Comments on: It’s Easy Being Green

By: Wendy Waters

Wendy Waters — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:49:43 +0000

Thanks for the comment Matt L. I wonder if lap tops and mobility also inherently result in less printing. If the printer isn’t right there, laziness (or efficiency, your choice of word) kicks in and rather than print and go walk upstairs or across the office to retrieve a document, you try working without a hard copy and discover that it can be done.

Where do I get a 24″ screen. I want one. How much? Years ago I had a 20″ monitor on my desk where I worked. It was heaven. Huge but heaven.

By: Matt L.

Matt L. — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:08:08 +0000

I also work from home and have the same experience as Mike — when my printer died, I didn’t bother replacing it for about a year. I’m sure it depends partly on what kind of work you do.

Where I used to work almost everyone had laptops, so some document review meetings went paperless by requiring everyone to bring a laptop. The other tech shift that will help is wide (and large) LCD monitors — a single 24″ wide screen has enough space to comfortably look at two docs side-by-side.

By: Wendy Waters

Wendy Waters — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:13:55 +0000

Mike L - hmmm… I’ll have to think about and do some research on that one; whether people working at home print less. Do you use one screen or two? Many people I speak with, particularly those who do a lot of writing, comment that they could print less if they had two big screens so they could display multiple documents at once.

Zoe B - Confidentiality is certainly an issue with mobile workers. I’ll talk about technology in a subsequent post, but will mention here that keeping confidential info off lap tops and on a secure intranet site is one solution often used. As you say, there is still the problem of human error or human malice to overcome.

By: Zoe B

Zoe B — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:05:41 +0000

I can go for a less-paper office, but I think that paperless is problematic with confidential records. Leave a laptop in a cab, expose all your clients to the risk of identity theft. Allow online access to confidential info, take it on faith that no one will gain (or allow) inappropriate access. Delete a file, a computer expert still can find it somewhere on the disk or in the network. Systems for protecting privacy have improved, but the weak point continues to be human error: the forgetful, gullible, or careless employee. Confidential paper records also can be left about or inappropriately copied, but only by someone who is physically present. That makes it a little more difficult to violate confidentiality, especially in bulk. That said, I much prefer the emailed memo. You can access it anywhere you can get on the net.

By: Mike L

Mike L — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:38:08 +0000

Working from home has certainly cut down the paper-flow! Now the “paper” is PDF attachments which will remain attached until my hard disk crashes …. No trees. And an automatic filing system …

By: Elizabeth M

Elizabeth M — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:05:28 +0000

I was assigned a desk… right in the middle of a room with five other people and right by the doorway so all visitors and coworkers from other departments assumed I was the one who would know the whereabouts of every other person in my department. Not exactly a good spot for a writer!

By: Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:33:05 +0000

Elizabeth,

So did you have an assigned desk then? or could you choose to sit where you needed?

It sounds like you were assigned to that space. Your comment raises a good point about the hazards of assigned open concept spaces if people cannot separate themselves from co-workers when they need to do so.

By: Elizabeth M

Elizabeth M — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:42:14 +0000

One company I used to work for had the “open” layout system. Having worked in that environment and also in cubicles, I have to say I actually would have preferred a cubicle at that job. My desk “flowed” into a coworker’s desk and there was always a slight tussle for ownership of the common desk space between us. It was convenient for chatting but the space also led to a little too much chatting at times. I never truly felt as though my space was my own — at least in my cubicle I could work without people looking over my shoulder and keep my papers and books and whatnot to myself. Personal preference.