Skip to main content

Work Life Balance in the Mobile world

Five years ago, businesses were starting to talk about e-strategy, and not just about whether they should allow staff to access Facebook.   Now an e-strategy is becoming an essential.

While businesses are grappling with productivity levels, a difficult economy and the expectations of employees, the question remains whether we are achieving balance between people, processes and technology.

The rise of the mobile office and the mobile professional is part of this.  Visit any local coffee shop that offers free wifi, and there will be people working on laptops and mobile devices, holding meetings and conducting business.   I do wonder whether it makes sense for the coffee shops, as they sit at choice tables, order lots of coffee, and very little else..

As many South African entities, both companies and individuals, are active in the global economy, the traditional business discipline of ‘supply and demand’ compels companies to virtually remain open for business, 24/7.   Not the coffee shops, though, so the coffee shop professionals must have an evening alternative.

There really is no easy escape from the  ‘always-on’ scenario and the impact is shared by the employer and employee. People need down time, and without it an increase in sick leave, absenteeism, a drop in productivity, impact on general focus and core operations, as well as higher staff turnover rates can be the result.

All these factors have an influence on levels of achievement and efficiency. 

Laptops, tablets and smart phones have promoted a situation in which people are, to a greater or lesser extent, constantly connected to the job, even when at leisure, but also constantly connected to family and the outside world, when working.

No surprise that work / life balance is constantly on the table for discussion.

It is also true that many people are scared to have the conversation, as they are worried their level of commitment to their jobs will be questioned, which could impact on career path.   But it does need to be discussed.   I am starting to feel that busyness is the new black.   We compete as to how busy we are, almost as if our level of importance is tied to not having enough time to just chill.

There is no question that home encroaches on work, and work encroaches on home.   It does come down to discipline, and sometimes just to old fashioned good manners.   Not Now works.   Tell work or family that you can listen for a moment because you are in a meeting or with a friend, and commit to a call back time.    If that’s not possible, excuse yourself, manage the situation and then return.  


Mobile professionals need to be disciplined around  time management. There should be a policy in place to serve as a guide in terms of availability and connectivity.  The new technology coming in is allowing more and more flexibility.   At +Accsys, our new PeopleWare Mobi allows both management and staff to handle leave applications and approvals, time management and payslip viewing from your smart phone.   It comes down to using the power of mobile to integrate your work and personal life effectively, and yes, sometimes in a coffee shop.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Feeding the Right Wolf

Feeding the Right Wolf This Cherokee story resonated with me (see below).     Like many business people, I get caught up in managing details, instead of focusing on strategy and growth.   Measuring myself against the Good Wolf concept has become a way of thinking for me. Feeding the good wolf - focusing on the right stuff! In a previous article on this topic, I commented that the message is simple, the wolf you feed is the one that grows. The good wolf attributes in a business are where we ideally should spend our time, that good old 80 – 20 rule focusing on our   engaged employees, improving client experience and quality of product,   to name a few. Creating a Good Wolf Environment While we have many different tools – appraisals, customer and employee surveys – to try and understand the temperature and levels of entropy in our businesses – the truth is that it is really difficult to explain to people that they are not seen as feeding the good wolf.    Often the people

Sharing your last salary – re-enforcing the gender pay gap…

Sharing your last salary – re-enforcing the gender pay gap… The interview process is never easy.   Whether you are actively searching for a new position or being head hunted, selling yourself effectively can go against ingrained social habits. As a potential employer, there is significant risk in hiring the wrong people, too. So both sides have a lot to lose if the interview process is ineffective. While we frequently hear that people do not leave jobs because of money, very few candidates are looking to drop their salaries … Interviewers have a number of tools at their disposal enabling them to align the right candidate with the role on offer: ·        Psychometric testing ·        References ·        The face to face interview process ·        The CV / Resumé ·        Social media profiles However, the previous salary is a time tested way for the interviewer to measure against the skills and experience claimed in the CV. Why is there a risk that this re-en

It's all about the service... Gaining & Retaining Clients

Retaining and gaining customers has become increasingly challenging.  As customers we have abundant choice and it is so easy to comparative shop. We talk about great service We talk about the extra mile We talk about the attitude We talk about customer perception We talk about customer expectation We talk about meeting customer needs We talk about the tangible vs intangible We talk about the client experience So what makes a customer feel that they have received outstanding service?   What makes it a soft skill, rather than a science, is that we are all so different and people in services and sales need to read each situation and act accordingly. In a restaurant, if my chair is constantly bumped by the waitrons going past, no matter how great the food, my perception is negative.  My family don’t even notice the bumps.. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to visit Greece and Turkey. In Istanbul, we were wandering around one of the many fantastic street marke