MSPNetworks Blog

The tech we have at our fingertips has the potential to dramatically enhance our productivity, support a great deal of creativity, and improve a person’s overall quality of life. What happens when you don't use this technology to its full potential? The answer is simple: you lose out. Let’s take a look at some of the negative effects of not using tech to its fullest.

Productivity is the measure of which an employee and a business is judged by, and for that reason, when productivity starts to lapse at an individual or organizational level it needs to be addressed immediately. In today’s blog, we’ll go through some of the problems that an organization can see when productivity drops.

Many business owners considered allowing their employees to work from home like opening Pandora’s box; once opened, there was no going back. Unfortunately, for these administrators, they were faced with the very real prospect of losing their business if they didn’t allow it. Millions of people started working from home in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now that public fear has diminished, how have companies reacted? Let’s discuss some remote work statistics to get an answer.

Running a business has definite highs and lows. When things start spiraling seemingly out of control, it’s important to maintain the confidence that with the right decision-making and conscientious action, you can get through any problem that a business faces. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss some of the technology that can help you get through tough situations. 

If you want your organization to be efficient, you must increase productivity. However, this is often easier said than done, as plenty of obstacles, communication challenges, and resource allocation issues can stymie even the most well-thought-out plans. Let’s look at how you can improve productivity for your business by considering these common issues.

Data is at the heart of all successful modern businesses. The information you collect and store can help you make better decisions, plan better strategies, and gain a competitive advantage. Let’s look at how your raw data can be refined into more meaningful insights through the use of business analytics tools.

A screenshot can be a remarkably handy thing to have on hand, for both your own purposes and especially for the purposes of technology support. While there are many tools out there that can help you take effective screenshots, there is a modern solution available for all users of Windows 11. Let’s look at how you can use it!

How to Take a Screenshot in Windows 11

There is an easy keyboard shortcut to take a screenshot. Hold down the Windows Key and the Shift Key, then press S.

Windows key + Shift + S

You might notice the screen going a bit darker than usual, and your mouse will turn into a plus icon.

From here, you just click and drag your mouse over the area you want to take your screenshot of. You can do this by clicking with the left mouse button. After you let go of the mouse button, your screenshot will be saved to the temporary clipboard.

Plug Your Screenshot into an Email or Document

You can easily share your screenshots through a chat, email, or document. Just click anywhere you want to insert it, then use Ctrl and V to paste the image.

If the application you are using accepts screenshots, you’ll see your image pop up. You can give this a shot in Microsoft Word, Publisher, OneNote, Evernote, Outlook, Gmail, and several other similar applications.

Save Screenshots as Images

You can also save your screenshot as an image for later use. All you have to do is follow these easy steps.

Once you’ve taken your screenshot, use the Windows key on your keyboard to open up the start menu. Use the search box to find “paint,” which will show the Paint app from the options available to you. Open the application by clicking on it.

(If you want to perform this action very quickly, simply press the Windows Key and start typing the word “paint” until the paint app is displayed and highlighted—for most people this will show up by the time you type p-a or p-a-i, so you can save yourself a few keystrokes, and then simply hit Enter to load the application.)

After Paint opens, you can use the same Ctrl and V shortcut to paste your screenshot into the application.

Now that you’re at this step, you can use Ctrl and Shift with the X key to crop the image around your screenshot. This removes the white space around it.

The last step is to save the image; you can do this with Ctrl and S. You can save the image as a JPEG or a PNG, with JPEG being the more compatible of the two formats.

Once you have saved your screenshot as a file, it’s simple to share it or access it as you see fit.

8 Easy Steps to Take and Share a Screenshot

1. Windows key + Shift + S
2. Click and drag your mouse over the area you want to capture.
3. Windows key
4. Type “Paint”
5. Enter
6. Ctrl+V
7. Ctrl+Shift+X
8. Ctrl+S to save.

We hope you find this tip helpful! Be sure to keep visiting our blog for more of them in the future.

Back in 2022, Microsoft coined the term “productivity paranoia,” referring to the fears that many managers have that remote workers aren’t working to their full productivity. However, as remote and hybrid work has continued for many companies, a different form has emerged: the feeling a worker has that they have to prove they are still productive while working from home.

Here are some tips to share with your team, so they can use them to avoid these feelings.

Productivity Paranoia is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Let’s explore the phenomenon for a moment.

Let’s say that Jane Q. Public is one of those employees who has shifted to remote operations, and while it hasn’t impacted her productivity, she has heard that her bosses have been grumbling about “some people” working remotely not pulling their weight.

Uh oh. What if “some people” includes Jane? Suddenly, Jane feels super self-conscious about the work she’s doing and how her higher-ups are viewing her. These thoughts are pretty understandably distracting, and before long, she’s starting to feel pretty disengaged from the work she’s doing and burnt out.

When all is said and done, Jane ends up actually being unproductive, when she would have been fine otherwise… and it’s all because the idea that she wasn’t pulling her weight was introduced to her.

Putting a Plug in Productivity Paranoia

The truth is that everyone in an organization will have some part to play in terms of eliminating this toxicity.

Managers need to maintain open communications with their remote employees so that expectations can be established and progress can be evaluated. This will help them see the productivity that these employees can—and hopefully do—accomplish, and if they aren’t, they can more effectively address it. It also helps to establish career-based goals with your remote employees. What is it they want from their work? What would you like to see them accomplish? What would they like to see themselves doing in the future for the company?

As for your team members, they can come to these meetings with ideas ready to contribute. Furthermore, there are software tools that your team can use to keep track of their productivity more clearly, but these should be provided and managed by your company and its IT team.

Working together, you and your team members can come to an understanding and create a healthier working environment that ultimately gets more done.

Reach Out to Us for the Tools You Need

We help businesses around New York with the technology their operations demand, and we’d be happy to help you too! Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to learn more!

Businesses have a lot of stressful things going on at any given moment, especially when timelines and deadlines are considered. You have projects that you need to complete for your customers and employees who need to be paid on time, and you would be hard-pressed to find a situation for your organization that isn’t under some sort of time crunch. How can you use technology to make sure that these timelines are met? Let’s go over some solutions.

Automate Processes for More Efficiency

One of the best ways to save time is to make your current processes more efficient, and you can do this through automating repetitive tasks. With this technology at hand, you can complete projects and tasks faster. There are other ways that automating processes improves efficiency, as it can make it easier to organize, collaborate, and track tasks. With the right tools, you can get more done with less, making the end result even better for your bottom line.

Implement Communication and Collaboration Tools

All businesses need collaboration and communication tools, and the fact that they can now integrate allows for some pretty neat functionality. You can use video conferencing, instant messaging, and collaborative document editing and sharing to improve communication across teammates and departments. Since these solutions are hosted in the cloud, physical location is less of an issue. With anytime-anywhere access, your company can be productive in even better ways than before.

Use AI to Predict the Future and Analyze Data

If you can understand the data your business collects, you can make more informed decisions about the future. AI-powered solutions can analyze your data for trends and, in some cases, can even predict specific events, allowing you to allocate your resources accordingly.

How are you going to use technology to change the way your business operates for the better? We can help you start this process with a consultation from MSPNetworks. To get started, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

As much as we try to structure our productivity throughout the day, there are always those moments that seem to slip by—both at work and in our personal lives. It can be tough to find time to commit to projects whether your goal is personal or professional.

So, let’s go over some tips that help make this time easier to find. 

The Truth is, the Time is There… You Just Need to Be Ready for It

Most people underestimate the amount of time they actually have available to them—although, to be fair, this time is often hiding in plain sight. Do you find yourself sitting through a long bus trip to get to work, or relegated to the back seat in an uncomfortably silent carpool arrangement? When working from home, how much time do you spend in the morning waiting for your coffee maker of choice to produce your preferred cup (or pot, no judgment from me) of joe? 

The fact of the matter is that in these little moments we chalk up to time wasted, there’s the opportunity for productivity. Small as these moments may seem, nobody said that productive work has to be of a certain duration. By taking advantage of the spare moments before a meeting starts, or when your usual breakfast is cooking, or any other time that would otherwise be lost to the ether, you can accomplish that much more.

How often do you find yourself having some of your best ideas during these moments?

You Just Need to Be Ready for When These Moments Arise

By having the right tools and strategies prepared, you’ll be in a good position to take advantage of every spare moment. Chances are good that you regularly have access to a mobile device with some form of a note-taking app. Get in the habit of quickly typing up your ideas.

If you’d rather rely on a low-tech option, make sure you’re always carrying a pen with you. Everything from a receipt to a napkin can be used to quickly store a thought until you have the opportunity to more permanently record it.

Furthermore, it is important that you manage your expectations. It’s very unlikely that your quick notes will be an earth-shaking idea. Much more likely, it’ll just be the first draft of many ideas that eventually become a real strategy or initiative.

While We Can’t Give You the Inspiration You Need, We Can Give You the Tools You’ll Need to Act Upon It

Reach out to us to learn more about our IT services and support options, and how we can help you and your team accomplish more. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to get started.

Both Microsoft and Google offer work profile solutions that are designed to separate personal and professional use on mobile devices. These profiles are commonly used in enterprise settings to enhance security and manageability while allowing employees to use their personal devices for work-related tasks. Here's an overview of work profiles from Microsoft and Google.

Microsoft's Work Profile

Microsoft Intune

Microsoft's solution for managing work profiles is often integrated with Microsoft Intune, a cloud-based device management service. Intune allows IT administrators to control and secure corporate data and applications on devices running Microsoft's operating systems, such as Windows and Android.

Android for Work

Microsoft also supports Android for Work, which is now known as Android Enterprise. This is a set of features and APIs built into the Android operating system that allows organizations to create and manage work profiles on Android devices. Microsoft's Intune integrates with Android Enterprise to provide advanced management capabilities.

App Management

With Microsoft's work profile solutions, IT administrators can manage and deploy corporate apps to the work profile on a user's device. They can also control app access, data sharing, and other security-related settings.

Separation of Personal and Work Data

Work profiles on Microsoft-supported devices keep personal and work data separate. This separation ensures that work-related apps and data are isolated from personal apps and data, enhancing security and privacy.

Google's Work Profile

Android Enterprise

Google's work profile solution is primarily based on Android Enterprise, which provides a range of tools and policies for managing Android devices in a corporate environment. Android Enterprise supports several deployment modes, with the work profile being one of them.

Work Profile

In the context of Android Enterprise, the work profile is a container on the device that separates work-related apps and data from personal ones. Users can switch between their personal and work profiles, and IT administrators have control over the work profile's security settings.

Google Workspace Integration

Google's work profile solution integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). This allows organizations to manage email, calendar, and other Google Workspace apps within the work profile.

Security and Compliance

Google offers various security features, such as remote wipe, encryption, and app management, to ensure that corporate data within the work profile remains secure. IT admins can enforce policies to protect sensitive information.

Both Microsoft and Google offer work profile solutions to meet the needs of organizations looking to enable a bring your own device (BYOD) policy while maintaining security and control over corporate data. The choice between the two often depends on the specific needs and existing tech ecosystems that your organization uses.

If you would like to learn more about work profiles and how they can be used to protect your business’ data, give the IT professionals at MSPNetworks a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Productivity is the lifeblood of any business, and understanding what it entails is paramount for every decision-maker in the corporate world. The concept of productivity is highly contextual, as no two businesses operate in the same way or are managed identically. Today, we present a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you need to consider. These twelve metrics will assist you in gauging whether your business is meeting productivity expectations or falling short.

Revenue and Sales

Keeping a close eye on your revenue and sales figures is a fundamental productivity gauge. Monitor trends, compare them with previous periods, and establish attainable sales targets.

Gross Profit Margin

This metric calculates the percentage of revenue that remains once you deduct the cost of goods sold (COGS). A higher gross profit margin signals superior productivity in generating profits from your core operations.

Net Profit Margin

Net profit margin measures the percentage of revenue remaining as profit after all expenses, including operating costs, taxes, and interest, have been subtracted. A higher net profit margin indicates a higher overall business efficiency.

Customer Acquisition Cost

Calculating the cost of acquiring a new customer is crucial. Divide your marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers acquired. A lower CAC suggests improved productivity in gaining new customers.

Customer Lifetime Value

CLV determines the total revenue a customer is expected to generate during their tenure as a customer. It helps in evaluating the long-term productivity of your customer base.

Employee Productivity

Assess the productivity of your workforce by tracking metrics such as sales per employee, revenue per employee, or units produced per hour worked.

Inventory Turnover

The speed at which you sell your inventory is vital. Calculate this by dividing the cost of goods sold by the average inventory value. A higher turnover indicates efficient resource utilization and enhanced productivity.

Time Tracking

Monitor how employees allocate their time, and consider employing tools like time-tracking software to identify areas of inefficiency and optimize resource allocation.

Project and Task Completion Rates

Evaluating how well your team executes projects and meets deadlines is particularly critical for service-based businesses or those engaged in project-based work.

Cash Flow

Regularly monitor your cash flow to ensure you have sufficient liquidity to meet financial obligations. A positive cash flow is indicative of efficient financial management.

Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

Assess employee morale and satisfaction through surveys or feedback mechanisms. High employee engagement is often linked to increased productivity.

Customer Retention Rate

Calculate the percentage of customers who continue to do business with you over a specified period. A higher retention rate underscores the effectiveness of your customer relationship management.

By tailoring these metrics to align with your unique business objectives, you can gain a perspective that guides you in making necessary adjustments to meet your specific needs. Regularly reviewing these KPIs is essential for continuous improvement. By embracing data-driven decision making, you can empower your small business to enhance its overall performance. To discover more about how our services can assist you, don't hesitate to reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 today.

When it comes to your business’ continuity, you should know that even small issues pose a great threat—especially when they involve your business’ data. Let’s examine two situations where even small mistakes could lead to a cascade of problems that could leave your organization strapped for cash and struggling to stay alive.

Situation 1: Security Breaches

As far as security goes, it’s easy for something as simple as a phishing email to escalate into a serious problem. Imagine that someone clicks on a link in a phishing email and provides the website with their access credentials. The hacker then uses that information to log into your network and install something nefarious on your infrastructure, like ransomware. All of a sudden, you’re in a bind that asks you to either spend a ridiculous amount of money on the decryption key, or else your data will be leaked online.

Let’s say you do pay the ransom, but the hacker doesn’t provide the decryption key. Worse yet, they decide to sell the data anyway, offering other criminals access to it on the black market. And since your data is now effectively leaked online, you’re subject to compliance-related fines that are costing your business thousands of dollars.

Of course, this is all without getting into your business’ operations. During this entire process, your team cannot do their jobs, either because the data is locked down or unavailable. Worse yet, your clients find out about this, and you’re facing lawsuits and lost clientele. Good luck getting back into the game following a disaster like this when nobody trusts you with their sensitive data.

Situation 2: Disasters of Any Kind

Another example of a minor inconvenience turning into a massive problem is just about any disaster that involves your physical infrastructure. Imagine that one of the pipes in your office bathroom starts to leak. You don’t think anything of it and just place a bucket of water under the sink until you can get someone to take a look at it. Days, then weeks, then months go by. Eventually that leak develops into a serious problem, maybe during the winter when the pipes freeze.

Now imagine that your server room is directly underneath your now-broken pipes. How much water do you think a server unit can withstand?

A small problem turns into many larger (and preventable) ones. You have to fix up your physical infrastructure and potentially close your office during repairs. You have to replace technology that would otherwise be perfectly fine. You have to pay people for the time they spend waiting around for you to address the problem. And that’s not even mentioning the data lost as a result of the incident. Data backup and disaster recovery that can handle disasters both natural and manmade is vital to the continued success of any business.

Don’t Take Any Chances with Your Business’ Data

It doesn’t take a massive problem like a data breach or a natural disaster to threaten your organization’s continuity; if anything, small issues could escalate into large-scale problems when left unchecked. Make sure you’re taking precautionary measures with a managed service provider like MSPNetworks. We can ensure your network is protected and backed up, safe and ready to go for whenever life throws a wrench into your plans. Learn more by calling us today at (516) 403-9001.

Operational problems can not only stymie growth, they can trigger a lot of other issues that can be detrimental to the long term success and sustainability of a business. Unfortunately, it’s often a little difficult to see while you are in the heat of battle. Let’s take a look at some of the solutions that can solve some of the common operational problems that small businesses run into.

Communication and Collaboration

With businesses using remote work more often, it requires efficient communication and collaboration tools. Technologies like video conferencing, project management software, and cloud-based document sharing enhance teamwork and communication.

Inventory Management

Inventory management software and systems can help organizations optimize a lot of different things such as managing stock levels, reducing carrying costs, and preventing overstock through real-time tracking and demand forecasting.

Data Management

Data overload and disorganized information can be overwhelming for users to deal with. Technology, including databases, data analytics, and data visualization tools, can help manage and make sense of large volumes of data for better decision-making.

Supply Chain Management

Technology can improve supply chain visibility, traceability, and coordination. IoT sensors, blockchain, and supply chain management software can help reduce delays and improve overall efficiency.

Customer Service

Chatbots, AI-driven virtual assistants, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems enable businesses to provide better and more efficient customer service, including self-service options for customers.

Risk Management

Risk assessment and management tools, including predictive analytics and cybersecurity solutions, help organizations identify and mitigate risks more effectively.

Asset Management

Tracking and maintaining physical assets and equipment can be challenging. IoT-based asset tracking and maintenance systems provide real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Project Management

Project management software and collaboration tools help plan, execute, and monitor projects more efficiently, keeping teams organized and on track.

Running a business can be difficult, but with technology, you can accomplish more and do it more efficiently. If you are searching for help in your efforts to improve efficiency, give the IT professionals at MSPNetworks a call today at (516) 403-9001.

The Windows operating system has gradually improved since it was first released back in 1985, bringing us to Windows 11 and its productivity-boosting capabilities nearly four decades later. Let’s take a closer look at just a few of these features so you can make the most of your time using the OS.

The Windows Clipboard Offers Far More Utility

Historically, the Windows Clipboard had a one-and-done level of functionality. You could copy one clip into it and use it for the rest of the time you were on the computer… provided you never copied anything else. If you did, your original clip was lost.

Nowadays, the Clipboard is far more capable than just this. Today, multiple clips can be stored and selected from—and what’s more, these clips can be stored in your Clipboard permanently, potentially making it far more convenient for you to replicate content that you come back to on a regular basis, from multiple devices.

To view the complete Clipboard, press Windows Key + V. A window will open that displays all of the clips you’ve taken during your session. You can also identify anything you want to persist after your device restarts by selecting the three-dot icon on any copied content and selecting Pin. This is great if there’s any boilerplate you regularly need to paste into an email or document template, and it ensures that this content will be there until you actively delete it from your Clipboard.

Focus Sessions Allow You to Eliminate Distractions

For all the benefits that technology and its inherent connectivity bring, it does have one pretty significant drawback: it makes it far more difficult to focus on any one task, with all the reminders and notifications for other things that need to be done popping up and dinging, breaking your concentration. To address this, Windows 11 offers a feature called Focus sessions, which effectively puts the operating system into Do Not Disturb, muting notifications for a time that you determine.

To start a session, search for clock in the Search box and access the Clock app. There, you’ll see the Focus sessions option, where you can set a duration for your focus session. If the session is 30 minutes or less, no breaks will be factored in, but longer sessions will have breaks automatically incorporated into your session unless you check the Skip breaks option. Click Start focus session to get down to business.

You can even link your Spotify account to play music during your session, as well as set long-term goals for its use.

Microsoft Teams is Accessible Via the Taskbar

Many organizations have formalized the use of Teams as their internal communications platform of choice, which makes the decision to incorporate a quick-access tool for it into Windows 11 sound like a smart decision. The operating system now incorporates a simple version of Teams in the taskbar itself, allowing you to repeat your most recent activity on the platform—all you have to do is click the icon or press Windows Key + C. From there, you can start a video call via the Meet option or a text conversation via Chat. If these options aren’t enough, you can also Open Microsoft Teams properly via this easy-access menu.

We hope these capabilities help you throughout your workday, along with the other tools that Windows 11 makes available to you! For assistance in other ways that your technology can work harder for you, give us a call at (516) 403-9001 today.

Digital monitoring is a bit of a contentious topic in business, but according to a survey from Gartner, it might not be as contentious of a topic as previously thought. In fact, employees are often in favor of digital monitoring under the appropriate circumstances, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of their jobs.

This survey from Gartner found that 96% of workers would accept electronic monitoring of their work activity in exchange for other opportunities, like training and career development. Furthermore, 33% of workers would accept monitoring if it helped them perform their jobs more effectively, and 30% would do so if it meant more proactive IT support. These numbers are telling in a lot of ways.

The survey examined 4,861 full-time knowledge workers using digital technology from September 2022 to November 2022. The workers surveyed were employed by companies with more than 100 employees, and these companies were based in the United States, United Kingdom, India, and China. Whether or not employees supported monitoring largely depended on the type of monitoring being done. Those who supported the monitoring were only in favor if it wasn’t being done for the sake of catching employees who weren’t working to the best of their ability or catching them not coming to the office. The stipulation of monitoring is that it needs to be done with the sake of helping employees work toward goals and outcomes.

In particular, the study highlights just why monitoring can be effective for IT teams. Lane Severson, a Gartner senior director analyst researching digital employee experiences, argues in the report that IT administrators can more effectively identify points of “digital friction” through the use of digital monitoring, something which enables teams to better optimize for productivity and ensure operations are going smoothly. Here are the three types of digital friction that monitoring can help fight against:

• Application friction: A business’ applications are not working properly, leading to your employees not being able to perform their duties.
• Skills friction: The applications are working properly, but the employee does not have the skills or knowledge to make proper use of them.
• Process friction: A business’ applications are working properly and the employees know how to use them, but the processes associated with that application conflict with getting the work done.

If you want your business to thrive, MSPNetworks can help to ensure that your technology is supporting your employees in a way which enables success. To learn more about what we can do for your business, reach out to MSPNetworks at (516) 403-9001.

Every business is trying to do what they do with fewer interruptions and reduced costs. The more you can do with less, the more profitable your business can become. Building efficient processes is essential for the growing business, so this week will explore various strategies and practical tips to help you build more efficient processes.

Identify Bottlenecks

The first step towards building efficient processes is to identify bottlenecks. These are areas inside your business where there is a slowdown or obstruction that hinders productivity. By analyzing your processes and identifying bottlenecks, you can focus on improving those specific areas to enhance overall efficiency.

Streamline Workflow

Building a highly efficient workflow is crucial for building efficient processes. Start by mapping out your current workflow and identifying any unnecessary steps or redundancies. Look for ways to automate or eliminate these inefficiencies to streamline your processes. Utilizing technology and digital tools can significantly contribute to streamlining your workflow.

Communication is Key

Efficient processes rely on effective communication across all levels of an organization. Establish clear channels of communication and encourage transparency. Regular team meetings, status updates, and feedback sessions are essential to keep everyone informed and aligned. Effective communication reduces misunderstandings, minimizes delays, and enhances overall efficiency.

Invest in Employee Training and Development

Investing in the training and development of your employees can greatly contribute to building more efficient processes. Offer training programs that enhance their skills and knowledge, enabling them to perform tasks more effectively. Providing opportunities for personal and professional growth not only boosts employee morale but also empowers them to contribute to the organization's efficiency.

Keep Improving with Help from MSPNetworks

Our consultants work with all types of companies that are looking to use technology to create a more efficient business. If you have a good idea about how our experts can help you improve your workflow, or if you would like to have a conversation about how you can improve your business, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Collaboration tools can be remarkably helpful for businesses, if not downright essential to their success. With the right tools that are, of course, configured the right way, you can see exponential returns on your investment as your staff enjoy the many benefits they provide. Today, we want to discuss four common pitfalls with your collaboration tool security that must be addressed.

Ensure Secure Data Sharing Protocols

It’s easy to assume that your collaboration platforms are properly securing your business’ files when you share them through the apps, but this is not necessarily the case. You want to do some research and make sure that any tools you use—particularly those that are a part of the public cloud—use encryption to keep your files and communications secure. Yes, this also means your email solution!

Do Research on Your Solutions and Providers

When you are working with providers during the initial setup of your collaboration tools, you’ll need to be extra careful to ensure that you are appropriately configuring your solutions for maximum security. It’s easy to make the assumption that what one business finds useful will work for another, but it’s simply not the case, and providers who aren’t going to help you ensure you get the most value and security out of your solution have no place being on your business’ payroll, so to speak. In other words, make sure you understand your business’ needs first, then clearly articulate those needs to your providers so they can be obligated to help you get what you need from the agreement.

Make Sure Collaboration Tools are Centrally Managed and Maintained

If you’re having your employees use collaboration apps and tools, then you should ensure that they are not finding alternative solutions that are outside of your company’s control. You can dissuade them from making use of external apps—a concept known as shadow IT—by providing them with the tools they need to effectively do their jobs. The reason for this is that you don’t want them sharing company data through third-party or external apps that you cannot control or gain access to if needed.

Make Sure Your Team is Secure, Too

How do your employees access the resources they need to do their jobs? You need to make sure that employees who work out of the office for any reason are using secure Internet connections, further reinforced through the use of a virtual private network to obfuscate your data from any onlookers.

MSPNetworks can work with your business to secure its collaboration tools, from your productivity suite to your email communications solution to your networking solutions. To learn more, call us today at (516) 403-9001.

If your time is anything like mine, you often find it taken up by task after task, with all these responsibilities fighting for your attention. You’ve probably found yourself staring at your to-do list, trying to figure out what to tackle next, more times than you’d care to admit.

To help prevent this from becoming an ongoing issue, I wanted to share a tool that can help you sort out your priorities called the Eisenhower Matrix.

Let’s take a few moments to delve into the history of the Eisenhower Matrix, and how it can be used to assist you in managing your responsibilities.

The Eisenhower Matrix, in a Nutshell

Back in 1954, President and five-star general during WWII Dwight D. Eisenhower made a speech where he said, quoting a university president who went unnamed:

“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”

Three and a half decades later, author Steven Covey used these words to create a task management system called—amongst other things—the Eisenhower Matrix, which appeared in his renowned book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. 

The system breaks tasks down into levels of relative importance and urgency. Important tasks are those that contribute to your long-term goals, while urgent ones are those that demand your attention at a given moment. By combining these aspects in different ways, you can assign different levels of priority to different tasks and outline how each should be approached:

• Tasks that are both urgent and important should be done immediately.
  
  • For instance, a client proposal or responses to incoming client messages.
• Tasks that are important, but not urgent, should be scheduled to be completed.
  
  • For instance, attending a networking event or otherwise improving your skills via training.
• Tasks that are urgent, but not important, should be delegated for someone else to complete.
  
  • For instance, following up with a new client you are signing on.
• Tasks that are neither urgent or important can be deleted, written off as distractions from your actual goals.

This gives you the means to properly prioritize your and your team’s responsibilities in a simple and effective manner.

Keep Track of Your Tasks with the Software We Help Provide

While the Eisenhower Matrix can help guide your schedule to be its most effective, MSPNetworks can help you acquire and equip the tools to keep your team members on track. Reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 to learn more about the services and solutions that we can provide.

When we talk about projects, we typically mean new technology deployment. Our technicians spend a lot of time trying to outfit our clients with the right technologies for their business. What becomes evident pretty quickly is that most businesses don’t just need help with the IT projects, they need to get the tools in place for their own project management needs. In this week’s blog, we will briefly discuss what businesses should be looking for in project management and how today’s tools can help your organization be more productive and get more done. 

Project Management and Your Business

Today’s business is much different than businesses of the past. First, all businesses rely more heavily on technology now than ever before, and many businesses are utilizing distributed workforces to get things done. Having the coordination necessary to get demand fulfilled is not always easy. This is where project managers fit in.

The truth is that a happy customer is a repeat customer. This is true in nearly every situation in every vertical market. Generally speaking, if an order is completed on time and on budget there is very little that can go wrong with the relationship. This is where project management comes in. Let’s look at what having superior project management can do and how technology fits in. 

Great Project Management Helps Your Business

Let’s take a look at three ways that project management helps your business:

Customer Satisfaction

If a project is managed properly, it can go a long way toward repeat business. As stated above, if a project comes in successfully, on time, and within the budget that was agreed upon, they will likely look to your business to do more work for them. Better yet, you may get some referrals out of a successful job. 

More Organized Business

One of the great things about strong project management is that it helps the whole project team be more organized. Therefore, the business becomes more organized. Project managers can help teams with time management, delegation of specific tasks, and the execution schedule of the entire project. 

Cost Management

Obviously, keeping costs down is a huge goal of any organization. With solid project management, projects will be more efficient, more structured, and therefore be more cost effective. 

Technology Can Drive Project Management

Technology can be a big part of getting your organization's project management to a place you need it to be. Here are three tools that can help:

Collaboration Tools

Today there are several tools that can be used to manage projects, store resources, and communicate with a team online. These apps generally have a collaborative structure to them using a forum or instant messaging. They also come with integrations that can really help a project manager drive a project forward. 

Video Conferencing

With a lot of workers working remotely or even away from a project manager within the same office, video conferencing can be an indispensable tool. Not only can it give you an easy way to meet face-to-face with individuals or the whole team, today’s video conferencing solutions tend to have plenty of collaboration options built in. 

Workflow Automation

Developing a workflow is a big part of keeping a project efficient. Team members need task lists to go by and the business/project itself is measured largely by the time and resources put into completing these tasks. By automating workflows, you can allow the project team member to focus less on the business aspects of a project and focus more on the project completion itself. 

At MSPNetworks, we can help you procure and support the technology needed to run efficient projects. For more information, give us a call at (516) 403-9001.