Connected Office

The traditional work office is on its last legs. The workplace of the future will be less centralized, more mobile, and more flexible than anything we previously imagined. And this trend will only accelerate due to the rapid uptake of mobile technologies like smartphones, tablets, and other data- and file-sharing platforms.[read more]

I sometimes see posts on social media or articles talking about the evils of outsourcing social media management to an outside consultant or company. The assumption is that your company’s social media activities are an extension of your company and that it needs to be “authentic” (i.e. coming from you).[read more]

With the massive shift to digital and social media, online communities – and community management – has emerged as a discipline in its own right. In many cases, having an active and engaged community manager is becoming a strategic advantage.[read more]

If your small business offers more mobility in 2013, you could see it pay off with more customers and better sales.[read more]

I read the announcement today that Canada has just launched a Start-Up Visa Program. By doing so, they are saying to the world “welcome immigrant entrepreneurs – please come start your business in Canada.” It’s brilliant, well executed, and modeled after the Startup Visa movement that a number of us have been trying to get started in the...[read more]

Have you ever tried to review someone’s LinkedIn contacts before a networking meeting to see if they know anyone you would like to meet? If so, you’ll know that it can be difficult because most people active on LinkedIn have 100 or more connections (some have many more). Paging through their contacts 10 profiles at a time can be time...[read more]

It’s unfortunate, really, that meetings get such a bad rap. You gotta have them. You gotta to meet with your team, stay on track, find out what’s happening, communicate, and all that stuff. Can they be made into something better?[read more]

Multi-screen experiences are crucial but they aren’t just for the consumer that has his tablet open while watching TV. The multi-screen experience is just as important for employees within organizations and is a necessity for the future of work.[read more]

Since the days of Henry Ford, mass production has been the Holy Grail of business, rather than build-to-order. Too many businesses haven’t noticed that we have come full-circle, where mass customization is required now to win. Customers have come to expect immediate and tailor-made responses to their needs, and the businesses that fail to deliver quickly fall behind.[read more]

Clear processes and metrics are even more important in the SaaS world than they are in conventional software businesses. The effect of what might seem like relatively small adjustments at key points can have a dramatic compounding effect on financial viability.[read more]

52 Presentation Tips by SOAP from SOAP Presentations The first thing that stood out to us about SOAP Presentations “52 Presentation Tips” SlideShare deck is how consistent the design is throughout. The color scheme, illustrations, typography and layout all lend the deck a high level of consistency, which is always an important design...[read more]

I joined my first board of a company other than mine in 1994 (NetGenesis). Since then, I’ve sat on hundreds of boards and been to a zillion board meetings. It crushes my soul a little to think of the number of board meetings I have sat through that were ineffective, poorly run, or just plain boring. I guess that’s part of the motivation...[read more]

Here is a true story of a creatively disengaged employee. He was a software developer who was earning $250,000 a year and producing great quality work. Or so it seemed.[read more]

If you are experiencing a social media crisis with your business, it can either devastate you or you can turn it around and deal with it in a way that doesn’t ruin all of the effort made so far. If you approach it correctly, you have the potential to get closer to your clients and to your market as a result of dealing with a crisis that...[read more]

It’s widely recognised that a company is more productive when all of its elements – including staff – are able to work together cohesively, towards common goals. The main goals of team building are to improve company focus and productivity, which means improving staff cohesion. To this end, many company owners or managers decide to...[read more]

Whether to hire or outsource is always a tough decision. Hiring means expense and risk that is not easily redirected if you make a mistake. Outsourcing brings complexity in organization and communication. When you thinking about this for a senior role or leadership position, the challenges multiply.  With a strategic role like...[read more]

Business owners and startup entrepreneurs are always searching for low-cost and no-cost ways to promote their businesses and get their name in front of potential customers. PR is a perfect way for most  businesses to get attention and attract new customers. Nothing brings people to your door (website, Facebook page, etc.) like PR....[read more]

If you thought cloud computing was just for large enterprises, think again. Any small-to-midsized business (SMB) can benefit from using the cloud to streamline operations, reduce overhead, cut costs and increase scalability, as outlined by Cloud Business Review.[read more]

Let’s get one thing out of the way: there’s no such thing as a virtual team. They’re only called virtual teams because members are distributed across organization boundaries, time zones, and countries[read more]

The word cloud computing is creating quite a buzz these days and although many large corporations are making the best use of it very few small business are making the switch and benefiting from this.[read more]