GUEST POST: Jodi Ulrich, Workplace 2.0 Pilot Member

Hi there! My name is Jodi, I'm the Senior Manager of Communications for ATB Investor Services, and I’m pleased to be guest blogging for Sherri this week while she is on vacation.

As a pilot member of the Workplace 2.0 project, I thought I’d really test the boundaries by working from Los Cabos, Mexico for two weeks. My husband and I have rented a condo here with a strong internet connection and I brought a briefcase full of devices (think laptop, iPad, Blackberry, chargers coming out the ying yang, and of course the amazing Aruba!) making my Cabo office feel just like my Calgary office…minus the snow. I know Sherri has touched on it before, and I can confirm that a flexible work environment is completely reliant on technology! When devices aren’t working, production stops very quickly. This is my fourth day in and I’ve had several interesting hiccups already and they are all related to technology.

Example #1: Two days before I left Canada, the screen went dead on my Blackberry rendering the phone useless. Due to the lack of time, I took a cell phone belonging to my colleague Alex, and was hoping I could get Telus to switch it over to my phone number and email address once I got down here. When I called on Monday, I learned that Alex’s Blackberry is not an international phone and would not work in Mexico. Shoot! So for the few phone conferences I have booked while I’m here I have been using my husband’s cell phone. Not the end of the world, but a little tricky when we both had calls scheduled and I had to rebook mine.

Example #2: Another techno-glitch occurred just this morning. The power went out in our complex which meant the wireless router and Aruba were not working, and I had zero connection to emails or Office Communicator. I also knew that my laptop battery would only last for a few hours before it would die. Once again, my husband’s trusty cell phone came in handy when I sent a quick note from his email account to my team back in Calgary letting them know they could reach me on his email address if they needed anything while I was offline. Thankfully the power came on after about an hour and now I’m back in business!

With all of that being said, either of these situations could have just as easily happened at home. Regardless of where I am working in the world, I know my ability to produce results is almost entirely done through technology. The wonderful thing is, so is the rest of the world! To mitigate my phone problem I can walk down to the grocery store here in Cabo and by a pre-paid cell phone that is actually cheaper on a $ per minute basis than my Alberta phone. As well, there is a Starbucks four blocks away that has free wi-fi and plug-ins (not to mention a stunning view of the ocean) that I could use if necessary. The wireless world has made it simple to overcome any of these predicaments, which is just another reason why I am such a huge supporter of the Workplace 2.0 pilot. It has truly changed my life….especially this winter!

P.S. Coincidentally, Sherri and her family are on vacation in Cabo just a few minutes from where my husband and I are staying. Here’s a pic from our awesome dinner date last night! And of course, being the working girls that we are, we spent some time talking shop while we were together. When the guys were chatting about sports, I was able to bring Sherri up to speed on what she has missed at work for the last 10 days and we also discussed a plan for a few upcoming meetings; all this while sitting beside the ocean. It was quite amazing!

6 Myths about Results-Only Work Environment

It was funny yesterday, when I showed up at the office, one of my non-Workplace 2.0 colleagues joked "You're actually working today!?" We hadn't seen each other in-person for a while, and clearly when they can't see me, they assume I am not working...  I was a little taken aback, but before I could respond one of the ladies on my team yelled from the collaboration space, "That's SLUDGE!"

I was so proud! It was another confirmation for me that our pilot members have really paid attention to the recommended readings, listened to all the conversations, discussions and feedback we had been trying to share with them! Our Workplace 2.0 initiative really will not work if we don't have buy-in from the participants.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson last year at an event held by the City of Calgary at Heritage Park. These ladies (pictured left) are the 'inventors' of the ROWE concept, and inspired my team and I to create our 'workplace of the future'... Later known as Workplace 2.0

Cali and Jody co-authored one of my favorite books, Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It, which I have previously blogged about. In the book, they define SLUDGE as: "the negative commentary that occurs naturally in a workplace and is based on outdated beliefs about time and work" (page 30). The ROWE concept is based on 'smashing the clock' and not working on a time-based schedule, but a results-based schedule. This 'paradigm shift' is bound to conjure up some sludge in your workplace, so prepare for how you are going to deal with that before implementing.

Cali and Jodi's new company CultureRX has a blog, which is a fantastic source of information To start you off, I want to direct you to one of my favorite articles: 6 Myths about Results-Only Work Environment.

ta ta

Is working from home what you expected?

Is working from home all it's cracked up to be? Thomas Klassen argues 'No' in last week's Globe and Mail article, but what do you think?

It was so odd for me to read this article as I have not had the same issues as Thomas.  I would love to hear what the other pilot members think.

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What are the non-Workplace 2.0 associates thinking?

This week I was in Edmonton at an internal learning session, and had an insightful conversation with one of our Senior Financial Advisor's about Workplace 2.0, and more specifically the OCS technology we use.

He brought up a valid point - what do non-Workplace 2.0 or even non-Video Enabled associates think or understand about how we work inside Investor Services? What should we be doing to educate our partners in other lines of business about these work philosophies?

We have a fantastic and unique sub-culture developing inside of Investor Services where we no longer assume someone is on holidays, slacking off or not being productive if they aren't physically at work.  We trust that they know the results they need to achieve, whether we can see them or not.

BUT if you are someone outside of our sub-culture, the only way you know of working is to be in the office by 8AM and not leave until after 5PM. It must be hard to wrap your head around the fact your Investor Services partners are truly working, even though you don't physically see them in the office or branch during that time period. 

One of the great points the SFA made to me was about our high adoption rate of OCS and the fact we all understand that we are reachable there most of the time. Barring that, we all have access to our cell phones or iPads. If all the people you work with are right next to you or down a hall way, taking advantage of the OCS techology does not enter into your daily activity. All you know is that we aren't there when you want to talk to us.

So how do we spread our message? How do we ensure our partners know we are still available to them anytime they need us, just by different channels of communication? Do we hold learning sessions on the technology so they can get us when ever they need?

Or is this even something we should be worried about?  Is it just a matter of time before the rest of the organization catches up to us?

Food for thought...

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Are we ready for unlimited vacation time?

Give Your Employees Unlimited Vacation Time

Here is a question for each of you:
"Are we at ATB, or even just ATBIS ready to have a culture of unlimited vacation time?"

What would we need to ensure was in place to make this a reality? Would our associates embrace this? Would our leaders embrace this?

To me, this really is ROWE. You own your time, you own your performance plan, and you know what results you need to complete. In this case, when or how much holidays is totally up to you and how you assess your capacity and productivity.

I would love to hear others perspectives!

Ta ta

A frightening thought!

I sat in my home office today as usual, pumping through meetings, emails, project work and my personal life (yes that's right, while being super productive at work, I also made chili, took my grandma to a doctor's appointment, and loaded my dishwasher!!). When I logged on to write another blog post, I had a FRIGHTENING thought - Workplace 2.0 is only a pilot. A pilot that ends February 21st... AAHHHH!

What will happen if the productivity or engagement results or the footprint reduction falls below the minimum requirement? What if our business case doesn't result in the pilot being rolled out across the entire organization? I can't go back to a downtown office 100% of the time. This new way of working isn't something I think I can give up.

That is when it hit me. I am not trying this. I am not in a pilot. I have adopted this new way of working wholehartedly!

So to all my fellow pilot members out there, embrace Workplace 2.0 as your new way of working. Complete the weekly surveys, fill in the workspace log sheets at R.O.W.E. mile, do everything that is needed to gather all the positive data we need to ensure we prove Workplace 2.0 is here to stay. Without each of us taking the time to share our productivity, engagement level, what is working, what isn't, and talking to our leaders, we can't expect the big guns to have enough data to agree on rolling it out across the organization.

That is my thought for the day.

Ta ta

Sherri

Imagine this...

I had meetings in Edmonton this week that couldn't be done virtually. This was actually wonderful, as I hadn't been to the Edmonton office in almost a year, and was missing the casual chats with all my collegues up there.

Two of my fellow associates were joining me on this adventure. Our flight left at 8:30 AM, so I suggested we all meet around 7:45-ish to go through security and grab a coffee. I arrived as planned to see that my associates had actually been there since before 7!! Both catching up on emails and prepping for the days to come. Now that's an example of work anywhere - when you think you will be productive and when you are on a tight deadline! I personally can't work at airports, it just doesn't work for me, so I hadn't even considered coming early. Heck no, I stayed snug in my bed as long as humanly possible!


Our flight was delayed (is anyone be surprised by this?) and we ended up running very tight on time for my first meeting. We decided the best plan of action was to go straight to the hotel, hope at least one of our rooms was available, I would take my conference call and my associates would work from the room until it was time to head over to the office.

So imagine me at the hotel room desk, pulling up presentations on my laptop, using my blackberry as a speaker phone, and typing notes on my iPad. I looked comical if I do say so myself! That left one more chair and the bed, so one of the girls set up at the chair with the foot stool as a desk, and the other proped up on the bed. And that's where we all worked productively and happily for the next hour and a half!
We then grabbed lunch at the hotel, and dashed over to the office to mix and mingle before we went our seperate ways for meetings. We took over one "office" that was borrowed from one of my corporate partners while she was out with clients. So all of us eventually ended up back together hoteling in one office for the last 3 hours of our day.

We even talked about our productivity levels, our enagement levels since we got to hang out together and work. Honestly I had a blast, got everything I wanted to accomplished and WAY more!

Another example of working when it works for you, where it works for you as long as you get the results.

Ta ta

Sherri