This week, I was invited to give a talk about Leadership at the CIO London Event.
It was a fab event, thoroughly enjoyed it… and sharing one of the slides as my Friday thought…
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
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4 day work week anyone?
This morning, as you do… I’m having my English Breakfast Tea, scrolling on my social media and noticed that Nico Orie shared a brilliant article on LinkedIn.
Firstly, go follow Nico on LinkedIn, and secondly – you got to read the article he shared… for those wondering what it was – it was that Microsoft in Japan, trialed a 4 day work week, which meant, the employees had every Friday off.
What this meant was staggering! Productivity increased by 39.9%! 23% less electricity being used!
Here’s the link to Nico’s post – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicoorie_microsoft-japan-experimented-with-a-three-day-activity-6596854917795852289-81UI
And here’s a link to the actual article that showed the information – https://www.inc.com/betsy-mikel/microsoft-japan-experimented-with-4-day-work-weeks-to-combat-overwork-results-were-pretty-incredible.html
So I started to read up a little more – it seems like there’s a number of companies that are trialing this 4 day week, with a Friday off…. and all the results show an increase in productivity. Why?
Because – firstly, this allows many employees to do things on a Friday that they struggle with during the week – for example, seeing the doctor, going to the bank (though many do online banking, a few still go to a bank), having the car MOT’d (if you’re in the UK, that’s mandatory), and many more things that you delay to the weekend or would have to do after work.
Also, it changes the mental attitude. Most of us complain about how short the weekend is. Now… you’ve essentially got an extra day! – the whole work life balance just got that little bit better!
Will we all move to adopt the 4 day working week – I don’t think it’ll happen overnight, but can definitely some companies and industries moving to this model. Some won’t be able to – because the way they are structured or how their business models work.
I’d like to take this opportunity, on this Monday morning to show my support for a 4 day working week! – And let the productivity increase commence!!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Compliments and Criticism… take both.
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Are you testing and learning?
So… you want to come to the first Think Lean and Get Digital Workshop?
You should! – It’ll not only be informative, educational and fun… but you’ll be taking away a lot more than you bargain for! – Yes there is a charge for it… and I can inform you now, your Return On Investment will pay dividends!
Okay – one thing I will talk about is innovation. I’ll explain how important it is to test and learn.
Yes, that’s all great Bal, but have you got any real life examples?
Yes. Yes I do.
Recently, the fast food chain, KFC cause a massive stir on Social Media.
That’s right. Because of the above. Someone took a photo of this banner in Glasgow, and shared it on Social Media. Before you knew it, it went viral and people were sharing it, liking it and talking about it.
80 piece popcorn bucket for £5.99 is a bargain. Well and truly a bargain. So much so… it’s a deal that many would take up in an instant!
Now, what’s this got to do with ‘innovation’ or ‘test and learn’.
Because later on in the day, KFC put this message out…
That’s right. KFC were testing it out in 10 restaurants in Glasgow – and seeing how it went – would do a nationwide release.
2 things here…
- They’re testing the market – yes, 10 restaurants… yes, in Glasgow… yes it’s only for a short period of time – but the key thing is to test. Now as this got out to the rest of the country and the world – KFC knew they were onto a winner.
- What’s the worse that could happen? – people don’t buy it… some people even made funny comments such as “are they actually going to count the 80 lol”. To be fair, I thought that’s a great comment. How are they going to actually ensure there’s 80 in each on. Obviously it’ll be done at the factory and pre-packaged… no?
So… test and learn. Give it a go – educated go…. see what the customers say, and if there’s hunger for it (no pun intended) they’ll let you know. But the important thing is… you’ll learn from it!
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Finally… You can learn too!
Many folk have suggested… ‘Bal, why don’t you hold some workshops, or events where we can learn a little more from you about digital and this thing called, lean, which you’re always going on about’.
Okay. I will. Here you go folks –
I’m going to finally do it. Will have my first workshop around Christmas time, focussing on a few ‘Lean’ subjects – mainly centred around the customer. And then how digital can pay huge dividends for you – and why it’s important to innovate.
Will share more details soon – if you are interested, please reach out to me, and I’ll put your name on the list. Only going to have 20 in the first workshop – and I’ll let you know the cost.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Do you love what you do?
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Can you really disconnect?
This week – I’ve ‘officially’ been out of the office. That means, I ‘officially’ booked some days as holiday from work, and put my out of office on – also let people know i’m on holiday and if they need anything, then let me know either before or save it till after.
But can we really disconnect?
Ok – I haven’t checked my emails. That’s one rule I made and thought to myself, if I respond to one, i’ll respond to most of them – and then, what’s the point on being on holiday?
Then, on Monday (I think it was) I received several WhatsApp messages… from Anna. Anna had a number of questions and wanted some help with something at work. I let her know i’m out of office – but the ‘inner self’ suggested a few options and suggested a few things, and then said let’s catch up when I’m back.
This made me think – and joked with Anna – maybe, I need to put my WhatsApp on ‘holiday mode’. I’ve silenced many groups (work mainly…) which i’m part of – so they don’t ping.
But in this very connected world – it’s becoming more and more of a blur… so where is the work life balance?
It’s difficult to find that balance. There will be times when work needs you most! (that’s probably most of the time!) but you, and only you, need to focus on life. And then, you’ll be able to figure out the balance. Somehow.
There’s no magic formula that I’m aware of… or is there?
No. There isn’t. So there’s ways you can have a more balanced life… and some things I’ve learnt to ensure you are switched off…
- Have 2 phones. That’s right – switch your ‘work’ phone off. Give one or two folk in your team your other number in case if the building is burning down (or other serious emergencies).
- On just holidays, but a friend once told me ‘Respect The Weekends’ – this is your time, to disconnect, re-focus and relax.
- There was a great LinkedIn post by Cristina Ghetti (I’ll let you search and read it) about being away from work, etc… and it’s a fantastic post because you know what… work will always be there.
So, whilst things are figureoutable – make sure you have time to relax. I’m back in the office tomorrow – so if you’ve emailed me, yes – I’ll aim to reply tomorrow. Till then… I’m off to spend some time with the family!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a de-cluttering mission! But also, things I just don’t need and feel could be of use to others – just given them for free.
I also help with charities, giving food to those who need it most. I’m only sharing this to inspire others who can do the same – appreciate not everyone can, but to make the world a better place… if we can help each other out, it’s wonderful because who knows when we may need that help one day.
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Politicians and Twitter…
If you’re on Twitter – which I hope you are, you’re probably following a number of celebs, VIP’s and politicians.
I am. I follow a few – but then, there’s times when I get confused – because of their tweets, and think, is it really them or is it a parody account (of which many exist!)
The above is from the ‘real’ but you could easily think it was a parody!
It’s worrying times. Twitter lets you go crazy – well, kind of. Depends on who you are. But times are changing. They’ve come out saying that Politicians aren’t above the rules.
Yesterday, Twitter put out a blog post in an attempt to clarify that world leaders, like President Donald Trump, are not above its rules — at least not “entirely.”
In Tuesday’s blog post, Twitter said that “Presently, direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules.”
If a tweet does break the platform rules, Twitter can remove it. If it thinks it’s of public interest, the company can block it out with a grey box that users have to click through in order to see the content.
Will this really help? – I’m not so sure… but it’s a step in the right direction. Everyone should be treated equally, and if you’re promoting a particular bad thing – then you should be treated with the same rules as if you were head of a state/country or just the average Joe. Some would argue, you should be treated more harsher because of the impact you could have depending on the number of followers you have.
Social Media as a whole – is a huge platform for people to easily get their message across. The message could be of hate, however – the platform has to carry out it’s due diligence and make sure that it’s not breaking rules. And that’s where the likes of Twitter are coming from.
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Podcast – EP7!
Hello Folks! – PODCAST ALERT!!! New Podcast is out- that’s right, Episode 7 is out! – Kat and I talk about the latest tech such as the Surface Duo…. we also play the yes no game and we have a brilliant new business venture idea!
Also – if you’d like to sponsor our podcast… get in touch! We’ll mention your name/company etc.. and give you a few plugs!
How can you hear us… you should know this by now… we’re on Spotify… (search for ‘think lean get digital’) and we’re on apple podcasts!