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Category Archives: Mobile Phones
How to be more productive with work on the lead up to the holiday season
Hello
It’s safe to say we’re in ‘Silly Season’ – when we’re bombarded with discounts but only if we buy hundreds of the item in question, when we rather proudly wear a jumper that depicts imaginary characters, and when we never say ‘no’ to another pie full of fruity mince.
But just because it’s almost the end of the year does not mean we should let the quality of our work slip!
If you’re trying to optimise output when all others around you descend into festive chaos, it’s crucial to remember that the little things can make a big difference. Here’s a few tips to help you make the most of what’s left of 2013…
Be flexible
Sometimes you can be more productive working when and where you feel comfortable. A choice of working locations and staggered starting hours allow early birds and sleepy heads to work as productively as each other – so see if that could be an option for you.
Manage time
Make sure you’re using time wisely. A slow journey to work is a great time to catch up on emails. And if a non-crucial meeting is miles away, just give them a call instead of wasting time in the car or on public transport.
Remember what doesn’t need doing
Deciding what to do is important, obviously, but deciding what to leave until later is equally important. If you have too many things to do at once, it’s hard to focus, so always make sure your workload is prioritised.
All work and no play…
As tempting as it is to force yourself to work harder to meet deadlines, it can be counter-productive. Have a break, join in with the fun and relax – a little time out can work wonders for morale and help to refresh the body.
So go, get to work, and make it count. Until ‘Secret Santa’ arrives, of course
Why not take advantage of free phone conferencing with Powwownow, enabling you to have meetings from home or your mobile so you can be more productive without the hassle of travel.
Hacking the Iphone fingerprint security.
Hackers are gearing up to try to crack Apple’s Touch ID technology.The website istouchidhackedyet.com, set up by Nick DePetrillo and Robert Graham, lists a number of people offering rewards – including one for $10,000 from IO Capital, a venture capital company – “to the first person who can reliably and repeatedly break into an iPhone 5S by lifting prints (like from a beer mug).”Other rewards include a bottle of wine and a book of erotica.
Leave your phone switched off for a while
Fear of being without your mobile
More than half the population of the UK claims to suffer from nomophobia – the fear of being without a mobile phone, a study suggests.
Women are apparently far more likely to experience the anxiety than men, according to its findings.
Consumers are now so dependent on their gadgets that one fifth of mobile phone owners check their emails in bed and nearly half (42 per cent) take their devices to the beach while on holiday.
Some 54 per cent of people say they worry about being “out of mobile phone contact” – with women 17 per cent more likely to suffer from nomophobia than men, the survey revealed.
It showed 28 per cent of people will also look at their work emails while away from home, with men slightly more eager to check their emails than their female counterparts. A quarter of people even consult their phones during a dinner date – with women 10 per cent more likely to do so than their male counterparts.
But only 50 per cent of people bother to secure their devices with a password, the study commissioned by web security firm AppRiver found.
“It’s pretty clear that we’re a society totally reliant on our phones not only for personal use but business use too,” said Fred Touchette, senior security analyst at AppRiver. “What worries me is that, with so much information stored on them –
confidential office documents, contact details, emails, photos and bank log-ins – when these devices get lost or stolen and end up in the wrong hands, the information is so easily exploited.” He advised phone owners to protect their gadgets with a password or encryption. The study of 1000 workers was conducted by OnePoll in August.
Don’t let your mobile phone provider rip you off
Yahoo Work From Home Policy Stopped – How wrong can they be?
Surely as a leader in IT and comms they should practice what they preach?
“Physically Together”: Here’s the Internal Yahoo No-Work-From-Home Memo for Remote Workers and Maybe More
Courtesy of a plethora of very irked Yahoo employees, here is the internal memo sent to the company about a new rule rolled out today by CEO Marissa Mayer, which requires that Yahoo employees who work remotely relocate to company facilities.
“Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home,” reads the memo to employees from HR head Jackie Reses. “We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.”
Painfully awkward as this is phrased, it means every Yahoo get to your desks stat!
I reported earlier today that the move will apparently impact only several hundred employees, such as customer service reps, who work from home full time. But numerous sources told me that the decree extends to any staffers who might have arrangements to work from home just one or two days a week, too.
The changes begin in June, according to the Yahoo memo.
After that, employees who work from home must comply without exception or quit. One top manager was told that there would be little flexibility on the issue.
The anger from impacted employees was strong today, because many felt they were initially hired with the assumption that they could work more flexibly.
In fact, even waiting for the cable guy is questionable. “And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration,” wrote Reses.
The tone and tactics have infuriated some at the company. Wrote one impacted Yahoo employee to me: “Even if that was what was previously agreed to with managers and HR, or was a part of the package to take a position, tough … It’s outrageous and a morale killer.”
Most tech companies encourage workers to stay on their campuses, offering free food and other perks. But none enforce such rules beyond staff needed to operate an office.
“Our engineers would not put up with that,” said one tech exec. “So, we’d never focus on it.”
In the comments section of my first story on the HR change at Yahoo, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg wrote:
“For anyone who enjoys working from wherever they like in the world, and is interested in WordPress, Automattic is 100% committed to being distributed. 130 of our 150 people are outside of San Francisco.”
The issue is an interesting and controversial one, with some certain that working at home is the wave of the future, while others considering it hurtful to productivity.
Well, we’ll presumably see which this way goes in time.
Earlier, when asked about the change, a Yahoo spokesperson said the company does not comment on internal matters. The memo was released after my story on the change was published this morning.
But, you don’t need any comment when you can read for yourself the new working order at the Silicon Valley Internet giant:
YAHOO! PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION — DO NOT FORWARD
Yahoos,
Over the past few months, we have introduced a number of great benefits and tools to make us more productive, efficient and fun. With the introduction of initiatives like FYI, Goals and PB&J, we want everyone to participate in our culture and contribute to the positive momentum. From Sunnyvale to Santa Monica, Bangalore to Beijing — I think we can all feel the energy and buzz in our offices.
To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.
Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.
Thanks to all of you, we’ve already made remarkable progress as a company — and the best is yet to come.
Jackie