There were three main
opportunities I thought of when reading Madden’s article and Friedman’s final
chapters. The first opportunity is one that we have discussed several times, online
collaboration. By having networked workers, companies are able to hold staff
meetings while away from the office or in separate business rooms. It is no
longer a necessity for everyone to be in the same area. This provides the
service of employers being able to meet with their networked employees in
different areas of the state, country, or world.
The second opportunity I think
networked workers bring to an organization is conformity. When all employees
are networked, employers are better able to pass along messages, protocol, and
information. With this opportunity, organizations can then ensure that all of
their business partners are “in the know” as far as new things developing within
the organization. This also brings about conformity by having everyone on the
same page. There is no longer an excuse of “I didn’t get the memo” when all of
the employees are networked.
This also leads into my third
opportunity of a broader knowledge base. Of course being networked allows
employees the ability to look up and gather information, but it also allows the
CEOs and managers the ability to share knowledge within the company. They are
able to pass along information as well as delegate responsibilities to their
employees to gather information. With this, the leaders of the organizations
can have a vast amount of knowledge not only in their employee’s hands, but in
their own hands as well.
There were two challenges I
thought of for networked employees. The first was an obvious one of lack of
focus and/or production. By having access to a network at all times, employees
have access to several other non-work related arenas. As Madden listed in the
article, the number of people participating in non-work activities while at
work is increasing. I can see this as being a hindrance in the workplace. When
employees are not focused on work, they are not being as productive as they
could be. However, I think by companies allowing this to happen on occasion, or
at least not cause a large issue, they are keeping their employees happy and
actually allowing them to focus better. In the education area we are always
trying to find attention getters and ways to keep our students interested in
the lesson. When I look into a classroom of teenagers and they are glassy-eyed
or I can’t even see their eyes because they have their head on their desk, I
know I need to do something to bring their attention back. I have even resorted
to making them do calisthenics in the classroom! I can imagine the same thing
happens in the business world. I cannot really see how people sit at a computer
all day. However, if employees are allowed to do the occasional shopping,
social networking, or game playing, then they get a break from the hum-drum of
work. You hear and read about the amazing concourses some companies work in
like Google, Yahoo,
and Pixar.
Each of these companies allow for creativity to flow by providing physical
areas for employees to stretch their legs and get out of their office, but some
companies are not able to provide these escapes to the same level. It is with
this in mind that I think by having these online breaks, companies are able to
help their employees by allowing at least some sort of release. It also allows
for employees to get some personal satisfaction depending on what it is they
are doing online. They can stay connected to their lives outside of the
workplace. This in turn helps employees refocus upon their return to their task
and be more productive.
The other challenge I see is
having employees connected at all times and required to check their email or
messages on their weekends and holiday. I think this leads to a dimmed line of
expectations for workers and their employers. What is to stop an employee from
saying they read the message too late, or they didn’t have internet service
where they were? This lends to a gray area of who is responsible and can an
employer really expect their employees to be networked 24-7 with so many
different variables out there? Spinning this to a positive would be having the
ability to collaborate when the need calls. This would allow companies to be
proactive when approaching a situation and hopefully solve problems before they
blow out of proportion. It also allows companies to keep a 24-7 mentality for
its customers. They are able to provide their services whenever it is
convenient for them. By having employees networked at all times, customers can
then be networked at all times.
I have to add in how shocked I
was to read how many people have never done some of the activities listed in
the chart. Almost one-fourth of Americans have never bought anything online!
The number just goes up from there. To think that almost half of all Americans
have never used or watched a video on a video-sharing site is not only amazing,
but a little disheartening to me. There is so much out there for people to
enjoy, learn from, and participate it. I realize there are several factors
affecting these numbers, but it is still hard for me to accept. A part of me
wonders how many people don’t realize what they are seeing and/or using
sometimes. A bit like when people talk to customer services on the phone and
don’t exactly realize they are talking to a person in another country. Maybe
the people in this study don’t realize they are reading another person’s journal
or blog when they are surfing the internet for information. I wonder if the
study would have looked at what people’s everyday habits were if we would see a
difference in numbers. I also know that I am of a different generation, but I
am still surprised and somewhat frustrated by the number of people not
connected to the flat world.
You illustrate many practical examples of the challenges students and employees face with the use of technology.The lack of focus, imposition upon personal time, dimmed expectations, staring at the computer and fixed physical positions are well stated in your blog.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with Google and Pixar offering its employees an environment that allows for breaks in the day to be taken in order to disconnect and refresh themselves, without punitive consequences being issued should be a model that is encouraged in schools.
As a manager in school how will you create a model by which your employees can take productive breaks during the day?
It is a problem that I see happening on my campus too. However, we do have built into each instructional day the right of the principal to allow staff members and students to take an extra fifteen minutes for lunch and ten minutes for extra P.E. I have witnessed staff members regularly walking or jogging on campus during this time.
I think it is great that you have allowed specific time in the day to let the teachers and students have a break. Over the past few years we have been trying to increase our teacher morale and camaraderie by having break out sessions during our in-services. However, we only have about five or six in-services each year. That means we only have about five or six hours to try and build this within our school. We often find ourselves secluded within our own departments simply because we don't have the time to just walk over to another department area and chat. Our staff break room has pretty much become a vacant ground with soda and popcorn machines. While I'm not sure you are seeing any higher spirits or better staff camaraderie from your allowing break time, I would be interested to see what would happen in my own school. I may need to discuss this with our principal. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteIt is often disappointing to get complaints in an organization, regarding communication. A few people seem to never get enough of it, and even when they do, they never appreciate the effort. We have another population of "professional" employees, that enjoy an occasional bout of "plausible denial" syndrome. As indicated in your discussion and those of others, it's easy to say "I didn't receive the message", or "I didn't have time to read it". Truth be known, these are the same employees who didn't read the faxed message, or piece of paper sent through the mail either.
ReplyDeleteI believe organizations and leaders in particular, need to be mindful of the sheer power of connectedness. Each of us take down our collective guards on a daily basis, often sending messages that contain information that we "assume" will not be passed along or read by those it was not intended for.
In our business, we have utilized technology to our benefit, as it reduces labor, improves production, and improves customer/employee satisfaction. But as an adjunct to our primary business, employees have access to the Internet, and have strong desires to utilize the Internet for personal business in between work efforts. We've found that when utilizing our own internal IT equipment, that can be problematic when workstations intended and "connected" to sophisticated servers, can be compromised when bringing in data from the Internet. Many of our clients have also tightened up on equipment they own, as they are concerned internally within their institutions, that they will have a breech of some sort.
My parents are 83 and live 5 hours away from me. They have a basic cell phone, with text and photo capabilities. I wish they would just learn to send, receive, and view photos. They would be able to enjoy the grandchildren more, in real-time fashion. But they've never "done that" either...
I know where you are coming from in the parents issue. The number of phone calls we receive from my mother asking how to do something again is somewhat comical, but at least she's trying! We do finally have them on Skype and they get to see and interact with their grand-daughter. Thanks to my father's job as well, he is being forced to use text and email from his cell phone. I am proud of them for making an effort and trying to stay connected in this ever-changing world. Keep helping your parents along!
DeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I would agree that collaboration, conformity and broader knowledge are the positives of the networked workers. Moreover, I would concur that a lack of focus or production could be viewed as a negative. However, I thought that your questions about expectations and responding 24/7 were legitimate questions. I know that I am expected to be "on" at all times, but I would never expect any member of my administrative team to meet the same expectations.
ReplyDeleteNice post. You listed some good pros and cons, and I was struck by what I guess is obvious but one I had not really considered...the 24/7 mentality of customers. I still find companies that do not have a web site - but I do not do business with them!
ReplyDeleteYour comment about Google and Pixar are interesting. At the Center where I work, we are helping design our new academic building where we will move next year. Part of what we want within our space is an experimental teaching area where faculty can work with us to design innovative learning spaces. This means lost of access the web, power connections from all over the room, and no fixed furniture. Even what designates the "front" of the room is up for grabs, and we have some who are planning to teach from the center of the room. Lot of fun working with ed tech, interior designers, and furniture specialists!
That sounds amazing! I also teach an Introduction to Education class in my high school and their final is to design their ultimate ideal classroom. There have been several students that have taken the "no front" idea and made it circular as you have stated. They think students would pay attention better and that it would allow the teacher to interact with more students. If high school seniors can see how this would work, I think we may all need to take a look at our traditional setup!
Delete"...lots of access..." not "lost of access". Fingers moved faster than brain. :-)
ReplyDelete