There were a number of things I took away from Mike Agerbo’s talk at yesterday’s Flexstyles event at TELUS House Toronto, but the biggest one was exactly how valuable it is to have an employer that is supportive and even promotes a flexible work life.

Mike Agerbo is the CEO of Blink Media Works, a medium-sized and BC-based award-winning agency that specializes in corporate videos, commercials, animation, instructional videos, webinars, & broadcast programming based out of BC.  The company is also the epitome of flexible – and both company and employees are seeing the benefits of re-thinking the typical 9 to 5 and the age-old idea of going into the office.

The 2012 Office

Mike spoke at length on all of the ways Blink creates flexible working styles for their employees.  Here are a few that you might be able to consider for your “office.”

• Workplace design. Blink is a cubicle-free zone with an open workspace designed to foster collaboration, conversation & creativity.  As a member of several similar cubicle-free zones I can attest to how well they work.  Just put in some headphones if you need some alone time, or if there is a private call that needs to be made, grab time in one of the shared meeting rooms. 
• Culture is Critical...and a perk! Mike showed an image of one of Blink’s last company events – snowshoeing! In addition to that the whole team does drinks every Friday to catch up and the office is even friendly to pets.  Blink’s perspective is that future employees place a lot of value on a great culture and will seriously consider that as a perk and part of the overall package when they’re choosing their next employer.
• Flexible Hours and Job Sharing. While these are obviously great things for employees, Blink has found that they’re also great for the employer.  At Blink if you’re a night owl you can come in late and leave late, while the reverse is true for early risers.  Two employees can even share the same job and ultimately work hours that are customizable to their life.  With this kind of flexibility, it really seems like you get the best and the most out of your people and they get a job that works with their individual lifestyle.

Technology and working from anywhere - Skype and smartphones and cloud, oh my!

In addition to making the Blink office policies flexible, inclusive and individualistic, the other smart thing Mike realized would benefit his business is employing all of the technology at his fingertips.  That way he and his employees could truly work from anywhere.

Here are a few of the tools they really like:

• Virtual meetings. With Facetime, GoogleChat, GoToMeeting, Google+ Hangouts employees can keep in touch no matter where they are.
• Mobile Devices. Blink employees aren’t dependent on being at their desk thanks to mobile devices. They can work on a different floor with another department or at the park across the street with their smartphones.
• Cloud. Blink listened to all the talk around cloud and ended up implementing it to their strong advantage.  It increased their capacity without investing in new infrastructure or buying software licenses for every employee and brought down hardware costs as well – there’s no longer the need to buy large, expensive hard drives or servers.
• Avaya IP Office: Blink uses also uses unified communications, specifically Avaya IP Office from TELUS, which allows them to pair their desk and mobile phones for maximum efficiency, using one business number to each employee, reaching them wherever they are.  The digital communications management tool that allows you to connect offices in different locations together as if they were a single office.  Mike played the video below that showcases Avaya IP Office and it's capabilities:

The Blink team and company are continuing to thrive with all of the great processes and tools they’ve put to work to make flexible working a reality for their business.

What about the softer side of business?

I can’t write about a TELUS event without mentioning the idea of giving back and that attitude was on full display yesterday with a significant donation made to support young entrepreneurs in Canada through the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. And it couldn’t have happened without everyone in the room: for every event attendee through 2012, TELUS has committed to donating $100 per person to the Canadian Youth Business Foundation.

If you’re a business owner looking to help your business and help the next generation of small business in Canada, be sure to watch the @TELUSBusiness twitter feed for your next chance to learn with us at TELUS House Toronto.

Rebecca Bailey is a Product Manager with TELUS and manages marketing campaigns dedicated to small and medium businesses.

In celebration of the launch of the TELUS and The Globe and Mail #challengecontest on March 19th, I had the opportunity to sit with Jim Senko, the VP of small & medium business marketing & Mobility at TELUS and contest judge to find out what he’s looking for from contest entries this year.

What did you enjoy most about being a judge of The Challenge in 2011?

It was seeing the passion small and medium business owners have for their businesses and the great ideas that they have to continue to build and improve not only their business, but themselves and their employees.  We are so proud to support small and medium business in Canada with The Challenge contest - innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are key to strengthening and growing the Canadian economy, and I’m looking forward to helping Canadian entrepreneurs overcome their business challenges.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing small and medium business owners today?

I would have to say financing and cash flow.  It’s still a tough market out there and that’s one of the many reasons why we’ve chosen to invest in and support small and medium business in Canada.  If we can make things easier for business owners and take one more challenge off their plate, we’re happy to do it.

What are you looking for from contest entries as a judge in 2012?

Passion, dedication and a focus on tangible performance improvements.  That’s what makes businesses and owners successful. 

If you believe in your product or service, your business and employees, you’re hungry to continuously improve and you passionately drive for results, those are the basic building blocks that will make sure you do all of the other things right.  Things like putting customers first, giving back to the community and constantly innovating to stay on top of the latest trends.  Once you have those things in place a major grant and national profile in Canada’s most respected newspaper can only magnify the success you’ll already be seeing in your business.

What are you most excited about kicking off The Challenge this year?

I’m most excited about being able to help more owners get excited about their business again.  That’s what was most rewarding from Sandberg Labs’ story.  Not only did the $100,000 grant help their operations, it brought back the original enthusiasm they had for their business.  It’s not just about business, it’s about what this investment does for people and communities – and the impact is huge.

Rebecca Bailey is a Product Manager with TELUS and manages marketing campaigns dedicated to small and medium businesses.

For more information on how TELUS is built for business, visit: www.telus.com/builtforbusiness