Entry Software Corporation

Entry

Small Business

Four Essential Tools for a Good Project Manager

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Artists have their brush and paint. Journalists have a pen and paper. Carpenter’s have their hammer and nails. What do all of these have in common? The tools associated with the profession are the golden standards for their practice. Although they are not required, (i.e an artist using a pencil or a carpenter using a drill) they are often used because of their effectiveness and reliability. When applying this methodology to the role of a project manager, how does it apply?

The role of the project manager boils down to keeping your project and everyone working on it organized. A good project manager knows what is going on with their project at all times and should always be connected with their employees. You have to keep your team motivated to continue working until the project is completed. Using this explanation, we can induce the four essential tools for a project manager.

1. Project Management Software

In our technological age and the accessibility of the internet, thousands of great resources can be found online for keeping your project organized. There is great project management software (PMS) that provides great tools to help manage your employees. The dashboard gives a visual for you and your employees to see the layout of tasks needed to be complete. Additionally, a scheduling system is incorporated so that employees know their timelines for deadlines. The dashboard and schedules are constantly updated to stay connected with your team so they always know what needs to be done.

Benefits:
  • keeps a visual representation of task completion
  • optimizing scheduling for maximum efficiency
  • staying connected with employees

2. Project Milestones

Setting project milestones is another important aspect of being a project manager. Keeping your employees on track is one of your main responsibilities. Don’t just put project milestone haphazardly, it is important to properly spread them out {hyperlink to Importance of Properly Setting Project Milestones}. Each project milestone should be meaningful to the project and to the employees. Take into account the timing, visibility, accountability, and fallibility of the project milestone to ensure the milestone is hard-fought when achieved.

Benefits:
  • gives you a timeline of task completion
  • sets a scope for a complete project
  • motivates employees by seeing each goal as reachable

3. Analytic Reports

Analytic reports are a great way to numerically measure the progression of your project. Using the data collected from your scheduling time and work efficiency, you are able to see the effectiveness of your employees, when their efficiency or effectiveness drops and try to find a solution that you as the PM can do. When making decisions about the project such as scope or direction, consult the analytics because the truth is often found in the numbers.

Benefits:
  • provides a numerical report of the progress
  • project manager can make more informed decisions about the scope and direction of the project

4. Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a great way to keep employees enjoying their work. More employee engagement means more positivity, productivity, and creativity. Employees are less likely to quit boosting company productivity ultimately saving you money. Overall employee engagement – whether it’s through team retreats or casual Fridays, is important to the environment of your project.

Benefits:
  • employees work better when they are engaged at work
  • keeps employees happy and healthy

These essential tools are some of the project manager’s greatest assets when working on a project. Each of these tools plays a role in helping the PM do his job to his fullest. Like the brush and paint for an artist, a PM’s tools are essential to his work.

See project management in action

Mac vs. PC: Which is Best for Productivity?

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Since the turn of the century, there has been a divide between computer users through commercials, internet arguments, and office place debates: Mac or PC. Everybody has their own personal preference, and in the end, both platforms are more than sufficient for everyday use and productivity. However, there are a few objective differences between the the different operating systems that can appeal more to office workers. Here is a guide to help you choose which ecosystem will make your office the most productive:

Price

Let’s get this out of the way first: as everyone knows, Apple’s computers are more expensive than a similarly-specced Windows PC. The base-level iMac, with 2.3 GHz of processing power, 8Gb of memory, and 1Tb of storage space has a starting price of $1399 CAD. A desktop from HP with more memory, a higher processing speed, and the same amount of storage costs $599 and frequently goes on sale. At less than half the cost, the Windows-powered computer is a much better deal than the iMac. For this reason, a PC would best suit an office with a tight budget, or one that uses their computers mostly for web browsing and simple tasks. However, the Apple’s premium price is not just due to higher margins. Macs are known to have excellent build quality and reliability in comparison to their PC counterparts and can take a higher workload for a longer period of time. For offices with demanding needs from their computers, it might be important to look past the price and analyze some of the further benefits of Apple products.

Software

Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Apple’s OS X both come with a host of software, either stock or as an add-on with the purchase of the computer. The most famous and beneficial on the Windows side is included Microsoft Office, which includes the latest document-writing software including Word, Excel, Publisher, and more. These programs are world-famous for a reason; they are one of, if not the best at their respective functions. Windows computers also include Edge, an internet browser designed to work with the operating system. Edge features significant features and improvements over the previous web browser, Internet Explorer, and offers a clean layout with fast performance. To add onto this, there are a number of third-party applications that are available only for PC such as the Sony Creative Softwares (Sony Vegas, Sony Catalyst, Sony Acid), FL Studio, Fences, and more.

However, Windows faces solid competition from Apple on the software front as well. A suite of documentation software similar to Microsoft Office is free with every Mac product purchased. iTunes, the App Store, and iMessages all come with OS X, allowing seamless integration with iPhones and other Macs connected with the same apple ID. You’ve probably heard before that Apple products are preferred by creators and artists, and a big part of that is from some of the optional apple software. Final Cut Pro is one of the leading video editing software, exclusively available to Mac users. Other programs such as CSSedit, Coda, Espresso, Textmate, Quicksilver, Alfred, Things, OmniFocus are also preferred by coders, designers, and creators. Learn more about Apple’s free programs on their website. Finally, Apple’s web-browsing app that competes with Microsoft Edge is Safari. With an equally appealing interface and decent performance, Safari is more than sufficient. Safari and Edge go head to head, and both work absolutely fine for normal use.

Each office should look into what software they can benefit from, including the many different options offered. Keep in mind, however, that much of the software is cross-compatible.

Cloud Features

Creating and storing files, sharing across devices, and accessing documents from anywhere, are all useful features for many workplaces around the world. These features are offered for free to a certain extent with both operating systems in this comparison, extra features can be added for a small price. Apple’s iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive each offer 5 GB of cross-device storage with their computers. To upgrade to 50GB per month, it will cost only $0.99 per month on iCloud and $1.99 per month on OneDrive. A 1TB option is also available from Apple for $9.99 monthly. While iCloud’s prices are more appealing at first, OneDrive offers some features that may be more useful for productivity and sharing among co-workers. For example, a bundle including Microsoft’s full Office 365 Suite and OneDrive storage is $9.99 a month for five users, each of whom gets 1 TB. This means a small business can share files among up to 5 employees with virtually unlimited storage space. OneDrive expands further to offer custom cloud storage options for any sized business. Overall, the importance of cloud storage depends on how each business can use it, and both competitors offer similar products at nearly identical preference. Be sure to research iCloud, OneDrive, and other third-party options thoroughly before making a final decision.

With today’s technology, it’s difficult to find a bad option for workplace computers. For 90% of tasks, any modern computer is well equiped for productivity. However, workplaces that rely more heavily on technology may need to intensively weigh their options to determine whether Mac or PC is best for them. Overall, a company with a low budget that doesn’t use computers for functions, that are more advanced than documents and video, fit the profile to use Windows computers. Windows is also beneficial when sharing and editing documents among employees that are essential to their operations. It may be worth the upgrade to Mac for workplaces that have demanding needs from their computers, do to extensive editing on videos and pictures, and need reliability from all their technology.

TeamHeadquarters runs on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on both PC and MAC.

Five Things Businesses Can Learn From Their Competition

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Learn from the competition

On a business’s journey to becoming successful, there are many ‘battles’ and challenges to be faced and overcome. Mistakes will be made and you may find yourself with days where nothing is going the way it’s supposed to. However, one day it’ll all come together and things will begin to fall into place. There is so much to learn about operating a business and generated from many sources such as the internet, business classes, school, friends and family, and even your competitors. Although it might sound bizarre to learn from your competitors, it can actually be beneficial towards you and your business. The following are five things your competitors can teach you about your business.

1. Customer Service Optimization

Imagine if you have a question or complaint about a company’s product or services, and call the company where you are put on hold, for what seems like forever. Or send an email to the company and don’t get a response within the next couple of days. This can be extremely frustrating for customers that have to wait. On average, customers expect a response from a company within an hour, sometimes less if they have a complaint or question. In order to keep customers and maintain a successful business, effective communication between your customers and your team is extremely important. Try going through your competitors’ customer service experience. Highlight what they do better than your company, and find areas in which the experience can be improved. With this information, you can help organize a perfect customer experience that makes your business stand out from the rest.

2. Marketing Strategies

When it comes to advertising and promoting your products, your competitors may be the perfect place to get ideas from. You can take a look at their websites in order to get a sense of how they’re presenting themselves, the words they’re using to intrigue customers, how they engage with their customers, and so on. If the business is local, you can stop in at one of their locations in order to get a feel for how they do their on-site marketing. Getting ideas from competitors is great if you’re looking for a guideline, however, make sure to steer clear of directly copying their strategies; be original!

3. Learn From Their Mistakes

Making mistakes can be one of the best ways to learn. According to a study from Michigan State University, it has been concluded that the brain sees the mistakes we make as a wake-up call. Our brains treat a mistake as a problem that needs to be solved. After a mistake, decisions are thought out more carefully in order to avoid another one. Using this strategy, figure out how to learn from the mistakes of your competitors. Always note what they’ve done wrong in the past, and find ways to prevent it from happening to your company. This allows you to minimize risk and maintain a perfect brand image to your customers.

4. Social Media

When you visit a competitor’s social media page, compare theirs to yours. Do they have more followers? How many likes do their posts get? Are they interacting with customers? If they do, ask yourself what they’re doing to gain followers or additional reach that you’re not. Try and pay attention to areas of social media where your competitors are lacking. For example, if your competitors are not posting as often, try and post more often in order to increase your customer engagement. Lastly, pay attention to the types of content your competitors are posting. Are they posting thought-provoking content, photos or updates about their business? Take notes on what their customers respond well to and see what engages them the most.

5. Reputation

Your business’ reputation can be the main deciding factor when customers decide whether they want to use your product or service. Do some searching and see how your customers review your competitors. If your competitors have higher ratings than you, you may want to pay attention to what they’re doing and try to apply some of the things their customers like to your business.

In the end, your competitors can teach you a lot about how to operate your business, promote your products and engage with customers.

Three Surefire Ways to Eliminate Workplace Distractions

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Your project is due at the end of the day, and a blank document sits open on your computer. Business banter among your co-workers has transitioned to gossip and chatter. Your phone awakens with a new email, text message, or Facebook update every time you set it down. The sounds of printers, copiers, phone calls, conversations, and cars outside flood your ears and drown your focus. There’s no way you’ll get this task done.

Unfortunately, this scenario is far too familiar for many people every day. Workplace distractions can make productivity pull to a screeching halt, limit creativity, and cause unnecessary stress that affects the rest of your daily life. Staying focused on the task at hand is more difficult than it seems. However, the benefits that come from prioritizing and getting things done on time make it a desirable skill to have. Here are some tips that can help you stay in your zone and eliminate distractions in your workplace.

Do-Not-Disturb Mode

Ask anyone with an office job what their biggest distraction is, and odds are they’ll say it’s their phone. The buzzing and flashing screen of notifications bring us out of our focus, and make us mix our business and personal lives. In a perfect world, our phones would be kept hidden away while we work, but this is real life and there are plenty of reasons why we need to keep our personal devices nearby. Therefore, to mitigate distractions while our phones are within reach, Do-Not-Disturb is a perfect option. Activating Do-Not-Disturb prevents any notifications from distracting you when productivity is a priority: calls don’t appear, texts are temporarily blocked, and notifications for all apps won’t be received. If you’re worried about the communication black-out affecting your ability to respond to emergencies, you can rest easy! You have the ability to allow notifications from certain contacts, or from people who call multiple times in a row. This option is available on both IOS and Android operating systems.

Eliminating Background Noise

Noisy distractions like chatter from employees, office machines, movement, or other surrounding noises can have a huge negative impact on your productivity. Depending on your workplace’s policy on music, headphones are always a great option for tuning out and preventing outside noise from sidetracking your train of thought. However, shy away from loud music with too many lyrics or from your favourite songs. This may have you focusing more on the music than your work, adding to your list of distractions and producing the opposite effect of what was intended. Listening to jazz, classical, or any other passive music can block out external noise without being a distraction itself. Additionally, ear plugs are another great alternative for reducing the noise around you if music isn’t allowed.

Reducing Clutter

A neat, clean workspace is another key to staying focused and eliminating distractions. This could simply mean cleaning your desk, getting rid of unnecessary papers, and neatly organizing the essentials for your current project. You’d be surprised how much this can affect your workplace efficiency. With nothing sticking out like a sore thumb in front of you, it is much easier to stay focused on the task at hand. De-cluttering is also important on the digital side of things. Multiple open tabs, a busy desktop, or a distracting background screen can cause you to stray from your intended action. Delete shortcuts for social media and anything that isn’t work-related. Close any internet tabs that you don’t need currently, replace that background image of your dream vacation destination with something simple that won’t make your mind wander. If you dedicate five minutes to clean up and return order to your workspace each day, it could save you much more time when you need to concentrate.

With so many distractions in the modern-day office place reducing our output and efficiency, it’s difficult to find a way to overcome them all. Most importantly, we should try our best not to become a distraction for others, and to communicate with our co-workers to try to minimize the issues we encounter. Reducing the noise we make, the unnecessary notifications we send, and clutter we cause for others in the workplace makes productivity much easier for everyone. This, combined with the tips listed above and a solid work ethic will help you to go above and beyond your productivity goals, and impress your employer or clients.