Hack 2: Achieve work-life integration
Explore tips and tricks that will help hack your way to becoming a superstar in managing both your personal and professional life.
Did you know…
While many may argue that successful individuals must make brutal sacrifices in their personal lives, some individuals are able to marry their passion and career together, resulting in work-life integration. With the right mind set and tools, personal and professional lives can come together, and success need not depend on the amount of personal time you sacrifice.
The New World of Work is about being agile, productive and collaborative regardless of where you are and what device you are using. Companies which enable employees with the right technology, support and work environment are empowering them to be more productive and efficient at work.
Based on a Microsoft New World of Work Online Survey of 5,000 working professionals, we found that only 44 out of 100 in Asia truly feel well equipped for today’s fast-paced digital work-life.
As Microsoft continues to innovate with Office 365, new capabilities are not just about doing work faster, but also about reinventing how you get things done.
Here’s how you can make work a thing you do, rather than a place you go to:
#1 “Be real, be whole and be innovative”
Stewart D. Friedman, Practice Professor of Management at the Wharton School, in a 2014 Harvard Business Review article argues that it is possible for individuals to have successful work-life integration today and that it is important to start by considering three principles: be real, be whole and be innovative.
“To be real is to act with authenticity by clarifying what’s important to you. To be whole is to act with integrity by recognizing how the different parts of your life (work, home, community, self) affect one another. All this examination allows you to be innovative. You act with creativity by experimenting with how things get done in ways that are good for you and for the people around you.”
So, the next time you have some time on your hands, think about what truly inspires you and how your family or hobbies affect the way you work, and ultimately achieve an integration between your professional and personal life, making you a little more extraordinary too.
#2 Own your day: Manage calendars better with Outlook.com
Sometimes, work gets into the way of life, friends and important family gatherings are missed.
Own your day with Outlook.com, where you can sync your work and personal calendars into one single view. You can also connect to other services like Skype, LinkedIn and Facebook to take note of important birthdays and events across your devices
You can also privately share your calendar with friends and family so that they know when is best to book your time!
#3 Opt for virtual meetings with Skype for Business
By opting for virtual meetings with Skype for Business[1], you can connect regardless of where you are – whether you are travelling, working from home, or in between commute.
The ability to connect in the place where you prefer to reduces the need for repeated meetings and more efficient use of time. Time saved also leads to greater productivity overall.
Just remember not to be in your PJs when attending an all-important team meeting while at home!
#4 Collaborate instantly with Skype integration on Office Online
While you’re working from home or while waiting for your daughter’s violin lessons to be done, you can stay on top of work via Office Online.
Now with Skype integration, you can see, speak or IM your colleagues at work as the integration creates an interactive experience in which you can co-author and have a conversation using instant messaging or video calling right from within a document.
The messages remain within the document, so even when you open it the next time, you can pick up right where you left off!
Agile, responsive and modern – Office 365 provides a breadth of tools for the modern workplace. Constantly updated and scalable, you can be sure that every employee always has the latest productivity features to get things done. And with Skype for Business and enhanced productivity features in Office apps, you can be sure to hack your way through the New World of Work.
[1] Only available with Office 365 for Business. For more information, visit https://products.office.com/en-us/business/office
Want more productivity hacks? Check them out here:
– Get the most out of your meetings in the New World of Work
– Achieve better work life integration in the New World of Work
– Collaborate with your team mates effectively in the New World of Work
– Tips on responding quicker to colleagues in the New World of Work
– Work smarter and faster in the New World of Work
– Hacks to getting more done wherever you are in the New World of Work
