In a landmark 2007 paper published in the Journal of Applied Psychology called "The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown About Telecommuting: Meta-Analysis of Psychological Mediators and Individual Consequences", authors Ravi Gajendran and David Harrison of the Department of Management and Organization at Pennsylvania State University dispelled the notion that working from home was bad for business or bad for employee morale. It’s a paper I’m certain the internet company Yahoo! failed to read when they recently announced all 12,000+ employees had to begin working from Yahoo! offices 100 percent of the time effective June 2013. What did Gajendran and Harrison prove? Through the review and analysis of 46 individual studies that featured 12,883 employees, these researchers determined working from home demonstrated seven positive outcomes: Employees had greater control over their environment proving causality to increased results and productivity Due to less face-to-face interaction between the manager and the employee, the quality of their interactions actually increased The balance of life and work - allowing for the flexibility of life’s curveballs and family matters - extended their wishes to do a good job With an increase in autonomy came an increase in job retention and satisfaction Stress was reduced due to a decrease in commuting, money on lunches and business attire Commitment to the company increased - what we might call a likelihood to stay - due to the work from home option Distractions decreased and performance increased whilst managers shifted their adjudication on results versus face-time I’ve noted previously that I’m a ‘Corporate Floater’ working wherever the wind takes me. This geographic flexibility sees me working from home roughly 50 percent of the time. The other 50 percent sees me in meeting rooms, hoteling stations, hotels, airplanes, lounges and coffee shops. (I prefer an extra-hot double shot 8oz decaf latte if you must know) Through my travels I am constantly plugged in, constantly in touch with everyone and anyone. When I think back to the research of Gajendran and Harrison, I often smile. Why? Because for me personally, they are absolutely right. If I was shackled to a desk or an office 100 percent of the time, there is not a chance I’d be as motivated, engaged or productive as I am in my life today. I might not even use the collaborative technologies available to me as much as I do today. I am a direct leader of 25 people strong and an indirect leader in an organization of 40,000 across many time-zones and countries. If I didn’t have the flexibility to work from home I don’t believe I’d be the leader, employee or performer I am today. As the Head of Learning and Collaboration I’m very interested (obviously, you might say) in employee engagement. Our team has an employee engagement score of 96 percent. Each of the team members has an opportunity to work from home whether it’s a little or a lot. Each of those employees use our collaborative technologies to be productive and to get their objectives accomplished. Employee engagement across my entire organization is 80 percent and we’re on a quest to see 70 percent of the organization working from home on a part or full-time basis by 2015. Did I mention we had over five million social interactions in 2012 through our collaborative technologies? I personally believe - and can attest to - the seven positive outcomes outlined by the research above ring true for me, the team I’m a part of as well as the organization I’m employed by. There are many ingredients to creating an engaged team and/or workforce, but one that is crucial is offering a flexible work environment coupled by collaborative technologies. Collaborative tools like virtual worlds, instant messaging, webcams, telepresence, micro-blogging, blogging, video/photo sharing in addition to good ole email helps reinforce connections to continue and productivity to swell. If you believe a ‘work from home’ program can be successful without at least some of the aforementioned tools, you are as misguided as whoever accepts hosting duties at the next Oscars. It is in stark contrast to not only the recent decision made by Yahoo! but by countless organizations who continue to believe a 100 percent work-from-the-office strategy is better for morale, productivity, innovation and collaboration. And let us not forget the corporate bottom line. In 2009, Cisco reported its telecommuting and flexible work environment not only increased productivity and job satisfaction, it saved the company $277 million. Make it your mission to help drive flexible working in your work, and use it as an opportunity to build out your set of collaborative technologies. At that point, you can cheekily say to yourself, "ya, who is working from home today?" Originally posted to IBF Forums. Related Posts:Going Forward to the Past: Management Yahooliganism &…I Am A Corporate FloaterI’m Speaking at the World Business of Leadership…Give Piece a ChanceThe Social C-Suite

If you have been learning through video playlists and always thought: Wouldn’t it be great it I could scribble notes on top of the video? Why not add text in the context of the video I am learning from? Why can’t I go back and forth between videos easily? You are not alone. We believe […]

When Berkeley Breathed shared a photo himself drawing a new strip, people justifiably freaked out. Turns out they didn't have long to wait. The post Ack! After 25 Years, Bloom County is Back appeared first on WIRED.

The title of the Afterword is "In Collaborative Conclusion" This 2-minute video snippet sees me (Dan Pontefract) describe the background to the Afterword of the book Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization. This final vignette contains three special guest-star co-hosts. Who might they be? Related Posts:Flat Army: Chapter 11 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 12 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 10 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 9 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 2 Overview

Do you have courses with images or photos that you wanted to edit to make them look better or relevant for your course? Captivate and Photoshop make a powerful combination to put that to work. Here is a free comprehensive 13-hour-course on Photoshop This will teach you the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop with easy to […]

When the new E-Class senses a crash coming, it triggers a sound to prepare your ears for the much louder noise to come. The post Mercedes Is Using Loud Static to Protect Fancy Ears in Crashes appeared first on WIRED.

I’m proud to let you know Chapter 1 of my first book — Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization — is now available as a free download. The title of the Chapter is "The Mona is So Small!" (it makes more sense when you actually read the chapter) If you missed it, I created a 90-second video outlining Chapter 1 as well. I’d be delighted to hear your thoughts in this space. (aka … leave a comment) If you’re interested to purchase the book, feel free to visit any of the online or onsite shops listed over here. Related Posts:Flat Army: Chapter 1 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 11 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 5 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 6 OverviewFlat Army: Chapter 12 Overview

The Dutch city Rotterdam is seriously considering a greener alternative to asphalt called Plastic Road. The post Future Highways Could Be Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles appeared first on WIRED.

It’s no secret that Educators and trainers have been flirting with virtually any solution that will alleviate the doldrum of yet another mind numbing info-dump. Learners hate cycling through countless pages of online reading - only to be challenged with a ‘quiz’ to demonstrate that they’ve either read or already knew everything that was contained […]

Do you receive texts? Seems like an innocuous question, right? According to Portio Research, 7.8 trillion texts were sent in 2011 and 8.6 trillion in 2012. By 2016 they predict earthlings will send almost 10 trillion texts. That’s even more than the total number of complaints Yahoo! employees sent to their HR office this past February. What’s the rule of thumb for answering a text? Is it immediate? Do you feel the urge to answer a text right away because you’ve set your phone settings to vibrate whereas other notifications — like email, Facebook,,etc. — are simply in your to do list queue? Is there any psychology research behind our beliefs in texts versus other forms of digital communication? Have you stopped reading because you’re now answering a text? Research from Kansas University in 2012 suggested young adults weren’t addicted to texting rather they have developed a compulsion. If a text sat unanswered, after four hours it might be deemed useless thus creating the compulsion to answer quickly. I wonder if it’s similar to the delayed gratification ‘marshmallow’ experiment made famous by Walter Mischel.         Sorry for the white space, I had to answer a text. As texting becomes the new email for many of us, do we need to think about textpectations? Why is it for many of us texts feel as though they have to be answered immediately? Perhaps we need to establish textiquette. Or has the text already left the device? Related Posts:I’m Not Scared of Email; I Developed a System called…Year Zero: The Future of Communication Skills in…How did you learn about #OBL? A series of questions.dan pontefractQuora: Questions & Opinions not Questions &…