Tag Archives: Matt Cain

About 1999 days ago Telecom and Wireless

Don’t Fear the Wiki! Business Can Benefit

our beautiful site

Wikis are making Joel Postman’s worklife easier — and greener. Since adopting wiki technology at Eastwick Communications, a 40-person public-relations firm in Mountain View, Calif., Postman has seen the e-mail traffic in his office fall by 40 percent. Using wiki, says Postman, “Any of our people can edit a set of common documents,” such as press releases and other media materials. “That cuts down on e-mail traffic and confusion.” And recently, Postman, director of emerging media for Eastwick, was able to plan an entirely paperless press event for his client, Fujitsu America, which was announcing an environmental initiative. When reporters showed up for the event, they were given USB flash drives featuring fully downloadable press kits — press releases, frequently asked questions, and other materials.   “Part of managing that event for them involved not using paper,” Postman says. “That was important, and we were able to do it because we used wiki.” No, they’re not just like Wikipedia Wiki, from the Hawaiian word for “fast,” is a type of computer software that allows users to edit and link webpages. Perhaps the most famous open-source wiki is Wikipedia, the wildly popular online encyclopedia that has literally millions of contributing writers. It is perhaps because of Wikipedia that wikis haven’t taken off in the workplace. Wikis’ strong identification as an open-source medium has led many companies to worry over who has access to them, and whether material on them could be sabotaged or altered without one’s knowledge. Making changes to open-source wikis also can be difficult, requiring some knowledge of wikispeak. But that’s changing. A recent Gartner report forecast that 50 percent of all U.S. corporations will have wikis by 2009. Like many products with open-source roots, such as voice over Internet protocol, there are now for-a-fee wiki products that offer more security and ease of use. Some good reasons to consider wikis Companies such as Socialtext and Australian-based Atlassian offer software and hosted wiki products that limit access and allow participants to edit them as easily as they would e-mail, notes Jeff Brainard, director of product marketing with Palo Alto-based Socialtext. In addition, wiki participants can track changes and/or receive e-mail notifying them when changes have been made. Brainard says their hosted product is the most popular, costing about $4-5 per user per month. Other good reasons to choose wikis include: Time Savings. Wiki does mean “fast,” after all. Wikis have a collaborative advantage over e-mail and better tracking functions than Microsoft Word. “They can accelerate project cycle times by cutting down on meetings, conference calls and e-mail volleyball,” notes Brainard. No More Memory Loss. The ability to tag wiki pages allows users to recall those great ideas from a co-worker, the kind that used to languish in the e-mail queue and die off after 60 days. Wikis are a way to “capture group memory,” says Brainard. Reduces E-mail. The ability of groups to collectively edit and develop documents can save hundreds of back-and-forth posts. Better Venue for Client Collaboration. Wikis allow companies to work more directly with their clients on developing a finished product. Younger Workers Already Use Them. Workers under 30 have grown up with YouTube, MySpace, and other Web 2.0 communication tools. They are used to the wiki concept, and take to it easily, notes Matt Cain, vice president and lead e-mail analyst at Gartner. The bottom line: it’s time to stop fearing the wiki. With today’s features, the wiki is one Web 2.0 tool that deserves a good look. SIDEBAR: Wiki Providers to Watch Socialtext offers software and hosted wiki solutions for companies that feature the ability to secure wiki access and track changes. Atlassian offers Confluence, enterprise wiki software. StructuredWikis offers wikis for businesses based on open-source platforms.

About 1999 days ago E-Commerce

Putting the Kibosh on Internal Spam

our beautiful site

These days, not even the pros are immune from getting too much internal e-mail. Just ask the San Diego Padres. “I was getting 100-150 internal e-mails a day,” recalls Richard Andersen, executive vice president of the San Diego Padres and general manager of Petco Park, the 42,000-seat stadium that the major-league ball club calls home. “It was taking me hours, and, in many cases, it was a lot of time spent on less important tasks.” Then Andersen heard a presentation by Vicki Halsey, co-author of The Hamster Revolution, a book about e-mail management, and a leadership trainer with The Ken Blanchard Companies.  He read Halsey’s book, which compares responding to endless e-mails to a hamster forever spinning on its wheel, and started taking its advice. He bought copies of the book for his 100-odd full-time employees who use e-mail. The results have been dramatic. “I’d say I’ve gotten 20-30 percent of my time back,” says Andersen. “And I’d say the people in my department have gotten about 10-15 percent of their time back.” Unwanted internal e-mail So-called “internal spam,” is unwanted e-mail generated not over the Internet, but by your colleagues in the office. It’s unnecessary “reply all” messages, chit-chat, misguided FYIs, chain letters, jokes, or those you-just-have-to-see-this links to YouTube. Because there’s no spam filter for internal postings, the result is a major time-management problem for American businesses. According to 20,000 U.S. businesses surveyed by Guilford, Conn.-based Cohesive Knowledge Solutions, an e-mail training firm, more than 40 percent of the average workers’ day is spent managing e-mail. Of that, between 20 percent and 30 percent is unnecessary. The company estimates that U.S. firms are losing some $300 billion annually in lost productivity and profits to e-mail overuse. “We’re talking 40 percent of the day spent on this,” notes Mike Song, CEO of Cohesive Knowledge Solutions and one of Halsey’s co-authors. “This is time taken away from other endeavors, time that affects the work-life balance,” he says. In addition, sexually or politically inappropriate e-mails can endanger jobs and even result in lawsuits against the sender, Song warns. How to curtail internal spam Experts like Song and Matt Cain, vice president and lead email analyst at Stamford, Conn.- based Gartner, recommend in-house training to help companies use e-mail more efficiently. “People need to learn to write better subject lines, let their readers know when action is required, and when it’s just an FYI,” says Cain. But they also offer the following tips: Develop a standard. Song recommends setting some ground rules in your office for what constitutes proper use of e-mail. For starters, tell employees that chain letters, amusing photos, or website links are not welcome in the office. Nix “FYI lite” messages. Most “FYI” messages are probably irrelevant to most of the office. “Raise the bar in your office so that only timely, relevant messages get sent,” says Song. Skip “reply all.” Gone are the days when employees want to be in the loop on every e-mail, says Song. In most cases, reply only to the sender. “We had one client who removed the ‘reply all’ key from their computers, and e-mails fell by 50-60 percent in that office,” notes Song. Use “no reply needed” or “NRN” in the subject field. This will help cut down on those “thank you/you’re welcome” e-mails that gum up your in-box. Be concise in the subject field.  Start the line with terms like “Action:” “Request:” ‘Confirm:” or “Delivery:” to tell your reader what’s to follow, and what you expect from them. Is it appropriate? Think before you send that e-mail skewering a co-worker’s performance, admiring a short skirt, or poking fun at the big boss. If you wouldn’t want it appearing on the front page of the local paper, or in the CEO’s e-mail queue, hit that “cancel” button. Write tighter e-mails.  While easier said than done, try to use short sentences and paragraphs in the body. Use bullet points to save the reader time. Consider offering employees professional training. Consider e-mail alternatives. For some offices, blogs or collaborative wiki pages may be better places to have a conversation than a group e-mail thread, says Gartner’s Cain. And sometimes, picking up the phone or walking across the office to talk to a co-worker can save time, too, says Song. “E-mail isn’t always the best form of communication,” he notes.

About 1999 days ago E-mail

Putting the Kibosh on Internal Spam

our beautiful site

These days, not even the pros are immune from getting too much internal e-mail. Just ask the San Diego Padres. “I was getting 100-150 internal e-mails a day,” recalls Richard Andersen, executive vice president of the San Diego Padres and general manager of Petco Park, the 42,000-seat stadium that the major-league ball club calls home. “It was taking me hours, and, in many cases, it was a lot of time spent on less important tasks.” Then Andersen heard a presentation by Vicki Halsey, co-author of The Hamster Revolution, a book about e-mail management, and a leadership trainer with The Ken Blanchard Companies.  He read Halsey’s book, which compares responding to endless e-mails to a hamster forever spinning on its wheel, and started taking its advice. He bought copies of the book for his 100-odd full-time employees who use e-mail. The results have been dramatic. “I’d say I’ve gotten 20-30 percent of my time back,” says Andersen. “And I’d say the people in my department have gotten about 10-15 percent of their time back.” Unwanted internal e-mail So-called “internal spam,” is unwanted e-mail generated not over the Internet, but by your colleagues in the office. It’s unnecessary “reply all” messages, chit-chat, misguided FYIs, chain letters, jokes, or those you-just-have-to-see-this links to YouTube. Because there’s no spam filter for internal postings, the result is a major time-management problem for American businesses. According to 20,000 U.S. businesses surveyed by Guilford, Conn.-based Cohesive Knowledge Solutions, an e-mail training firm, more than 40 percent of the average workers’ day is spent managing e-mail. Of that, between 20 percent and 30 percent is unnecessary. The company estimates that U.S. firms are losing some $300 billion annually in lost productivity and profits to e-mail overuse. “We’re talking 40 percent of the day spent on this,” notes Mike Song, CEO of Cohesive Knowledge Solutions and one of Halsey’s co-authors. “This is time taken away from other endeavors, time that affects the work-life balance,” he says. In addition, sexually or politically inappropriate e-mails can endanger jobs and even result in lawsuits against the sender, Song warns. How to curtail internal spam Experts like Song and Matt Cain, vice president and lead email analyst at Stamford, Conn.- based Gartner, recommend in-house training to help companies use e-mail more efficiently. “People need to learn to write better subject lines, let their readers know when action is required, and when it’s just an FYI,” says Cain. But they also offer the following tips: Develop a standard. Song recommends setting some ground rules in your office for what constitutes proper use of e-mail. For starters, tell employees that chain letters, amusing photos, or website links are not welcome in the office. Nix “FYI lite” messages. Most “FYI” messages are probably irrelevant to most of the office. “Raise the bar in your office so that only timely, relevant messages get sent,” says Song. Skip “reply all.” Gone are the days when employees want to be in the loop on every e-mail, says Song. In most cases, reply only to the sender. “We had one client who removed the ‘reply all’ key from their computers, and e-mails fell by 50-60 percent in that office,” notes Song. Use “no reply needed” or “NRN” in the subject field. This will help cut down on those “thank you/you’re welcome” e-mails that gum up your in-box. Be concise in the subject field.  Start the line with terms like “Action:” “Request:” ‘Confirm:” or “Delivery:” to tell your reader what’s to follow, and what you expect from them. Is it appropriate? Think before you send that e-mail skewering a co-worker’s performance, admiring a short skirt, or poking fun at the big boss. If you wouldn’t want it appearing on the front page of the local paper, or in the CEO’s e-mail queue, hit that “cancel” button. Write tighter e-mails.  While easier said than done, try to use short sentences and paragraphs in the body. Use bullet points to save the reader time. Consider offering employees professional training. Consider e-mail alternatives. For some offices, blogs or collaborative wiki pages may be better places to have a conversation than a group e-mail thread, says Gartner’s Cain. And sometimes, picking up the phone or walking across the office to talk to a co-worker can save time, too, says Song. “E-mail isn’t always the best form of communication,” he notes.