In order to help organizations forge ahead in the new workplace, I often find it useful to start with research by Professor Tom Allen while he taught at MIT Sloan (where he still currently teaches) in the 1970s. He specifically studied the effects of physical distance on collaboration among a group of research engineers. The result, known as the Allen Curve, has become a major influencing factor on how we design office space—specifically, the mix of private and collaborative environments.

The Allen Curve shows a distinct correlation between distance and frequency of collaboration, with collaboration breaking down exponentially when people are more than 160 feet apart.

So what do organizations do as the worldwide mobile worker population is expected to reach 1.19 billion in 2013, accounting for 34.9 percent of the workforce?[1] The dynamic nature of work and the changing workforce have stretched most workplaces across continents and time zones. Given these realities, how can we manage to stay within Allen’s 160 feet?

• The challenge is to create virtual nearness with collaborative technologies and management practices. Consider these ideas when developing a strategy to keep your employees in the Allen Zone:
• Demographics of your workforce: The generational distribution of your workforce will have a significant influence on your solution. Generations Y, X, and Boomers have different requirements and expectations for effective virtual collaboration—understand their needs.
• Your technology suite: Give your people the ability to connect through their preferred means with just a couple of clicks.
• Your organization’s leadership statement: You may have all of these tools available for your multigenerational workforce, but does your leadership demonstrate the organization’s commitment to using them? If leadership doesn’t make a visible statement that it supports the use of these tools, the culture will never embrace them.