Send them home

The City of Ottawa is spending $20 million on information-technology upgrades, over the next four years, to allow almost 2,000 of its employees to work remotely. At first glance, this might look like a costly perk for some public servants at taxpayers' expense. It isn't. The benefits, to the municipal public service, and to the city at large, could be substantial.

What about your organisation?
How much could you save in office space, supplies and services if some of your employees worked from home?

Try not to mortgage the future

"Individual expenditure not only rises to meet income, but tends to surpass it"  C. Northcote Parkinson.

If you give employees opportunities to borrow off tomorrow's wages, they usually will.  After all, why shouldn't they get the highest standard of living they can?

The trouble is that those debts catch up with them  - financially and often emotionally.

So, be wary of allowing your employees to mortgage their future ability and effort to today's rewards.

Good decision, Bad timing

Europe generally, and the UK in particular, seem to have decided that wind energy is the future .. just at the time that climate change seems to have resulted in the lowest winds on record for many years.

This just serves as a reminder that there are good decisions and bad decisions .. but sometimes the only difference is the timing.

So next time you have an important decision to make, think about whether NOW is the time to make it ... and the consequences of waiting too long before you take it.

Running to Success

Singapore Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong recently suggested that there is only one real solution to maintaining economic growth. 

Likening it to a race, he said it was not possible to eliminate other competitors or set rules to disallow others from running faster. Instead, the way to get ahead in the income race is through hard training and with good running shoes.


This applies to your organisation. Your competitors are running .. .so you'd better make sure you (and your employees) are as fit as your competitors are ... and that you have the right shoes on.  


Of course in a long race, tactics can also play a part.  You want to win the race, not put in a fast lap time in the middle.


So get your strategy right, then your tactical plans. Make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do ... and that they are trained and equipped to do it.  Then set them running.