Pexels Add to Flipboard Magazine. It’s so easy to have old pieces of tech in your office. After all, you might not have the funds to upgrade them right now. And we get so reliant on certain pieces of tech that we don’t want to change them. After all, we don’t want to affect the productivity of our business. However, for the sake of the future of your company, you need to make sure you are up-to-date with the latest tech in the office. Not only so that you can impress clients when they come to visit, but to ensure you are running your business as efficiently as possible. But a lot of people get stuck on what needs changing. After all, there are some older technologies which can still help you run a business well. Therefore, here are some changes to make today to impress with your office tech.
Switch to all-in-one computers
A lot of businesses use computers on a day to day basis to complete the work at hand. After all, it’s a great way to communicate with the outside world. In fact, a lot of people communicate with clients through the device. However, a lot of companies are still running on older computers. And these take up a load of space so they might be bringing down the efficiency of your company. After all, you might only have space for a specific amount of computers if they have a large tower and screen. Therefore, for the sake of the future of your business, you should look at investing in some all-in-one computers. Getting rid of the tower means you will have a lot more space for computers in the office. Not only this but a lot of these are touch screen, so you don’t have to worry about a mouse and a keyboard too. And when clients come to visit, they will be left impressed with your up-to-date computers! After all, they look super stylish, and it will show your business is up to scratch with the latest tech.
It’s time to upgrade the printer
It’s likely your business will have at least one printer on hand for staff to use. After all, you might need to print off emails to keep as evidence. And it can also be essential for when meetings are occurring to have specific details printed out. However, for the sake of the future of your business, you might want to consider upgrading your printer. After all, there are so many different options out there which are more efficient than just your traditional printer. For one thing, you might want to go for a printer which has long lasting ink. After all, we all know how frustrating it is to run out of ink every month. Therefore, there are lots of new printers like the Epson EcoTank which can actually run for up to two years before you have to head out for a new supply of ink. And it will make your business a lot more efficient. You might also want to upgrade to a 3D printer. After all, these are fantastic for printing out models which will impress clients when you go for meetings. And if you are in the design or engineering industry, it’s a fantastic addition to your office. You can look online to find the best 3d printer for your business. And be prepared for clients to ask lots of questions about it. After all, they will be left in awe when they see you have one in the office!
Go for 4K screens
It’s easy to go for any old screen when you get your employees computers. After all, there might be a certain package which entitles you to a specific monitor. But it might not be the best display for work purposes. In fact, work will significantly improve if you get a 4K display for your employees. After all, they will get a clearer view when trying to complete the job at hand. And it can be essential for people in the creative industry to ensure they do the work to perfection. It can also be less hassle with one of these monitors. After all, they require fewer cables so it can fit better on the desks. And it cuts the need for expensive setups with one of these monitors. It will also benefit your employees’ health in the long-run. After all, with a better screen, it can reduce eye problems as they won’t have to strain to see the screen.
And rather than traditional smartphones, you might want to kit out your staff with wearables. After all, it can give them more freedom to answer calls while working. And it can ensure you have a healthy workforce who are always on the move.
Add to Flipboard Magazine. When you are running a business, it’s important you trust the people who work under you. It’s not just about getting the most charming, likeable people on board when you interview them. It’s aboutkeeping your company protected at the same time. As a small business owner, you will likely be very over-protective over your company, and rightly so. You should be able to trust and have faith in the people that you hire to work under you, but what if you don’t feel that way about an employee?
Many companies run checks on their employees from the start. After checking their resume, running reference checks and going through an interview process, company owners are often confident in the person that they’re hiring. Some businesses require a full background check, including financials and criminal check before they will hire and for good reason.Scott Berry is a Board Certified in Criminal Trial Lawyer and fraud and theft is one of the areas that businesses have to deal with the most – which is unfortunate but true. Helping your employees to understand that you will prosecute those who take from your company will help to hammer home how seriously you take your company.
It’s sad that some employees aren’t trustworthy, but it’s always better to protect your business first instead of falling for charming behavior. Business owners don’t want to think that people will steal from them, but it unfortunately happens.Preventing employee fraud is an ongoing battle for many companies and it’s important to be able to take steps in prevention so your business can run smoothly. We’ve listed some of these steps for you:
Create a work environment that is positive and upbeat. Positivity and encouragement helps employees do better with established policies. Employees can have a better, more secure working environment and feel less of a need to take from the hand that pays them.
Control the way employees access certain systems at work. While it may not feel great to act like you don’t trust them, internal controls on certain systems are so important for protecting your business, which is the first priority for you. Financial information should be restricted to certain authorized employees, and no employee should have full and sole control over transactions. Sharing this role can minimize the risk offraud in the workplace. You can have the best, most open employees and still not truly know them.
Always, always go for the full background check. You could be the most laid-back company boss around, but that doesn’t mean you should be lax about the business you are running. Cut down on the risk of hiring dishonest employees and get a full criminal check with a drugs test.
Education is important for all new employees. Part of their training program should be your policies on fraud and theft, as well as the consequences of the discovery of it.
Your company is something that is precious – don’t doubt that. So, hiring the best people is important and that requires vigilance on your part.
Add to Flipboard Magazine. At the moment, it seems like no matter where you live; there are always things that you need to do to protect yourself and keep you safer. Sadly, it seems like there will be more and more to protect ourselves against as the days go by. Many people will take into consideration different things when in their homes. But how about when they’re at work? As an employer, you have the responsibility to make sure that when your employees are at work, that they are kept safe and looked after. Even if people don’t follow along with the guidelines you have set, the important thing is that they are in place and you’ve told them about it. So what are some of the steps to take to make sure that your office environment is safe and that plans are in place?
In order to take care of your employees and keep them safe, one of the first basic things to look at is the quality of the office environment that they are in. Are they working in a place that meets their basic needs? Do you have things for comfort, such as a refrigerator and a coffee machine? Are the desks and chairs they work at suitable for the job? Are appliances checked for electrical safety and workstation posture assessments done with each employee? If you’re not sure what you need to be doing, then it is a good idea to check up on the heath and safety law where you live. The site Wispen has an interesting article on workplace health, https://wipsen.org/real-conversations-workplace-health-need.html, if you need some more clarification on what you should be doing. Make sure that you’re not negligent in these areas, and it will make a difference to your employees.
In order to make sure that you create a happy environment for your team, then think about having clear and open communication with them. Make sure that you allow them to share their thoughts and ideas, and not just rule the office like a dictatorship. When you as their boss are more approachable, it will help them to be able to come to talk to you and share any concerns that they might all. All of which is about creating a happy and safe environment for those that are around you.
Make a Non-Fear Based Environment
Along similar lines, it is important to think about creating an environment at work that is free from fear. Where there is fear, there are secrets. You could take an example from parenting, for instance. Say you punish a child quite harshly for being disobedient. In the short term, this is going to help them to be more obedient. But if it keeps happening, it is not going to be any good for them in the long-term. You just don’t know what the ramifications of it could be. The same kind of rule applies in an office environment. If everyone feels like they can’t talk or are walking on eggshells, so to speak, then their real concerns are hidden. At work, being able to express yourself is important. And if they are unable to do that, then it increases the risk of a sudden outburst from someone. So start off with an open, non-fear based environment, and it will help a lot.
Check In With Your Team
When you have employees, you need to get to know them. As a result, you can gauge when something might be wrong with them. If something is consistently wrong, then you can address ways to help. I’m not just talking about having a bad day, but an employee that is really struggling with something. Looking after the morale of your team is important. For some teams, it might work to speak to everyone individually each day. For larger teams is might be that you need to have a team meeting each morning. Having team leaders speak to certain individuals who then report back to you, might work too. Just figure out what works best for your team.
Hiring people can be a long and stressful business. But you should take your time and do your due diligence when it comes to hiring new team members. You might just rely on your gut instinct when it comes to hiring, but that isn’t always going to be the best way to get the best employees and those that will help to keep the office safe for everyone else. First of all, you ask for references for a reason. Check them! Make sure that they are who they say they are and have worked where they say they have. You want to check a few things with the referees; it is important to check on goals and business performance. But it is also a good idea to ask for evidence through an anecdote or story that demonstrates some key things you need your employees to be able to do. You want your employees to have the right grades and qualifications, of course. But you also want to hire an employee for their character too.
Report Things
This goes for employees as well as an employer. But it makes a better place for everyone to live when everyone is being vigilant and keeping an eye on things. If one team member is acting oddly or erratically, then report it and keep a close eye on them. If you have a large corporation, then the more people you have with eyes lower down the floors, the better. You can’t be responsible for checking on everyone in the building. But having people and procedures in place can make a difference.
It could be suspicious packages, people acting oddly, or hearing tense or emotional phone conversations. Take, for instance, a story from security expert Paul Viollis, found on this website http://viollis.com/about/. There was an incident he experienced once, where a colleague heard a female colleague talking to her boyfriend quite tearfully on the phone. The female colleague was saying they will sort things out later and begged him not to come to the office. The colleague that overheard it all reported the situation to the human resources department, who then contacted the police. Low and behold the boyfriend did turn up to the office, and he was armed. So one team member being wary and conscientious meant that a domestic violence situation was dealt with and it didn’t escalate to anything worse.
Keep Communication Open
If you are in any situation at work that is a little uncomfortable and makes you uneasy, then it is a good idea to speak to someone about it. Don’t go it alone! If someone is harassing you, then report it. If you try to deal with things on your own, then it could make things dangerous for you, as well as other colleagues, potentially. So speak to someone that you trust at work so that they can help you and look out for you. It can also be good for your mental health to be regularly speaking to someone and taking a bit of a timeout from technology too.
There are many different situations that might occur when you’re at work. But following these guidelines could help you to make where you work happier and safer for everyone. So if you don’t have any of these types of things in place, then it is a good idea to implement them now; there is no time like the present.
Pixabay Add to Flipboard Magazine. There are a lot of things you need when you’re developing a business. And one of those things is a lawsuit.
…wait, no. A lawsuit is what you definitely don’t need. So make sure you don’t get sued. This should be fairly easy if you make sure your business is friendly with the law! Here are some of the key elements you should keep in mind.
Intellectual property law
There is a lot of controversy surrounding intellectual property laws; a lot of people seem to think they shouldn’t exist at all because they stifle creativity. But there are two facts we need to consider: 1) they’re partly responsible for many of the innovations that made our society so wealthy and technologically advanced, and 2) regardless of your opinion on them, they’re law! You need to ensure you’re not violating intellectual property law whenever you’ve brainstorming a new product or service. You also need to make sure your own ideas are protected! You can visit https://www.thoughtco.com/turning-an-invention-idea-into-money-p2-1991741 if you need to know more about protecting your ideas with patents.
Employee problems
Employers like to think they know pretty much everything that’s going on among their employees; at least, if there’s a problem, then they assume they would hear about it. But this isn’t necessarily the case. A lot of employees tend to keep problems among themselves instead of reporting them to the boss. This can create serious issues if those problems turn out to be more severe than initially thought. Having an HR department is essential. You can read more about this at http://www.media-gypsy.com/2017/02/21/turn-your-hr-into-a-major-asset/. Employees will feel more comfortable reporting issues in varying size to an HR department instead of directly to their boss. This can ensure problems are solved much quicker!
When you own a business, you’re going to sign a tremendous amount of contracts. There will be contracts between you and the creditors who gave you a business loan. The contract you signed with the landlord who leased you the office space you’re using. Then there are all the contracts you signed with all of your employees! So you have a lot of obligations to a lot of parties. Because there are so many contracts going around, there’s always the risk that you won’t even remember all the obligations. But if you don’t fulfill contractual obligations to any given party, then you’re at risk of getting a big, fat lawsuit getting thrown at your feet. You can read http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8724-small-business-lawsuit-tips.html if you want to know how to deal with that, but it’s really best if you prevent it from happening at all.
There’s more – like, a lot more
The world of business is complex. The world of law is complex. Put them together and you’re not exactly left with something simple. It can be a headache trying to keep it all in your head, but it’s to the benefit of you and your business that you do. You need legal protection as you build your business, so research it as much as possible and get help when you need it.
Photo from Pexels.com Add to Flipboard Magazine. The accessibility of the internet means smaller businesses have exploded in the last decade. More of us than ever before are able to quit our day job and pursue our real interests by setting up a company of our own. Businesses are wide and varied, some sell services, others sell digital items and others sell products or physical items. While each of them have their challenges, if you’re going to be shipping items to customers there are some particular things to bear in mind- especially if you’re just starting out. Here are just a few of them.
Will You Be Manufacturing Products?
Manufacturing your own products gives you full control over your items and business. However, it does mean that in most cases you will need to hire a workshop or factory to do things on a large scale. If your business is a home business specializing in something smaller (i.e., making homemade jewelry) you will need to make sure you have the space to create your products as well as all of the equipment you need.
Where Will You Store Stock?
Whether you’re manufacturing your own products or buying from a wholesaler and re-selling, you need space to store stock. It needs to be large enough so that you’re not always running out of items, and space that it can be efficiently organized, so it’s easy to grab what you need to ship.You also need an area to process returns too so they can be repackaged and re-sold. It also needs to be somewhere that’s easy to load if you’re receiving huge deliveries of stock each week, it’s going to be challenging and time-consuming to drag it through various rooms in an office. Ideally, it’s a room that will have its own entrance where deliveries can be taken and put away easily.
How Will You Send Items
Postage and packing costs can be pricey, so ensure your prices reflect the money, time and effort taken (without overcharging which will instantly put people off). You also need to make sure that items are securely packed, your profits will take a huge hit if you’re constantly sending replacements due to broken items. Some businesses might find investing in a shrink wrapper machine is worthwhile, it saves time and money by securing things carefully on palettes and prevents things from being broken in transit.
If you’re a smaller business selling small products, you may be able to get away with working from home providing you have enough space for storage and working, However for larger businesses and items, do some research into the best premises, this will make your life much easier and save you both time and money overall.
Does your business sell products? How do you get around the issues mentioned?
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