It’s no secret that business operations have a lot of moving parts that need to be considered. The thing is, these parts are most likely the simplest elements of any workflow, but take up large portions of time simply due to the number of them that need to be addressed.

Hurricane season can be a scary time for business owners, as those in at-risk climates can never feel safe from these kinds of unpredictable and devastating storms. In particular, those who aren’t prepared to face this destruction are in considerable danger of having their organizations ended for good following a disaster event like a hurricane. We’ll help you make sure your business doesn’t suffer this same fate the next time it stares down a disaster.

Productivity is one of the most vital parts of running a business, as without it no work can get done. Even if your employees look like they are keeping themselves busy, a study from the Harvard Business School suggests they may not be as busy as you think they are. How does this work, and what can you do to resolve this issue?

Many organizations that don’t have the same breadth of funding and services might wind up spending more capital in attempts to compete with these larger organizations, but the way forward isn’t always clear. For small businesses that have trouble managing the many moving parts of their business, communication is key--especially in an age where so many businesses have remote employees who are not always in the office to speak to directly. We’ll discuss what the modern face of communications looks like with a particular focus on conferencing services.

Microsoft OneNote is an extremely useful application in the professional setting, with plenty of features and capabilities to assist in keeping you and your employees organized. These features are actually comprehensive enough that OneNote could feasibly serve as your project management tool. For this week’s tip, we’ll review how.

Modern businesses rely pretty heavily on the Internet--so much so that, should the Internet go down, many employees will find themselves at a loss as what to do. However, there’s no need to sacrifice productivity just because your Internet isn’t cooperating. There are plenty of ways to get something done on a day that the Internet calls in sick, which we’ll go over for today’s tip.

Your business either has a sound plan to manage its IT maintenance, or it does not. There is no middle ground here. Either you have an internal team dedicated to maintaining your IT infrastructure, or it’s not being taken care of as well as it should be. Even if you do have an internal team, you might notice that they simply don’t have time on their hands to handle all of their responsibilities. We’re here to introduce you to one of the most notable ways of keeping your technology in proper working order: managed IT services.

Collaboration is a key part of business today, which has led to many developers and providers entering the business of collaboration. These developers are in deep competition with each other, each trying to update their offering to be better than the others’. Recently, Facebook Workplace, Slack, and Google’s Gmail each received collaboration-boosting updates.

Back to school is upon us and then it’s a hop, skip, and jump until the holidays arrive. With more companies allowing their employees to work remotely, holiday travel will mean that people are going to be taking their work on the road with them. Preventing credit card and identity theft has been a priority for shoppers during the season for many years. It’s important that the same security considerations be given to technology being used for business while traveling.

How much time does your staff spend actually doing work compared to simply communicating about work? There’s a big difference, primarily in terms of making you money versus costing you money. Truth be told, employees spend nearly 80 percent of their time either in meetings, on the phone, or responding to emails. By finding ways for your team to communicate more efficiently, they will effectively spend less time yapping and more time making you money.

Entrepreneurs enjoy an almost mythical standing in the business world as visionary leaders risking everything on an idea that, if successful, pays off in a big way. Yet, few understand the role of the intrapreneur; those who have equally big ideas, but operate in the context of established companies. Your business likely has dynamic intrapreneurs in your midst, but how do you make sure their voices are heard?

It turns out that the old adage “iron sharpens iron” is true and it applies to the modern workplace. This, according to a new study by Harvard Business Review, which found that the productivity of a worker can be enhanced by an average of ten percent simply by having them be in close proximity to someone who’s more productive than they are.

There’s an undeniable connection between success and emotional attachment. Marketers know this, which is why you see so many commercials meant to manipulate your heartstrings. The point of these stirring advertisements is to engage consumers on a deeper level, and thus, create brand loyalty. It stands to reason that the same strategy can be applied to retaining and engaging your employees.

With so much focus on how new technology improves productivity, it can be easy to overlook the other ways of enhancing operations. Sometimes, improving productivity can be as simple as rethinking the layout of your office. Or, you may find that your company’s current technologies may be hindering productivity more than they’re helping. The following three suggestions should help make your office a more productive place.

IT security is a major pain point for all businesses in all industries. Is your organization doing a good enough job at keeping your data safe? The reality of the situation is that the majority of threats make it through the tiniest of vulnerabilities, even those that seem to be benign. By understanding a concept called the 80/20 rule, you might be able to better address your business’s network security weaknesses.