Teleworking - How to Make It Work for Your Business

Teleworking hosts many potential benefits for a business - increased productivity, lower overheads, increased employee satisfaction and a wider geographical area from where to find staff are just a few of the potential benefits of teleworking that may apply to your business.

However, to realise these benefits you need to ensure that you are strategic in the implementation of teleworking. If you are going to explore and implement teleworking in your business you need to ensure you cover all of the four bases mentioned below. Failure to do so will exacerbate your risks and limit your chances of success.

Have the policies in place- If staff are to work from home you need to ensure that your staff members understand that their roles and responsibilities. They need to understand what is expected of them when working from home and how they report their activities throughout the day.

Be realistic about whose roles will work through teleworking - New technology might bring with it the promise of a remote workforce but sometimes people do need to be in the office. Some roles are not suited to teleworking in your current business structure. You need to identify which roles may suit and for which roles you won't consider allowing staff members to work remotely.

Trial teleworking with trusted staff members - You cannot implement remote working procedures on an adhoc basis or with everybody in the beginning. A trial process is necessary and recommended. You need to offer a teleworking arrangement to trusted staff members who will provide you with the feedback you need as part of the teleworking process. You should also only trial teleworking with those staff members you expect to do the work.

Have the right technology in place to better ensure its success - Working from home is not necessarily a new phenomenon but it is becoming more prevalent as technology improves. If you want to improve your chances of success you need to ensure you have the right technology in place. You need to ensure that staff are equipped to succeed when working from home.

Teleworking has many advantages for business but you need to ensure that you plan for success. As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail. If you have your policies, if you test how it will work and you have the right technology in place there is no reason that you should fail.

At Best Business Deals we can help you implement teleworking procedures in your business by providing you access to the right technology and advice. Give us a call today if you would like to discuss empowering your team further.

Hamish Jones is the Managing Director of Best Business Deals, a premium provider of hosted PBX and other solutions If you are interested in finding out more about hosted PBX can help your business, get in touch with the team at Best Business Deals today.

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How to Choose a Good Provider for Internet-Based Communication?

There are many companies claiming so many things but when it comes to delivering the actual results, only a few standout among the lot. Talking about choosing a reliable provider for participating in an Internet-enabled telecom, there are a few points to note to make sure you enjoy uninterrupted services and at affordable rates too.

To begin with, undertake a detailed research and do your homework diligently so that you are in a good position to identify the companies that offer you better services and eliminate those you feel unsuitable for your needs.

Check if you are offered a high-speed Internet connection so that your communication continues in a hassle-free manner.

Compare their rates and the distinctive services they offer. An ideal choice should be one that is operated through cable network or a DSL arrangement. In case you find that there is a significant disturbance in the communication process or if the connection is jittery, i.e. running in bits and pieces, then it may be high time you changed the provider.

Certain companies insist that separate instruments should be necessarily bought for undertaking Internet teleconferences. For example, there may be specially designed adapters or routers needed to implement the teleconferences effectively.

You can never afford to ignore the price tags attached to Internet-centric communication. Compare the bills you have been paying so far with the kind of bills you are paying after the installation of the new mode of communication using the Internet. This will give you a clear idea about the percentage of money you spend for this facility and the charges levied thereupon. Generally, the charges are fixed at a flat rate for international communication and teleconferences. So, you can expect to save quite a handsome amount of money through your provider when making long-distance teleconferences.

Coming to one of the most important decisions in choosing a provider for the Internet-based telecom, you can choose either a monthly plan or one that covers the entire contract as one part. There are distinctive pros and cons to both these plans. For example, the monthly plans are regarded to be more flexible but at the same time expensive too. On the other hand, the contract plans are paid in bulk before the activation of the plan.

If you regularly talk with a person or persons in a particular country, you can choose the cheapest provider in lieu of a contract plan, which is likely to work out as a cheap and best solution.

There are many companies offering high-quality and cheap VoIP call facility to any location on the globe. You will be impressed by the way technology has advanced to enable you to make a seamless call from PC to phone.

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Skin Time in a Social Media World

If you are like me, we are connected to several hundred people on a daily basis through social media and email. This leads to a very "connected" life and one that can be updated with the hit of a send button. On more than 1 occasion I have sent a message into cyberspace about a particular life challenge and received supportive feedback from friends I personally know and "friends" who have linked through the social media source.

Social media is a wonderful innovation to be sure. We have come a long way from rotary wall phones and black and white television to the streaming applications and instant communications we have today. However, social media is a two-edged sword with both positive and negative ramifications. On the positive side, social media has the ability to connect people at far distances and in real time. It has the ability for getting messages out there quickly and has been adopted by many public health organizations and social entities to share health information quickly to a wide audience. Social media has the ability to bring small and large organizations to the awareness of large groups of people at relatively little or no cost, thereby assisting the organization's outreach as well as helping individuals find resources that may not have otherwise been found in print media.

On the downside, researchers are looking at the effects of social media on mental health. It has been noted that social media does not eliminate some of the isolation that individuals feel in life. The American Academy of Pediatrics has adopted the concept of "Facebook Depression" to describe the isolation that occurs among young people due to reliance on social media for their interpersonal and communication needs. It has even been found that those with lower self-esteem have lower "like" rates due to negative postings.

While social media is often a boon to communication and personal connectedness, it has been this author's experience that we need "skin time" with real people. There is something that enhances our esteem and mood when we connect face-to-face with others. Connecting to others helps us use our communication and "people" skills in ways that boost our mood and help to maintain or build our self-esteem.

Getting "skin time" is not as difficult as one might think. For those who are single and live alone, it is perhaps a vital element to maintaining one's mental health. Here are a few tips for getting some quality "skin time":

1) Be sure that you get out of your living space almost every day.

2) Initiate contact with others by a simple greeting or compliment.

3) At places that you frequent such as the grocery, the place you eat or the coffee shop, get to know staff by name and build a little rapport with them on each visit.

4) Be sure to try new places or rotate where you go for your "skin time" so that routine doesn't dull the experience.

5) Do something nice for someone who wouldn't expect it; remember a waiter's birthday with a card or take a box of fruit or candy to staff at your favorite place.

6) Be the one who brings an element of pleasantness to another's workplace and be consistent in doing so.

7) Listen; when you develop "skin relationships"; people like to be heard as well as to have to listen. The art of listening is a gift of sharing and develops relationships that are not "send button" limited.

A healthy life is one that is balanced in all aspects, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Social media can be a great source of support, information and connection but it can also lead to isolation. Remember that cultivating simple relationships need not be a huge emotional task. We all need "skin time". It's good for our health.

Dr Benjamin Evans is President of HealthStat Consulting LLC in Jersey City NJ; http://www.healthstatllc.com/. He is a Board Certified, Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse and an Old Catholic Bishop. He is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at William Paterson University. His work focuses on helping people navigate the challenges in their lives. Dr Evans' career spans 40 years in health care and ministry. Dr Evans can be reached at DrBenEvansRN@aol.com. If you have a question or would like to discuss an issue send him an email!

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The Inner Voice!

Decades ago, when public never knew the intent of why media was supposed to prevail, it administered its dynamics, executed its endeavours and truth echoed strong amidst disputes. Vulgarity, controversies and sexual emotions never overwhelmed the eyes of people through media, be it the radio or the newspaper. Specific theatres screened films rated as "A", and only those films convinced the sensational, intimate and sexual extremities of people. When technology became a stronghold years back, Internet made things effortless and accessible. Now it is much more people friendly. All we need to do is to switch on to certain channels in television that offer pure entertainment, and that is how they phrase it. Entertainment has switched allusions, It's all about vulgarity and controversies in the democracy that dreams to become enriched by 2020. If a game of cricket urges for cheerleaders in arousing outfits to hold the crowd entertained with sexy and spicy moves, we can conceptualize how far media has adulterated all the civilized and contemporary minds, influencing people, creating controversies, adding salt and spice to each and everything just to enhance the television rating points (TRP). Just because we can't question the authority and raise our voice against the hierarchy, we people bury our ethics to the intellectuality of media, and we cast ourselves as fools, only to outlast in this nation that will always dream, but will never push towards progress.

Going by a narrow line, let me cite about this specific show in Vijay TV that ventured as a dance show, created controversies and staggers to be one of the displays to have crossed seasons and still focuses to be the cynosure of all the eyes not for the twists and turns, but for all the inapt and abusive reasons. Unintentionally I happened to watch an episode of that program, so I am writing about it and my conceptions and perceptions about other channels and programs are not a compilation of certainty and my insight about them is absolutely very low. Many Romantic films till date has the essence of decency and when they called it as "Romance round" all I thought was of some pacifying and pleasant steps to some soothing melodies. Ironically sensation and sexuality was what the dances and dancers exposed. And the absurd part was that the most romantic dance fetched the lowest score and the most seductive, sexual and sense arousing dance was acknowledged by the judges and made it to the top. We Indians are recognized for a culture that still inspires a lot of foreigners and they take pride in learning our way of living and programs like this, where wives encourage their husbands kissing, hugging and flirting with others, vulgar language used to make fun, all these humiliate the heritage we have persuaded to frame up all the years and the credit goes to media for demeaning westernization among Indians. And the only good thing at the end of the show was that it inspired me to write this article.

At present, a child learns media before mother tongue. When it shoulders such a mammoth responsibility, why does it deny the chance of making quality and enlightening stuff reach people? Catechizing to the social needs of today should be the mainstream of media. An advertising agency prefers sexuality to innovation; ads that are sexier and consist of minimal clothing get the most glimpses. We people always carve for what the media imposes on us, and we blindly accept the ways of it. Shouldn't we be ashamed to reside in a nation that refused to screen hockey, the national game in television? What's the use of actors dancing and singing in TV shows? Is it going to improve our economy? Will it make our country politically stronger? Does it take our maturity to a higher level? Proper encouragement is denied to people who deserve and media has made the actors and cricketers the idols of our nation. This is where other countries are a step ahead us. They respect real talents; their media caters to the needs of people; they don't sell the country's pride for money, unlike our nation, where rowdies become politicians, cricketers become models, actors become owners, whereas social activists and humanitarians are thrown out of the country.

The darkest hour of the day always comes before the dawn. Our nation is moving through a period of insensitivity, and if there could be something called dawn for our nation, it's in the hands of young minds. If western culture, their attire, their customs, their social behavior are slowly influencing the people, why not media get influenced from them. The creative learners of today are future journalists, photographers, politicians, activists, news readers and editors. In every era, the culture has made innovations and this is the period that has undergone the maximum change, unfortunately the greater are on the contradictory side. Media has become money centralized and the reason, for which it was created, is being demolished. Like how films are being rated by the central board of film certification, every program in television should be rated and certified before it is delivered to the people. Instead of making film stars the centre of attraction in newspapers and televisions, why not make something that kindles immediate social attention towards a problem centralized in picture. Everything can't happen in a flicker of a second. If there are still social activists, humanitarians, and well wishers of the nation secluded, speechless and concealed in some part of the country, it's time for us to counterbalance the situation and prove to the people that media is for educating rather than entertaining, and only if that happens our dream to walk towards development, would be possible by 2025. I did my part, do yours.

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How You Can Have Good Non-Verbal Communication Skills

Self awareness is required to enhance non-verbal communication. It is important to be aware of the messages you continually send without speaking a word because they say a lot about you. Body movements and facial expressions are natural but you need to know how to use them to send the right messages.

You should acknowledge your weak areas so that you will be able to enhance your non-verbal communication skills. If you know the areas where are weak, such as eye contact, you will be able to have a goal. You will have the opportunity of turning the weaknesses into strengths and send better non-verbal signals.

Furthermore, it is important to note that body language plays a major role in the way you present yourself. For instance, if you slouch in your chair during a job interview or meeting, you are sending a signal that you do not care. If you sit low in seat, it means that you are bored or not interested in the activity that is going on. However, by changing your body language, you will be suggesting that you are keenly participating and listening to the speaker. You should sit up straight on the chair and you can lean forward or place your hands on your lap to demonstrate a composed posture.

Another way of improving non-verbal communication is the use of eye contact. You should not avoid eye contact during a conversation; it is an indication that you are either intimidated or not being truthful. The eyes are channels of communication that convey signals to other person and maintaining eye contact during a conversation will send a message that you are open to communication.

Your mannerism during conversation should also be noted. You should be careful with your hand gestures because they are capable of sending different messages. If you speak with your hands at your sides, people listening to you may think that you are not comfortable with yourself. You should speak lively with the use of your hands and relaxing your body so that you will be able to capture the attention of those listening to you. It is also important to nod your head when you are listening to someone speaking so that you will be able to show that you are listening. There are games that can be played to improve your non-verbal communication skills and some of them are charades and role-playing games.

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