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The “Tip Of The Month” -- Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006 Issue
The “Tip Of The Month” is a brief update that consists of practical tips and relevant news which you can skim in less than 5 minutes, and read the relevant sections in just a few more minutes. This update is issued once every two months. Please e-mail subscribe@people-onthego.com with “Tip-Of-The-Month” in the subject line to be notified when a new issue is posted online.
In this issue:
1. Blogs, Podcasts, Aggregators, and RSS: What are they?
2. Themes for increasing productivity and creating results in 2006
3. "Productivity Challenge", "Productivity Pack", and the upcoming schedule
Upcoming Virtual Workshops:
Managing E-mail - Take control of your inbox (Dec 8, Jan 17)
Blackberry Techniques - Master your device in 90 minutes (Dec 6, Jan 19, Jan 31)
Excel Techniques - Spreadsheets with impact! (Dec 13, Jan 24)
Word Techniques- Make your documents come to life (Dec 15)
PowerPoint Techniques - Unlock the power today! (Dec 15)
Total Organization - Put it all together! (Jan 12, Jan 13)
Treo Techniques - Master your device right now! (Web self-paced class)
BlackBerry, Treo, or Pocket PC - Which is your device? (Web self-paced class)
More workshops are posted periodically. Please visit the online listing for the most up-to-date schedule.
1. Blogs, Podcasts, Aggregators, and RSS: What are they?
Contributed by Steve Walker from Iteon Consulting (swalker@iteontech.com)
These four new technologies are very quickly becoming mainstream: Blogs, podcasts, news aggregators, and RSS. If you are not using them already, sooner or later, it is likely that you will.
So what are they? Blogs are the oldest of these technologies. A blog is like a diary online. Traditional blogs (going all the way back to the late 1990s) are a combination of a writer's thoughts on a subject (not normalized or edited in any way) combined with links to other sites or blogs that the writer finds interesting. Popularity of any given blog is easy to determine in this very democratic medium-each blogger links to other bloggers, and the most linked blogs end up being the most read. Mainstream news is now starting to provide more blogs online.
Podcasts are technically just a computer file-often an MP3 (like songs), usually in a radio show-like (talk radio) format, that will play on any device or computer that plays music. At first they were (like blogs) unedited an "indie," but many mainstream news outlets are now publishing podcasts of whole news shows, often including video for those using computers to keep up on news. Some of these are quite good, and often better than real newscasts. Many podcasts are subscriptions (usually free, but some not).
News aggregators allow users to choose which news sources they want to keep up with. That tool then collects headlines of stories for them and provides links to these stories. This technology allows you to choose the programming you want and it allows you to get the news from a variety of "stations" (NPR, NYTimes, the Slate, etc.) Previously impossible with TV, radio, newspapers, or the Internet, this technology has become increasingly popular. If you use my.yahoo.com to read news, you are already using a news aggregator!
RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is the technology underlying most news aggregators today. It allows tools to go to certain sites and only grab the recent headlines that haven't been read.
While the above provided a brief overview of these technologies, here are some additional links for those who want to explore further:
www.bloglines.com to find blogs on any subject and subscribe
my.yahoo.com to get news stories relating to your interests
www.sharpreader.com also to aggregate news relating to your interests
news.google.com to personalize your news page from various sources and searches
www.npr.org/rss to get more info on using RSS with NPR
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2. Themes for increasing productivity and creating results in 2006
As we reviewed the concepts that emerged in our workshops in 2005, and in our discussions with users and experts in the area of productivity and effective use of technology, some unique themes became evident. We would like to share these themes with you and invite you to reflect on them. We hope that these themes will inspire you to take some tangible actions that can help you increase your productivity and your results in 2006.
Themes for increasing productivity and creating results in 2006:
Create
Leverage
Collaborate
Prototype
Rehearse
Interact
Here are some ideas to get you started: Create compelling content. Go beyond the expected and the ordinary. Innovate. Leverage everything. Leverage what you have done and what others have done. Leverage knowledge inside and outside your organization. Leverage your network and "the network". Collaborate. Get different perspectives. Let others challenge your ideas. Capture the experience and wisdom of others. Prototype before going too far in one direction. Get feedback early in the process. Rehearse. Be prepared. Only then, you can free up the mind and energy for creativity and spontaneity. Interact. Let the interaction drive what is next.
What does it all mean? Depending on your role and your objectives, these themes can mean different things and can be applied in many ways. You can apply them at a high level as you set goals and decide on strategies, in which case you might leverage an existing core competency or strategic partnership for instance. You can apply them at the tactical level as you implement and work through initiatives and projects, in which case you might leverage an existing implementation plan or a PowerPoint design template for instance. These themes will continue to evolve and weave themselves into our tips and techniques throughout 2006. You can be part of this process and share your observations via e-mail tipofthemonth@people-onthego.com or using this feedback/contribution form. We look forward to your participation in 2006.
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3. "Productivity Challenge", "Productivity Pack", and the upcoming schedule
The "Productivity Challenge"
Why not make a quantum leap in your productivity? Why settle for small increments and marginal results here and there. Why not take on the challenge--the "Productivity Challenge"?
Kahn Consulting and AIIM International published their survey results more than a year ago indicating that about 75% of the 1000 professionals surveyed spent quarter to half of their day on e-mail and the remaining 25% spent three quarters or most of their day on e-mail.
Recently in an eLearning Forum presentation in Silicon Valley, it was reported that an IDC research concluded that 15% to 30% of employees time is spent searching for information and that more than 50% of the time, these searches were not fruitful.
When we talk to our users about the time spent on office applications, they usually report that this consists of several hours per week, and depending on their roles and industries, it may even be several hours per day.
The Productivity Challenge consists of setting for yourself a challenging goal relating to cutting down the time you spend on e-mail and mobile devices, on finding information, and on using office applications. The key here is not to do less work, but to do "more with less". It is learning to use your tools more efficiently. It is reminding yourself to be strategic in managing time and tasks. It is leveraging in new and innovative ways.
The ideal goal would be to cut down the time spent on e-mail by 30%, the time spent on finding information by 30%, and the time spent on office application by 30%. The desired result is that you spend 30% less time on your current activities and invest the newly created 30% into core business activities. The goal is to create space for creativity, for strategic thinking, for innovative problem solving, for developing new skills, creating new relationships, and increasing job satisfaction. So why not take on the challenge?
The "Productivity Pack"
As you see in the December/January schedule below, the People-OnTheGo offerings are intended to help you better manage and effectively use e-mail, mobile devices, office applications, and overall information. The Productivity Pack is a special offer that allows you to participate in three of the workshops listed below at a significant discount. The details are at www.people-onthego.com/public_workshops.html
The December/January Schedule
Managing E-mail - Take control of your inbox (Dec 8, Jan 17)
Blackberry Techniques - Master your device in 90 minutes (Dec 6, Jan 19, Jan 31)
Excel Techniques - Spreadsheets with impact! (Dec 13, Jan 24)
Word Techniques- Make your documents come to life (Dec 15)
PowerPoint Techniques - Unlock the power today! (Dec 15)
Total Organization - Put it all together! (Jan 12, Jan 13)
Treo Techniques - Master your device right now! (Web self-paced class)
BlackBerry, Treo, or Pocket PC - Which is your device? (Web self-paced class)
More workshops are posted periodically. Please visit the online listing for the most up-to-date schedule.
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