NEOtropolis, from Western Reserve Public Media, did a terrific profile of some of NorthEast Ohio’s most innovative workplaces. They look at Marcus Thomas LLC, a Cleveland area advertising and marketing firm, where employees have access to inhouse video games and can bring their dogs to work. Their space is also open and airy and a cool place to wander around. Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna. The NorthCoast 99 Best Places to Work winner has started Fit For Life, an employee wellness program. We’ve focused before on workplace aesthetics, but this program brings up some good points about efficiency (employees working later because they don’t have to go home and walk their dogs) and cost savings (saving on insurance because people exercise at work).  There’s also a terrific panel discussion.  Check it out here: Link

As the line between work and life becomes more gray, expect unconventional workplaces to become, well, more conventional.  It’s probably worth it to point out that the examples typically used to show an unconventional workplace usually have some branding component.  In other words, a creative agency having a creative office is positive branding.  A healthy work environment in a company related to healthcare is another positive branding reflection.  But what about accounting?  Or engineering?  Or manufacturing?  In other words, does a positive work environment matter if no one expects it to be positive?  Or at least something more than a room full of desks and cubicles?  In many ways, yes.

The same benefits apply to different disciplines — accountants still need to go home and walk their dogs or care for their children, for example.  So the lesson may be to not judge your work place requirements by how much you are perceived by  the outside world.  Increasing productivity and wellness are the main reason for creating a comfortable, accommodating space for work.  The branding should come second.

Watch the video here:  NEOtropolis Episode 111

David Pogue, the technology editor for The New York Times, focuses on cell phones and offers up some very cool tips and tricks to increase productivity…and have a little fun with them.

Many of these tips come from frustrations we all have: Why do we have to listen to instructions to leave a message? Why isn’t WiFi available in more places? Why does it cost $2 to call Information on your cell?

Pogue comes up with some clever work-arounds to these issues.  Some of these tips take a fews minutes of set-up but it’s worth the time to make life easier on the road or even if you step away from your desk. Generally, these are services that can balance work and family life and also give you the freedom to be away from your desk and still be effective at your job or job hunt.

The talk is entertaining but it’s also pretty lengthy so we’ve summarized some of the tips below if you don’t want to listen to the entire video.

Grand Central (Now Google Voice)
Google bought this service so it must be pretty good. We’ll have to take David’s advice on this, however, because Google Voice is now being tested by invite only. You can click on the Google Voice page and read more about but here’s the gist: It’s a free service that allows you to forward calls to any number of cell phones and landlines. You can also send certain numbers to certain phones or give them tailored voice mail messages. It’s really a personalized switchboard. Watch for it or sign up for an invite when it becomes available.

Google SMS
This service allows you to text Google a question and recieve an answer. It’s useful for finding local information, flight times, weather and more. You just text message your search query to GOOGLE (“466453″ on most devices) and they text message back your results. Visit the website for more details on using the service with certain phones.

Google Info
This is the voice version of the above service. You call 1-800-466-4411 (that’s 1-800-GOOG-411) and simply say what you’re looking for. The voice recognition works well and it gives you a list of possibilities that fit your search paramters. So if you’re looking for a nearby pizza joint, you can pick one and the service will even connect you so you don’t have to dial the number. It’s easier than dialing information, gets better results, and it’s free.

Chacha
This service lets you text a question and get an answer. The kicker here is that the answers you get are from actual human beings. It sounds weird but it’s a network of people paid 20 cents per answer. The answers are short because they’re texts, but the answers are intelligent and even insightful. It could be useful for finding directions when you’re lost or settling a dinner conversation debate. Just send your question to 1-800-2chacha.

Spinvox

PhoneTag

CallWave

These are all versions of the same thing, more or less. It’s your voicemail converted to text sent to your phone or email. Listening to voicemail can be time consuming and inconvenient while traveling. Getting voicemail in your email is actually something a lot companies have already and it seems like the next logical step in phone protocol.

Popularitydialer.com
This one’s just kind of fun. You set the service to call you at a certain time. You can even select the voice that will “call” you. It’s a good way to interrupt yourself at a meeting that you know is going to go long and you need an out.

“Why apple would never do a cell phone”
Finally, Pogue brings up an article that he wrote (obviously) before the iPhone came out. At the time, cell phone carriers controlled every aspect of phone design. The only way Apple entered the market was by promising exclusive rights for 5 years to AT&T in exchange for free reign over the phone design. This is just an important lesson in fostering innovation. We all talk about thinking outside the box, but we are often married to ideas and conventions based in the past that do us no good today or in the future. It makes you wonder what you or your company are doing to foster or hamper the next iPhone idea in your business.