Workplace Engineering

On vacation until August 21st.

Liam Tung reports in CNET on August 14 that HSBC may be considering an iPhone fleet:

Global banking giant HSBC is considering ditching the BlackBerry and adopting Apple’s iPhone as its standard staff mobile device, a move that could result in an order for some 200,000 iPhones

Although he goes onto write that HSBC state the decision has a fairly low priority at present and it is part of normal business to evaluate different technologies, it is pretty telling that a large financial institution would even consider switching.

One of the things that HSBC (and Apple) would need to consider is how would Apple deal with a batch order for so many phones? Even for a company of Apple’s size and considerable supply chain management skills, this would be a huge order with some pretty tight service level agreements.

Time is getting so scarce that we are even figuring out how to multi-task exercise with desk or computer work. Some of the most prolific bloggers are members of the Working While Walking movement and some of the major furniture manufacturers are bringing the movement to the corporate world. Here is Steelcase’s one in action at the Dallas showroom.

Steelcase Walkstation in action

Personally, I prefer to use a rowing machine or an elliptical to work out. They don’t quite work so well!

Dell has launched a new site focused on Digital Nomads with the pitch that….

In the Connected Era, Digital Nomads will Rule - Redefining productivity - placeshifting and timeshifting. Their devices won’t wait to connect - they will simply be connected. Always. Everywhere. Business as usual will become business unusual.

It’s early days and there is some interesting stuff in there. There are some pitches for Dell technology, but it isn’t too blatant. This and other sites like Web Worker Daily give great insight into how mobile bedouins and all the other terms the new workforce is called do business and the moves corporate employers are going to have to make to support their workforce.

Just had one of those experiences emphasizing the need to be careful where you have your “confidential” conversations. I’m sat in my favorite coffee shop in downtown Richmond listening to a real estate broker pitching his business to a prospect. Within earshot of the entire coffee shop he:

• named his company (that’s fine)
• called all his competitors unethical (not so cool)
• boasted that to get a deal, if he doesn’t know the answer he’ll just BS (whoa!)

I felt like asking him who he worked for (although, like the rest of the place, I already knew) and letting him know that he had done me a great service by allowing me to take him off any list of potential partners and that I would be sure to tell the many people I know in real estate in Richmond that this guy shouldn’t be trusted.

Now, I’m sure he was just showing off and letting his mouth run away from him and I could give the benefit of the doubt that he really doesn’t mean half of it. Unfortunately, the reputation stakes are often higher in public than in private. I wish I’d realized that when I was out on the town in my student years, but that’s another story.

It’s a great example of the need to be careful about what is said and the volume used in public if you want to keep your reputation and the reputation of your employer/partners intact.

If you’re in downtown Richmond, Virginia and are looking for great coffee and a place to work or hang out, Shockoe Espresso should be high on your list. I’m sat here drinking a nice strong latte, eating a bran muffin that tastes like it may actually be home-made and happily catching up before going to meet our software developers.

It’s just around the corner from the Martin Agency on Cary Street. They’ve done a great job creating multiple settings with an old tobacco warehouse vibe. There are a couple of couches in the back corners, some tables between for hanging out, a bar area wide enough to read the paper and a line of cafe tables with conveniently placed power outlets for the local web-worker.

My business partner, John, and I are in Richmond, Virginia this week with our software developers getting our new business performance management tool finished off and ready for beta. While we are using an Agile approach we all realize that we need a bit of space at times and Shockoe Espresso fits the bill nicely.

According to Phill Martin, deputy chief executive of the National Association of Church Business Administration in Richardson, Texas, church administration is a critical. If you thought keeping track of employees, partners, customers and vendors was difficult for a firm, think of the mega churches. Angela Shah in the Dallas Morning News, Sunday August 10, gives an amazing insight into the challenges of managing the congregation of mega churches and a company, Fellowship Technologies, that has grown up to meet that challenge.

According to Shah, 5,000 children attend the children’s ministry at Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano and families check in at 32 kiosks. In addition to attendance management, Fellowship technologies measures the kind of metrics that tell the church how involved their congregation is with the church. Many of the companies us consumers, employees and partners deal with have Business Intelligence and CRM systems. How many of us have a relationship that even comes close to the one these churches are able to achieve?

I do recognize the irony that the focus of this blog is the workplace; that the first post would be on a Sunday and the story a vaguely religious theme.