Does Anyone Actually Believe that Open Workspaces Increase Productivity?

The open office movement is like some gigantic experiment in willful delusion.

Jason Feifer

Why do corporations think we’re idiots? Open office workspaces don’t work! They don’t increase productivity, or anything else for that matter. They’re a colossal FAILURE! The only thing they actually do is reduce real estate costs for the corporation. So let’s cut the corporate BS and double-talk. You can’t spin this. Speak the truth please. You don’t give a shit about your employees or what’s good for them. The only truth is that open office workspaces are good for your bottom line.

Mr. Corporation, have you read the research on how open office workspaces actually affect your employees?

• 95% of workers say working privately is important to them. (Steelcase research)
• 62% increase in extra sick days taken in open-plan office. (Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 2011)
• 50% of people with a completely open office floorplan are dissatisfied with their sound privacy. (Professors at the University of Sydney)
• 32% drop in workers' well-being and 15% reduction in productivity. (Exeter University study)
• 31% of workers had to leave the office to get work completed. (Steelcase research)
• Office workers lose an average of 86 minutes per day due to distractions associated with open-plan offices. As a result, many employees are unmotivated, unproductive, and overly stressed.  (study funded by Steelcase)

Do people communicate more in an open office environment? “Open offices increase communication, but not all communication is a good thing,” said Jennifer Veitch, an environmental psychologist with the National Research Council of Canada. “A lot of the time, the conversation is more about what’s on TV than about actual work.”

Open office workspaces significantly decrease productivity and are probably costing more than corporations are saving in real estate, even in high rent cities. So Mr. Corporation, what on earth were you thinking???? All you’ve accomplished is that you’re pissing away money and pissing off your employees – not a good combination. Who’s making these decisions anyways?

An open plan can easily fit 300, 400 people in one room -- it’s a little bit like chicken factory farms. These are not places you want to spend much time.

Organization Psychologist Matthew Davis

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Starbucks, Wifi Squatters Are Driving Away Paying Customers

I saw a guy at Starbucks the other day. No iPhone, no tablet, no laptop. He just sat there drinking coffee like a psychopath.

imgrum.club

How many times have you gone into Starbucks and left before you made your order because all of the seats were taken up by people not drinking coffee or eating food, but fixated on their laptops, tablets or Smartphones? This problem exists because Starbucks gives unlimited free Wifi. So for a $2.00 cup of coffee you can rent a virtual office for the day. This is ludicrous beyond words!

I understand the original idea; Starbucks brought Wifi to its stores in 2002 when many people still connected to the Internet via Ethernet cable. Starbucks idea was to turn the company into what they referred to as a “third place” – somewhere people could go to socialize, work, or relax outside of their home or office. Great idea for 2002, but now in 2017 everyone around the world – even in third world countries - has Wifi. And most data plans come with more gigs than we need or use. Unfortunately Starbucks has created a culture of Wifi squatters who drive paying customers away.

Starbucks should start limiting the amount of time that you can have free Wifi, or limit the free Wifi to non-peak hours. After all, Starbucks is actually a coffee shop, not a free virtual office or a library. Believe it or not there are still people who go to Starbucks for an overpriced coffee and we’re the ones you’re driving away. Wake up Starbucks before all that you’re left with are Wifi squatters.

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. 
Dave Barry

Make someone smile today.

Geri

How I Almost Became a 62 Year Old Fashion Model

The leading cause of death among fashion models is falling through steel grates.

Dave Barry

A few weeks ago I was out shopping on a Sunday afternoon with my mother at The Bay – a major department store in Toronto. I was having a look through the racks when I was approached by two people wearing credentials around their necks and carrying clipboards. Immediately I assumed that they were fundraisers (they all have credentials and clipboards) because you can’t walk on any downtown Toronto street without being asked to donate to one charity or another. I’d never seen fundraisers in a store before, but there’s always a first time. Needless to say I tried to dodge them, but short of breaking into a trot (in heels) in order to escape, I decided to hear what they had to say.

As it turns out they weren’t fundraisers, they were representatives of a well-known modeling agency scouting potential models for a new campaign. I actually burst out laughing at this point because as those of you who know me will attest I’m a short, slightly dumpy, 62 year old who could never be mistaken for a model. They explained that they were looking for real people who had a unique style for a billboard campaign for a major shopping centre owner. I still couldn’t stop giggling and was preparing to walk away until they told me that if chosen I would earn $1,500 for four hours work. Suddenly I found this discussion interesting. They took a few photos and my contact info and left.

A few days later I got an email inviting me to a casting call. It was an entirely pleasant experience. Truth be told the other people waiting were all quite boring except for one chap who turned up with a jewel encrusted motorcycle helmet. When my name was called I was ushered into a studio with enormous lights. A very lovely photographer introduced herself and took several photos of me. And, that was it – my 15 minutes of fame. They were doing these casting calls from 9am – 7:30pm so I have no idea how many people were being photographed or how many would ultimately be chosen.

I never got a call back so I so my modeling career ended as quickly as it began. I guess I’ll have to continue to earn my living as a writer.

Inside of you there’s a fashion model just waiting to throw up.

Robin Williams

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Posting a Job Doesn’t Make You a Recruiter

A recruiter added me on LinkedIn so I guess it must be getting serious.

memegenerator.net

I just finished a contract with a Fortune 100 company. As with most enormous companies, contracts go through a recruiting firm, so unfortunately recruiters are part of my life.

Recruiters continue to amaze me. A month before my contract was due to end I contacted the recruiter who had been making at least 5% of my earnings for administering my contract (in addition to the recruitment fee). I let them know that I’d be in the market for another position and their answer to me was “Check our website for opportunities”. What’s wrong with this picture? I just finished my 5^th contract with the same company and had stellar references, so wouldn’t you think I’d be top of mind if an opportunity came up that would be a good fit for me? Or at least I'd come up in a search of their database? After all, I’m a cash cow for them. Apparently this isn’t the way it works at all.

Recruiters post jobs on a variety of external sites and on their websites. As a job seeker I have to let the recruiter know if they have a job on their website that’s a good fit for me. Clearly they don’t use relational databases or are just too lazy. They just sit back and wait for resumes to be emailed in. The relationship that they pretended they had with you ends the minute your contract ends and your cash value ends.

Last week there was a job posted on an external site for which I was a perfect fit. Of course this is no guarantee that you’ll ever get a call… The poster was a recruiter that I’ve had no previous contact with. I sent my resume; the recruiter called within five minutes and then forwarded my resume to the employer. A day later I noticed that the recruiter who had administered my last contract posted the same position. I found it interesting that they’re working the same position, have a copy of my current resume which is a perfect fit for the job, and never called me. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s laziness or stupidity. If I did my job as badly as the recruiters I’ve had contact with I’d never work.

We’re pretty sure we won’t hire you but not so sure we won’t stop wasting your time.

someecards.com

Make someone smile today.

Geri

The Trucking Industry is Out of Control

It turns out that speeding irresponsibly in a large truck, placing personal wealth ahead of the welfare of others, is one of the greatest sins in the Universe.... 
Craig Ferguson

Last weekend I drove out to Kingston to spend a weekend with friends. It was a very rainy day with poor visibility. I drove the speed limit which is 100 km/hour on the 401. Occasionally I inched up to 105 km/hour, but not more than that. As per usual there were lots of big rigs on the road. For the safety of all concerned the big rigs driving in Ontario and Quebec are required to uses electronic speed limiters that cap their speed at 105 km/hour. This applies to commercial motor vehicles that:

·         were built after December 31, 1994

·         are equipped with an electronic control module
AND

·         have a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 11,794 kg or more

Exemptions apply only to a limited number of vehicle types, such as ambulances or fire trucks.

If these big rigs are legally mandated to have speed limiters which cap their speed at 105 km/hour, how was I getting passed like I was standing still when I was driving 105 km/hour? These potential weapons of mass destruction were driving like bats out of hell and it wasn’t just a one-off situation; I was passed by at least 6 big rigs in my 2.5 hour journey to Kingston. And to add insult to injury before they passed me they were hanging 6 inches off my bumper. If I had to slow down suddenly I would have been killed instantly.

Every driver has the right to feel safe on our highways and byways and that’s not possible with a trucking industry out of control. What good are speed limiters if no one is enforcing the law? The problem is that the speed limiters can be turned off and when law enforcement is nowhere to be seen, they speed at will, endangering all of vehicles around them. The only way to solve the problem is to have the speed limiters permanently on with no option to disengage. Only then can the rest of us be safe from these weapons of mass destruction in an industry that is clearly out of control.

The driver behind you wants to go 5 miles per hour faster.

Highway axiom

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Bye-Bye LinkedIn

What’s this ‘LinkedIn’? Is that like Facebook for old people?

Someecards

I’ve been on LinkedIn since it was in beta. In the early days it really was an online business networking site, but that didn’t last too long. Social media became a numbers game – whoever has the most, wins! And so a new crop of LinkedIn members devoted themselves to gaming the system – connecting with the most people, joining the most groups (this was later capped at 50) ... It’s value as a business networking site quickly became diluted.

Gradually LinkedIn morphed into a quasi-Facebook site full of political commentary and feel good stories. Instead of fulfilling its promise as a business networking site, it became a site of shameless self-promotion. And it became a fertile hunting ground for recruiters who make up the lion share of LinkedIn’s revenue. In addition to recruiters, LinkedIn became very attractive to cybercriminals using fake LinkedIn profiles to connect with legitimate business people; many with access to sensitive information. In fact it’s estimated that LinkedIn has over 35 million fake profiles. LinkedIn does absolutely nothing about this large and growing problem. Over the years I reported fake profiles, with proof that they were fake, to no avail. Remember, it's a numbers game and the more members that LinkedIn has (even if they are fake), the better it looks.

Like it or not, it’s necessary to maintain a LinkedIn profile for credibility purposes, especially if you’re job hunting. Unfortunately LinkedIn’s job board has a very poor relational database; it just spews jobs that have no bearing on the parameters or time frames you select. And none of the jobs posted are exclusive to LinkedIn. They can be found on other sites like Indeed and Workopolis which are much easier to use and have much more effective relational databases.

The death knell for LinkedIn came after the purchase by Microsoft. They immediately changed the user interface and made a cumbersome site now impossible to use. I could collect pension by the time it loads; when it finally loads it doesn’t recognize me and many of the search features that actually had some value no longer exist. I’ve spoken with friends and colleagues who have all had the same experience. If you’re using Chrome apparently there is a work-around to get you back to the original interface but not for any other browser yet (I use Firefox).

All I have to say is Bye-Bye LinkedIn. I’ll leave my profile up but not waste my time on the site anymore. I can do my job hunting on Indeed and Workopolis.

I wish all social media was as non-addictive as LinkedIn.

someecards

Make someone smile today.

Geri

How I Learned to Respect the Flush Toilet

NASA asked me to create meals for the space shuttle. Thai chicken was the favorite. I flew in a fake space shuttle, but I have no desire to go into space after seeing the toilet.

Rachael Ray

Toilets are things we take for granted (unless they stop working). They’re also the subject of a lot of frat-boy humour. No one needs instructions on how to operate a flush toilet; the process is simple. We go into a cubicle (some are tiny and some are spacious), lock the door, hope for toilet paper (preferably 2-ply), flush, wash our hands and exit.

Quite frankly I haven’t given the flush toilet a second thought since the last time I encountered a squatter in Turkey (not a happy day). I recently spent a joyful trip sailing in the Bahamas with friends who are the proud owners of a 43-foot Jeanneau. Everything on a boat is very compact including the bathroom which makes airplane bathrooms seem spacious by comparison. A toilet on a boat is called a head because back in the day of sailing ships the toilet area for the regular sailors was placed at the head or bow of the ship. Flushing a toilet on a boat is an interesting process and George was kind enough to give me my training. It’s not just flush and walk away because a head on a boat doesn’t just flush; it macerates. It involves a minimum of 10 plunges in one direction, flipping a lever and another 10 plunges in the other direction. I’ll spare you the details about maceration but in case you’re really interested here’s a YouTube video that shows how it’s done. Never-the-less there is work involved with this humble process.

I was thrilled to find that at the marinas there are spacious washrooms with flush toilets! I availed myself of these modern gifts of technology at every possible occasion and never ceased to revel in the sound of whoosh, as I effortlessly flushed.

Now that I’m a land lubber again, I’m sure the joy of flushing will wear off soon, but in the meantime I have developed a new respect for the flush toilet.

The flush toilet, more than any single invention, has 'civilized' us in a way that religion and law could never accomplish.
Thomas Lynch

Make someone smile today.

Geri