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Author Archives: J. Michele Miller
“How many shining eyes do you see?”
How many shining eyes do you see?
Benjamin Zander has been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic since 1979. His insights for classical music and leadership can be applied in any leadership role.
As conductor, Zander’s job is to awaken the possibilities in others. As he says in the TED video, “ the conductor does not make any sounds.” It is up to him to make sure the musicians have the information they need do their best.
The same is true for any leader. Are you making sure your team members have what they need to succeed. When your team succeeds, so do you!
Zander mentions that he can tell when he has awaken the possibilities in another person by how brightly their eyes are shining. Zander judges his wealth and success on the number of shining eyes he sees. How many shining eyes do you see each day?
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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Tagged "Tech Tips", Benjamin Zander, Classical Music, Ener Systems, J. Michele Miller, leadership, Online, Technology Tips
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“Learning from your peers is better than learning from your own mistakes”
Learning from your peers is better than learning from your own mistakes.
I am a firm believer in peer groups. I always suggest that business owners look for peer groups in their industries. These groups can be invaluable. They can push you to get the impossible done. Your peers can also help you when you need it, because they have been there too.
Peer groups can allow you and your business to build a nationwide network.
I have found that is it much cheaper and easier to learn from your peers than to learn from your own mistakes.
For me and my business, peer groups have been invaluable.
So get out there and start looking for a group in your industry. You will be surprised at what you will find.
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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Tagged "Tech Tips", Business, Computer, Computer Support, Ener Systems, J. Michele Miller, learning from peers, Peer Groups, Technology, Technology Tips
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“5 Ways To Keep Your Laptop Running – Without Plugging It In”
5 Ways To Keep Your Laptop Running – Without Plugging It In
On the road, in the airport, at a client’s site, or simply at home on the couch … these are places you can’t or don’t want to – plug in your laptop. Want to keep your laptop running as long as possible without searching for an outlet? Here are five tips to help:
1) Keep your screen dim. A laptop’s backlight requires a lot of power. Reducing the brightness conserves battery life.
2) Turn off unused hardware. Your Bluetooth and your Wi-Fi receiver can both be turned off if not in use. Unplug your external mouse or other device. Mute the PC’s sound system. Not only will these steps save power, they will avoid annoying everyone else around you.
3) Don’t multitask. Run as few programs as you can get away with. Stick to one application (word processor, browser, or whatever) if possible. (If online keep your antivirus and firewall on in the background.)
4) Avoid multimedia. Save your photo editing and video watching for when you have AC power. These tasks use immense battery life. To listen to music, use your iPod (or similar device).
5) Sleep, standby or hibernate. Sleep mode (a/k/a “standby” in XP) keeps your PC on. It still uses power, just less than normal. Hibernate uses no power initially, but a lot of battery life to start back up.
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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Tagged "Tech Tips", battery, Business, Computer, Computer Support, Ener Systems, J. Michele Miller, laptop, Laptop battery life, Technology, Technology Tips
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“What is your Centerpoint? Meet Blue Angels Pilot, John Foley”
What is your Centerpoint? Meet Blue Angels Pilot, John Foley
Recently while in Dallas at an industry conference for Tigerpaw Software, I had the great pleasure of hearing John Foley speak in person. He is Amazing and the focus that the Blue Angels have is Amazing. When the Blue Angels fly in formation, they start with the planes at 36 inches apart and get the planes as close as 18 inches apart. It must take incredible focus to achieve such precision. John explains that for every show, the Blue Angels have a centerpoint that everyone remains focused on. This centerpoint allows all of the pilots to focus on one thing and achieve unbelievable accuracy. Just imagine what you could do with that kind of focus. What is your centerpoint? What are you going to focus on that will make you achieve unbelievable goals?
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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“A simple way to increase productivity”
A simple way to increase productivity
According to a University of Utah study, you can increase your efficiency (or your employees’ efficiency) by 25% just by adding a second monitor. With multiple monitors, you can get more done since you aren’t minimizing and maximizing all day long. Therefore, adding monitors can be a money maker for your company.
The study documentation states that 108 university and non-university personnel participated in a comparison of single monitor, multi-monitor and multi-monitor with Hydravision display configurations. Respondents edited slide shows, spreadsheets and text documents in a simulation of office work using each of the display arrays. Performance measures—including task time, editing time, number of edits completed and number of errors made, as well as usability measures evaluating effectiveness, comfort, learning ease, time to productivity, quickness of recovery from mistakes, ease of task tracking, ability to maintain task focus and ease of movement among sources—were combined into an overall evaluation of productivity. Multi-screens scored significantly higher on every measure. Respondents got on task quicker, did the work faster and got more of the work done with fewer errors in multi-screen configurations than with a single screen.
Consider trying this in your office. Add a monitor or two to your desk and to those of your employees. See what kind of feedback you get and how much more efficient and productive you become when you have the ability to move quicker, use multiple applications at once and no longer have to constantly minimize windows
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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Tagged "Tech Tips", Business, Computer, Ener Systems, increase productivity, J. Michele Miller, monitor, multiple monitors, screen, Technology, Technology Tips
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“10 Easy Ways To Eliminate E-mail Overload”
10 Easy Ways To Eliminate E-mail Overload
E-mail driving you crazy? Every time you delete one, do five more show up? Are you finding it impossible to answer every e-mail you receive? If this is you, then here are 10 tips to reduce e-mail overload.
1- Get a good spam filter. Even if it saves you just 10 minutes a day, that adds up to over 59 hours a year.
2- Cancel subscriptions to unwanted mailing lists. Also, make sure you are careful to check the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” box when purchasing items online.
3- Ask your friends to remove you from joke groups or chain messages.
4- Don’t post or publish your e-mail on websites.
5- Don’t respond to every e-mail you receive. Yes, it’s okay NOT to respond to some e-mails.
6- Be succinct. Restrict your messages to a few sentences. If you can’t, pick up the phone or talk in person.
7- Take advantage of subject lines. If possible, put your question in the subject line of your message. Here’s another tip: create a set of codes with your co-workers and place them in the subject line to help them process and prioritize messages. For example, use “FYI” for informational messages. Use “AR” for action required and “URG” for urgent messages.
8- Block time to answer your e-mail and fight the temptation to check your e-mail every few minutes.
9- Respond to messages when you open them so you only read them once.
10- Set time aside in the morning and the evening to process your inbox. Shoot for a completely empty inbox. File messages you need to keep and set reminders for messages that require you to follow up.
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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“4 Questions About Backups That You Should Know The Answers To”
4 Questions About Backups That You Should Know The Answers To
The old saying, “Pack your own parachute,” comes to mind when I think of data backups or, more specifically, data RECOVERY. However, how many people actually know how to pack their data backup “parachute.
Since the absolute WORST time to check your backups is AFTER a data disaster, all business owners ought to know the answers to the following questions NOW so they aren’t unpleasantly surprised later when data gets erased and they’re scrambling to get back up and running:
1. Where EXACTLY is your data being backed up, and how do you get access to it?
Ideally, it should be in your network documentation that is kept in your operations manual or somewhere you can easily access it if necessary.
2. Who’s responsible for monitoring the backups to make sure they are working?
When data is lost, the finger pointing starts
3. How often do you run a test restore?
The only way to know if your backups are working properly is to conduct a test restore or “fire drill” of your data. We recommend running this once a month at a minimum to verify that you can actually restore from your backups in an emergency.
4. If your data is lost, what’s the process required to restore it?
Business owners should know what is required and how long it will take to recover data before an emergency strikes. Not all backup and recovery options are created equal. Setting up the proper process before you need it, will make your life a lot easier after an emergency.
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“Should You Leave Your Computer On at Night or Turn it Off?”
Should You Leave Your Computer On At Night Or Turn It Off?
I’ve been asked by clients whether or not they should leave their computer on all the time or turn it off when they are not using it.
Several years ago I would have told my clients to turn their machines off to save power. But with the proliferation of viruses and threats over the last few years, I have changed my mind.
Today, anti-virus programs and anti-spyware applications need regular updating. These updates are often scheduled to run in the wee hours of the morning when you are not using your computer.
Windows also needs to be updated whenever a new security patch is released. This is usually not daily, but it may happen several times a month. It’s important to update your operating system as soon as a patch becomes available because hackers move very quickly to reverse engineer Windows updates. As soon as an update is released, they create a virus specific to that vulnerability and start looking for unprotected machines to infect and invade.
In addition to the above, you should be backing up your data every day, and the best time to do this is at night when you are not using it.
So bottom line, leave your computer on all night and restart it two or three times a week to clear the memory.
I hope you will find this post informative and useful. I am looking forward to hearing your comments. That’s all I have for today, until next time make it a great day!
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Tagged "Tech Tips", Antivirus, Business, Computer, Ener Systems, J. Michele Miller, leave computer on at night, leave on, On or off, Online, Security, Security updates, Technology, Technology Tips, turn off, Windows updates
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