The Strategic Business Coach

PRODUCTIVITY GAIN - MULTIPLE MONITORS

2011-12-05T12:54:00.006-06:00

Technology: Cool Tips to Make Your Life Easier....
By: Eric Mitchellette

Everyone can benefit from using technology well. It is surprising to me how many people are missing easy and inexpensive techniques and tools. Below is an inexpensive and widely missed opportunity to gain 23% to over 34% productivity gains.

Video Displays: Multiple Monitors
Dual monitors should be a minimum in today's workplace and even for home use while Tri monitor configurations are gaining quickly. The reason to use multiple monitors is to reduce the need for windows management; reducing the need for window resizing and nearly eliminating the need for alt-tabs to get to the desired window as well as viewing a number of applications at once. Using a Tri monitor configuration will also result in even a much richer experience and larger productive gains - as much as 50% vs single monitor. Using multiple monitors on an Apple or Microsoft PC will be an amazing experience.

Also eliminating the need to manually write down information for data entry into another application – sometimes copy and paste will not work easily within an image or a PDF file. Copy and paste is far more productive using multiple monitors in all cases.

Most gamers, market analysts and engineers figured out long ago that dual, tri and quad monitor configurations provides a much better work experience when using computers. It is a shame that many other computer users have not figured it out…yet.

Multiple monitors are a simple and an amazing productivity enhancement; yet both businesses and individuals are resistant to even this simple and inexpensive improvement. Efficiency gains according to time studies that have been done and confirmed on my own will range from 23% - 34% for all types of computer users – search Google “dual monitors efficiency study”.

While data entry users post some significant productivity gains it is management and other professionals that really benefit the most. Even with modest productivity gains for a professional the billing rate or wage rate is magnified and quickly offsets any expenses with multiple monitor configurations.

Key Tips:
Monitors: Always use the same high quality brand of monitors, with the same screen size and aspect ratios (exactly identical monitors – no substitutions) for each computer. Purchasing cheap or small screens will not be of much value; a minimum actual screen size should be 20 inches. It does not help much if one goes overboard on screen size. The bigger display may result in windows management issues; actually oversized screens will be more complicated to use. Estimated cost more or less for each high quality monitor at 20 inches is approximately $125 to $175 – Google searches.

Video Cards:
In many cases laptops and PC’s already support Dual Monitor configurations and a new video card is NOT needed. Also many new PC's will support a Tri-Monitor configuration -especially Radeon Graphics cards. However, most video cards will have one DVI and one VGA port to available; VGA has a lower resolution than DVI; however, VGA is acceptable and an inexpensive way to use to see if you find dual monitors helpful.

Check with the manufacturer’s recommendations for the type of video card for your computer – best source is the manufactures' website. A mid-level video card will support dual DVI or HDMI ports. If possible upgrade your video card to avoid using VGA with the resulting lower quality resolution. VGA is common with lower quality video cards which will have one DVI and one VGA port. VGA does not provide in many cases the quality that DVI or HDMI ports offer so upgrading is usually worth the time and expense.

Tri Monitor supported video cards use dual DVI's and / or HDMI ports with the addition of a Display Port for the primary monitor. A tech note - HDMI and DVI ports use the same controller so that you may choose either DVI or HDMI but not both for multiple monitors. Display Port avoids the need for a controller and will someday become dominate for video connections; PC's and maybe even TV's.

Also never use video cards with one DVI port out with a dual monitor cable; this configuration does not accomplish what you need. Estimated cost for a mid-tier video card with above configuration is generally between $55 to $150. For a Tri Monitor configuration a Radeon Graphics card Dual HDMI / DVI + a Display Port runs about $150 or more – Google searches.

Depending on how tech savvy one is the video card can be installed in about 5 minutes; otherwise, have a tech friend or a service tech install for you. YouTube is an excellent source for “how to install…” videos as well as some manufacturer’s own sites. In any case PC service techs should not charge much for video card installations; always check around for service pricing.

Configuration:
Setup both monitors using the monitor’s control panel, video card and windows display controls assuring an identical configuration. Test a few different resolutions and other configuration settings for optimal use. Do not forget to check the refresh rate to avoid screen distortion from other light sources. Also in Windows 7 “TrueType font” calibration works very well and will assist with visual auto-configuration of both monitors to optimize text.

Training:
As with anything new some guided training and practice will drive productivity gains much quicker than muddling through. A reasonably savvy technology individual will make significant gains in only a few hours while someone else may take a day or two to see significant gains.

Gamers & Engineers:

For engineers, gamers and other power users with high video usage it an easy decision; buy the best display components the software and the PC supports. Buying the best display components means making a purchase that maybe one can’t afford but you should make the investment anyway; the experience and your time respectively are priceless.

Uncertain Times & Decisions: FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

2011-05-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

In a small corporation the decisions made or not made are very visible. Even with fewer resources most smaller organizations move much more readily to action. While FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) exists within organizations large and small; smaller businesses usually know they must act quickly.

While large corporations have incredible resources at their disposal many of these organizations suffer from FUD about their actions. No one wants to risk losing their job for an uncertain outcome from a decision they are responsible for. As Seth Godin points out in his books and blogs being a Linchpin carries risk in any organization. The culture to move an organization forward comes from examples throughout an organization; the employees are always watching to see how appropriate risk taking is rewarded or punished. Does your organization suffer from FUD?

Technology: Cool Tips to Make Your Life Easier....

2011-04-21T23:51:00.010-05:00

Technology: Cool Tips to Make Your Life Easier....
By: Eric Mitchellette

Everyone can benefit from using technology well. Do you want to achieve impressive 23% to over 34% productivity gain? Please read the following information for an inexpensive and widely missed opportunity for very significant productivity gains.

Video Displays:

Dual monitors should be a minimum in today's workplace and even for home use. The reason for dual monitors is reducing the need for window management; reducing the need for window resizing and nearly eliminating the need for alt-tabs to get to the desired window.

Also eliminating the need to manually write down information for data entry into another application – sometimes copy and paste will not work easily within an image or PDF file. Copy and paste is far more productive using dual monitors in all cases.

Most gamers, market analysts and engineers figured out long ago that dual, tri and quad monitor configurations provides a much better work experience using computers. It is a shame that many other computer users have not figured it out…yet.

Multiple monitor and especially dual monitors are a simple and an amazing productivity enhancement; yet both businesses and individuals are resistant to even this simple and inexpensive improvement. Efficiency gains according to time studies that have been done and verified by my own time studies which range from 23% - 34% for all types of computer users – search Google “dual monitors efficiency study”.

While data entry users post some significant productivity gains it is management and other professionals that really benefit the most. Even with a modest productivity gain for a professional the billing rate or wage rate is magnified and quickly offsets any expenses with the multiple monitor configurations.

Key Tips:

Monitors: Always use the same high quality brand of monitors, with the same screen size and aspect ratios (exactly identical monitors – no substitutions) for each computer. Do not buy cheap or small screens; minimum actual screen size should be 20 inches. Do not go overboard on screen size as the bigger display you may find that window management actually becomes more complicated. Estimated cost more or less for each high quality monitor at 20 inches is approximately $125 to $175 – Google searches.

Video Card: In many cases newer laptops and PC’s already support Dual Monitor configurations and a video card is NOT needed. Also check with the manufacturer’s recommendations for the type of video card for your computer – best source is the manufactures own website.

A mid-level video card with dual DVI or HDMI ports; never use VGA as lower quality video cards will have one DVI and one VGA port. VGA does not provide in many cases the quality that DVI or HDMI ports offer. Also never use video cards with one DVI port out with a dual monitor cable; does not accomplish what you need. Estimated cost for a mid-tier video card with above configuration is more or less between $55 to $150 – Google searches

Depending on how tech savvy one is the video card can be installed in about 5 minutes; otherwise, have a tech friend or service install for you. YouTube is an excellent source for “how to install…” videos as well as some manufacturer’s own sites. In any case PC services should not charge much for video card installations; always check around for service pricing.

Configuration: Setup both monitors using the monitor’s control panel, video card and windows display controls assuring an identical configuration. Test a few different resolutions and other configuration settings for optimal use. Do not forget to check the refresh rate to avoid screen distortion from other light sources. Also in Windows 7 “TrueType font” calibration works very well and will assist with visual auto-configuration of both monitors to optimize text.

Training: As with anything a bit of training and practice will drive productivity gains much quicker than muddling through. A reasonably savvy technology individual will make significant gains in only a few hours while someone else may take a day or two to see significant gains.

Gamers & Engineers: For engineers, gamers and other power users with high video usage it an easy decision; buy the best display components the software and the PC supports. Buying the best display components means making a purchase that maybe can’t afford but you should make it anyway; the experience and your time respectively are priceless.

Do you have suggestions for inexpensive productivity gains that are worth presenting to senior management or the board of directors?

Do you believe it is worth the time, money and risk to make to make productivity gains in a company or organization?

Cash is King...

2010-08-03T16:35:00.001-05:00

A contact of mine wanted to know what the biggest issue would be if he started a business. The greatest issue is cash management. What is your shelf life of cash? A simple note of caution for self employed / startups - realize that during a downturn credit usually becomes much more difficult to obtain if even at all as many of us now know.

Just as importantly it also means that if your clients / customers are small businesses they too may find credit difficult to obtain and may not be able to pay you on time or even at all. Understand as much as possible about your cash needs and the businesses cash needs before you starting on your own to prevent becoming a statistic of failed businesses with great ideas and not enough cash.

Best of Success,
Eric Mitchellette

Managing Referrals with a Social Media Tool Such as LinkedIn...

2010-08-02T16:51:00.000-05:00

If an employer gives you a printed copy of a recommendation(s), is it okay to transfer it to your LinkedIn recommendation section? Would you want to get their consent first? How would you show the printed recommendation(s)

At several recent events, meetings and also from a comments thread on the web the above question is frequently asked. It would be highly advisable, in my opinion, to ask for permission when posting recommendations in a public forum such LinkedIn. Having stated the above LinkedIn provides several tools that allow PDFs to be shown within a profile.

There are several scan to PDF tools are easily found on the internet if you have a scanner or simply go to a local printer for a scan to PDF image. SlideShare is probably one of the easiest tools to display a PDF or other supported images; in this case a letter of recommendation. Even if someone has left or never joined LinkedIn a letter of recommendation could still be easily shown with SlideShare.

Another avenue to consider is that you could also use MS-Live and MS-Live Office tools to create a quick website using your own name. Create your own URL with your name; you would own your brand! Microsoft walks you through the process step by step so it is very easy to setup. Creating a personal and professional brand is sends a strong message with prospective employers and interested others. Any search tool will find information and links to MS-Live Office. Personal brand management is important topic for another posting.

Best of success.
Eric Mitchellette

Business Owner Delimma - Family Members or Not?

2010-04-15T10:39:00.000-05:00

One of most important topics and dilemmas business owner’s face is: should I bring in family member(s) into my business? I have been involved in many family owned businesses as both an employee and as a consultant. Many of these family owned businesses have brought in unqualified family member(s) in management roles and even to run the business.

When unqualified family members are brought into a business the "Core" employees which are the "heart and soul" of the company will strongly resent such a move. Core employees are the ones that grew and built the business which will now be put at a high risk of failure. These Core employees may leave the business and even go to a competitor or remain out of loyalty but only in body, not in heart or spirit; the real commitment to the business forever lost.

I have been told that family will always come 1st when it should be the needs of the business which is where the family ultimately derives its wealth. If word gets out on the street that unqualified family member(s) are moving into key role(s) at one of their competitors; savvy owners will pounce on hiring away as much talent as possible, even contacting customers to “advise” them of such important changes.

In the best run companies owners have told me they always watch for changes in their competitors business where “unqualified family member(s)” enters into the business; savvy businesses will take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to grow their business. Why do so many business owners believe placing unqualified family member(s) in key role(s) is worth risking the business; just to keep it in the family?

Best of Success,
Eric Mitchellette

Lending & Borrowing - ‘Confidence’ is Earned Not Given…

2010-02-19T13:29:00.007-06:00

I recently attended a seminar sponsored by the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) which included panel discussions from financing companies and banks both of which are still heavily discounting tangible assets. Financial institutions use a blend of cash flow and asset equity to determine the lending capacity of a business among other ‘tools’ not covered here. The continued lack of confidence in the valuation of assets (buildings, equipment, inventory and even IP) will continue to constrain the economy well into 2010.

However, confidence with asset valuations is building slowly – moving in the right direction within some markets and industries. Lending all comes down to a lender’s confidence they will be paid back from the borrower in full with interest and on time. In a truly open market valuations are built overtime and are not generally in anyone’s complete control; however, disruptions will occur and some individuals may attempt to control valuations in the short term.

Business management and owners can control the quality of the message presented to lending institutions which need confidence builders. Confidence builders begin the lender / borrower relationship; achieving the goal of both parties - providing captial for funding operations, growth or to finance strategic acquisitions for the borrower while the lender generates fee and interest income.

Key issues mentioned by panel members:

The lack of preparation in a businesse's own financial projections to 'sell' a bank that a borrower knows their business well enough to plan - assuming the business management or owner's goal is to have any hope of borrowing money.
Failing to use realistically, conservative sales estimates and expenses to create financial projections that you would want presented to yourself if the tables were turned.
No confidence - if a company’s own financial and management team does not have faith or ‘confidence’ in the numbers presented to a financial institution then the effort is wasted. The lending team will see through a borrower's false effort and they will remember it.
Companies must believe in their own asset valuations on their balance sheet and have supporting data / documentation to back it all up. A surprising number of companies do not put much time and effort into supporting asset valuations on their own balance sheets or presentation materials.

When management prepares a well thought out presentation to financial entities it will go a long way to achieving the goal of financing business needs. The greater economy and businesses will rebound quickly once confidence is restored which also must be earned.

If a business owner thinks about lending their own hard earned money to another business, especially now, how detailed and through would you want the financial statements and projections to be? How confident of a presentation by a business owner or management would you need to lend your own money?

Microsoft Azure and Cloud Computing...

2010-02-09T18:27:00.002-06:00

Recently I attended a seminar hosted by Jeff Brand for Microsoft’s Azure platform – very interesting and powerful tools are being developing for small to midsized businesses. Cloud computing is really developing to the point where even very small businesses can benefit; inexpensive, relatively easy to deploy, scalable and powerful. Microsoft’s cloud computing solutions are good and will be very good within the year as they roll out additional features and remote server sites.

Most of us are concerned about a "cloud" solutions provider failing or lacking the resources to support their platforms. With Microsoft, even with some of its shortcomings, at least you have a strong brand and known quantity. Definitely worth at least testing if not full deployment.

A great first use would be in a promotion of your products or services; perhaps using your website to launch the promotion and assuming you did not want to buy additional server capacity. Another concern if you launched a promotion and your website is hosted by 3rd party; you could find many problems that would negatively affect a customer's experience with their server experiencing overload issues. Also fees and surcharges with 3rd parties may pile up at many hosted services when volumes go beyond your base contracted rates or they may even downgrade your web service needs.

Unless you are a developer familiar with Azure it would be best to hire someone with previous experience deploying it; however, even a tech savvy individual could and should follow the setup and maintenance of your “cloud” solution. Find out more on Microsoft’s Windows Azure Platform website: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure

Social Media - Reputations (Part three of three)

2010-02-05T15:38:00.000-06:00

The following is a continuation of a recent seminar called Reputations put on by Chris Brogan and member panelists. The key points of the seminar discussed how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and of course profits.

To be helpful businesses and individuals must begin by Listening, Connecting then Publishing. We will address each of the above key topics individually.

Listening:

The internet and the social media offer the tools such as twitter, blogs, Facebook et al which are there for businesses to “listen” to what is being said about them. The economic downturn was partially caused by companies not listening to the real needs of customers and just pushing inappropriate home mortgage and related financial products on them.

Connecting:

Learn about the “influencers” using vertical tools such as LinkedIn. Learn about them and their interests. When tweeting those that you do business with remember it’s all about “them” not selling your products. It is not good social media practice to use Twitter as another dispenser of coupons or something other obvious promotional attempt to sell to twitters which will not go over well.

When using social media first talk about others and yourself or business last; a good ratio is 12 to 1 if you want to gain trust and creditability. Use newsletters and articles to aid in gaining that trust. Additionally talk up competitors and/or competing products which will add to businesses creditability. Taking up competitors/products is not only a courtesy but a reality.

Chris has an example of talking up competing products, a Japanese electronics company’s CEO during a public meeting brought out a competitors product and admired it in front of all in attendance. The CEO owned the competitor’s product and used it in addition to the products his own company offered. The reality is that customers in many cases have a complimentary mix of products from more than one company of the same type of product depending on their needs.

Social media is a communications tool that can be used to develop new products by finding how customers use company’s products to solve THEIR problems. No need for assembling customer focus groups that only want to please their paying hosts. Customers actually create their own products ahead of a companies R&D team. When businesses track who customers use their products through their own web order sites and social media new products or uses come into view.

Company blogs for only company business are really useless and a turn off. Companies MUST go and find where the clients are; not where companies want them to be. Companies must also anticipate where clients will be in the future.

Give away products and services can attract interest and be very profitable. An example is Red Hat software; they give away their product but sell billions in service offerings.

Publishing:

Offer various ways to connect by offering videos and other content. The primary goal is to make sure that you are listening to “me’ the customer when offering content in any form.

You do not own your reputation; it is the customers, current and former employees and interested others that own it; however, companies may be able to manage their reputations. Who will the company employ to help manage its online reputation?

Social media will influence the candidates that apply to your company; know what others are saying about the work environment in the company. Its culture; what is spontaneous is also of interest to web influencers. Influencers will determine a businesses potential employee candidate pool to draw from.

Traditional online media can compliment each other driving traffic on line building reputation, trust and website visits. The key is finding the right balance of resource commitments using both forms of media.

In closing social media requires a thick skin; however, it is an opportunity to fix problems and address issues publicly. Many companies fail in the eyes of reputation builders (customers or interested others) because they take too long to correct problems; simply just too slow and reactionary. Companies must have plans in place for good and bad online publicity and events and quickly act on them. Correcting and fixing problems publicly online shows the web community that a company is engaged and cares.

Social Meda - Reputations (Part two of three)

2010-02-05T15:10:00.005-06:00

Humanize and create your own media which social media allows you to do; individual’s opinions now really do matter.
The web and social media do make better, informed customers.
Future - Customers in the near future will expect real time tweets of their concerns about a business. Quality of communication will improve, consolidation of platforms is coming.
Do not be an ‘apps’ chaser – focus on the customer and follow their lead.
Planting good articles and stories on the online, with some thought, will have both spread around the web quickly.
You can use social media to build up networks to positively impact your business.
Use social media to build trust; because trust is the key to building online reputations, those who traffic in it are the important people your business needs on its side.
Social media’s tools allow businesses to Stop, Collaborate and Listen if they are engaged.
ROI metrics can be created, tracked and measured from social media – prospects, leads, and phone call volume changes. Prospect conversions into bookings; combined with typical measures sales, profits.
Define strategy and the business results and impact expected.
Ask customers how they would us social media to connect to them and the type of relationship they want.
Some companies use the term “digital influence” meaning all parts of the web and its impact on the business.
Social media needs a purpose, a definition and action.
Customers will expect for some businesses to operate a 24 x 7 x 365 twitter service to meet their needs.
Are communications real and live or just automated, untimely and even unhelpful?

Chris’s starting point is to be helpful which his overriding and number one objective. Try to be helpful to the online community; equip them to do better things. Study communities and offer to sponsor them. Be open and flexible in selecting communities to sponsor – a community does not have to be directly related to one’s business when building a relationship.

More will be covered of the seminar “Reputations” in our next issue as part three.

Social Media - Reputations (Part one of three)

2010-02-05T14:53:00.007-06:00

The concepts of social media and its growing impact on businesses are reflected in the bottom line today. Regardless of a businesses desire or lack of desire to commit resources into social media the impact is already being felt by all companies for better or worse.

The following is a summary of a recent seminar called Reputations put on by Chris Brogan and member panelists. The key points of the seminar discussed how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and of course profits.

Businesses must choose now to commit significant resources into social media; now means before it too late to manage a businesses online reputation or even to profit from it. Businesses must develop a plan to understand social media and create action steps which are implemented timely. Waiting to commit resources now has the potential to create the conditions in which a business will have to respond to a crisis situation.

As Warren Buffet famously stated “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only 15 minutes to destroy it”. Social media will help build or enhance a businesses reputation but can damage or perhaps even destroy a business in a matter of seconds online.

Chris Brogan’s message in a recent seminar covers several key concepts as he does in his book Trust Agents. Chris does understand the need to profit from social media; although profiting from social media does not often have direct correlation.
The key points of the seminar discussed how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and of course profits.

The Greeting:
Chris points out in his presentation in social situations we greet each other in a non-threatening manner when meeting in person; thus, we intend no harm. Social media opens an informational door that also can provide interested individuals a friendly greeting; a non threatening and even helpful greeting. The “greeting” is delivered from online influencers, third parties, also known as "trust agents” whom are actively engaged “web natives” who trade in trust, reputation, and relationships. Trust Agents use social media to accrue the influence that builds up or brings down businesses online.

Chris uses an example of a hotel that was quick in a response to him via twitter. He wanted to find a hotel in a major city and twittered his network. Shortly after he submitted his inquiry twitters recommended a hotel and even the same hotel twittered him and offered a deal for “bloggers’; they offer all kinds of deals and promotions. He not only stayed there but invited bloggers and others via twitter where he was staying; they said they buy him a drink in the very quiet bar. He stated that soon after his tweet both the bar and the hotel were filled up with paying guests; very profitable for the hotel.

Chris also points out specific pitfalls which can serious damage a business reputation when using social media. A case in point involved an airline that lost his luggage for a period of time; someone or an automated process sent a very unhelpful tweet to him. Needless to say he did not feel “good” about their attempt at one on one communication which was compounded by an equally unhelpful automated phone call to him later about the status of his luggage.

When businesses try to use old concepts of mass communication to reach customers they risk angering the very people they are trying to reach. Social media is about real one on one communication, not emulated.

More will be covered of the seminar “Reputations” in our next issue as part two.

Credit & Collections - Receivable Incentives

2010-01-27T14:55:00.002-06:00

With the economy still experiencing significant uncertainty credit management is very much in the forefront of the finance team's hot list and an owner's mind share. The challenge is to collect as closely as possible to a company's credit terms while still preserving the sales relationship. Preserving the sales relationship now is essential; when the economy recovers customers will have more choices and your company may never find its "recovery" when your competitors have.

In these challenging times more than ever the sales and credit teams must be aligned in both incentives and the company's standard operating procedures if your company is to prosper or even survive. The difficulty is to properly incentivize the credit department to preserve the sales relationship while the sales team "owns" the completed sale; the collections process.

One key component of your company's policy and practices is to apply the old adage "A sale is a sale [only] when the money is in the bank". The old adage must be strictly adhered to otherwise your company is just giving away its products or services.

Recent events within the economy and numerous financial institutions have certainly demonstrated to many of us that it is impossible for a company to "sell" its way out of bad debt. Further slow paying customers may also doom a company financially if the lending institution is closely monitoring receivables. When a company violates its borrowing base convents the bank will have reason to increase fees, increase interest rates or end the banking relationship with all its consequences. Banks will quickly discount receivables that have been used as collateral which are past due creating conditions for a borrowing company to violate its banking convents with the potential for disaster.

There are key ways to preserve both the credit and the sales relationship with customers and even within your company's own ranks. If both the sales and credit teams are tightly aligned together in mutual understanding, company policy and backed up with financial incentives then many credit issues will self resolve; thus, preserving key relationships and your company.

Do you believe that a company can sell its way out of bad debt?