Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: internet

  • Study Shows Personal Net Surfing Increases Work Productivity

    insightful-linkI love it when data emerges that validates my hunches.

    People who surf the internet while at work are more productive. Gotta love it.

    “People who do surf the Internet for fun at work – within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office – are more productive by about 9% than those who don’t.”

    The productivity arises from our need to zone out (take a break) every once in a while in order to restore our concentration. It’s simply not possible to focus all of the time.

    Seems obvious, but some employers are (now irrationally) concerned that they’re not getting their money’s worth out of employees who are not fully focused on work every moment they’re “on the clock.” I’ve long counseled that this attitude foments an adversarial posture with the very people on whom you depend for maximum engagement.

    With one set of policies (e.g. no personal internet use) you communicate that you don’t trust them. Then you turn around and ask them to give 110%, go the extra mile for a client or contribute to brainstorming restructuring ideas, and you wonder why they hold back.

    No matter how you feel about personal internet usage at work, the facts about its impact are emerging. Can you turn this information into a learning opportunity?

    Click here for the University of Melbourne article.

  • Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

    Clay Shirky, The Penguin Press, New York, 2008.

    By now you are well aware of my penchant for writers who affirm, confirm and otherwise provide research to back up my own assertions.

    As we at Bold Enterprises help you empower all people in your company, regardless of power, titles or places on the organizational chart, Clay Shirky examines the impact of the social dynamics taking place on the web on power and getting things done. With interesting results.

    Interesting because it is not merely people who are already in a working relationship who are experiencing new effectiveness with the power of the web behind them. That’s old news.

    But people who would never have had opportunity to meet much less collaborate are finding each other and making a difference in matters that are important to them.

    Who’s choosing these matters of importance? No longer the bosses and others with positional power. They don’t even figure into the equation, except maybe as a source of resistance.

    You and I are choosing these issues of personal and corporate importance and connecting with those who can help us and whom we can help as well.

    You need to check out Here Comes Everybody and get acquainted with our world of change, chaos, unlimited relationships, and the strange and wonderful forms of effectiveness that are being created moment by moment.