Expert Advice
Expert Answers
Re: Will the iPad be useful as a business tool?
Tuesday Mar 9, 2010As we look at tablets and the future of personal computing it is worth considering the Microsoft Courier. It looks extremely powerful, and has very interesting applications for a business professional. Engadget has a few videos atRe: What has been your biggest management challenge to date?
Sunday Mar 7, 2010The greatest management challenge is changing management's understanding of what influences employee performance in an intellectual (not industrial) workplace. Great performance is now dependent on an employee being good at what he does and passionateRe: What can I do to encourage my teams to work together more?
Sunday Mar 7, 2010Hi Barry, Before offering a coupled of ideas, I use this thinking: the key to collaboration is shared values and purpose. To that end here are some ways I recommend organizations improve their collaboration: Clearly state the personal and company valueRe: Can an online presence make a successful business?
Friday Mar 5, 2010Hi Barry, An online presence is a must-have criteria for running a business today. Many people won't consider you a viable option unless they can go to a well-thought out website that clearly articulates what you do, your value proposition andRe: Will the iPad be useful as a business tool?
Friday Mar 5, 2010Hi Dustin, I am quite excited about the iPad. I think it has great implications for business. Sales reps and field service reps may get the most out of the iPad. A sales rep can use the iPad's simple touch interface to check inventory,Re: What do you think? Has the recovery begun?
Monday Feb 15, 2010Hi Alice, From my perspective, I think the recovery is well underway. In Canada the past 4 of 6 months have shown positive jobs gains. For example, Canada added 79,000 new positions in November and 43,000 in January. It is quite striking toRe: What book are you reading right now?
Sunday Feb 14, 2010I'd highly recommend Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel. It's a pretty easy and very practical read but I keep getting distracted. I keep getting new ideas on every page!What are you reading right now?
Sunday Feb 14, 2010New ones to suggest: Drive by Daniel Pink. Outstanding presentation of how to motivate today's employees. First 30 Days by Ariane de Bonvoisin. Outstanding for help everyone accommodate change successfully in both work and life. The People Code byIs there any legal action an employee can take if an employer threatens to fire him/her for leaving during a state of emergency?
Saturday Feb 6, 2010This question was sent to me by an employee of a company who requested anonymity. The situation erupted when blizzard conditions were forecast last week. The Governor declared a state of emergency. The employee felt there was no possibility he/she wouldIs there any legal action an employee can take if an employer threatens to fire him/her for leaving during a state of emergency?
Saturday Feb 6, 2010This real-life situation erupted when blizzard conditions were forecast. An employee of a company sent this to me requesting anonymity. The Governor declared a state of emergency. The employee felt there was no possibility he/she would be home before
The Critical Difference Between Loyal and Satisfied Employees (and Customers)
by Jay Forte Wednesday Mar 10, 2010In a great Op-Ed piece titled,"The Emotion of Reform," NY Times columnist David Brooks writes that unless a political party is passionate about an issue, it just doesn’t advance the issue’s progress. Republicans seem dispassionate about health care reform; Democrats seem dispassionate about helping small businesses. What each is passionate about takes all their attention, time and focus. What they are dispassionate about never seems to go very far.
5 Questions to Ask Both Employees and Customers
by Jay Forte Tuesday Mar 9, 2010I am a frequent blogger about the power of questions and how they create the essential dialogue that moves information, ideas and solutions. The great thing in today’s intellectual economy is the questions you need to ask customers are the same ones you must ask employees. Both the service event and the workplace now are “human-based” — these events are personal and emotional — and both benefit from questions that engage and connect to our humanity, our sense of belonging, and to feeling important. Here are examples of effective employee and customer questions:
Are You Hiring the Wrong People? 5 Steps to Picking Winners
by Jay Forte Monday Mar 8, 2010It is a difficult and personally troubling lesson when you hire someone you feel to be a good employee and are soon disappointed by the performance and the inability to live up to your expectations.
Warning: Employee SSNs Easier to Find Than You Think
by Kevin Beaver Monday Mar 8, 2010A recent InformationWeek survey found that 92% of organizations have security measures in place to protect sensitive employee information. Interestingly, I see quite the contrary. In any given security assessment I find numerous vulnerabilities exposing employee information such as SSNs, health records, bank account numbers and so on.
Awesome Facebook and Google Stats You Can't Ignore
by Ira Wolfe Monday Mar 8, 2010I continue to be awed by the statistics pumped out hourly, daily and monthly by Internet giants Google and Facebook. Likewise, I’m flabbergasted when I speak to CEOs and business owners who don’t embrace the Internet as an integral cog in their business model. For instance, just look at these numbers from Google: Daily page views - 7.2 billion Monthly worldwide searches - 87.8 billion The amount of data processed daily by Google - 20 PB (every book in every US library – 2PB) Words per minute written on Blogger - 270,000
The Pros and Cons of Rehiring Employees Who Quit
by Ira Wolfe Friday Mar 5, 2010Just a few years ago, using the axiom “time heals all wounds” and boomerang worker in the same sentence would seem so…contradictory. Today, many employees who have left a company to pursue opportunity elsewhere have shed the label “traitor” and have been ordained corporate “alumni.”
Your IT Staff: Fixers or Enablers?
by Kevin Beaver Friday Mar 5, 2010Business philosopher Jim Rohn said, "We get paid for bringing value to the marketplace...that's as simple as you can put economics." It seems like a simple formula yet we so often miss it. We get caught up putting out our daily fires and often find it difficult to step back and figure out why it is we actually exist in IT.
Key Issues Where Bipartisan Health Care Deal Is Possible
by Bruce Phillips Thursday Mar 4, 2010One week after the health care summit of the week and what do we have? Stalemate. This is just as I predicted in a previous post, "Why Obama's Health Care Push Is DOA."
Have Employees Own Problems and Create Solutions
by Jay Forte Thursday Mar 4, 2010At a business presentation this week, I was introduced to a new construction industry approach called the IPD — Integrated Product Delivery. It includes the constructor, designer and owner as a united front in the design and build process. All parties are included in the same contract and are, therefore, mutually accountable for quality, completion and cost control. This is an entirely new approach to construction. I thought of two things worth sharing as I heard Bob Caine, of Project Caine, mechanical and electrical engineers in Ft Lauderdale, Fla., explain the concept:
You're Homesick. Should Your Employer Offer Support?
by Ira Wolfe Thursday Mar 4, 2010Just when I thought I heard it all… I didn’t. Just a few days ago, another story surfaced about how Millennials — often labeled as the spoiled, coddled and entitled generation — seemed to live up to their billing.
