Increase employee motivation with these 4 strategies

Inspiring employees can often be hard to do when you’re running a small business. Funds are usually limited and there is not a lot of time to spare. Keeping your employees motivated, however, is vital to the success of your business.

Luckily, there are a great deal of ways to keep employee morale high without breaking the bank. Here are a few creative and easy ideas:

1. Ask for input

By asking for employees’ opinions, you are showing them that their thoughts are valued. Employees are bound to be more inclined to work harder when they feel that their actions and opinions truly influence the company overall.

2. Change it up

Sometimes boredom occurs when employees fall into a rut. By mixing up their projects and responsibilities, and allowing them to display their skills, you are likely to spark a little inspiration that wasn’t there before.

3. Focus on a great company culture

Some of the best companies to work at are the ones that employees feel are unique. Creating a great company culture can actually be quite simple and may help you to find and keep strong employees. A game room where employees may take a break and decompress when they’re feeling burned out can do wonders.

4. Recognize people for a job well done

One of the largest de-motivators can be working away on something and feeling like nobody is even aware of your hard work. Because of this, it’s necessary to let employees know that you recognize their hard work and appreciate it.

Something as simple as discussing their accomplishments at a company-wide meeting or sending around an email recognizing their achievements can make them feel appreciated. Although they may shy away from attention, they will likely be pleased to know that they’re being recognized.

All of these techniques are easy, affordable and can do wonders when it comes to motivating employees. Explore one or two of these ideas to see how they may affect employee morale and motivation.

For more examples of inexpensive employee motivators, check out this article.

3 smartpens that can help improve your efficiency

Smartpens are a cool office trend whose possibilities are constantly evolving.  They’re still quite new to the scene, but so far, they are full of convenient features to make office life a little more efficient.

Most smartpens essentially translate your handwritten notes into computer files for easier review. Precisely what each smartpen is capable of doing, however, varies greatly.

IOGEAR Mobile Digital Scribe

This was the first smartpen on the market and, because of that, it comes without some of the special features that are available on newer pens.

The Mobile Digital Scribe captures and stores everything you write down for later review. Unlike other pens, you don’t need to write on a specific surface in order for it to register, a simple piece of paper will do. It even lets you connect the pen directly to a computer so that everything you write down will be displayed on the screen.

Logitech IO2 Digital Pen

The Logitech IO2 Digital Pen carries out most of the basic functions that you can find on IOGEAR’s pen. Once you transcribe your notes, you are able to save them in a number of different formats and file types.

You are then able to search your notes for keywords and phrases by date, file name or file type. This makes it much easier to scan your notes for details of a meeting or conversation. One of the inconveniences of this smartpen is that you cannot simply write on any surface – you must use Post-Its or a digital notebook made specifically for smartpens.

Livescribe Echo

The Livescribe Echo smartpen is by far the most technologically sophisticated of all the smartpens out there. It not only transcribes everything you write down, it also records audio and converts the recording into a number of different audio file types.

One of the coolest features that you can find on the Livescribe Echo is the introduction of Pencasts. Pencasts are basically when you are able to play back the audio along with the written notes, so you can see it all in one place. Apple has created an app that allows you to play these Pencasts, so sharing is simple and quick.

Smartpens are a cool technology that is sure to keep becoming more popular in the office setting. They make it easier to become a more efficient worker with little effort.

To check out a review of the Livescribe Echo, click here.

Take a look at Gmail Motion – the new, cool feature

As you may have heard already, Google has just revealed its new feature, aptly named Gmail Motion. In an attempt to keep up with the ever-changing technology of the Internet, Google has built a series of motions that is translated into actions and commands in Gmail.

Basic actions like search, forward, reply and mark as unread can all be executed with gestures, instead of the click of a mouse. This makes users feel more in touch with both their email and their computers and makes for an overall more pleasant email experience.

How does it work?

Gmail Motion works by integrating your computer’s built-in webcam with Google’s new, patented spatial tracking technology. The camera registers your body’s movements and translates them into commands in your Gmail account.

How to use Gmail Motion safely

Safety precautions are very important when it comes to using Gmail Motion. Just like any other physical activity, injuries are possible and the proper steps must be taken in order to avoid them. Making sure the area around you is clear is the first step. The technology may overwhelm you at times and cause you to make fast, jerky movements, which can result in injury.

Google also recommends that you take regular breaks every 30 or 40 minutes, just as you should with any other sort of deskwork. It is easy for your muscles to get fatigued as well, which is why you should always take time to stretch between sessions.

If this technology intrigues you, try taking a look at the Gmail Motion website, which profiles how-to videos and a printable Motion Guide that contains all of the possible gestures. If you are a business user who is wondering when you will be able to take advantage of this technology, have no fear – you will soon be seeing Google Docs Motion.

This is a huge technological advancement that could change the way all of us interact with our computers and complete daily tasks. Google’s latest announcement may seem foolish and kind of crazy to some of you, and it is – it’s just another one of Google’s yearly April Fools’ Day pranks.

Happy April Fools’ Day!

Keep your belongings secure at all times with these 3 tools

Sometimes it can be hard to keep your belongings safe while you are on the go. Thankfully, there are many tools that make it easier. Things like notebook locks and personal safes are incredibly handy and portable enough that you can take them with you wherever you go. These are some of the coolest gadgets that can help protect your things.

Laptop privacy screens

Privacy can be a serious issue if you do a lot of work in public. Often, if your typeface is big enough for you to see it, it’s probably big enough for someone else to see it too. That’s what these privacy screens are for.

People who are viewing your screen from an angle will have an obstructed view. The privacy screen darkens your laptop screen, which is especially helpful for when you are viewing sensitive data that you don’t want anyone else to see – no more crouching over your laptop to cover everything.

Handheld paper shredder

We all know the benefits of shredding documents that have personal or business information on them. Sometimes, it’s not so convenient to do. With a handheld shredder, destroying sensitive documents is a simple task that can be a huge help in keeping your data protected.

Mandylion Password Manager

You’ve probably heard countless times how vital it is to have a secure, unique password for each of your accounts. The problem is, those passwords can sometimes be difficult to remember, and you can quickly run out of password options if you have to reset it every time you attempt to log in.

The Mandylion Password Manager creates strong, unique passwords for you and will manage up to 50 accounts. It boasts “military-grade password protection” that you can take with you anywhere.

For those of us who travel or even do business at the coffee shop every now and then, security is essential. These tools are easy to transport and make constant security much more feasible.

If you’d like to check out even more security gadgets, take a look at this Mashable article.

How to organize your email inbox

Email is both an incredible convenience and a huge stressor for many of us. Our inboxes overwhelm us with messages, yet most of them are vital. Fortunately, there are many tips out there that can help make your inbox easier to handle. Here are a few of them:

1. Set up folders

   Setting up folders, tags or labels in your inbox allows your email client to sort out emails automatically. You can commonly set filters according to email address, so emails from your Aunt Hilda will go into their own folder and won’t clutter your inbox.

   With this feature, trivial emails are filtered out and don’t take up vital space in your inbox. It’s pretty easy to set this up and since this feature is available in most email clients and services, it is probably available to you.

2. Enable conversation view

   Enabling conversation view or as some email clients call it, threaded view, is a very easy way to clean up your inbox. You will no longer see dozens of emails linked to one topic. Instead, they will all be found under a single “email.” Email threads take up much less space in your inbox, making it seem more manageable.

   With conversation view, if you address one email in a conversation, you are taking care of them all – an easy solution to a cluttered inbox.

3. If it will take less than 5 minutes to address, deal with it right away 

   Any time an email will take five minutes or less to address, it’s counterproductive to put it off. If it must be done, it will have to either be done now or later, so why not do it now? As you continue this habit, these simple emails will start taking even less time and it will become like second nature to address emails as they arrive.

These are just a few easy tactics that can help make your inbox more manageable. There are many more tricks that are just as easy and can make a huge difference in your everyday email habits.

For more tricks and tips, check out this Business Insider article.

Wireless vs. wired mice

The wireless vs. wired mouse debate has been going on for quite a while. There are strong arguments on both sides, but some of those arguments are stronger than others. What are the pros and cons of each?

Wired

Just like wireless mice, wired mice have a lot of positives as well as negatives. These are a few of the major benefits:

• Longer life expectancy
• Quicker response time
• More cost efficient
• More accuracy – a big pro for gamers
• No possibility of inadvertently gaining control of someone else’s computer

Some of the major drawbacks to wired mice include less freedom to roam and just a lack of convenience.

Wireless

Despite the occasional dead batteries, wireless mice have a number of strong points. They offer a level of convenience that can’t be attained with a wired mouse, no matter how long the cord is. Some of the major benefits include:

• More freedom – another favorite feature among gamers, who often control their TVs from the couch
• Improvements in response time and accuracy
• Fewer cords
• Smoother movement due to the lack of a cord

Although there are plenty of advantages to wireless mice, there are several disadvantages as well. The two biggest problems tend to be the occasional bad signal and dead batteries – both of which can be extremely frustrating if they come at the wrong time.

Overall, there are pros and cons to both options, and the general answer is: it’s all about preference. If you need to ensure that your mouse is reliable and accurate at all times, then you are probably better off with wired. If you don’t care as much about accuracy and enjoy a little more freedom, wireless might be right for you. Either way, you will probably be satisfied with your choice.

If you’d like more information on both wired and wireless mice, or if you’d like to join the debate, check out this website.

Google Docs has a brand new commenting system

Google Docs is a pretty popular tool. Many people use it frequently – often in a professional setting. Google has made some recent changes to Google Docs, which can help users become more productive

Google Docs’ commenting feature just received a massive overhaul and the results seem promising. Some of the biggest changes include:

• Timestamps and profile pictures on comments
• The ability to edit and resolve comments
• Implementation of email notifications via @mentions

The email notifications feature is by far the most useful of these upgrades as they let you bring new people into the discussion as needed.

The message that you send via the email notifications feature will always include the text of the comment, so that person does not necessarily need access to Google Docs in order to contribute. He or she can simply respond to the email and it will show up in the discussion thread.

Email notifications aren’t the only new feature that works well for collaborative teams – the ability to resolve comments is extremely beneficial. Being able to go back and look at comments is vital in order to make sure everything has been done. This feature allows you to mark a task as resolved once it has been completed, instead of simply deleting it.

Collaboration tools like Google Docs make it much easier to be a part of a distributed team. Features like email alerts let your team members know immediately when you need their help. Staying in sync is not as hard with tools like these.

Sending a document from person to person can get very confusing. When multiple people are editing the documents, they end up looking messy and it is hard to ensure that everyone’s edits made it into the final version of the document. These collaboration tools get rid of this problem.

For more insight into the recent changes to Google Docs check out this article.

Some of the future stars of SXSW – so far

Every year the South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) takes over Austin with its plethora of festivals and presentations. It unites some of the greatest thinkers from music, movies, and new media. Creativity and innovation are the themes of the conference, and their presence this year has been evident.

SXSW Interactive is one of the primary conferences at SXSW that encompasses all of the new media, and it has already unearthed some great ideas. Although the SXSW Technology Summit, which is full of great ideas and presentations on technology and business, has just begun, some standout startups have already emerged.

SXSW includes a cool competition that takes place on “Startup Buses.” Each year, these buses take off from Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, New York and San Francisco and make their way to Austin in only two days. In those 48 hours, the travelers on the bus formulate an idea for a startup and then create a website and a prototype for it. They then pitch those ideas to a panel of judges at SXSW.

48 hours hardly seems long enough to come up with a business idea and actually create a demo for it but, for these people, it’s ample time. Great ideas are almost always born on the buses, and this year was no different. These are the two winners of this year’s competition.

TripMedi

The medical tourism industry is difficult to navigate, and TripMedi is hoping to solve that issue. Medical tourism is when somebody travels to a developing country for a medical procedure in order to save money.

The industry is growing by 15% yearly, so a comprehensive system for finding services is imperative. Calling itself the “Yelp for medical tourism,” TripMedi hopes to become a one-stop-shop for the industry.

Now, people interested in medical tourism can find a comprehensive list of services, prices and physicians all in one place. The site has already seen 1,300 unique visitors and 44 sign-ups, and it’s only been live for four days.

WalkIN

WalkIN looked to solve a problem that everyone can relate to – waiting for a table at a restaurant. We all know how annoying it is to cram into a restaurant lobby waiting for your name to be called.

WalkIN eliminates the cramming, but not the waiting. With WalkIN, you can come into the restaurant and scan a QR code, which will automatically put your name on the waitlist. You are then free to roam until you are alerted via your phone that your table is ready.

People no longer have to carry around big, cumbersome restaurant pagers that vibrate incessantly until you make it back to the host stand.

As these startups demonstrate, SXSW is a melting pot of progressive thinkers and always produces exceptional ideas. There are bound to be more fascinating ideas emerging from SXSW, so stay tuned.

For additional information on SXSW and its origins, check out the website.

What precisely is flash storage?

Flash storage is something that is prevalent in many of our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not. Plenty of the devices we use on a daily basis, such as smartphones, and laptops, have flash storage built in.

What exactly is flash storage?

Flash storage devices are frequently used to store and transport information, usually from one computer to another. Flash memory can be described as solid state storage device, which means everything is electronic instead of mechanical, like a data CD.

Other features that are common for flash storage are:

• A non-volatile storage chip, meaning it doesn’t need a constant flow of power to maintain the information stored in the chip
• There are no moving parts
• Allows for easy electronic storage
• Data can be easily erased and the device can be reprogrammed
• Allows for quick access to data
• Extreme durability, particularly when coming in the form of a memory card

All of these features make flash storage a popular choice, especially for portable devices, such as cell phones. Many people use their smartphones or iPods as external hard drives by hooking them up to their computers and transferring data to them. This makes for extremely easy access, as these are devices that many people carry with them at all times.

For more information on flash storage and how it works, check out this HowStuffWorks article.

Special Olympics Kansas Celebrates 40 Years

High Touch to host Special Olympics Kansas State Softball and Golf Tournament

In 1968 Eunice Kennedy Shriver started a summer camp for children with intellectual disabilities in her backyard. Twelve years later Special Olympics Kansas joined the growing number of states providing individuals with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to compete in sports and share in the fun of participation. Forty years later, SOKS is still dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of acceptance, respect and dignity for our athletes while allowing them to excel and reach new levels of achievement.

Tim Shriver recently wrote of Eunice, “My mother’s greatest legacy may be this: that she made it possible for us to feel our own power to be the difference, to be the change, to be ambassadors of acceptance for all. That is the challenge of our times.”

High Touch has sponsored Special Olympics Kansas since 2006, and thanks to sponsors and volunteers, successfully hosted the first annual Wichita-hosted State Softball and Golf Tournament in 2009. As Kansas athletes begin training for the second annual Wichita-hosted State Softball and Golf Tournament, High Touch invites you and your family to make this year’s Tournament another success by donating and/or volunteering your time. To sign up to volunteer, visit www.hightouchinc.com/volunteersoks .