Micro Tech Systems May 2019

(208) 345-0054 MicroTech Pages

May 2019

Finding Harmony How I Maintain a Work-Life Balance

I used to think work-life balance was a junk phrase, and instead, I preferred to call it work-life integration. As a business owner, I’m never not thinking about MicroTech Systems, our clients, and our employees. Even during my down time, work finds a way to seep into what I’m doing and gets integrated into my daily life. Then again, I never used to be good at balancing my professional and personal lives. For years, I would go, go, go without any vacations, breaks, or check-ins with my longevity. I put a lot of hours into MicroTech Systems early on in my career, as I wore various hats throughout the years. Then, I hit a wall. I was burnt out, and for about 5–7 years, I was just moving through the motions. I was miserable, and I admit that I wasn’t the best husband, father, or boss. How could I be? I wasn’t balanced at all. Since that breaking point, I’ve adhered to a better work-life balance routine, and I’ve found ways to incorporate my constant need to be working on MicroTech into my daily life. For example, as an avid reader, I frequently read business-related books. I let my mind wander as I watch television, paddle board, or ski with my family. But I’ve also learned how to turn it off, and it’s gotten to the point where, when I’m at home, sometimes I’m thinking about MicroTech, and sometimes I’m not. At work, I’ve learned how to delegate and trust my employees to work on some of the roles I previously felt compelled to do on my own. Finally, I couldn’t take it. I got to the point where I either had to make some changes, or I had to leave my position with MicroTech.

As a boss, work-life balance is a two-part issue for me. There’s my balancing act, as I try to run a company, be a good husband, and help my wife raise three growing teenagers; the other side of that token is the balance in my employees’ lives. I want to make sure they have harmony too, because I know that creates happy employees. As to what that means for employees — it can vary. Some workers will want flexibility in their schedules, while others want to work a certain number of hours each day. However, much like my ability to handle work and my personal life, MicroTech’s scheduling has vastly improved. An example of this is how scheduling has gotten easier for our technical personnel. One of the basics of our IT industry is that we have to be available to our clients 24/7. This means our employees have to be on call, and in the early years of MicroTech, we did not have an appropriate on-call system. Essentially, for our employees, Fridays meant nothing. There was a good chance they would be on call and would have to be a slave to their phones for the weekend. Now, MicroTech has grown to where our IT professionals, in theory, can anticipate being on call for one week every 10 weeks. This gives them more freedom in their schedules, especially since we’ve grown to service more than 100 clients and more than 3,500 devices. This is a built-in system for down time, recovery, and work-life balance. In a service industry like the IT world, relaxing can seem impossible, but as I learned early in my career, it can be vital to help you find balance in life’s chaos.

–Randy Amorebieta

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Monday–Thursday Are 4-Day Workweeks the Secret to Productivity?

Could you get more done with one less day in the week?

work-life balance. Considering the fact that burnout — and the sick days that come with it — are such a problem in the United States, providing employees with a better work-life balance may be the secret to a happier, more productive workplace. After the successful trial, Perpetual Guardian opted to stick with the four- day workweek permanently. They provide several tips for implementing a four-day workweek at your company. • Speak to your staff and be clear about your objectives and what you are trying to achieve. • Ensure policy is well-supported and resourced. • Create a policy that can flex depending on workloads, projects, or customer requirements. • Let your customers know what’s going on and assure them there will be no drop in service. • Ensure the new employment structure doesn’t cut across legal requirements. • Be clear that the aim of the initiative is to benefit the company as well as the employees. • Recognize that flexible working initiatives aren’t magic bullets. If you’re interested in learning more about Perpetual Guardian’s four- day work week, check out the white paper written by The University of Auckland researchers at 4DayWeek.co.nz/four-day-week-trial . • Do your own web and local research.

Of course not! Most of us need more time in the week, not less. At least, that’s the assumption. But a New Zealand company recently proved that when it comes to company productivity, less may mean more. In March of 2018, Perpetual Guardian, a finance management company in New Zealand, began testing a four-day workweek for its 240 employees. Researchers from the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology studied the firm before, during, and after the trial. Perpetual Guardian isn’t the first company to test-drive a four-day workweek, but during the trial period, they did something unusual: They didn’t reduce employees’ salaries.

Paying employees for five days of work while only requiring four days sounds like a surefire way to bankrupt a company, but researchers found the change had the opposite effect. By trimming the hours down and maintaining pay, Perpetual Guardian saw a 20 percent increase in productivity. The shorter workweek motivated employees to get their work done quicker by cutting down meeting times, becoming more self-motivated, and telling their colleagues when they were being distracting.

After the trial, employees at Perpetual Guardian also reported feeling 7 percent less stressed and a 24 percent improvement in

See What Our Customers Are Saying

“When we started working with MicroTech, we had little IT support — they were a dream come true! Nine years later, we continue to work with them due to their quick response to our service needs, follow-up, great advice, and fantastic team.” -Lonna Bell

“We have had a relationship with MicroTech for many years. They are very helpful to our needs when we call on them. They are also friendly and professional. I would recommend them to you for your IT needs.” -Mindy Critchlow

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Let Us Know!

HAVE PASSWORD POLICIES GONE TOO FAR?

When we set up a customer’s password policy, their dread is sometimes very obvious. The industry has come up with best practices for setting passwords, and while they are extensive, we’ve found them to be vital. We often advise clients to implement the following industry standards for their policies. 1. Change your password every 90 days. 2. Use a new password every time you change it. 3. Make your password at least 14 characters long. 4. Use uppercase and lowercase letters. 5. Include special characters, such as punctuation marks or symbols. 6. Don’t use any real words. Because of these standards, passwords can be complex and confusing, especially since every device, service, or login requires a different one. (You should never use the same password for various logins.) When you need to create a new password for numerous accounts and devices, how can you be expected to remember each random jumble of 20 characters while getting the punctuation and letters right each time? Humans have great memories, but we’re not that good.

chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and when a password in your business or home is weak, you’re at risk for a security breach. Being a smaller fish doesn’t make you immune to attacks either. In fact, 61 percent of small business owners have experienced a cyber-attack in the past 12 months, and according to a study at the University of Maryland, hackers attack a device every 39 seconds. Typically, we try to compromise with our clients on industry practices. Instead of 90-day limits, we compromise with a 120-day limit, or maybe we do away with the repeater clause. We don’t want your password to be so complex that you need to reset it every time you log on, but we don’t want to your devices to have security holes either. Every client is different, so we want your opinion: What is the balance when it comes to password policies? Are we stuck in a password-heavy world, or do we need more security? Do we have to adapt and learn how to live with complex passwords?

Let us know on

However, as technology experts, we have seen how secure devices and personal information can be when you use a strong password. A

LinkedIn.com/company/microtech-systems-inc.

Have a Laugh!

Ingredients

Classic French Omelet

• •

3 large eggs

Kosher salt and freshly ground white or black pepper

•

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions

1. In medium bowl, beat eggs with disposable plastic fork until last traces of white are just mixed in. Season with salt and pepper. 2. In an 8-inch nonstick skillet, melt butter, swirling over medium heat until foamy but not browned. Add eggs, stirring rapidly with fork, tips of tines up, while moving skillet to agitate eggs. Ensure all curds are broken up, scraping from bottom of skillet as they form. Stop stirring as soon as eggs are very softly scrambled and creamy (but still loose enough to come together into a single mass), 1–2 minutes. 3. Using fork, gently spread egg in an even layer around skillet and scrape

down any wispy bits around the edges. The top surface should be loose and creamy, but if it looks too liquid and raw, cook undisturbed for another few seconds. If still liquid, swirl skillet to bring raw egg to the edge where it will set more quickly. 4. Remove from heat. Tilt skillet up by handle. Using fork, gently roll omelet down over itself until nearly folded in half. Using fork, push omelet to edge of skillet so that lower edge of egg just begins to overhang. Use fork to fold overhanging edge of egg back over, closing omelet. 5. Turn omelet out onto plate. It should be either almond- or cigar-shaped, seam on bottom.

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Inspired by SeriousEats.com

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Inside

Finding Work-Life Balance

Is Your Company Ready for the 4-Day Workweek? What Some People Are Saying About Us What Do You Think of Password Policies?

Classic French Omelet

How Being Open to Growth Leads to Success

The Power of ‘Mindset’ How Being Open to Growth Leads to Success

For decades, Dr. Carol S. Dweck studied the phenomena of success. How is it that some people are able to grow their business, stay fit, or achieve their personal goals while others in similar situations stall out? “Mindset” is Dr. Dweck’s answer to this question. Subtitled “The New Psychology of Success,” this book chronicles the Stanford psychologist’s findings, which suggest an inseparable link between belief and achievement.

If you’ve ever said “I’m just not good at math” or “I’m not a natural leader,” you’ve fallen into the fixed mindset trap. If you believe there’s nothing you can do to change your circumstances, you’ll never strive to improve them. The same is true of positive fixed opinions of yourself. Dr. Dweck points out that those who believe themselves to be “a great boss” or “an amazing athlete” are also doing themselves a disservice. Once you think your skills are tied to who you are as a person, you’ll avoid challenging them for fear they might be found wanting. This leads your talents to atrophy as you seek detours rather than facing challenges head-on. Dr. Dweck argues that, instead of falling victim to the pessimism and self-delusion that defines fixed mindset thinking, we need to recognize that the path to success lies in open-minded perseverance. “A person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable),” she says. “It’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.” Not only does “Mindset” drive this point home with well-documented experiments and studies, but it also provides a workshop to help people break free of their fixed mindset and find success.

According to Dr. Dweck, people tend to think about the challenges in front of them in one of two ways. They either have a “fixed” mindset — believing that their talents and abilities are static, intrinsic properties of who they are — or a “growth” mindset — believing they can improve every aspect of themselves with practice and perseverance. Those who approach life’s hurdles as an opportunity for growth are the ones who find long- term success.

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