Tag: work life balance

Tech Companies are Pioneering How to Work Remotely

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On May 25, 2020

In Leadership

In the wake of the coronavirus, Facebook and Twitter have announced plans to enable their entire work force to work remote. These tech companies are pioneers for a new model of work in a post coronavirus world. Companies in all industries should take note. The pandemic is forcing an accelerated adoption of remote work. Paul Daugherty, chief technology for Accenture said that “This will be an electric shock to the system. Companies are on the hook to rethink the work experience, and the work tools, for their cocooning employees”.

Most companies treat their current remote work as a temporary solution to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. This mindset needs to change. Companies need an intentional work from home model, not temporary mitigation. IT executives must reassess priorities to ensure the right IT tools are in place for their organization.

Darren Murph, head of remote at GitLab inc says “IT leaders should be setting up tools and processes as if everyone at their company is remote, with clear explanations of how tools should be used”. The focus needs to be on the employee digital experience. Network monitoring is also crucial to ensure that IT systems and applications are performing well.

This new model of sustained remote work is not all about technology. We also need to focus on employee well-being. Since the start of the pandemic, more employees are suffering from meeting fatigue. Christie Struckman of research firm Gartner Inc, states “Many employees say they are having at least double the number of meetings compared with before the pandemic”. Leaders must trust and empower employees to get work done, without micromanaging or having constant meetings.

In the coming months, we should see companies begin allowing some percentage of their work force return to the office. Hopefully, it will not be long before a vaccine is in place. Yet, it is important that company leaders not treat remote work as temporary. What is to say that a second wave of the virus will not occur? Or what if some other pandemic or external crisis hits us down the road? The future of work is here and leaders from all industries should take note from Twitter and Facebook. An intentional remote work model may be required for survival.

About the Author:Mike MacIsaac is a principal consultant for MacIsaac Consulting. MacIsaac Consulting, based out of Minneapolis MN, provides IT Agile delivery consulting and staffing.

Work life balance – What does “success” mean to you?

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On July 17, 2016

In Leadership

work life balance

“You have to grind if you want to be successful”. This means, out working everyone else, and getting little sleep. “Rise and grind”. By out working everyone, all areas of your life will improve. If you want to become rich, you have to grind!

The above statements have become a popular belief in American culture. Motivational speakers like Eric Thomas motivate people to grind and become “a beast”.

Here’s the problem. While I’m all for hard work (see my post on the topic here), this idea that always grinding will make you successful is completely misguided.

Let’s start with the word success. Webster defines the word success as “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame”. Now, achieving wealth, respect or fame is great, but should these really be the things we want most out of life? If you do achieve “success” by Webster’s definition, at the sacrifice of your family and your health, are you really a success?

I contend that someone who is a true “success” will devote proper time to their health, physical and spiritual, and to their family. When I look back on my life, I hope to be remembered as someone who cared for others and had strong core values. I’d rather be remembered for that than someone who accumulated wealth at the sacrifice of his family.

Here are my two main points about this idea of “always grinding” to become successful:

  1. Even if all you want out of life is to become wealthy or famous, working all the time is not the path to get there. We have enough scientific evidence that proves this. People who get enough sleep and have good work life balance are more successful in their careers. Pick any Harvard Business Review article you’d like here for the data to back this up.
  2. By keeping your family and health a top priority, you will be a success.

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