Measuring workplace productivity
Joe Ouye posted his research paper entitled In Search of Measuring Workplace Productivity to the library. Joe presented this paper at the ProWork Seminar in Helsinki, Finland, this past May. His paper reviews the difficulties and approaches of measuring knowledge worker productivity and suggests a Workplace Performance Model, based on principles from Human Performance Technology (HPT) for understanding and designing multiple measuring approaches. HPT is the study and ethical practices of improving productivity in organizations by design, and developing effective interventions that are results-oriented, comprehensive, and systemic. Find Joe's summary and a link to download the paper at: http://www.newwow.net/members/node/940
"A crisis is a terrible thing to waste."
This was my favorite quote from a talk given by Google's CEO Eric Schmidt at the Corporate Eco Forum last week. Schmidt suggested "we take the opportunity provided by the current economic crisis and use it to retool the energy infrastructure of the United States." For example, if US companies could replace all the electricity generation in the country with renewable sources (such as solar, wind, and solar thermal) over a 20-year period, and assuming that the per capita use of electricity remained constant, it could cut US climate impact by half. Thanks to David Coleman for the YouTube video link. Read our notes at: http://www.newwow.net/members/node/584#comment-636
Member recommendations: Many thanks to the NewWOW members and colleagues who contributed links this week.
- Suvi Nenonen posted a link to a series of papers on The Usability of Workplaces. The papers were presented at the International Conference in Facilities Management 2008, which took place in Edinburgh, Scotland in June. http://www.newwow.net/members/node/940#comment-634
- David Coleman sent two more links: 1) An announcement about IBM's InnovationJam next month. A jam is a large-scale, Internet-based "conversation" about a particular topic. This jam will discuss the results of the Global CEO Study 2008: The Enterprise of the Future. http://www.newwow.net/members/node/939. 2) Open Trace, a green calculator that analyzes product supply chains. According to David, the tool "allows you to track the green impact of almost any product and track your personal carbon footprint impact. It was very cool." http://www.newwow.net/members/node/528#comment-632
More news this week:
- Nearly half of UK firms now offer telework. The number of UK companies that offer teleworking has more than tripled in the last two years, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry. http://www.newwow.net/members/node/615#comment-633
- Virtual teams expected to grow. A recent survey revealed that two out of three companies say they will rely more on virtual teams going forward. http://www.newwow.net/members/node/943
- New remote manager toolkit from BT. British Telecom released a new guide for managing virtual teams. It offers practical advice on management style, required technologies and examples of remote working good practice. http://www.newwow.net/members/node/932#comment-635
