Category: BYOD

Depending on whom you ask, BYOD’s effect on your work-life balance can either give you the freedom to fly like an eagle or turn you into a sad and overworked corporate zombie. As with any change in life, BYOD culture receives its fair share of praise and prejudice. But the strategy behind BYOD, including being able to work remotely, effectively gives you more control of your time than ever before.

A knee-jerk reaction may lead many to believe that BYOD is a mandatory and unavoidable gateway drug to workaholism. After all, your manager, colleagues and clients are just a push notification away from you anytime, anywhere. But while increased productivity is a definite corporate benefit of BYOD, overworking employees is not the intended means to achieving this goal for most organizations.

In fact, a prominent report by advisory company Corporate Executive Board (CEB) reveals that businesses which effectively address and manage work-life balance issues with their workforce can actually increase employee productivity by 21%. Another recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows that 89% of HR professionals noticed an increase in employee retention as a result of implementing work-life balance initiatives such as flexible work arrangements, one of which is working remotely.

You now have the option to unchain your mind and body from your office PC by taking your office mobile. Whether you’re a new parent, lover of the outdoors, or a creative spirit in search of inspiration, this new and flexible arrangement can greatly enrich both your personal life and your career. But with freedom comes responsibility, and you want to structure this new world in a way that is transparent to you and your organization.

So how do you harness working remotely to refresh your mind and body and feel more engaged and productive with your work?

1. Be your own manager

Ideally, a corporate BYOD program that lets you work remotely puts you in the driver’s seat by giving you freedom and flexibility to manage yourself. Just like in the office, it’s important to plan your workday in a way that meets or exceeds your employer’s performance metrics.

Document a plan which segments specific tasks and projects and allocates time to reach milestones and meet key deadlines. Make sure you build into this schedule some extra time which may be needed during the day, whether it’s picking up your kids from work, taking the dog out for a walk or popping into the gym for a yoga session. Having the foresight to plan ahead will give you a schedule that delivers on your accountabilities and lets you enjoy your freedom at the same time.

Once you’ve got it on paper don’t keep it to yourself. Communicate this plan to your employer so that they can rest easy knowing you have a blueprint to produce the quality and quantity of work they expect. Being proactive about this will demonstrate your professionalism and gain your manager’s trust.

2. Give yourself and your remote workplace a change of scenery

If you’re no longer obligated to stay shackled to the office, why limit your options by staying home all day? Take advantage of your new-found freedom and change-up your surroundings from time-to-time. Instead of working at home, set up shop in places that you find fun, fascinating and stimulating. Why not take your mobile workspace to your favorite park and literally smell the roses or hear the chirping of the birds? Grab a patio seat in that delightful beachside cafe while you soak in the sun and take in the relaxing, stress-relieving effects of the waves.

Variety isn’t just the spice of life, it is a proven way to alleviate stress, restore your attention span and get your creative juices flowing. This will help you get in the zone and produce quality work when you turn your eyes back to your screen.

3. Integrate exercise into your workday

While many organizations have invested in costly amenities for their staff such as on-site gyms and health-care services, the CEB study shows that less than 20% of employees actually use these benefits. There’s a variety of reasons for employees not taking advantage of these services, ranging from being less comfortable using shared gym facilities to a perceived lack of time for exercise along with having lunch or running other personal errands. Nevertheless, this doesn’t change the fact that forward-thinking organizations strongly espouse giving employees the flexibility and time to lead a healthy lifestyle, knowing that this positively impacts work performance.

Being active brings out the best in you physically and mentally, and when you turn your attention back to work, you’ll find it makes you attentive and efficient. So have your exercise gear with you and sprinkle physical activities into your calendar that are proven to re-energize, de-stress, boost your mood and confidence and increase your concentration. Hop on a bike, get in that run, do the downward dog or dance up a storm to your favorite Zumba class, because a healthier and more satisfied you will transfer creativity and confidence into your projects as well.

Blending your personal passions within a structured framework will let you master the significant benefits of working remotely and produce the work-life balance that will give both you and your organization a reason to smile.

BYOD threats are among the top security concerns for CIOs. The major security firms cover mobile security in their threat reports, but if you look at their findings, you will notice a surprising fact: mobile malware is a miniscule fraction of total malware. For example, in the recent McAfee Labs Threat Report, mobile malware accounted for just 1.9% of total malware, or 3.73 million out of 196 million threats across platforms. So are mobile security threats overblown?

PC threats versus mobile threats

In order to answer that question, we first need to understand the differences between mobile and desktop computing. Consider that people use mobile devices for work very differently than they use desktops and laptops. Mobile devices also have many functions and sensors that do not exist in standard PCs — discreet cameras, video recorders, microphones and scanning apps, to name a few. We have to take into consideration all the ways that mobile devices can be used to record and transmit sensitive information.

The mobile use case

Have you ever forgotten your desktop at the bar? Probably not. Does your laptop usually connect to thousands of different public networks, some of which may be fake networks? It’s unlikely. Mobile devices, in comparison, are easily forgotten and connect to multiple vulnerable networks every day. This exposes your mobile device – and corporate data – to higher risks than a PC that only accesses a work and home network. Indeed, IT’s primary concern about BYOD is losing devices that contain corporate data.

The real personal computer

Although we still call desktops and laptops PCs, your actual “personal computer” is your smartphone. The common smartphone contains enough information for any criminal to steal your identity. If a cybercriminal hijacks the device, they can gain a lot of information. The device has a camera, microphone, and GPS, which means an attacker can record your voice, capture photos and track your location. They can also access personal information that exists strictly on your mobile device, such as your call log and text messages. Today, the thought of a criminal hacking your smartphone is more troublesome than a criminal hacking your computer.

Distribution and ownership

The average enterprise employee uses three devices, according to a survey conducted by Sophos, a provider of IT security solutions. That means that in a typical organization, you will have many more mobile devices than PCs. You must take this imbalance into consideration when assessing the risk of mobile computing. Another important factor is that mobile devices are usually owned by the user and not by the organization. This adds more to the CIO’s problems because simple protections that work for corporate PCs, such as locking the device, will not work with BYOD devices.

Mobile security the top priority

When you consider all these facets of security – and not just malware totals – you will see why mobile security needs to be the top priority for IT. Given the number of personal mobile devices in the workplace and the threats that accompany them, IT needs to find more clever ways to protect corporate information without restricting the user. The high attention BYOD gets from security firms is warranted.

Ever thought of inviting Rex to your next strategy brainstorming session? Better keep up with the latest business trends, because ‘man’s best friend’ may soon become an essential part of the workplace.

Google, Tumblr, Zynga and Amazon are just a few of the progressive organizations that believe in the value of bringing your dog to work. What are the benefits for you and your employer? Are there risks?

Your creative mind- and how stress kills it

The stats: only 10% of people do their best thinking at work. So what’s blocking our creative faculties from flowing at the office? According to David Rock (co-founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute), technology, multitasking, and a competitively-demanding work culture can all contribute to the “noise” in our brain, and consequently crush creativity. We must “quiet” our mind in order to promote a curious, open-minded, and interested mind set. How? By reducing stress. Stress makes it harder to think outside of the box, be agile, and respond to sudden change.

The real cost of employees’ personal stress

“Stress.. cost us millions of dollars each year, not only in productivity but also in terms of resources.” says Dr. Randolph T. Barker (Professor of Management- VCU School of Business). Stress is a major contributor to employee absenteeism and burnout.

Lassie to the rescue

Good news! Recent research confirms the benefits of bringing your beloved Rex to work. It appears that patting your doggie lowers your blood pressure and pulse rate, improving your cardiovascular health. In addition, a dog-inclusive work environment is healthier in terms of forcing owners to take breaks, to air their mind, and to move their butts off that seat. There’s no doubt that hanging out with one’s furry companion in the office increases employee satisfaction. So, bringing your best friend into work ultimately saves your company money by decreasing stress, and in turn, boosting your creativity and productivity as well as elevating your work satisfaction.

Beware the beast among you

But what are the risks of bringing a foreign species into your office? Well, your neighbor on the other side of that flimsy cubicle wall may not appreciate Rex’s uninvited guests- the fleas, lice, and allergens that don’t offer any value in reducing stress or boosting productivity. And then there’s the joy of dribble and accidents on the carpet.

K-9 as KPI?

Assuming your co-workers can put up with these risks, canine presence at work certainly offers significant, tangible value for employees and companies. Could man’s age-old ‘best friend’ then become recognized as a core criterion for business success? Will Rex serve as a modern KPI for enterprise ROI? Anthrozoology (the relatively new field of human-animal interactions), is gaining clout in colleges, organizations, and journals across 10 countries and promises to affect social norms in and out of the workplace.

Bring Your Own Dog- revolutionary or evolutionary?

It seems that the leaders among us have always understood the true benefits of a canine-inclusive work policy.
The United States Congress has welcomed doggies into its high-pressured ‘office’ since the 1800s.
Many of today’s distinguished congress dogs are named after their home states. Evidence of their stable lineage over the past 2 centuries can be seen on the House of Congress carpets that bare the faded yellow marks of prestigious ancestors.

BYOD- the evolution of workplace conditions: merging your private and working space

Both BYO-Dog and BYO-Device promise a more flexible, progressive working environment that blurs the boundary between our personal and public worlds. BYO-Device allows you to personalize and adapt your work experience to fit in with your own technology and preferences in and out of the office. It also enables you to retain access to your personal matters while at work. The value of employee self-empowerment and satisfaction cannot be underestimated in terms of their impact on productivity. BYO-Dog offers a similar perk in terms of personalizing your work conditions, but unlike BYO-Device, doesn’t pose a security risk to the business: Rex’s allergens won’t contaminate your IT department’s precious firewall.

So, if the boundary between our private lives and work environment is indeed blurring, and we are heading for more enlightened, personal workplace conditions, will this in turn have the adverse effect of greater intrusion into our personal lives by work?