Published on Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007
THOUGHT you could use your iPod only to listen to music or see videos. You have another thing coming as the personal entertainment device just turned more functional when your back was turned.
Lo and behold, there is no longer any need to hide your iPod ear buds from your boss. In fact, he may actually encourage you to use it or even gift you one too.
Incredible, but true! Employers exasperated with employees tuning into their `distracting' iPods while working, have shrewdly turned the tables on the workforce. They offset the inexorable addiction by pitching these digital media players for work-related purposes.
Fascinatingly, following the likes of cell phones and Blackberries, the latest technological fad is making quick inroads into the place of work once again. Podcasting gains business value as companies exploit them to circulate information among their staff. They distribute free iPods pre-loaded with health-care information, security tips, sales support or recorded instructions (especially for telecommuters). They can create online podcasts of anything from project details, minutes of meetings and interview transcripts to messages from the CEO for employees to download.
This miniature hand-held device can play digital audio or video files and is easy to carry to factory floors, corner offices and even while working out or waiting in a queue. So, instead of spending additional time tied to their desks, employees can see/hear essential data while on the move. Similarly, salespeople can brush up their product knowledge or even receive offer/price/discount updates while meeting customers.
Above all, the iPod's role in skill updating and training goes unchallenged. Managers upload educative material in audio or video modules, which employees can access at their convenience - while driving, commuting, jogging, gymming or relaxing. Such anytime, anywhere `training courses' are a refreshing change from the monotonous traditional classrooms, boring lectures and dry textbooks, thus making the learning interesting even while freeing up company time. Moreover, unlike traditional textbooks, iPod content can be customised to better fit the learning objectives of the employee and/or company.
As Anjali Athavaley of the Wall Street Journal
explicates in `The Boss Puts the iPod to Work', `When Gaddis Rathel needed to learn Spanish for his job, his boss gave him an unusual tool to help: a black video Apple iPod, preloaded with language lessons'.
Mr. Rathel is not the only such recipient. Various companies like manufacturers, health-care suppliers, fast food chains, financial service providers, BPOs and computer electronics retailers are doling out iPods to their rank and file in order to relay the company pitch or financial results too.
As Sue Sonday, a project manager at a top financial-services company says, `I took a company-sponsored leadership and management course and listened to the materials a few times a week while on the elliptical machine at the gym. Instead of tuning in to my usual fare on the radio, I would listen to the materials in the car by connecting the iPod to the car stereo.'
Changing the workplace settings:
The iPod can be tremendously valuable as a powerful performance tool in the workplace if used properly. Though the young generation is iPod-savvy, the older lot may need initial assistance till they learn to navigate the new device.
Again, `inviting' iPod pursuit into the workplace necessitates certain leniency over its ubiquitous usage too. However, companies should review current policies to establish and enforce general workplace rules governing the use of portable electronic devices.
Lo and behold, there is no longer any need to hide your iPod ear buds from your boss. In fact, he may actually encourage you to use it or even gift you one too.
Incredible, but true! Employers exasperated with employees tuning into their `distracting' iPods while working, have shrewdly turned the tables on the workforce. They offset the inexorable addiction by pitching these digital media players for work-related purposes.
Fascinatingly, following the likes of cell phones and Blackberries, the latest technological fad is making quick inroads into the place of work once again. Podcasting gains business value as companies exploit them to circulate information among their staff. They distribute free iPods pre-loaded with health-care information, security tips, sales support or recorded instructions (especially for telecommuters). They can create online podcasts of anything from project details, minutes of meetings and interview transcripts to messages from the CEO for employees to download.
This miniature hand-held device can play digital audio or video files and is easy to carry to factory floors, corner offices and even while working out or waiting in a queue. So, instead of spending additional time tied to their desks, employees can see/hear essential data while on the move. Similarly, salespeople can brush up their product knowledge or even receive offer/price/discount updates while meeting customers.
Above all, the iPod's role in skill updating and training goes unchallenged. Managers upload educative material in audio or video modules, which employees can access at their convenience - while driving, commuting, jogging, gymming or relaxing. Such anytime, anywhere `training courses' are a refreshing change from the monotonous traditional classrooms, boring lectures and dry textbooks, thus making the learning interesting even while freeing up company time. Moreover, unlike traditional textbooks, iPod content can be customised to better fit the learning objectives of the employee and/or company.
As Anjali Athavaley of the Wall Street Journal
explicates in `The Boss Puts the iPod to Work', `When Gaddis Rathel needed to learn Spanish for his job, his boss gave him an unusual tool to help: a black video Apple iPod, preloaded with language lessons'.
Mr. Rathel is not the only such recipient. Various companies like manufacturers, health-care suppliers, fast food chains, financial service providers, BPOs and computer electronics retailers are doling out iPods to their rank and file in order to relay the company pitch or financial results too.
As Sue Sonday, a project manager at a top financial-services company says, `I took a company-sponsored leadership and management course and listened to the materials a few times a week while on the elliptical machine at the gym. Instead of tuning in to my usual fare on the radio, I would listen to the materials in the car by connecting the iPod to the car stereo.'
Changing the workplace settings:
The iPod can be tremendously valuable as a powerful performance tool in the workplace if used properly. Though the young generation is iPod-savvy, the older lot may need initial assistance till they learn to navigate the new device.
Again, `inviting' iPod pursuit into the workplace necessitates certain leniency over its ubiquitous usage too. However, companies should review current policies to establish and enforce general workplace rules governing the use of portable electronic devices.
PAYAL CHANANIA
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