PCWorld has up an interesting article about a kerfuffle in the Australian government offices. One ministry attempted to issue Blackberry devices to all of their employees, but distribution was stopped when too many high-ranking people complained about Blackberries violating the home-work balance, by forcing longer workdays and intruding into free time.
Most of you know that I own an iPhone, so it may surprise you to know that I am very much against the distribution of Blackberry devices to employees who do not specifically ask for it. One of the reasons I chose an iPhone is it is incompatible with my work e-mail system (unless one uses the web browser to access that portal) and thus my employer can not use it as another way to contact me. I am a great believer that employers should pay for the time they demand, and that it is inappropriate to demand most employees to carry with them a tether that ties them to the workplace. Even cell phones are sometimes too much.
What do you think? Are Blackberry and other iDevices a blessing, a necessary evil, or a curse?
Friday, December 14, 2007
iDevices vs Work-Home-Balance
Posted by Nomad at 1:58 PM
Labels: blackberry, iphone, workingdaze
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3 comments:
Depends on the employer, employee, and boss. I used to have my phone buzz with every e-mail and then felt like I had to read it as soon as it buzzed. Now I, for the most part, receive e-mail silently and just check it occasionally. If it's something really important, I'll get a phone call or a text message. Works well for me.
I have purposely not gotten a smartphone for precisely this reason. I always look into getting one, but never follow though, because I know that if I have it I will be tempted to do the work I could with the phone during my free time. If they really need me then they can give me a call.
My clients are 9-5 people so giving them my cell isn't an issue. It is all depending how how important you are. Nomad, for example, is very important :-)
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