Turn Off After-Hours Email? No Way!

Employees at Volkswagen successfully petitioned upper management to shut down their Blackberry email servers after work hours, as complaints increased in regard to a significant lack of work-life balance. Employees will now only receive emails on their company-provided Blackberries 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after their assigned shifts.

I had to chuckle at that bit of news. Only in the corporate world could this ever happen. Those of us who are small business owners would never consider shutting down access to email -- no matter what time it is or what else we're doing.

The problem that large organizations have now regarding 24/7 communications is the fact they're filled with employees that just don't care about the success or failure of the company they work for.  But small business owners and their employees must have a different viewpoint if they are to survive.  Receiving an important after-hours email should be regarded as a benefit as opposed to a drawback.

Time is money and the sooner business can be conducted in the small business world, the better. Certain tasks and responsibilities can no longer be ignored because if they're pushed off until the next morning, you might be too late.

So while big businesses like Volkswagen are turning off their email to appease a certain group of employees, small business owners and employees must continue to embrace a 24/7 work style and do their best to work it into the fold of their daily work-life balance.  It is that type of mindset that will help your business succeed and flourish.  If you don't like it, go work for Volkswagen!