Productivity Pointers – Business Cards

Over the last two years, our country has faced harsh economic down-turns causing many people to seek new jobs, obtain more education and become innovative thinkers. As people re-image themselves it has become even more essential to know how to brand yourself and your company. One of the top ways to put your best foot forward is through your business card. Your business card is like a “mini-resume” and it must be something that differentiates you from the rest of the pile.

A well-done business card can make it easier to get into the conversation when it is able to speak for itself.  So what makes a business card stand out?

Spending a little time with a graphic designer is a good place to start.  They can point out paper stock that is good for printing along with font sizes, styles, and colors that will be visually appealing, yet easy to read.  For a sleeker look, you can also select a matte or glossy finish or foil-accents.  To really set you apart from the crowd, you might consider using a graphic such as a map for hard-to-find physical locations.  This could prove to be very helpful and time-saving for a potential new customer.  

Another option is to have your information printed vertically, rather than horizontally.  For those that wish to be environmentally savvy, there are a variety of card stocks that are made from recycled materials.  Contemplate leaving room on your card for special messages or appointment slots.  

Whatever your niche, there are a wide array of templates tailored to fit your needs.  When considering that much of the networking today is done via e-mail and social networking sites, you don’t want to neglect your electronic business card as well.  Overall, you will want a business card that is unique, tasteful, and colorful.

Your branding does not have to stop at just business cards.  Office Express can help you to take your efforts a step further with personalized postcards, letterheads, presentation folders, promotional products, note cards, return address labels, stamps, announcements, invitations and much more.

Setting up a home office

Whether by necessity or by choice, more and more people are opting to work from home in a home office.  As working from home gains in popularity, many people have taken on the daunting task of setting up their own home office.  Here at Office Express, we have talented Interior Designers who can help you utilize your office space to attain the greatest productivity.  Here are some of the top tips from our Interior Designer Nancy Hirsch:

1. First, scale is very important.  You should choose a stand alone space for your home office such as a spare bedroom as opposed to a desk in the bedroom.  Know how much room you are working with and choose items that will fit to scale.  Don’t choose a big oversize desk.  Instead choose items that will wrap around the perimeter of the wall allowing more space in your office.  Also, if you plan to meet clients in your office consider where it is located.  Is the office close to a back entry door or the front of your home?

2. Moveable furniture is a must.  Choose files that can be moved around the office for easy accessibility and storage.

3. Look for items that can be used in two different ways such as tower storage cabinets that can function for files and binders but also for coats, umbrellas, briefcases, etc.

4. Utilize your space by choosing upper storage for binders, files, supplies, etc.

5. If your home office is a frequently utilized area, you may want to consider choosing a laminate finish for your furniture.  There are many high quality laminates available that imitate the look of real wood.  Laminates are also a cost-effective alternative that offer durability against scratching and marring unlike many wood and veneer finishes.

6. Be aware of where your vents are located. If you have modesty panels on your office furniture, they can block the vents subsequently making your office either very warm or very cold.

7. In the same manner, take into account any windows that you might have in your office.  Lighting is very important in an office and natural light is great.  If you don’t have windows in your office, make sure that you have some kind of task light at your work station.

8. To be productive in your office, you must feel comfortable.   This starts with choosing a proper chair since this is where you will spend the majority of your time. It is important to choose a chair that is adjustable and fits your body correctly.

9. To minimize those cricks in your neck, be sure that your keyboard is positioned at the right level.

10. Most importantly, keep your office a work space!  Try to minimize all disruptions. Add doors to your office to allow for a quiet work environment.  Above all, make it look professional.  

Color Access Control From Hewlett Packard (HP)

Have you ever tried to figure out an easy way to control color printing costs?  Is your color printer located in a place where there is concern about abuse?   HP has a solution to help you.

Enable Color Access Controls

With commercial Color LaserJets and EdgeLine devices introduced 2004 and later, advanced Color Access Control is available. Rather than go into full detail here, anyone interested in this should visit the main “Color Access Control” website at this address: http://www.hp.com/sbso/productivity/color/access/index.html.

There are a number of configuration options including restricting by user, application, time-of-day, etc.  While many smaller organizations may find it preferable to use the hardware controls, there are advanced driver controls for the HP Universal Print Driver as well.  For commercial color multifunction devices, enable some form of authentication to limit color copying if desired as well as device or user pins.

Shredding Confidential Materials

Have you ever wanted to clean out your office but hesitated because you didn’t want to throw confidential materials away?  This may be especially true if there’s not enough on your “dump pile” to justify a commercial shredding service.

Today, there are many small shredders available that can help you keep your desk clean and organized while ensuring that confidential material is never compromised.  Many of them have a bag-free design that reduces the cost to operate.  Others have a waste bin that includes a window to indicate material level; and recessed handles to make waste removal simple.  Some shredders easily accept letter or legal size documents, with durable steel cutters that destroy credit cards, staples and paper clips.

We highly recommend purchasing a shredder that has the confetti-cut feature, which is even more secure.  Call us today to get a shredder that is perfect for your needs.  Mention this article and receive a 10% discount on your shredder!

Working Without Interruptions

The open plan office is probably the most cost-effective way to provide work space for a lot of employees.  But there’s really no way to say “I’m busy – please don’t bother me” when you don’t have a door! 

Interruptions definitely impact productivity.  In fact, “visitors dropping by” is one of the top four interruptions in the office that impact productivity, following email, telephone calls and paper pushing.  I know from personal experience that it’s really hard to concentrate when people keep showing up asking questions or needing to talk.  So here’s something you might want to consider:  The Privacy Screen.

The Privacy Screen is made of ultra-lightweight frosted plastic.  It simply slides back and forth between panels to provide a visual barrier against distractions and an unspoken request for no interruptions.  It’s a cost-effective way to create some privacy while retaining all the benefits of the open plan layout.  This screen can be fitted to virtually any panel system quickly and easily.  The screen can also hold a whiteboard, calendar or other accessories to improve communication.

We would be happy to provide you with more information and a proposal.  Just give us a call at 877-795-2600.

Discover your strength

Here’s a thought that’s worth pondering.  Do you spend more time enhancing your strengths, or working on your areas of weakness?

A few of us went to a seminar a week ago and one of the speakers had some interesting things to say about discovering and developing your strengths. Marcus Buckingham has produced two best-selling books: First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently (Simon & Schuster, 1999), with coauthor Curt Coffman, and Now, Discover Your Strengths (The Free Press, 2001), with coauthor Donald O. Clifton. Buckingham has helped build a ballooning consulting practice at Gallup, the survey company with more than 1,000 clients, including Best Buy, Disney, Fidelity Investments, Toyota, and Wells Fargo.

Marcus Buckingham, a successful consultant for Gallup and a best-selling author, conducted research in which he finds that most people have a tendency to work on their areas of weakness as opposed to developing their strengths. However, this is somewhat counterproductive.  People are much happier and more productive when they are utilizing their strengths.  When they’re trying to do something they don’t like or are not good at, they feel like they are spinning their wheels or undergoing torture!

He is absolutely right. When I’m doing something I like or I’m good at, time flies. When I’m doing something I don’t like, I’m easily distracted. It seems like I work on it all day or procrastinate and avoid it.

This approach can be applied to our parenting skills as well. If our child receives three A’s, a C and an F on a report card, what do most of us do?  Focus on how to fix the F, then move up to addressing the C.  We don’t even say much about the A’s!  Buckingham suggests that we should spend some time digging into the A’s.  What was interesting about that subject or teacher?  Why do you like it?

The same holds true for a sports team.  Take Shaquille O’Neal.  He is a horrible free throw shooter.  When he played for Orlando, they were always driving him to improve his free throw shooting. It continued to be horrible. After he got traded to the Lakers, the coach focused on Shaq’s inside play, at which he already excelled.  The team capitalized on that talent, and the Lakers won the championship while Shaq won the scoring title.  (Coincidentally, his free throw percentage improved from 48% to 54%.)

This is a great approach if you know what you like or what you’re good at.  But what if you don’t know?  That’s a common problem.  Fortunately, there are many tests you can take to help you figure it out.  Did you ever take the DISC?  Take it out and look it over again.  Or, if you want something even easier, get a notebook and jot down thoughts about the things you do during a week.  What do you love, and what do you loathe? 

Try it this week.  Figure out what you enjoy doing, and find ways to do more of it. You’ll be happier and more productive if you are doing things you enjoy doing.


 

Organization

Many companies desire to project a clean and well-organized image.  However, that shouldn’t be just an image.  It should be something that we live.

Several of us here at Office Express recently listened to a book on CD called “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.   He compares the human brain to a computer.  If you have too many to-do’s, dreams, errands or tasks running through your mind, your processor just can’t handle it.  It’s like having too many windows open on the computer – the more you have open, the slower the computer goes.  We can help ourselves by organizing information so that the brain does not have to remember it all.

The first step in this process is to get everything out of your head and into a trusted system for review.  David Allen suggests that you go through virtually everything in your office, home, cars, and even your boat to determine what is useful.  Throw away what you don’t need, and organize the rest.

At the same time, compile a list of things to do.  Put each one on a separate sheet of 8 ½ x 11 paper. 

Now put all of this into a simple filing system that includes both an “active review” and a “reference” section.  The key is to review the “stuff” in the files once per week.  You’ll have it all at your fingertips.
 
I started this process at home and was amazed.  I threw out six bags of garbage from my home office.  It took me two days to go through everything!

I also couldn’t help but notice that the author, David Allen, seems to be a very particular fan of specific types of office supplies. He does not like hanging folders at all. He likes to label all the folders with a label maker to keep them “interesting.” And I thought I liked office supplies. There is a set of free downloadable files of his detailed instructions at https://secure.davidco.com/store/catalog/Free-Articles-p-1-c-254.php
  
And of course…we know where to get the office supplies!




Improve Productivity by Reducing Stress

So what really is stress? To put it in simple terms, stress is the combination of psychological, physiological and behavioral reactions. And it can have a major impact on the body. Some people develop stress-related illnesses; some suffer anxiety, have panic attacks, muscular tension, and hyperventilation; and others respond with obsessive or compulsive thoughts and behavior.

Surveys and research reports over the past two decades reveal that:

• 43% of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress
  
• 75 - 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders
  
• An estimated 1 million workers are absent on an average workday because of stress related complaints

So how can stress be removed or reduced in the workplace? Here are a couple of simple things you can do right now that have been proven to improve worker health and productivity:

Drink Up! Water is the most essential nutrient for our bodies. It regulates body temperature and maintains muscle tone. It carries nutrients and oxygen to every cell in the body. Dehydration causes the body to slow down, and focusing becomes more difficult. Coffee, teas and sodas are not substitutes for water.  Provide clean, filtered water for your employees, and encourage them to enjoy it all day long. This will provide health benefits and reduce stress which will improve their performance. To learn more about water in the workplace go to http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressReleases/030611a.asp.

Office Express offers a variety of water options for your office. All delivered free the next day.

Water Program