Do Your Employees Really Need Customer Service Training?
If you go to the doctor with a headache, do you demand a particular treatment before she examines you? Of course not! Well then, why do managers send their employees for customer service training — before they know what the problem is? Another common mistake is to bring in a motivational speaker to talk to staff that has to fight dysfunctional work processes day after day. It’s like putting a band-aid on a cancer. Even the best employees can’t do their jobs if the job itself is an obstacle course!
Setting Up a New Office
In setting up a new office, your first decision is where to put your desk. Computer equipment must be close enough to an electrical outlet that you don’t need extension cords to plug in that equipment. Ideally, your computer should have its own electrical circuit to shield it from fluctuations caused by other electrical equipment going off and on. At the minimum, don’t put the computer on the same electrical circuit as the air conditioner or heater. Also, your computer, monitor, printer, and even the phone line that goes into your modem must be plugged into a top-quality surge protector.
Conquer Your Desk Clutter with a Tickler File
No matter how computerized you are, there will still be paper — memos to discuss at a meeting, proposals to review, things to read, bills to pay. Most of us have piles and piles of current paper on our desks. We leave papers in plain sight for quick access or to remind us to follow up. Obviously, we can’t file this stuff because it’s still active. So we leave it out on the desk, in plain sight, so we don’t forget.
When it Comes to Search Engines, Think Links
Website owners: do you know how many links are out there on the Internet, pointing back to your site? If you’re interested in getting free search engine placement for your site, you ought to know. An easy way to find out is to download the Alexa toolbar from http://www.alexa.com. One of its many useful features is that it shows you how many links are pointing to the site. High quality links are one of the most crucial aspects of good search engine optimization. When you think about it, this makes sense. After all, this is the Internet, the World Wide Web, we’re talking about. And in a web, everything is… right, everything is LINKED.
Coping With Information Overload
Henry David Thoreau once said, “Things are in the saddle and ride mankind.” Today, INFORMATION is in the saddle and it’s riding us into the ground! We are just overwhelmed with information. We fear that if we don’t read it all, we’ll miss something really important. So we pile it, unread, and the piles keep growing.
Time Tactics for the Office
Post-mortems– Much of our work is repetitive. Post-mortems will spare you having to re-invent the wheel each time. Upon completing a project, think over what you learned and how you could make it easier the next time. If you run training sessions and the materials often arrive at the last minute, analyze why — are they compiled at the last minute? Is your printer unreliable? Decide how you can prevent a recurrence, make a note of your decision and file it conspicuously in the front of your training file.
13 Tips for Working Smarter, Not Harder
1) Aim for effectiveness, not neatness. Neatness as an end in itself can even be risky: Putting things away just to clear off your desk can cause you to lose or forget them.
Manage Your E-Mail
Much incoming e-mail can be read once, then promptly deleted-this means less e-mail clutter to wade through. At the least, do a clean-up once a month.
10 Things You Will Like About A Home Based Business
Here’s a few things I’ve discovered along the way that you will like about owning your own home based business.
Faxing Without Paper Saves Time
E-mail has largely replaced the fax machine. But there are times when a fax machine is indispensable — such as when you must fax something that doesn’t exist in your computer.