alanrasof

[alanrasof]

There are many reasons why people choose to volunteer their time to an organization they appreciate. Those reasons can include the desire to help nonprofits succeed, make a difference in the world, or even just the idea of learning a new skill.

The truth of the matter is that volunteering comes with many benefits. Some of those benefits are for the individuals helping out, while many others go toward the organization in need. Here are just a few of the ways that volunteering can make a difference.

[alanrasof]

Many businesses are still facing the changes brought about by COVID-19. One of these changes is the rise of the hybrid workforce. That is to say; companies now have employees both at home at heading to the office.

Certain complications come with this new change, yet there are undeniably many benefits as well. Therefore, it’s crucial for business owners and managers to prepare for this change and adapt accordingly.

[alanrasof]

Effective Communication Within a Business

When people talk about business communication, they are referring to the way people interact and communicate with each other and their customers for the express purpose of aligning with the core values of a business and achieving goals that are meant to boost revenue. The effectiveness of these interactions is a strong indicator of how well a company will succeed in the long run. 

When you look at your organization and determine where the roadblocks are, you will find that there are things you as a business can do to increase employee engagement. Many businesses fall into the disbelief that every issue deserves its own email chain or meeting, when in fact the average employee takes 25% out of their day to deal with email issues that could be avoided. Having a more effective communication system can determine whether the pros outweigh the cons of interrupting your employees’ momentum. 

There are several directions that information can flow within a business. Some use the model of downward flowing communication. This is when information is passed down from a superior to the subordinates. This could take on the form of a staff memo or email. Upward flowing communication is when a subordinate delivers information up the chain of the hierarchy until the information reaches their superior. This is something that every leader needs to encourage and support because it is often their only way of knowing what is happening on the front lines of a business. This includes data reports about website traffic, SEO campaigns, as well as other information.

As far as the general day to day culture, having an open-door policy is the best way to hear about issues like employee morale. Since every step up the corporate chain of command is another step for information to either be misconstrued or for an employee to lose the courage to follow through. 

Another method of business communication is lateral. This is when employees talk amongst themselves via chat, email, or in person. When encouraged, this happens across departments and helps to remind all employees that they are working towards a common goal and are on the same team. This is a great employee morale booster. 

  from Alan Rasof– Business and Ideas https://ift.tt/2TuEbLn via IFTTT

[alanrasof]

How Machine Learning Can Improve Your Business

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have evolved from just making our lives safer and more efficient by way of smart cars and the IoT. Businesses now rely on this technology to increase revenue as well. 

Many people like to use the terms AI and machine learning interchangeably. AI is the broader term that is used to describe computers trying to mimic the actions and behaviors of humans. To achieve this, there are two approaches called expert systems and machine learning. Both look at if-then rules, but expert systems can only perform the outcome that is explicitly coded by a human. There is no learning, per se. Machine learning, on the other hand, will analyze data and form the if-then rules on its own. 

The latest buzzword, analytics, is on the tip of everyone’s tongue for a reason. Having large amounts of data is useless until you have the resources to compartmentalize it and seek out patterns. One of the benefits of AI is the ability to target a specific demographic by way of a personally customized marketing campaign. Everyone has their own tailored experience, down to the distinct promotional emails they receive. Businesses all over America in a variety of industries have started to appreciate how well smart machines can amass big data and then put them into patterns for people to analyze. This is digital gold for companies because predictive marketing is the wave of the future. With the latest machine learning advancements, it’s safe to say that we are now entering a phase of man-machine collaboration during this MarTech era. Machines can gather the data, and humans can collaborate with the machines to then make intuitive assessments that only humans can perform. 

In addition to collaborating with a company’s marketing team and generating a 360° customer profile from previous purchases, machine technology can help businesses in other ways as well. Customer service chatbots are now available online 24/7 to answer the majority of consumer questions. This makes the customers happy and increases the morale of employees. Branding campaigns can be launched across social media networks much faster and in a more cohesive manner. 

  from Alan Rasof– Business and Ideas https://ift.tt/3jmfs6b via IFTTT

[alanrasof]

Preparing Your Business for AI

Artificial intelligence has proven to be extremely adept at anomaly detection, enhancement, reconstruction, auto-generation, object detection, forecasting, pattern detection. It often goes hand in hand with big data, which is a buzzword that has been passed around a lot within the past decade. It refers to the digital gold rush of information about consumers and their behavior that now exists in a usable, concrete form. For many industries, such as retail, this is a priceless resource. By examining the data of a person’s history, you can see patterns emerge. This, in turn, enables predictive algorithms to make educated guesses about what to do next on a 100% customized basis. It changes the game completely for future sales and marketing campaigns. AI can take this a step further by revealing trends and associations at a level of speed and accuracy than any human could ever manage.

Both commercial and residential consumers have been quick to embrace the concept of connected devices, such as computers on a network or appliances being part of the Internet of Things (IoT). While it may make our lives easier to have computer chips in connected devices, there is also an ugly downside. The major issue that people either don’t understand or choose to ignore is that data isn’t automatically secure. More often than not, the data from our connected devices is being sold to the highest bidder.

In addition to safety issues, companies also need to ask themselves why they need AI implementation in the first place. Jumping on the bandwagon is not sufficient, there needs to be a real-world benefit. In addition, most AI projects fail because of a lack of foresight and planning, therefore it’s important to self-assess your issue and figure out exactly what problem you are trying to solve. Ask yourself what success looks like, such as speed vs security, before spending time or money on the development phase. Any new technology also needs to integrate with existing business practices, so that needs to be taken into account as well regarding budget, time, and skilled labor. 

Once you’ve initiated any technological changes, it is also vital to keep up with the ever-changing laws regarding data privacy. Continuous data transmission is a game-changer when it comes to convenience, but it also exposes a whole new line of vulnerabilities. There are many points of access, from computer to computer, as well as to the cloud. Contrary to popular belief, storing data in the cloud is not as comforting as it sounds. This connected, global network of remote servers is under constant attack from external forces. 

from Alan Rasof– Business and Ideas https://ift.tt/3n08LKn via IFTTT

[alanrasof]

Building a Culture of Innovation

Many businesses, for the most part, are currently in survival mode. The smaller the company, the bigger the danger of going under. For this reason, there has been a surge in the rise of innovation culture. 

Innovation culture is essentially a subset of corporate culture. It encourages out of the box creativity, spread across many departments. In an ever-changing world that demands innovation for a company’s very survival, staying the course almost certainly means failure. For this reason, putting out immediate fires is fine, but it can’t be the sole focus of companies who wish to be around for the long-haul.

Google itself has not been immune to the crisis, due to a loss in advertisers, and thus have had to rethink its original model in order to stay innovative and profitable. They, above anyone else, understand the power of big data and have used it to adapt to this new normal of a society in quarantine. By examining searches and finding patterns, Google was able to identify trends about people ordering food, getting groceries and packages delivered, and cooking at home. It became clear that they would benefit by making as much information available as possible, including real-time data on health conditions in areas surrounding food and beverage facilities, and then updating any changes to operational hours. They also made it instantly available when searching to see what options a customer had regarding curbside pick-up, delivery, and takeout.

In the past, the concept of innovation was an incremental methodology. It was a way to enhance an already existing working model for success. Nowadays, however, a transformational method of innovation is required to create a new industry or alter the way we live and work. To do this, a company needs to have three things in its arsenal – ability, willingness, and potential. Promote an innovative-promoting culture by giving your team all of the tools they need to succeed. Encourage cross-department dialog and give employees training on being creative. In addition, optimism is contagious and powerful. No matter how bleak the news might be, your only job is to motivate your team to be innovators and come up with fresh, new ways to stay relevant. 

from Alan Rasof– Business and Ideas https://ift.tt/3cuzUA2 via IFTTT

[alanrasof]

Easy Ways to Improve Employee Retention

When a company has a high turnover rate, there’s a cost that goes beyond the need for a rehire. In addition to the time and money spent interviewing and training the new employee, the underlying factors behind why they left could signal a much bigger problem. Sometimes it can lead to low morale among remaining staff members, which can quickly become contagious. In today’s world, reviews are now available by current and former employees, and they can very easily scare off future applicants. For these reasons, it is always in a company’s best interest to maximize employee retention. 

Craftsmen often use the term measure twice, cut once to describe the importance of planning. Contrary to popular belief, this message can be conveyed across many other disciplines as well. As a leader, before committing to a new team member it is your responsibility to perform due diligence to the best of your ability, not just to weed out any potential bad candidates but also to lock down the best possible fit. This includes finding the person who not only has the most technical skills but who can work productively in a team environment.  

Hard and soft skills are measurably different but they are both important. Hard skills are teachable, quantifiable skills such as programming computers, learning a foreign language, or earning a degree or certificate in a field of study. Soft skills, on the other hand, relate to how well people interact with each other.  Some examples include the ability to communicate effectively with others and being able to manage projects and schedules on-time. Both of these areas need to be investigated throughout the interview process. Typical interviews are done in stages, with callbacks as needed. This is so that different skills can be evaluated more intensely.

One you feel like you’re surrounded yourself with a good team, there are things you can do to keep them. A smart leader should always assume that all employees are being courted at any given moment by headhunters or consulting firms, so it’s important to stay engaged and current. Make sure you are paying them at the industry standard rates, as well as compensating them, when possible, after they achieve anniversary milestones. When a new hire is brought in, make sure they are given adequate training and have a two-way channel of communication at all times. 

from Alan Rasof– Business and Ideas https://ift.tt/2DJVeol via IFTTT