Posts for September 2011

Are we using technology, or is it using us?

The good thing about technology is that you can work from anywhere. The bad thing about technology is that you can work from anywhere. Even as I write this I am in Spain, trying not to work.

These days, it is hard to ignore the calls on the mobile, the SMS, the emails, the tweets and pokes. But not all that long ago, things were very different.

In The shift: the future of work is already here, the book’s author Lynda Gratton reminisces about the days when you would come into work at 9am, start by opening your letters and take the day from there. Come 5pm you’d finish work, and the rest of the day was your own.

I was born in the 60s, so I remember those days myself. No BlackBerry. No laptop. No iPhone winking away at you at night or before breakfast.

Those days are over.

Is technology good or bad?

Nowadays, mobile technology can keep you in touch with work from anywhere on the planet. But is it good or bad for our working lives? One of our contributors posted that question on the Small Business Can forum.

That post claimed that young professionals – particularly those under 35 – say they feel more relaxed knowing they can stay connected with colleagues, handle problems that develop and keep an eye on their workload while they’re away from work.

Business owners are even more addicted to staying in touch with work when they’re not meant to be working. I was once asked to write a book about work-life balance for entrepreneurs. I thought achieving a balance was incredibly hard then. Nowadays, it’s even harder.

Use technology to your advantage

If you use it properly, technology can work to your advantage. To begin with, I recommend reading The four hour work week. It will open your eyes as to how technology, procedures and automation can help you free up time to do other things and work on your business rather than in your business.

And isn’t that the holy grail for any business owner? The cash register going ‘kerching’ while you’re hanging in a hammock in Spain, cycling the Alps or trekking in the Himalayas.

How do you feel about technology, work, holidays and getting away from your company? Is technology the tool that’s given you the ability to take a holiday for the first time in years? Or does it feel like a chain that keeps you close to your desk, no matter how far you travel?

• Does working from home improve your work-life balance?
• Guide to remote working
• Mobile internet access explained

Ron Immink is CEO of Book Buzz and a contributor to Small Business Can.

Should you bring your iPad to work?

You can play solitaire on your iPad too... (Image: bark on Flickr.)

It’s impossible to deny that the iPad has been a real sales success. Apple sold 9.25m of them in the last quarter alone. It might only be a matter of time before iPads become another piece of equipment that people bring to work – just like their mobile phone.

But is there a place for the iPad in your company?

Business uses for the iPad

The iPad’s usefulness as a business tool has been questioned, not least on this very blog! But for many, it’s proving to be a revolutionary device. It’s easy to hold, easy to transport and easy to use.

It uses the same operating system and interface as the iPhone, and doesn’t bother with conventional input devices like a mouse or keyboard. You just tap, swipe and drag your fingers on the screen.

It’s down to the apps

Part of the iPad’s success is certainly down to the wide availability of apps. You can download nearly 100,000 of them, covering every category from entertainment and media to productivity and business.

It’s these apps that really enable you to make productive use of an iPad in the workplace. Here are some specific scenarios where you might want to consider using an iPad:

• For presentations. The iPad is a great tool for showing and sharing presentations – it’s portable, so you can just pull it out of your bag when you need it.

Software like Apple’s Keynote lets you import and edit PowerPoint presentations, and you can even hook it up to a monitor or projector (if you don’t mind buying an adaptor from Apple).

There are also applications available that will let you do ‘virtual presentations’ – so you can show your presentation to people on the internet.

• For working together and communicating. The iPad comes with an email app, and you can add all manner of other tools for audio and videoconferencing.

There’s a built-in calendar and address book, so it’s a good replacement for a paper planner – and the larger screen means it’s easier to read than your mobile phone.

You can also choose from a range of apps to manage your tasks, monitor projects, share files, read and post items in social networks and more.

• For working in the field. The iPad is lightweight and portable, so it’s a great companion on the road. It has the ability to connect securely to your office network using a virtual private network (VPN) connection.

• For managing your travel. I feel the iPad is unmatched as a travel companion. There are heaps of apps for managing flights and hotel bookings, checking your itinerary and recording expenses. And when you have some time to yourself (or are bored on a long flight), that big screen is perfect for watching movies.

• For doing industry-specific tasks. This depends which industry you’re in, but there are lots of environments in which the iPad can be put to work. For instance, Apple itself has replaced all its in-store product labels with iPads.

You can even use it as a point-of-sale device (like a till). Other companies are using iPads to replace printed manuals, and some schools are using it in place of stacks of books.

There are lots of other ways the iPad can be used for business. Are you considering using one in your company as well? And if your company doesn’t own its own iPads, would you be happy for staff to bring in their own? Leave a comment and let us know.

• Why use an iPad when you can use a good netbook?
• Are tablet computers right for business?

Email, phone hacking and your company

One of this year’s biggest news stories has been the phone hacking scandal. One of the first celebrities to settle with the now-defunct News of the World was Sienna Miller, and I’ve always believed the newspaper was keen to settle because she demanded to see all emails relating to herself.

However, it was only a matter of time before others affected by the scandal demanded to see such emails too. And as result, it recently emerged that HCL Technologies – a firm that managed some of the News of the World’s IT systems – was asked to delete emails nine times between April 2010 and July 2011. 

Lessons you can learn

Although I totally condemn the phone hacking saga, there are lessons to be learnt about how we use email. Indeed, the use of emails as evidence highlights three issues:

• Emails can’t ever really be destroyed. Under current UK law, you’re allowed to destroy emails. But in practice, you can bet that someone, somewhere will have a copy printed off or saved to a file. Once you’ve sent an email, there’s no way of knowing who it’s been forwarded on to or where it’s been stored.
• You need to be vigilant about what you say in emails. Careless messages sent in haste can be costly. For instance, if you reply ‘yes’ when a client sends an email telling you that you’ve made a mistake, you leave yourself little room to negotiate. Sending anything that could be seen as defamatory could also be costly.
• Email is as open as a postcard. You can bet your life that someone who shouldn’t have has seen those News of the World emails. Maybe some were forwarded on, found on a printer or simply read on screen over the recipient’s shoulder. There’s nothing inherently secure about email.

Will email law change?

You may also have heard that there has been talk of changing the UK laws relating to the retention and archiving of emails. In future, businesses could be compelled to keep all their emails and make them available on demand. That brings its own set of problems.

Ultimately, these things all confirm that you really need to think before you hit send. If you’re in any doubt about the content of your email, talk first and email afterwards.

Protecting your business

As well as thinking carefully about when and how you send emails, there are other things you can do to protect your business:

• Make sure you have an up-to-date, effective email acceptable usage policy. This helps reduce the chance of a breach of security occurring.
• Create an email best practice charter and offer your staff training in email use. Email seems so straightforward that many companies neglect training – yet it can make your employees more efficient and reduce the security risks.

There’s a tool to help you create an acceptable usage policy, plus a template for an email charter over on my own website.

(I’m not, of course, condoning any kind of hacking, whether into someone’s email, voicemail or anything else. I just think this scandal has highlighted some interesting issues about how businesses use and manage their email.)

• Streamline your email to save time
• Choose the right kind of business email system
• Ten ways to use email effectively

To learn more about using email more effectively either go to one of Dr Monica Seeley’s new ninety minute Brilliant Email Master Classes or get a copy of her book, ‘Brilliant Email: How to improve productivity and save time’.