample. #FutureofWorkpic.twitter.com/ggbaSKKbVG — Lyndon-Jon Martin 👨🏻💻 (@lyndonjonmartin) August 12, 2019
06-08-2019
I used my Win 10 Citrix Virtual Desktop on my MacBook for about 4 hours to complete lengthly emails and finished off multiple slidedecks for use later on in the week. I also recorded a number of new Citrix Workspace app vs. HTML5 demonstrations to insert into a new slide deck for folks. I switched between my MacBook and iPhone XR (now referred to as smart phone) through the whole working day fairly evenly which is pretty uncommon for me these days, but it demonstrates just how AGILE and FLEXIBLE a full Citrix Workspace actually is and can be for your own employees.
07-08-2019
I had a number of virtual meetings between GoToMeeting, Skype for Business and even one proper traditional conference telephone* call. I even presented from my iPhone using Citrix Files and completed some enablement in SecureWeb which provides a just in time mVPN to access trusted resources behind the company firewalls from a sandboxed managed mobile app.
08-08-2019
I co-hosted, led and delivered a presentation/talk + discussion at our London Paddington Briefing Centre to a customer. I demonstrated how I got to presenting to them from home and how I work using my smart phone keeping productive using a Citrix Workspace transitioning to the Chromebook back and forth between devices effortlessly.
09-08-2019
I repeat largely from 07-08-2019 with the exception of collaborating internally on Slack prior to replaying to customers in real-time on virtual meetings or via SecureMail.
12-08-2019
Completed a lot of enablement activities from my to do list, I had a great 1-2-1 with my line manager whilst collaborating on Slack with several Citrites (Citrix Employees) around the world.
This part of the blog post concludes 2019 and now let’s take a brief look at 2020 as of today 04/03/2020. As you may have guessed, my current way of working continues to embrace agile but flexible working styles and I am continually improving and refining better ways of working and then sharing them with the world.
The below depicts what 2019 looked like and how its evolved considerably in 2020.
L-J’s NEW Modern Agile + Flexible #Workspace 🚀* vs. the average #Londoner’s current but secretively desired state (Shadow IT). #Citrixishow you can drop the backpack, larger handbags vs. suitcases for more practical ones while improving productivity outcomes. * #TheFutureWork pic.twitter.com/QzL2Ae4esI –– Lyndon-Jon Martin 👨🏻💻 (@lyndonjonmartin) March 24, 2019
2020 brings with it a new bag that adequately can hold both my iPhones, an awesome bluetooth foldable keyboard, lightning to HDMI cable, rocketbook + pen + wipe, a snack and optionally my Citrix WorkspaceHub, A/C adapter and bluetooth (*Citrix X1) mouse to demo, all tethered from my iPhone XR (next new post coming to myCUGC!). The more I continue to work in 2020 and challenge people to view their screen times in meetings, the more folks recognise that they are actually doing a lot more work on a smart phone or tablet vs. whatever endpoint they are pinned to a desk with multiple-monitors. I am proud to say that last month I was in a customer briefing in our Paddington offices and a customer that recently moved to a new company shared how presenting from a smart phone changed the way his previous line manager is now working using his own smartphone with a lightning to HDMI cable, and even for presenting!
In closing, can you work exclusively from a smart phone? The answer I believe isn’t strictly a yes or no. I initially in the 2019 draft thought it a yes or a no, but upon reflection and learning into 2020 and circling back with customers from 2019, discovered it is more about a flexible working style CHOICE. A workspace of today should be able to provide a lens that’s portable to any device framing any app, content, forms, workflows and more anywhere, anytime from any device. I will be the very first to say to folks that you can be like me, but don’t discount a tablet. It’s probably the best of both worlds for many folks today, unless you embrace Citrix Workspace Casting or the DEX flexible working style model. Most importantly, an iOS or Android tablet will bridge from a cultural perspective the interchanging of proffered human interfaces with devices from today’s modern (touch/gestures) to traditional (keyboard/mouse*) seamlessly on iOS and Android devices. In my personal view, there are alternative OS + Platforms however, these have less IT friction for management but more importantly are what people want.
I will have a final 4th post to this series which demonstrate how vs. where I worked from in 2019 which will be more of video to help you visualise this entire blog series. Finally, I’ll be publishing part 2 of “Nirvana Phone within the Workplace” series on my personal blog site. If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts, then please feel free to reach out to me in the comments section below or DM and above all THANK YOU for taking the time to read my blog posts.
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Citrix.
