The Importance of Audience
Posted November 7th, 2011 by Wes // in Business, Healthcare, Random Thoughts // No Comments
Take a few moments and read this: http://www.hitechanswers.net/getting-staff-buy-in-for-ehr-implementation/. Marsha form our tribe shared this with me over the weekend and I think it’s a fantastic way to illustrate the importance of considering your audience before speaking. Abraham Lincoln famously quipped "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt". Many times, in my experience, consideration (or lack thereof) of the audience is the difference between a foolish remark and a profound one. Seldom is the point totally invalid – it’s just delivered in such a way that the audience can’t connect with it (or, in extreme cases, even offends). I think we all have a lot to learn from this.
Challenge for the week – think about the audience in front of you (this can be a client, a co-worker, your child, your spouse, etc….) before you speak. Be conscious of the result. Did it make a difference?
30% of the industry uses this solution, and experts advise you should be, but are you?
Posted September 22nd, 2011 by Wes // in Business, Technical // No Comments
Multiple monitor setups - an underutilized time-saving solution
30% of the industry uses this solution, and experts advise you should be, but are you?
I don't know how people work off just one monitor. I currently use four monitors, and I can't imagine how it would be to work with just one. Studies show that having multiple monitors will result in a 5% to 20% productivity gain. A good 20 inch monitor is about $300, so depending on the billing rate, it could pay for itself in a couple of days. In my classes I ask how many people are using multiple monitors, and it's only about a third of the class. 70% to 90% of people should be using more than one monitor. I think that people don't do it because they don't understand or don't believe that having multiple monitors will boost productivity." -Randy Johnston, industry expert consistently named as one of the 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today.
In most office settings, desktop multitasking is no longer a workstyle choice—it's a way of life. Finance and accounting professionals typically run several desktop applications simultaneously, in addition to an email client and perhaps instant messaging software. On top of that, a desktop will have one or more browser windows open, providing market watch and research capabilities at your fingertips.
You can jump from one application to another using your mouse or the tab function, but such efforts can be clumsy and inefficient. Multitasking with a single monitor is akin to flipping through a stack of clutter to find what you need at that moment. But imagine if you could have such paperwork spread out across your desk and always visible.
The increased popularity of multi-display systems has as much to do with advances in technology as it does with economics. Though Windows 98 first allowed for dual display configurations, bulky CRTs sat on most desks back then and many workspaces simply could not have accommodated more than one such monitor. Flat-panel displays solved the space problem, but with prices often exceeding $1000, they were long considered a luxury.
Today's monitors, by contrast, are just a fraction of that cost, making the addition of a second or third monitor a negligible expense. And with numerous studies estimating productivity increases of anywhere from 10 to 45 percent, the payback is almost immediate.
With multiple monitors, for example, one could refresh quotes or take feeds on one screen, pull up research on a second screen, and pull up client information or process transactions on a third, without any opening/closing or maximizing/minimizing of applications. In considering the increased efficiency, many professionals who have switched to a dual or multi-monitor display have regarded the switch as transformational.
Attorney General Cordray warns us of new H1N1 scam
Posted December 4th, 2009 by Wes // in Agil IT News, Business, Healthcare, Technical // No Comments
Today I received this press release from the Ohio Attorney General’s office regarding a new computer virus scam. I checked this one out and it’s legitimate so I thought we should let the tribe members know about it. If you have questions feel free to contact me at aemswiler@agilit.com.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Posing as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), scammers have found a new angle in the effort to exploit fears driven by the spread of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, sometimes called “swine flu.” Attorney General Richard Cordray today urges Ohioans to beware of an email which carries a computer virus that may infect your computer and provide a stranger with access to your personal information.
The bogus email announces the launch of a “state vaccination H1N1 program” and encourages the user to create a personal vaccination profile. It provides a link to a Web page that looks similar to the CDC site. Within the page are downloadable instructions for creating your personal vaccination profile.
Cordray warns that by downloading the instructions, visitors are downloading a virus onto their computers.
“Any time you receive an email from someone you are not familiar wth, I strongly recommend avoiding the provided links,” said Cordray. “clicking on that link can unleash downloadable viruses capable of capturing your personal information and sending it back to the scam artist.”
Because of these potential phishing attacks and email scams, Cordray encourages consumers who are interested in H1N1 influenza virus information to visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services informational web site at www.flu.gov or the Ohio Department of Health informational site, www.flu.ohio.gov. Cordray also offers the following tips to help Ohioans avoid phishing scams:
- Contact the institution yourself: Don’t respond to unsolicited requests for your personal information. Instead, contact the organization at a phone number or a web address you know to be correct.
- Don’t click on links in emails: Be cautious about opening any attachments or downloading any files from email messages. Links and attachments can make your computer vulnerable to viruses.
- Look for warning signs: Misspelled words or a lack of personal greetings may signal fraud. However, the presence of a personal greeting or a lack of errors does not guarantee legitimacy. Always be skeptical.
- Use spam filters, anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a firewall: Update your security software regularly. The software can help stop your computer from accepting unwanted files that can be sent via phishing emails.
- Don’t give out personal information via email: Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. A bank or governmental agency will never request personal information via email.
- Monitor your accounts: Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them. If you find unauthorized charges, immediately notify your bank or credit card provider.
- Report phishing scams to the company or organization the scam artist is impersonating and to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Report this phishing scam or any other scam to the Attorney General’s Office atwww.SpeakOutOhio.gov or by calling (800) 282-0515.
Interruptive Marketing
Posted August 17th, 2009 by Wes // in Agil IT News, Business, Marketing, Random Thoughts // 2 Comments
"Step right this way, Sir..." Yep. I was the lucky one. Should have played that one last game of blackjack. Sure enough, I was the lucky one chosen at the Vegas airport to be the proud recipient of a TSA "exhaustive search". Why?!? Seriously? "What made you pick me?", I inquired, placing the business cards back into my pocket from the x-ray tub. "Those ... uh... THINGS! ... in your pocket. Are those magnets!?!", he asked, as if magnets were the next thing to a bottle of shampoo on the FAA "stuff that could be really deadly and dangerous on a plane" list. "No Sir, those are my business cards." Business cards?", he asked unbelievably. "Yes Sir.", I replied. "Whose stupid idea was it to print round business cards?", he asked smugly looking down his long nose at the blasphemous round objects. "Mine Sir.", I answered, wondering if he expected me to evaluate his mental capacity aloud in return. "Next time, keep those things in your briefcase. Anything that makes you stand out in an airport is not a good idea." "Yes Sir.", I said, channeling every ounce of self control within me to refrain from rolling on the floor laughing.
If you haven't already seen them our business cards are just like our approach to managing IT for our clients. Different. Other than conventional. Provocative. They're round. And, because we think too much pomp and circumstance goes into a title, we've made up our own creative titles - different, other than conventional, provocative titles. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. I've received calls from clients telling me how much they like them - and even that they aspire to "collect them all".
I've been preaching to our tribe, through this economic downturn, about interruptive contact. Every contact we have with our customers, partners and distributors - whether it be a phone call, email, personal visit, or thank-you card sent by snail mail - must be interruptive. Interruptive - so much that it gives the recipient pause and makes them think "wow - these folks are different!".
I am continually turned off by bland, safe, industry standard "me too" marketing. That's why we've chosen to market in ways that are interruptive. Interruptive in ways that scream out loud that we are real people with real personalities and real creative ability. Yes, it's perhaps risky in some ways, but it's different. And different is good. Even if it makes some folks uncomfortable. Especially the TSA guy in the Vegas airport. I left him my card. Twenty bucks says he shows it to his wife tonight when he gets home as he tells her the story.
