Workshifting

Increase productivity and increase your bottom line. WORKSHIFTING

When does one shift end and another begin? How do you enjoy a mid morning ride or take time off to spend an hour or two at the library with your kids. When is the last time you went for a run at 9am? Or just had the opportunity to stay at home and work from there for the day?

                  

Personally I live and work seven days a week and I do so on my schedule with complete control of my workday. After spending several years running my own business I found that now working for a company again defiantly has its benefits and I enjoy it. I have tried working for a few companies prior to coming to Virsage and looking back I can honestly say that CONTROL of my workday was the primary thing that was missing in all of those opportunities.

So what does Workshifting mean and how do you make it work?

Workshifting is providing workers today with the ability to jump in and out of work at a moments notice and gives them agility to take the call or get out a quote on time, make adjustments to the document while at the park, and “take the call” wherever, whenever.

I have three little girls and I don’t want to miss out on what is happening in their life while providing a means for them to have a life. They keep me super busy and when Im not traveling I get to take them to the library and spend time with them at the park all while when its necessary sit down with my iPAD and phone to hammer out some business anywhere, anytime, on any device.

To not take advantage of the benefits of workshifting during my kids' summer vacation would be almost as criminal as not supervising them outdoors.

School is out now and I have a plan to make the most of our summer and still provide the support for my partners and customers they are requiring of me each and every day.

1. Start work early, take time off in the middle of the day for activities with the kids, and then finish my work later in the afternoon and evening.

2. Work 7 days a week and take off when I need to .

3 .Actually use some of my vacation days.

4. Take a laptop (or iPad, iPhone or Android tablet) with me and work from our vacation destination (if we ever decide on one).

5. Know when to say when and not take the call or look at my phone. Sometimes you just have to leave that device on the desk charging.

6. Enjoy a combination of all of the above. (I wish more dessert menus had this option!)

Keeping track of an employee who works flexible hours like these might seem like a manager's nightmare, but im not the only one who advocates summertime scheduling. A recent blog article from US News Money explains "How Summer Hours Make Employees More Productive."

Citirix sponsored a white paper based on our findings titled Workshifting Benefit: The Bottom Line (PDF 2.3Mb). For additional resources and research on workshifting, please visit Citrix Online’s blog, at workshifting.com

What we found is that by working at home just half time:

• Employees could save up to $7,000 and gain 2-3 weeks of family time each year.
• Businesses could save over $10,000 per employee, attract better qualified workers, and improve disaster preparedness.
• U.S. could reduce Gulf Oil imports 37%, reduce green house gas equivalent tof taking 10 million cars off the road, and prevent 100,000 traffic-related injuries or deaths.

How about you? Do you think a summer schedule would work for you? How do you plan to use workshifting to make the most of the long summer days? Get out of the office this summer and enjoy it. Life is too short to spend 60 hours a week in a office with 4 walls.

Photo Credit Undress for success.com