mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

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Tag Archives: General Advice

Weekly recap: 100 best places to work in IT, dashboard design, and more…

News, ,

EducationEvery week, I share the most interesting and useful tech articles that I’ve found over the past week. This week’s top articles focus on the best places to work in IT, how to design a good dashboard, the new Windows 8 Phone, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Survival guide: Do’s and don’ts for next gen IT
These days, the IT department can no longer afford to move slowly. If IT can’t move fast enough to meet the user’s needs, users will simply bypass IT to accomplish their goals. Is this already happening in your company? Here’s an article that talks about one way to address this problem.

Practice Safe Computing and Avoid Tiresome, Expensive Lawsuits.

Save Money

Save MoneyContent, images, even icons used on your web site and web applications can be the source of legal problems – if you are not careful.  And I am not just talking to the scofflaws.

There is a growing business paradigm, probably started by the Digital Media Copyright Act (DMCA) of 2000, where companies seed the market with content that looks free and unencumbered, and then go back and threaten to sue people or companies who use that content, for large sums of money.  Lawsuits do result, but in most cases the “Copyright Trolls” are looking to profit off of quick settlements.

Don’t think it can happen to you?  Check out these stories:

10 biggest tech cover-ups

Save Money

Save MoneyThe rise of the web has been great for most businesses. It lets them reach new prospects and work more efficiently. The rise of web-connected mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) only amplifies these benefits–communication is vastly improved and data is always at our fingertips.

But, some companies (with questionable ethics) are finding that a web-connected world creates a certain problem: It’s increasingly difficult to cover up mistakes. When their cover-ups are exposed, they must spend lots of money fixing the problem, as well as their now damaged reputation.

Why your negative outlook is killing your career

Productivity

ProductivityIt seems as though businesses are constantly looking for ways to boost productivity. They try productivity techniques, tools, and training classes all designed to create more productive workers. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with any of those methods–they often work. I know many who speak highly of productivity techniques, and I hear from customers regularly about how much more productive they are with m-Power.

But, it seems that many businesses often ignore one of the most powerful productivity killers of all: Negativity. According to a Gallup report, negativity costs the US economy $3 billion a year!

How do we fix this problem? I recently found a great article on CIO.com entitled, “Why your negative outlook is killing your career.” It explains why people with a negative outlook are less productive, and even lists a few great ways to combat negativity. It’s very interesting and certainly worth a read.

50 names you need to know in 2011

Education

EducationForbes recently tried a very interesting experiment. They wanted a list of people, places, ideas, companies, and products that will be important in 2011. However, rather than assign the story to one writer, they crowdsourced the project through social media. They asked their followers and readers for ideas, and then put together a list of the top 50 names they received.

I’ve got to say, the results are excellent. The list was both interesting and informative. I’m shocked at how many of those names I’ve never heard of before.

I believe this list is a great read from a business perspective as well. Here’s a good exercise: As you go through each one, ask yourself, “How will this affect my business?” Of course, they don’t all apply to the business world, but you might be surprised at how many could affect your business.

6 hot workplace trends for 2011

Productivity,

ProductivityIf you’re a regular reader, you know that I talk about web apps a lot.  The web is an increasingly important aspect of your business, and will only become more important.  If your company doesn’t take advantage of the web, you’ll quickly fall behind.

On that note, I just read an interesting article on CIO.com entitled, “6 hot workplace trends for 2011.”  Guess what the underlying theme is?  That’s right…the web!  The article lists few great points along with some examples of ways that the workplace is becoming more web-oriented and productive.

If you have any other workplace trends that weren’t included in the article, I’d love to hear them in the comments.

10 excuses your boss doesn’t want to hear

Productivity

ProductivitySome people spend lots of time explaining why they can’t do their job. They might even have valid reasons. But, in the end there are two types of people: Those who get things done and those who make excuses for not getting things done. Which one are you?

Now, I realize some managers make unreasonable demands. They assign impossible project deadlines. They provide limited resources and guidance. In all cases like this, communication is vital. This article in techrepublic.com entitled, “10 excuses your boss doesn’t want to hear“, provides some great advice.

5 low-risk, high-reward experiments for IT

Save Money,

Save MoneyThis article on Computerworld.com gives some great advice for IT departments. It gives you ideas of things you can try to make IT more strategic to your business. As long as the business views IT as an order-taker, IT is at risk for outsourcing. When IT starts providing business benefits and technology ideas that help the bottom line, the business will start to see IT as a valuable asset.

16 Productivity-Enhancing Websites

Productivity

ProductivityMany companies place tight restrictions on internet usage for fear of unproductive behavior. While I believe the issue lies more with the employee than with the internet, I understand the need for restrictions.

Word of warning: Try not to go overboard…some websites can actually help productivity. For example, here’s a list of 16 productivity-enhancing websites that I found on PCWorld.com. While I don’t agree that all of them are “productivity-enhancing”, there are a few nice sites there.