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Use These Strategies for Better Project Management

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article | Use These Strategies for Better Project ManagementEvery project manager has preferred tools and methods for completing an assignment. They understand that it is easy to get overwhelmed in the minutia of tasks. As you sit down to start your first, tenth, or even eightieth project, take the time to evaluate the system you use and look for areas to improve. Here are some tips to help you be more successful.

Find a Tracking System

There are many software applications available to help manage your project. They allow you to monitor timelines and provide detailed status reports. Individual team members can post updates, ask questions, or make comments. With so many Monday.com alternatives, it is important to find a system that works for you and your team.

Ask Questions

With every new project, be sure you completely understand the final purpose of the assignment. Ask your manager clarifying questions about the project, final deliverable, budget, and timeline. Gather information, such as:

  • What other employees, if any, are involved in this project?
  • How does the priority of this project align with my other responsibilities?
  • To whom and how frequently should I provide status updates?
  • Do other teams depend on the project? If so, how does their timeline affect mine?

Develop a Guide

Successful project management entails identifying the steps required to complete the project. Work with your team to write down all of the things that need to be completed to deliver a final product. Include goals, budget, timeline, roles and responsibilities, and final evaluation.

Look for Challenges

Now that you know what is needed to complete the project, ask everyone involved to consider what can negatively impact those projects. Employees should be creative and offer possible solutions. When encouraged to think out of the box, you better understand the scope and intensity of the project. Some things you may consider include:

  • Company holidays impact the number of hours employees can commit to a project.
  • Seasonal increases in workload may limit the time you can work on a project.
  • Enthusiasm for the project may falter if key managers leave the company.
  • Current hardware cannot efficiently support the final product.

Pick the Best Ideas

It is easy to get derailed if you lose focus on the key components. Ensure your team stays on track with the highest priority tasks to deliver the final product. If they work on a feature without approval, it can delay the timeline. Successful communication helps you stay on track.

Learn From Experience

Once complete, it is necessary to thoroughly review the project. Write down the challenges that you experienced. Evaluate each one individually and within the scope of the project to determine how you can prevent or mitigate them in the future. Many project managers forget to take the time to analyze what went smoothly. Review these strategies and incorporate them into your next project.

These techniques help you become a stronger project manager. You will find yourself more confident in managing your project timeline. Communication with employees and managers is easier. Employers recognize your commitment to a successful project.

Innovative Ideas To Help Your Business Go Green

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Green Business|Innovative Ideas To Help Your Business Go GreenGoing green should be one of your business’s main priorities in today’s modern world as this is certainly something that your audience will be looking out for, and you have a responsibility to minimise the damage that you do to the planet. Fortunately figuring out how you can become a more environmentally conscious business doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might initially imagine, as this guide contains some of the most innovative ideas that you can utilise to go green in no time at all. Going green is becoming a more important and popular concept for businesses of all sizes. If you’re a small business looking to contribute, start by identifying the different sources of waste within your business. This could include premium custom shipper boxes that require disposal after each use or excessive packing materials that are unable to be recycled. Setting realistic goals will help keep you on track while attacking these areas of waste and ensuring that your business reduces its environmental footprint. With some creative solutions, you will be able to save resources, time, and money by going green and helping the environment in the process! So, if you’re interested in finding out more, then simply read on!

Change The Way You Handle Waste

One of the most effective steps that you can follow to become a more eco-friendly business is to change the way that you handle your waste. It’s fair to say that every business creates a considerable amount of waste no matter what kind of industry you operate in, so changing the way that you approach the disposal of this waste can certainly be of benefit to your carbon footprint. Instead of choosing to send your waste to a landfill or burning site that has a terrible impact on the environment, it’s going to be much better if you can take steps to separate your waste so that you can recycle as much as possible. Lots of different materials can be recycled, including paper, card, some plastics, metals, and more, so it’s a good idea to find a scrap yard that recycles common industrial materials so that you can dispose of your waste in the most environmentally conscious fashion. Recycling is important on a smaller scale too, so put recycling bins in your office spaces so that every bit of paper and plastic can be disposed of properly.

Switch Up Your Energy Supplier & Use Less Power

Another innovative idea that you can explore to become a more eco-friendly business is to switch up your energy supplier and take steps to use less power. In today’s modern world a large percentage of energy comes from fossil fuels or finite resources, and there’s even been a rise in nuclear facilities too. Unfortunately these are all very bad for the environment, as they are unsustainable practices which use up depleting natural resources while creating toxic waste and more. Thankfully there are also green energy companies that are creating power by using sustainable methods, including solar power, wind farms and even hydropower. Switching to a green energy supplier is a much more environmentally conscious choice, so it’s something you should certainly consider. Using less energy doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might imagine, as you can start by installing motion sensor lighting that switches off when no one is around. This means that no lights will be left on through the night, as this is a common, reoccurring issue that increases your energy use considerably for no good reason.


Go Paperless

Going paperless can no doubt aid you in your quest to go green, especially if you have several office spaces that currently use paper for a variety of different tasks. Thanks to modern day advances in technology, the need to use paper is rapidly decreasing. Things like sending messages, providing invoices and storing data can all be done through the web rather than having to use paper, and many companies have now taken steps to stop sending out mail of all kinds simply to use less paper. Of course when you take steps to go paperless you need to know how to productively replace paper in certain situations, but this can be an easy task to tackle. You can use email to converse with clients or customers, and secure commercial messaging platforms to chat with your remote employees and share files safely. You can use encrypted cloud data storage instead of keeping a room full of filing cabinets, and send digital receipts directly to clients or customers via email. The less paper that your company uses the more environmentally friendly you will be, as we need to take steps to plant trees instead of cutting them down!

Helping your business to go green has never been such a simple task when you can take the opportunity to utilise some of the excellent ideas that have been carefully described in this guide. There’s truly no time like the present to begin your journey to becoming an environmentally conscious company, so what are you waiting for? Get out there and start helping the planet rather than harming it!

Why Carbon Accounting is Important for Your Business and How to Set it up

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Carbon accounting|Why Carbon Accounting is Important for Your Business and How to Set it upGreen accounting is an important managerial tool, whose implementation can benefit businesses now and in the future. Keep reading to discover why green accounting matters, what are the benefits, and how to implement it.

What’s carbon accounting?

Carbon accounting is the process of quantifying the environmental impact that a given entity emits. For example, carbon footprint calculators and national inventories use carbon accounting methods to determine the greenhouse emissions of organizations and entire countries.

Carbon accounting isn’t new in corporate settings, since environmental reports have been in place for a few decades. But as global sustainability concerns continue to grow, so does the need for businesses to become more accountable in this respect.

The development of platforms devoted to helping business owners decarbonize their company, like Greenly, confirms the growing importance of carbon accounting.

In this article, we’ll look at why green accounting matters and will offer a three-step carbon accounting guide to help you get started.

Why green accounting is important for your business

Improved decision making

Quantifying the environmental cost of business operations gives access to granular data relevant to both financial and environmental goals. With this information, decision makers can define or redefine the policies, practices, or operations that will bring the highest impact in the medium and long term.

A value-driven business

New values are emerging as a result of growing environmental concerns. Through green accounting, you can better align your business practices and corporate mission with current social values.

This can help highlight your contribution to sustainable community development and offer maximum transparency to all stakeholders.

Support your CSR strategy

Green accounting and corporate social responsibility are a natural match due to the importance they place on the true impact of business practices.

Thanks to its quantitative nature, green accounting can be a valuable tool that provides insights and facilitates decision making. Green accounting data can help determine how to best fine tune your CSR strategy, so that your business makes a valuable contribution to society while remaining profitable.


Better compliance

Implementing green accounting can facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements. Such requirements are only expected to become more stringent in years to come, so acting now is vital in order to build a future-ready business.

Three steps to set up green accounting

Essentially, the process of implementing green accounting in corporate settings involves setting up tools and practices that facilitate the systematic collection, organisation and reporting of data.

The first step is to determine where exactly your business is in the path towards full implementation. This means knowing where your business stands in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.

To do this, you can use one of the following green accounting methodologies:

  • The spend-based method, which estimates the carbon footprint of purchased products and services relative to their cost.
  • The activity-based method, which quantifies the emission output of each business activity.
  • The hybrid method, which combines spend and activity-based methodologies for better accuracy.

Secondly, become familiar with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s tools and standards, created to help organizations develop an accurate and comprehensive approach to measure emissions.

And third, choose the right tools. Dedicated software can simplify the green accounting set up process by:

  • Consolidating all your data in a single platform.
  • Using the latest technologies to reduce the risk of errors and miscalculations, which cost time and money.
  • Providing expert industry-specific recommendations on how to minimize your corporate carbon footprint.

Implementing green accounting can help your business stay relevant in a changing world. The keys to successful implementation are systematizing your approach to data collection, organization and reporting, and supporting your efforts with dedicated software tools.

Now is a good time to take the initiative and embrace green accounting to ensure your business is future ready.

How Small Businesses Can Make Their IT Department More Efficient

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |IT department|How Small Businesses Can Make Their IT Department More EfficientRegardless of the sector, your business operates in or the size of your organization, small, mid-sized, and large corporations lose hundreds and hundreds of dollars each year due to inefficiencies. So much so that the market research firm IDC has calculated that businesses lose 20-30% in revenue each year due to poor decision-making.

Whether using better technology than needed, incorrectly marketing, having more staff than required, or simply poor tracking of expenses, inefficient decision-making can damage your company in many ways. Unfortunately, your business IT department is no different, and providing that you are not forward-thinking with your decisions, your IT department can cost you significantly.

However, the key to avoiding unnecessary costs in your business IT department is to use IT proactively and determine ways to make the department more efficient. Fortunately, there are many ways that small businesses can improve their IT department’s efficiency, from using outsourced IT services to improving communication; we list several of the best practices below:

Optimize Communication In Your IT Department

A communication breakdown is one of the biggest obstacles in your IT department’s path. Understandably, it can be hard to describe a problem if the individual describing it has no idea how to communicate this to another person or if they are particularly tech shy. Yet, failure to communicate correctly can cause frustrations, resulting in a potential conflict between employees.

In addition, if a problem isn’t communicated effectively to your IT department, it can cause other issues such as misunderstandings, lower productivity, an unwillingness to co-operate, and many more. You can make communication easier between your IT department and your other employees by granting them access to more robust communication tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and many more.

Through more robust communication platforms, your IT department has a range of tools at its disposal to assist other employees with any technical issues they might be experiencing. For instance, some of the best team messaging applications have tools like remote access, screen-sharing, audio calls, etc., which makes the communication process much more straightforward and eliminates the need for detailed explanations since your IT department can see the issue first-hand.

Access to better communication tools makes it easier for your IT department to resolve issues, especially for employees who work remotely and cannot visit the IT department in person to discuss the problem they are experiencing. As a result, you’ll find that members of the IT department resolve issues more effectively and have more time to invest in more critical areas of IT.


Invest In Outsourced IT Services

Another way businesses can improve their IT department’s efficiency is by investing in outsourced IT services. Sometimes the best way to help your IT department is to relieve them of routine, everyday IT tasks or auxiliary services that take time out of their day and enable them to filter the time that would have been wasted into more critical areas that need their attention.

Depending on the needs of your business, you might decide to use outsourced IT services to take care of one aspect of your IT department like cloud management, cyber security, project management, help desk, etc. On the other hand, you might want to turn to outsourced IT services to take care of all the issues within your IT department.

Whichever option you choose, outsourced IT services can offer various benefits for your business, from quickly implementing new technology, reduced labor costs, increased efficiency, reduced risks, and much more.

For more inspiration, look at the outsourced IT services from Solution Builder, which provide small and mid-sized businesses with a range of IT services from cloud management and migrations to cyber security. Consider visiting their website or contacting a team member directly to learn more about their outsourced IT services and how they could help maximize efficiency in your business.

Perform Regular Software Reviews

Performing reviews is essential in every area of your business, so much like you wouldn’t skip an employee performance review, ensure that you don’t forget to perform periodic checks of the software your workforce is using and whether it is still suitable.

Especially if you’re paying for a monthly package, it’s vital that you conduct regular reviews to ensure that the package is still relevant for your business needs, as there is no point in paying for something unsuitable for your needs.

Ensure that you conduct the same checks with any software your business might be using, as you might be keeping an older platform around for a handful of users or a specific department, which can soon burn holes in your budget.

Start by making a list of all the packages or software that your business pays for, then go through the list and evaluate whether replacing or canceling the subscription would make your IT department more efficient or if it’ll be more cost-effective for your business.

How to Incorporate Cloud Technology: 5 Steps to Success

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Cloud Technology|How to Incorporate Cloud Technology: 5 Steps to SuccessIn this day and age, is a business complete without using some form of cloud technology? No longer a trend or buzzword, “the cloud” has become an integral component in how many companies function.

There are various reasons organizations add cloud technology to their repertoire, including how it saves time and resources and makes them more productive overall.

Are you itching to also experience these benefits? Below are five steps to successfully incorporate cloud technology.

1. Understand your requirements

The first step is to fully understand your business requirements and how cloud computing can help. In general, cloud technology has the potential to dramatically improve the efficiency, security, and cost-effectiveness of your business. Yet you need to select the right service for your business. There are three primary options available:

  • Infrastructure as a service
  • Platform as a service
  • Software as a service

Is the plan to incorporate cloud technology for every element of your business? How will the future growth of your business affect your cloud-related plans? These are the types of questions you have to answer before moving forward.

2. Put in the research

Once you know your requirements, the next step is to put in the necessary research. You have to understand cloud technology, what it provides, and how it can help your business. With this knowledge, you’ll have a much better idea about which areas of your company would benefit most from the cloud – and also the areas that don’t necessarily require adopting this technology.


3. Understand the risks

Your focus will be on the advantages gained from cloud computing. That’s understandable. However, there are certain risks involved with integrating and using this technology. Ensure you are fully aware of these risks before adding cloud technology to your company’s operations.

For instance, once you put your data on the cloud, it’s important you have the necessary backup options and threat prevention policies in place.

4. Use the right technology solutions

Cloud technology incorporates a wide assortment of software and solutions. Different companies will use different technology, and it’s important your business selects the right options that fit your requirements.
As an example, say your company creates and manages its own APIs. If you’ve got numerous APIs under your belt, it can be hard to keep track of these effectively without the right approach. That right approach can be found with an API management platform. With the help of a management platform, it allows you to monitor, manage, and utilize your APIs with ease.

5. Educate your employees

It’s not just you who has to research and understand cloud technology. It’s imperative your employees are also on the same page. After all, if work is now being performed on the cloud, you don’t want staff members to struggle with completing their tasks due to a lack of understanding about how the technology works.
Even before migrating, you should explain to employees why it is beneficial for your company – and them – to make the move to the cloud.