When it comes to workforce productivity, proximity is overrated; Marissa Mayer’s Edict

Looks like Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer may have missed the point with her edict earlier this week that company employees are no longer allowed to work from home. Traditional media, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media have all been abuzz over the declaration that by June all Yahoo! employees must report to the office every day if they want to keep their jobs.

Mayer is trying to turn around a company that once was an Internet leader, but has been performing poorly over the past few years. It’s her belief that the way to get the swagger back and get the workforce back on the same page is by having them all in the same building, or on the same campus, so they can interact face-to-face and build a sense of camaraderie.   I get that.

But as with certain other debates raging in the U.S. right now, Mayer seems to be blaming the technology that enables telecommuting rather than looking at how it’s being used.  That’s the wrong focus.   

There are a great many reasons work at home, when done properly, makes sense. It opens an organization to a much wider talent pool than it can obtain by requiring workers to be present at a particular location. Telecommuting improves productivity, because time that might be spent battling traffic or waiting on public transportation can instead be spent working.  It also leads to a happier and more loyal workforce, as evidenced by a 2011 WorldAtWork study that found companies that embraced flexibility had lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction, motivation and engagement.  Many highly successful companies like Accenture use hoteling to save millions in fixed real estate costs while accommodating their employees' busy travel and worklife balance.

The truth is there are all kinds of ways to build that sense of togetherness and teamwork without requiring constant attendance at an office. West’s InterCall Event Services group has virtual environment technology that actually improves productivity through an online workspace that provide the opportunity for “hallway” conversations or even after-hours meet-ups without everyone having to be in the same place at the same time.

And there’s the key. Often organizations look at communications as a technology cost, instead of a catalyst to collaboration, which in turn inspires innovation and growth.

While some hallway, or water cooler, or cafeteria conversations might spark spontaneous ideas, the truth is that most focus on the banalities of life or work. When was the last time you had a truly great idea while while pouring a cup of coffee?

What needs to change at nearly every company is the idea that sitting in a home office is isolating and unproductive.  By building a culture of collaboration, organizations, can benefit from the collective intelligence of the group, which allows them to do great things and build an enduring company.

The world has changed, and it’s not going back. Rather than being seen as a barrier to a sense of common purpose, unified communications should be embraced as the enabler. With the right approach, it will enhance the interaction between co-workers which ultimately leads to success.

As Senior Vice President, Marketing and Product, Kathleen is responsible for overall brand stewardship for the business. With more than 20 years’ experience, Kathleen brings a wealth of knowledge and a long line of accomplishments. Prior to joining InterCall, Kathleen held leadership positions with Motorola, including head of North America marketing and vice president of sales in the mobile devices business. She also worked with CoreComm, GE Financial and SBC/Ameritech. She received her bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. In her spare moments, Kathleen enjoys spending time with her two boys and traveling.

I Will Never Print My Boarding Pass Again

Last week I felt like I took another step forward into the 21st century.

I went on a trip and used United’s iPhone app to download my boarding pass. It was so easy—no papers to print out and keep track of. On my flight out, I was a little nervous since it was the first time, but I quickly figured out how to scan the QR code to make it through security and then board the plane. I was feeling good and pretty ‘with it’. I am not a technology-averse person, but I wouldn’t say I’m an early adopter.

On the way back, I had a slight panic attack. I was in the security line trying to download the email containing the link to access my boarding pass and my email client wouldn’t load. I was in a long line of people, feverishly checking the bars on my phone to see how the service was and doing everything I could to get my email going. All the while I was wondering how much time it would take to go back to the check-in kiosk and print my boarding pass. Luckily, just as I got up to the TSA agent, I heard the ding of the email and I was able to pass through.

I’m sure that if you are a frequent traveler, you’re thinking, “Duh, what took you so long? Of course this is the way to go, and it isn’t even that new.” For me, though, it was a big deal and a breakthrough. Now I can say I’ve done it, and I’m never going back to paper.

I also started to consider what things are second nature to me that might not be for others. Since I spend my days on web meetings and conference calls, I don’t think much about the fact that all my meetings are held using web conferencing, whether I have a document to share or not. I am addicted to the built-in tools available for scheduling and joining meetings. Just as I will never print my boarding pass again, I will not pick up the phone and dial a bunch of numbers. The easy way to go is just to click a link in my Outlook calendar and let the system do all the work. All I have to do is answer my phone.

I can understand why people might be intimidated by web conferencing and want to stick with straight audio conference calls. It’s what they’re used to and if it works, why should they change? I know the feeling. After all, how long did it take me to start using the iPhone apps? But, now that I’ve been reminded about the little conveniences that result from taking a chance and trying something new, I am more willing than ever to embrace technology. I don’t have to be on the forefront, but I don’t want to kick myself for missing out on some great new app or software that could have made my life a whole lot easier.

What’s an app that you can’t live without that I should try? Is web conferencing one thing that you’ve adopted to make your meetings better?

Jill Huselton is a senior marketing manager at InterCall. She's been in the conferencing industry for nearly 15 years, working in operations, account management and marketing, mainly based in Colorado. Before leaving the Mile-High City, she hiked a 14er, one of her top accomplishments. Now she's traded the mountains for the beach and works from a home office in North Carolina.

Lunch Hour? What’s That?

The other day, InterCall tweeted this about a past webinar: Lunch at your desk today? Watch this #webinar archive of The #PurposefulLeader with #DavidMcNally: http://ow.ly/9bdzS.

Then I came across an article about America’s lunch hour being on the endangered list. Have we become so focused on productivity that our ‘lunch hour’ is really going the way of the typewriter? In a survey, only 35 percent of employees in this country say they almost always take a lunch break.

Maybe working through lunch is a result of a poor economy. I’ve read articles about how workers feel they have to prove their dedication and worth by skipping lunch, coming into the office early, working late or being available at all hours of the night in order to keep their jobs. Is the market still bad enough that people feel this is the ‘new norm.’ The same survey I mentioned above found that about 65 percent of employees either eat at their desk or don’t take lunch breaks at all.

I have to admit, sometimes things just get too busy and having that extra hour in the workday helps reduce stress and pressure. And I have found that if I want to participate in a live webinar or watch an archive, doing it while I eat lunch works pretty well: I can sit and stare at my computer monitor and not have to continually switch between my mouse/keyboard and my sandwich.

I’ve also found, though, that taking a break, even if it is just for 20 or 30 minutes, helps me feel refreshed. Research shows that taking time in the middle of the day to walk away from your desk lets you:

• Clear your head
• Gain perspective
• Improve your health/fitness if you work out

What’s your lunchtime routine? Do you stay put and get some extra work done or take time for yourself and your mental/physical health? Does the notion of working through lunch to prove you can get the job done in spite of being short on resources still hold water?

Jill Huselton is a senior marketing manager at InterCall. She's been in the conferencing industry for nearly 15 years, working in operations, account management and marketing, mainly based in Colorado. Before leaving the Mile-High City, she hiked a 14er, one of her top accomplishments. Now she's traded the mountains for the beach and works from a home office in North Carolina.

How to Make Social Media Sell: Provoke Thought, Don't Lead It

Why is it so difficult to generate actual leads and sales using social media? At the risk of my wife divorcing me, I decided to take a year off and find out how businesses who were quietly succeeding with social media were doing it. A year's worth of research confirmed my suspicions about the so-called “social media revolution” and revealed an exciting opportunity: A chance for more B2B and B2C marketers to generate tangible business leads and sales using tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs and video.

The secret sauce is now revealed: Selling with social media requires shifting the paradigm away from being thought leaders and toward being thought provokers.

These Brands Are Making Social Media Sell
My research revealed how people like Laura Messerschmitt of Intuit are convincing more and more customers to sign up for their online payroll product. I learned how investment and property management firm Jones Lang LaSalle is generating tangible leads on seven-figure commercial real estate deals using YouTube. I discovered how Wisconsin's AnchorBank and the Queensland Teachers' Credit Union are increasing share of customers' wallet and acquiring new customers at record pace.

This Is How They're Doing It
What's their secret? Turning friends, followers and content into sales, leads and subscribers means solving customers' problems in ways that nurtures demand for larger solutions. These companies are helping customers gain clarity on complex problems and then leveraging that clarity. How? By answering questions in ways that make it increasingly rewarding for customers to take action, identifying themselves as a lead.

Selling with social media demands brands become thought provokers, not just thought leaders.

Design to Sell, Become Addictive
Successful social B2B sellers know: Engagement is not an outcome. It's a chance to create response—but not by chance. Engagement must invite customers' questions and respond to them in a deliberate way, as part of a social media-driven direct response marketing plan. This design gathers up customers' itches (problems) and scratches them (gives answers), but in incomplete ways. Holding back on providing the full solution is key.

The formula is incredibly close to the illegal narcotics trade. You give customers a sample providing momentary satisfaction, but not enough for the desire to be completely sated. In other words, here... have a little bit. You will feel something that you'll enjoy, but it won't be enough. You'll want to have more of it. In order to have more, you're going to have to talk to me—and you may even find yourself wanting to buy some from me!

Today's true thought leaders are thought provokers. They are putting interesting, valuable, addictive thoughts “out there” in ways that prompt customers to ask for more, more often.

Take Action
Make social media sell. Ask yourself: Are you giving customers a reason to talk to you on LinkedIn? Are your blogs so bold they provoke action? Does your content marketing strategy show customers ways to avoid risks they don't yet know they have? Do your YouTube videos or white papers reveal hidden opportunity? Are your campaigns designed so that customers will contact you—so that your team can help them more clearly understand what you just provoked?

About the Author
Jeff Molander is author of Off the Hook Marketing: How to Make Social Media Sell, adjunct professor of marketing at Loyola University Business School and a social media keynote speaker.

Recently, Jeff spoke in an InterCall webinar that is related to this article and his book, Off the Hook Marketing: How to Make Social Media Sell for You. He blogs at www.offthehookblog.com and can be reached at jeff@jeffmolander.com.

The InterCall Guest Blogger is a subject matter expert who contributes relevant articles to The InterCall Blog. Topics can range from unified communications, conferencing and collaboration or virtual events to general business communications and process improvement. If you are interested in submitting an article for The InterCall Blog, please email blog@intercall.com.

What Makes Your City Liveable?

In August, the Economist Intelligence Unit announced their Global Liveability Survey for 2011. The result: Melbourne is the best city in the world to live in with a total score of 97.5! When the bi-annual ranking of 140 global cities was announced, Canadians were stunned. How had the city of Vancouver been ‘pipped at the post’ by the Aussies?

The Economist's World's 10 Most Liveable Cities 2011

1. Melbourne Austraila, Score = 97.5
2. Vienna Austria, Score = 97.4
3. Vancouver Canada, Score = 97.3
4. Toronto Canada, Score = 97.2
5. Calgary Canada, Score = 96.6
6. Sydney Australia, Score = 96.1
7. Helsinki Finland, Score = 96.0
8. Perth Australia, Score = 95.9
9. Adelaide Australia, Score = 95.9
10. Auckland New Zealand, Score = 95.7

The term ‘liveability’ simply refers to which locations on a global scale provide the best or the worst living conditions. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability rating is measured over five categories and takes into account certain challenges that affect a person’s lifestyle. These broad categories are:

• Healthcare
• Culture and environment
• Education
• Infrastructure

The exact make-up of a liveable city is a well-debated topic. Whilst some may consider education to be the most important factor, others would believe that the environment is the most imperative contributor to great living.

What makes a city liveable for you? Ask yourself what are the key factors that top your list and does your city fulfil your priorities? Personally, it is a number of specific things that fall into the broad liveability categories: living by the beach, a relatively low population, diversified culture, a good health system, an easy public transport system and a work-life balance.

Working for InterCall is a major contributor to my enjoying a great work- life balance. From getting on an audio conference call on the run with my mobile phone to joining an online meeting through an app on my tablet, InterCall is sustaining and supporting my busy lifestyle.

So whilst Melbourne has been voted the number one city to live in, like the Canadians, some people may not agree with this end result. As my company aids the work-life balance for me through conferencing, I can virtually make any city my number one—as long as it’s beachside that is!

What about you? If you don't live in one of these top-ranked cities, how do you make the most of where you are?

Jess Stephens is a marketing executive at InterCall in Asia Pacific, based in the Sydney office. When not working, she enjoys playing sport, travelling and photography.

Posted at 09:00 PM in APAC, Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Last week I posted a blog about the types of ‘difficult’ people you may work with in an office. So I don’t leave you with all challenges and no solutions, below are recommendations that will hopefully help you navigate the various personalities of the people you work with so everyone stays on track.

Celestine Chua offers these nine strategies that you can practice. Many of her suggestions apply to situations where you share office space, but they also apply to virtual teams. While working remotely can reduce the time you actually engage with the person who pushes your buttons, you can also be challenged with not having as many opportunities to really understand where she is coming from. By applying these techniques and fostering relationships with online meetings and audio conference calls, you can have more productive, and dare I say successful, interactions.

1. Be calm.
   Losing your temper and flaring out at the other person typically isn't the best way to get him/her to collaborate with you. Unless you know that anger will trigger the person into action and you are consciously using it as a strategy to move him, it is better to assume a calm persona.
2. Understand the person's intentions.
   I'd like to believe that no one is difficult for the sake of being difficult. Even when it may seem that the person is just out to get you, there is always some underlying reason that is motivating her to act this way. Rarely is this motivation apparent. Try to identify the person's trigger: What is making her act in this manner? What is stopping her from cooperating with you? How can you help to meet her needs and resolve the situation?
3. Get some perspective from others.
   In all likelihood, your colleagues, managers and friends must have experienced similar situations in some way or another. They will be able to see things from a different angle and offer a different take on the situation. Seek them out, share your story and listen to what they have to say. You might very well find some golden advice in amidst of the conversation.
4. Let the person know where you are coming from.
   One thing that has worked for me is to let the person know my intentions behind what I am doing. Sometimes, they are being resistant because they think that you are just being difficult with them. Letting them in on the reason behind your actions and the full background of what is happening will enable them to empathize with your situation. This lets them get them on-board much easier.
5. Build a rapport.
   With all the computers, emails and messaging systems, work sometimes turn into a mechanical process. Re-instill the human touch by connecting with your colleagues on a personal level. Go out with them for lunches or dinners. Get to know them as people, and not colleagues. Learn more about their hobbies, their family, their lives. Foster strong connections. These will go a long way in your work.
6. Treat the person with respect.
   No one likes to be treated as if he is stupid/incapable/incompetent. If you are going to treat the person with disrespect, it's not going to be surprising if he treats you the same way as well. As the golden rule says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
7. Focus on what can be actioned upon.
   Sometimes, you may be put into hot soup by your difficult colleagues, such as not receiving a piece of work they promised to give or being wrongly held responsible for something you didn't do. Whatever it is, acknowledge that the situation has already occurred. Rather than harp on what you cannot change, focus on the actionable steps you can take to forward yourself in the situation.
8. Ignore.
   If you have already tried everything above and the person is still not being receptive, the best way might be to just ignore. After all, you have already done all that you can within your means. Get on with your daily tasks and interface with the person only where needed. Of course, this isn't feasible in cases where the person plays a critical role in your work - which leads to the last tip.
9. Escalate to a higher authority for resolution.
   When all else fails, escalate to your manager. This is considered the trump card and shouldn't be used unless you've completely exhausted your means. Sometimes, the only way to get someone moving is through the top-down approach, especially in bureaucratic organizations. Be careful not to exercise this option all the time as you wouldn't want your manager to think that you are incapable of handling your own problems. I have done this several times in my previous job and I found it to be the most effective in moving people who just refuse to cooperate otherwise.

Try implementing one or more of these strategies with someone who challenges you. Come back and tell me how it worked.

Anusha Karnad is a post call services lead at InterCall in Bangalore. She’s been with InterCall since 2009, working in customer service, training for new hires and account management where she helped customers with billing and service related questions. Anasha's background is in training voice, accent and soft skills for customer service agents.

It is inevitable that in the workplace you are going to have differing opinions and ideas for doing things. That’s just what happens when you bring people together who have their own personalities, backgrounds and experiences.

Have you come across that one person who pushes your buttons? Doesn't listen? Takes credit for work you've done? Focuses on issues that aren’t important? Thinks he knows everything? Always criticizes?

We’ve all come across ‘challenging’ people. You know the ones I’m talking about—they don't turn their work in as promised, always show up late for meetings, can’t see another person’s point of view, refuse to be ‘team players’.

It is easy to wonder “Why me?”, but as Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything, says in a Harvard Business Review blog, the problem with being a victim is that you cede the power to influence your circumstances. We have to realize that we can’t change the people who make us so frustrated; we can only change ourselves.

According to an article by Dawn Rosenberg McKay, here are some of types of difficult people you may meet at work and some advice for getting along with each type.

The Chatterbox
The chatterbox usually means well. She is friendly and wants to share all her thoughts (every last one of them) with you. She isn't trying to harm anyone ... her incessant talking is just keeping you from concentrating on your work. Here are some things you can do to quiet down your chattering co-worker so you can get your job done. Rather than risk insulting your colleague, put the blame on yourself. Tell your co-worker you have trouble concentrating while you are listening to her very engaging stories. You'd love to hear them at some other time, just not while you're working. Then, if you truly enjoy her company, have lunch with her once a week.

The Complainer
There's always one person in a group who can never find anything about which to be happy. If she's not complaining about her health or her family, she's complaining about her job, the company or your boss. Of course, some of her complaints may be legitimate, but the incessant whining is getting on your nerves. Generally, the complainer isn't looking for advice so offering it probably won't do any good. Change the subject whenever the bellyaching begins. Your colleague should get the hint after you do this repeatedly.

The Gossiper
The gossiper seems to know everything about everyone and he wants to share it. Should you listen to what your gossiping colleague has to say? Yes, you should listen to it since it is often a good way to hear news that may not make it through more formal information channels. The problem with gossip is that it carries both elements of truth and untruth, so view it with a cynical eye. Listen to your gossipy co-worker quietly. Don't become a gossip too. However, if the gossip being shared is of a very personal nature, for example he shares with you news of another co-worker's marital problems, change the subject or say that you don't feel right discussing someone behind his back.

The Delegator
In almost every workplace you'll find someone who wants to share his work with his colleagues. We're not talking about those who have a legitimate reason to delegate work to others, for example managers or team leaders. We are speaking of those who either can't do all the work they have been given or don't want to do it. If team work is encouraged in your office and you have time to help your colleague, you should. However, if managers are the only ones who have the authority to delegate and you already have your hands full, then you have to turn down the request. Tell your co-worker you have your own work to manage.

The Credit Grabber
The credit grabber does not acknowledge any help she receives from others. She accepts all the praise for a project without mentioning that she didn't do it alone. The first time this happens, consider it a mistake. Mention it to your colleague and ask her to let others know about your participation. If she doesn't, or if this happens again, make sure you let others know about the role you played in getting a project done. Then, unless you are mandated to work with this person, refuse to help out again.

Every experienced any of these types? Have you applied any of these techniques for dealing with them? Check back next week for more tips to keep the peace (and your sanity) in the office.

Anusha Karnad is a post call services lead at InterCall in Bangalore. She’s been with InterCall since 2009, working in customer service, training for new hires and account management where she helped customers with billing and service related questions. Anasha's background is in training voice, accent and soft skills for customer service agents.

So another year has come to an end. We’ve seen democracies fall, celebrities mourned, tsunamis tracked, terrorists killed, volcanos erupt, the end of the NASA space program, terrorist attacks in Norway, floods in Thailand and earthquakes in Turkey. A quiet year, I think you’ll agree…

What’s been interesting to note is how this news has been delivered to us. We no longer rely on the 6:00 news to deliver us day- or hours-old content; the news is happening right now, and we, the people, are the content providers. So, let me take you on a tour of the top tools of 2011 that are helping news to spread faster and quicker than ever before.

I’m going to start with a fairly unknown, but hugely useful service by the team at the Hungarian National Association of Radio Distress-Signalling & Infocommunications (RSOE) who operate the Emergency & Disaster Information Service (EDIS). Wow; that’s quite a name. We can call it RSOE-EDIS for short!

This map (http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php) allows you to see a real-time overview of every disaster that is occurring right now at a global level. If a terrorist attack, earthquake, volcano or public uprising were to occur, this tool will let you know as soon as it happens. You can be the source of breaking news by using this map to learn about a disaster and tweeting it before the mainstream news agencies even have the chance to publish it!

What’s a real-world example of sharing breaking news through Twitter? Let’s look at the hashtag #Jan25. When the people of Egypt started the movement to overthrow their government, the news agencies shut down, but Twitter remained active (against the best attempts of the Egyptian government). The hashtag #Jan25 became the source for breaking news related to the uprising and ultimately assisted in overthrowing the government because it acted as a source to arrange protests and crowd-source data into an easy-to-follow interface.

BlackBerry (RIM) saw its tools used in a similar fashion during the London riots last August. Rioters flew under the radar of public IM by using BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) to arrange riot locations and spread updates. The police were slow to respond as they were tracking the mainstream social networks for information (Facebook and Twitter) instead of investigating how the rioters interacted (data which was readily available before the riots).

Twitter serving as a breaking news source can sometimes happen unexpectedly. Sohaib Athar became an overnight sensation thanks to his tweeted observation: ‘Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1am (is a rare event)’. Little did he know that he was uncovering the first stage of the top-secret mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. Once news broke about the death of Bin Laden, Sohaib tweeted, ‘Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it’.

This is one of the fantastic features of social networking. What would have previously been obscure observations are suddenly catapulted into the spotlight. After exposing the Bin Laden mission, Sohaib’s Twitter following increased from 1471 followers to an amazing 89,099! Sohaib’s closing comments? ‘Bin Laden is dead. I didn’t kill him. Please let me sleep now’.

One Twitter hashtag that I followed very closely occurred on 4 March 2011. A powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Japan, generating a huge tsunami, up to 10 metres high in places. Pretty quickly Japan’s phone system was knocked out, and Twitter became the go-to service for pushing information about the earthquake and tsunami. Within one hour of the earthquake, tweets from Tokyo were topping 1200 per minute.

American tweeters on the west coast began predicting an ETA for the tsuanmi on U.S. shores, way before the U.S. government put out an official statement. On the Hawaiian Islands, the tweeters were posting updates about the status of their islands since they would be the first to be hit. One user I followed tweeted, ‘Just watched the ocean completely suck out and disappear and then come roaring back in. Makes me feel as [weak] as a sweet little baby...Minutes away from the first wave to hit Oahu. No reports from Kauai yet. Hotels halls packed with people....30 minutes between waves. 200-300 feet of reef exposed & then the waves come ripping back higher each time....’ Thankfully Hawaii didn’t get hit hard by the after-effects of the Tsunami, but again, the power of Twitter still amazes me!

Being in the conferencing and communication business, I’m always interested to watch the trends in how people share news and information. Holding a conference call is one way to talk to people, but as we’ve seen, Facebook and Twitter take it to a whole new level. That’s why you’ll see these types of social media tools integrated with our services, like we’re already doing with InterCall Streaming Services and InterCall Virtual Environments.

What do you expect to see happen with social media in 2012? Have any predictions about hot topics in the coming months?

Ashley Davies is the small and medium sized business (SMB) manager in InterCall’s UK and European (EMEA) division and is responsible for managing the suite of services InterCall offers that are specifically designed for SMB customers. Before joining InterCall, Ashley worked as the sales manager for a free publication and studied for a degree in entrepreneurship and small business. In his spare time, Ashley likes to surf and work on his house.

What is global warming? It is often debated, but lately even scientists who said it wasn’t real are changing their views. Global warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises). It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrous oxide and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature. This affects people, animals and plants. Those that cannot take the change evolve or become extinct. There are lot of contributors to global warming, and it is increasing day after day.

It is November here in India. Winter arrives every year with chilling waves of cold air and sprinkles of water from the sky most days. For the past two to three years, we’ve seen warmer days, even in winter, which is alarming to many of us and indicates that the earth heating up.

Can we avoid this? Maybe not, but we can surely try to make a difference.

Regardless of your opinions on global warming, there’s no denying that we can all do things to at least save our resources, starting in the office where we spend most of our days.

Here are some tips to get started:

1. Educate yourself and others about global warming.The more facts that you have, the more you can persuade others to make simple yet effective changes in daily behaviour.
2. Influence your colleagues and management to replace old phones and email instead of printing documents.
3. Encourage your company’s facility team to provide recycling bins, composting, etc.(15-25% of people do not recycle).
4. Use compact fluorescent bulbs, are better for the environment. And, when a room is empty, remember to turn off the lights.
5. Before you print, decide if it is really worth printing or maybe you can save an electronic version to your desktop. If you do have to use paper, go with those generated from recycled paper, then recycle it when you’re done.
6. Switch off ovens, microwaves or coffee pots when you’re done and unplug them when not in use.
7. Speaking of unplugging devices when not in use, that goes for electronics. Even when they are turned off, they use energy. So make sure to unplug chargers, laptops or speakers when you aren’t using them.
8. Place a few indoor plants in your cubicle, entrances or pantry areas to get some extra oxygen flowing, not to mention adding a decorative touch.
9. Cut back on plastic by bringing your lunch in a paper bag (instead of plastic) and get a refillable water bottle. In my office, our HR team has given out metal water bottles so we can reduce our use of plastic ones.
10. And last but not least, cut your carbon emissions by working from home a few days a week or replace a trip with audio conference calls or online meetings.

Have you ever experienced the calmness, the coolness and the serenity of nature? Do you take a week off to relax in the lush green nature? Help preserve that by implementing even just a few of the tips listed above.

How does your office treat the environment? Do you have recycling policies in place? How about travel guidelines that ask you to consider conferencing instead of travel?

Anusha Karnad is a post call services lead at InterCall in Bangalore. She’s been with InterCall since 2009, working in customer service, training for new hires and account management where she helped customers with billing and service related questions. Anasha's background is in training voice, accent and soft skills for customer service agents.

According to a recent study, the answer to this question is $100 billion. Yep, billion with a ‘b’. Crazy, right?

I’m sure we can all recall a time when we were stuck in a long line of traffic, due to weather, overturned semis or trains crossing a track, and thinking about all the other things we could be doing. (Actually, not to rub it in, but I have to think really hard since I’ve worked from home for the last three years. I know there were plenty of times in the past when I wanted to pull my hair out because no one was moving, but I think I've buried them.)

Based on a study of traffic and congestion, the time we spend waiting in traffic is getting worse and there’s no sign of improvement. By 2020, we’ll waste a whole work week trying to make sense of the vanity plate in front of us or wishing we had more coffee as we watch the cars go nowhere fast.

• 1982: 14 hours/year/person
• 1992: 28 hours/year/person
• Today: 34 hours/year/person
• 2015: predicted to be 37 hours/year/person
• 2020: predicted to be 41 hours/year/person

Anyone trying to go anywhere in the most congested cities listed below can already tell you what it’s like to lose that work week to traffic. The study rated the cities around the U.S with the worst traffic and it isn’t pretty.

Most congested cities:

• Metro DC: 74 hours/year/person
• Chicago: 71 hours/year/person
• LA: 64 hours/year/person
• Houston: 57 hours/year/person
• NY/NJ/CT: 54 hours/year/person
• Baltimore: 52 hours/year/person
• San Francisco: 50 hours/year/person
• Denver: 49 hours/year/person
• Boston: 47 hours/year/person
• Dallas/Minneapolis: 45 hours/year/person

The old theory was to avoid rush hour and drive later in the day or at night. It seems that a lot of people have caught on because it is estimated that 40% of delays occur in mid-day and over night. There goes that idea.

So what can you do? It may not be feasible for you to work full-time from home, but how about a couple of days a week. That would cut your wasted time each year in half. Or, if you have to endure the sea of brake lights, make the most of it and plan your meetings during your travel time. It’s easy to join an audio conference call on the road with your mobile phone (hands free, of course). You can even join online meetings with apps for your phone or tablet.

What’s your strategy? If moving to South Dakota isn't an option, have you tried staying home or rearranging your schedule to take meetings on the road?

Jill Huselton is a senior marketing manager at InterCall. She's been in the conferencing industry for nearly 15 years, working in operations, account management and marketing, mainly based in Colorado. Before leaving the Mile-High City, she hiked a 14er, one of her top accomplishments. Now she's traded the mountains for the beach and works from a home office in North Carolina.

Maintaining the Workplace Peace (Part 2)

Last week I posted a blog about the types of ‘difficult’ people you may work with in an office. So I don’t leave you with all challenges and no solutions, below are recommendations that will hopefully help you navigate the various personalities of the people you work with so everyone stays on track.

Celestine Chua offers these nine strategies that you can practice. Many of her suggestions apply to situations where you share office space, but they also apply to virtual teams. While working remotely can reduce the time you actually engage with the person who pushes your buttons, you can also be challenged with not having as many opportunities to really understand where she is coming from. By applying these techniques and fostering relationships with online meetings and audio conference calls, you can have more productive, and dare I say successful, interactions.

1. Be calm.
   Losing your temper and flaring out at the other person typically isn't the best way to get him/her to collaborate with you. Unless you know that anger will trigger the person into action and you are consciously using it as a strategy to move him, it is better to assume a calm persona.
2. Understand the person's intentions.
   I'd like to believe that no one is difficult for the sake of being difficult. Even when it may seem that the person is just out to get you, there is always some underlying reason that is motivating her to act this way. Rarely is this motivation apparent. Try to identify the person's trigger: What is making her act in this manner? What is stopping her from cooperating with you? How can you help to meet her needs and resolve the situation?
3. Get some perspective from others.
   In all likelihood, your colleagues, managers and friends must have experienced similar situations in some way or another. They will be able to see things from a different angle and offer a different take on the situation. Seek them out, share your story and listen to what they have to say. You might very well find some golden advice in amidst of the conversation.
4. Let the person know where you are coming from.
   One thing that has worked for me is to let the person know my intentions behind what I am doing. Sometimes, they are being resistant because they think that you are just being difficult with them. Letting them in on the reason behind your actions and the full background of what is happening will enable them to empathize with your situation. This lets them get them on-board much easier.
5. Build a rapport.
   With all the computers, emails and messaging systems, work sometimes turn into a mechanical process. Re-instill the human touch by connecting with your colleagues on a personal level. Go out with them for lunches or dinners. Get to know them as people, and not colleagues. Learn more about their hobbies, their family, their lives. Foster strong connections. These will go a long way in your work.
6. Treat the person with respect.
   No one likes to be treated as if he is stupid/incapable/incompetent. If you are going to treat the person with disrespect, it's not going to be surprising if he treats you the same way as well. As the golden rule says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
7. Focus on what can be actioned upon.
   Sometimes, you may be put into hot soup by your difficult colleagues, such as not receiving a piece of work they promised to give or being wrongly held responsible for something you didn't do. Whatever it is, acknowledge that the situation has already occurred. Rather than harp on what you cannot change, focus on the actionable steps you can take to forward yourself in the situation.
8. Ignore.
   If you have already tried everything above and the person is still not being receptive, the best way might be to just ignore. After all, you have already done all that you can within your means. Get on with your daily tasks and interface with the person only where needed. Of course, this isn't feasible in cases where the person plays a critical role in your work - which leads to the last tip.
9. Escalate to a higher authority for resolution.
   When all else fails, escalate to your manager. This is considered the trump card and shouldn't be used unless you've completely exhausted your means. Sometimes, the only way to get someone moving is through the top-down approach, especially in bureaucratic organizations. Be careful not to exercise this option all the time as you wouldn't want your manager to think that you are incapable of handling your own problems. I have done this several times in my previous job and I found it to be the most effective in moving people who just refuse to cooperate otherwise.

Try implementing one or more of these strategies with someone who challenges you. Come back and tell me how it worked.

Anusha Karnad is a post call services lead at InterCall in Bangalore. She’s been with InterCall since 2009, working in customer service, training for new hires and account management where she helped customers with billing and service related questions. Anasha's background is in training voice, accent and soft skills for customer service agents.

Maintaining the Workplace Peace (Part 1)

It is inevitable that in the workplace you are going to have differing opinions and ideas for doing things. That’s just what happens when you bring people together who have their own personalities, backgrounds and experiences.

Have you come across that one person who pushes your buttons? Doesn't listen? Takes credit for work you've done? Focuses on issues that aren’t important? Thinks he knows everything? Always criticizes?

We’ve all come across ‘challenging’ people. You know the ones I’m talking about—they don't turn their work in as promised, always show up late for meetings, can’t see another person’s point of view, refuse to be ‘team players’.

It is easy to wonder “Why me?”, but as Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything, says in a Harvard Business Review blog, the problem with being a victim is that you cede the power to influence your circumstances. We have to realize that we can’t change the people who make us so frustrated; we can only change ourselves.

According to an article by Dawn Rosenberg McKay, here are some of types of difficult people you may meet at work and some advice for getting along with each type.

The Chatterbox
The chatterbox usually means well. She is friendly and wants to share all her thoughts (every last one of them) with you. She isn't trying to harm anyone ... her incessant talking is just keeping you from concentrating on your work. Here are some things you can do to quiet down your chattering co-worker so you can get your job done. Rather than risk insulting your colleague, put the blame on yourself. Tell your co-worker you have trouble concentrating while you are listening to her very engaging stories. You'd love to hear them at some other time, just not while you're working. Then, if you truly enjoy her company, have lunch with her once a week.

The Complainer
There's always one person in a group who can never find anything about which to be happy. If she's not complaining about her health or her family, she's complaining about her job, the company or your boss. Of course, some of her complaints may be legitimate, but the incessant whining is getting on your nerves. Generally, the complainer isn't looking for advice so offering it probably won't do any good. Change the subject whenever the bellyaching begins. Your colleague should get the hint after you do this repeatedly.

The Gossiper
The gossiper seems to know everything about everyone and he wants to share it. Should you listen to what your gossiping colleague has to say? Yes, you should listen to it since it is often a good way to hear news that may not make it through more formal information channels. The problem with gossip is that it carries both elements of truth and untruth, so view it with a cynical eye. Listen to your gossipy co-worker quietly. Don't become a gossip too. However, if the gossip being shared is of a very personal nature, for example he shares with you news of another co-worker's marital problems, change the subject or say that you don't feel right discussing someone behind his back.

The Delegator
In almost every workplace you'll find someone who wants to share his work with his colleagues. We're not talking about those who have a legitimate reason to delegate work to others, for example managers or team leaders. We are speaking of those who either can't do all the work they have been given or don't want to do it. If team work is encouraged in your office and you have time to help your colleague, you should. However, if managers are the only ones who have the authority to delegate and you already have your hands full, then you have to turn down the request. Tell your co-worker you have your own work to manage.

The Credit Grabber
The credit grabber does not acknowledge any help she receives from others. She accepts all the praise for a project without mentioning that she didn't do it alone. The first time this happens, consider it a mistake. Mention it to your colleague and ask her to let others know about your participation. If she doesn't, or if this happens again, make sure you let others know about the role you played in getting a project done. Then, unless you are mandated to work with this person, refuse to help out again.

Every experienced any of these types? Have you applied any of these techniques for dealing with them? Check back next week for more tips to keep the peace (and your sanity) in the office.

Anusha Karnad is a post call services lead at InterCall in Bangalore. She’s been with InterCall since 2009, working in customer service, training for new hires and account management where she helped customers with billing and service related questions. Anasha's background is in training voice, accent and soft skills for customer service agents.

2011 Social Round Up

So another year has come to an end. We’ve seen democracies fall, celebrities mourned, tsunamis tracked, terrorists killed, volcanos erupt, the end of the NASA space program, terrorist attacks in Norway, floods in Thailand and earthquakes in Turkey. A quiet year, I think you’ll agree…

What’s been interesting to note is how this news has been delivered to us. We no longer rely on the 6:00 news to deliver us day- or hours-old content; the news is happening right now, and we, the people, are the content providers. So, let me take you on a tour of the top tools of 2011 that are helping news to spread faster and quicker than ever before.

I’m going to start with a fairly unknown, but hugely useful service by the team at the Hungarian National Association of Radio Distress-Signalling & Infocommunications (RSOE) who operate the Emergency & Disaster Information Service (EDIS). Wow; that’s quite a name. We can call it RSOE-EDIS for short!

This map (http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php) allows you to see a real-time overview of every disaster that is occurring right now at a global level. If a terrorist attack, earthquake, volcano or public uprising were to occur, this tool will let you know as soon as it happens. You can be the source of breaking news by using this map to learn about a disaster and tweeting it before the mainstream news agencies even have the chance to publish it!

What’s a real-world example of sharing breaking news through Twitter? Let’s look at the hashtag #Jan25. When the people of Egypt started the movement to overthrow their government, the news agencies shut down, but Twitter remained active (against the best attempts of the Egyptian government). The hashtag #Jan25 became the source for breaking news related to the uprising and ultimately assisted in overthrowing the government because it acted as a source to arrange protests and crowd-source data into an easy-to-follow interface.

BlackBerry (RIM) saw its tools used in a similar fashion during the London riots last August. Rioters flew under the radar of public IM by using BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) to arrange riot locations and spread updates. The police were slow to respond as they were tracking the mainstream social networks for information (Facebook and Twitter) instead of investigating how the rioters interacted (data which was readily available before the riots).

Twitter serving as a breaking news source can sometimes happen unexpectedly. Sohaib Athar became an overnight sensation thanks to his tweeted observation: ‘Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1am (is a rare event)’. Little did he know that he was uncovering the first stage of the top-secret mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. Once news broke about the death of Bin Laden, Sohaib tweeted, ‘Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it’.

This is one of the fantastic features of social networking. What would have previously been obscure observations are suddenly catapulted into the spotlight. After exposing the Bin Laden mission, Sohaib’s Twitter following increased from 1471 followers to an amazing 89,099! Sohaib’s closing comments? ‘Bin Laden is dead. I didn’t kill him. Please let me sleep now’.

One Twitter hashtag that I followed very closely occurred on 4 March 2011. A powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Japan, generating a huge tsunami, up to 10 metres high in places. Pretty quickly Japan’s phone system was knocked out, and Twitter became the go-to service for pushing information about the earthquake and tsunami. Within one hour of the earthquake, tweets from Tokyo were topping 1200 per minute.

American tweeters on the west coast began predicting an ETA for the tsuanmi on U.S. shores, way before the U.S. government put out an official statement. On the Hawaiian Islands, the tweeters were posting updates about the status of their islands since they would be the first to be hit. One user I followed tweeted, ‘Just watched the ocean completely suck out and disappear and then come roaring back in. Makes me feel as [weak] as a sweet little baby...Minutes away from the first wave to hit Oahu. No reports from Kauai yet. Hotels halls packed with people....30 minutes between waves. 200-300 feet of reef exposed & then the waves come ripping back higher each time....’ Thankfully Hawaii didn’t get hit hard by the after-effects of the Tsunami, but again, the power of Twitter still amazes me!

Being in the conferencing and communication business, I’m always interested to watch the trends in how people share news and information. Holding a conference call is one way to talk to people, but as we’ve seen, Facebook and Twitter take it to a whole new level. That’s why you’ll see these types of social media tools integrated with our services, like we’re already doing with InterCall Streaming Services and InterCall Virtual Environments.

What do you expect to see happen with social media in 2012? Have any predictions about hot topics in the coming months?

Ashley Davies is the small and medium sized business (SMB) manager in InterCall’s UK and European (EMEA) division and is responsible for managing the suite of services InterCall offers that are specifically designed for SMB customers. Before joining InterCall, Ashley worked as the sales manager for a free publication and studied for a degree in entrepreneurship and small business. In his spare time, Ashley likes to surf and work on his house.

Global Warming in the Office

What is global warming? It is often debated, but lately even scientists who said it wasn’t real are changing their views. Global warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises). It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrous oxide and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature. This affects people, animals and plants. Those that cannot take the change evolve or become extinct. There are lot of contributors to global warming, and it is increasing day after day.

It is November here in India. Winter arrives every year with chilling waves of cold air and sprinkles of water from the sky most days. For the past two to three years, we’ve seen warmer days, even in winter, which is alarming to many of us and indicates that the earth heating up.

Can we avoid this? Maybe not, but we can surely try to make a difference.

Regardless of your opinions on global warming, there’s no denying that we can all do things to at least save our resources, starting in the office where we spend most of our days.

Here are some tips to get started:

1. Educate yourself and others about global warming.The more facts that you have, the more you can persuade others to make simple yet effective changes in daily behaviour.
2. Influence your colleagues and management to replace old phones and email instead of printing documents.
3. Encourage your company’s facility team to provide recycling bins, composting, etc.(15-25% of people do not recycle).
4. Use compact fluorescent bulbs, are better for the environment. And, when a room is empty, remember to turn off the lights.
5. Before you print, decide if it is really worth printing or maybe you can save an electronic version to your desktop. If you do have to use paper, go with those generated from recycled paper, then recycle it when you’re done.
6. Switch off ovens, microwaves or coffee pots when you’re done and unplug them when not in use.
7. Speaking of unplugging devices when not in use, that goes for electronics. Even when they are turned off, they use energy. So make sure to unplug chargers, laptops or speakers when you aren’t using them.
8. Place a few indoor plants in your cubicle, entrances or pantry areas to get some extra oxygen flowing, not to mention adding a decorative touch.
9. Cut back on plastic by bringing your lunch in a paper bag (instead of plastic) and get a refillable water bottle. In my office, our HR team has given out metal water bottles so we can reduce our use of plastic ones.
10. And last but not least, cut your carbon emissions by working from home a few days a week or replace a trip with audio conference calls or online meetings.

Have you ever experienced the calmness, the coolness and the serenity of nature? Do you take a week off to relax in the lush green nature? Help preserve that by implementing even just a few of the tips listed above.

How does your office treat the environment? Do you have recycling policies in place? How about travel guidelines that ask you to consider conferencing instead of travel?

Anusha Karnad is a post call services lead at InterCall in Bangalore. She’s been with InterCall since 2009, working in customer service, training for new hires and account management where she helped customers with billing and service related questions. Anasha's background is in training voice, accent and soft skills for customer service agents.

What’s a Traffic Jam Worth?

According to a recent study, the answer to this question is $100 billion. Yep, billion with a ‘b’. Crazy, right?

I’m sure we can all recall a time when we were stuck in a long line of traffic, due to weather, overturned semis or trains crossing a track, and thinking about all the other things we could be doing. (Actually, not to rub it in, but I have to think really hard since I’ve worked from home for the last three years. I know there were plenty of times in the past when I wanted to pull my hair out because no one was moving, but I think I've buried them.)

Based on a study of traffic and congestion, the time we spend waiting in traffic is getting worse and there’s no sign of improvement. By 2020, we’ll waste a whole work week trying to make sense of the vanity plate in front of us or wishing we had more coffee as we watch the cars go nowhere fast.

• 1982: 14 hours/year/person
• 1992: 28 hours/year/person
• Today: 34 hours/year/person
• 2015: predicted to be 37 hours/year/person
• 2020: predicted to be 41 hours/year/person

Anyone trying to go anywhere in the most congested cities listed below can already tell you what it’s like to lose that work week to traffic. The study rated the cities around the U.S with the worst traffic and it isn’t pretty.

Most congested cities:

• Metro DC: 74 hours/year/person
• Chicago: 71 hours/year/person
• LA: 64 hours/year/person
• Houston: 57 hours/year/person
• NY/NJ/CT: 54 hours/year/person
• Baltimore: 52 hours/year/person
• San Francisco: 50 hours/year/person
• Denver: 49 hours/year/person
• Boston: 47 hours/year/person
• Dallas/Minneapolis: 45 hours/year/person

The old theory was to avoid rush hour and drive later in the day or at night. It seems that a lot of people have caught on because it is estimated that 40% of delays occur in mid-day and over night. There goes that idea.

So what can you do? It may not be feasible for you to work full-time from home, but how about a couple of days a week. That would cut your wasted time each year in half. Or, if you have to endure the sea of brake lights, make the most of it and plan your meetings during your travel time. It’s easy to join an audio conference call on the road with your mobile phone (hands free, of course). You can even join online meetings with apps for your phone or tablet.

What’s your strategy? If moving to South Dakota isn't an option, have you tried staying home or rearranging your schedule to take meetings on the road?

Jill Huselton is a senior marketing manager at InterCall. She's been in the conferencing industry for nearly 15 years, working in operations, account management and marketing, mainly based in Colorado. Before leaving the Mile-High City, she hiked a 14er, one of her top accomplishments. Now she's traded the mountains for the beach and works from a home office in North Carolina.