The Advantages of a Virtual Workplace
While the recession runs its course around the world, it is good to know that companies are taking advantage of the virtual workplace. For many industries, it makes sense to have people work from home for at least part of the week. It saves companies money and helps retain their employee base at the same time. As a contractor myself, I wonder about some of the companies I worked for in the past. While I am glad that my assignments with them are complete, I know there are those who would have liked to continue with our past employers on some level. Instead, they call people to come in for a short period of time, let them go, and then call them back several months later, if they are still available. I understand the need for seasonal contractors, but when I have observed how much some of these companies have lost money on completely superfluous expenses, it boggles my mind at how willing they are to let go of talented people as a consequence.
Companies like IBM and Sun Microsystems seem to know how to make their virtual workplaces work for them and their productivity. What I see as the ideal virtual workplace is one in which the employer and employee have trust in one another, and have no desire to abuse that trust. It is where an employee works hard, but knows when to stop each day, and the employer gives freedom to the employee to have a personal life, without compromising the work flow. I also see a good virtual workplace as one that allows employers and employees to have face time with one another, and that doesn’t include web conferences. It is easy to feel disconnected from others you work for or work with if you never see them.
So while some people might think being in a virtual workplace lacks structure and growth for a company, I saw they are wrong. Virtual workplaces are here to stay, and will continue to grow throughout the economies around the world.
What are your thoughts on the virtual workplace?
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A Global Cyber War?
It isn’t news that the Internet is both an incredibly informative and extremely chaotic virtual space. Like millions of others, it is highly unusual for me to go one day without checking email or doing a Google search. I am dependent on the World Wide Web; I would like to think that if I was in a remote location for an extended period of time where Internet access is limited, I would be satisfied with going online once a week, at least. The thought of such sparse contact might frighten most, but I would welcome it, if I didn’t have anything urgent to take care of.
Why do I bring up the possibility of the lack of access to the Internet? When I heard the news about cyber attacks originating from North Korea, I started to think seriously about what I would do if I could no longer go online without being besieged by maliciously created viruses. The isolated and angry dictatorship seems to be doing its best to launch attacks on South Korea and its allies in any way they can. Could a “cyber war” be in our imminent future? While no lives might be lost in this situation, such an event would definitely damage people’s abilities to communicate and acquire knowledge on any topic in a speedy (yet concise) manner.
How should we prepare ourselves for the devastating possibilities of a global “cyber war?” The first suggestion that comes to mind is to keep hard copies of all important documents, images, emails, and any necessary contact information you may need at any time. The other suggestion is to keep posted on the news, without becoming pre-occupied or too nostalgic about the past. Both of these steps are very important when preparing for the worst.
Still, I don’t think that we should become too paranoid and scared about a possible situation. It is hard achieve some sort of balance, but it can be done—at least I hope so.
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When Face Time Trumps the Internet
As one of millions who are chained to their computers, I sometimes lament the lack of “face time” I have with friends and family. Sure, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and all the social and professional networking sites out there are great when bridging the gaps between people and their organizations for various purposes, but I really do relish my interpersonal interactions with people for the first or one hundredth time. We need our computers to do all the “heavy lifting” when it comes to discovering, locating, and maintaining contacts. Looking someone in the eye and using our instincts are precious assets that we as human beings should encourage in ourselves and in others, no matter how many networking sites we join, or how many online chats we have.
At The Women’s Mosaic Book Club meeting on June 17, I realized how much I miss meeting people without the aid of the Internet. Yes, I was emailed about the event and it is posted on the non-profit organization’s web site, but once we came met at the designated location and introductions were made, we went right into the discussion of plot, characters, and themes with no difficulties or awkwardness. It was the first time I remember not noticing anyone constantly checking their phone for messages until our meeting was over. As a book club “newbie,” I was pleasantly reminded of how great it is to share thoughts and ideas with people in a comfortable setting. We were occasionally photographed and video taped for promotional purposes, but this never distracted us from our group conversation. I met people who share my interests, and I hope to meet them again in the future.
So while online book clubs (like Oprah’s Book Club, for example) are great because of the numbers of people that join through the Internet, I’ll take the monthly meetings in an Italian café this summer. Nothing beats meeting people in person…most of the time.
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Experience Last Month’s IA Summit Online
In today’s world, it’s hard to take time out of work and life to attend conferences. And in today’s economy, many of us are opting to save the money needed to attend these conferences. But for anyone who missed the 10th Anniversary IA Summit that was held in Memphis, TN on March 20 through 22, you can still catch some of the sessions online.
Several of the staff at Boxes and Arrows captured many of the main sessions and posted them on their site. As of now, they seem to have posted everything except Days 2 and 3. But they have a message up saying that more sessions should be rolling in over the next two weeks, so hopefully those will get filled in soon. The conference theme was “Expanding Our Horizons”.
Michael Wesch opened the conference with a keynote address about “fresh and ambitious direction for all designers”. I also like how Boxes and Arrows embedded the IA Summit’s music theme at the top of each page. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a conference (at least not a usability conference) with it’s own jingle.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with the IA Summit, here’s a brief description from the summit’s website:
The Information Architecture Summit is the premier gathering place for information architects and other user experience professionals. It’s grown from a special interest group’s efforts to define an emerging field, to a rich and expanding community of practice shaping and informing multiple disciplines. You don’t have to be an IA or User Experience professional to enjoy the Summit. You simply have to love the art and science of structuring information.
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Google Voice Changes How We Think About Phones
Tired of carrying around your Blackberry, iPhone, and still having to check your home machine? Google may be swooping in once again to help us manage our information (and device) overload.
Back in 2007, Google bought a company called GrandCentral. The original GrandCentral had many incredible features to offer customers who have multiple phones to manage:
- Single phone number in the area code of your choice. When anyone called this number, all connected devices rang simultaneously.
- Singe voice mail box and management
- Ability to have different voicemail greeting per caller
- Ability to specify which phones rang for each caller
- Ability to record phone calls
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For the past two years, Google has been laying low about the service, but now they’re primed to rerelease it with new features that could change the way we think of managing our phones and phone numbes. They are introducing four new features:
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Here are some links to learn more:
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