A recent survey by online compensation firm Salary.com showed about six out of 10 employees in the United States acknowledged wasting time.

In the article by Connie Heller entitled Cyberslacking 101, she details how people goof off at work. It reminded me of the Sean Morey classic, Screwing around at Work “I’m a model employee, I always clean the glass, when I’m finished making copies of my…..”

It used to be hanging around the water cooler or the coffee room, for some it is taking a smoke break, but employees find a way around working. I wonder if blogging about cyberslacking is in that category??????

What I found as the real dichotomy was that the tech tools we developed for productivity are the ones doing the major damage at distracting us. It seems that the internet and all of our new tech gear is just another avenue to skip out at work for some. Facebook and MySpace are listed as distractions, yet Facebook (here’s mine) and LinkedIn are social networking sites that we are trying to promote as ways to better interact.

The real eye opener was how much people are goofing off by doing personal email, with almost a third of the cyberslacking attributed to this activity with non work messages. Then there are the crackberry addicts clicking away. I’ve personally sat in meetings where no one is really paying attention to the presenter, rather they were going through their various distractions.

So is it human nature to goof off? I dunno as work at home to avoid most of the distractions at work. What’s your cyberslacking method?

Update: Second Life now counts also.

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With the upcoming announcement of Gizmo’s (gadgets/widgets) which are easier to syndicate, and are available for everyone, comes a cool iPhone application.

iPhone.mov

Here is the link to understanding gizmo’s and how to syndicate the dW content…..pretty cool stuff

Click on Cartoon for full image.

From Michael Masterson’s book.

If you want an extraordinary income, you have to transform yourself into an extraordinary worker. Here are six ways to do that:

1. Get in early.
There is no better way to demonstrate your commitment to your company than by getting to work earlier than everybody else. Getting to work early sends a good message: “I’m here! I am eager to work! I’m ahead of the crowd!”

2. Understand your responsibilities.
Until you understand how what you do affects your boss’s bottom line, you’ll never be able to make good decisions about which projects to focus on. The best way to do that is to make an appointment with your boss and ask him, “What are the top 10 ways I can make your job more successful?”

Don’t worry about seeming like a kiss-up. Tell him that you realize your chances of success depend on his success. “I’m not asking for specific to-dos,” tell him. “Once I know your main objectives, I will be able to make good decisions on my own. That’s why I’m asking. Because I want to make sure that my work plan is in gear with yours.”3. Focus on what’s important.
List your boss’s top 10 priorities. Then identify two of them that will have the greatest impact on his success. (Keep in mind that he may not know what is most important for him. After working with him for a while, you may have a better idea than he does.)

4. Never say “No.”
Employees often wonder whether saying “yes” to every request will make them look weak or dependent. The answer? No. Your boss wants a “yes” to every request he makes of you. Saying “no” - though sometimes warranted - may sound to him like you are moving against him.

But … if you have already established a list of priorities by taking steps two, three, and four, you’ll have no problem identifying requests that are low on his list. When asked to do something of that nature, tell your boss that you will be happy to get to it at some time in the future, but at the moment you are working on things that you believe he’d rather see done. Then tell him what those things are. Chances are, he’ll modify or even drop his request. If he doesn’t, you can expect there is a good reason why.

5. Improve your skills.
Unless you keep growing - in terms of your knowledge and skills - you can’t expect your income to keep rising. Ask questions about every aspect of your business that is related to what you do. Find out what you can about the other areas - especially sales and marketing. Read executive memos. Take work-related courses. Have regular chats about business with the power people in your business. Implement what you learn in your work.

6. Communicate your progress.
Unless you let your boss and other powerful people at work know about your accomplishments, you can’t be sure they will help you. Make it a habit to update your superiors, in writing, on the challenges you face and the accomplishments you’ve made. In promoting yourself professionally, follow these three rules:

Tell the truth. False promotion is worse than none at all.

Be generous with credit to others.

When reporting accomplishments, be specific and keep your ego in check.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full size version of this hilarious “kid true” cartoon.

I can make a list that is comprehensive as to every reason, but I will speak in relative terms.

For perspective, what was the lead news story 3 years ago? 3 months ago? 3 weeks ago? 3 days ago? That’s just it, I don’t really know either. Unless it is at the level of Hiroshima or 9/11, it goes in and out of our brains like text messages. We are bombarded by information overload that we can’t keep track of. Plus, we have many communications disciplines in a big company including PR, AR, Internal/Executive and Investor Relations. Let’s not forget that advertising pounds us with messaging also.

Conversely, when an analyst writes a report, it stays for 12 months, and if it’s really bad or good, it’s in the minds of the customers for even longer. The report goes out in communications to customers, it’s quoted in internal and external presentations and even used in performance reviews up and down the ladder. So in essence, we are married to the report. Bear in mind, that this is a double edged sword that cuts both ways.

This puts added incentive on us to get our strategy correct as we will be judged on it.

Dealing with the press and some other constituencies is also more of a one shot deal. While there are relationships, when presenting a story, news is news once when it is news…then it is old news or no news if it is not good enough. Also, you can’t say everything you know as the journalist may not have deep knowledge of the subject, or one doesn’t want to be misquoted so the discussion is guarded.

By the time the press hears of our announcement, we’ve likely spent months with the analyst community getting the messaging and strategy in line before we bare our souls to the public. Many times we’ve been either cautioned, corrected or sternly warned because of the deep knowledge that comes from the analyst community. We have open discussions about things we couldn’t say to the other constituencies.

So while I could go on ad nauseam about the subject, that is a succinct description of why analysts are important to us. I welcome other comments why they add value.

Here is a synopsis of the announcement from TheNewsMarket.com:

IBM has launched its Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino 8 software applications for businesses. The two software systems function by integrating e-mail, instant messaging and office productivity applications. Lotus Notes 8 and Domino 8 arrives - IBM’s new collaboration software, now available - is designed to help users spend less time managing email and more time on real collaboration. New features include enhanced e-mail that can gather and review e-mail threads more easily, enable users to view their collaboration history with specific individuals, and retrieve certain messages sent to the wrong person. The systems also feature integrated office productivity tools, composite applications, support for activity-centric computing, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and Atom feeds. The Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino 8 software systems are currently available by electronic means only, and are expected to be released for physical distribution Sept. 21.

Heres why I care the most - You can CALL BACK EMAIL YOU DIDN’T MEAN OR WANT TO SEND!!!

I, along with most people who use email have sent something they would have liked or died to have back. It was either embarrassing, sent to the wrong person or groups, or perhaps it was sent in a fit of email road rage and you’ve since cooled down.

I could have used this years ago. This perhaps is the most innovative email feature I’ve heard of, because were human.

This should send the rats scurrying around the room late at night at the email vendors.

I read recently via ARmadgeddon that Forrester is conducting a review of which blog do you read for Analyst Relations. To my surprise, Delusions of Adequacy was on the list. I’ve never tried to consciously do the tricks that score you high on the reader list. To the contrary, I violate many of the rules of top bloggers, especially staying on subject. While I do cover quite a bit about the profession, I also throw in humor (click on the category to see for yourself) and other issues a lot of people other than the A/R crowd care about.

In the blog stats, I get a lot of hits on the Day Lilly named after my Mother and Competitive Eating of all things.

Anyway, here is the list of A/R blogs to read. Good for those other guys, maybe one day we’ll actually be A/R professionals if we keep reading and writing.

• Analyst Insight by David Rossiter (UK)
• Analyst Equity by Duncan Chapple (UK)
• ARcade by Hill & Knowlton (US)
• AR Insider newsletter by Knowledge Capital Group (US)
• ARmadgeddon (US)
• Outsell Now (US)
• Tekrati.com The Industry Analyst Reporter (and companion blog) (US)
• Delusions of Adequacy by John Simonds (US)
• Infuse by Duncan Brown (UK)

August 16, 2007

Click on the picture for a larger view.

Half a century old. Old as dirt. Official member of the OFC.

Who shares this day with me? Menachim Begin for starters, both Kathy Lee and Frank Gifford with the additional chagrin of Madonna. At least I can claim that the King, Elvis Presley died on my birthday, while sitting on the can.

You can see that the King and I have a lot in common.

If I’d have waited a day, it could have celebrated with Davy Crockett and Mae West, but I’d have to suffer with Sean Penn. A day earlier and it would have been with Napolean Bonaparte and Julie Child.

How in the world did I get this old? Fastest 50 years in history of my life. Wasn’t I just playing on the beach in the sand? Wasn’t it just the other day I was living it up in college, getting my first job? Now I have kids out of college and another driving. Actually, it’s a wonder I’m still alive, with some of the stupid stuff I did when I was young.

I wonder if I’m halfway home, or I’ve done over half already.

One thing that has happened to me is Sirius Radio in my car and on my PC. I’ve been listening to songs from my High School and College days. There’s a song by Clint Black (country songs invariably have the cleverest lyrics which have both meaning and double entendre) that says “Ain’t if funny how melody can bring back memories, take you to another place in time, completely change your state of mind”. I’ve heard songs that have taken me back to places and think of people and felt feelings that I haven’t thought about for in some cases over 40 years.

I’ve worked in the computer industry now for 29 years, which staggers me. I was in it before the PC, cut my teeth on a system 34 and was a Cobol and RPG II programmer….oh yes, I was an accountant too. Over this period of time, I’ve worked with some of the best and smartest, as well as some serious stool samples, some in fact were an especially distinct case of priapism.

So the reality is that I’m only 1 day older, not a year. But turning 50 is a wake up call, especially when you consider how much time you may have left.

Actually how do I feel? Like Captain Kirk back on the bridge of the Enterprise, just after he defeated arch enemy Khan for the second time and the death of his friend Spock…..I feel young. To prove it, I went to karate last night just to fight, and it felt good.

Just so you know, the pictures above are me at 4.5, 5.5 and 19….just for perspective.

Hat tip to Beatrice Adams.

1. You can’t remember the last time you wrote an entire paragraph using a pen and paper.
2. You consider Internet a basic utility.
3. Between your Internet and your TV, you would rather lose your TV.
4. Between your Internet and your phoneline, you would rather lose your phoneline.
5. The Internet IS your phoneline.
6. You carry a flash drive in your purse or pocket.
7. You carry a laptop with you wherever you go-or you wish you could.
8. You have a callous on your right wrist, where you rest your hand when you use your mouse.
9. Your “diary” is not protected with a lock and key, but with a username and password - and it is open to be read by anybody in the world.
10. You’ve joined an online forum and regularly post messages on it.
11. You are - or have been - a member of a Yahoo group.
12. You’ve watched 1,500 orange-clad prisoners dancing “Thriller” on YouTube.
13. You know the meaning of the word “google” - and if you don’t, you simply Google it.
14. When you hear the word “spam,” you don’t think of food.
15. You’ve bought and sold things on eBay.
16. You’ve had an online love affair.
17. Half your friends only know you by your username.
18. The other half know your real name AND your username.
19. You’ve mastered computing the time in several different time zones because of all those online meetings you schedule with your Internet friends.
20. You no longer buy greeting cards; you get them free online and send them through email.
21. You no longer buy newspapers; your morning news is regularly sent to your inbox.
22. You no longer buy calendars; you use the one in your email reader or taskbar.
23. If your wall clock suddenly disappeared, you wouldn’t miss it very much either.
24. You don’t keep pictures of your kids in your wallet, but you set them as your wallpaper and screen saver.
25. You need a computer to view your children’s photos.