3 Tips for Choosing the Right Office Technology

office technology

Technology has become an essential resource for businesses nowadays. It helps your company stay organized and run more efficiently. However, with ever-changing technological advancements, it can be very difficult to identify what technology your business needs, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Today, let’s discuss three tips that can help you implement the right technology for your business.

1. Assess and Identify

The first step to identifying what technology you need is analyzing what your business is already using. What technology do you currently have implemented and how is it helping your company achieve its goals? Conducting a full-scale technological assessment allows you to better conclude what areas you already have covered, and where the holes lie in your technology resources. 

Since operations is a multi-faceted issue, be sure to assess the tech in every department including HR, database management, and communications. The better you understand your business, the better you can determine how technology could improve it.

2. Chose Reliable and Scalable Technology

Technology investment usually comes at a cost, so it’s crucial to find reliable and scalable tech. The goal is to replace your technology as infrequently as possible, so you need to prioritize devices that will help you both today and further down the line.

If you’re unsure about technology investments, you can lease equipment to test it before making a permanent decision. Cloud hosting is also a great choice for business computing. It is designed to eliminate upfront costs, so it turns your investment into operational expenses, allowing you to scale your computing needs easier than purchasing your own IT and hosting in-house.

3. Necessity Over Vanity

There are tons of cool new technologies being released every day, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting what’s exciting and trendy. However, this typically leads to a less efficient tech setup and greater costs in your investment.

It’s important to always put your business’s and employees’ needs first. What your company needs is not always synonymous with what you want or think is fun. Favoring your business’s needs and goals with reliable technology will render much better results and keep your costs as low as possible.

At 4 Corner IT, our expert IT consultants can help you find an investment strategy that works best for your business. Our experience gives us insight into what businesses just like yours need, and how to get it installed quickly. Give us a call today at 954-474-2204 to learn more.

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4 Tips to Get the Most Out of Microsoft Teams

teams

Collaboration platforms are so helpful for businesses looking to streamline their communication processes. Microsoft teams is one of the more notable options out there and, like any collaboration software, is most effective when used properly. Here are some tips and best practices to get the most productivity out of Microsoft Teams & Microsoft Office.

If you don’t use teams, you can apply most of these tips to other collaboration platforms like slack and discord. All of these platforms give you the ability to streamline communication and productivity through video chat, instant messaging, and more. Learning about teams can help you in other software as well, so don’t click away!

4 Tips for Using Microsoft Teams

#1 Pin Important Messages

If there is a particularly important message with the information you’d like the entire team to see, you can pin that message to the top of the conversation. Once you select the pin icon, the message will appear first in the string of other messages so team members will see it before anything else.

This is a great tool to use for announcements, updates, or FAQs for the team so you can cut down on repetitive questions. Just click the three-dot icon and then the pin symbol, and you’re good to go!

#2 Tag Coworkers in Conversations

If you want someone’s input or need to make sure a specific coworker sees a message, Microsoft allows you to tag them using the @ symbol. This sends a notification to the user that they’ve been tagged, and they are more likely to see the message and respond in a timely manner.

#3 Organize Teams into…well Teams.

Microsoft Office allows you to split up your employees into separate groups called “teams”. This allows a dedicated space for each group to communicate. You should set up your teams so each department has its own workspace for collaboration. 

They can also be split up further into “channels” to fit your needs. based on who is working on a current project, for example.  

#4 Connect Teams to other Microsoft 365 Applications

Similar to all Microsoft 365 applications, Teams boasts impressive integration with other Microsoft office tools. It can connect and sync with OneDrive and OneNote, making file sharing a breeze. This, and other integrations, area. A wonderful way to boost productivity and collaboration. Your team should have access to all of the resources and tools they need to effectively complete their jobs.

What are some ways that you use Microsoft Teams to collaborate? Or do you prefer a different business collaboration platform? Share your thoughts in the comments! And visit us again for more tips on all things business and technology.

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Applying Life Lessons to Improve Your IT

Update System Upgrade Software version technology concept on virtual screen.

Sometimes it can be challenging to manage your IT solutions, but much of the advice that applies to technology is just general advice for living a good life. Let’s take a deeper dive into these ideas and see if we can use specific life lessons in a business IT setting when it comes time to improve your IT.

Prepare for the Unexpected

Your IT infrastructure will present you with unexpected circumstances, so the best you can do is not let them catch you unawares. Your servers could fail someday, or a hacker could infiltrate your network and put your data at risk. You might even experience structural damage to your building, rendering it inoperable.

But believe it or not, you can prepare for these kinds of events. You need to understand that the unexpected can happen anytime, so you must implement preventative measures and plans to handle them when they do surface.

Don’t Skimp on Quality

There are certain parts of running a business that you can get away with spending a little less on, like the office K-Cups or generic brand snacks, but IT is certainly not one of these things. The lower the quality goods you purchase for your business, the more you are likely to spend in the long term finding the appropriate solution. You might even wind up paying more to replace hardware or purchasing new solutions entirely.

You should prepare to plan your expenses around the kind of business you want to run. This means implementing only what works best for you and not the accepted norm. Neither company is the same, so their IT shouldn’t be, either.

You Don’t Have to Know Everything

Just like life often is, implementing your IT solutions can be a long and confusing ordeal, one that is full of inaction and incorrect choices. While you might have a broad idea of what your IT infrastructure should look like, it can be hard to make the correct choices. This is fine and expected for someone who might not be an IT professional. Nobody knows everything, and you can’t expect yourself to.

There will always be parts of running a business where there is an apparent knowledge deficit, so make sure that you rely on experts in these fields whenever possible. You might choose to rely on an IT provider to improve your IT in your office, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Better to get it done right the first time!

To learn more about the services we offer and how we can help improve your IT, give 4 Corner IT a call at (954) 474-2204.

Tips to Curtail Burnout In the Workplace

Exhausted african american manager feeling sad and desperate in front of his laptop on a wooden table

Burnout in the workplace is a severe problem in a business environment. If you are not careful, it can have profound effects on operations, productivity, and profitability in the long term. If you suspect that your employees are experiencing symptoms of burnout, you need to act on these symptoms and implement policies to protect your team from… well, themselves.

What Leads to Burnout In the Workplace?

There are many reasons why burnout can surface, including the following:

Too Much Work

Employees who have too much work to do will inevitably find themselves overwhelmed and burnt out. Not only can it affect how well a team works, but it can also have negative influences on health and wellness. According to the World Health Organization, long working hours contributed to 745,000 deaths in 2016 through various factors. This is a problem, so if you can identify employees suffering from it, you should do all you can to prevent it.

Lack of Workplace Recognition

Even if compensation is adequate for your employees, they still want workplace recognition in other forms, such as congratulatory messages and the appreciation of both management and peers. Otherwise, what is there to motivate them?

Lack of Control

People enjoy what they can control and don’t enjoy what they cannot; the same can be said for work. If employees feel like they have no say in their work, they can quickly lose motivation. Micromanagement and restriction simply for the sake of oversight can be disastrous, especially when it causes your team to burn out. Ask yourself how you might feel being managed in this way, and you’ll see what we mean.

Unfair Treatment

If there are apparent discrepancies in how different employees are treated, or even perceived ones, then there is a real possibility of it developing further into burnout. When bias and discrimination are involved, this is doubly so, and you should do everything you can to eliminate it.

Poor Workplace Relationships

Again, let’s flip perspectives and take a look at how you might feel if you had to spend hours out of your day working with strangers or people who you do not enjoy being around. Your employees certainly don’t want this, and while the case can be made that work doesn’t need to be enjoyable, this isn’t a narrative conducive to productivity and motivation.

What Can You Do to Minimize Burnout In the Workplace?

Here are some ideas to minimize burnout and help your employees regain the motivation to push forward.

Know the Signs

First, you’ll need to know when to admit that your team is experiencing symptoms of burnout. If they have issues concentrating, are increasingly more irritable at work, complain about aches and pains, or having trouble sleeping, or feel like they have accomplished nothing, they might be experiencing signs of burnout.

Identify Where It Comes From

Identifying warning signs is not the same as addressing where burnout comes from. If you want to eliminate burnout for good, finding what’s causing it will be paramount. Whether it is work, health, family drama, or otherwise, you need to find out if it’s internal and something you can control. If it’s not, then perhaps you can still find ways to resolve the problem more indirectly.

Give Your Team Back Control

If burnout comes from work-related issues, consider ways you can directly influence it. If you give your team some autonomy in their day-to-day tasks, you might be able to alleviate some of the pressure your team feels to perform as expected.

We Can Help Your Team Make the Most of Their Time

Suppose you are ready to eradicate burnout in the workplace. In that case, we bet that a good starting point is to implement hardware and software solutions designed to make employees’ lives easier and more productive. To get started with these automated solutions and managed services, reach us at (954) 474-2204.

5 Tips For Your Instant Messaging Solution

adobestock instant messaging solution

Instant messaging is a solution that has picked up in the business world, and for a good reason. While email allows for more passive communication, instant messaging allows for more instantaneous communication, similar to a phone call in its urgency. But are you properly using instant messaging?

Establish a Usage Policy

Just like with other technology solutions, your company should have a policy in place that governs how your employees use it. This means that you must establish clear guidelines for the appropriate use of instant messaging. For example, having a group chat for a department is perfectly fine, but having a group that is exclusively for sharing distractions is a problem that can lead to too much wasted time.

Keep it Professional

You should always use greetings when sending instant messages, similar to the way you would if you were using emails. Using a salutation such as “Hi Name,” rather than opening the conversation with a question can make a world of difference. It would help if you also tried to use similar professional language in your IMs as you would in an email.

Keep it Short, but Keep it Clear.

As we previously mentioned, the big difference between IM and email is that IMs are designed for instantaneous responses and quick conversations rather than long, drawn-out, detailed messages. The best way to use IMs is to use it to your advantage and not use it like you would an email. If you expect someone to respond to a long IM that requires a detailed and analytic response, then it may look like the user is ignoring the message until they can find time to respond to it in the way that you expect.

Still, you’ll want to convey thoughts and ideas clearly, but instant messaging is a great place to encourage questions to prevent communication gaps.

Respect the Status Message

Most instant messaging applications allow the user to set their status. This might be something like Available, Away, In a Meeting, Busy, etc. If the user is anything but available, you should reconsider sending the message until the user is indeed available to take your message. Otherwise, there is a solid chance that the message will slip through the cracks.

Try to Encourage In-Person Communication Too

All of that said, an instant message is not a substitution for a good old face-to-face conversation. Whenever possible, you should make an effort to have in-person conversations with your coworkers and staff. This helps you avoid instances of messages being taken out of context and establishes that you can make time in your busy day to make connections in this way. It’s just good to remind your coworkers and employees that, yes, we are still people, even if half the time our communications are done from the other side of a computer screen.

4 Corner IT can help you implement the best instant messaging solution that suits your company’s needs. To learn more, reach out to us at (954) 474-2204.