Can an overworked nation blame technology?—Posted on April 22, 2008
Recent reports suggest that as a nation, Brits are overworked, regularly spending well over 40 hours a week in the office. Dr Cary Cooper, a professor at Lancaster University believes that the explosion of technology, which has lead to a ‘long working hours epidemic’ is at the heart of the problem. He believes that technology stresses instead of supports, as businesses increasingly demand an immediacy of response.
There is no doubt that a wider range of technology is much more readily available for companies, and that a higher proportion of the workforce is mobile. But is it fair that technology has to take the wrap for this ‘overworked’ phenomenon?
Technology – since the launch of the mobile phone in the eighties, has allowed us to work on the move – to clinch that all important business deal while on the train, or to ‘buy buy buy!’ while queuing for a lunchtime sandwich. Fast forward twenty years and technology is much more advanced. People now use technology as an extension to the office; BlackBerrys and laptops give people the choice of working where and when they want - as more and more people can replicate the same working conditions found in the office, on the move.
Mobile technology has a number of benefits – staff are retained if office locations change as they can work from home - and performance increases as employees work in their most productive environment. If your company employs a remote or flexible working policy and you work on your commute to the office, you have actually already completed a portion of your day before you hit the office – allowing you to leave earlier. If used properly it actually saves you time.
The real problem to be tackled here is that people believe that their company expects them to carry on working once they have completed their hours – they don’t, or at least they shouldn’t! For technology to be recognised for the help that it is, policy and implementation needs to be effectively managed. Employers must accept that once the workforce has completed their hours, they should not be expected to work long into the night, just because their BlackBerry continues to flash. It has an off button for a reason.
While it is true that there will always be a proportion of people glued to their mobile, or chained to their laptop, they are the people who would have worked long into the night anyway – and it doesn’t mean that normal people should follow their example, as this method of working doesn’t suit everyone.
In the fast paced world that we live, people sometimes do require an immediacy of response – technology enables this. However, mobile technology is about more than immediacy. It is all about flexibility, efficiency and working smart. It allows you to make your own hours, work where you want and puts you in control. After all, who did win that race, the rabbit or the tortoise? Of course it was the tortoise (in a close finish) but you can’t fault the rabbit for its flexible approach to the task.
The mobile email addiction is spreading fast—Posted on August 31, 2007
So it’s official, following years of speculation about how addictive the BlackBerry really is, Gartner has released a research report predicting a meteoric rise in the use of mobile email. It forecasts that the popularity of text messaging is on the wane, as by 2010 over a fifth of email users will be sending messages wirelessly. Also that within three years wireless email users would have grown from 20million to 350million worldwide. That’s more than 320 million new users - more than the population of the USA!
What will this huge upsurge in mobile emailing mean? The short answer is that by 2010 people will think emailing while waiting for a flight is as normal as texting on a bus. This change in how people want to communicate is where SMBs will really notice the impact on their business.
As customers begin to email from wherever they are, whenever they want , they will expect a company they are doing business with to be doing the same. Not having a work force equipped to work on the move will mean that that employees will not be as responsive as your increasingly demanding customer base will expect. Your reputation as a company that rides with the times could be seriously tarnished.
Some SMBs will be concerned about the cost and hassle of implementing mobile email. But it can be easily enabled through 3G cards for laptops or handheld devices. SMBs should seriously consider if mobile email will help to improve staff efficiency and customer relationships. If so, adoption driven by company foresight, rather than a beleaguered response to unsatisfied customers, is surely a sound business strategy.
Entrepreneurs on the move—Posted on August 6, 2007
Some interesting new research about mobile working came out this week. Occupational psychologists (Pearn Kandola, commissioned by Cisco) have identified the qualities that make a successful mobile worker. It seems that the best personality profile is someone who is self-motivated, resilient and independent. Good mobile workers are extroverted, creative and disciplined. All terms that could just as easily be used to describe a successful entrepreneur.
The UK is gripped by the possibilities of entrepreneurialism at the moment. Research shows that 60% of 16 to 21-year-olds aspire to be self-employed in the future. The huge appetite for TV shows like The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den suggests that we’re all busy hatching plans to make our fortunes by setting up our own businesses. Of course it isn’t easy, or we really would all be doing it. You need a great idea and bags of energy, and you also need to be a ‘jack of all trades’, taking on anything from sales and marketing to back office roles like finance and HR... I’m a great believer in how mobile technology can help manage these varied challenges, empower small start-ups and contribute to their success.
Entrepreneurs who want to work smarter and who are open to new ideas (another key attribute identified by the research) are using mobile technologies to help them compete with the larger and more established ‘big boys’. A friend of mine recently set up on his own as a consultant. The hard part was deciding on a company name – once that was done he set up a simple website, bought a BlackBerry and he was in business. The BlackBerry means he is immediately as available to customers as his bigger rivals, punching above his weight and looking like he’s running a bigger operation than he is.
Mobility is all about freedom, success and working smart… Working your own hours, where and when you want, and the promise of business success. It is hardly a surprise that successful entrepreneurs are putting it at the centre of their businesses.