Time Management in the Information Age

Time is the limiting factor of all people, rich or poor.  No matter how successful you are, there will always be 24 hours in a day.  However, it seems that as our technology takes leaps and bounds the amount of time we have shifts.  We can accomplish things more quickly, accessing and assessing information.  We also seem to have less time.  We are reachable all the time and more is expected of us because of the gadgets we have.

Then the real question is: What is the best way to manage our time in the Information Age?

Some people like Lewis Cardin believe that the day should be partitioned into to address different groups.  For example, 30% of your spent dealing with external obligations like clients and vendors.  Then, 30% should be dealt handling with internal matters such as payroll, and employee matters.  The next 30% could be used to handle production. Finally, the last 10% should be spent on yourself.  Lunch anyone?

Of course these percentages are flexible and will vary day-to-day.  However, the general proportions are sound.  So now you have an overarching theme to your business day.  Do we have any tips for the specifics of time management?  Of course we do.

One issue that I’ve personally had are calls that go on too long.  To deal with this, I take a minute before dialing and decide my goal.  Is it to network or get certain information?  It’ll help to know when to terminate the call.  If you have multiple objectives, perhaps you can find a way to group similar ones together and space out your calls.  If you get into the habit of this, people on the other end might actually be more apt to help you since they know you aren’t call with a dozen different issues. This tip works best when dealing with another small business.

E-mails are fast becoming the more preferred form of communication.  It’s instant and leaves a record of what was said.  The tendency is the usually to answer them as quickly as possible.  For internal e-mails, setting up a system of priority is essential.  That way, you can deal with low-mid priority e-mails in one concentrated sitting.  It’s more efficient and you’ll be dragged away from work less.  To learn more about getting a company e-mail server set up click here.

A final word on time management in the Information Age is to accept limits.  All this wonderful technology won’t add more hours to the day.  In the end, you have to succumb to the knowledge that you can’t get everything done today.

The Long Telecommute to Work










IT and the Customer Experience

In the world of free enterprise being better than your the competition is the name of the game.  However, how do you measure better?  Price is a major factor, but that’s often out of your control.  Quality of goods is another facet; however, you and competition have access to the same manufactures so that’s wash.  What can you do?

You could provide a superior customer experience.  What’s that you ask?  Well according to Adam Richardson of the Harvard Business Review, customer experience is essentially the interaction between you and your customers.

This includes everything from face-to-face meetings, ad views and when a customer pursues your website.  All these areas of interaction are call touchpoints and they are an element that you have control over.

Well, how can an IT consultant help you with that?  A simple example within your brick-and-mortar store is setting up an Easypay account so people can pay with their smartphones.

Another simple example is logging onto a social networking site and seeing what everyone is talking about.  If everyone is talking about the big game, it might be time push certain merchandise.

A little more forward thinking and investor heavy is seeking out new in-store technology.  Walmart has been planning on deploying new near field communication technology.  The idea is giving their customers more ready access to information about the products they are viewing.

Though I believe they may be developing this convenience so they control what information their shoppers first see. Caveat Emptor!

RIM Circling the Drain?






The Drawbacks of BYOD

BYOD – Bring Your Own Device practices have been on the rise. This is the policy where employees are required to bring their own devices to work. It ranges from buying your own mobile phone to replacing a traditional workstation with a personal laptop. At first, the policy may be attractive to employers. There is cost cutting because it places the burden on employees to purchase their own devices as well as lowering IT support costs because employees can maintain their own equipment. It also allows employees to personalize their work style, using devices that they enjoy. However, there are disadvantages to adopting a BYOD policy. Security is a greater concern. A BYOD policy might actually lower productivity. Finally, IT costs may actually increase to support such a myriad of devices.

With smart phones and laptops replacing traditional desktop workstations, data can easily move in and out of the company. It’s simple to see how this is a security concern. Some devices are more secure than others. Companies need to think ahead and create procedures for how, when and where employees can access proprietary data and applications. This may cause a greater demand for thin client machines, devices that have all their application run off the cloud rather than kept on their hard drives. It may be cheaper to have a standard secure cloud that everyone accesses rather than have a dozen security protocols for as many devices, however appealing having a personal device is.

Employees usually like BYOD because they feel more comfortable with their own devices. These personal devices afford them more freedom because they can work at home and at the office. That blending might not be the most healthy. We’ve all heard of the Blackberry addiction, where employees are constantly connected to work. The bleeding between work and personal lives can work in the reverse direction too. Personal devices have not just work but leisure applications as well. It’d be easy to switch between different the aspects of our lives. A lack of focus is a problem that many people deal with, and it may get worse as our mobile devices distract us from the task at hand be it work or at home.

BYOD, at first named the consumeration of enterprise, started at the higher level. Executives wanted to use their own devices when with clients. These executives are demanding that their IT departments manage the maintenance of their devices and as BYOD spreads to a company’s rank and file, everyone else will as well. It’s one of the few instances where trickle down has been observed. Today, there are literally dozens of brands of smart phones and laptops. They have thousands of combinations of features. IT departments are often tasked with servicing them all while in the workplace. That’s a daunting task. A different set of tools and skills are needed to fix an iPad as opposed to an tablet that runs on Android. IT staffs may need to be augmented in order accommodate, increasing costs.

The American office job used to invoke images of hundreds of a gray cubicles with workers tapping away on identical computers. Now, there is a little more variety. Every company is handling it differently. To some it’s a headache and to others it’s a boon. It all comes down to company philosophy. Is it conformity or solidarity? Is it personalization or lack of focus?

The Value of VOIP for Small Business – Part Two.


The cost of VOIP:



VOIP and reliability:




In Conclusion:
