User Manual

SPECIAL ARTICLE
In today’s crowded, highly mobile world, the traditional way of working — commuting to and
from the ofce, relying on email, and gathering in the conference room for meetings — is no
longer efcient or productive. Nobody wants to spend most of their waking hours at the ofce
using yesterday’s technology.
We’re clearly due for a shift in the way we work. Although most companies know they need
to make some adjustments in work style, many don’t know what changes to make or where
to start. Fortunately, thanks to technology, companies can introduce simple reforms that will
make a big difference for employees and the whole enterprise. Change starts with how they
communicate.
Why is it so important to reform how we communicate? In a word, time.
Ideally a business uses time more efciently to increase productivity, reduces work time to
increase employee motivation and satisfaction, or both. Reforming the company’s means of
communication and using the right tools can help this happen.
The shift from the conventional “3F” way of working — xed time, xed place, xed device
— and toward the notion of “3A” — anytime, anywhere, any device — is the rst step toward
changing the company’s culture and practices.
One of the most effective work-style changes is telecommuting, with employees taking
advantage of the internet to work from wherever they are. When people work from home or a
hotel or a café, they can more easily t work into their day, and this convenience feeds work-life
balance.
To affect change in its culture from the top down, the company can start with basic functions,
such as meetings. Chat tools and cloud services today let you participate in meetings remotely.
By skillfully taking advantage of IT and the right hardware, companies can allow their people to
take part in meetings from anywhere.
Some managers think that employees might use chat tools to discuss personal matters instead
of work. However, people of all ages routinely use chat tools in their personal lives. Instead of
stiing that form of communication in the workplace, why not use it to improve productivity?
People will have social conversations with their co-workers, with or without chat tools, and the
benets of such tools to productivity far outweigh the risks.
Attention Corporations:
Improving Your Company’s Communication
Methods Can Make for a Happier, More
Productive Work Force
by Motoaki Nishiwaki, Evangelist for Microsoft Japan
YVC-1000MS
PRODUCT