Working styles

How have working styles been affected at a personal level?

Because of the wide-spread use of many mobile technologies, the distinction between work and home has been blurred. For example, employees need not stay on site to finish off a project. They can carry on working to what ever hours they wish using there own personal computer and internet connection.

Virtual Private Networks (VPN's) users to connect from home and gain access to data stored at work. This is sometimes called tele-working. It gives people extra flexibility and has enabled those who are not able to work full-time like mothers to work from home.

The internet has given anybody the opportunity to work like this. However, because certain types of work are not dependant on location anymore, people may find themselves working longer than they are getting paid for. Before the advance of ICT, people's lives were spilt up into more recognisable sections. Paid work was generally from nine to five and usually the rest of one's life was free from it. Now it is far harder to escape its presence and take a complete break, even when on holiday, due to the potential for employers to make contact with absent staff by mobile phone or email.

This does not however give a true picture of how the impact of ICT has affected working styles at a personal level. I personally believe that it has given people extra choices and options to achieve a more beneficial work-life balance. People are different, some prefer conventional methods others don't.  It is for each one to determine what works best for them, in their unique situations. The Information Age has given more people this choice.

Click next to find out how it has affected working styles at a professional level …