Act Utilitarianism is used to judge every situation individually and without regards to the wider view of community. Within this premise the path of action that would bring about the greatest good to the most number of people in that specific situation would be followed -allowing every action to be judged within its own circumstances and merits and thus creating a flexible ethical theory for how to deal with everyday situations.

Situation Ethics looks at what is the most loving thing to do in any given situation. It looks to the teachings of Jesus to decide what actions must be taken and states that there is no absolute moral law save for love. This love is all-deciding and is always the right course of action even if this goes against scripture or the specific laws of a culture or country. Every situation is also treated separately so that the reason of love can be applied individually.

If we apply these general rules to a situation such as voluntary euthanasia we can see how different conclusions can be drawn.

The term voluntary euthanasia refers to a form of assisted suicide where an individual asks for assistance in ending their own life, for example, when their quality of life has fallen so low (or is predicted to decline) they see death as a better option that continuing to live, but perhaps lack the physical means to perform the act themselves. They may choose instead to ask for help from a doctor or a family member. This is illegal in this country (the UK) but permitted under strict criteria in places such as Switzerland and the Netherlands. This can mean that people will travel abroad to seek help for an act that is against the law here.
Someone following Act Utilitarianism (or Situation Ethics) will look at each individual case and decide based on those key factors present within the specific case what the best course of action is to take. An Act Utilitarian will be seeking to bring about the most utility for the greatest number, so will not only take into account the happiness of the patient but also everyone else involved, including family members, friends and the doctors and other medical staff concerned. Taking this into account, the patients themselves are of little importance in the decision when following Act Utilitarianism, which is in every case, is concerned with the majority as opposed to the minority standpoint.

If, for example, a young mother with a family decided that she wished for assistance to end her life and her suffering after being diagnosed with cancer, it is very unlikely that an Act Utilitarian would permit this. Not only would her family suffer greatly in her sudden passing, but it would also put a strain on the doctors who would have to perform the euthanasia – perhaps going outside the law to perform the act. However, if it were a terminally ill old man it is likely that he would be allowed to die, as he would have fewer family members and this death would be less against the norms of nature due to his age. The hospital budget, too, would be being forced to spend a great deal on his health care – money that could help far more people if put to a better use, as well as saving medical resources for others.
Someone taking a Situation Ethics perspective will already believe that all life is sacred and a gift from God. Murder will be considered wrong in most situations, but again if it can be shown as the most loving thing to do then that is finally decided as the right decision, regardless of legality. If a patient then was in so much pain that they no longer wanted to live, the most loving thing to do would (most likely) be to allow them to die a quick and painless death rather than continue on in suffering. Similarly to utilitarianism, the views of others involved will also be taken into account, though there is much less chance of a ‘tyranny of the majority’ circumstance taking place. Overall then whereas Act Utilitarianism and Situational Ethics are both case based the focus differs in where the utility lies whether for the individual or in the majority as in Act Utilitarianism.

One of the primary implications of a well-organized / good website is to keep your visitors in the website. A website is definitely created for a purpose, unless intended for personal use, which is the minority. For example, a portfolio website would want to be visited and its content viewed. For companies and internet businesses, your website certainly aims to provide product information, to make sales, or somewhat similar. However, most individuals undoubtedly prefer visually captivating designs, so on and so forth. It is undeniable that this causes no harm, but one must put himself/herself in other people’s shoes, as to understand how a visitor to the website might think, do and react.

Navigation

A web designer has to learn how to think the way your visitors think for example of the following 2 scenarios:

Situation A: Website with good navigation (2-3 hyperlinks to target page), well planned in terms of placement, and design.

Situation B: Website with poor navigation (takes forever for the visitor to reach his/her target page), hard-to-read navigation fonts and poor placement of the navigation buttons/bar.

In Situation A, a visitor will always want to be able to access his/her target page. For example, the individual comes across your website, and is interested in the product sold, but wants to find more information. He/she finds the navigation with no trouble, and enters the particular product information page.

As for Situation B, a visitor stumbles into the website, and would also like to find out more information about the product. Unfortunately, due to bad placement and fanciful font-types, the visitor takes forever, or even fails to find the navigation bar. Even when he/she does so, links to the product information are nowhere to be found, (example : home > about > products > product image > etc.[a few more clicks] > product information ).

Analysis: In both situations, wouldn’t a website with characteristics similar to the Situation A be more rewarding ergo better?

I was reading in the outsourcing trade press this week about the political debate in the US about job losses in the outsourcing market. The debate centres around one of the most vexing questions in the outsourcing market as to whether outsourcing, or more specifically off-shoring, creates or destroys jobs in the outsourcing home country. This furore is particularly felt in the US where a political backlash threatens to develop that may result in government measures to remove some or all of the advantages of outsourcing – such as denial of tax relief on expenses as one example.

The problem is particularly acute if we consider off-shoring where the jobs in the home country are transferred to a receiving country such as India. And as a result the jobs disappear in the host country and those people in the US are let go. So what is the truth in all this and what factors are at play when we consider work restructuring due to outsourcing?

There have been several attempts to justify job losses by recourse to ideas that outsourcing actually creates more jobs than are lost – ergo we threaten this process by any talk of protectionist actions. Although there is no evidence base for any of these ideas they are starting to gain traction as the industry fights back to try and extinguish any legislative activity that may restrict their current free rein.

The arguments seem to boil down to three main points:

• The savings yielded by outsourcing leads to higher investment in the business and as a result further job opportunities are created.
• The inward investment in the offshore country increases their standard of living and the demand for American goods and services which leads to increases employment in the US.
• Any form of protectionism (or legal protection) acts to increase employment expenses and thus to reduce employment opportunities.

Is there anything in these points?

The main problem with the first one is the assumption that outsourcing yields value at anything like 50% as claimed by some writers that can be invested per se. As an example I attended a recent conference in London where it was revealed (from a large scale European survey) that although around 60% of outsourcing organisations claimed some financial savings of these only around a quarter had any idea how this was measured – the rest had no way of assessing success and had no clue where or if this was done in their organisation. This means only15% of organisations can state that they have achieved any savings with any surety. Other researchers and consultancies have also shown that getting any benefit from outsourcing is proving to be a surprising intractable nut to crack – so where’s the money coming from for this investment?

Secondly all of the main offshore countries are notoriously closed as far as inward business is concerned – we have been hearing for years these potential advantages in the UK but we have yet to make any real impression in business terms in the very protected markets in Asia. In the UK we send unemployed princes on foreign trade missions that seem to yield very little of substance and just involve giving away our technology at knock down prices. American trade missions have had little more success and you don’t have princes with time on their hands! Furthermore, the idea that Indian sweat shop workers are queuing to buy American high tech goods is fanciful at least.

Lastly employment law and protectionism are stated to be one of the core reasons preventing job creation. Any restriction on the ability of businesses to move employment from one place to another or to offer any protection as far as workplace rights or working practices is seen as an anathema and opposed by recourse to a ‘jobs being destroyed’ rhetoric. From this perspective outsourcing is seen as an efficiency mechanism acting on employment cost – and the target (of the outsource) depends entirely on where the cost advantages lies at a point in time whether in the US or not. Thus if used correctly outsourcing can allow cost advantage to be maintained over time by switching between suppliers. It is in affect a re-working of the investment idea where the removal of all restrictions on organisations to do what they want can facilitate job creation.

My take on this is that job losses are inevitable in outsourcing but the problem is it is a particular type of loss that occurs and is felt differently across society. It is the entry level IT jobs, lower skilled activities, voice services or manual production tasks that are going offshore – and they are not being replaced like for like. What this means is that specific sectors of our society are being affected and their ability to make a living stopped by outsourcing – it is their jobs that are going offshore. Jobs that used to be for high school graduates or those less successful in education or could only work part-time are going and are not being replaced. So our fundamental question is are we happy with this – is it justice?

It strikes me that the arguments for or against employment losses misses out on another fundamental aspect – the experience of outsourcing of those who go through it. Loss of identity, stress, and feelings of powerlessness occur all to frequently when we carry out an outsource badly. One of the key points about this type of employment structuring is it acts to move workers from the primary sector to the secondary sector. In the secondary service sector employment tends to be fragmented, short term with wages set by the market and overall is much less secure. All this acts to make the experience of work much more instrumental and tightly controlled and denies people any of the positive aspects of work.

We must do better than this. People do want to do a good job, be loyal, and serve customers well – and be rewarded and treated fairly for doing so. Outsourcing is unstoppable but it is controllable for the better good of our society.

REM

Spyware is one of the fastest-growing internet threats and I have had several nasty incidents of infection of my PC’s with this sort of malware. According to many sources spyware infects up to 80-90% of all PCs. These unobtrusive, malicious programs are designed to bypass firewalls and anti-virus software without the user’s knowledge and install themselves. Once embedded in a computer they wreak havoc on the system’s performance while gathering your personal information.

How do these programs get in?

Typically a PC gets infected with spyware in three ways:

• Downloading a free ware program or file from sharing site.
• Pop ups asking you to optimize some feature of your PC like security.
• Attack programs on websites that are designed to force an installation.

The most common way is when the user installs it. In this scenario, spyware is embedded, attached, or bundled with a freeware or shareware program. The user downloads the program to their computer along with the file (often pirated music or files). Once downloaded, the spyware program gets to work collecting data for the spyware author’s personal use or to sell to a third-party. Beware of many Peer2Peer file-sharing programs – they are notorious for downloads that possess spyware programs.

The user of any downloadable program should pay extra attention to the accompanying licensing agreement. Often the software publisher will warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested program – Microsoft do this with their spyware called Genuine Advantage which checks your installed Microsoft components for pirated copies. Unfortunately, we do not always take the time to read the fine print – particularly if it is several pages long. Some agreements may provide special ‘opt-out’ boxes that the user can click to stop the spyware from being included in the download but you have to look carefully for these.

Another way that spyware can access your computer is by tricking you into manipulating the security features designed to prevent any unwanted installations. The IE browser was designed to prevent websites starting any unwanted downloads automatically. That is why the user has to initiate a download by clicking on a link. However these links can prove very easy to hijack, for example, a pop-up modeled after a standard Windows dialog box, may appear on your screen. The message may ask you if you would like to optimize your internet access – a popular trick. It provides yes or no answer buttons, but no matter which button you push, a download containing the spyware program will start. This is how Antivirus 2010 gets in for example. Newer versions of Internet Explorer are now making this spyware pathway a little bit more difficult but it seems to me that these types of program have little difficulty in getting past these security patches and I had one case where even Symantec offered no protection to these types of attack.

Finally, some spyware applications infect a system by attacking security holes in the Web browser or other software. When the user navigates a webpage controlled by a spyware author, the page contains code designed to attack the browser, and force the installation of the spyware program.

What can spyware programs do?

Spyware programs can accomplish a multitude of malicious tasks. Some of their deeds are simply annoying for the user; others can become downright aggressive in nature.

Spyware can:

• Monitor your keystrokes for reporting purposes and track your browsing activity
• Snoop through applications on our desktop – like Microsoft!
• Steal credit card numbers, passwords, and other personal information.
• They often do not provide the user with an uninstall option and places itself in unexpected or hidden places within your computer making it difficult to remove. Many times you have to dive into the registry to remove them – not a trivial task!
• Deceptive functionality. Spyware often uses a classic ‘Trojan horse’ tactics like a virus. It can offer to synchronize your PC’s clock or keep track of forms then get to work in the background on more interesting tasks.
• Hijack your Home page. Did you ever find that your home page was changed, or have you discovered new sites in favorites that you didn’t add?
• Loss of privacy. Some spyware keeps track of the web sites you visit and sends that information back to the spyware vendor. Do you want to tell everyone what naughty sites you have visited?
• Even more advertising by delivering annoying pop up advertisements. Did you install a popup stopper but you are still getting popups? The ads you are getting may not be from the web site you are on but from spyware.
• Stolen advertising – instead of showing the ads that should appear on a web site, some spyware substitutes its own ads which can rob a web site of revenue.
• Reduced performance by useing up system resources, CPU time, memory, disk space, and bandwidth, making your system slower.
• System instability – most spyware isn’t very well tested or debugged the result can be system crashes, hangs, or other strange behavior.
• Security risks. Some spyware has a built-in update feature that lets the spyware maker download and install new code to your system without your knowledge or approval.

Here are a few examples of commonly seen spyware programs:

CoolWebSearch – a set of programs that install through ‘holes’ found in Internet Explorer. These programs direct traffic to advertisements on Web sites including coolwebsearch.com. This spyware nuisance displays pop-up ads, rewrites search engine results, and alters the computer host file to direct the Domain Name System (DNS) to lookup preselected sites.
Internet Optimizer – redirects Internet Explorer error pages to advertisements. When the user follows the broken link or enters an erroneous URL, a page of advertisements pop up.
180 Solutions reports extensive information to advertisers about the Web sites which you visit. It also alters HTTP requests for affiliate advertisements linked from a Web site therefore the 180 Solutions Company makes an unearned profit off of the click through advertisements they’ve altered.
HuntBar (WinTools) or Adware. Websearch, is distributed by Traffic Syndicate and is installed by ActiveX drive-by downloading at affiliate websites or by advertisements displayed by other spyware programs. It’s a prime example of how spyware can install more spyware. These programs will add toolbars to Internet Explorer, track Web browsing behavior, and display advertisements.
Some more to be aware of:
Gator (GAIN)
180search Assistant
ISTbar/AUpdate
Transponder (vx2)
BlazeFind
Hot as Hell
Advanced Keylogger
TIBS Dialer

How can I prevent spyware?

There are a couple things you can do to prevent spyware from infecting your computer system. First, invest in a reliable commercial anti-spyware program. There are several currently on the market including stand alone software packages I recommend Enigma software package as I used it once to successfully remove antivirus2009 when it got past Symantec on my daughter’s PC – link is here take a look: http://www.enigmasoftware.com/ Other options provide the anti-spyware software as part of an anti-virus package. This type of option is offered by companies such as Sophos, Symantec, and McAfee but they are not optimized to deal with this threat and I think offer poor protection. As with most programs update your anti virus software often as there are thousands of new versions coming out almost every day.

As discussed, the Internet Explorer (IE) is often a contributor to the spyware problem because spyware programs like to attach themselves to its functionality – spyware enjoys penetrating the IE’s weaknesses. Because of this, many users have switched to non-IE browsers like Firefox that seems a little more secure. However, if you prefer to stick with Internet Explorer, be sure to update the security patches regularly every Tuesday and only download programs from reputable sources and never engage in download sites whose specialty is pirated software or content you are certain to be infected.

When people think about the Internet, they think about technology – but the most intriguing aspect of your online business isn’t about the technology. It’s about human connections, and how you can create these in a virtual environment. It’s commonly understood that ‘people buy emotionally, not intellectually.’ Even when people think they’re making a rational decision, powerful subconscious factors come into play. To sell effectively, we’re told to anticipate our customers’ needs, to demonstrate that we ‘feel their pain’, and to respond to clues in their body language and tone of voice.

For the online visitor, your Website is the next best thing to that in-person conversation with you, your colleagues or employees. And since so many people are researching products and services on the Web, it’s critical that your site has maximum impact in persuading them to take the next step with you.

• So how does your Website connect emotionally with your visitors?
• Do they feel listened to, understood and appreciated by your Internet presence?
• Are you instinctively meeting their real needs?
• Do your existing customers feel supported and valued when interacting with you online?
• Are you failing to evoke the crucial emotional responses which can significantly enhance your response rates, sales and ongoing return on your Web investment?

What are the key emotions that you need to evoke in your online visitors to create and sustain a profitable relationship with them. How well your Website does this can have a major effect on the visceral, instinctive reactions of your visitors, and their propensity to buy from or connect with you.

When we talk with customers or prospects, it’s important to show very quickly that we understand their issues and needs, and that we have ideas and solutions to address these. The most important task for your home page is to accomplish this initial introduction. You’ve heard the ‘ten-second’ rule about how long a visitor will stay on a site that doesn’t engage them.

• So, does your home page really tell me what you do?
• Does it speak to me in specific terms that make very clear what services you provide?
• What type of customers or clients you work with?
• Does it use language that I’ll understand even if I don’t know the jargon of your industry or specialization?

Yes sounds simple doesn’t it?

But there are astounding numbers of Websites that fail to provide basic information on the home page.

• If your goal is to get the customer to visit your store, does your home page clearly show your location?
• … and how to get there?
• Every time you force the visitor to make a decision, such as ‘Do I click on the Contact Us page to find their address?’, you open up the possibility that they’ll make the wrong choice, or worse still, they’ll just leave.
• Is it clear to me whether you can – or would want to – help me?
• Are you geared towards corporate bulk buyers, or small businesses, or both?
• Do you operate nationally or only in your immediate location?
• Will your visitors know what you mean by generic terms such as ‘business systems’ or ‘total business solutions’ or should you be more specific as to what you offer?
• Do I Feel Engaged as a website visitor?
• Your Website has to make the visitor feel drawn in – that they want to know more about your business, your products and your services – but again, from the viewpoint of their needs and interests. And you have to give the visitor a clear sense that you want to find those points of connection, and to learn more about them. If the visitor doesn’t feel invited in, if they feel left to themselves to find their way around – if they’re overwhelmed, confused, or simply not interested in your site, they’ll leave.

Think about whether:

• Your site present a bewildering array of manufacturers, products, or options without any guidance as to selecting from these?
• Think about the conversation that you’d have with a customer if this were a real store.
• If you were in a store and were looking for something you’d ask the store assistent – so how can you mirror this process online?
• Do you have ‘Help Me’ pages that guides visitors through some Frequently Asked Questions or other choices?
• Do you provide links to recommended products based on their answers.
• You could incorporate an interactive chat facility with a customer service agent during office hours, or access to a searchable knowledge base.
• Do your customers feel convinced by your website? Visitors seeing your business for the first time need to be comfortable that you are who you say you are, and that you can deliver what you promise.
• Are you anonymous – one of the most important elements in establishing this part of the connection is to show the ‘faces’ of your business. Have you noticed how many Websites don’t name any of their owners, or the people that customers will interact with?
• It’s much easier to have a conversation when I know who I’m talking to! Customer testimonials and other third-party endorsements are critical elements in establishing trust – they say far more about you than your own marketing statements. How many sites have we all seen that trumpet ‘nationally recognized’ or ‘premier provider…’? Prove it! Include client quotes and success stories right across your site where they’re front and center as visitors are engaged in your content. If you win an award, tell the visitor what that means for them in terms of how you were evaluated.
• Do I feel motivated to take action? With and online visitor we need to persuade them to buy something, or to tell us who they are, and give us permission to reconnect with them. Too many Web pages tail off with no call to action or directions about where to go next.

So at every point on every page where the visitor might be thinking ‘Tell me more’, or ‘How do I get this?’, provide a clickable link to the next step, to your shopping cart, to your newsletter subscription page, or to whatever you want them to do. Don’t wait until the end of the page – they may never get there! Look for the emotional ‘tipping points’ on every page where they’re ready to talk more with you and grab them in the moment!

Diluting the Connection Of course, it’s all too easy to undo all the good feeling that we create by frustrating or annoying the visitor, or simply by giving them a dead end. One of my favorite bugbears is the site search engine that allows me to enter my query, and then tells me ‘No results found. Please try again with different search terms’. How is that supposed to make me feel? What was wrong with my keywords or my parameters if the search page allowed me to select them? Am I being stupid? Or do you really not want to help me? Your visitor is clearly looking for something, and has taken a step towards connecting with you. So how about a results page that lets them know that you can’t immediately answer their question, but offers a link to your contact form so that they can send a question, or some tips or suggestions on how to find more information.

So how ‘Emotionally Connected’ is your Website? I hope that I’ve sparked your curiosity enough to take a fresh look at your Website. Think about specifically why visitors are coming to your site, what might be on their minds, and review your copy and navigation accordingly. Think about new customers and existing ones, employees, media – everyone who might have a reason to visit. Are you doing everything that you can to create an ‘emotionally connected’ experience for everyone? The right mix will gain you significantly higher time spent on your site, more calls from pre-qualified leads, more signed contracts, happier repeat customers, attention from new markets, offers of strategic alliances and collaborations, and insights into creating successful new products and services.

This article is an edited version of an original by: Philippa Gamse who is a professional speaker and web strategy expert who spends much of her time creating website strategies for her clients. To read her blog and free articles visit http://websitesthatwin.com for more information.

• Objectivity – It is critical to remain objective at all times. Do not be tempted to respond to or defend anything said. The focus should be on listening, acknowledging, probing for understanding and root cause, and tracking.
• Confidentiality – Assure participants that their comments will be reported anonymously.
• Candor – Emphasize the need for an open and honest discussion. The goal is to uncover real concerns and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Participation – Everyone needs to be actively involved. A fast and steady pace, the use of brainstorming, and encouraging participants to contribute will all serve this purpose.
• Agenda – Move quickly through the discussion of implementation risks, but ask participants to raise issues and questions as needed. Focus the discussion on specific recommendations that address the implementation risks.
• Legitimacy – This session is designed to identify problems and develop potential solutions. The focus should be on idea creation, not criticism.
• Have Fun! – This is discussion a between and among participants, not just between them and the facilitator. Follow the agenda but keep the discussion informal.

Facilitator Do’s and Don’ts -

• Do express the objectives of the session.
• Do explain your role as facilitator.
• Do point out the time available.
• Do know something about the group before starting.
• Do encourage participation.
• Do use open-ended questions.
• Do thank individuals for their input.
• Do use flip-charts to record inputs, when possible.
• Do ask for clarification.
• Do gain some consensus after all ideas are offered.
• Do gain closure – may mean asking group to prioritize.
• Don’t evaluate input as good or bad.
• Don’t stop someone in the middle of their thought.
• Don’t argue or defend a point.
• Don’t try to respond during the brainstorming section – save it for Q&A.

Ways to increase group participation -

• Effective use of open-ended questions.
• Allow enough time for participants to think and respond.
• Acknowledge all responses.
• Let a participant finish speaking before moving on.
• Face the group and move about freely.
• Keep the discussion focused on the agenda.
• Make eye contact frequently, especially with those who seem disinterested, or those taking part in side conversations.
• Ask for clarification when a response is unclear. Examples: “Tell me more…” ” Can you rephrase that?”
• Keep on schedule.

Useful tips to keep the discussion moving:

• Thank you.
• Tell me more about what you said (or what you mean).
• Repeat that in a few words so I can capture your thought on the flip-chart.
• How do others of you feel about that?
• Let me see if I can repeat that back to you.
• Feel free to add as we go.

Special problems:

• Someone dominates – Look into eyes of other participants, say “That’s interesting, how do others feel about that?”
• Loss of control/off-subject – Stop the discussion, and say “It appears we may be getting off subject. Let me ask you about this….” and return to the issues on the agenda.
• Non-participants – Make eye contact. Encourage their participation, by saying, “We may not have given you an opportunity to say what’s on your mind…we’d appreciate your ideas too.
• Side conversations – Make eye contact, direct questions to them, or ask them politely to join the group so everyone will have the benefit of hearing all comments.
• Out of time – Say “We seem to be running out of time and we want to honor our time commitment. There have been lots of great questions and ideas coming out.” Then, either provide the phone numbers of presenter/facilitator and suggest people call with their thoughts, OR suggest they write down a few thoughts and leave them with you, OR offer a summary point or two and say that’s all the time we have today.
• Cold climate – Suggest an introductory activity. For example, if time permits, ask each person to introduce themselves and share one thing about themselves that another person couldn’t.

Objective setting is a vital part of appraising and managing employees. Both managers and subordinates should be aware of what the objectives are for the current period as well as be working on new draft objectives for the next period prior to discussing them during a future appraisal meeting – where objectives for the forthcoming period can be documented and agreed.

How to set objectives:

A Manager will have her own set of business objectives and it is the responsibilities of staff to support her in achieving these. Staff should make sure that their manager communicates the objectives to the team and from this they should then be able to define their own goals contributing towards the overall team’s success.

The first task is to identify the results that you as a staffer are responsible for achieving rather than the actual work activity leading to those results. Where possible attempt to quantify or include a definite assessment point like a sign-off when successful completion occurs.

The following are examples of possible required results:

• Project delivered on or under time and within budget
• The delivered signed of business case of the project
• Reduced operating costs of the department
• New sales at the required margin
• Reduced call stack on the service desk
• Improved service levels
• Positive feedback from customers
• Increased profit margin
• Reduced expenses

Then you will need to consider the key elements which show how the objectives will be achieved and what changes in behaviour or action is needed to deliver them. Try to ensure that the objectives represent clear business related targets that contribute to your organization’s success. Wherever possible the objectives should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. Qualitative measures are also good and achievement can be confirmed from interviewing customers for example or by discussing performance with peers. The important point is to come up with an approach that enables in a clear way to demonstrate that you have by your action achieved the set goals.

Sample Business Objectives at staff level:

• Ten new customers at an average contract value of will be signed in the next quarter
• Sales of $100,000 of extra service revenue in the financial year from additional requirements
• To reduce in the number of calls on the call queue outstanding by more than 5 days by 50% in three months.
• To respond to a request for change within 5 working days from receipt of documented change note.
• Increase the hit rate on customer enquiries to closed deal to 25% of all leads in one year.
• To score ‘satisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ in all post project assessments in the year.
• To complete all invoicing to customers by 5 days after the month end close.

Royston

Flow experience is a short-term peak experience (almost an actualisation) at work that is about absorption, enjoyment and intrinsic work motivation. During these times of Flow that occur when we are doing our job and any similar activity like studying, or even deep immersion in a hobby, time flies and the experience of the task itself can be extremely pleasurable. The ‘highs’ experienced during Flow, along with the long-term fulfilment resulting from repeated experience of this can lead to high levels of job satisfaction – we enjoy our tasks and derive deep satisfaction from the act of performing our work itself. In some of my work on teaching for example we showed that teachers report optimal Flow experience and intrinsic enjoyment much more than comparative careers such as IT/telecoms, marketing, PR and administration and accounting – although lower enjoyment in the latter two are no surprise to me!

When you experience Flow you feel:

• Fulfilled — having a sense of meaning and purpose to work;
• Excited — enjoy a variety and a broad range of interactions;
• Satisfied — you feel enabled in your self development and derive pleasure from the task itself;
• Enjoyment — your work can be an immediate source of long-term pleasure.

When we looked at teachers in one research project they smiled on average 10 times per half an hour, and light-hearted exchanges occurred on average five times in each half-hour session – although this might be sign of hysteria! Experience diary entries also showed that teachers feel happy and excited during the day, with results for a positive mood being around of six out of a total of seven hours of the day.

Have you ever said to your friends after work?

‘The fun and the variety of the job is fantastic and the fact that I never ever look at my watch and say, ‘oh an hour left’ it’s always the other way round “I’ve only got an hour left.”‘

‘It’s challenging, and it’s inspiring, and it’s everything I expected it to be. It just provides job satisfaction like I couldn’t imagine you’d get elsewhere…there can’t be many jobs where you meet so many different people, and they are all individuals and they all bring their own characteristics, and there are so many different characters. Really, you can’t fail to have fun with it.’ [Science teacher]

Some of the work on teaching staff showed that teachers experience higher levels of enjoyment and optimal Flow experience than comparative careers. Enjoyment in the classroom and in extracurricular activities is shown to be important in developing pupil–teacher relations and enhancing pupil development. Teachers gain both short- and long-term satisfaction from developing pupils, they find the work fulfilling, exciting, and extremely varied. The ‘buzz’ around the school and interactions with both pupils and colleagues add to the sense of enjoyment. The cyclical nature of the school year adds to satisfaction and gives a sense of accomplishment and renewal.

Optimal peak (Flow) experience is linked to challenge, using the ‘whole self’, interest in the subject/task, and regular feedback – when work contains these aspects then people get a real buzz and get down to work.

Creating the environment for people to get these types of experience at work such as empowerment and autonomy and space to do their job can be a real advantage to organisations and perhaps lies at the heart of many leading companies success.

So do you experience Flow at work?

I have loaded a simple contract template for consulting services – mostly clients will have a template already in hand from procurement. If you do not have anything you may find this one useful. It is pretty basic but contains the essential elements. I’ll post an affiliate version is there is any demand.

draft_consult_contract

The sunnier side of the availability heuristic is the lottery and the question should you invest $2 a day in the bank (pre credit crunch) or use it to buy a lottery ticket hopefully win and move down to Florida and go shark hunting? Math makes the decision obvious I am afraid.

Suppose you invest two dollars every day (roughly $62 a month) at a reasonable rate of 10% per annum then you will take almost exactly 50 years to accumulate close to $1m (actually about $920,000 but close enough)  – so start saving now!  To earn this same $1m in a big lottery like the National Lottery in the UK, you would have to match five numbers and a bonus ball; at odds of 2,330,635-to-1 in any one game I am told. So if you spend two dollars a day for 50 years you could enter 36,500 tickets and would have 1-in-63 chance of making those million dollars. This probability of 1:63 means the expected value from the investment over the 50 years is around $16,000 – against the expected vale of $1M dollars from the investment choice – no brainer isn’t it.

However the concept of availability and the recency effect image of immediate winners enjoying extreme wealth subvert this rationality. What the crafty lottery companies do is parade in front of us some Joe who has just won a fortune and the next time we call in for gas or food at the Quickie Mart we have the faint glow in our memory that someone has just won the lottery so assume it occurs much more frequently than it does and it is our turn next. Well someone has to win surely and why not me? So we buy that ticket again and again only to tear it up with the forelorn hope of winning next time.

Here is a pic for how not to go shark fishing – I think this was off South Africa during a military training exercise.