Posted by Liz Alflen on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 @ 05:52 AM
I can't say I have it all figured out, but I know there's an answer to the balancing game and it's mine to find.
Sometimes I like being at work better than I like being at home and other people have commented on this phenomena to me as well. At work, responsibilities are somewhat orderly or at least defined in some way, whereas all kinds of crazy things can go hay-wire at home. Mates, spouses, kids, cooking, household appliances, neighbors, "inventory" - all kinds of surprises can be waiting for you upon your arrival back at your happy home.
Granted, all kinds of surprises can be waiting at work, too, not all pleasant, but a person can say, "at least I don't live here".
Well, that's only sort of true.
We all know we spend more waking hours at work than we do at home. And depending on where you are in your life, home can represent a near equivalent (given your situation) of the stress represented at work.
So why do we do this? Because work provides income we can use to feather our nests, or perhaps to enjoy a vacation: those blissful hours and days spent away from the office and sometimes away from the routine at home, too. It's not that you can ever really get "away" from your responsibilities, but you can hold them at bay for some defined period of time.
That is, unless work calls you away from vacation, or you just can't resist logging on to your manufacturing ERP system from your BlackBerry or home computer. It happens to all of us at some time ("Honey, I just want to check my email real-quick, just give me a few minutes"). Your BlackBerry can deliver your email to you anywhere and it can deliver your Manufacturing ERP to you anywhere, too (ex., EnterpriseIQ for the BlackBerry). Is this a blessing or a curse?
Communication is undeniably more efficient than every before and we rely on it. Is it so bad to take a call when you are supposed to be "off"? If you have the information available to make the necessary decision in the most efficient manner, you can avoid a bigger problem to be waiting for you later upon your return to the office. If you can access information while sitting by the pool or on a beach, does it alleviate your worries? There may be no nicer place to check the status of your orders or your meeting schedule in CRM than pool- or beach-side.
It may seem that you missed part of your vacation time, but to avoid problems lurking, I don't mind. I have an investment in my work, and work supports any time I can get away from it, whether at home or away, so I'll take the benefits along with the drawbacks. Don't take away my vacation and don't take away my BlackBerry!
Posted by Liz Alflen on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 @ 02:33 PM
One unfortunate morning a few years ago, I got an early call at home from my boss informing me that my 1st floor office had been broken into and my computer was stolen. It so happened that I had left my laptop on my desk, hooked to an external monitor, a VOIP phone and a printer. When the burglar alarm/noise-intrusion sensor went off, scaring the intruders into a more heightened sense of urgency, they made a quick grab for my laptop, but ended up dragging along the monitor, the phone and the printer. Pieces of my printer (the paper tray, paper, little broken plastic pieces) were strewn across the parking lot. By the time the police arrived on the scene, the intruders were long gone, miscellaneous plastic parts left behind, and they were likely on the highway headed out of town.
Not surprisingly, I panicked at this news. What about all my information? My reports? My data? What would I do? How painful would this be?
The local police made note of all the pertinent information but offered little hope for recovery. Our IT department made available an alternate computer for my use while ordering me a new one; I received the usual talking-to about backing-up my data. When I finally got back to work, I quickly found that I wasn’t in too much trouble.
I still had access to our EnterpriseIQ ERP system! They couldn’t take that away from me. I can access the system from anywhere, log in, run a report, review documents, respond to workflows - from anywhere.
Until that day, I hadn’t realized that the bulk of any day’s work was not dependent on my personal computer, my stored information or my reports. Most of any day’s work could be completed by accessing information in EnterpriseIQ, views or reports.
For my purposes related to both Administration and HR, areas I access on any given day include:
And on and on. It was almost disappointing. My data isn’t even really special (although my particular role is); I’m replaceable by someone else (or perhaps multiple individuals) who is (are) trained in the system, can access the same information, and plan equivalent courses of action. One of the tremendous values in having a comprehensive ERP system is in the ease with which I can fulfill my responsibilities, independent of specific hardware or location, as well as the ease with which a “backup” could do the same.
I still try to remember to back-up the data on my personal computer, but I’m confident that most of the information I need at work will be available to me when I need it. It’s nice to NOT worry about something!
Posted by Tina Jolicoeur on Thu, Mar 04, 2010 @ 02:44 PM
The freedom to let it go. That's what I gave myself last month. ‘It' is the pressure I used to have professionally and personally to remember it all. But starting last month I enter everything in IQMS' Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module and I can view it whenever I want using the new EIQ Blackberry. It has literally changed my life for the better, I don't worry anymore that I've forgotten
a task or meeting. I go to sleep easier and I wake up without worry.
I've been using CRM software in one form or another for about 17 years. I've been using IQMS' CRM for almost 10 years. That's almost as long as I've been at IQMS
and the reason they weren't using it before I was hired is because IQMS hadn't developed it yet. Early in my career at IQMS the Technical Support department, Sales, Training, other departments and the developers got together and decided an integrated CRM module would be easier for all of us to use in the long run because we can develop it, we can use it, we can access other EIQ modules from it, we can
develop it some more and so on. Speaking for myself, I think one of the greatest successes of the IQMS CRM module is that it works so well we take it for granted. All of the IQMS employees use it, everyday, all day. And its ease of use and ability to track just about any activity you can think of, truly frees up your mind and your time.
As I get older I have to write things down, I wasn't always like this, I remembered phone numbers, birthdays, tasks I needed to complete, the status of customers' issues, what I needed to buy at the grocery store and where I hid this year's Christmas presents. Not anymore. Yes, it takes a few minutes to use CRM to update my customer call notes, enter in meetings (we use recurring weekly and monthly meetings which is very handy), add my hair appointment, my daughter's high school game dates, and even my grocery list. But it doesn't take any more time than if I wrote it down in a planner or a piece of paper that can get lost; and now it's in there for good and CRM reminds me when I have these events, customers to call, tasks to complete and the most beautiful thing now is I can see this on my Blackberry which means I don't have to be near a computer or even in the office. It gets better because the EIQ Blackberry is fully interactive and integrated, so I can enter these same notes, meetings, etc. right on my Blackberry, I don't have to be logged in to CRM on a computer.
I was not and am not addicted to my Blackberry, as a matter of fact until IQMS released EIQ Blackberry I didn't even want one. But when I saw what IQMS was planning with CRM and EIQ Blackberry I had an epiphany; I can enter ‘it', let ‘it' go and I will be reminded to do ‘it' when ‘it' needs to get done and I don't have to be near a computer for all of it to work! There are so many other features of CRM
and EIQ Blackberry modules that I haven't even detailed here. For example, you can view inventory availability and approve your workflows right from EIQ Blackberry. For now I'm using it to organize my life, and I am free to leave my desk and free to let ‘it' go.