Less is more

Social Media with productivity in mind-- one of the many things I enjoyed about Elaine Starling’s webinar!

2009-11-25T16:57:28-08:00

Last week, Elaine Starling, founder of Starling Media Services, Inc., was our guest speaker at the lunch & learn webinar titled “Business Growth Through Social Media”. In addition to providing an abundance of amazing insights, Elaine stressed the importance of being strategic in using Social Media and gave some specific recommendation on to optimize the time spent on Social Media (a topic that is very dear to me), and left us with some valuable takeaways including:

Download Grow_Your_Business_Through_Social_Media_Handout

Download Elaine’s eBook and Bonus material

To stay in touch with Elaine, connect with her via e-mail Elaine@StarlingMedia.com, on Twitter @ElaineStarling, on Facebook at Elaine Starling Social Media, and on LinkedIn.

Enjoy and share this information with your friends and colleagues, and join our mailing list so you stay updated about future complimentary lunch & learn webinars.

Black Friday starts now! 80% savings on 5 Microsoft Office 2003 & 2007 Classes!

2009-11-22T18:17:32-08:00

You don't have to go through this mess to take advantage of this very unique Black Friday offer (which ends Friday November 27 at midnight). You can do it online!

Save more than $140 and get all 5 self-paced classes for only $24.95 (regular price $169.95)

What you get for $24.95

You get The Accomplishing More With Less Workbookand the following 5 self-paced online classes (each 90 minutes, available 24x7, at your own pace, when you need them):

Managing and Organizing Your E-mail Inbox Using Outlook
Total Organization
Microsoft Excel Techniques
Microsoft Word Techniques
Microsoft PowerPoint Techniques

How to take advantage of this Black Friday special?

You order The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook at Amazon.com ($24.95 + Taxes & Shipping).
Once you get your order confirmation e-mail from Amazon, please forward the e-mail to training@people-onthego.com and indicate which version of Microsoft Office you are using (2003 or 2007).
We will send you the login for the 5 web self-paced classes mentioned above (your choice of Office 2003 or 2007) at no extra charge. These will be sent on Monday November 30, 2009.

Share with your friends and colleagues and the rest of your team

Share this offer with your friends and colleagues (or maybe get them the workbook as a holiday gift and keep the classes as your own gift) and get this special offer for up to 10 people on your team. If you have a larger team, feel free to contact us to discuss group offers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our mind is amazing at coming up with excuses! I urge you to stop and do the “right” thing!

2009-11-19T14:35:57-08:00

I needed to dive into this task that I reserved time for on my calendar which was to prepare for a Lotus Notes training session. I scheduled this on my calendar because it is important and I would like to get it done soon. To tell you the truth, lotus notes is not my favorite. I know my IBM friends may be a bit disappointed, but I think deep down, they know that too. So my mind came up with several interesting excuses, giving me great reasons and alibis for not doing what I know is the “right” thing for now.

Excuse #1 (my mind talking to me): “You need to post the blog entry that you promised your SharePoint participants earlier this week.”

Excuse #2: “How about catching up on e-mail, making sure you’re up-to-date, and no important issues outstanding before you dive into your focused Lotus Notes session.”

Excuse #3: “And there is this preparation for this other presentation tomorrow, don’t you want to at least capture your initial ideas in a rough draft?”

Well, I decided to fall for Excuse #4 (i.e. my mind came up with a new one that was very plausible and very difficult for me to resist) and that is to share these thoughts with you as they are happening. And then no more excuses after that. There is one and only one thing to do after this blog entry is posted. This would be facing the task. Facing Lotus Notes head to head!

Your to-do?

Check-in with yourself right now, as you read this blog entry, what is it that you are avoiding or postponing? What is your “Lotus Notes”. Finish what you’re doing, and tackle this important task head it to head. Dedicate the next 40 minutes (not 30, but 40) to be fully focused on this task!

Write to me afterwards any reflections you might have had and the results were.

Check out The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook for further tips and techniques.

3 ways to get rid of e-mail--Using Microsoft SharePoint

2009-11-17T21:50:50-08:00

We all seem to complain about e-mail, and that we get too much e-mail, and yet we all seem to contribute considerably to this e-mail mess! How do we sent our documents? Via e-mail. How do we setup meetings and coordinate events? Mostly through e-mail. How do we ask questions, answer questions, and share information? via e-mail. This needs to stop, if we want to get a handle on e-mail.

How can we change this? By using better collaboration tools such as blogs, wikis, and Microsoft SharePoint.

Let us consider Microsoft SharePoint for a moment which is one of the tools that we have been using, evangelizing, and teaching for years--as an effective way to help streamline collaboration and information sharing while easing the e-mail overload instead of adding to it.

Here are 3 ways to get rid of e-mail, using Microsoft SharePoint

1. Instead of e-mailing documents around and filling these mailboxes with attachments, how about storing these documents in document libraries in SharePoint. While I am editing a document in SharePoint, if someone else tries to edit the same document, they will be gracefully notified and given the opportunity to take control of the document as soon as I am done with it. Most importantly at any point in time, I can see the revision history, and review each of the edits that were made to this document along the way.

Figure 1: Notification that user receives if they try to edit a document that is in use by someone else

2. Instead of coordinating the next meeting or event via e-mail, and sending these supporting documents and action items back and forth, how about creating a meeting workspace in SharePoint and customizing it to enable tracking meeting tasks and a list of things to bring. This may rid of a few dozen e-mails and avoid these endless confusions about who is doing what.

3. Instead of answering the next question you get via e-mail (relating to your subject matter expertise), how about your start a blog in SharePoint where you share the answers so that everyone on the team can benefit from them.

Join us at the Microsoft SharePoint Techniqueswebinar and learn more!

Are you spending too much time getting organized? Or no time at all? Here is how to optimize!

2009-11-16T14:49:34-08:00

It seems that many of the people we talk to fall in one of these two categories. Either they spend too much time on organizing (these are the persistent few) or they have largely given up on organization (the more common scenario) and they feel out of control most of the time. Is there however an optimum amount of organization that would be feasible for most of us and yet give us the best return?

This graph, which resembles to some degree the Results Curve(tm) graph that I have been teaching in our Accomplishing More With Less workshop and workbook, describes the returns that we get from the time spent on organization, and below are some related note:

There is a minimum amount of organization that we all need, and without it, our lives are likely to be chaotic, stressful, and unfulfilled.
The minimum amount of organization is a lot less than what you might think, and if done strategically, it is likely to bring big returns.
There is an optimum amount of organization that if we go beyond it, we would be doing so at the expense of more important activities and therefore incur a very high opportunity cost.
Both lack of organization as well as organizing beyond the optimum point are equally disadvantageous. While Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, authors of A Perfect Mess, suggest that disorder is far more advantageous than order (and that most organizational systems are a waste of time), I wouldn't go that far. I promote an optimum level or organization which I also believe is different for each person.

Your to-do's

Reflect on where you are on the organizational curve above and find out where you are on this scale.
If you think you are under-organized, identify an area where some additional organization would give you high returns and act on it.
If you think you are over-organized at the expense of more important initiative and activities, identify an area where you can reduce your effort and make room for more strategic things.
Keep an eye on organizational tips and see what might work for you. Subscribe to this blog and to similar ones and contribute your comments and get engaged!

For more insights about the topic, check out The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook at Amazon.com and/or join the Total Organization: E-mail, Documents, Papers, and Workspace webinar coming up tomorrow (November 17, 2009).

Elaine Starling about her upcoming Webinar: Business Growth Through Social Media

2009-11-16T10:17:50-08:00

We asked Elaine Starling, Founder of Starling Media Services, Inc. to answer a few questions about her upcoming complimentary lunch & learn webinar this Thursday November 19 at 12:00 noon Pacific Time (Business Growth Through Social Media):

1. What would you say to those who haven’t gotten into Social Media or are resistant to getting into it?

People usually haven’t gotten into social media yet because they aren’t sure how to apply it to their current business strategies. Social Media tools offer faster, more streamlined ways to get information you need for your business – things like competitive information. Done correctly, Social Media can save you time and money. Learn the basics and start small. Apply solid strategy and you’ll be successful.

2. How much time do you recommend that people spend on Social Media?

You can get significant benefits from social media in as little as 30 minutes a day.

3. What are the key pitfalls that you see people fall into when they start to use Social Media?

Social Media can be addictive. Often people find themselves spending too much time on Social Media. They get distracted and go off strategy. Stay focused, keep to a schedule, and you’ll see great value in it.

4. Finally, what is one of the exciting Social Medai challenges that you have helped a team or company overcome? and something that we can learn from?

I’m working with www.InspireMeToday.com, a site designed to inspire people because inspired people are more productive and effective. The founder, Gail Goodwin, started using Twitter about a year ago. She now has over 30,000 followers and just got a private interview with Sir Richard Branson. You can network very effectively using Social Media in strategic ways.

Join us this Thursday November 19 to learn more!

Windows 7! A boost in personal productivity!

2009-11-15T18:34:31-08:00

When technology gets in the way, work life can become inefficient, things can take longer, and most importantly the opportunity cost rises. Instead of focusing on the next marketing campaign, or strategizing on the next customer win, we find ourselves waiting for the computer to recover from a sudden crash, or being significantly slowed down by the computer poor performance—and resorting to restarting it all together which on my Windows Vista machine would take 10 to 15 minutes.

Will Windows 7 be the answer?

Apple users would say Apple is the answer, but if you don’t to go that far and many of us can’t go that far, I am pleasantly surprised by Windows 7, and so far it is demonstrating that it may be the answer.

The upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 was seamless and it seems as if a new life has been injected into the computer. While I still need more time to confirm these findings, but I have to say that many of the performance issues and some of the awkward behaviors that Windows Vista displayed are no longer an issue.

Technology & productivity go hand in hand

In my work with business professionals, I emphasize that accomplishments are mostly the results of strategic thinking and channeling our resources in the areas that are most promising--among other things. In addition however, I emphasize that the way we use technology has a significant impact on how much we accomplish. My belief is that technology alone doesn’t necessarily lead to accomplishments, however, technology is a key enabler when it is working well, and when it is not working well, it can be an obstacle. So yes, technology and productivity go hand in hand.

What could the takeaways be?

Reflect on your technologies and your tools and see if they are serving as key enablers or if they are becoming obstacles.
Identify the areas where you can apply new technologies or tools and get the biggest returns.
To help you identify the returns, take into account the opportunity cost. What would you be able to do if you weren’t spending or wasting time in these technologies or tools.
Put a plan for addressing one of these technologies or tools issues soon. This could be one of your holiday gift to yourself!

For more insights about productivity tips, check out The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook!

5 Ways A Leader Can Increase His/Her Emotional Intelligence

2009-11-14T20:57:31-08:00

Leadership is about relationships, and studies are telling us today that socially intelligent behaviors are the best predictors of excellence in leadership performance. What are 5 specific behaviors leaders can adopt now to increase their effectiveness--- and what payoff can they expect from doing so?

This was the topic of our lunch & learn webinar recently in which our guest speaker, Rita Graziano, CEO of Focused Solutions Group, provided valuable insights about the topic. What I enjoyed most about Rita's presentation, is that we walked away with some specific techniques that we can apply to increase our emotional intelligence. Rita's extensive executive coaching experience came in handy as she answered the audience questions and shed additional light on the issues.

Here are the slides and the recording is on Facebook at the "Accomplishing more with less" group:

Download 5 Specific Ways A Leader Can Increase His Her Social Intelligence

Webinar Recording is now on Facebook

If you missed this session, you can see the recording on Facebook at the Accomplishing more with less group. Search for the group, and join it, and then once you're in the group page, scroll down to the videos (on the left side of the page) and find Rita's session.

More about Rita Graziano

Rita Graziano is an Executive Coach with over 25 years experience. She is the principle, senior consultant and account manager in the firm Focused Solutions Group. Her career has included several Director of Learning positions in High Tech companies, as well as many years as a successful Independent Consultant to companies in a myriad of industries. She has trained and coached all levels of personnel and consulted to companies in Manufacturing, Consumer Products, Biotechnology, US Military, Automobile and Retail Clothing Industries, along side her extensive High Tech experience.

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Is “e-mail” on its way out? And is “Social Media” taking over?

2009-11-14T14:45:47-08:00

This is the first post in what is likely to become a series of reflections on the role of e-mail and Social Media today and the upcoming years.

After 15 years of internet, is e-mail hanging on by a weak thread?

E-mail is overused and even abused, and users’ mailboxes are congested--worse than traffic in the busiest metropolitan areas of the world. People are tired of scrolling up and down the inbox and many stopped looking at, and not to mention responding to, e-mail messages except for the urgent messages from their bosses or customers. Reaching people via e-mail (unless you are their boss or customer) has become quite challenging. It is “extreme” e-mail fatigue that we are suffering from. So many things fall through the cracks and so many inefficiencies are invading the work place and our personal lives. Does this sound like “chaos”? Well it is!

Is Social Media taking over?

While Web 2.0 tools (such as blogs, wikis, and Microsoft SharePoint) are emerging as the better alternatives for collaboration and information sharing, in this post, I am interested in focusing on the Social Media platforms and reflecting on their relationship to e-mail today and in the future.

Social media is the new kid on the blog (relatively new compared to good old e-mail). People are still excited about the Social Media platforms. Even though these platforms are quite busy, they tend to be less intrusive than e-mail, and they give users the ability to scan the feed casually and jump in and respond only when they desire to do so. The expectations are less while the reach is much broader. And these platforms provide messaging functionality (similar to e-mail and Instant Messaging) which seem to get more attention and better response time than the traditional e-mail.

And now the questions

Where do you see the future of e-mail versus Social Media?
Will it get to our work life as well (having more structured enterprise Social Media platforms that would include collaboration and social media all in one within the firewall)?
Will the traditional “public” e-mail approach eventually go away?

What do you think of this hypothetical chart showing how the time spent on e-mail (and therefore the role of e-mail) will diminish over the next few years while the time spent on Social Media will increase. E-mail me YOUR version of this chart (training@people-onthego.com):

Graph: Hypothetical hours spent per week on E-mail versus Social Media!

Overwhelmed by e-mail and Social Media? Check out The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook Amazon.com and what readers are saying about it.

Did you wonder what more can you do with Excel 2007 Lists and PivotTables? Here it is!

2009-11-06T08:28:45-08:00

Microsoft Excel 2007 offers many unique capabilities in managing lists, ranging from validating the data, formatting it, using filters to viewing desired subsets of the data, to using powerful database functions and summarizing important information quickly and easily. But it doesn’t stop here. PivotTable Reports get into the picture to help you build useful reports in minutes and modify them easily to answer a variety of business questions and therefore get unique insights from your data.

Kim Silverman, VP of Productivity at People-OnTheGo, who has taught hundreds of the People-OnTheGo webinars helping thousands of participants take their skills to the next level in many of the Microsoft Office Applications, shared some important insights about Excel 2007 lists in our weekly lunch & learn webinar this week, and gave an overview of what PivotTables can do.

Webinar Recording is now on Facebook

If you missed this session, you can see the recording on Facebook at the Accomplishing more with less group. Search for the group, and join it, and then once you're in the group page, scroll down to the videos (on the left side of the page) and find Kim's session.

Want more comprehensive Excell 2007 techniques

These three online live workshops (via web/phone conferencing) are coming up soon (soon as in next week--see below how you can get a free class):

The Excel 2007 Techniques

The Excel 2003 Techniques

The Advanced Excel PivotTables(covers both Excel 2003 & 2007)

Do you want to get in one of the above Excel workshops for free?

All you have to do is purchase The Accomplsihing More With Less Workbook at Amazon.com($24.95) and as soon as you get the workbook, please forward the Amazon confirmation e-mail to training@people-onthego.com, and indicate which workshop you would like to attend at no charge (value is $69 to $99). By the way, your free seat will still be valid in the first quarter of 2010 if you don't get to attend your free workshop before then!

See what others are sayingabout the book on Amazon.com!