Posted by Dana Larson on November 01, 2010
Let’s face it - not everyone is in a positive mood all the time. We all have bad days, it’s true, and sometimes we let that interfere with our productivity and our work environment. But it’s important to make sure others aren’t too impacted by a bad mood on rare occasions.
Also, many businesses these days are focusing on positive attitudes and good moods and trying to keep their workplaces upbeat. Smiles can increase productivity, collaboration and business success, and many companies want to facilitate these attitudes to keep their business moving forward.
So, how can you keep your employees positive? Here are a few tips for a happy work environment.
Posted by Dana Larson on August 24, 2010
I know, it’s a bit of a weird title. But the baby planning industry is hot these days, and even they can’t plan for a baby all by themselves. Itsabelly Baby Planners has been working with OnePlace for the past two years to help manage and organize their business information so they can expand like a pregnant woman’s belly.
Itsabelly Baby Planners offers baby panning services to support families in making healthy and safe choices for their new little one. They help families add safe items to their baby registry, create a beneficial nursery design, develop birth plans to help welcome the baby into the new world and even help baby proof the home.
Posted by Dana Larson on August 17, 2010
We’ve all heard by now that effective team collaboration can greatly impact the productivity and success of the business. In a recent study, over 80% of businesses stated that collaboration was the key to future success. This sounds great, right?
Absolutely! But there are many businesses who are hesitant to jump on the collaboration bandwagon because they aren’t sure exactly how collaboration will benefit them. A big concern is that the new collaboration process may not be as productive or beneficial as they want it to be.
In all honesty, there is a learning curve with collaboration processes and tools, as there is with almost everything else in the business world. The key is to agreeing to get around the curve as gracefully and successfully as possible to begin enhancing the communication and collaboration in your business.
Posted by Dana Larson on August 05, 2010
A few months ago, we highlighted many reasons why happy employees are productive employees. A few of our favorite ways to make employees happy, and thus more productive, were to recognize success, set goals, provide career growth opportunities, offer flexible work hours, provide quality office supplies and go on team field trips.
Because we want to do our part to make sure everyone on your business team is happy, productive and successful, here are a few more ways to keep your employees happy.
Posted by Denis Ahearn on May 26, 2010
Anyone reading this blog knows that you can use email to communicate with other people who are online. But did you know that you can also use email to communicate with OnePlace? It's true, and it's easy to do. You can send email to OnePlace to create things like tasks, notes, inbasket messages and team pulses. You can also send email to OnePlace to post messages in a discussion, and to reply to a comment made by someone else about a particular project, file or task. Here's the skinny on what you need to do to take advantage of this cool feature of OnePlace:
Posted by Dana Larson on May 20, 2010
If you’re a part of the increasing trend of running a virtual office, you are aware of the great benefits of them. Team members in a virtual office have shown increased productivity, increased positivity toward their job and even a decreased environmental impact because of the lack of commuting.
One of the main challenges, however, of a virtual office is trying to keep everyone connected. There aren’t easy options of holding impromptu face-to-face meetings, and phone calls need to be thought twice about because of differing time zones.
So, in order to increase the effectiveness of your virtual office, and encourage increased productivity, here are a few tips for keeping your virtual workforce connected.
Posted by Dana Larson on April 19, 2010
I know, I know, it’s been a while since we posted a Monday Blog Post Round-Up. Sorry guys! But don’t worry, we’ve still been reading our favorite blogs, and have been quite busy posting ourselves.
We hope to make up for our absence the last couple of weeks by showcasing some fantastic blog posts about improving business productivity and energizing your team for success.
Posted by Dana Larson on April 16, 2010
Yesterday, PCWorld Business Center compiled a great resource: The Essential Project Management Reading List. For those looking for a bit of help in their project management positions or just curious abut how to improve their ability to manage projects, this list can meet their needs.
We've pulled a few of our favorite resources from PCWorld and listed them below. You can also read the full article on the PCWorld Business Center.
Posted by Dana Larson on March 15, 2010
For most of the United States, yesterday marked the start of Daylight Savings Time - the wonderful time of year when we set our clocks forward one hour and suddenly it is much lighter in the evening. Now we can go out for walks on a nice Spring evening, or just enjoy the fact that it is no longer dark out when we are heading home from the office.
The hardest part of the switch to Daylight Savings time every year is the event of “Springing Forward” - where we effectively lose an hour to our day. This can cause people to feel a little behind during the Sunday on which we change our clocks, to feeling sleepy the next day at work.
Here are a few tips to stay productive when moving to Daylight Savings Time:
Posted by Dana Larson on February 22, 2010
All small businesses are looking for more ways to be more efficient and effective. There are online solutions available to increase this effectiveness, many of them inexpensive enough for anyone to use.
Last week, many blog posts were published discussing these tools to increase business efficiency. Here are a few of our favorites:
Posted by Steve Kickert on February 17, 2010
No one wants to work with a Negative Nancy or a Debbie Downer every day. It’s true that when one team member is in a bad mood, they can bring others down around them.
At OnePlace, we like to increase employee productivity with our online small business organization solution. But we also work to make sure everyone on our team is positive most - if not all - of the time. Here are some other ways to keep employees happy in the workplace
Posted by Dana Larson on February 01, 2010
A main component of our small business organization solution is online project management. We are all very organized people, and like to help others stay organized as well.
Because of Post-It Notes, calendar updates and reminders on your cell phone, there are just as many ways to manage tasks as there are tasks to complete. And while we love it when stuff gets done, we want to make sure the people in your business are remembering what to do, and getting the right things done.
Here are 5 ways to manage tasks more effectively to ensure greater efficiency:
Posted by Dana Larson on January 20, 2010
At OnePlace, we take any chance we can to make small businesses more efficient and effective. There are hundreds of available tools to keep the individual productive, and we like to think we bridge the gap between personal productivity and small business productivity tools with OnePlace.
We also know that in order to be successful, sometimes all it takes is a cheerleader in our corner encouraging us to be the best we can be. That is why we wanted to highlight some of our favorite productivity blogs here - to share with you a few more resources to help you manage tasks.
Posted by Dana Larson on January 15, 2010
Do you ever have those days where you were really busy, but didn’t end up getting anything accomplished? Or when you can’t overlook the amount of work you have to complete, so you just don’t do anything?
The team at OnePlace knows how important it is to keep on top of your goals to get work accomplished. Heck, that is why OnePlace was created! We believe that task management and team collaboration can improve the efficiency of any small business team and make them more productive.
Here are some easy to follow tips for improving your business productivity:
- Schedule Your Work - Outlining exactly what you have to accomplish each day and managing your tasks gives you a nice visual of all your work, and allows you to choose which to work on next. And nothing beats the feeling of checking things off your to do list! (read a blog post on scheduling here)
- Take Notes - Have you ever left a meeting and forgotten your next steps? Take notes when in meetings, on the phone or anytime they pop into your mind. This saves time by not having to revisit the conversations later.
- Organize Your Workspace - A chaotic workspace can distract you from the work at hand. Make sure your desk and computer desktop are neat and organized prior to beginning your work.
- Open the Doors of Collaboration - Brainstorming with team members is a powerful tool. So is the opportunity to run an idea by a coworker to see if you’re on the right track. Team collaboration tools help to open the doors and keep team members connected all day.
- Love Your Job - If you don’t like your job, you are automatically going to suck at it. Make sure that you are doing the best for your boss and yourself by finding the right job for you. If it helps, take a career assessment to find out what skills match your personality best.
- Know When to Procrastinate - Procrastination is one of the worst time-sucks in the workplace - but there is a time and place to procrastinate. By managing your tasks, you can complete what you feel like completing, and move the other items out to another time.
- Attack the Big Rocks - There are some tasks, however, that need to be worked on right away. Start working on those “big rocks” first thing in the morning. Once you get them done, you’ll feel more accomplished for the day.
- Delegate to Team Members - If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the work in front of you, ask a coworker for a bit of help. Taking 5 minutes to reassign a task and explain it to someone else will free up a lot of task time for you to accomplish everything else.
- Exercise - A mid-day heart rate boost can increase productivity for the afternoon. If you can’t do jumping jacks in your office, a lunchtime walk works just as well.
- Keep Team Members in the Loop - By sharing your to do list with coworkers, you are instantly held accountable for completing that work. Ensure you are using a team collaboration solution that offers transparency and allows team members to see other’s work easily to manage that accountability.
- Eliminate Distractions - Get rid of email, Twitter, Facebook, and other distractions on your computer and get to work. Without the distractions of questions, tweets and status updates, you will find yourself working harder on your task list.
- Work When You’re Productive - There are always going to be times in the day when you are more productive than others. For me, it’s first thing in the morning. Identify these times for yourself, and plan your work accordingly.
- Just Do It - Sometimes the best way to get stuff done is to start working. Get to work and see how much you can do :-)
Being aware of what you have to accomplish can help push you get more done. Learn what tools help you work more efficiently and continue to use them to wow your boss and feel good about your work.
What other tools do you use to keep productive?
Posted by Steve Kickert on September 29, 2009
We are getting close. We have been working on a major upgrade for OnePlace for over two months now, and we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are hoping it is not a train. :-)
Back in July, we met with many of you to get your feedback on how OnePlace was working for your team, and to hear what you would like to change about OnePlace. Thanks again for taking the time to do that. We listened carefully, and have made some big changes and a mountain of little ones to OnePlace as a result. We can hardly wait to let you move into your new OnePlace. We are excited to use it ourselves.
Here is an abbreviated list of the changes that are coming:
Posted by Denis Ahearn on January 14, 2009
Launching a startup was never considered easy. As if developing a business plan, getting funding, and focusing hard on product development wasn't enough, the entrepreneur has to worry about attracting key employees, taxes and benefits, creating a pleasant working environment, and building a culture of teamwork and collaboration.
But today's startups face an even more difficult challenge: working effectively as virtual teams. Almost every startup these days, certainly in my experience, is at least partially made up of dispersed employees—oftentimes in different cities or states, and sometimes even spread across country boundaries. Many startups, at least in the technology field, are made up entirely of individuals in separate locations. How then do they function? How can the entrepreneur possibly succeed with his or her venture if there's no single "place" where employees can regularly meet and work? Email and instant messaging are not the answer—teams become quickly overwhelmed trying to manage their collective work that way.
Posted by Steve Kickert on January 06, 2009
Do you need a shot in the arm? (Pick me up)
Watch this movie (16 min)
Posted by Denis Ahearn on December 31, 2008
2008 was a very busy year at Riverock Technologies. Our sole mission during this entire year was to prepare for successfully launching OnePlace into the market. Every day was spent focusing on this goal, which we achieved back in September when we released OnePlace for general use, and officially opened the proverbial doors for business.
So, before we close the books on 2008 and turn our attention towards the year to come, we thought it would be fun to take one last look in the rear view mirror to see what happened to OnePlace during this past year.
Posted by Steve Kickert on December 16, 2008
I heard the quote below while just about killing myself in spinning class yesterday. I thought it was really great and wanted to share it. Enjoy!
Do not deny yourself the opportunity to do your best.
by Doug (my spinning coach)
Posted by Denis Ahearn on December 12, 2008
One of the keys of effective team collaboration is what we like to call staying in-the-know. Knowing what your teammates have done, are doing, and plan to do is crucial for making sure that your efforts align properly with those of your team.
Unfortunately, keeping informed is not easy. Think about the team you're on right now. How many members does it have? How many initiatives is your team tackling right now? How much new information does your team receive on a daily basis? How much of what you knew yesterday will change today? Did you lose a team member yesterday? Did you gain a new one today? I could go on, but you get the point. Keeping track of all those things is difficult, and you need help.
Posted by Mark Peterson on December 10, 2008
In real life, we all squirrel away stuff that we don't use regularly in closets and throw stuff that we don't need away in the trash (except children and college students, who just seem to keep everything on the floor).
In our Internet lives, we need to do the same thing, store some information and throw other information away. OnePlace supports these needs through Archive and Trash (for you children and college students, we're still working on a Floor).
The OnePlace archive is accessed via the 'safe' icon in the OnePlace toolbar and can be thought of as your OnePlace closet. You can put items in the archive that you only need occasionally and/or information that you may want to review again at a later date. Stuff that you put in the archive stays there forever unless you take it out again or move it into the trash.
Posted by Mark Peterson on November 21, 2008
When working with your data in OnePlace, you may have noticed a piece of data labelled 'id' in many places and wondered “What the heck is that?” Well, maybe not, but while ID's might be boring, they can make using OnePlace a whole lot quicker and easier.
All of the main data objects (projects, lists, tasks, notes, etc.) in OnePlace have a numeric ID associated with them. This ID is unique for the type of object it is associated with. So, for example, both a discussion and a note can have the ID 49, but two discussions cannot both have the ID 49.
Posted by Denis Ahearn on November 07, 2008
One of the big benefits of using OnePlace on my iPhone, is how it allows me to quickly get up to speed in the morning on my commute to work, so that when I walk into the office, I'm already current with what's happened since the day before. This has been a huge time saver for me, because I don't need to spend any more time going through my email, unread discussions, inbasket items or team pulses before starting my work for the day. I'm up-to-date and ready to get things done.
Posted by Mark Peterson on November 06, 2008
In this day and age, many of us spend at least part of our mental bandwidth worrying about global warming, recycling, carbon footprints, carbon debts, and greenhouse gases. It's amazing to think that, only a few short years ago, most of these terms weren't even part of our vernacular and now they're part of our daily lives.
When thinking of ways to make ourselves more eco-friendly, software isn't usually the first thing that springs to mind. However, using the right software as part of your work and personal routine can indeed reduce your carbon footprint. How so? Mainly by reducing your need to travel.