Technology in the Workplace: The Benefits of Video ConferencingWritten by Mike Spencer
Copyright 2005 Octocat LtdWhat once required physical presence of a number of individuals in a common location is now being accomplished through video conferencing. Thanks to technological leaps of past several years, any number of people can attend same meeting from all points around globe at any given time. The ability to engage in video conferencing offers a multitude of benefits and, today, is widely utilized among most large companies, as well as a number of smaller firms. One of many benefits that can be realized when integrating use of video conference technology into workplace is an increase of productivity. Taking no more time or effort than a simple telephone call or walk to office next door, video conferencing allows individuals to attend meetings from their own location, freeing up their time to continue doing business without loss of travel time. As a result, hundreds of hours can be saved over course of a year, which adds up to a significant amount of time that can be utilized for purposes of performing other critical tasks. Video conferencing also offers benefit of economic savings. Those same individuals who, in an earlier time, would have had to travel – sometimes, extensively – in order to attend certain meetings and conferences, can now participate from their own offices, saving substantial amounts of money. If conferences were scheduled to last for more than one day, hotel expenses also needed to be factored into budget, as well as airfare for those who were traveling from a distance. When you add up savings over course of a single year, your company can save tens of thousands of dollars or more.
| | Business Owners- Do you actually own a Job?Written by Greg Chapman
Copyright 2005 Empower Business SolutionsHow many hours do you work a week? When was last time you took an uninterrupted holiday? Do your staff have a better job than you? Now ask yourself, Do I Own a Business or a Job- with Overheads? Are you happy about answers to these questions? If not, read on. In Empower Business Solutions experience, too many owners, after investing their time and money, have not got a fair return from their business. Sure they are making ends meet (well some are). But are they getting what they deserve for effort they make? Think about it this way. Take money you have put into your business, and take time you have put in as well. If you had invested those funds wisely, and got a nine-to-five job, would you be better or worse off? And what about hassle factor? So what should be a reasonable return on your business? After you pay yourself a wage, you should be returning at least 25% of your asset value. Another way of saying this is that if you were to sell your business today, you should get at least 4 times its annual profit. But too often, business owner is their business, and if he or she were to leave it for even a short time, there would be a sharp decline in its profits. And no-one will pay them for what is a personal business. If you are in this situation, here are some steps you can take to increase your business efficiency and make your business operate without you: => Firstly recognise that if you change nothing- nothing will change. => Make a commitment to yourself that you will act now to make a difference to your business and your life => Start to separate yourself from your business => Set goals for your business, create a business plan => Set in place a regular formal review of your progress against your goals. => Map your workflow process and seek opportunities to make it more efficient => Re-organise your business to reflect your processes => Look for ways to outsource parts of your business => Manage your business by reports
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