Swimmer out of water
General | Georgina Lock | 14.04.08
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New on The Broadsheet
Working 5 to 9
by Kieran Hoban
Earning a living in the permanently connected era. Kieran Hoban, Enterprise Architect and Technologist gives us his perspective on how technology is creating information pollution.
Mobile technology and communication are making significant impacts on our working practices and our society, both positive and negative. It is increasingly difficult to ignore the attraction of being always available and constantly connected, particularly if your business involves travelling. Developments in the area of information “push” are constantly improving and proliferating. There are a wide range of solutions available to enable mobile working, ranging from the ubiquitous Blackberry, through ultra-portable laptops with connectivity pre-installed, to 3G mobile cards that fit into laptops. The device of choice is now a matter of functionality and preference.
These technologies have enabled business to have a workforce that can be connected and productive regardless of location. Senior management in particular have been quick to embrace and use the technology in an attempt to relieve some of the burden of large email volumes. The era of a virtual workforce that has no fixed location and is not bound by the confines of a conventional office is upon us. In actual fact, the virtual workforce is rapidly becoming well established.
The providers have recognised not only the needs of large business to have a mobile workforce, however, but also the desire of small business to become more available. There are “personal” solutions for connectivity available now so that the individual or sole trader can also become part of the connected workforce.
There are still constraints upon the mobile worker, however, particularly with regards to battery life and network availability. With the proliferation of both mobile and WiFi networks, however, and improvements to device efficiency and better batteries, our future looks increasingly connected. This even extends to trains and aeroplanes as the network providers push hard to have power and networking facilities installed everywhere.
The remaining barriers to true remote working are no longer technological, but are androgynous and cultural.
Consequently, does this technology make us more demanding as a society? I think so. When we know that technology can make communications quicker, we expect the user to be equally as responsive. What started with the text message, now extends to email and causes agitation and frustration when the recipient does not respond in a timely manner. I have even seen people calling one another to confirm receipt of emails and ask for an estimated response time. This is push(y!) technology in effect.
Our demand for up-to-date information and response is also becoming unrealistic. There are limitations to the amount of information that we can process at any one time. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that a form of “information rage” will manifest itself. There are indicators of this already, for example when travelling on trains, ring tones and message beeps have been known to cause confrontation between travellers, particularly in designated “quiet zones”.
What we see is information pollution and an extended working day. This is setting an expectation with employers that these constantly connected employees are permanently available. This is exacerbated with multi-national organisations that work a true 24 hour day. We are increasingly becoming an event driven society, responding to every ringing phone, beeping email or irritating text message alert. This can be observed in most restaurants and coffee shops as a cursory glance around will no doubt yield people text messaging and emailing whilst with family and friends.
As a technologist and mobile worker, I am currently struggling with my conscience as to whether to sign up to a personal Blackberry service. On the one hand, the attraction of being able to receive my email 24 hours a day appeals greatly. On the other hand, my wife’s view is that I already work enough, and she has seen first hand the effect of Blackberry on family and friends.
But we must remember that this technology does benefit both ourselves and society as a whole. We can work flexibly, wherever we are, be that on the train or at home, even in the garden. But we must acknowledge that there are consequences. The problem is no longer where can I get connected, but if I want to, how can I escape connectivity? Equally, where is the reward for the extra hours we are working?
Digital | Kieran Hoban | 01.10.07 Comments (0)
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