Technology Trends In Business in 2022

by with One Comment Technology

Technology trends are changing our lives. Technology has had a great impact on businesses around the world. This article discusses some predominant technology trends and how they will affect business in 2022. Technology is constantly growing and changing. The changes we see today will surely lead to new changes shortly. As we are now able to speak using our phones, robots are being created that can learn a language for conversation through simple trial and error. What about computers that can read your mind? These advances in technology are just the start of a more advanced technological culture. To figure out what’s next for technology, we need to look at previous trends as well as current developments. Several different technology trends could have a dramatic impact on the way business operations are conducted. Businesses may see tremendous change occurring in the way they perform functions such as service delivery or financial transactions, or even how leadership communicates with employees. Those managing businesses should keep an eye out for these technology trends to ensure they take advantage of these opportunities as they arise. The future is almost here, and it doesn’t need to be a mystery to you. As technology advances, there will be a lot of changes coming to the workplace. For business owners and operators who are tech savvy, this means more opportunity than ever before. On the other hand, if you’re unaware of all the new apps and technological changes on their way, then it can come as a surprise. Needless to say, what’s in store for business owners is exciting.

Here’s a list of upcoming trends in business sector in 2022

Artificial intelligence

The biggest trend in artificial intelligence will be the rise of virtual assistants. This is a trend that has been in motion for years, but it will hit its stride in 2022. Businesses and consumers alike are going to see an explosion of AI-powered assistants designed to help them with everything from scheduling meetings to writing reports.

These assistants are going to be especially useful for businesses that need help with complex analysis and reporting tasks. For example, if you’re running a retail store, you might want a virtual assistant that can help you manage inventory levels and suggest promotions based on customer behaviour data.

Digital workplace

The digital workplace is a concept that has been around for a while, but it’s only recently that it’s becoming more of a reality. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, companies can create an environment where employees have the tools they need to do their jobs wherever they are, on any device. This can be especially useful for remote workers, who may not always have access to all the tools they need at their desks.

A common example of this is Slack: it offers users the ability to access files and other documents through a chat interface, as well as built-in features like video conferencing and screen sharing so they can collaborate with others in real-time without having to spend extra time setting up meetings or calling each other on the phone.

In addition to making communication easier, AI is also changing how companies analyze data. Nowadays there are many different ways for businesses to collect data from customers and employees—from surveys and focus groups up through social media channels like Twitter or Facebook—and then use that information to make better decisions about their products or services.

 Data security

One of the most important trends in business in 2022 is data security. As the world becomes more connected, we are generating more and more data. And as that happens, it’s becoming increasingly important for companies to be able to keep their data secure. If a company’s data isn’t secure, it could be a disaster for its business.

This means that companies need to invest in new technologies that will help them protect their data from hackers and other threats. These technologies include encryption software and firewalls. They also need to make sure they have policies in place that prevent employees from accidentally leaking confidential information or leaving sensitive data vulnerable on devices that are not secure.

Collaboration tools

-Collaboration tools are a big deal. In 2022, collaboration tools have become so ubiquitous that employees don’t even think about them anymore. They’re just part of the office environment, like the water cooler or the break room.

-There’s no longer any need for meetings or brainstorming sessions. The software does it all for you!

-All of your team members can work on one project simultaneously, making sure all of their input is incorporated into the final product.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analysis is a data-driven, analytical process that helps people make better decisions by identifying patterns and trends. It’s used in business, medicine, and other fields to predict future events, occurrences, or behaviour.

Predictive analysis uses data to make predictions about future outcomes and can help businesses make better decisions by improving their understanding of what might happen in the future. The technology is also useful because it allows businesses to identify trends in their industry and develop strategies that will help them succeed.

Cross-functional teams and alignment

The most important trend in business in 2022 is cross-functional teams and alignment.

In 2020, the average company had over 2,000 employees, with 12 different departments and over 50 different job roles. As companies grow and become more complex, it’s getting harder to coordinate the work of different departments and teams. To solve this problem, more companies are implementing cross-functional teams that cut across departments and specialities. These teams can take on bigger projects because they have a broader skill set than an individual might have.

Cross-functional teams also help align company goals with individual aspirations by giving employees more opportunities for growth within their current position; this increases employee satisfaction and retention rates.

If you are struggling with all these new technologies and how your small, micro or large scaled industries can make the best use of these upcoming trends and technologies Book a call with our business experts and business advisors today.

Technologies such as 3D printing, robotic process automation, and machine learning are already beginning to affect organizations today. As these technologies become mainstream and we gain more insight into their capabilities, expect to see widespread adoption of innovative applications for business functions in the coming years.

User QR codes for your business

by with No Comment Technology

 

Business Transactions- the basis upon which the entire module of buying and selling is based has assumed an important role in the functioning of the market and has been responsible for the growth in the process of revenue generation. With increasing modernization and upgrade in the technological and scientific approaches to business understanding online modules of business interactions have developed leading to organized growth in the market. Following are the different mechanisms of using QR code for business transactions-

Allowing Customers to Land on the Website Page

QR Code Scanning allows the consumers to directly land on the official website page. When you scan the available QR code with the unique URL that you possess the matching would provide you with a notification that you have gained access to the consumer’s desired webpage. This prevents the consumers from meddling with the entire process where the consumer has to log into the system, check whether the website is official or not, and then verify the efficacy of the website. In such cases when QR codes are available, all the consumers have to do is scan the code and they can gain access to the official website. 

Provides Business Information

Personal Interaction in Business Communication activities is now considered to be primitive. Neither do people have the time to take down notes of the details of your organization from your office personnel nor do they possess the inclination to take effort and find out about the organization. You can process and store relevant information about your business in a Quick Response (QR) Code. As the consumers who would be interested in knowing about your business, the consumer would scan the QR code and would finally get all the relevant details about your business functioning like business phone number, merchant details, etc. 

Also read: Small Business Ideas for 2021

Sending Electronic Mails and Facilitation in Messaging

QR Codes are extremely beneficial for passing on communication through the means of Electronic Mail and Messaging. This function can extensively be used for sales support and consumer redressal and grievances. For example- you being the consumer is interested in knowing about a particular aspect of the business. You will Scan the QR code on the webpage available for the company. Later, it would directly take you to the Email and the Messaging Application. They would type and send the message to the requested company personnel encrypted through the required QR Code. When the QR code would match with the URL at the company personnel’s possession, your message would stand received. 

Generate PDF files and through QR Codes

A PDF QR code technology has become the most convenient way of sharing direct information to the target audience. This type of QR code solution is a very useful tool for cataloging or present information to the audience. 

Downloading Important Applications

The biggest usages of QR Codes has been in the department of application download. It is used for business purposes. For example- when you scan the relevant QR Code you as the business proprietor would be directed to the official webpage or server of the Download destination. Thus you will receive access to the web page and then you can download the required application whenever feasible. Spotify has used QR Codes to scan the URL of the consumers to add more songs to the playlist. Instant Messaging and Media Sharing Application Snapchat have also introduced the feature of the QR code. It is beneficial for creating and enhancing the process of client interaction. 

Usage in E-Commerce Processes

The QR Code has found extensive usage in E-Commerce Shopping. Whenever you decide on buying clothing items or electrical appliances from online retailers selling their products on the Internet, you will be able to successfully scan the QR code with the given URL and then you can be directed to the payment gateway where you can make the requisite payment through UPI, Credit Card and Debit Card. 

It is important to understand the functioning of the QR Code. It is essential for the acceleration of the process of revenue generation through online buying and selling. If you have any doubt and have questions about using QR codes for your business, drop us the query in the comment section and we will get back to you with the productive insights on the same. 

If you are looking for the right solutions for your small or medium business, or even substantial and appropriate advice or mentorship, click here

Also read: Also read: 15 Business Review Sites Where Customers Rate You

Vital Business Skills for 2021 To Learn

 

Major Cybersecurity Mistakes Business Owners Can Avoid

by with No Comment BrandingBusinessTechnology

 

The advent of the 21st century marked the beginning of the era of the internet and brought forth the term cybersecurity. Almost everything we know is, in one way or another, connected to the world wide web. After the DotCom bubble, in 2005, came the smartphones. With smartphones, came a huge army of web developers, trying to make life easier for us. Fast forward to 2020, smartphones and the internet are now an inalienable part of our global civilization. Almost everything can be easily done at the tip for our fingertips. Everything from alarms to documentation and photography to entertainment comes in one package.

Much like smartphones, we still use PCs and laptops, not devoid of internet connection either. And while the internet brought a revolution for more productivity, the bad side of the world also adopted the new technology for their dubious works. Fraudsters and criminals found a new way to dupe people of their money, status and self-confidence. Let’s take a look at some major cybersecurity mistakes we are prone to make as businessmen and how to avoid them.

 

  • Weak Passwords

Cybersecurity means keeping that information secure, which could be used to harm you. It is akin to keeping the keys of locker safe. Your passwords are the keys to your online lockers. Almost everything including your email, social media, bank accounts etc. are protected by passwords. Companies have guidances issued about how a password should be.
One mistake we all can make is to keep the password easy to guess by others. Birthdays, spouses’ names, children’s names are pretty easy to guess should someone decide to try to hack into your accounts. 

How to avoid it?
Keep your password complicated; something not even the closest of your people would be able to guess.    Add special characters such as @,#,!,$,&. Even one character makes it difficult to guess. Even if someone were to use a machine, a special character would take a much longer time to crack; this would give you enough time to intercept and react.

 

 

  • Divulging Your Credentials

Even if someone is dear to you, revealing your login information is dangerous. This doesn’t apply only to your bank accounts and apps. This also applies to all your social media handles and emails as well. Anyone with access could always login and pretend to be you to obtain sensitive information. This information may, in turn, be used for blackmail, extortion, impersonation and other illegal activities.

How to avoid it?
Never give your login information to anyone, no matter how trustworthy. Once you tell your login details to someone, it is as good as public info. If someone else knows your credentials, your sensitive data is at a risk.

  •  Thinking You’re Safe

No one is safe. Everyone is vulnerable. There are many fraudulent companies that have been involved in the process of duping unsuspecting of their money. These people buy user data from dishonest people and then use it to appear legitimate. They trick people into giving out their sensitive information. Any data you put online on a public platform is at risk and may cause you loss of money, reputation and potentially your customers.

How to avoid it?
Do not put up information such as your phone number linked to your bank account anywhere on the internet. You may put your business number to generate leads and get people to call you.
Always check for the HTTPS:// when browsing payment pages. The S in HTTPS stands for secure. This is at the start of the URL in the browser. If there is no S there, do not put in your credit card/debit card information.
Do not entertain any calls asking for your personal, account information, OTPs, etc. No banks, govt. Authorities and private companies all over the world make such phone calls. Any call you did not request is a potential fraud call.

  • ERP Software and IT Team

Your business, more often than not, has certain trade secrets and sensitive information that could impact it adversely if fallen into wrong hands. Account books, registry files, license information, etc. which are stored digitally are very important things critical to running your business smoothly and without incidences. A good ERP software comes up with security updates from time to time. Hackers and cybercriminals are always ready to exploit every weakness they can find.

How to avoid it?
Use trustworthy ERP software and train your employees and staff on how to use it. Your software vendor could also do it for you. Untrained staff members could make critical mistakes to cause you losses. Keep your software updated every time a new patch comes in. If you are a small business owner, keep your apps, especially the ones dealing with money updated.

 

In Short,

Businesses and businessmen often deal with huge volumes of transactions. You could have hundreds of transactions going on every single day, irrespective of whether your business is small or large. Even the smallest weakness in your virtual wall of defense could spell doom. Staying smart is the key to stay safe. One could think of all this as the new lock and key system for your shop. Awareness kept thieves away during simpler times. Awareness will keep cyber thieves away during these modern times. Your credentials are your keys, keep them with you at all times. 

If you are looking for the right solutions for your small or medium business, or even substantial and appropriate advice or mentorship, click here

Also Read: Top lessons businesses must learn from COVID 19 to grow post-pandemic

Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid Of Starting A Business In Your Twenties

7 Tips for Building Your Customer Service Team

7 Tips for Building A Customer Service Team For Your Business

by with No Comment BusinessCRMTechnology

7 Tips for Building Your Customer Service Team

Having a business is one thing and running it successfully is another. As we keep taking various steps to ensure our trade thrives and prospers, there comes a time when your business is very large and your customer base vast. This is the time when one should start thinking about setting up a team dedicated to customer support. This team will collect leads for you, engage with prospects, make/receive calls, solve customer issues and keep them happy, all without you needing to micromanage everything.

While setting up your customer service team, one must remain smart; because very good service brings a good reputation and bad service brings very bad reputation. It takes just one mistake for clients/customers to turn their back on you. Keep these things in mind when setting up customer support for your business for a good time:

1.Your Team Ought to be Good at Listening

One of the key tricks in the art of keeping customers happy is the ability to listen. A lot of times, customers just want someone to hear them out and then they’ll do as you ask them of as the best solution. An angry customer will get calm within a minute or two of venting out. Your customer support team may have to face that too, and to be able to listen to that is a very important aspect of service. At times, the caller may even not know what they want. Listening to them completely becomes necessary in such cases if they are to be offered what they like.

2. Usage of Positive Language is Advisable

Keeping the language as positive as possible is necessary to make a lasting impression on the mind. Your team represents you and your business. Any form of negativity will only hamper your relations. Even when trying to resolve a grievance, your folks must speak positively. E.g. let us suppose you own a big electronics store and one of the TVs purchased by a customer broke down within a week. The frustrated customer calls your store up and asks for a replacement. Your executive says, “Sorry, sir.”
This is tantamount to admitting you gave them a bad product. “Sorry” is one of the most commonly used negative words on the planet. Your executive could instead say, “Let’s get this fixed” or, “Let me solve this problem for you”.

Clearly, the latter choice of words would have a more positive effect on the customer’s attitude.

3. Clear Communication is a Must

All communication going out from your end must be clear at all times. Inadequate information, half-made promises and lack of clarity creates hurdles and eventually damage your relationship with customers. Be it emails, calls or messages, all outbound communication must always adhere to a set standard. A good team understands this and makes sure no stones are left unturned. 

4. Take Feedback As Much As Possible

Always ask your customers for feedback on the quality of the interaction. Be it resolving problems, giving out info, handling queries or closing a new deal, every type of conversation needs feedback. It is important to know how your customer’s experience talking to you has been. This helps in understanding them better and make changes to your style to suit everyone the best.

5. Your Resolutions Should be Quick and Effective

Customers adore quick resolutions and fast responses. Every request from the customer must always attract swift and solid action. A problem should be resolved as fast as possible, and responses to inquiries sent out within a day. You can delegate some authority to your team so that they can take care of minor things on their own without having to pass the buck from one desk to another. This will also let you focus on other important things you must do at work. 

6.Setup Process(es)

A lot of people have this misconception that customer service only includes a call center where your employees would take and make calls to your customers. In fact, it is only a part of the actual art of customer satisfaction. When setting up the team, give all aspects a thought and set up different processes as required. Have your people ready and trained to respond to queries over SMS, email, even WhatsApp at times. Both verbal and written communication are equally important for effective customer-business relations. 

7.Keep Learning and Improving

Of course, as human beings, we are all prone to error. Despite our best efforts, we will get learning experiences from time to time. Your team may struggle to keep a tough customer happy. Your team can take a look at some funny customer service stories, some horrible ones and learn from them slowly. Your team will also accumulate its own bunch of experiences. Implement new processes as and when required and become the best in town. 

With the technology and internet capabilities of 2020, offering great customer service is far easier than ever before. One can make the most of mobile technology to stay available for its customers on demand. Serving your customers right and on time is a great virtue, something we all can achieve in today’s era. The new world order shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us what we can do with technology. A good business flourishes when its customers are happy.

If you are looking for the right solutions for your small or medium business, or even substantial and appropriate advice or mentorship, click here.

Also read: 15 Classic Ways to Grow Your Email List

10 Productivity Tips to Help Small Businesses Succeed

How to Reshape Your Company Through Digital Transformation

by with No Comment BusinessTechnology

Whether B2B or B2C, customers now expect seamless digital interactions. Any delay in service is viewed as frustrating and unacceptable  and, however strong the brand, customers will only put up with slow service for so long before they move to a competitor with a smarter offer.

In order to expand business opportunities and improve operational processes, every business should be looking to adopt a digital mindset. A recent survey conducted by Smart Insights found 34% of business already had a digital transformation programme in place, with a further 31% looking to launch a programme imminently. However, it seems Europe, in particular, is lagging behind: just 5% of manufacturers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea) are digital champions, according to a recent PwC study.

Many businesses delay the process due to fears around upfront investment costs and disruption to services. However, if this reluctance ends up costing a loss of business, the reasoning begins to wear thin. The tangible economic gains relating to efficiency, productivity, increased revenue and investment should be motivation enough for companies to consider their journey to digital.

The dawn of Industry 4.0 means that almost all sectors can benefit from a digital transformation.

However, companies should be wise to a few golden rules to achieve the most from the process.

The ‘Whole-Digital’ Approach 

The first way to make the most of your digital transformation is through the ‘whole-digital’ approach. This approach aims to convert all business operations to digital systems, rather than converting one-by-one over a period of months of years, and enables businesses to deliver a competitive process that leaves no gaps in service for customers.

For example, if you convert your warehouse supply chain system into a digital process but the finance department that processes payments are still using manual, paper-based invoicing, the efficiencies for business operations will only be partially realized. By converting all elements of the warehouse supply chain at once, simple integrations can be made at each stage to automate many more stages of the pipeline.

Full integration offers better oversight of systems and processes and reduces the risk of error- insights which are harder to spot when technologies across the business don’t connect. Additional software solutions and smart algorithms can also be applied, reducing the amount of time analysts need to manually sift through data. By taking this approach, businesses can hope to create greater efficiencies more quickly and catch up with digitally-native companies.

Maximizing the Return on Investment 

Companies worried about the high upfront costs associated with new digital technologies would be wise to understand how the process can actually generate savings in the long-run.

If applied to business operations correctly, upfront costs can be recouped in as little as one year, through an increase in overall productivity. Further savings can be gained by ensuring employees work on the specialist tasks that fit their expertise, no longer wasting time on fiddly processes and paperwork. Studies also show that digitally-savvy companies are better able to attract and retain top talent, all of which will impact the success of the business over time.

However, before rushing forward with a new digital plan, companies must be sure to plan carefully and wisely. Overambitious transformation ideas might sound exciting, but risk wasting time and money in the long-run. The best digital solutions fit the needs and the size of the company.

The Power of Change Management

Managing change always requires work and digital transformations are no different. The importance of keeping both employees and customers engaged and up to date with changes linked to the project should not be underestimated. In fact, companies that prioritize internal engagement can expect to see a 47% higher return on investment overall.

Company employees are the ones who will be facing the changes, daily, so their buy-in is essential. Clear communication and strong leadership helps to smooth the process as staff adopt new ways of working. Businesses should look for digital integration tools that support their existing infrastructures to reduce the impact of new development tools and processes.

Any changes to customer processes must also be planned and communicated well in advance to minimize disruption and the risk of disgruntled clients. By letting digital experts take care of the transformation process, your company can focus on the human elements of staff and customer satisfaction.

Planning for Industry 4.0 

Each industry will face specific challenges around business operations, data protection legislation and service delivery. Finding the right partner who understands the nuances of your industry should be the first, most important step on the journey to a digitally-minded company.

Email Vs. Text: Which One is The Better Lead Generation Channel?

by with No Comment Technology

One of the top priorities for every business is generating new leads. With so many communication channels available, it begs the questions as to which one will serve your needs the best from a lead generation standpoint.

While cold calling is the standard, perhaps even the most overused, way of contacting interested clients to turn them into leads, text-based communication is an effective alternative that you can use for lead generation purposes.

Email and text messaging are two of the most common communication channels. You will be hard pressed to find anyone that does not use either one of them at all times. These channels can also be used to generate new leads for your business.

The question is whether which one is, ultimately, the better lead generation channel. Even though both channels serve the same purpose, they are uniquely different in their own ways.

So let’s try to explore what the differences are and what makes them so effective. Consequently, this will determine which channel is best-suited for lead generation.

Email Marketing

No matter how much technology evolves and how many new, trendy marketing gimmicks appear, email marketing still remains as one of the top communication channels in all of marketing. Despite being the oldest channel, its effectiveness lies in its simplicity.

Whilst available data suggests that other forms of communication (like text messaging, push notifications and whatnot) are more effective in terms of open rate and conversion rate, email marketing still boasts the highest ROI (return on investment) among all marketing channels. A survey among 2,500 digital marketers by GetResponse has proven this claim to be true.

This makes it a pretty powerful lead generation to be reckoned with, albeit its shortcomings from a customer engagement standpoint.

So how do you use email marketing to turn potential customers into legitimate leads? You can follow these steps to ensure your success:

  1. Get people to opt in to your email marketing campaign.
  2. Segment people into groups using relevant criteria (age, gender, profession and so on).
  3. Start sending personalized emails to different segments, including relevant information for each group.

As far as the content of the email goes, make sure they are engaging. In other words, stuff like the subject line and the body of the email have to be attention catching (especially the former) as well as clearly stated. Additionally, include visual content to break up the wall of text. Most importantly, a powerful CTA (call-to-action) should be included either in the beginning or at the end so that people know what course of action you expect them to take.

Text Messaging

With over five billion mobile device owners worldwide, SMS is the only communication channel that can reach people on their mobile phones instantly. People spend a lot of time using their mobile platform. As such, from a lead generation standpoint, you should heavily focus on this channel.

Multiple reports show that customers prefer interactions with businesses over SMS as opposed to phone calls. More than that, almost half of the customers prefer to get offers and promotions through SMS. This means that people are already open to the idea of conducting business over SMS, thus making lead generation via this channel all the easier.

Lead generation via SMS follows the same fundamentals as email. Get people’s permission to text them, construct short and concise text messages with a CTA in the end, and finally start sending them out to your customers. Needless to say, personalizing messages for different demographics is a must.

Which is the Better Lead Generation Channel?

Both of these communication channels are vital in lead generation. To say that one is absolutely better than the other is virtually impossible. There are aspects where SMS excels in (better outreach, higher open rate and customer engagement) and there are certain aspects where email excels in (e.g. very high ROI).

Ideally, you can use both these channels to generate new leads but selecting just one requires you to carefully consider what the needs and wants are of your business as well as what objectives you intend to accomplish. In which case, it is totally down to your preference.

Why Most Small Businesses Will Fail at Digital Transformation—But Not Yours

by with No Comment BusinessTechnology

In a recent survey of 1,267 CEOs, Vistage Research found 61% of these leaders plan to increase their technology spend in 2019 compared with last year, predominantly on business applications.

CEOs’ top four reasons for investing in technology:

Streamline operations (63%)

Improve employee productivity (54%)

Get ahead of competitors (41%)

Respond to customer demands (41%)

As these CEOs understand, technology can create a real competitive advantage. So why is it that many SMBs struggle to realize the full potential of their investments in technology?

It could be because 49% of them haven’t developed a digital-first technology strategy. For the 51% that have, it may be because they don’t know how to leverage that technology to meaningfully transform their businesses.

If you fit either one of those descriptions, here are some insights from our report on what you can do to change that.

Three steps to getting started with digital transformation

Step 1: Rethink analogue processes

Digital transformation is about more than buying technology. It’s about adopting a digital-first mindset—saying goodbye to analogue, human-optimized workflows and designing new ones around the capabilities built into systems and applications.

How could you reimagine interactions with your customers to create better brand experiences? Where could you automate repetitive processes or mundane tasks to improve accuracy or give employees more freedom to create, connect and collaborate? Tackle questions like these in small groups, with the people involved, and you may be surprised at the solutions that emerge.

Step 2: Revisit system integration

The process of selecting, integrating and implementing technology is challenging. Almost half of CEOs (47%) rely on external IT consultants or contractors to support the multitude of decisions they face.

All your systems and applications—from CRM to ERP to billing—need to be seamlessly integrated so they can provide a single view of your operations, people, customers and finances. Only then can digital transformation really take shape.

Step 3: Realize a change-management strategy

It’s natural for people to resist change, especially when it could threaten or expose how they work. Make it easier for your employees to adapt to new data or workflow systems by developing a change-management strategy based on these eight tenets:

Seek alignment among senior executives. This helps coordinate communications about changes so employees can understand and embrace the new system.

Set clear standards and expectations. Defining expectations from day one helps everyone feel informed and accountable.

Outline milestones and metrics. Create a roadmap that clearly defines dates, utilization assessments and business metrics.

Develop a buy-in strategy. This encourages key stakeholders and cultural leaders to become ambassadors for the broader organization.

Establish a marketing-communications strategy. Every project phase should have its own overarching message of strategic value.

Train your employees. Provide professional development for every employee to advance their competencies and skills. As best practices emerge, share them.

Reach for quick wins. Establish a sense of momentum by making these visible and continually sharing progress towards the end goal.

Recognize key employees. Doing this along the journey reinforces desired behaviors and helps unlock buy-in beyond management.

While these tried-and-tested steps will get you off to a great start, true transformation is never easy. But with a long-term perspective and the right mindset, you’ll stand the best chance of success.

5 truths about digital transformation

Get used to this pace: Technological advancements will only get faster. Blockchain, artificial intelligence and 5G networks are already ushering in the next seismic wave of change. While you’ll always be under pressure to keep up, a clear strategy will help you to direct your investments well.

Expect to spend: It’s not a good idea to short-change investments on business-critical infrastructure, applications and IT talent. Accept the fact that quality technology comes with a cost—the alternative is automating chaos.

Transformation will be hard: IT projects will usually take longer, cost more and be harder to complete than you think. The shift to digital-first thinking and transforming ingrained processes will test you, your team and your employees in unexpected ways.

IT carries risk: Using data to better manage your customers, employees, operations and financials does come with risks. Cybercriminals are working relentlessly to exploit vulnerabilities in your digital security. A digital business is all about your data, so protect it as vigilantly as your cash and investments.

It’s still about people: Technology can do amazing things. But it’s only powerful when it equips leaders and managers to make better decisions, enables workers to be more productive, and facilitates deeper connections with your customers. These are the things that propel a digital-first company into the future.

5 Tips for Managing Communication Overload

by with No Comment Technology

Remember when an overstuffed inbox or a full voice mailbox was the biggest source of your communications frustrations?

Today’s technological age has brought a wide range of platforms, programs, and apps aimed at making the exchange of information simple and intuitive. From a purely functional standpoint, that’s exactly what online calendars, file sharing programs, content management systems, online project management software, and team messaging platforms have all done.

Here’s the truth about communication overload: it doesn’t happen because of technology, but in spite of it.

Without setting some human parameters and boundaries around your communications systems, you may quickly find yourself drowning in a sea of excessive, unnecessary information that complicates, rather than simplifies, your work and life in general.

Just as technology breaks down barriers to accessibility and opens doors for collaboration, it also allows you plenty of room to create customized online environments that support your productivity instead of sapping it.

Here are five ways to put an end to communication overload:

Use notifications sparingly.

Configure your notifications so you only get alerts that you truly want and need. For example, set team messaging notifications to alert you only when someone is speaking to you specifically (normally with an “@” mention), and then let your coworkers know that if they need your immediate attention, that’s the best way to do it. And keep in mind that if you get notifications on your computer and phone, you probably don’t need a copy sent to your email, too.

Don’t be afraid to leave conversations or groups that don’t really apply to you.

From email distribution lists that don’t affect you directly to chat threads that linger on even after the central issue is resolved, you can choose to remove yourself from the conversation. If you’re concerned a group leader or owner of the email chain or chat will be offended, or that you might miss something important, reach out privately and ask to be included only in what specifically needs your attention.

Streamline your communication system.

When you have many programs running or too many windows open, it can slow or even crash your computer. Similarly, having to fetch data and information in several different places makes you less effective and more likely to lose focus. Choose a central platform for your team to use that integrates the core collaborative applications you use (i.e. text/video chat, file sharing, project management, calendar, etc.) for a more productive, streamlined work experience.

Make sure meetings are meaningful.

Regardless of whether you’re meeting in person or virtually, it’s key to make sure your meetings are well organized and include only those who need to be there. That means having an agenda, keeping to a set time, and being sure that each person who attends gets specific information that he or she needs to get his or her job done.

Block-out time to work from priorities.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re hit with a deluge of messages asking for your attention and response. Before you dive into your day, ignore your inbox, stay off social media, and keep your chat apps closed; take the first couple of hours each day to take care of the most pressing items on your to-do list. Productivity expert Rob Hatch calls this your “Success Block,” as this practice allows you to honor your priorities and your agenda before you start accommodating everyone else’s. Knowing that you’ve taken care of your most important business helps set the tone for a more relaxed, more productive rest of your day.

Suffering information overwhelm is not a given, but a choice. Diffuse the overload by organizing your online environment so it replaces your sense of panic with real opportunities for greater productivity – and peace.

How to Hire a Marketing Freelancer

by with No Comment BrandingTechnology

Trying to run a business?  Have other tasks that you need to do? Need a break from marketing?

Well you’re in luck. Today, it’s easy to outsource all or part of your marketing efforts to freelancers. Furthermore, freelancers won’t just save you time, they also usually have the skills and connections to take your marketing to the next level. But that raises the question; How do you hire a freelancer?

Let’s find out.

Defining What You Need

If you’re considering outsourcing your marketing efforts, the very first thing you should do is define exactly what you need done. For example, if you need a new blog post for your company’s blog, you’ll need guidelines on length, subject, tone, other articles to link to, your promotion strategy, and more.

Once you’ve defined what you need, make sure to communicate it to the freelancer in detail.  Because freelancers are not full-time employees, they often don’t have full information about your company and your marketing goals.  If you don’t provide clear guidance, you risk wasting time and resources.

In addition to defining the task, you should give some thought to what kind of skill set you need in a freelancer.  Do you need someone who can write a few simple tweets? Or do you need someone with a PHD to optimize your ad spend program or to make sense of your marketing data?

Either are fine but if you hire the wrong person you’ll either spend way too much or get a poor quality of work which ends up costing you money. Once you’ve roughly defined the person you need to hire and the task you need accomplished, the next step is to actually find a freelancer.

Finding a Freelancer

Although there are many ways to find a freelancer nowadays, the two easiest ones are through referral or through a job board.

Referral

The easiest and best way to find a good freelancer is to ask your friends and colleagues if they know someone. Once you’ve defined exactly what you need, email or call your friends and explain what kind of person you’re looking to hire.

They will often know someone who is willing to make a few extra bucks or will even do the task themselves.  As a result, referrals are free or close to free. Furthermore, referrals are also great because you already know the freelancers will perform good work.

Job Board

The other avenue for freelancers is through job boards, especially boards that specialize in freelance work. Two of the best ones are Upwork.com and Freelancers.com.

On both sites, you can simply log on and enter the project you need done like “Content Writing” or “SEO” and you’ll be presented with a list of freelancers who specialize in that topic. Aim to select freelancers who have a high success rate (meaning they were able to complete the project) on previous projects, have positive reviews from past projects, have the specific skills you need (i.e. don’t hire someone who writes medical articles to write a piece on education) and are offering a fair rate for your project.

Hiring a Freelancer

Once you’ve found a freelancer who seems like a good fit from either referrals or job boards, you’ll want to do some due diligence before hiring them. With a freelancer, you want to focus more on ensuring the candidate has the skills and the time to complete the project.

You don’t need to spend as much time as you normally would with a candidate for a full-time position because things like cultural fit are less important.

Communication

Once you’ve hired a freelancer, focus on communicating well. Because a freelancer doesn’t fully understand the goals of your organization, if you don’t communicate well, they may make some incorrect assumptions which leads to a poor outcome.

Here are some guidelines for communicating with freelancers:

  • Establish guidelines for when you will be available for questions and how long of a delay you expect before you receive a reply.
  • Communicate in writing, even if you initially say something in person or over the phone.  Writing helps ensure that a freelancer can check what you said later and specifics aren’t lost over time.
  • Establish milestones and progress report timelines so that you can keep track of how the project is progressing.
  • If there seems to be any confusion, don’t be afraid to reiterate what you’ve said in the past.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can find freelancers nowadays for almost any task your business needs to accomplish. However, hiring a freelancer is a bit different than hiring a full time employee.  You’ll need to be clear about what skill set you need in a freelancer and the project you need done.

Then you’ll need to communicate it effectively. If all goes well, you’ll be able to take your business to the next level. And remember, if you find an awesome freelancer, keep them around and refer them to friends to build the relationship.

A Guide To Capacity Building

by with No Comment BusinessTechnology

Capacity building involves various strategies that are designed to make your business more adaptive and responsive so that it can be more successful in today’s changing conditions. There are an abundance of capacity building activities and approaches that can be used to achieve this, as you will discover below.

Capacity is often seen as the ability to ‘see’, ‘understand’ and ‘do’, and so when you are building capacity at your business, you are making it more fluid and agile, which in turn will make it much more effective. There are many different ways you can achieve this, and a lot of companies focus on human resource capacity building, as humans always have the potential to grow. There are many different ways you can improve the capacity of your employees, including providing them with greater access to resources, training programs, consultations, expert advice and coordinating group efforts. You may also want to focus on leadership development since leaders have a role that involves making changes to progress.

They need to recognize opportunities, not only within the company as a whole but in regards to employees that could be of an added benefit to the business. Aside from this, other capacity building activities involve strategic planning, the creation of new roles within the company, organizational development, and networking opportunities. When determining the right route to go down, you need to consider your access to consultants and capacity builders, as well as your organizational readiness and resources, such as equipment, money, facilities, expertise and time.

Capacity Building And Leadership

All businesses have the capacity to grow. It comes down to one thing, and this is the fact that all humans can grow. Thus, through developing human capacity, you can in turn develop your business. This relates to all areas of your business, but in this post we are going to take a look at the capacity building leadership relationship specifically.

All solid leaders recognize that an organization needs to grow and that fresh ideas and new people can be key to this. Leaders are mandated with change. They realize that the only way to explore new markets and move forward is to make changes. You can’t provide higher quality to your customers or experiment with new products and services if your business stays on the same path. This is something that is often taught in leadership development programs, as a lot of leaders make the mistake of managing instead of leading. This is what managers are for, and managers like stability and predictability, thus if everyone at your business operates in this manner, you will never move forward.

When it comes to capacity building, in particular, it is not merely the job of the leaders to make changes so that an organization can grow. It is the job of everyone. Leaders need to determine the individuals with growth potential in their business, and they need to engage and empower them, putting them in a position where they can contribute to building capacity. You will be shocked by how much of a positive impact this will have on your business and your capacity building strategy.

Overcoming Organizational Challenges

An organization’s capacity building strategy helps them identify and stop the obstacles and challenges that are getting in the way of their progress. Apart from that, a capacity building strategy can also help an organization maximize their strengths to help them achieve their goals. This is especially important in companies, communities, non-governmental organizations, and even government departments.

First, it’s important that the capacity building is driven by the demands of the team and their stakeholders. Without their buy-in, it would be hard to act on the changes that need to be made. Once the key decision-makers are involved, it’s time to start looking at the organization with a system-wide view to see how best to approach. One way to approach capacity building is by connecting relevant individuals and teams with each other. Helping them establish their own affiliations and partnerships – whether formal or informal – helps bring better cohesion to the group at large.

Training is also essential during capacity building since the team would need additional support and new skills to help serve the new strategies and goals they have to fulfil. After all, their previously existing processes and skills were not enough to help them reach their intended goals, and business challenges solved with IT involvement tend to be overcome more efficiently. Finally, another key part of capacity building is leadership development, since an organization is only as strong as its leaders. By working on leadership development along with capacity building, leaders can better serve as advisors to their team and other emerging leaders that need help growing into their new roles.

Capacity Building For Small Businesses

Small businesses utilize capacity building strategies so they can increase their long-term viability, management skills, responsiveness to changing market conditions, and overall effectiveness. So, let’s discover a bit more about how small businesses can build capacity.

Most people would agree that building capacity is more difficult for small businesses, as they have fewer resources to draw upon. However, you simply need a strategy where you put those resources to the most effective use, and then you will be able to grow. This can involve everything from training existing employees, to networking, to increasing your technical capability, to adapting policies. No matter what route you go down, you need to plan well and put together an organized and well thought out capacity building plan, as margin for error is small when it comes to SMEs. Outside assistance comes highly recommended, as a consultant will be able to determine the areas of your business where improvements are needed, whether it is the creation of new roles, leadership development or something different. You may feel that your resources are stretched at your small business as it is, however, you need to recognize that every single business has the capacity to grow, and this is because every human can grow, and this, in turn, will lead to business growth, which is why a lot of small business owners need to focus on HR development when putting together their capacity building plan.