Tag: Open Office

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News You Can Use: 6/7/2017

  • How Amazon hopes to win the cloud by hiring older engineers

    In my own experience, AWS teams have a healthy mix of older and younger employees. Still, AWS leadership isn’t driven by millennials, but rather by graybeards (James Gosling, Adrian Cockcroft, Tim Bray, and Andi Gutmans are just a few people called out by Governor). Management at most companies will tend to skew a bit older, but AWS is notable for how those people are discovered. As Governor noted: “Some other older companies have older distinguished engineers because they grew up with the company. AWS is explicitly bringing that experience in.”

    http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-amazon-hopes-to-win-the-cloud-by-hiring-older-engineers/

  • Will basic income mean the end of work? Nope.

    In fact, some of this rhetoric could be missing the mark. The evidence from many trials of unconditional cash transfers, including basic income plans, finds little evidence that work (or the desire to work) disappears in conditions of free money. In almost all cases, giving people regular payments hasn’t dampened their thirst for employment. In fact, UBI is a bit like the lottery, says Ioana Marinescu, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, author of a recent paper looking at the relationship between cash transfers and behavior. We may imagine that lottery winners all decamp to Florida (or similar) and sit by the pool all day. Actually, most lottery winners keep clocking in (though presumably less despairingly than before).

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40423154/will-a-basic-income-mean-the-end-of-work-dont-get-too-excited

  • AI Can Now Self-Reproduce—Should Humans Be Worried?
  • Aecom and IBM create “scorecard” to help cities prepare for disasters

    The scorecard is structured around the UN’s 10 Essentials of Disaster Resilience, a list that enables city administrations to identify priorities for investment and to track progress over time. The goal is to guide cities towards optimal resilience by providing a set of assessments that cover the policy and planning, engineering, organisational, financial, social and environmental aspects of disaster resilience.

    http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/aecom-and-ibm-create-scorec7ard-he7lp-ci7es/

  • I just want to say one word to you: Data

    You need a strategy: Tom Choi, executive director of CAPS Research, said that as procurement managers are tasked with looking downstream for ways to add value to their customers, a digitized ecosystem is crucial for business success. At the same time, the upsurge of Big Data and analytics technology (there are something like 163 platforms that an organization could subscribe to for data) has been rapid and radical, especially the increase in unstructured data from social and media outlets that does not easily fit in a box. Choi’s advice: Create an analytics team; convert your data into a form you can use; and then launch small projects that work or fail quickly. Use those learnings to start again.

    http://www.scmr.com/article/i_just_want_to_say_one_word_to_you_data#When:14:30:00Z

Photo: Tony Lam Hoang

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News You Can Use: 5/31/2017

  • Twitter’s VP of Europe: The glorious open-plan office dream is dead

    One 2014 study found we’re 15% less productive in open-plan workspaces, we have more trouble concentrating and we’re twice as likely to get sick with no walls to stop the spread of coughs and illness.

    “We perceived offices as having hierarchy, the boss had a better office, but in fact the truth is that offices, cubicles and little spaces were far better for our productivity and for getting your job done,” Twitter’s vice president of Europe, Bruce Daisley, told The Memo.

    Open Offices exist due to cost:

    “There are two reasons why offices are open plan, one is that we ripped down the walls of hierarchy, but two is because it’s a lot cheaper. We can fit lots more people in open plan,” says Daisley.

    And, sadly, that’s the reason why open-plan is here to stay.

    https://www.thememo.com/2017/03/15/twitter-vp-of-europe-bruce-daisley-the-glorious-open-plan-office-dream-is-dead/

  • Comcast tries to shut down pro-net neutrality site

    Internet advocacy group, Fight for the Future, says Comcast sent it a cease-and-desist order demanding the group take down Comcastroturf.com on the grounds that it violates the company’s “valuable intellectual property.” The site appeals for help identifying what it claims are fraudulent comments posted on the FCC’s own site, supporting FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s plans to rollback net neutrality rules. Many comments have already been flagged as spam, or posted under people’s names without their permission. (It’s not the first time something like this has happened.)

    https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/24/comcast-tries-to-shut-down-pro-net-neutrality-site/

  • Why Controlling the Masses Through Media No Longer Works
  • IBM’s Remote Work Reversal Is A Losing Battle Against The New Normal

    In a study published in Harvard Business Review in 2014, remote workers proved both more productive and more loyal than their peers onsite. In fact, IBM’s recent policy switch goes against its own research. In both a 2014 white paper by IBM’s Smarter Workplace Institute and in a conference panel the company hosted just weeks ago, its own experts suggested that remote workers tend to be happier, less stressed, more productive, more engaged with their jobs and teams, and believe that their companies are more innovative as a result of flexible work arrangements.

    At a time when smaller cities and rural areas are struggling, it’s backward-looking for a major corporation–especially one with such deep experience in remote work–to implement a policy that could take jobs away from regions that need them most. By demanding its employees flock to IBM’s urban headquarters, the company isn’t just sapping everyplace else of highly skilled talent, it’s also contributing to depopulating the communities where those remote workers live, and depressing local economies as a result.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40423083/ibms-remote-work-reversal-is-a-losing-battle-against-the-new-normal

  • Hedge funds vs. Silicon Valley

    “At tech companies, the permeating value is that they’re about trying to make the world a better place, whereas at hedge funds it’s about making more money,” Mr. Epstein said.

    Nina Kuklisova, a quantitative associate at a large financial-services firm in New York, said she gets between three and five inquiries a week from recruiters about job opportunities at other finance firms and technology companies. The 27-year-old, while not actively looking for a job, said she is open to switching to the tech sector. However, negative feedback from friends employed in tech gives her pause.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/battle-royale-hedge-funds-vs-silicon-valley-1495637466

Photo: Khachik Simonian

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News You Can Use: 10/26/2016

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  • The Sobering Stats You Need to Know When Seeking Your Next Job

    Don’t be discouraged by the “one-in-100” stat. According to Lever’s breakdown, your best bet is to be referred to a new company. Referred candidates have a one-in-16 chance of getting hired. Using a third-party agency can also better your odds — those submitted by an agency have a one-in-22 chance of being placed. Whatever you do though, forget about applying through a company’s careers site: only one in 152 candidates gets hired this way.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/283338
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  • Applying Deep Machine Learning to Spend Analysis

    Not only can its deep machine learning identify tail spend suppliers, company specific categories, and even individual items coded in obscure ways, but it can learn over time and adapt to different data models, especially since it can use evolving knowledge bases. Whereas the majority of first generation classifiers used naive statistical classification that could not learn and had to map to a fixed (UNSPSC) model, Spend360′s uses deep machine learning (based on LSTM and encoder/decoder technology) that maps to custom data models using extensible knowledge bases (which can be created and maintained by the organization) that can encode organization and industry specific knowledge (and negate the need for custom mappings or override rules).

    http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2016/10/14/spend360-applying-deep-machine-learning-to-spend-analysis/

  • In buyers’ market, acquirers look to lock in management teams longer

    Steve Fletcher, a managing director at the global investment bank GCA, notes that it’s “hard to say” whether it’s universally the case that management teams are getting locked into longer contracts with acquirers in this market. “I don’t think anyone has a large enough sample size to say that,” he notes. But he adds that of the deals he is seeing, there is a move to sign on incoming talent for a longer period, sometimes “three or four years as opposed to [the previous standard of] 18 to 24 months.”

    https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/06/in-buyers-market-acquirers-look-to-lock-in-management-teams-longer/?ncid=rss

  • A Reminder From Mark Zuckerberg: ‘Put People First’

    Zuckerberg explained that the way in which tech tools are structured today — as suites of apps — will not last long into the future. When a group of people is communicating or working together, they often toggle between a chat app, a video call and a shared document interface, for instance. The need to switch from one app to another doesn’t produce a seamless experience, and it makes each interface the focus, as opposed to the people working within it.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/283433
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  • IT moves to open workspaces, but not everyone is happy

    What’s needed, both sides agree, is a range of workspace options that address organizational goals while still meeting employees’ needs — meaning physical space that allows for private meetings and quiet concentration in addition to community seating. Even more important: Corporate culture likewise has to value collaboration and innovation if IT organizations are to truly reap the benefits of open space.

    http://www.computerworld.com/article/3127789/it-management/it-moves-to-open-workspaces-but-not-everyone-is-happy.html

Photo: Paul Gilmore

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News You Can Use: 7/20/2016

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  • How To Use A Mass Exodus At Your Company To Advance Your Career

    Taking on new or more challenging work. “If there are projects you would like to pitch in on because it would be rewarding or enhance your skill set, this could be a time to do that,” she says. And now you can make a strong case for why you’re up for the task.

    After all, you may have some more leverage than you did beforehand—at least of a certain sort. “If people are leaving,” Crawford says, “they kind of need all hands on deck. That would be one more positive way to get your fingers in more areas you may not have otherwise.”

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3061287/hit-the-ground-running/how-to-use-a-mass-exodus-at-your-company-to-advance-your-career

  • How To Stop Checking Email On Vacation

    If you’re finding it hard to refrain from email, set “unplugging goals,” suggests Gabby Burlacu, human capital management researcher at the software company SAP SuccessFactors. “Learning to completely unplug from work takes time and focus,” she says. “Finding hobbies or activities while you’re on vacation and making a commitment to solely focus on those while you are engaged in them can go a long way.”

    It can also be helpful if you sort email, says Webb. He takes 10 minutes a day, while he’s waiting at the airport or riding in a cab, to filter email into the folders he set up before he left: “Action Required,” “File,” and “Read Later.”

    “I don’t respond to messages while on vacation, unless I feel it’s imperative,” he says. “I simply process the emails for action upon my return.”

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3061451/how-to-stop-checking-email-on-vacation

  • Creative Office Design Won’t Make You Better At Your Job, But This Might

    Del Toro found this reassuring. The employee hadn’t asked permission to move the furniture, but the fact that she had done so anyway pointed to a feature of ViaSat’s work environment that no designer can account for directly—its culture, which prizes curiosity and the freedom to find alternative ways of doing things on your own initiative. That couch still sits by the window. It’s already the most popular space for people to meet. But del Toro won’t be surprised or perturbed if somebody six or 12 months from now moves it someplace else.

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3061170/the-future-of-work/creative-office-design-wont-make-you-better-at-your-job-but-this-might
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  • Tensions rise over LTE using Wi-Fi channels

    Unlicensed LTE is designed to give mobile operators more spectrum to work with as they try to serve subscribers in crowded places. Verizon, T-Mobile USA and other carriers have talked about rolling it out as soon as the end of this year.

    But some backers of Wi-Fi, including the Alliance, have said LTE-U could make it hard for wireless LAN users to get a packet in edgewise. Fans of the new technology, including Qualcomm, say it won’t add any more interference than a new Wi-Fi access point would.

    http://www.cio.com/article/3088987/tensions-rise-over-lte-using-wi-fi-channels.html

  • The Skills It Takes To Get Hired At Google, Facebook, Amazon, And More

    Four things: General cognitive ability . . . Not just raw [intelligence] but the ability to absorb information. Emergent leadership: The idea there being that when you see a problem, you step in and try to address it. Then you step out when you’re no longer needed. That willingness to give up power is really important. Cultural fit: We call it Googleyness, but it boils down to intellectual humility. You don’t have to be warm or fuzzy. You just have to be somebody who, when the facts show you’re wrong, can say that. Expertise in the job we’re gonna hire you for.

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3061237/the-skills-it-takes-to-get-hired-at-google-facebook-amazon-and-more

Photo: Martina Misar-Tummeltshammer

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Productivity Bulletin: 1/02/2015

Photo: Sean MacEntee, Flickr