GemaTech Technology Blog » flexibility http://www.gematech.com/blog Changing the way we work Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:00:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Swine Flu claims its 17th UK victim and even knocks at the PM’s door http://www.gematech.com/blog/2009/07/13/swine-flu-claims-its-17th-uk-victim-and-even-knocks-at-the-pms-door/ http://www.gematech.com/blog/2009/07/13/swine-flu-claims-its-17th-uk-victim-and-even-knocks-at-the-pms-door/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:29:23 +0000 admin http://www.gematech.com/blog/?p=135 On a day when it is revealed that the swine flu vaccine will be available for the whole of the UK population, the illness also claims two more victims, a six year old girl, and a GP from Bedfordshire as reported on sky news. In addition the flu has also reached 10 Downing Street where an Aide has the infection.

The leading authorities have been proven right in stating that the only certaintly about swine flu is uncertainty. One week the press reports that the symptoms are mild and there really is nothing to worry about, another week there are cases of seamingly healthy individuals being killed. Who knows how it would affect you or I?

I also found out today that swine flu is now present in the immediate area within which I live, as reported by my daughter’s nursery. This information, coupled with what we are hearing today has started getting me really worried. My immediate reaction is one of wanting to keep my family close to me and away from potential infection.

It really is time that we started closing ranks and finding ways of working flexibly to stop this flu pandemic being the killer that it has the potential to be. There is no reason why this pandemic could not be as lethal as that of 1918, if the virus mutates faster than a vaccine can be made. We have to protect ourselves as well as our colleagues and businesses. Working from home or an isolated location appears to me to be the best solution all round, and I for one will be doing so to protect my family, as I did last Christmas to spare family and friends from the seasonal flu we all suffered.

]]> http://www.gematech.com/blog/2009/07/13/swine-flu-claims-its-17th-uk-victim-and-even-knocks-at-the-pms-door/feed/ 0 Tube strikes in London could could cost UK economy £100m http://www.gematech.com/blog/2009/06/11/tube-strikes-in-london-could-could-cost-uk-economy-100m/ http://www.gematech.com/blog/2009/06/11/tube-strikes-in-london-could-could-cost-uk-economy-100m/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:52:31 +0000 admin http://www.gematech.com/blog/?p=8 15196714Business group London First estimates that the strikes planned today on London’s underground could cost the UK economy around £100m, as quoted on the BBC news site today. The trouble is this would not be the first time tube strikes have directly affected UK revenues , and no doubt it will be the last. So how does the company based in Central London limit the damage of lost hours from employees taking longer to get to the office, or indeed not coming in at all? The simple answer is through remote working, and I know, before you even say it, not every company is set up for enabling employees to work from home or elsewhere. Well maybe not all of the time, but surely equipping those key employees to have their incoming calls re-routed home and secure access to their data for that ‘emergency’ such as a tube strike, is worth the investment of time and systems? We are not talking about reversing the everyday culture of an organisation here, what we need to do is simply embrace flexibility so that organisations are not plunged into chaos the minute the transport system in the city grinds to a halt. Let’s face it if it isn’t a tube strike, there could be any number of diruptions which restrict employees from working in the office on the odd occasion, such as; terrorist threats, flash floods, power failures, or even more simply office maintenance or re-decoration!

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