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Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:04:56 -0000

Angie,

For more on this topic, check out Jason Fried's (37Signals) article "How I
Work" in this month's Inc. or Dan Pink's TED talk on the new paradigm for
work and motivation. You're right, companies that figure out how to give
their employees autonomy and freedom will win in the long run. 37Signals is
the best example of that - they're leading the way in "new work styles".
I'll check out your post in a few. I'm sure it's full of great insights. In
the mean time, check out Jason's piece in Inc. :

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20091101/the-way-i-...

Re: Using New Media, New Marketing, and New Thinking to Create Bestselling Books

steffanantonas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:47:37 -0000

Thanks for the kind words. I agree, Seth's message is strong in Tribes.

Re: 100+ Killer Wordpress Resources

steffanantonas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:05:07 -0000

You're welcome. It helped me too.

Re: 100+ Killer Wordpress Resources

steffanantonas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:04:53 -0000

Glad it did.

Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:10:43 -0000

Obviously you wouldn't volunteer that information out of context
of discussions like this. We all fear that our boss would assume that we
were being lazy - but that's because of the "you should only be doing
productive work from 9-5" mentality. Jason's point is that the assumptions
underlying the 40 hour work week and productivity need to be rethought - and
I agree with him. Creating the right environment and culture where people
feel free to get things done but manage themselves is about acknowledging
people's natural rythms, the importance of building unstructured downtime
into people's days and letting individuals work when they feel most
productive. For example, I'm usually most productive at 3 times during the
day - early in the morning 7-11am (I'm a morning person), at the end of the
day (3-5pm) and at night (8-11pm). Night sessions are great if I've rested
in the afternoon. I'm a big fan of mid day power naps. I don't care what
anyone says...a good solid nap during the day can be amazing for getting you
in the zone for a really productive work session from 8-midnight. The 8 hour
(straight) work day assumes that productivity is maximized when a lot of
people are stuck together in clusters for long stretches. I find that that's
not the case. This might be true of a manufacturing plant or of workers who
do lots of data entry and basic processing tasks, but it's flawed thinking
when it comes to people who are doing thought work like
writing, analysis, designing or coding. I batch my work into tasks that
take up to a few hours each. I make lists of the most important things that
need to get done. When I have a block of time, I start on the most important
thing and focus on it until it's done. Then I stop and take a break and pick
up the next thing. Working in focused bursts, but
also allowing for unstructured periods of time in between is important for
keeping productivity sustainable. I've seen colleagues burn out quickly when
they don't take breaks and try to take on too much all at once. They get
overwhelmed and lose focus. Big four accounting was like that, especially
during busy season. It ruins the work environment, people get bitter and the
work place loses it's energy which can have a powerful negative affect on
teams.

Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:47:45 -0000

I thought this quote from Jason Fried in the article was interesting (and
true to reality and why results only work environments work better):

"*After lunch, I get a little lazy between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. I don't feel
that productive, so I'm usually screwing around, which I think is really
important. Everyone should read stuff on the Web that's goofy or discover
something new. I hate it when businesses treat their employees like
children. They block Facebook or YouTube because they want their employees
to work eight hours a day. But instead of getting more productivity, you're
getting frustration. What's the point? As long as the work gets done, I
don't care what people do all day*."

Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:50:25 -0000

Thanks for this link. Great article. Seriously....how great is 37Signals.
These guys are considered the extreme now, but you know what, they'll for
sure be the norm soon because they're doing it right.

Re: It’s Good To Be The Guru!

steffanantonas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:45:14 -0000

We still need to meet one of these days though. Let me know if you're ever
in SoCal.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:09:20 -0000

David. I hope you do. Since I've limited my following, my click through rate
is actually UP from before. I'm connecting with more people, I get
absolutely no spam and I've been having a lot more fun. Good luck to you. If
you need any advice on how to best go about rebooting, let me know. I'm
happy to help.

Re: Google Music

steffanantonas — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:01:03 -0000

Me too. If you have any insights after you see the data, please share them. I'm curious how this is actually going to play out.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:29:02 -0000

Glad you enjoyed the post. Yes, search is a great way to find the stuff
you're interested in. filtering and focus on twitter to get value out of it
is key. Hopefully we'll start to see more innovation around real time search
in the months to come.

Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:08:41 -0000

That would be great - can you send me his contact info? Thanks!

Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:06:12 -0000

Mark - Just wait to see what happens when Cisco brings telepresence to the
mass market. The entire concept of an office is going to be completely
turned on its head.

Re: Trends That Are Influencing The Future Of Work

steffanantonas — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:05:09 -0000

I think so too.

Re: It’s Good To Be The Guru!

steffanantonas — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:17:35 -0000

I agree, Vada. I'm a big believer in game theory as the adaptiveblue guys
have implemented it. Status, reputation, reward for positive behaviors are
all part of successful community building. I can't think of a single online
community that doesn't have these values ingrained in the system somewhere.

Re: Why I’m Keeping Facebook a Friends-Only Affair

steffanantonas — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:03:08 -0000

Rob - Exactly. People who are on social media to push are completely missing
the point and missing a huge opportunity to create connections, add value
and build relationships.

Re: Hitwise Data Shows That We’re All Twittered Out

steffanantonas — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:19:13 -0000

Andrea - I think your concerns are valid. I'm not sure how Twitter's
partnership with Bing will really benefit the black hat SEO crew, but it
will certainly add noise to the system. The one thing I think the rise of
social search does mean is that customers will have increasing influence
over Search Results that affect Brands

http://bit.ly/2PegQZ

I think there's a lot of potential and merit to what they're trying to do,
but until they can figure out a way to implement it in a simple, elegant
way, I don't see this adding much value. The current implementation looks
sloppy and thrown together IMO. We'll see.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:26:00 -0000

I don't believe that the answer about the value (or lack thereof) of
following lots of people is quite as obvious as you seem to think it is.
Everyone uses Twitter a little bit differently - and if the ability to drive
traffic in big numbers was supported by the data, a lot of people (including
me) might be singing a different tune. While it seems intuitive that
"following more than a few hundred people" kills the value, there are many
tools out there like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite that allow you to filter your
list for your favorite people, searches etc

Re: Hitwise Data Shows That We’re All Twittered Out

steffanantonas — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:04:46 -0000

It does look like they're betting on re-energizing the community with lists
- my guess is that it's going to spark temporary interest and then stagnate.
They still haven't figured out the conversational dynamics (which I think is
what's really hurting them). FriendFeed and Facebook's organization of
conversations still beats the heck out of Twitter which may be the crucial
factor. We'll see.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:19:08 -0000

Mark - You've hit the nail on the head right here...

"That change was not due to fewer new people following me, that number
stayed constant, but because the ratio of people who actually use Twitter to
build relationships (instead of broadcast spam) dropped from 90% to 5%".

I noticed it happening in early summer myself. And I was dying to try
rebooting for months. I'm actually glad I did though. Believe it or not, my
click through rate has actually gone up (I'm connecting more with people
that matter), my spam completely stopped and the utility I get out of
Tweetdeck and lists is way up.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:02:50 -0000

Paul - Popularity shouldn't be the goal. Engaging people and building
relationships matters most. We see the evidence that popularity strategies
dont work clearly in the numbers. People with a few hundred followers
(average) are getting similar click through rates to people with tens of
thousands of followers. The size of your tribe doesn't matter nearly as much
as how many of them are listening.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:02:13 -0000

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:17:08 -0000

Chris,

You hit on an important point that I tried to stress in the beginning of the
article. Reciprocity (following back) actually DID work in the earlier eras
of Twitter. I think partly because it was new and exciting, and partly
because of WHO was on it (the geeks and early adopters) and the culture and
engagement they brought. Now it's a whole different ball game and it's not
impractical. Thanks for recognizing the difference.

Re: Twitter vs. Facebook. I've got a long article that talks specifically
about the difference between Facebook and Twitter that mirrors the points
you made in your comment. I'd happily continue the discussion with you on
that post if you're game.

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:33:02 -0000

We'll have to discuss further over beers and tacos maybe? :-D

Re: Focusing On Value: How I’m Changing How I Use Twitter

steffanantonas — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:16:21 -0000

Dorrine - you're right, "intimacy" might not be quite the right word. I'm trying to say connection and engagement. I also use Twitter to learn and listen a lot, but I find that the people I pay attention to most are the ones I trust (because I know them well or I know of them and trust their reputation etc). You're spot on with this...

"what makes Social Media so rewarding and exciting is the constant challenge of closely held ideas and opinions."

Well said.