Not a sales pitch - just want everyone to have a chance to save money and I know switching phone plans can be scary and we all put it off. My wife said "just do it" so I did it. Read on...


I switched all 3 over our lines from TMobile to Mint Mobile this weekend and went from $175 per month to $45 per month - a $130 per month savings. And since we were already on TMobile and Mint Mobile uses TMobile towers we aren't noticing any difference - I've had mine for 4 days so far and it's been great.


Unlimited talk and text and yes, only 4gb of monthly data but just keep your wifi on your phone on and it will use wifi at home and so basically no data. I've had mine on the plan for 4 days and used zero data. Leap of faith, yes... but so cheap and getting very popular. PLUS we are saving $130 per month!) You switch and you get $15 credit (a month free basically) and so do I. Ask me any questions you might have and I'll try to answer them. My referral link is here... http://fbuy.me/rn_hw (you have to use it to get the $15 month free and for me to get it too.)

In March 2020, companies across the US abruptly shuttered their offices and instructed employees to work from home indefinitely as a result of the pandemic.

At first, many thought the shutdowns would last a couple months. But one year later, millions of workers are still working remotely.

The pandemic has forced a large segment of the global workforce to go through a remote-work experiment on a scale never seen before -- and a lot has changed in the last 12 months.

The boundary between our work and our personal lives has become blurred. Working at the kitchen table has become common and, for parents, juggling virtual school while trying to hit work deadlines has become a daily challenge.

Seth and Nicole Kroll work while their son Louis, 5, entertains himself at their home outside of Boston.

Employers have also been forced to become more nimble. They've had to loosen restrictions on where employees can work, equip them with the tools do so and support them both professionally and personally.

We've learned many lessons as a result: meetings aren't always necessary, working a standard eight-hour shift may not be the best schedule for everyone, sitting at a desk doesn't always mean you're being productive and perhaps, you miss your coworkers more than you thought you would.

Now that more people are getting vaccinated and kids are going back to school, things appear as if they might get back to "normal," but the workplace as we knew it may be forever changed.

Some companies plan to remain 100% remote post-pandemic, while others -- including companies like Reddit and Microsoft -- will take a hybrid approach, giving workers more flexibility about where they work.
A social distancing marker is displayed in front of a reception desk at the JLL office in Chicago.

And, of course, some companies will want everyone to come back.

No matter what the approach, workers and employers can expect to hit a few bumps in the road as they navigate the next phase of this grand work experiment.

"Many companies succeeded working remotely in 2020 largely because everyone was doing it -- there was no built-in preference for office workers or stigma against remote workers," said Andrew Hewitt, senior analyst at market research firm Forrester. "Hybrid is going to make managing this difference harder."

The initial shock

The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. In a matter of days, companies across the globe were shutting their offices and many had little to no time to prepare their employees for getting work done entirely outside of office walls.

At business review site Yelp, the IT department had to scramble to find nearly 3,000 laptops for workers, primarily sales employees, when it went remote in March.

"We always had spare laptops, but not 3,000," said Chief People Officer Carolyn Patterson.

A Yelp employee's work-from-home setup, including their canine "office mate."

Artificial intelligence software company, Coveo, emptied its offices in early March 2020. With more than 600 workers across the globe, employees were used to working in different time zones and locations. Still, in-person collaboration and gatherings are an important part of the company's culture.

"We were a company that had a habit of getting together; literally flying people all over the world... to get together. People need to interact in person," said CEO Louis Tetu.

What's your remote work situation like, one year later? Share your story

From the start, the company focused on making sure workers were well-equipped at their home office by allowing things like tech equipment and noise-canceling headphones to be expensed, as well as offering subsidies for high-speed internet. And it didn't come cheap.

"That meant we were going to give you the best chair, best screen ... that cost us into seven figures overnight," said Tetu.

The cost, he said, was well worth it. "You cannot build a great company if your people aren't well."

But it wasn't just figuring out the logistics of how to work from home that challenged employers and their workers at the start of pandemic. There was the mental and emotional toll it took as well.It became very natural for us to have meetings where we had medical, mental health practitioners and discussions about business strategy all in the same meeting."

CISCO CHIEF PEOPLE, POLICY AND PURPOSE OFFICER FRAN KATSOUDAS.

"We recognized that our employees were coming to us for guidance for everything: the pandemic, how they lived, wanting to know what was safe and what wasn't safe," said Cisco's executive vice president and chief people, policy and purpose officer Fran Katsoudas. "It became very natural for us to have meetings where we had medical and mental health practitioners and discussions about business strategy, all in the same meeting."

How Google, Microsoft and others plan to work post-pandemic

To help employees cope with the changes and uncertainties of the pandemic, some companies enhanced their benefits, offering things like free counseling, stipends for childcare and office set-ups and increased days off.

But when it comes to the workforce post-pandemic, remote work will no longer be considered a special perk.

"It's no longer: 'Do you offer remote work?' But, do you offer it with enough organizational support so I can be as successful as the people who work in the office?" said Hewitt.

He expects about 60% of companies will offer a hybrid work model, while 30% of companies will be back in the office and 10% will be fully remote.

Now here comes the hard part

Despite the challenges, Hewitt says the past year has been easy compared to what will come next.

"We've been playing remote work on easy mode. We've all been doing the same thing, everybody has had equal access to information and promotions," said Hewitt. "It will get harder in 2021 with hybrid."

Covid-19 has turned New York's famous business districts into ghost towns.

Inequality between remote and in-office workers can become an issue among hybrid workforces. People in the office get more face time with the boss, which can lead to better relationships, increased access to information and top assignments.

"There was the stigma [before the pandemic], that remote workers were less productive and career focused," Hewitt said.

And companies have grappled with allowing remote workers in the past. In 2013, Marissa Mayer, then-CEO of Yahoo, sparked controversy when she ended the company's work-from-home option citing the need for better communication and collaboration among staff. IBM called back some of its remote workers in 2017.

We've been playing remote work on easy mode...It will get harder in 2021 with hybrid"

ANDREW HEWITT, SENIOR ANALYST, FORRESTER

Training managers on how to equally incorporate remote and in-person workers in meetings and decision making, as well as how they communicate is a critical step in equalizing workforces.

At Yelp, the majority of employees worked in the company's offices before the pandemic. The company is now giving most employees a choice to continue working remotely or come into the office a few days a week.

"We're going to be very cautious that managers don't shift into patterns that you have to come into the office for an important meeting, since that's not possible if people move away," said Patterson.

Workers who move to areas with significantly higher or lower cost of labor could see their pay adjusted.

The company created a three-tiered system to handle compensation changes for workers that relocate.

"If you are moving from a tier one location to a tier three, you will experience a reduced salary, but we still want to be competitive," said Patterson.

Coveo also plans to give employees flexibility to choose where they work, but it has no plans to mandate that everyone be 100% remote.

"It's very dehumanizing," Tetu said of companies going fully remote and getting rid of offices. "I think Slack and Zoom are great, but there is no equivalent of getting people together and fostering a common culture."

He's looking forward to the day he can get his team together safely.

"We are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on plane tickets to bring everyone together. There is no question. There are massive gains and benefits in terms of cohesion."

Permanent WFH sounds great. But it's harder than it sounds

As things start to return to normal and services like daycare reopen regularly, employers will likely become more strict with their remote working requirements, according to Hewitt. That could mean requiring the employee have childcare in place during working hours or standardizing a time zone that everyone works in.

"The other thing that does come up with 'anywhere work' is tax laws," said Hewitt. "That can get tricky and complex."

Should an employee move to an area where a company doesn't already have employees or an office, it could bring administrative and tax burdens to the employer. Relocating could also affect workers' tax bills if they work in one state but live in another.

The shrinking office

Companies will also likely need less office space as more employees start working remotely.

Tetu expects his company to use about 70% of the square footage that it did pre-pandemic.

To meet the needs of a hybrid workforce, office designs are likely going to look different as well.There is a psychological impact of this that is lasting. Life has been shaken quite a bit, and there are multiple ramifications of this."

COVEO CEO LOUIS TETU

Not every worker will need a designated desk. Collaborative spaces will likely become a bigger priority so that more team-focused work can happen in the office, while individual work will be done at home.

Some companies plan to use hot desking solutions, according to Hewitt, that allow workers to reserve a desk for when they're in the office. In an interview for CNN's Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction podcast, he said that some of Forrester's clients are looking to reduce 30% to 50% of their overall office space.

A work station closed for social distancing at Catapult's offices in Boston.
Yelp is also considering downsizing its office space, according to Patterson.

"As our leases come up, we will start reducing our footprint," she said, adding that Yelp's office spaces could be redesigned to include fewer desks and focus more on collaboration.

Even as more people become vaccinated, experts warn that it's going to take time to return to any sense of normalcy at work."There is going to be a long tail here, there is no question about that," said Tetu. "There is a psychological impact of this that is lasting. Life has been shaken quite a bit, and there are multiple ramifications of this."

A third round of stimulus payments is expected to be on the way later this month... possibly even showing up in your bank account as early as this week or next week. Are you getting one? Read on...

MORE ON COVID-19 RELIEF

• What's next with the Covid relief bill
• A guide to what you can expect to get from the $1.9 trillion Senate stimulus
• Senate bill will narrow income eligibility for $1,400 stimulus checks
• There's a race to pass the stimulus by March 14. Here's what's at stake

The payments are included in a sweeping $1.9 trillion Covid relief package that was approved by the Senate on Saturday and could be signed by President Joe Biden soon after the House takes a final vote, now expected to be on Wednesday.

Roughly 90% of American households will be eligible, according to an estimate from the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

Here's what you need to know:

How much will you get?

The payments are worth up to $1,400 per person, including dependents. So a couple with two children could receive up to $5,600. Unlike prior rounds, families will now receive the additional money for adult dependents over the age of 17.

The full amount goes to individuals earning less than $75,000 of adjusted gross income, heads of households (like single parents) earning less than $112,500 and married couples earning less than $150,000. But then the payments gradually phase out as income goes up.

Do you make too much money to be eligible?

Individuals who earn at least $80,000 a year of adjusted gross income, heads of households who earn at least $120,000 and married couples who earn at least $160,000 will be completely cut off from the third round of stimulus payments -- regardless of how many children they have.

On what year are the income limits based?

The income thresholds will be based on a taxpayer's most recent return. If they've already filed a 2020 return by the time the payment is sent, the IRS will base eligibility on their 2020 adjusted gross income. If not, it will be based on the 2019 return.

When can you expect the money?

People could start seeing the payments hit their bank accounts within days of Biden signing the bill -- which is expected to happen soon after the House votes on Wednesday on the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package.

For the previous pandemic stimulus bill, the IRS started sending out the second round of payments three days after then-President Donald Trump signed that legislation in late December. But it's possible that tax filing season, which is underway, could slow down the process this time.

The payments do not all go out at once. Those whose bank information is on file with the IRS would likely get the money first, because it would be directly deposited into their accounts. Others may receive paper checks or prepaid debit cards in the mail.

You got the last stimulus check. Will you get this one?

Not necessarily. While the same people who received the full amounts in the previous two rounds of stimulus payments will likely get the full amount this time, the checks will phase out faster now -- cutting off people at a lower income level.

The first round, which was worth up to $1,200, excluded individuals who earned at least $99,000, head of household filers with one child who earned more than $136,500 and married couples without children earning more than $198,000 -- but families earning a little more were still eligible if they had children. About 160 million payments were delivered, with 94% of families receiving the money.

The second round, which was worth up to $600, also phased out a little faster because the full amount was smaller. It phased out entirely at $87,000 for single filers without children and $174,000 for those married filing jointly without children. Again, those earning a little more were still eligible if they had children. About 158 million payments went out, with 92% of families receiving them.

The payments have been based on a taxpayer's most recent tax return. So those who have filed new returns since last March could fall into or out of eligibility if their incomes changed.

Who else isn't eligible?

Undocumented immigrants who don't have Social Security numbers remain ineligible for the payments. But their spouses and children are eligible as long as they have Social Security numbers. They were excluded from the first round.

Will you owe back some money to the IRS if you earned more in 2020?

No. If your 2019 income was less than your pay in 2020 you will not owe back any money.

But if your income fell in 2020, filing your tax return now -- before the payments go out -- may mean you'll get a bigger check.
​
What if you never got the last payment but believe you're eligible?

Most people receive the payments automatically, but there are many who missed out -- for a variety of reasons. An estimated 8 million eligible people didn't get the first round of payments that were delivered last year.

Many of these people have very low incomes and are not normally required to file tax returns. Last year, the IRS set up an online portal where they could register for the money. It's not yet clear whether the agency will open up the portal again for the third round of payments.
​
People who have moved or changed bank accounts since the last time they filed tax returns may have also missed out.

Those who were due money during the first two rounds of payments and did not receive it can claim it as a tax credit, known as the Recovery Rebate Credit, on their 2020 tax returns.

From CNN.com

Cybersecurity, hacking, black hat activities. Many large organizations have been affected heavily affected in recent years. The end result? Often huge financial losses for the company and identity messes and possibly even financial injury for many of the customers who's records were affected and used inappropriately. We can do a better job of risk planning and hope to avoid or more readily mitigate – rather than just react – to such illicit activity when it happens. And we should. But the bottom line is that hackers are always going to find a way, and they are always one step ahead of us... we often just don't know it yet and aren't expecting it. It happens with deadly terrorist attacks and it happens with hacker attacks just the same...


But now here is a concept that I hadn't really considered before... something I hadn’t considered before…and probably why I should stay away from digital security conferences and reading related documents… the hacking of fingerprint databases. Passwords, credit cards and even identities can be fixed or changed or re-issued. But fingerprints are for a lifetime. You can’t change those. You can remove them…ouch. But you can’t get new ones. And guess what? Fingerprint authentication as a security measure is growing…it’s not just on “Get Smart” or “Mission: Impossible” anymore. It’s on your laptop and your smartphone and your tablet.


The good news is – the usage right now is small and it’s on your personal device. It’s being authenticated on your device, not across the internet. The bad news is – usage is growing and devices can be hacked. And there are uses that are part of cyber security:

• Banking
• Mobile devices
• Building security
• Etc.

What does this mean to project managers and IT professionals? I’m not sure because it had not struck me till now. But while attending the annual Black Hat conference in Las Vegas there was a briefing about it titled, “Fingerprints on Mobile Devices: Abusing and Leaking” by Yulong Zhang & Tao Wei. I guess you might say it opened my eyes a bit. Not to the usage, but to the potential long term security threat if a fingerprint database is breached. This wouldn’t be like Equifax or Target or Wells Fargo getting their account number databases hacked. This would be a bigger issue. My fingerprints are on file for previous FBI security clearances as well as adoption background checks and gaming/hospitality sheriff cards. No, sorry…nothing exciting like a felony in there…I’m pretty clean (which is why I could get the FBI security clearance and adopt and working in the gaming/hospitality industry). I guess I’m simply not all that exciting…


Now, rest assured…someone stealing a database from your bank or government agency that has your fingerprint in it probably isn’t going to harm you too much – if at all. At least not now because what would they do with it? Frame you in a big art theft jewelry heist? That only happens in something like a James Bond movie right now. But as the uses for fingerprint authentication grow – and I’m not sure what those would be…use your imagination - it could cause problems for the general using public.


Summary / call for feedback


As we think of this in terms of projects and IT security, we will need to be aware of the potential for this type of hack if fingerprint security is part of our project solution access or login measure. If not, don’t worry. But the future changes. When I was a COBOL developer in the 80’s no one was concerned about two-digit year codes and what that might mean when the clocks turned from 1999 to 2000. And we were only 15 years away from that near disaster at the time. Talk about being short-sighted for some measly disk space!


How about our readers? What’s your take on this? Have you worked a project where ID access / authentication was fingerprint-based? If you haven’t yet, and you manage projects much longer with any type of security tied to it, you’re going to run across fingerprint authentication sooner or later.

Imagine this...it's your first day on a new job and your manager walks you around to everyone's desk to introduce you to them and as you walk away...sometimes still within earshot, he proceeds to tell you that you need to fire that person. What? Talk about uncomfortable...and certainly not what I came in to do. And this was a professional, high-end tech management position. Was I uneasy? Yes to say the least.


This was a consulting position for one of the world's largest hotel/casino organizations in the world. It was certainly not how I thought Day One would go. I believe in people. I think it’s best to try to work with them, find out their strengths and capitalize on those and find out their weaknesses and try to avoid those but also give them small challenges that help build up those areas of weakness.


What would your initial feelings and reaction be at this eye-raising discovery during your first few days on the job? Since there was an obvious push for change and since I didn’t know anything yet about my team or the position, for that matter, here’s what I did…


One on ones. At the time, due to growth and team location change, I didn’t even have a private office with a door. That finally came a couple weeks later. What I did do, however, was set a 3-step process in motion. First, I conducted one on one meetings with each member of the team. I was new and they were all tired and beaten down by former (and possibly present) working conditions and situations. Apparently the new IT director and CIO were better than the previous combo, though I certainly can’t imagine by how much! But with one on ones, I was able to get to know each team member, get an idea of their strengths and passions as well as their weaknesses and likely areas of improvement.


Follow up meetings. Following the first one on ones, I took my information and did an initial evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, potential position changes or changes in responsibility that might help those who needed a change, and what possible suggestions I might have for action plans and training that would help each staff member – for those that might need it. The staff was not without personnel challenges for me. I had a head software security guy with obvious anger management issues. One with issues I can’t mention here – I myself didn’t even really catch on till I mentioned things about my conversation with him to my wife over dinner that night and she almost fell over. Ok, I may have trouble reading some people on the first go around. I need to hear it coming back out of my own mouth sometimes to really process what someone was doing or saying. Duh.


I then met again with each staff member to present my thoughts and suggestions on how we might build on their strengths and what action I was going to push for on those issues and findings.


Advise. Finally, I was ready to meet with my IT director to advise him of my findings and initial plans. No one needed to be let go. At first he found this upsetting…he really wanted me to fire people. But with some discussion and then watching some staff transformations and improvements in the coming weeks, he bought into it and the changes were successful.


Summary


I like to think that people are basically innocent until proven guilty. I have found myself to be a fairly decent personnel manager outside of project management – or along with it since it is still a requirement of the job. I'd like to think that, given some time, I can assess an acquired team and possibly work with people to get them to work better together before just jumping in and letting people go. And I was right...it worked out far better in this case.

I've started a new series here on Project Times – a series of articles on PM related tools and services. 

Basically, I want the leaders at these organizations to tell us in their own words “5 Reasons Why” we should be demo'ing or downloading a free trial or purchasing their software to use for some or all of our project related needs.

Think of it as their “elevator speech” if that's all the time they really had to tell you why their software or service is great and you need to check it out.
I did a series like this for several vendors on my site awhile back and many found it to be of great value to them and their search of that right tool to meet their team's needs.. I wanted to bring it to a bigger stage because there are so many new, small, great players in the genre that many of us have never heard of. And many long-established software and service solutions that we had heard of but never tried. Plus, we are living in a world now that has seen the workforce change in terms of needs for remote work, virtual teams and extreme collaboration. You might find your organization's needs will be met by one of these options...