A small business owner wears many hats. That is why it is important to learn to delegate and automate, otherwise, the small business owner will be at risk of burnout. As a small business owner, you might have to redirect your focus on tasks that produce results that are directly related to the growth of your business. Having tools and business software at your disposal can be compared to delegating the repetitive tasks that are also essential to the business but can be delegated to someone else. For example, if you would rather focus on creating quality content, then you can delegate the task of email marketing.

Like having a reliable team, having reliable software and tools can help make you and your team more productive and more organized. 

Here are a few areas you should look at when thinking about purchasing business software and tools for your small business:

Communication:

All teams rely on good communication in order to thrive. This is especially important now that teams are working remotely while on lockdown. Instant messaging apps and video conferencing tools are now considered essential. Some of the most powerful tools have team messaging and private messaging, video conferencing, screen sharing, email, and file sharing features built into one app. Zoom, GoogleMeet, Slack, and Skype are good examples of communication tools.

Productivity:

These are the apps that help your team work smarter, not harder. It helps you focus your efforts on the most important tasks and has project management capabilities that help give direction to your team. These tools help you design workflows and automate recurring processes to save time and effort and keep your team focused on doing essential tasks. Some excellent productivity and project management tools are Trello, Wrike, Asana, and Zoho.

Collaboration:

A team is only as successful as its collaboration efforts. So, in order to create successful teams, you must encourage collaboration. Collaboration software is another essential tool since the lockdown has forced teams to work remotely and/or work from home. These tools allow your team to share knowledge and exchange ideas. It also creates a knowledge bank of quick answers and shared resources. Some of the best collaboration tools have built-in communication features as well. This way, people can share ideas and talk about them in real-time. Notable collaboration tools include: GoogleDrive and DropBox.

When planning to purchase business software, consider the number of current users and if you eventually plan to scale (which means adding more users). For small business start-ups, you can check out the free plans, from which you can upgrade when your business outgrows the free plans (which will happen inevitably). 

Do you remember the first small business tool you’ve tried? What has improved since you first started using it? Is it still your favorite small business tool? Share your story and let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

We’re all guilty of trying a new quarantine fad or two in order to stay sane during this pandemic. With social gatherings being frowned upon or outright outlawed, a lot of us have turned to hobbies in order to stay healthy and well-adjusted. In a “survey by The Healthy Work Company, a workplace mental health consultancy, 22 percent of respondents had taken up a new pastime in lockdown, while 35 percent had rediscovered an old one.” Not surprisingly, trying out new things have a beneficial effect on mental health, with 41% of those who take up a new hobby reporting a positive impact on their mental health, compared to 30 percent for those focusing on old hobbies^[1].

Learning a new hobby refocused our attention on being curious and creative and away from feeling stressed and anxious. Yes, it is a distraction – but a very welcome one. It helps people regain perspective and trying to master an activity gives us a boost of confidence and self-esteem. You might think you have limited options with everyone being under some form of lockdown, but this is the time to get creative. Here are a few hobbies to try while from home. The best thing is, all of them are free!

• Calligraphy – is the art of beautiful handwriting. You can practice using existing templates or create your own designs. All you need are pens with different sized tips. If you have broad markers and fine-tipped pens, then you’re good to go.
• Yoga and Meditation – there are several free apps like Downdog, Calm, and Headspace that can take you through guided meditation and yoga.
• Foreign Language Film Buff – Netflix has a good curation of foreign films that come highly recommended. You might discover exciting things about other cultures and also get inspiration for your next travel destination.
• Baking – who doesn’t love baked goods? It doesn’t even have to be cookies, you can make pies or bread or even just start out with baking that leftover spaghetti and turning it into something new.
• Cocktail Mixing – you can impress your friends with your knowledge of cocktail mixing. Start with the classics: long island, gin + tonic, or an “old fashioned”.
• Needlework – explore cross-stitching, knitting, embroidery, or crochet
• Drawing or Painting – there are lots of YouTube videos to guide you through drawing or painting. You can even start with crayons or oil pastels, or whatever is available at home.
• Gardening – get a few hanging pots and soil, then clear out space near a sunny window. You can start with cuttings because those are easy to grow. Pothos plants can be rooted in water and require minimal care. Other plants that are low maintenance are aloe vera, peace lilies, ZZ plants, and jade plants. You can ask your #plantparent friends for cuttings of these plants.

These hobbies are free or are very inexpensive to take up. Yet, they have huge benefits for your mental health. What hobbies have you taken up during the pandemic? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

^[1] https://www.positive.news/society/how-hobbies-helped-people-stay-positive-during-lockdown/

Is there such a thing as too much staying at home? Those of us who have been working from home, have been self-isolating or have unfortunately been furloughed during this global pandemic have been locked within our home’s four walls – part sanctuary, part prison. Not to be whiny, but sometimes it’s not so easy to stay put. Cabin fever is a real thing and a lot of us are starting to feel it. 

Cabin fever isn’t just a bad horror movie or the source of Jack Nicholson’s mania from “The Shining”. It is the term we use for the feeling associated with staying in the same place for a long time. People who experience it reportedly feel lethargic, irritable, frustrated, angry, and claustrophobic. How does cabin fever affect us and how do we take our lives back?

Our need to be in control

The first effect of cabin fever is our human need to be in control. While some people have the unfortunate task of self-quarantining due to actually contracting the virus, a lot of us are self-isolating due to the fear of contracting the virus. There is no cure for it yet, and so we resort to staying at home. This means we are locked up due to things we can’t control. We are a solutions-centric culture, and while that works out well for almost everything else in life, it makes it harder for us to accept uncertainty on an ongoing basis. There is no end in sight…at least not right now. This is a bitter pill to swallow. But if we relinquish the need for control, we might end up with enough mental space to consider options and allow for what is possible right now.

Our need to be connected

Relationships are nurtured with connection but self-isolation is about wilfully keeping yourself away from others. That takes away our support systems who help us cope with crisis – friends, family, church, school, etc. Without the physical proximity of these support systems, we feel that we are going at it alone. This is a lie. Our support systems are still present albeit, physically distant. We may not be able to gather together, but we can take steps to keep these relationships strong. Schedule weekly catch up with your support systems. Send daily messages. Do not let your relationships grow distant.

Our need to feel productive

Covid-19 has limited the activities that we are able to do. Work and school have to be done remotely now. Gatherings are still basically prohibited or controlled. Social activities that used to bring us joy: like going to the movies, hanging out with friends, exercising at the gym, watching a baseball game, or going to a concert are all prohibited now. We’ve run out of activities that keep us creative, engaged, motivated, or productive. What’s left is working from home or learning from home and as the saying goes…all work and no play…you know the rest. What we need to do is to discover or re-discover new hobbies. Learning something new is good for the mind and the body. Find new (or old) things to love.

What are your cabin fever stories? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Collaboration is more important now more than ever. With team members working remotely via multiple locations, the need for a more effective collaboration strategy can make or break a project. You will notice that the most successful companies are those who encourage and reward teamwork. But to establish good teams, you must first get them to work towards a common goal and give them the right tools to achieve that goal.

At its core, collaboration is all about good communication. Teams need to be clear on how their part of the projects leads to the success of the project as a whole. Team members need to understand that they are not merely cogs on a wheel and that their parts are important. To develop smooth running teams who produce successful projects, here are 10 things you should do

1. Clearly define tasks and explain how these tasks can contribute to the project’s success. This means having clear goals and being able to impart those goals to team members in order to get their buy-in and cooperation. Being united in one goal is already 50% of the success.
2. Centralize communications so team members can find the information they need all in one place. Most collaboration tools have real-time chat functions so that members can ask questions in real-time and avoid having to send emails back and forth.
3. Establish official communication channels – preferably one that allows for information sharing. A lot of collaboration tools have file sharing features. This is very handy for sharing documents and media that can help team members do their work.
4. Use the right tools! Pick the right collaboration tools for your team and the project. Some good examples are Trello, Asana, Slack, Office 365, or even Zoom and Skype. Here are some features you might want in your collaboration tool:
   1. Real-time communication
   2. File sharing
   3. Task management
   4. Cloud-based software
5. Assign a team leader to act as a point of contact and a subject expert
6. Create opportunities to bring team members together. 
7. Successful collaboration means building trust among team members. This will only come as they get to know each other better. So, try to incorporate social events and informal gatherings, even in virtual formats.
8. Track and measure your success with clearly defined milestones
9. Don’t forget to celebrate each milestone.
10. Reward the team for a job well done!

Highly successful teams, such as the teams they have at Google, have achieved legendary team collaboration status because it invests in creating a highly collaborative environment. Google attributes much of its success in building efficient teams with team members putting more weight on how they could work together as a unit than on whom the members on the team were. If that’s not a sound model for all of us to follow,  don’t know what is.

You, too, can build a culture of collaboration at work. What are your collaboration tips for successful projects? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp