At Sprinklr, we don’t talk about “work/life balance.”
Instead, we talk about “an integrated life.”
More than 60% of the company works from home and our CEO
often says, “look we have all of these tools and technologies to make us
efficient from various places, let’s use them.”
If you think about it, the very premise of Sprinklr is that
the arrival of the connected and empowered customer changes everything…and this
includes how we work.
How I Live the
Integrated Lifestyle
I was a big runner but suffered a foot injury which
prevented me from continuing that activity. Until that point, however, I would
often send a note to the CEO (my boss) and my team saying “hey, going out for a
run, I’ll be back in an hour.” This was
at 11am or 2pm or whenever.
When you’re an outcome and not an activity focused company,
you can do this.
Similarly, I’d say, “I’m taking this call while driving
carpool,” or “I’m about to go watch my son’s baseball game” or whatever.
Since my foot injury, I was walking on the treadmill, which
was fine. I’d watch Netflix or TED talks. It was good, but not great.
Then, my wife got me a Fitbit and being the competitive guy that I am, I
enjoyed tracking my progress against my friends and motivating them (and vice
versa) to walk more.
So, I started looking for more opportunities to walk.
I’m always taking the stairs now. I’ll walk from the parking
lot to the terminal instead of taking the shuttle.
But the real breakthrough came when I looked at all of the
phone calls I was on during the day.
I have a lot of the 20 minute “catch up/check in” variety
where being in front of a computer isn’t required. Maybe some notes, a few
emails, etc., but I discovered that I could take all of the calls I had to do
like that and compress them in a 2 hour window on most days.
And during that 2 hour window, I walk outside of my house,
across the street to a great regional park (full of trees and paths and
gardens), with my phone and a headset and just walk and talk.
For TWO HOURS.
What happened was remarkable.
Not only am I more focused on the calls (I’m not distracted
by the email or Skype on the computer in front of me) and able to address the
issues more efficiently, but my blood is flowing and my brain is more alert.
So, I walk 7 or 8 miles while doing the conference calls
that I have to do anyway, during which I normally would be standing or sitting
in my office (and possibly eating).
Now, I’m out in nature, I’m getting exercise, I’m more
focused on the person on the other end of the call…and I’m totally connected.
I’ve participated in join.me (see our case study)
presentations, Skype video calls, looked at Google docs, and more…all while
walking.
Obviously, there are some times when I have to be in front
of a machine (if I’m giving the presentation or have to do serious creative
work), but by aligning my calls into a specified block of time, having my
smartphone, and the motivator of the Fitbit,
I’m able to integrate exercise
w/work in an organic way and be more efficient.
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