BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) – What are the benefits for your business?

Many enterprises are currently beginning to create Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs within their organizations. These programs allow employees to use their personal devices for work activities, further allowing them to be more productive from anywhere with an internet connection. These devices include mobile tablets, smart phones and laptops. Although expanding programs have really been lead by an increased demand from employees, the businesses see huge benefits as well. These benefits include increases in worker productivity, increased revenue and happier employees.

Forrester conducted a survey recently to find out just how effective BYOD programs are within organizations. The statistics may surprise you. The study found that 70% of employees that use a tablet for work selected the tablet themselves. 67% of employees that use smart phones for work selected these smart phones themselves. Lastly, 46% of employees that use laptops for work selected the laptops themselves. Moreover, these devices were not purchased by the company; they were an employee expense. One may think that employees would be opposed to purchasing their own equipment, but another study conducted by Good Technology found that employees are happy to buy their own equipment. The reasoning is that employees can use devices they actually like, which isn’t commonly the case if a business purchases older equipment to save on expenses. Most companies, as you can image, are happy to allow the employees to cover the expense. Thus, over 50% of North American and European companies have already begun incorporating BYOD programs. There are more benefits still, which are causing this practice to explode across the business world.

One of the most significant benefits of BYOD programs was found to be an increase in worker productivity. According to a recent Trend Micro survey, 80% of companies saw an increase in worker productivity with the implementation of BYOD programs. This is attributed to employees having constant information at their fingertips. They can update information from anywhere, anytime. This has increased communication and collaboration among employees, which has in-turn, increased productivity. With this, since employees own the devices they use for work, they are able to take them home and manage projects during previously unproductive time. Surprisingly, employees are happy to have the option to put in the extra work, if it means projects are being done faster, on their schedule.

The next benefit is an increase in revenue. One way companies have increased revenue through BYOD programs is by eliminating the section of the budget previously allocated towards purchasing computers and electronic devices for employees. An article published in Mind over Machines found that 70% of companies that have implemented BYOD programs have seen an increase in their bottom lines. Since employees are gladly using their own devices, the companies save dollars. With this, employees are able to use more technologically advanced mobile devices, if they so choose to purchase them. Another way revenue increases is with an increase in the ability for employees to work remotely. Since salesmen are able to access their programs mobile, they can manage more accounts on-the-go. For example, if they’re waiting for a client to show up for an appointment, they can still manage their other accounts before he arrives. This produces a potential to increase sales, since salesmen can manage more accounts within the same amount of time.

So, we know that companies can see tremendous benefits from implementing a BYOD program. However, how do employees feel about this shift? They are enthused, states a recent article published by CIO. It seems that employees were rarely happy with the ‘ancient’ electronics most businesses provided for them. Thus, although they may need to purchase a device themselves, they are able to get something they enjoy using. Also, again since they own the device, they can take it home and be productive in the evenings or weekends, if they choose to get more work done, or get a head-start on a project. This, along with telecommuting, produces happier employees, as they are better able to balance their home-life. Happier employees lead to less turnover and again, increases the organization’s bottom line. BYOD programs may be a win-win for both companies and employees.

If you’re wondering how to make the shift to support BYOD programs with your business, the best place to begin is with a software company that’s at the forefront of these new technologies. You’ll want to look for a forward-thinking company like NFS that creates innovative software that can provide meeting rooms and schedule resources for your company. You’ll need to know your business’s needs, because each business is different. If your employees are going to be purchasing their own devices, you’ll need to make sure the information they’re viewing is secure. With this, you may need to look into a software like Rendezvous to allow employees to collaborate by booking rooms, booking resources and using hot desks via any device. With so many devices on the market (iPhone, iPad, Windows Tablets, Blackberry and Android), it’s also important to make sure the program you choose is compatible for every device. This will ensure your employees remain well connected in a digitally savvy world.

Considering these benefits of BYOD programs, how have they been working for you?

What are the Challenges of Telecommuting and How Do We Solve Them?

Telecommuting is quickly becoming the way of doing business. With technological advances, such as the expanded availability of the internet and communication software such as Rendezvous, employees can work from home. This can save corporations from needing to invest in large real estate offices, and employees can have a more balanced home-life. But what are the challenges to telecommuting? With the rapid expansion of telecommuting, challenges have arisen faster than companies are prepared to deal with them. Some of these challenges include potential security breaches, employee productivity and social isolation.

One of the most serious problems that have arisen with telecommuting is the potential for confidential information to be compromised. If an employee is at a public location with Wi-Fi and they open sensitive information while there, the information can be compromised. The same issue exists if they do not have a secure network at home. A study in 2008 found that only 20% of companies took precautionary measures to keep sensitive information secure. Today, however, companies have begun realizing the severity of this matter and often if employees handle confidential information, they must have specific software installed on their home computers to keep the information secure. They also may not be allowed to access the information away from home, again as a precautionary measure to keep sensitive information secure.

Are employees productive when they work from home? This is one of the biggest concerns from management with the rise of telecommuting, and what led Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to ban telecommuting for Yahoo. From an employee perspective, how easy is it to stay focused at home? Are they motivated to wake up early for conference calls? The University of Florida (UF) believes working from home can be as successful as an office, but suggests employees keep a separate work-space in their home. Managers face a new challenge with telecommuting, as is it predicted the way to keep employees productive is to use people skills. Positional leaders will find difficulty keeping employees happy and engaged if they aren’t nice, says UF.

Possibly the most challenging hurdle within telecommuting is social isolation. A recent publication in Industry Week predicts employees that do not feel connected with their colleagues or company, as one would be if they did physically work together, can lead to discontent and higher turnover. Without employees being able to ‘break bread’ with one another over lunch or physically engage in meetings, creativity and problem-solving opportunities are lost. A solution for this, proposed UF, is to make regular mandatory meetings, giving employees an opportunity to develop rapport with one another. These mandatory meetings can be scheduled on software like Rendezvous, in an organized calendar. The software can also schedule video conferences from anywhere in the world, for employees that may not be located near the office, but still need to interact with their colleagues.

Telecommuting is becoming the wave of the future work-place. An article published by CNN found that 41% of employees are now telecommuting. If the aforementioned challenges are overcome successfully, the benefits of this practice will be immense. Employees will potentially be happier, as they have flexibility to organize the work-home schedule that works best for them. With great software, it is easier for managers to see how productive employees are being and if their projects are being done on time. The companies also benefit, by needing to invest in smaller real estate establishments. This saves thousands of dollars annually, which can be reinvested into the company, or even used to increase employee wages.

Has your company seen challenges with a recent shift to telecommuting? If so, how were they solved?

Yield manage those meetings

Sometimes, when you are striving for more efficiency within your own organization, it’s a good idea to take a step sideways and look at the way other businesses operate. If you regularly organize business meetings, for example, consider the way airlines and hotels work.

They both use something called yield management. In the airline industry it is used to adjust the prices of seats on planes according to demand. In the hotel world, it is used extensively to automatically assign the best price to a hotel room, depending on the hotel’s occupancy level. The last time you used an internet booking agency to get a four-star hotel room at a two-star price, you were using yield management without even knowing it.

Hotels have large rooms and small rooms, some have more facilities than others. Just like meeting rooms. For hotels, balancing available space against revenue is all about juggling types of rooms, their facilities and their prices to ensure that rooms are filled at prices that are beneficial to guests and hoteliers alike. Do you begin to see the connection between the way hotel rooms and meeting rooms are booked and used?

And if you are wondering how to make all this work with little more than a pen and a diary, then you are living in the past. Today, there’s technology specially designed to automate and drive yield management, whether it applies to hotels, airlines or, in your case, the organisation of meetings.

To address these issues and more, NFS Technology Group has introduced a new series of three White Papers under the general heading of The Psychology of Booking and Running Meetings. Part 3, The Power of Yield management is available now. Download it here.

Is Telecommuting Dead?

Recent advancements in technology have changed the way business is done today. Incredible software programs, such as Rendezvous Enterprise, allow for things such as video conferencing, appointment booking and AV from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. With this, today there are virtual programs for nearly every industry. We are thus seeing an army of professionals, such as lawyers, writers, architects, graphic designers, etc. all working from home. How do businesses feel about this shift?

The topic of telecommuting has become a huge controversy within the corporate world. Decisions must be made as to whether or not employees will be allowed to work from home, and really, what the best business strategy is for each company. On one side of the coin, companies can save money if they can reduce office space and encourage employees to work from home. The other side of the coin poses the potential for employees to slack off without a boss physically overseeing them daily. With this, how can a company create a team environment without a centrally-located team? Although this debate is just beginning to catch wind, some companies have begun taking their stances.

Yahoo is at the forefront of the opposing end of the controversy. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Marissa Mayer, has officially banned telecommuting across the entire company. By June, employees that are currently working from home will be required to return to the office. Although Yahoo has yet to make an official statement, they do believe this to be the best option for the company now. Ironic, that one of the companies that helped invent the internet is so strongly opposed to using it. In any case, a recent release from All Things Digital may explain Mayer’s position. The argument was made that ‘water-cooler talk’ often spark creativity and is a dynamic that is missing from a home-environment. Perhaps for companies that rely heavily upon creativity and company morale, this potential for heightened creativity may not be something they are willing to sacrifice. That said, some employees, higher up in the corporate structure, do not want to stay home, because they would lose their corner office and mahogany desk. Others, however, are huge proponents of telecommuting.

For some companies, the ability to save revenue by utilizing smaller office space is reason enough to send employees home. IBM, for one, has roughly 40% of their employees based at home. Their Toronto headquarters only has 150 desks, although 500 employees are assigned to that office. As this is only one example, one can imagine the substantial savings on real estate to which this can amount. There are other benefits to telecommuting as well, such as decreasing foot-traffic in the city and keeping happier employees. If a person has a domineering boss, they are able to escape that daily stress, all-the-while being better able to balance out work and home-life. A happy employee will decrease turnover and training costs for a company long-term. Businesses that can potentially see the largest benefit from telecommuting are places where employees typically work individually, i.e. a call center. If there is no real benefit from employee interaction, why not save the money on real estate and training costs?

So what about keeping a balance? Do companies need to see the telecommuting debate as black and white, or is there room for gray? As this debate progresses, perhaps it can be concluded that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, and consequently, no right or wrong way of doing things. There is no denying the technology of today enables nearly every company the option of allowing employees to be mobile, but that does not mean this would be the best option for that company. Thus, for now, the debate remains gray.

What do you think?

The secrets behind successful meetings

Are the business meetings you attend truly productive? If not, why not?

It’s undoubtedly true that, today, we organize and attend more meetings in a working day than ever before. But there are good meetings and bad meetings. The success or failure of any meeting is largely down to human behavior and how it impacts on the way a meeting is organized and run.

A successful meeting is not merely a success in itself, but equally in the way it is organized to impact most favourably on a company’s bottom line. A badly organized meeting can lower productivity. Do it right and improvements will be made to any organization. Much of it comes down to those behavior trends and their impact, what we might call the psychology of meetings.

It’s about understanding, first and foremost if a meeting is really necessary. Booking early, but not indiscriminately, helps to ensure the right room is used for every meeting, that small meetings don’t end up in big spaces, or that facilities such as AV, video conferencing and catering don’t go to waste. It’s about balancing the use of internal against external space, about making sure that facilities managers know when a meeting has been cancelled so that energy costs do not go to waste, and it’s about using the right technology to keep all this running smoothly.

To address these issues and more, NFS Technology Group has introduced a new series of three White Papers under the general heading of The Psychology of Booking and Running Meetings. Part 2, Behavior trends and their Impact is available now. Download it here.