Do you have a pile of business cards on your desk that you would like to add to Outlook at some point when you have time? Is your contact folder in Outlook filled with contact details that might or might not be up to date? Managing contacts effectively is very time-consuming. However, having a large […] Read More
Imagine that you are planning an event with a number of colleagues. You need to keep track of proposals from vendors, create and send out invitations, prepare agendas, create presentations and so on and so forth. For a number of years, teams have been able to easily share information related to projects and initiatives using […] Read More
Effective communication – where the listener receives the exact message you intended to send, is affected by a number of things. We all have “filters” based on our personalities, our experiences and our current mood. To be successful communicating it’s important to decipher the listener’s “filter”. Without knowing a person closely, you will rarely know […] Read More
Even though I consider myself to be rather up to date on the latest in communications technology, I felt like I was in the hi-tech stone-age when I was recently introduced to WhatsApp by the other mothers at my son’s nursery. Since I frequently send text messages to friends and family in various parts of […] Read More
One of the key skills of a good leader is the ability to actively listen. To actively listen to someone you need to give that person your undivided attention. In today’s world where we are constantly connected to news, tweets, facebook posts, and email it’s becoming harder and harder to stay focused and to stay […] Read More
Update 1 (2015): Microsoft announced that Skype for Business will replace Lync. Update 2 (2017): Microsoft announced that Microsoft Teams would replace Skype for Business eventually. In last week’s blog post I gave you “5 tips on how to enhance communication using Microsoft Lync 2010”. When I wrote that article Microsoft had already completed […] Read More
Update 1 (2015): Microsoft announced that Skype for Business will replace Lync. Update 2 (2017): Microsoft announced that Microsoft Teams would replace Skype for Business eventually. Four days ago, October 11th, Microsoft announced that the next version of their unified communication solution Microsoft Lync 2013 has been released to manufacturing. This means that there […] Read More
Whenever I conduct a business productivity workshop, I talk about the “do’s and don’ts” of email communication. I’ve spent many years at a large organization where email was misused in a number of ways which lead to drastic declines in productivity. Email is a great communication tool, but it needs to be used in a […] Read More
Last week I wrote about instant messaging and how it can improve business productivity in the workplace. In this article, I want to share with you the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of instant messaging so that you know how to use it effectively within your organization. Best practices for instant messaging 1. Share your availability. Be […] Read More
I frequently end up in discussions with executives on the effectiveness of instant messaging in the workplace. Nowadays, the question is less about whether or not instant messaging should be used within the corporation, because whether or not the management has given their consent, it already is. The question today is more related to the […] Read More