Why using your own computer for work makes you more productive : Shiny Shiny

Letting employees use their own computers and tech stuff for work makes them more productive, according to a recent survey by YouGov.

30% more productive, if you want to know.

It's a bit counter-intuitive - surely having more control over the computers gives you more control over the employees? But it seems not.

The YouGov research was commissioned by a company that makes remote access software - Citrix Online - so obviously has an interest in the results. Their software will let you access work servers from your computer. But from personal point of view. I can see where they're coming from.

Here's a quick list of why using your own computer work well in my experience.

Benefits from the employer's perspective
- It's a lot cheaper because you don't have to buy the computers - or the software
- You're not responsible for updating or maintaining the computers either
- Employees can be happier and more productive
- Employees are more likely to invest in the latest software and hardware than a business

Benefits from the employee's perspective
- You can work from home or from wherever you are, as opposed to being tied to your office desk.
- You can work with the computers and tools that you want to work with - if you prefer a Mac, you can use a Mac. And if you want certain software, you can get it yourself, without having to go through bureaucracy.
- You can do other stuff apart from work during work. They can't ban Facebook if you're using your own computer.

Downside:
- When there's a computer failure, there aren't back-up computers or IT support
- Security of information - businesses have less control over where their information is

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jim

Ha ha.... this is just a joak...

So what happens if an employee losses 2 weeks of work... will they back up if there is no auto process... buying your own software??? WTF... so a buisness can make money, you have to buy the software they need? Will the employee know what software is best - most people learn by trial n error - how many times have you herd people buy a printer or scanner then find out that compatibility with Mac is only supported under OS9 and that they now need to install that and use some odd driver to get it to work - in the end they get another printer... same for win 7 64bit... and all areas of PCs its a mine feild... Techs are needed because people can not afford to spend 8hrs a day sorting and reinstalling their pcs and no company would pay the time should that need to be done! A small glitch can create a PC downage for 3 days if you need to order some part.... rather than all employies have same PC so if anything goes wrong you just wack uot a spair or redo a mirror of the drive....

What this article is talking about is eveone becoming freelance... so the houres are there own and the responcibilitiys that come with that... of course the hourly rate would have to be increased to reflect that :) not gonna happen - never!

Girlindaytona@gmail.com

Another major threat to the job security of IT people who want us to be dependent on them! They all viewed the Mac this same way until it was painfully obvious it took less support rather than more from them. These guys just don't get it. 30% of computer users use Mac and I can guarantee you they will be more productive on their own machine than on a Windows machine. I used a PC at work that was downright uncomfortable to use. No settings changes could fix it. I nearly quit as a result. Now I use my own computer, Word works the same in all platforms, and no one can tell the difference. What malware problems? Theoretically yes. Realistically, not nearly the issue as with a PC.

adam

when there's a computer failure there's no back up pc?

Not in my house! security issues? Never really had security issues but I suppose thats because I'm not dim enough to fall for phishing scams and I know that websites cant scan the entire 2.5TBs of information on my hard drive to check for viruses in a split second so the websites are lying about me having 150 viruses and trojans also my firewall is set not to respond to people pinging for an open port.

you see if more people got an education in pc usage all negatives that can be perceived can be removed.

cant read that file without splashing cash? obviously you have little pc knowledge and have never learnt the true art of Googling, you can Google things like "what program can open ___" just put the extension in the space. When we are talking documents and office like things often the answer is open office which can open most Microsoft office documents and save in them too.

Dave

Lol! buy your own software then force everyone else at the company to purchase the same software if they want to use the files you create!

Have the company refuse to pay you because you can't work because your computer has crashed.

Have the company reduce your wages because you are using facebook etc instead of working!

Lol there's so many holes in this it's positively laughable.

Desire

Anna, seriously? Using your own personal computer at work is fraught with perils. Malware, security issues, phishing etc... Using your own PC is great for SMBs but otherwise, just forget it.