Central Illinois' IT Experts

In-House Work Doesn’t Always Work

“But from my experience, if you are counting on forced hours spent in a traditional office to create collaboration and provide a feeling of belonging within your organization, you’re doing it wrong.”
— Michael Dell, of Dell Technologies

Even big names like Michael Dell are advocating for remote work under the correct circumstances.

Where Does This Sentiment Come From?

Let’s establish some context for this quote.

Several months back, an author named Malcolm Gladwell, the mind behind books like Outliers, Blink, The Tipping Point, and many other works—sat in on a podcast. During the podcast, Gladwell expressed some choice opinions about remote work, including the following:

“I know it’s a hassle to come to the office. But if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work life you want to live?”

"We want you to have a feeling of belonging and to feel necessary and we wanted you to join our team, and if you're not here it's really hard to do that."

"If we don't feel like we're part of something important, what's the point? If it's just a paycheck, then what have you reduced your life to?"

“It could have[sic] a really lovely thing where, if you preferentially select people based on their desire to work in the office, that’s a really wonderful way to build a really nice office culture, right? For the moment, you can just cream-skim all the people who believe in the value of that.”

Despite the fact that Gladwell does most of his work from his home office or local eateries, has no dependents to take care of, and collected all observations noted in his own audiobook and podcast company, we won’t poke too many holes in his argument. Instead, we’ll let Michael Dell do the talking. Dell published his thoughts on Gladwell’s comments in a blog post he shared on LinkedIn—which is where his above quote came from.

Dell Describes a Very Different Remote Work Experience

Dell started implementing remote work for his company years ago. Nowadays, about 65% of his employees work remotely anywhere from one to five days a week—and this was well before the pandemic forced them to go fully remote.

A study called the Dell Technologies Breakthrough study, put together by Dell Technologies and a U.K.-based technology market research company called Vanson Bourne, backs up Dell’s claims. According to the 10,500-people study, around 80% of respondents saw remote work bringing significant benefits, including but not limited to financial independence, more time with loved ones, and increased time for personal projects. According to Dell, an astounding 88% of employees hired since March of 2020 plan to remain at the company.

It’s not all sunshine with the study, though. 58% of respondents claim to struggle with work/life balance, while 41% feel burnt out. Dell goes on to state something that we perhaps agree with the most: that “...you have to supply your team with the right tools and processes.”

Implement the Right Technology to Maximize Productivity

Dell has made plenty of great decisions in the wake of the pandemic, particularly in its efforts of digital transformation, i.e. adopting more flexible and beneficial IT solutions. For example, here are some ways Dell has grown more resilient with remote technology.

• Dell was much more prepared for the jump to remote operations and was even able to launch new products throughout the pandemic.
• The flexibility of remote work allowed Dell to put together a strategy to return to the workplace with minimal friction and disruption.
• This safety-first mindset helped Dell build a strong company culture.

As Dell shared in his post:

“We’ve realized that one size does not fit all and shifted away from focusing on where our team members work to what they need to do, and ensuring they have the right tools, support, and technology to do it.”

We Can Provide the Tools You Need to Make Remote Work a Success

Don’t let the struggles of implementing technology solutions hold your business back from success with remote operations. To get started the right way, contact Decatur Computers Inc. at 217-475-0226.

First, let’s go over what we know.

LastPass Lost Their Intellectual Property, Not Customer or Employee Data

According to the password manager’s report, no customer or employee data was successfully accessed, with those responsible instead only gaining access to the password manager’s proprietary source code. We say “only” because many pieces of proprietary software these days use many, many open source components, all of which need to be documented even if some modifications were made.

So, while LastPass’ source code could be helpful to a prospective attacker, it isn’t going to be their magic bullet to get in.

This is also why open-source projects—where source code is openly shared so it can be examined and improved upon—are able to exist. Many of these open source projects have received security updates for vulnerabilities that went unnoticed, despite all eyes having access to the code.

Furthermore, a Decent Password Manager is Effectively Useless to Break Into

To explain this, let’s pretend that your password manager is like a giant bank. You go to the bank and deposit your money—your passwords and other credentials—into their vault for safekeeping.

The fear is that, should someone manage to break into the bank and access the vault, all of your money is there for the taking. This would be the case if your password manager was just storing the passwords you provided on their own servers. However, that isn’t how a reputable password manager functions.

To return to our bank analogy, the vault is really only filled with safety deposit boxes that are brought to you when you need to access them. You have your master key (the password to the vault) along with another, secondary form of identity authentication to provide that is generated on the spot, and required to access your safety deposit box.

Notice that the bank doesn’t have the key to your vault, meaning that they actually can’t allow someone else to access your safety deposit box, whether that someone is a criminal or a member of law enforcement.

This is how a password manager works: rather than storing your passwords, encrypted versions of your passwords are stored—and, with you being the only one with the password to your other passwords, the password manager can’t decrypt them on its own.

So Yes, It is Still a Good Idea to Use a Password Manager…

…and for a few reasons, too.

• A decent password manager helps reinforce password best practices, in that it condenses the tens and dozens of passwords you should be remembering into a single password that is supported by multi-factor authentication. It’s no secret that many people shrug off the best practice of using a unique password for each account. Because the password manager stores them for you, you only need to remember the one password that gives you access to your password storage.
  
  
• A decent password manager can help you come up with better passwords, preventing you from using recognizable patterns. I want you to do me a favor and think of a completely random password. Now, consider that password and see if you included any personal details or other information that could be associated with you. Did you stick to a pattern that you’ve used in your other passwords? A password manager can help you avoid these habits by generating longer, more complex passwords on your behalf.
  
  
• A decent password manager will stop you from recycling passwords. Let’s say that a website you have an account on is hacked, and your login credentials are exposed in the data breach. If you’ve used the same login credentials elsewhere, that’s another however-many accounts that have been compromised. A password manager removes the temptation to use the same password everywhere, because it makes it easier for you to switch them up.
  
  
• A decent password manager will help protect you from phishing sites. You and your password manager see websites differently, so while you may see Facebook or a Gmail login page, your password manager won’t, and will prompt you to not put in your credentials.

Make No Mistake, the LastPass Hack Isn’t Good News…

…but it also isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Decatur Computers Inc. is here to help you make sure that your security is as established as possible, protecting you from issues, threats, and attacks—including through the use of a reliable password manager. Give us a call at 217-475-0226 to find out what we offer to businesses.

Quiet Quitting Is, In Essence, About Boundaries

Ultimately, quiet quitting is not about the employee giving up on their work and disappearing into the ether, only to emerge when needed. It’s more about setting healthy boundaries between themselves and their work and ensuring that they are not being taken advantage of in the workplace. This might look like an employee resisting tasks or responsibilities that they think are not a part of their duties, at least until they have received additional compensation. It’s the embodiment of the phrase “Act your wage.”

What quiet quitting boils down to is a rejection of the modern hustle culture that has permeated the workplace and cemented itself as the norm. It’s simply a polite refusal to go above and beyond their duties unless the employer makes it worth their while.

Who is Doing the Quiet Quitting?

Believe it or not, it’s not the younger generation which has overtaken the term. They might be more vocal about the concept, but the facts show that they are not the only ones who subscribe to this idea. Some individuals who have been in the workforce for longer are just as concerned about their work/life balance. It’s also possible that the workplace changes from the COVID-19 pandemic have made considerable changes to some peoples’ priorities, choosing to focus more on themselves over their work.

Quiet Quitting Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing

In a bizarre twist, quiet quitting can be a good thing for companies, even going so far as to help employees overcome their burnout and improve their work performance. Above all else, you should not view quiet quitting as a problem; it’s simply employees setting boundaries for what they will and will not tolerate, and it’s also the employer’s responsibility to stick to the terms and conditions for which the employee was hired. It’s not an employee refusing to do their duties; it’s the employee refusing to do more than their prescribed duties.

What Can You Do About Quiet Quitting?

First, let’s get this straight. Doing anything about quiet quitting is the wrong mindset to have. If your team is establishing boundaries, that is good for your business in the long run. It means that they will be more engaged in their work if you respect their boundaries, and they will be less likely to suffer from burnout. They aren’t quitting; they are just trying to be heard and seen. A better goal to have is to make sure that your team is being effective with the time they do have at their disposal.

For example, your team should be focusing on tasks that make good use of their talents, things that bring revenue into the business or provide value in some way. They should not have half their days mired up with rote, menial tasks. You know they are capable of so much more, but how can you ensure that they grow in this way?

Decatur Computers Inc. can help your organization implement technology solutions that can help your team be successful. To learn more, reach out to us at 217-475-0226 today.