Could You Benefit from the "New" Workstyle?
Gist.com, a new social media network that integrates all your email and social media account, and helps you in your worklife by creating a business profile for everyone in your network, recently espoused the virtues of a "new workstyle."
The tenets of this workstyle, essentially, is that we are always connected, always in touch and ... always working. Sounds exactly like life as a business owner (and I'm not complaining about that!) -- but I don't see how this would fly for most employees.
Employees who practice this new workstyle, according to the post, are, “always on and always aware,” “location independent,” and “Demonstrate resiliency in their ability to navigate and thrive in an increasingly ambiguous workplace (and world).”
In spite of all this, the new workstyle is supposed to provide a better work/life balance. The theory is that employees can better balance work priorities and commitments with personal pursuits during the work day and after hours.
I want to know where these people work! (Well, apparently at Gist.com, which is both wiser and cooler than most offices.)
Maybe things have changed in the past 10 years, but thinking back to my days in an office and thinking back even further to my retail stint, employers did not look kindly on employees who combined personal pursuits with work. Fortunately, I never got caught when I interviewed sources from the telephone in the break room when I worked at a bookstore or wrote the leads to magazine articles on the back of cash register tape between ringing up customers.
And, later, when I had to leave the office on time, rather than working late, to go to my second job, (I just couldn't escape retail's evil clutches for several years) my bosses didn't like that much either. I guess they didn't know I'd be doing work for them, too, editing magazine articles at the register. We were on deadline, after all, and even then, I knew what my life's passion was. (I just hadn't yet figured out that it involved providing editorial services as a business owner!)
Speaking of that, the last employer I had didn't look too kindly on my doing freelance work -- even on my own time -- unless it was for his publications. So much for “personal pursuits” (even if they are profit-driven).
This new workstyle model really could work ... with cooperation from management and discipline from employees. With great responsibilities come great rewards and all that -- but in corporate America, all too often, the rewards just don't come.
In order to get that kind of “always on” devotion from employees, managers have to be willing to give a little, too, whether the benefits are financial or more intangible than that.
What do you think? Are you willing to adopt the “new” workstyle? Do you think it would pay off?
Dawn Allcot is a freelance writer, editor and writing mentor, and owner of Allcot Media. (www.allcotmedia.com). She is on the Advisory Board for the International Mastermind Group, where she helps guide members to a more prosperous life through the Secret Abundance Files program.
Andrew G. Rosen
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Lew Sauder, Author, Consulting 101: 101 Tips for Success in Consulting (www.Consulting101Book.com)