Archive for the ‘Time Management’ Category

Is Telecommuting the Future of Business or Will it Fade Out?

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

Business trends change from year to year or even month to month. One of the most debated about trends is telecommuting. There are a number of viewpoints concerning Telecommuting; unfortunately, as it is a relatively recent trend there’s not much information around it. Does it make employees more productive or not? Does it make them happier, lonelier, disconnected, or more connected? What about the cost for the company? Does it cost more or less? These are a few of the many questions businesses must consider when deciding if allowing employees to telecommute fits their company’s structure and style.

Some studies show there are incredible benefits to telecommuting. We’ve laid out several pros and cons below:

Pros

  • As people aren’t wasting time and money commuting they often work longer hours.
  • Telecommuters are less stressed when working in the comfort of their own home.
  • Employees can take advantage of their most productive hours, even if that is the middle of the night, and can modify their working hours to their daily life.
  • Telecommuting is perfect for those who do not thrive in the typical structured nine-to-five work environment.
  • Telecommuting enhances self-reliance and time management skills.
  • Telecommuting also gives employers more freedom to hire skilled individuals with no cost of moving them across the globe.
  • Telecommuting can save the employee and employer money.

Cons – the other side of the coin

  • Telecommuting can lead to burnout and resentment of the company if they work too much.
  • A lack of socialization for individuals who crave social interaction may result in depression and loneliness.
  • Telecommuting can cause a lack of motivation, as there is not a physical tie to the rest of the team.
  • Telecommuting can lead to a break down in communication due to distance.
  • Telecommuting can require a more time than usual to setup a home office.

For both manager and employee, successful telecommuting takes strong communication, time management skills, and clarity of job responsibilities. We are seeing more and more people desiring an independent working environment. But in the end, whether telecommuting will work or not, depend on the company’s culture and the employees’ mindset. Tell us what you think; will telecommuting be the way most businesses are organized in the future or will it fade out?

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How not to act in the office

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Forming a habit can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the nature of the habit. For instance, paying close attention to detail and making sure your workspace is clean and tidy are good habits to form in the office. We are all also aware of some bad habits workers can form. Research shows that any habit requires a minimum of 21 days to change. That sounds like a lot of work to put into breaking a bad habit. Wouldn’t it be easier to avoid forming the bad habit in the first place?  Here are a few bad working habits, as well as some tips on how to avoid them proactively.

Working Through Lunch

    It’s not uncommon for your day to get out of hand before noon. The fact is, sometimes working through lunch is unavoidable.
However, developing this habit can actually be detrimental to your productivity. We need to take breaks and give ourselves time to cool down and regroup. If you’re having a stressful day at the office, it’s best to take a full lunch rather than to try to power through. Try setting strict time boundaries on your lunchtime and start viewing it as its own work assignment.

Idealizing

    For most of us, the grass is always greener at another job. When we’ve had a bad day in the office, it’s easy to relive our childhood daydreams of exciting and harmful professions such as being an astronaut or firefighter.. Unfortunately, idealizing another line of work makes it difficult to be happy in your current position. Instead, try making a list of all the good things your job provides for you. Documenting each small joy will help you appreciate the job you have.

Work Time Distractions

    Comical YouTube videos and entertaining flash games are added to the Internet every minute of every day. It’s easy to waste hours of work time on these simple distractions. This is a bad habit to form, and one that should definitely be avoided. To help, schedule “small breaks” throughout the day.  Reward yourself after finishing a large project or after working solidly for several hours. Creating these time boundaries will help prevent forming a habit of being distracted.

    Forming bad habits can be easier than you’d think and breaking a bad habit can be much more difficult than you’d imagine. The next time you notice yourself slipping into any of these bad habits, take some time to consider what good habits you could form to combat them.

What habits, good or bad, have you developed?

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Getting More Done with What You Have

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Do you ever find that there’s more work to be done when the day is over?  We live in a fast-paced world and it seems that there’s so much to be done, and so little time to do it in.  With that in mind, I thought we spend a few minutes looking at some common pit-falls to success… we hope they help you out! (more…)

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