The Future Of Human Labor In A Robotic World

By Robert Tercek, author of “Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World“

Robots are coming to steal our jobs. We know this because one news outlet after another has told us so. As robots and software-driven automated systems take a larger role in our digital and physical lives, the argument goes, they will displace more and more workers. Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are vaporizing human labor.

Robots are everywhere, especially if we look beyond the humanoid clichés to recognize a robot for what it is: automation. Mechanized robots were initially a replacement for muscle power; they perform the physical work that would have been done by human beings or animals. Now, robots can handle pattern-detection jobs, like pulling weeds in a field of crops. Sorting, stacking, and moving barcoded items for transport is a robot-ready task.

Thanks to rapid advances in technology, the machines are smarter than ever. Today robots perform their work silently in every corner of the urban landscape: as automated teller machines at the bank, self-service check-in counters at the airport, self-service checkout stations at the grocery store, pay-at-the-pump machines at the gas station, and automated payment machines at parking lots and tollbooths.

As they gain dexterity, limbs, and more intelligence and situational awareness, robots look less like stationary kiosks and more like the humanoids we recall from cheesy 1950s science fiction movies. Lowe’s hardware stores are experimenting with robot greeters who guide customers to the correct aisle in the store. And Rethink Robotics is selling Baxter, a $22,000 robot with a friendly face, suitable for small businesses and light manufacturing. Add a dash of personality and these anthropomorphic machines are capable of dealing directly with people.

Should we worry about this?

So, should human workers be concerned? Yes and no. Robots are going places that humans can’t or don’t want to go, including hot war zones, toxic waste dumps, and the stars above us. The US Navy has developed a robot drone that swims like a shark for underwater reconnaissance and may be phasing out manned aircraft in favor of drones.

At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI), is allowing computers to do more tasks that were previously the domain of human intelligence. Some jobs that require mastery of a defined body of knowledge, such as law, accounting, journalism, and medicine, can now be partially handled by software robots.

Once a unit of robot labor grows cheaper than a unit of human labor, additional benefits for employers kick in: for many tasks it is safer, more efficient, and more reliable to use a machine than a human being. Furthermore, companies have a huge financial incentive to find ways to eliminate human employees and thereby reduce such associated costs as payroll taxes, disability payments, insurance costs, fringe benefits, plant costs, training expenses, and worker safety claims.

The future of companies is lean and leaner. Until 1990, layoffs generally occurred at one company at a time. When a worker was laid off, he or she could find a similar job at a plant across the street or on the other side of town, or wait six months and then get rehired when the economy recovered. Today, entire job categories are being permanently erased by robotics.

It won’t happen overnight.

Mass displacement of labor won’t happen overnight. It will occur gradually, but it may well remain a persistent feature of the economic landscape for decades as the old industrial economy is redefined by software.

Automated workforces will yield windfall profits for employers. Investment in robots will bring great returns to investors, some of which will be channelled towards new businesses, which may help some people find new careers in start-up ventures funded by the profit from demolishing old jobs.

The upside: new jobs and career categories.

Human ingenuity will devise new ways to work with and around the robots. Artificial intelligence and robotics will make many products cheaper and more ubiquitous, which will paradoxically drive up the perceived value of handmade objects by humans. Entirely new job categories will be devised by humans to serve entirely new categories of wants and needs. These might include a resurgence of handmade craft goods untouched by robot hands, live performances by human/robot hybrid troupes, new forms of education and personal care, and unique experiences such as human-guided adventures, and thousands of other new services that we can’t yet imagine.

Don’t worry. There will still be jobs for humans in the future. The jobs that remain will be jobs that robots cannot do easily, including jobs that involve manual dexterity, good estimates and snap judgments in unpredictable circumstances, custom solutions to unusual problems, and novel approaches and invention. For example:

• Computer Programmer
• Art Director
• Game Designer
• Data Analyst
• Instructor
• Project Manager
• Systems Engineer
• Elder Care Specialist
• Laboratory Technician
• Occupational Therapist
• Financial Analyst
• Supervisor of Customer Support
• Mobile App Software Architect
• Compliance Officer
• Robotics Software Engineer
• Information Security Analyst
• Network Administrator

Almost every one of these jobs will rely on computers and automation in one way or another. Whether you are an employer or an employee, your greatest skill in the future could be how well you get along with robots.

 

Robert Tercek is the author of “Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World“. He has launched satellite TV networks, the first video on mobile phones, multimedia games, and live interactive learning programs. He provides strategic insight to Turner Broadcasting, InterPublic Group, PBS, and other firms. He previously served in executive leadership at MTV, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and most recently as President of Digital Media at OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

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Chop Wood, Carry Water

By Anthony Zolezzi, serial entrepreneur and author of “2Steps2YourBest: How A Centuries Old Zen Proverb Can Help You Find Joy, Abundance And Success“

Many of my colleagues talk about mindfulness, which is enhanced through daily meditation. As they see it, meditation is a tool for being more productive, and although I don’t disagree, I do have a different tool set for maximizing abundance and productivity. This tool requires you to be present in the moment and to do two things.

First, take some action towards your personal business or life goal; make this action meaningful and “purposeful.” Second, do something kind for someone else.

Doing these two actions everyday will help you accomplish your goals, and will ensure you have a network of people who support you. This logic is embodied in the 1,000 year old Zen proverb: “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” I believe these are two things that we should be doing every day, and in fact, the only things we should be doing every day to advance and enhance our career and personal life.

This proverb has served me well, and having lived with this mind set for many years and now, I simply want to share it with as many people as possible so that it may be used as a tool to cope with the stresses of the corporate structure and business model today. I also want it to assist in the burgeoning area of individuals realizing the corporate structure is not for them and going out on their own or starting a business is their recipe for success.

Before moving forward, I want to break down the Zen proverb. The action of “chopping wood” assured fire for cooking and created a warm environment for the family; “carrying water” provided water for the family to drink. These two actions where essential for survival, and in today’s tumultuous world, I believe the same requirements, spun a different way, are just as important.

Now, let’s talk a little about the current business climate. One topic is legacy assets which don’t serve us the way they were intended (this could be anything from land line phone systems to landfills). But the corporate structure continues to plug along and work on wringing every one-quarter cent possible of profit out of these type of assets. Meanwhile, concerned company managers are waking up at 3:00 a.m., saying, “What am I doing? We need to totally restructure this business.” But as an employee, you can’t change anything, which just leads to more stress.

So here is what I recommend you do – pick one thing that you want to accomplish in business that when you think about it, you become joyful the stress leaves you. It might be owning an organic restaurant or starting your own app development company, but in your heart, it’s what you want. As soon as you’ve visualized it, internalized it, written down and told your inner circle of friends, take one action step every day towards that goal. Yes, everyday seven days a week, one thing towards that goal. By the end of the month, you will have had 30 direct actions toward your goal.

The corporate noise of the one-quarter cent won’t be stressful now because you have a path towards your own goal, and you are making significant progress. In fact, as time goes on, those cumulative steps are making this tangible for you. Before you know it, you are what you wanted to become, you are accomplishing what you want to accomplish, and you are “present,” you are at peace with yourself and happy with what you have accomplished.

Now, at the same time, you have to make sure you are “carrying water” too, which means smiling and laughing with the barista at your coffee shop every morning, or calling old friends to go out, or just being kind to someone in some way, every day. This will also bring with it incredible joy because it just feels good to help someone else, even in the smallest way – and if you do this every day, the cumulative effect of your higher, fresher energy will bring people around you that you need for an inspiring and fulfilled life.

This is what I think we need today more than anything. Can you imagine what it would be like to have the world filled with people doing what they love, what makes them feel all warm and fuzzy, and a world where doing something kind for someone else is common place? I believe we can and will see it, we just have to realize, “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” Learn more and get a copy of my free book “2Steps2YourBest”.

 

Anthony Zolezzi is a serial entrepreneur who plays a leading role in advising corporations on ways to innovate with their existing strengths given the expectations of today’s environmentally conscious culture, while increasing profitability and uncovering new innovations. His work has resulted in numerous entrepreneurial companies and product developments focused on sustainability and health. He is author of “2Steps2YourBest: How A Centuries Old Zen Proverb Can Help You Find Joy, Abundance And Success“.

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Why I Fell In Love With Reading (After I Became A CEO)

by Solomon Thimothy, founder & Chief Executive Officer of Clickx

When I was younger, I used to read only when I was forced to, or if a grade was at stake.  Reading was a chore to say the least. I was never the bookworm type. But that all changed when I became the CEO of my own company.

Sounds hard to believe? That makes two of us. When I first began my business I hardly had time to do anything, let alone reading. It was not until my business coach suggested that I read that I even considered it. Little did I know that my coach took up reading since high school – a book a week! Yes, that’s a book a week times a decade or two. That’s a lot of books!

His story inspired me and led me to consider reading. Today, I have learned to love reading and appreciate all the benefits that come with it.

Here are just a few of the benefits I’ve experienced after I became an avid reader:

Unlimited Learning Potential.

Masters? PhD? Whether we admit it or not, people will judge you based on your educational attainment. The reality, though, is that running a business is completely different than what you’ll face in any classroom. No class will ever prepare you to tackle the many obstacles and challenges of running your own business.

While a degree will give you the theory behind how to run a business, doing it in real life is 100 times harder.

One of the greatest things I’ve gained from reading is that I can learn about any topic I want – no limits – practically for free. Reading allows you to explore and delve deep into any topic without limiting how much or how little you’ll learn. Yes, I can learn about hiring, motivating a team, running operations, selling, and finance just by hitting the books.

I’ve learned more from reading than I learned in my MBA classes – and that’s a fact.

Learning from the Best.

We’ve always been told that it’s wise to learn from our elders – those that have been there and done that. When I began reading, I started by reading about successful CEOs like Jack Welsh from GE, Steve Jobs from Apple and Howard Schultz of Starbucks. Little did I know that reading about how they transformed their businesses would be a learning lesson for me.

Having access to their stories and challenges was eye opening. I have learned greatly about leadership and how to be a better leader just by learning about how these great leaders overcame challenges and how they transformed their companies from one-product companies to global brands. 

Motivation & Inspiration.

As a business owner, especially if you’re just starting out, you’ll experience a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes these setbacks seem too great to overcome.

A by-product of reading about past CEOs, good or bad, has been a true source of motivation and inspiration. Yes, reading about the hardships and tumultuous situations leaders, inventors, scientists and more have gone through are truly motivational. Think of stories like Sir James Dyson, inventor of Dyson vacuum cleaners. He didn’t succeed at first try. Or second for that matter. It took 5,127 failures to achieve what we know of today as a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Yes, you’ll have setbacks all along your journey but staying motivated and focused on your vision is key. Reading can be a great source of inspiration and motivation no matter what challenge you face.

Getting Started.

The hardest part of reading, especially if you’re not an avid reader already, is getting started. Get started by reading industry blogs. Reading at least one blog a day will get you started and give you fuel for reading more and more. You’ll soon find yourself with a growing list of books to read.

If reading traditional books is not your thing, try digital editions or even audio versions. You might just learn a thing or two running on the treadmill or on your way to work – no page flipping required!

 

Solomon Thimothy has built his career around his passion for helping other businesses grow an online presence and thrive in the digital world. Upon discovering the importance of competing online, Solomon wanted to create a more budget-friendly solution that allows every business the chance to thrive online. It is because of this passion that Clickx was born in 2006. Clickx provides budget-friendly, scalable marketing solutions to small and medium sized businesses nationwide.

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5 Ways To Earn Better ROI From Email

When it comes to implementing a marketing tactic for your business, most companies today are sticking to those that involve digital. This is smart, but what companies need to realize is that digital goes beyond websites and social media. It also includes email marketing.

Some companies opt to forgo email marketing because they don’t want to be considered spam mail or flood their customers’/clients’ inboxes with advertisements.

However, implementing an email marketing campaign doesn’t have to be a flood of unopened garbage. Instead, you can use it to your advantage. Check out the following five ways you can earn better ROI from email:

1. Use a targeted list.

There are email lists, and then there are targeted email lists. If you truly want to capture an audience and increase your return on investment, then you need to opt for the targeted list instead of one you simply created on your own. A targeted list involves the email addresses of customers/clients, but they are separated by certain demographics and interests. For example, if you have a great email that would resonate well with women aged 24-30, then you need to send that email to a list that only contains women ages 24-30. This will increase your ROI. Targeted lists can be deployed as remarketing or custom audiences across various social networks and ad exchanges too, which make them even more beneficial to your company’s bottom line.

2. It’s all about the subject line.

Chances are you get a lot of emails yourself. Think about the ones you open first or are attracted to. Think about those subject lines. Obviously, there is something in there that is compelling you to open it. Having a unique and customer-focused subject line is imperative to whether or not your emails are opened. Learning how to write a great subject line will help ensure you see some good ROI. You can do a few different tests and see which subject line was the most beneficial, then you can use that information when crafting your next email.

3. Reward loyalty.

The best way to increase your ROI is to continue attracting and retaining your most popular customers. Make sure that you provide some type of incentive to the customers that are constantly opening your emails (and even using the call to action). The Pavlov effect will kick in, and your customers will start to realize that they will likely earn something by checking out what it is you have to say. 

4. Time your offers.

You need to think about the time, and then create your offers based on that. For example, sending out a Christmas email in April isn’t going to do you any good. Not only should you think about the season, but you should also think about your customers and their needs. For example, if you sell a product that constantly needs to be replaced, such as batteries for a fire alarm, target your list and send a “reminder” email to your customers who purchased a fire alarm one year ago that they should change their batteries. Your customers will appreciate your intuitiveness, and you’ll likely see some major increases in ROI. 

5. Think mobile.

Most of today’s consumers are not sitting at a computer when reading emails. Instead, they’re doing so while on the go using a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device. Make sure that your emails are equipped to be read and used on a mobile platform. If the content doesn’t load, or if it’s too hard to read, then your customers will either leave and never go back or delete it altogether.

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A Quick Guide To Making Your Website Stand Out Online

If you’re reading this blog or stumbled across this website, you’re probably an online entrepreneur. You’ve got a great idea, and maybe already started your own website.

But, you’re having trouble standing out. You’re writing blogs and making connections, but you’re struggling to rise above the crowd. Don’t get disheartened. Every business starts out like this. It’s important to remember that there are millions of websites just like yours. The same old tricks won’t work. You need to think outside the box.

Let’s take a look at the techniques that will make sure you stand out:

Be different!

If you’re struggling to get heard over the noise, it’s probably because you’re not different enough. According to recent statistics, 571 new websites are created EVERY MINUTE online. That’s a staggering number of competitors to race against. That means finding a unique way to present yourself. You need an innovative business idea. Find a niche that hasn’t been filled by the biggest players yet. There are thousands of online marketing blogs out there. What makes yours different?

Find a voice.

The biggest websites rise because readers connect with the voice and the ethos of the company. Take Vice Media, for example. They were the first website to pursue news with a dark, sharp edge to it. They stood out from the millions of other news blogs out there, because they had a style and a voice. Now they’re a multi-billion dollar media empire. Show your personality. Use a unique style, and be honest.

SEO.

Now that we’ve covered the starting points, it’s time to get into the technical aspects. Your first job is rising above the millions of websites around you. That means giving your website’s foundations a strong head start. The biggest websites in the world get about half their traffic from search engines. You need to start pulling in big numbers from search results. Which means integrating a powerful SEO strategy. Use content, metadata, and link building techniques to get Google’s attention, and prove your worth.

Content and social media.

Content and social media is the best possible method of website promotion for new website owners. It’s an easy way to reach your target audience and connect with them. Best of all, you can do it without a big marketing budget. It can feel slow when getting started. But, once the wheels start turning, you’ll create a snowball effect. Focus your energy on just one social media platform to start with. Use compelling content to draw your viewer’s attention and build a community.

Advertising.

For the impatient among you, there is always an alternative. That alternative is online advertising. You can pay to reach new customers quickly and effectively. We think Facebook ads are one of the best ways to promote your business online. They generate long-term customers in a very specific niche. Try it for yourself; you’ll slowly get your voice heard.

Standing out among the crowd of internet entrepreneurs is no easy task. Remember, you’re competing against millions of others. But, follow this advice, and you’re onto a good start.

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Winners Arenʼt Born That Way: Debunking The 3 Myths Of Advantage

By Larry Weidel, author of “Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success“

Itʼs easy to get the impression that the most successful people have been given some kind of advantage that the rest of us donʼt have — a special gift of physical, mental, or economic privilege that made their rise to greatness inevitable. This reinforces the often-unconscious belief that average people like you and me have a disadvantage that makes real, lasting success almost impossible. Thatʼs nonsense.

Depending on where you came from and the experiences of your family and friends, you may have been bombarded by any number of myths about why some people are continually successful and others are not. These ideas linger in your subconscious and influence your thought processes and your actions. They actually inhibit you and become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Iʼve had to break through these debilitating thought patterns in my life, and Iʼve helped many others to do the same in my work as a coach to leaders. Over the years, I found three common and debilitating myths:

Myth#1: Winners are just born that way.

The myth that successful people have it easy – that they are born with special talents and donʼt need to work hard is baloney. Simply having natural abilities is not enough. You have to develop your talents and put them to work for you. And that means that anyone who is willing to take action, persevere, and keep improving can enjoy unlimited success. As Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Myth #2: Winners come from financially successful families.

Many people believe that kids from financially successful families are so well loved, well coached, and well cared for that the road to the top is paved for them in advance. They have no fear of the future. They step into adulthood ready for their roles as guaranteed winners.

But the real truth is that being from a well-off family is no guarantee of success. Parents can only drive you so far in life. Eventually you have to take the wheel. And while privileged children may get lots of attention, many times itʼs of the wrong kind, and they grow up with unrealistic expectations. Wealth in childhood can also breed an entitlement mentality, poor financial judgment, and an inability to connect fulfillment with contribution to the world. Why do you think Warren Buffett plans to give away 99 percent of his money before or after he dies? Whatever the circumstances, no family or upbringing can guarantee success.

Myth #3: Winners are better educated.

Winners are successful because they graduate with important degrees from the best schools. Right? Supposedly their superior education allows them to think on a higher level, to strategize, and never run out of ideas. If problems arise, their network of mentors and friends can be called upon to deliver answers right away. Well, it just doesnʼt work that way. If youʼre feeling undereducated, it might be helpful to know how many people have done big things without a college degree, or even a high-school diploma in some cases. Hereʼs a short list: Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Ellen DeGeneres, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Annie Leibovitz, Walt Disney, Paula Deen, Richard Branson, Kelly Clarkson, Mark Zuckerberg, Glenn Beck, Cindy Crawford, Andrew Carnegie, Winston Churchill, Michael Dell, Ted Turner, and David Geffen, to name just a few. Most of these people are millionaires and quite a few are billionaires. And many are doing big, world-changing things with their money.

On some level, most of us think these myths are true. We live in a cocoon of belief that our disadvantages will prevent us from having the life we want. The truth is that no advantage is a guarantee weʼll win, and no disadvantage is a guarantee weʼll lose. So instead of unconsciously holding onto these limiting beliefs, try turning them around to your advantage.

Henry David Thoreau said it well: “It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all.” Rather than focusing on your weaknesses or making excuses for your lack of progress toward your goals, take action today. Because to win, you have to start where you are and with what you have right now.

 

Larry Weidel is the author of “Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success“. He has spent the past 40 years building a national financial services organization and helping the people on his team achieve the success they want. He helped grow A.L. Williams into the financial services giant Primerica. Today, Larry holds weekly coaching calls for leaders across the United States and Canada. His videos, articles, and other resources on career success, leadership, and sales are widely popular.

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5 Steps For Your Most Productive Day Of The Week

By Andrew Filev, CEO of Wrike

I was raised in Post-Soviet Russia, and at that time scarcity was simply a fact of life. Supplies were scarce at school, food was scarce at the grocery store, and entertainment was almost non-existent. As a kid, the most exciting part of my day was at 8pm, right before bed, when I got to watch precisely 15 minutes of cartoons, because that was all that was broadcast. So, I ended up reading books and playing a lot of chess. Looking back, it helped me build skills like focus, persistence and concentration. These are skills I would not have honed had I spent the hours in front of a television set that my seven-year-old self longed for.

I also developed an appreciation for the value of the resources we did have, and an aversion to waste of any kind: food, money, and especially as I grew older, time. I became very passionate about productivity. This is what led me to explore how to best leverage technology to make people more productive, and to build products that help us work better together in our digital world.

As much as our “always connected” world has solved a lot of problems, it’s created quite a few as well: mainly in the form of a deluge of communication from every possible direction. Distraction is becoming an epidemic in the workplace. The difference between having a great, productive workday or a feeling like we’ve wasted time can often come down to the habits we build with our digital tools and technology.

The list below is a compilation of some of my own routines and habits I’ve developed to stay productive. Shaped by skills built in my low-tech childhood and as the CEO of a fast-growing technology company, I’ve found that the days I deliberately put these into practice are some of my best days at work.

1. Recommit to your biggest goals.

It’s easy to start your day by jumping right into the middle of everything and floating down a never-ending stream of tasks, demands, responses and requests. Yes, you’re busy; yes you’re responsive. But are you focused on your best work – the stuff that really moves the needle for your organization? It’s so easy to lose focus amid the constant, other pressing demands. If yet another day has passed without enough time to dig deep into your most important work, it’s time to recalibrate.

Before you check any message or status in the morning, revisit your big vision and most important goal. It’s the why behind what you are doing. Your goal should be simple and clear and unlikely to change that often, even if your immediate circumstances do. Your goal is a compass, an anchor, and fuel, all in one. Commit to your vision at the beginning of the day. Unapologetically filter all requests and initiatives for your day through your vision, and be ruthless in your focus.

2. Complete one step today.

Now that you have your focus for the day it’s important to balance your big picture thinking with some achievable tactics. Breaking goals down into digestible pieces is imperative. Otherwise the work in front of you seems daunting and it’s too easy to get distracted and lose motivation. Suddenly you find yourself answering an email that has nothing to do with your goal, and the day starts to get away from you. Nope. Not today. Think about one to two steps you can complete to move yourself forward and get started. Make it challenging but possible. The most productive people I know are laser-focused on tackling what is right in front of them. Not anything that is in front of them, but the most important thing that gets them closer to their set goal.

3. Build a virtual wall against distractions.

Needless to say, technology can be as much of a friend as a foe of productivity. Notifications should be there to tell you that something important needs your attention. Instead you can end up drowning in them, which completely misses the point. Disney vacations are 30% off this week? Maybe I should check that out. I need to present Wednesday instead of Thursday? Well, now that is actually important.  

Distractions sap your focus, but since most of our work is collaborative, muting everything is not always an option. Instead, funnel your inbound alerts into a single stream where you can prioritize some and reject others. You can also use apps to help you bundle and channel the noise. A little bit of time spent adjusting notification settings on the worse offenders (instant messaging is one that comes to mind) is well worth the investment. Set aside a few minutes at the top of an hour or 90 min period where you check in to see if anything needs immediate attention. But do not be distracted more than once an hour when you are focused on your goal.

Of course, there are times when you are really in your flow and require complete, focused solitude. In those situations it’s helpful to silence notifications entirely. Silence is golden – just remember to turn them back on when you’re done!

4. Start Early.

This is an easy one. I’m not referring to the idea that early risers are more successful. I know plenty of effective night owls as well. What I do know is if you start your day focused on your big goals before the stream of inbound requests begins in the morning, your sense of purpose carries you through the day. You’ve already dug into your most important work and it’s harder to be distracted. It’s also easier to evaluate and organize the priority level of other tasks.

5. Acknowledge your results.

One of the great things about setting an attainable goal for the day is that you consistently get that rush of achievement. This is a reward on its own, because progress can be intoxicating. You can also sweeten the deal by promising yourself a little “prize” as further incentive. Positive reinforcement is powerful. At the end of your day, review what worked best for you and contributed to your success. Was it starting earlier than usual? The place you chose to work? Signing out of all messaging apps? Make a note of what worked and put it into regular practice.

Lastly, plan for your next productive day, or even a morning or few hours that you can carve out of your week. Put it on your calendar. Make it a routine to move between collaborative work and inbound requests, to specific times where you insulate yourself from distraction and follow your own best practices.  Once you adopt a certain way of doing things and begin to see results, you can build a positive habit of productivity. When I was growing up, I had an environment that was scarce in entertainment but rich in focus; now it’s time and focus that are in short supply. In an age of endless distractions, it’s best to be proactive and strategic about we manage our days at work, because time is too valuable a resource to waste.

 

Andrew Filev began writing software at a young age and founded his first software consulting company at age 17. He founded Wrike in 2006. Today Andrew serves as its Chief Executive Officer of Wrike and remains the primary visionary behind the product and company. In product development, he values innovation velocity with a customer-first approach. As a CEO, he strives to create a positive culture and great workplace for the entire Wrike team. 

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The Huge (And Very Small) Frontier For Venture Dollars

by Scott Petty, co-founder of Signal Peak Ventures

When you think of the next big thing in venture funding, the corner store or local mechanic isn’t what comes to mind. Yet very small businesses (VSBs) are one of the last untapped bastions of innovation and, by association, venture dollars.

Innovations in SaaS have made core VSB functions like lead conversion, scheduling, CRM and secure transactions available online for the first time ever. As VSBs are in a rush to adopt these solutions that larger businesses have had for many years, one thing is becoming clear: the opportunity to deliver “big company” solutions to very small businesses is significant.

Hungry for technology

Owner-operated companies with approximately 5-15 employees, VSBs drive one-third of the national economy. Growing up, many of us knew VSBs as local mom-and-pop shops, such as restaurants, auto repair shops and dry cleaners. Today, that classification has expanded to include the more than three million virtual workers who make a living as freelancers, agencies and e-commerce operators.

VSB owners don’t always have a server in the back room, but definitely have a smartphone. They are similar to prosumers: comfortable using tech and apps, and hungry for simple, yet sophisticated solutions that will help them run their businesses. A great example is Square, which is seemingly serving every coffee shop and taco truck on the planet, because it gives VSBs a complete point-of-sale solution they can use on any device.

An untapped market

Until recently, few providers could effectively sell to VSBs. The market is fragmented with high churn, so customers tend to be expensive to reach and to convert. Scaled-down enterprise solutions miss the mark in terms of price, features and functionality. But recent innovations in SaaS-driven business models have come of age on the backs of B2B solutions, and providers are finally learning how to cater to the underserved VSB market.

Low initial start-up costs and easy setup make SaaS based solutions an attractive proposition, both for VSB owners and as venture investments. Applications from companies like Booker, InfusionSoft, eFileCabinet and Bookly prove that once integrated, VSB-specific solutions become keystones within the business, providing core functionality that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Infusionsoft lets VSBs automate their sales and marketing processes, helping small business owners grow sales and spend more time actually running their business. One small  residential painting business, for example, increased sales by 300% after replacing cold calling and door-to-door sales with Infusionsoft’s marketing automation and CRM tools. Another example, eFileCabinet, used by 153,000 companies including SMBs, essentially puts the traditional file cabinet online by letting small business owners store, share and file away their documents in a compliant setting. VSBs such as accountants and insurance agents can be more competitive by being online, mobile and staying compliant.

A new kind of customer

The vast majority of VSBs don’t want to be the next Fortune 500 company. They want to grow and succeed, but are generally not interested in scaling on a massive level. Most are run by owner-operators who are involved in all aspects of the business. Their business is their identity—and often their families are involved as well.

Even the largest providers must communicate that they understand and care about VSBs’ needs, on a personal and financial level. In return, VSBs can be the most committed of customers. Users are sticky, and the services have potential to be used by VSBs around the world. Moreover, younger VSB owners and many small e-tailers in particular have come of age in the sharing economy and are comfortable with the crowdsourced feel of SaaS, making this a market that will grow into the future.

VSB might stand for very small business, but the potential is huge. SaaS, the cloud and data analytics have ensured that the intuitive, user-friendly and savvy solutions that VSBs need are finally available. With many venture backed companies successfully targeting s the VSB market, we are sure to see many more companies launch and grow to  address this underserved corner of the economy.

 

Scott Petty co-founded Signal Peak Ventures (FKA vSpring Capital) in 2000 and has been a Managing Director since its formation. Earlier in his career as a consultant with Bain & Company, Scott worked with multiple IT and non-IT companies, re-engineering their strategies for optimum results. Scott is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association.  He also has served on the Board of Directors of the Lassonde New Venture Development Center at the University of Utah.

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Enterprise Wizardry For Small Companies: Welcome To Oz

By Daniel DiGriz, CEO of MadPipe

One day, we all look up and realize our businesses aren’t in Kansas anymore. In the past, we viewed company processes as static, because the economy was steady. The intervals between economic hills and valleys were shorter, the gestation period for new ideas was generous, and the rate of evolution of customer demands was slower. Now, change is like a twister out of Kansas that sweeps us up and drops us in Oz.

As in Oz, the company that doesn’t grow dies. That external growth comes from internal transformation. A little wizardry can take us from low financial resilience to powerful brand. For the small business, this means adopting strategies from enterprise best practices. Dorothy and her team needed four things, and so does a small business in this new, challenging environment.

1. Locate the heart: Put the company on a project footing.

Treat every operational activity of the company as though it were a temporary “project”. Those processes are already, always evolving, only now it’s faster than ever. So, build change and the ability to flex into the Tin Man’s heart of your operation. That means acting as if you’ll have quickly changing needs for tools, methods, staff, and structure. Start by documenting and every process in your operations and tracking changes in it. Since you’re preparing to be fluid, do so in a collaborative platform that everyone can see. MadPipe companies generally use Trello, because we can easily break down operations, project areas, specific activities, and processes. The tool just needs to be more sustainable than a static document.

2. Feed the brain: Make every staff member a stakeholder.

It’s ironic that, as a company grows, it can develop a calcified internal life that stymies the potential for future growth. The traditional silos that develop when a company scales (“This department is mine; hands off.”) are bottlenecks that don’t let us flex with the next change. We also can’t afford a staff that’s merely compliant, and goes limp on us, like the Scarecrow, because we aren’t imbuing them with a sense of ownership. We need to insist on permitting, welcoming, and reinforcing an all brains on deck workplace, where neither too much control, nor too much handholding prevail. I direct a marketing person who asked for a meeting to determine her priorities; I said “remember, you own this piece; I want you looking at our goals as an organization, and then determining your optimal priorities.” And of course, she rose to the occasion, as most people will if we empower them.

3. Stoke the courage: Make transparency the default setting.

It may start with openly documenting company goals and updating activities, but that’s not the end. Track team outcomes in an transparent way, as well. Let everyone in the growing organization see what every team is producing, and how. We can’t become awesome without learning from each other. Go even farther: get out of e-mail and into a more collaborative company platform like Slack. Set up channels for any ad hoc groups, and encourage communication in the open, whenever privacy isn’t absolutely required. It doesn’t fill up inboxes, like CC-ing your whole staff; instead, people can see into how the company works and what’s happening as needed. Consider a daily “standup” meeting, short enough that no one wants to sit down. Give everyone a maximum of two minutes to say what they’ve worked on since yesterday, what they’re doing today, and call out anything they need from another staffer (but don’t solve it in the meeting). Transparency is the company’s Lion courage, and it’ll mean the evolving team is always unified and has visibility on the whole.

4. Redefine the goal: Make all participation outcome-based.

A lot of forces have come together to change the way we work. Outdated companies prioritize time at one’s desk, so location is the basis for employment. The context for being competitive has shifted with the rise of the contingent workforce and an emphasis on deliverables, the end of all but a formal distinction between W-2 employee and 1099 contractor, the prevalence of collaborative technologies and remote work, and the commonplace liberty of bringing your own device (BYOD). Dorothy can be both at home and at work wherever she is. So, go with that: foster an outcome-based work environment. Ask people to report numbers, not just on their output, but for their inputs as well. Get them used, continually, to saying in those standup meetings, “I delivered 12 of x yesterday. Today, I’m constructing 16 of y.” If there’s no way to assign a number to a thing, we can question whether it’s work. Once you get consistent numbers for what everyone’s putting into the system, you’ll be able to compare them with numbers for what the company is getting out of it, and much more easily allocate, adjust and optimize as needs shift and evolve.

Each of these is a cumulative strategic improvement. It requires heart to ask for the help we need, brains to achieve the collaboration we want, and courage to follow through on our objectives. There will be an adoption period, an adaptation period, and ultimately the company will see right through us, to the wizard behind the curtain, so we’ll need to be authentic about it. The prize is a pair or ruby slippers, which let us roll with whatever the economy or the market sends our way.

 

As CEO of MadPipe, Daniel DiGriz is the external Marketing Director for client companies and organizations. As digital philosopher, he writes about marketing strategy and is creator of the Digital Ecologist™ designation for Digital Strategy. As a serial entrepreneur, he has a background in Fortune 500 sales, marketing, and corporate training, digital publishing and media. A frequent public speaker and podcast host, he has an M.Ed. in instructional technology.

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A Guide To Deciphering Intranet Terminology

By Tim Eisenhauer, President of Axero Solutions

Technology products have a tendency to come wrapped in jargon. We’ve all overheard (or participated in) conversations and read articles that are stuffed with so much technical terminology, they might as well be in Greek.

Deciphering this terminology requires a certain degree of knowledge and experience, and it can be intimidating. Enterprise intranet software is not immune to “jargonization,” but learning common terms and abbreviations is actually easier than employees might expect, not to mention essential for unlocking the full value of the platform.

Below is a guide to terms that frequently pop up when navigating around a social intranet. Familiarization with these terms is a powerful driver of productivity, smooths communication, and can help strengthen the bonds of your teams.

Activity Stream

An activity stream is the main artery of a social intranet because it keeps employees informed about what is going on. The activity stream lists new updates and happenings within the community, and it’s typically the first thing users see when when they log on. Most enterprise intranet activity streams resemble those from major social networks, so chances are your employees will already be comfortable with them.

Activity Ticker

An activity ticker is similar to an activity stream in that it shares recent posts and updates. The distinction is that the ticker has its own scrolling window, so users can stay in the loop without visiting a separate page. This is particularly important when the activity stream contains an ongoing flood of content.

Intranet Administrator

The intranet administrator is the person with unlimited access to the platform that ensures it is properly used and managed. This role can include dealing with crises, handling breakdowns in functionality, or even mediating arguments between users. It’s a full-time and important job and could be the responsibility of a single or even multiple people.

Campaign

A campaign is an effort or collection of efforts geared towards solving a problem or achieving a goal. For example, if your social intranet platform is new, then there might be a campaign to drive adoption and engagement that includes training sessions and communication about why it’s important. Or if a team has been struggling to communicate effectively, you could deploy a campaign of team-building exercises to improve their relationships.

Content

Content is the jargony word for anything that is posted and shared within the social intranet. It might be a photo, a video, a status update, technical documentations, an article, or a blog post. Whatever it is, content is the meat of a social intranet. It is what gives the platform value and keeps people connected.  The content in every company’s intranet platform will differ. For some, it may be more personal and social (Linda had a birthday) while for others, it may be strictly business (An article on how to prospect leads or notes on implementing a new API). In most cases, a social intranet will represent a mix of the professional and the personal.

Cases, Issues, or Tickets

When an entire organization uses a social intranet platform, there are a lot of disparate parts and needs moving around. Well-designed intranet platforms offer a case feature that can be opened up and used as tickets for internal or external issues, such as a bug or a customer support request. Cases are also an effective tool for managing projects. Case status can be changed at any time, so they are extremely useful for tracking issues and publishing project updates to the community.

Engagement

Engagement is a pretty broad term that is used in different ways for different technology products. In the case of social intranets, engagement can refer to both the quality and quantity of what employees post, as well as how much information they consume from the platform. Keep in mind that just because someone does not post all the time does not mean they are not engaged. One useful post outweighs five trivial ones. And also remember that engagement in social intranet is not necessarily a reflection of how engaged that employee is in general. Some people just communicate better offline.

Friends (Connections)

Just as people have “friends” on Facebook and other social media networks, so too can they have friends on an enterprise intranet. This feature is not essential to getting your community off the ground, and will likely fulfill a slightly different function than it does on Facebook. Rather than analyzing an ex’s’ wedding photos or a friend’s Thailand vacation, employees can use this feature to keep up with their teammates, coworkers, boss, or anyone they are collaborating with on a project.

Intranet Homepage

An intranet homepage serves as the starting point for community members, especially those who are new to the organization. It often presents the activity stream and serves as a portal from which to use the platform’s many features. From the homepage, employees can access documentation, share ideas, post questions, watch how-to videos, and more. The homepage is also useful as a training center during the onboarding process.

Intranet Ideation

Intranets are all about facilitating the flow of communication, and it is inevitable that new ideas will emerge as a result of all the back-and-forth. The intranet ideation feature is a place where employees can make a note of any inspirations they have had, but don’t have time to dive into. This way, no great ideas get lost, and fellow community members have the opportunity to expand on those ideas.

Mentions (@Mentions)

Mentions enable users to tag someone in a post or status message by putting an @ symbol before their name. Users get notified when they have been tagged, so posts that relate to them don’t fall through the cracks or get drowned out by other posts.

Messages (Group and Private)

Most social intranet systems allow for multiple types of messaging. Individuals can send messages to each other and groups can have ongoing conversations in forums. All the conversations are logged, so if a user ever wants to refer back to a conversation, they can with a simple search.

Notifications

Notifications help community members monitor how their contributions are received by their coworkers. For example, if a user has created a Wiki, than they will receive a notification every time someone else updates that Wiki. Along with the activity stream and activity ticker, as well as mentions, notifications help employees stay on top of the content that is relevant to them, and eliminates any confusion when things get busy.

Spaces (Groups)

Just as organizations are made up of multiple departments, so are social intranets comprised of multiple spaces. Each space is dedicated to a specific team, project, or component of the community. They are useful for keeping information overload at bay and maintaining organization, since it separates the content into distinct compartments. Every member of a space is only presented with the information they need.

Wiki

Most people know about Wikis through Wikipedia, but they also exist in social intranet platforms. In this context, they are an internal page that a number of different users can create, edit, and collaborate on. They serve as a framework for internal documentation (i.e. how to request vacation days, how to publish in the CMS). Be careful to keep Wikis organized and maintain the quality of information, so they remain a useful resource.

Workflow

A workflow is the process an employee or team follows in order to take a task from start to finish. It can refer to codified organizational processes, as well as the way each individual person prefers to handle their tasks.

Armed with this lexicon, every member of an organization is empowered to use a social intranet platform like a pro.

 

Tim Eisenhauer is a co-founder and president of Axero Solutions. He writes on the subjects of social intranets, employee engagement, business communication, knowledge management, and collaboration. His articles and opinions have been featured in Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, CNBC, 60 Second Marketer, HR.com, and others.

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