Having a Productive Office

There are some unwritten rules of running a very productive office. One of them being that every opinion should count. This will create an environment where people are not afraid to speak their minds and the added morale will enable the people to want to work harder for the company. Another great rule to have in place is that hours are flexible. Every person has different hours when they are productive and their work schedule should be able to fit in the schedule. This is important for everyone to thrive. Too many companies have a culture where if you eat at your desk while perfecting that software development project, you are seen as more productive than the one that goes out for 30 minutes. It is even important to set an example as the employer and take breaks yourself. Lastly, it might be a good idea to let your employees move things around to make themselves more comfortable. It creates a more productive environment.

Video Conferencing Tips

Great video conferencing does not just happen overnight. There are a couple things that we should all do to make the event better. First of all, mute your microphone what you are not speaking because background noise can be annoying. On the same note, make sure that the settings are set correctly and everything is working before you launch into your speech. As far as the camera goes, make sure that you do not have weird angles because that can get a bit distracting. Place the camera at eye level and on the monitor you plan to use. Make sure your room is well lit because few things are worse than having a professional meeting while feeling like you're talking to someone in a dungeon. Make sure that you are dressed up, even your bottoms. You never know if you have to get up. Also, clean up the room because it still has to be professional.

Egg Freezing

I am sure that by now you have heard about how Apple decided to fund the freezing of eggs for women in their company as a benefit. This is coming on the heels of study about how there is inequality in the number of women in the technology and software development work field. This is supposed to come off as a perk but it sends a rather chilly message. Building a career coincides with child bearing years for most women and it is a constant struggle to achieve both. By providing payment for freezing eggs, the companies are avoiding much larger costs that are involved with hiring a woman who has children such as paid family leave and child care, as well as flexible schedules. Do you think that these companies are just paying women to put off children so that it benefits the company as well?

Protecting Digital Assets

It used to be so easy to protect your computer from any threats. All you had to do is make sure that your firewall was on and that you had an antivirus program, and never click on anything stupid. These days, all it take is a compromised website. There are organized gangs that are working relentlessly past all those web developments and using sophisticated software. You also have to worry about all the other devices that are connected to the internet, not just the computer. You have your mobile phone, TV, and internet phone. Thankfully there are some things that you can do. Make sure that you change the WiFi router settings from the default. This is the gateway to your machines that are connected. Also make sure that your firmware is up to date. Speaking of getting things up to date, check your antivirus program, software, and operating system. You also have to use two factor authentication. Lastly, shut up on social media. There is really no need to share personal information, like your cat's name, online.