Workshifting:
Heard this term and loved it. Many thanks and a shout out to term creator: @JustinLevy and @workshifting!
It’s working from any location (your home, hopefully close to your home or your vacation spot of choice:) The location can vary from day to day. Remember with workshifting environments or satellite offices, you can grow as much as you want with no overhead while also preserving the environment by limiting CO2 Emissions that you’d otherwise use driving to the office. Whatever, wherever inspires you. Literally a "virtual corporation"
There’s no reason with all of the technology today that people cannot work from home or any remote location if they so choose and their position allows. (Obviously this wouldn’t apply to all fields, however an office environment does apply) If off the bat you have trust issues with an employee then you really need to evaluate your own ability to hire. Put a few common sense rules in place then treat people like grown-ups…until they prove their not. Then cut bait. Due to child labor law’s there’s NO room for children in the work place I always say. ;) Let them go home and play in their own sandbox and waste their own sand. No warnings. You can’t lock them in Fabric Cells (cubeland) and expect change.
Why not workshift? Why not have those who can do so…do it.? There’s less stress, very little tardiness, more flexibility and you will get more out of them. Eliminates the micromanagement mentality as you’ve hired the right people, right? You can take away the annoying day to day management annoyances that can be avoided. The fact is you will get more out of your workshifters as they are happier and compelled to prove themselves to you that they can be trusted to do so. And do it well. That 8-5 window can be that for meetings and such with customers, however your employees for the most part know what their work load will be from day to day and can schedule accordingly. Do you really want someone working for you that closes up shop in the middle of something and goes home because it’s 5:00?. If they have something to say to you at 7:30pm does it really need to wait until 8:00am to tell you? No. Lose the 8-5 butt in seat mindset. They will to. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Treat people like grown-ups. You hired grown-ups right?
In addition, people who workshift should be held accountable for taking advantage of it. Give people a little rope to discipline themselves and to prove themselves. This lowers overhead and creates a good morale. Less Paid time off is needed since they are on flex time. The commute to work is costly to our planet and just unnecessary. Here's an idea...Workshift close enough to ride a bike!
Try out Bike Sharing. www.b-cycle.com , @bcycle. If you don’t have Bike Sharing in your city then request it! If you’re a city official and would like to research bike sharing options go to www.cityryde.com. It’s a bike share consultancy that can help you determine the size bike sharing solution that’s best suited for your town.
Did you know?
More than 40% of car trips taken in the U.S. are 2 miles or less.
Just 1 mile of pedaling instead of driving prevents about 1 pound of CO2 emissions.
( Thanks to B-cycle.com)
One TON of CO2e is emitted when:
You Travel 2000 miles in an airplaine-
To offset: Move 145 Drivers from large SUV’s to hybrids
Suggestions: Workshift/Have Conference calls or webconferences when possible
Drive 1,350 Miles in a large SUV-
To offset: Run 600 kW wind turbine for an average year
Suggestions: Offer incentives for those driving hybrids, biking to work etc..
Drive 1,900 Miles in a mid sized care-
To Offset: Replace 500 100-watt light bulbs with 18-watt compact florescent lights (Ten year life)Offer incentives for those driving hybrids, biking to work etc..
Suggestions:
Drive 6,000 Miles in a hybrid
To Offset: Replace 2000 refridgerators with the highest efficiency model (Ten year life)
.Suggestions:Offer incentives for those biking to work
Now doesn’t feeling the need to force a “butt in seat mentality” just seem wreckless?
By: Jacalyn Scribner
twitter.com/@momentivate
