Today I was included on BlogTalkRadio with Shamara Cox (Mitchell) and was asked about many things. The questions I thought I would be answering regarding taxes and accounting ended up being about business concepts and principles. I was asked questions that were all pertinent to operating and starting a small business but also about how to handle life with a business.
One of the questions was how do I do it? Meaning, how do I have a business and family? I giggled when I answered it because I realized how much of a non-expert I was feeling at the time. I answered with the concept we have been working toward in our workplace which goes much further than work life balance. It’s work life integration or really a ROWE (Results Only Work Environment).
Work life balance sounds so much like work is something that we fit our family around and that our family is second to work. Work life integration is inserting work into our normal ordinary life. In traditional work places our family and lives are not considered important. To many bosses your family obligations are a nuisance and take you away from your responsibilities on the job. What about your responsibilities to your kids and husband?
The concept of work-life balance was very popular when I started working in 2000 but there was something missing. The technology that was needed was very expensive and the idea of allowing your staff to work from home was almost unheard of. It was only for the elite people. Now, in the year 2012, we have inexpensive tools, our mobile phones, laptops and iPads are so powerful that we can work anywhere, anytime and with anyone, either local or from afar.
Work life integration has changed work from being a place we go to something we do and the technology needed is available at a much more reasonable cost. No longer is presence and indicator of work.
A shift to work life integration naturally becomes a results driven work environment. This is not easy but what I am finding is that defining the end result is the key to success. In the digital age, we have the capability to really have the work life integration or ROWE that we really desire and allow you some freedom to have a full life without limitations.
If you have any questions about how to integrate your life and work with the use of technology or just changing the design of your systems to enjoy a simpler life or more freedom in your business please email me at gluoma@gmlcpa.com and let me know.
I would love to do a blog post with just answers to questions like these.
