Page 5 - My personal sphere

FACTS AND FIGURES
MY PERSONAL SPHERE
The proliferation of devices we use every day and their increased capabilities promise untold benefits for our wellbeing and productivity as well as the transformation of the spaces in which we live and work.
Ten years ago, Volkswagen announced that its email servers would stop sending emails 30 minutes after the end of shifts and would resume half an hour before employees returned to work1. The company’s policy was a direct response to pleas from white collar workers around the western world for firms to respect their working hours and privacy at a time when mobile phones were beginning to make every worker always reachable and available. Volkswagen was not the only organisation engaged with the issue. The Government departments and Unions in many European countries were already debating how to manage the changes ushered in by the new generation of technology and its disruption of the working lives and hours of all clerical and knowledge workers. Previously, the potential and wherewithal to manage times of work had been the sole preserve of freelancers and managers.
Ten years on, such prohibitions and bans make less and less sense. Firstly, the evolution of the digital world coupled with the pandemic has fundamentally transformed the way we work, permanently changing the core psychological contract between employee and employer and the ways in which work is carried out. And, as a consequence, the purpose of the office itself has transformed too: from a physical place to a diffuse platform supporting various work styles and activities.
In the new era of “diffuse work”2, smartphones and laptops are no longer the only tools we carry around with us at all times. These devices and apps are increasingly powerful, requiring faster connections and integration between different types of protocols such as hi-speed Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC3.
Over time, many companies have developed BYOD (bring your own device) policies, an abbreviation inspired by the convivial BYOB4 (bring your own beer/bottle), to encourage people to connect their personal devices to corporate networks. Alongside traditional work- related tools, such devices connect to corporate networks to allow us to communicate, collaborate and engage with colleagues regardless of where we are. Wearables, headsets, smartwatches, cameras, microphones and a thousand other sensors; the number of digital tools
A New Approach to Work
Source: elaborated from “Bring your own environment: The future of work”, by Michael Biltz, TechCrunch+, 2021, and “Anywhere, everywhere”, Technology Vision 2021 by Accenture.
FACTS AND FIGURES 5
A NEW APPROACH TO WORK
I CAN WORK
wherever I am
by connecting my device
work vs. life
work and life
I CAN MANAGE MY LIFE
wherever I am
by connecting to my surroundings