Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Tony Wright, founder and CEO of RescueTime, a venture-backed software startup that helps businesses and individuals improve their time management through automated time tracking and reporting.
A few weeks ago I read this very interesting piece on WebWorkerDaily about the impact of corporate blocking policies on web working employees. The gist of the article was that blocking tends to throw away a lot of the good with the bad and, increasingly, the things that managers think of as “bad” (Twitter, Facebook, IM, etc.) are actually an important part of folks’ communication toolbox.
I’d like to pile on with more evidence that wholesale blocking is bad. The University of Melbourne found that workers who are allowed to surf the web for fun at work were actually nine percent more productive than those who weren’t. So what about monitoring? Well, it turns out that monitoring your employees (the way most employers do it) is similarly detrimental to productivity. It also tends to make life more stressful for employees.
At RescueTime, we are constantly thinking about the ethics and efficacy of blocking and monitoring for teams and individuals — it’s our mission to actually build software that does this in a way that increases productivity and isn’t evil. A huge, and sometimes daunting, part of our job as product developers is to educate employers on what works, what’s ethical and what kind of expectations are reasonable for web workers. Here’s some of what we’ve learned. Read the rest of this entry »
A common concern among those of us in jobs that put us visible on the web is the challenge of balancing our personal and professional presence online.
To me, it’s about blended, dynamic reputation. Some may call it “personal branding” but that’s always felt a little stilted and contrived to me. The essence is that I have control over only one side of the equation: how I present myself to the world, both online and off. The judgment rests solely in the hands of the people with whom I interact, and they’re all going to see me differently. Read the rest of this entry »
In the past, syncing Google Calendar with your iPhone has been a pretty big hassle. After having tried just about every method in the book, I’ve found two solutions that are definitely worth checking out.
One is NuevaSync, which is completely free but requires registering for an account. The other is SaiSuke, which costs $10 but offers many more settings to set things up exactly how you need to. Read the complete review on TheAppleBlog.
By Justin Draeger
Teleworking has been gaining traction for years and now more than 2.44 million people spend at least part of their work week at home.
But recently some major employers have been pulling telecommuters back into the office. The goal of any would-be teleworker is to show your boss how working from home will benefit him and the company.
If you’re having trouble getting your point across, here are some possible reasons he wants you in the office.
Read the rest of this entry »
By Jake Kuramoto
Back in 2003, I worked in a cube farm at Oracle’s corporate headquarters in Redwood Shores. I had been commuting an hour and a half each way, five days a week, since 2001, and I really wanted to work out a telecommuting arrangement with my manager. I started out working from home a couple days a week, and eventually, I grew into a permanent web worker.
After five years of working remotely, the one problem I’ve yet to solve is the conference call. Or more accurately, the conference call where I’m the only one on the phone. If you telecommute, you’re savvy to this problem, and even if you don’t, you can probably relate.
Here’s the scenario: it’s a handful of people sitting in a conference room and one person on the phone. The more people in the room and on the phone, the bigger the problem.
All typical meeting problems become amplified when you’re on the phone.
(Photo credit: Flickr user morecoffeeplease)
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By Kyle West
Editor’s Note: Around here, “switching” isn’t just changing operating systems. It can also be about leaving a more traditional work environment behind and switching to web work. Kyle made the jump a couple of years ago and shares with us the lessons he learned along the way.
A little over 2 years ago my partner and I packed up our offices, sold all our office furniture and officially joined the full-time web-working crowd. Since then we’ve made plenty of mistakes, but we’ve also cleared our fair share of hurdles. The hardest part of the switch? Communicating effectively.
Communication is tough enough when everyone is in the same room. It’s exponentially more difficult after you end all physical interaction. Gone were the days of huddling around the whiteboard, brainstorming over carry-out and getting instant feedback on your work.
Read the rest of this entry »
By Pete Johnson, HP.com Chief Architect
You don’t have to be in the work force too long before someone ultimately insults you in some way. Maybe it isn’t even intentional, but that doesn’t take the sting out of it. The most basic, knee jerk human reaction when we experience something like this is to get angry and hurl something similar right back at the offending party.
While natural, that perfectly understandable course of action tends to inflame the situation instead of improve it. Is there a better way?
Sometimes, there can be and you can get something much more than revenge of a such a situation, like a better relationship with someone that becomes more useful later.
Read the rest of this entry »
Jonathan Lane worked side contract jobs as a web developer until he grew his business enough to freelance full-time. Then he moved to Mayne Island, a small island off of Canada’s west coast, a place he had visited as a child. Now he takes on diversified projects including web design and development, e-commerce, and textbook co-authoring.
Jonathan’s personal web site is located at www.flyingtroll.com and his business site is www.industryinteractive.net.
Describe your job/career/business
I do a bunch of things. I’m a strong believer in “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, so I do some web design and development work for clients, I’m starting up an e-Commerce site, developing a “Web 2.0 app”, and starting up a locally targeted online/offline combo service. I’m also in the process of doing a graduate degree, co-authoring a textbook, and contributing a series of articles on web development.
Read the rest of this entry »
A few weeks ago I read this very interesting piece on WebWorkerDaily about the impact of corporate blocking policies on web working employees. The gist of the article was that blocking tends to throw away a lot of the good with the bad and, increasingly, the things that managers think of as “bad” (Twitter, Facebook, IM, etc.) are actually an important part of folks’ communication toolbox.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
