Writing for life

Published in the Evening Echo 28/04/2008

Do you ever feel that there aren’t enough hours in the day? Well, you’d be right. Researchers in the US recently discovered that typical middle-class city dwellers are cramming 31 hours worth of ‘life’ into each 24 hour period thanks to multi-tasking and an array of time saving gizmos.

Hands up who’s checked their e-mail on their laptop or blackberry while making their morning coffee? Or used a bluetooth headset to join a conference call on the commute to work, while listening to the traffic report on the radio and checking out alternative routes on the sat-nav?

We’re multi-tasking like crazy to try and squeeze more into our busy lives. Apparently the technology of today has allowed us, for better or for worse, to shoe-horn an additional seven hours worth of tasks into the average day compared to only a decade ago (primitive old 1998 – back when nobody had ever heard of Google).

After a flurry of activity in the morning we arrive at work – which is often a blur of e-mails, calls and meeting combines with switching between multiple tasks to meet unrealistic deadlines. But, according to the study, conducted by global consumer research firm OTX, all of the multitasking we do during our working day pales in comparison to the frantic task juggling that happens once we get home in the evenings.

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Ah America — leaders of the free world — a model for other governments to emulate… or perhaps not.

Pretty unreal stuff — and the scary thing is, most of it’s utterly believable.

Kind of makes you wonder about the much touted public/private partnerships the Irish government’s so fond of, and just how much priorities get skewed when you outsource public services to commercial entities out to make a fast buck.

Outsourcing the Government on Yahoo! Video

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Published in the Evening Echo on 23/04/2008

A couple of weeks ago some friends invited us all to their son’s fifth birthday party. Rather than go through the rigmarole of putting on a party at home, with all the preparation, organisation and clean-up work that entails, they decided instead to do something away from the house. They opted for Monkey Maze in Glanmire.

Monkey Maze is one of those giant indoor multi-level play areas (WARNING! If you choose to click on the preceding link, be ready for some really irritating jungle sounds) with ball pits, slides and all sorts of soft, squidgy playthings where children can run amok without coming to much harm. This is a good thing, and in theory means that parents can relax and let the nippers get on with it. Sounds like the ideal party venue.

The “fun” began in the car. I wanted to listen to the news… but as far as the kids are concerned the radio is for one thing, and one thing only: music! They pleaded, whined and generally made such a fuss that I couldn’t hear the news anyway. I tuned-in to the first music station I could find, but they weren’t listening… they were far too busy chattering incessantly about what they were going to do when they got to the play area.

We arrived at Monkey Maze. It was absolute bedlam.

As soon as I stepped through the door the noise hit me. Screaming, laughing, crying, wailing, whining, chuckling, singing, chanting, screeching… it was a wall of sound that spanned the gamut of the childhood vocal repertoire. It wasn’t pleasant. Paired with the garish primary colours of the décor it left me ruing that one last pint in the pub the night before. We live and learn… or not, as the case may be.

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Published in the Evening Echo 21/04/2008

Telecommuting, remote working, working from home… call it what you will, the whole concept of working out of the office is an alluring one. The technology that enables remote working – a decent internet connection, mobile computing and mobile digital communications devices – is starting to become practically ubiquitous in our lives, bringing the prospect of remote working out of the realm of fantasy, and making it a very real possibility for many.

If you work on a computer, then you can do pretty much everything you normally do at work sitting at your desk at home (or even in your local coffee shop, if you prefer). Liberating yourself from the shackles that bind you to the office desk isn’t complicated or costly any more – but does demand very careful consideration. Ditching the daily commute, traffic jams and office politics may appear idyllic, but it’s not always the panacea it promises to be. Remote working comes with its own set of problems, in their own way every bit as challenging as those you’ll find in an office environment.

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Published in the Evening Echo on Wednesday 16/04/2008

“I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way,” says the first line of the song “The Greatest Love of All”. Originally recorded by George Benson in 1977 for the Mohammed Ali film “The Greatest”, the track became a hit almost ten years later for Whitney Houston.

The reason I mention it is that perhaps someone could add it to Education Minister Mary Hanafin’s iPod playlist… as a gentle reminder. Last week the minister continued to defend the Government’s funding for education, despite growing evidence that primary schools across the nation are facing huge shortfalls.

This is making the news again… but of course if you’re a parent with primary school children it’s hardly news. Practically every primary school in the country is going cap-in-hand to parents for voluntary contributions to bolster the inadequate government funding, and asking them to help out with ever more wacky fund raising events in the desperate scramble for cash. Where is all this extra money going? Is it being spent on fancy learning aids to enhance our children’s education? No, it’s being used to pay for basic essentials like heating, electricity, insurance and cleaning – all things which should be covered by the state.

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Published in the Career Moves section of The Evening Echo on Monday 14 April 2008

CSR; when I first heard it I thought it was another one of those far fetched American crime dramas. Then I discovered it was an acronym for Corporate Social Responsibility… and remained none the wiser.

So I Googled it (interesting aside: did you know that the name Google was an accidental misspelling of the word googol – the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes), and was promptly presented with 4,530,000 results on everything anyone could ever want to know about Corporate Social Responsibility.

First stop, Wikipedia, that font of online knowledge, which informed me that CSR: “is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.”

When I got my breath back I read it again.

CSR then is basically a commitment by an organisation to do business in a socially responsible way… to go that extra mile, to be a good corporate citizen and to look after the people and the environment it interacts with. It’s about businesses looking outside the corporate box and acknowledging their broader responsibility to society as a whole.

Which all sounds very laudable. But are businesses really doing it?

Plenty of high profile Irish organisations profess to be. That Google list I mentioned earlier contains links to comprehensive CSR Statements from the ESB, Coillte, Tesco Ireland , KPMG, Repak and others. But are they just words, or is the concept of CSR really resonating with organisations and punching through the profit-skewed view of Irish CEOs?

How many employees, for example, really and truly believe their employers are putting their best interests ahead of the corporate bottom line? Or that management would opt to go with a more costly supplier simply because they could demonstrate better environmental credentials? Would your HiPPO (Highest Paid Person in the Organisation) choose to forsake profit for the greater good? Some might answer yes, but my guess is that the vast majority would have to say no. Or at least not yet.

But that could be changing. The pressure on businesses to become more environmentally and socially responsible is growing all the time, thanks largely to the high profile of environmental issues surrounding climate change. Higher consumer and employee awareness of these issues and of how corporate entities are responding to them means that addressing them is moving out of the realm of positive spin and PR, and is fast becoming an economic imperative.

People are demanding more accountability from the companies they do business with, and the companies they choose to work for. These days if a company can’t demonstrate that its taking its social responsibilities seriously it can potentially impact the calibre of its future workforce and erode its customer base. Corporate Social Responsibility isn’t just about doing the right thing any more… it’s about staying competitive in a rapidly changing world.

Technorati Tags: Corporate Social Responsibility,CSR,Evening Echo,Career Moves,Business

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As I boarded the plane I couldn’t help but reflect on just how tacky the whole flying experience has become. Back when we all used to think flying was something special, I remember thinking that “Airbus” was on odd choice of name for an aircraft manufacturer. Surely associating air travel with something as commonplace as a bus couldn’t be a good thing.

Looking around the plane I’d just boarded I suddenly realised that the people at Airbus were in fact visionaries. They had seen the future, and thanks to Michael O’Leary et al, the prophecy inherent in their name has come to pass. The lurid blue and yellow plastic of the plane’s interior, plastered with advertising, confirmed my suspicions that these days the bus is a classier way to travel.

Still, it was a pleasure to be travelling alone. It’s not something that happens that often, and the freedom to read a newspaper, grab a coffee and a sandwich, even just pay a visit without having to worry about anyone else is liberating. You don’t realise just how preoccupied you become as a parent until you’re away.

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At the Search Marketing World conference last week I picked up a scratch-card entry to a competition from a new Irish search engine company called Vazumo.com.

Apparently this local search engine will help me to find web sites, companies, goods and services in my local area. I haven’t had chance to play with it yet, but it certainly sounds interesting.

I didn’t win on the scratch card, but if you click on the link above or the one below to go have a look at the site for yourself I’ll be with a chance to win their monthly draw for a , so why not take a look, and while you’re there sign up yourself to be in with a chance to win.

It’s an obvious link bait strategy, but hey, last time I entered one of these things I won!

Just had a quick look, and the jury’s out. The results pages are a bit sparsely populated, and I’m not convinced by the user interface… but you decide for yourself.

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I’d just finished watching yet another depressing documentary about the burgeoning obesity pandemic in children of the western world. Poor diet, junk food, lack of exercise, parents too busy paying extortionate mortgages to really have time to notice… it all ads up to a recipe for disaster.

Common sense will tell you that a diet of burgers, pizzas, chips, crisps, fizzy drinks and chocolates is a sure-fire way to an early grave. If we stopped to think about it, we wouldn’t do it, but of course we don’t; we’re too busy, it’s too convenient, and let’s face it, putting a plate of chicken nuggets and chips in front of them is much less hassle than cajoling them to take another bite of their broccoli.

The occasional foray into the world of convenience food, sweets and snacks doesn’t do any harm, of course, but when it becomes a regular and frequent component of the diet the alarm bells should ring. The dietary habits we help our children to form today will form the foundation for the relationship they have with food for the rest of their lives. This is critically important stuff that will affect their future health and wellbeing.

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“Working it” column published in the Career Moves section of The Evening Echo on 31/03/2008

Day-dreaming at work again? Not focussed on what you’re doing? Join the club! Apparently though, day-dreaming can be a useful tool in helping you to excel in the workplace – especially when it comes to delivering a killer presentation.

Presentation skills are something that, sooner or later, most office- or corporate-based employees will need to develop at some point in their career. If you’ve had to deliver a presentation already, then you don’t need me to tell you how nerve racking it can be to get up in front of your peers and deliver a knowledgeable, entertaining and informative performance. Because that’s what an effective presentation is, essentially: a performance, and one that all too often falls flat.

But Janet Howd, a professional singer, actress and presentation coach, maintains that we can all harness the energizing power of day-dreams to help us deliver more compelling presentations. Writing in Management-Issues, Janet explains that, once we’ve done our research and know our subject matter, rehearsing the presentation in our minds can pay real dividends.

“As soon as your knowledge is in place, envisage a sparkier, more fluent, more assured, more attractive you,” she suggests. “Once you’ve got that vibrant persona in mind, visualize this new self giving the presentation you’ve been working on to a group of close friends who are all rooting for you.

“As you develop your message, stay well within this comfort zone. If you find yourself lost for words just follow Shakespeare’s example and invent some! As soon as you have finished this imaginary performance, write down or dictate as much as you can remember of what you said. Don’t think about anything else until you have written those first impressions down.”

Once that’s done, she goes on to suggest that you make notes of your mannerisms and intonation in your imaginary performance, how and when you used equipment an props, and how you engaged with your audience. Then, by analysing your notes you should be able to distil the salient elements into a template or “script” you can use for your presentation proper.

To cover all the bases, and make sure you have everything under control, Janet suggests that you make another foray into your imagination, this time putting yourself through a worst-case-scenario presentation. In this nightmare experience from hell you may have lost your notes, your laptop crashes, and the projector’s on the blink; suddenly you’re at a loss for words in front of an openly hostile audience. How do you cope with these setbacks, what do you do, how do you feel?

“Once you’ve analysed that hellish vision and incorporated any useful data from it into the real presentation, you are far les likely to be thrown off course during the real performance,” says Janet. “It also makes it unlikely that members of your audience will choose to visualize themselves anywhere but in your presence.”

Which is all good – and of course there’s another benefit: the next time your boss catches you daydreaming at your desk, you can, with a straight face, tell him or her that you’re actually hard at work on your next presentation.

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