Ruminate December 2012

^ KEEP CALM

AND

GET THINGS DONE

Ruminate The Best of

Xamun Blog +

Updates + Tips

No. 2: The Project Management Issue December 2012

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Xamun Project:

The most robust

project management

tool out there

Xamun Task

Boards:

Awesome threesome

for task management

Xamun CEO:

The Online Task Board

will set your project

free

Xamun Updates

Ruminate December 2012 | i

Headlines of the Month Xamun Project: The Most Robust Project Management

Tool Out There

Xamun Task Boards

The Incredible Power of the Online Task Board

#6: Using the Ticket Board

#4: Converting Subtasks into Task Cards

#5: Importing Tasks via Templates

Xamun Tips

Inside Ruminate

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6

11

15

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More From Blog.xamun.com 21

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From the Editor

Ruminate December 2012 | ii

Burns Puzon G&A Manager, Xamun

Breathe and use Xamun Project.

This is the key message of the second issue of Ruminate. And that’s why the cover image was

inspired by Keep Calm and Carry On, a propaganda poster produced by the British government in

1939 during the beginning of the Second World War. This poster was intended to lift the morale of

the British public in the event of a Nazi invasion of the UK.

Project management is at the center of Ruminate December 2012, which features articles on the

topic or on our project management app called Xamun Project. At times, managers who run projects

get overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done. With Xamun Project, you’re always

on top of your project deliverables. And the great thing about Xamun Project is, you run your project

as a team. This collaborative type of work coincides with the principles of agile software

development.

It’s very challenging to run projects across a team of creative or knowledge workers, even more so

if the team is distributed across various locations. Since Xamun Project is cloud-based, it also enables

you to be at the helm of your project as if everyone’s in the same room.

Find us on

There are more dimensions to Xamun Project, which you will see in the

next couple of pages. I invite you to read on and see how project

management can be a breeze with Xamun Project. Happy reading!

PS: Also in this issue of Ruminate, we’re introducing a new section called “More from

blog.xamun.com”, which features even more articles from our blog.

Headlines of the Month

Ruminate December 2012 | 1

Xamun Project: The Most Robust

Project Management Tool

Out There

roject management is comprised of planning, organizing, securing,

Xamun Project is integrated with the rest of the apps in Xamun, making your project delivery as

tight-knit as possible and keeping project risks to a minimal. Xamun enables you to keep everyone in

the team to stay on the same page, make them aware of project responsibilities, and encourage

transparency and accountability.

The following areas in project management are covered by Xamun Project:

P managing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve certain goals. It’s

not as easy as it sounds, and it gets extremely challenging for distributed

teams. Xamun Project was designed to help you manage your entire project

in a single place – wherever you, your team or your clients are in the world.

Ruminate December 2012 | 2

Xamun Project: The Most Robust PM Tool Out There

Task Management

Xamun Project has three types of work boards for managing tasks. The Task Board for

general types of projects, and the Scrum Board and Kanban Board for software development

projects. Each board has specific features that will cater to different types of projects.

Time Tracking

Time Tracking is as important as accomplishing a task. By monitoring your team’s

productivity, you will be able to track the progress of the task assigned to them. Inside Xamun,

the time tracking app is called the Xamun Timesheet. As a timesheet approver, you are able to

approve timesheet entries or remind employees with unfiled timesheets with a simple

messaging feature that can be accessed anywhere as long as you are connected to the web.

Ruminate December 2012 | 3

Xamun Project: The Most Robust PM Tool Out There

Social Collaboration

Businesses are quickly becoming social, be it on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, having an

online presence is considered an edge. With Xamun, you can turn your business social by using

Xamun Community and Xamun Marketplace. Discuss your projects, post links, and attach files

as easy as using Facebook or Twitter. Xamun will automatically create your groups when you

post a project. All team members in that project will be able to throw ideas, post files, and

update project status.

Issue and Bug Management

Working to improve tasks for a better project results is also part of project management.

Xamun Helpdesk enables you to quickly address issues or bugs like what your support system

does. The catch is that you don’t have to exit your app then log in to another app for this to

function. It also appears similarly like your Project Board making it easier to familiarize with.

Ruminate December 2012 | 4

Xamun Project: The Most Robust PM Tool Out There

Project Summary

In Xamun Project, identifying your whole project health is possible. Get a quick overview of

your project by using the Report tab. Report tab holds general project details such as the team

members, as well as a pie chart summarizing all tasks’ status and the project plan. You can

import this to a PDF that you can send or print out for a client.

Daily Status Monitoring

On your Xamun Project app, a Daily Status tab enables you to have a full view of which

project tasks are done for a particular day. Eliminate the process of going to-and-fro team

members to check status updates. In an Agile Setting, team leaders are able to perform daily

stand up meetings where impediments are identified.

Schedule Management

Xamun My Day is your daily task scheduler in Xamun. You can schedule daily tasks and

appointments, be it personal or project related, where you can set to share to other task assignees.

My Day is now integrated with Google Calendar and Windows Live Calendar.

Ruminate December 2012 | 5

Xamun Project: The Most Robust PM Tool Out There

Time Off Management

In doing a project, you can’t ignore the work-life-balance that you and your team members

need. Manage your team’s time-off requests anywhere you are. Time-Off Manager, a Xamun

applet allows you to approve/deny leaves of your team members that will enable you to plan

your project deliverables accordingly.

Ruminate December 2012 | 6

ave you ever tried getting something done that requires a concerted

effort from a bunch of people? Have you ever organized an event such as an

alumni homecoming for your high school class, a New Year’s party for your

club, or a fundraiser for your favorite cause? How about something in a

more formal setting, such as leading a team for a project at work?

The incredible power

of the ONLINE TASK BOARD

It sure is difficult. The challenge doesn’t

come from the tasks at hand; most of the time

those are not the problem. You may even say it

would be so much easier if you did it all by

yourself, right? However, doing it all by

ourselves is very inefficient, after all the concept

of “division of labor” is supposed to be one of

the greatest social achievements that helped

human beings progress. So what’s the cause of

this conflict? If it’s so easy for each member of

a team to do things separately and it only

makes sense that a team would be more

efficient of you split a set of tasks among its

members, then why does it become harder to

get things done when more people join a team?

In my experience, in order to resolve this

conflict, one must master the process of:

1. Breaking down the entire project into

smaller parts;

2. Distributing these smaller parts among

members of the team;

3. Monitoring the progress on “who is

supposed to do what” before you run out of

time; and

4. Re-planning if some original assumptions

change during the course of doing things.

Headlines of the Month

H

Arup Maity

Lean Common

Sense

Ruminate December 2012 | 7

These activities above, known to some as project management, are causes the

difficulty if not carried out properly. When we do it alone, those four activities are taken as a

whole and are performed in our minds, but in a team this set of activities tends to be overlooked.

Some people even think all those things above are actually a waste of time: they would rather get the

work done immediately than plan and check it. The thinking is, “it’s all good until things get done”. If

4

The Incredible Power of the ONLINE TASK BOARD

a team is doing similar things regularly and all members are familiar with the tasks at hand, risks are

lowered from repetition. Then again, if someone slips due to some unforeseen reason, the whole

project can be at risk.

Do I mean to say most people don’t do this? No, not really. There usually is an effort

among project teams to meet and plan. It’s actually fun to do it, specially at the start of the

project. Nothing much gets done in these kickoff meetings (most of the time). Most people after a

kickoff meeting resort to emailing each other or making an Excel list and updating it – until some

point in the process, things gets out of control and they simply drop all those activities

together and just ‘go with the flow.'

(Doesn’t always mean you’re on the same page.)

By now you should be asking me, “What,

then, is the solution?” What do I think makes

getting projects done easier, more fun and at a

lower risk? If the team is sitting in the same

room all day, perhaps all you need to do is take

a wall, divide it into three columns (To Do, In

Progress, and Done), get a bunch of post-its,

write down what needs to be done, and each

person just picks up what they are going to do

and update the wall. Maybe do a short 15

minute meeting every day to collaborate and

update each other, benefit from the collective

wisdom and getting the project done

successfully. This practice works, for sure.

However, in a lot of projects

today, you don’t spend the day

together, you don’t even get to

meet each other often. Heck,

team members may even be

from a different city, country,

or continent. What do you do

now? Is there a liberator in

sight?

Ruminate December 2012 | 8

So you may ask, how about

getting one of those project

management software like

Microsoft Project and trying to

keep tabs on everything that’s

getting done. Sure, this is better

than nothing, but the trouble is,

this is a centralized command

and control kind of thinking.

One person has to take this role and run after

everyone in getting things done and finding out

if they are doing what they are supposed to and

what stage it’s in etc. This type of centralized

effort is not very efficient for a number of

reasons:

• The project manager becomes responsible

for the success and failure of a project, thus

allowing team members to be less

responsible for the overall success

• Reduces the benefit of collective wisdom that

comes from collaboration and visibility

• This still does not provide the

communication and collaboration needed on

regular basis for project success

The Incredible Power of the ONLINE TASK BOARD

Welcome the world of web 2.0 and online

collaboration. There are many online solutions

out there to choose from. Some thoughtful

people came up with tools to make task lists

online that can be seen by all team members

and be updated as required. This can work for

rather simple projects, but it lacks the benefit of

collaboration and overall visibility. Some teams

even resort to using blogs where they can write

down the tasks and update each other in real

time. That can work, too, I guess. But nothing

works like The Incredible Online Task

Board.

It’s similar to the real-life or physical task

board using a blank wall, but this time

distributed teams can work seamlessly – as if

they’re in the same room. If you use The

Incredible Online Task Board together

with a more social collaboration wall like

Facebook for free-flowing and easy

communication, then you have what we

call a perfect combination.

In fact, we made a version of The Incredible

Online Task Board and a collaboration wall

after experiencing the above issues first hand in

dealing with projects both in-house and with

clients across the world. The nature of these

projects span from something as simple as a list

of things to fix, to complicated multi-year

projects building complicated products, to the

implementation of a business process across

different departments, to hiring a specialized

resources for an upcoming project. We’ve seen

Ruminate December 2012 | 9

(Introducing: The Incredible Online Task Board!)

The Incredible Power of the ONLINE TASK BOARD

Arup is the founding President/CEO of BlastAsia, Inc. Under his leadership, BlastAsia has grown

from a modest four member organization to one of the largest .Net providers in its segment in the

Philippines, having more than a hundred technical staff in its pool. He is very much involved in every

aspect of the organization from business development to process improvement initiatives.

Arup Maity, through his effective leadership, drives the organization towards the realization of its

strategic goals and guides the company in implementing balanced corporate governance and quality

objectives.

Arup brings diverse experience in project management and general management practices in

various roles and industries. He started his career by managing projects in civil construction and

consulting. After taking up his MBA from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in 1997, he joined

the Business Consulting in the area of Real Estate as Director for Business Development heading the

Business Planning Group of Landco Pacific Corporation, Inc. Arup then started LandExcel Consulting,

Inc., a business consulting company focusing on real estate and retail. As a senior partner in

LandExcel, the concentration of his experience has been in managing Market research, Feasibility

Planning, Pricing and business strategy for top business houses in Philippines for the Green Field and

problem projects.

As a member of the Project Management institute (PMI), Arup is a Certified Project Management

Professional (188635) and more recently, a Certified Scrum Master and member of the Scrum

Alliance. He is also an adjunct faculty of Project Management and IT Strategy at AIM since 2002. An

active member of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), Arup has served as a Director

from 2006 to 2008.

it all, and after several months of using what we created, we are definitely seeing the benefits.

What we created is called Xamun. It exists in two versions – Lite and Business. The former is

tailor-made for those users that need the task board and a collaboration wall, while the latter is a

robust version that extends to other different functions and areas of management and allows you to

run your entire business online.

The power of The Incredible Online Task Board is at the heart of Xamun, and you can see it for

yourself by visiting www.xamun.com and taking a 30-day free trial.

Ruminate December 2012 | 10

The Incredible Power of the ONLINE TASK BOARD

***This article originally appeared on Arup Maity’s blog, Lean Common Sense.

(The Incredible Online Task Board is available in Xamun)

T

Ruminate December 2012 | 11

Headlines of the Month

Xamun Task

Boards

o kick start a project, it is important to accomplish smaller tasks to get the project on the right

Because almost anything can be turned into a project, Xamun introduces a new way of running different types of projects in one place.

There are several task management tools to choose from: it can be a simple checklist or a more

elaborate task board. A task board is a visual task management tool that shows tasks in columns or

lanes – typically To Do, In Progress, and Done – in order to organize a project team's work. Xamun

Project has three different types of boards. Xamun’s Task Board is perfect for general types of

projects, while the Scrum Board and the Kanban Board are specially designed for agile software

development projects.

Task

Board

For general projects

Kanban

Board

For software projects

Scrum

Board

For software projects

track. But even before working on a task, we usually like to list down all the things that needs

to be done to see our working timeline and predict the outcome of the project. By accomplishing

smaller tasks, you can already celebrate small successes, and the more intimidating tasks are easier

hurdles to get over. Ultimately, task management is at the heart of managing a project.

Ruminate December 2012 | 12

Task Board

If you have general projects lined up, Xamun Task Board is recommended. Track the progress of your project and update the tasks assigned to your team in real time. The task cards on the board carry your task information and you can drag and drop these cards based on their progress status. You can also use the drag and drop function when assigning a task to a team mate by dragging and dropping their photos into a task card.

Xamun Task Boards

Kanban Board

Kanban is a specialized project management methodology so if you’re doing projects that are leaning towards this methodology, you can choose to set your Board type to Kanban. Carry out the Kanban software development process easily where you can limit work-in-progress, manage workflows, implement feedback loops, and improve team collaboration.

Ruminate December 2012 | 13

Xamun Task Boards

Scrum Board

Alternately, you can also choose the Xamun Scrum Board if you have projects that needed to be implemented on this methodology. Product owners can track, monitor, and virtually manage scrum projects together with a distributed team. The Scrum Board also enables your team to perform release management and sprint planning, as well as conduct virtual daily standup meetings. Like the general task board, you can also size estimations, add subtasks, post on discussion feeds, attach files, and categorize tasks.

Xamun created these three board type to fit your task management needs, and we’re

just getting started. They’re all available in Xamun Project, one of the six online

apps in Xamun Productivity for Business accounts.

For just $12/month per user, get everything you need to manage projects, people,

and clients.

Ruminate December 2012 | 14

Xamun Updates

Xamun introduces Pipeline

To make Xamun a more complete solution, we’ve created Xamun Pipeline, an online sales management app that includes its own Deal Board, Deal Cards, Resource and Product License Allocators, and Progress lanes. With Xamun Pipeline, can now efficiently manage your upcoming projects and enable your sales team to drive your company's growth.

Xamun unveils Helpdesk

Another new addition Xamun's Productivity apps is Xamun Helpdesk, designed for issue or bug management. With it, you can now create support tickets for certain issues raised by customers and other stakeholders, assign them, and address them right away. Xamun Helpdesk is fully integrated with Xamun Project, where tickets automatically appear on the task board as soon as you assign them. Tickets can be assigned to individuals, project teams, or departments to better serve both external and internal clients. .

Xamun launches integrations We know how important your current apps are, so we’ve integrated Xamun with third-party appps. Chat, call, and set-up face-to-face meetings through Skype on Xamun Project. Sync your schedule with Google or Windows Live Calendar and Xamun My Day. Import your contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook to Xamun Community. The great thing is, we’re only getting started!

Ruminate December 2012 | 15

Xamun Tips # 4: Converting Subtasks into

Task Cards

Xamun Project is mainly made up of task cards that swim across

lanes on the task board. In these task cards, you can write subtasks to

break down major tasks.

Sometimes, these subtasks are still quite complex and heavy.

What you can do in Xamun Project is to convert these subtasks into

task cards.

On the task card, you can see the subtask list which is found below the Task Description. If it’s

missing, it’s most likely hidden. To show your subtask list, go to Other Options panel found on the

right side of the task card and click on Subtask. To hide your subtask list, all you have to do is click on

it again. (Note: if you hide/show the subtask list on one task card, it will apply to all your other task

cards.)

After converting, your new task cards will look like this:

Your subtasks are now task cards of their own. Converted subtasks will appear as yellow task cards.

When you click on a converted subtask, you can set various details like in a regular task card. The

green tab above these converted task cards is the parent task.

To learn more, you can watch our Xamun Video Tutorial on Converting Subtasks to Task Cards.

Ruminate December 2012 | 16

Converting Subtasks into task cards

Ruminate December 2012 | 17

One of the most tasking duties of starting a new project is filling out

tasks. Templates are very useful when you are working on

similar types of projects under different clients. Save time by

importing similar tasks to your new project so you could focus on other

activities at work.

Xamun Tips # 5: Importing Tasks via

Templates

Access project templates by

clicking on the Template Icon

found at the right side of the

Masterlist header.

You can also find the template icon

when you click on the Project

Name.

Importing Tasks via Templates

Ruminate December 2012 | 18

Upon clicking the Template icon,

the templates window will pop

up. It will look like this:

Choose the project that contains

the tasks that you want to import.

You can choose from your

existing projects, company

templates (if you are in a

corporate setting), and public

templates.

Once the importing is done, the tasks will load on the Masterlist lane where you can edit it like your regular task cards. To learn more, you can watch our Xamun Video Tutorial on Using Templates to Get Started.

Ruminate December 2012 | 19

Xamun Tips # 6: Using the Ticket Board

The newly implemented tab on your Project Sidebar is called

the Ticket Board. The Ticket Board is where you create tickets for

tasks that are related to customer support or product/

service enhancement. You will also land on the Ticket Board

when you access it via the Helpdesk app. Xamun integrated the

Ticket Board inside Xamun Project so it will be accessible in just one

click. Noted on the left side of the Ticket Board tab is the number of

tickets that you need to attend to.

Ruminate December 2012 | 20

Using the Ticket Board

Your Ticket Board looks like your typical Xamun Board. It also has customizable swim lanes where you can monitor your ticket progress. Creating a ticket is easy, too. Use the provided form, fill out the details, and click OK. After that, it will appear on the New lane then you can assign it to your team members by dragging and dropping their photo on the ticket card.

Assigning a task to someone will enable the ticket card to appear on that person’s Task Board in Xamun Project. It will be converted into a task but it will carry a special Ticket icon so your team member knows which to prioritize first. To learn more about the Tip, you can watch our Xamun Video Tutorial on Using the Ticket Board.

Ruminate December 2012 | 21

More from Blog.xamun.com

Why Use Time Tracking For Creatives? Yes, yes we know. Creative types want their freedom and independence when doing the work that they do. Tracking time would be stifling and detrimental to the creative process. Or would it?

hen would tracking time be beneficial to a creative agency and its staff? Why do some design success? Here are some convincing reasons why time tracking for creatives can be a good thing: W labs and creative houses use time tracking tools such as those in Xamun to resounding

Time tracking lets you know how much

time you spend on a project

Why is it important to know how much time

you spend on a project? Having a tool to track

the time you put into each project gives you the

clarity to temper your creative activities with

practicality. It also gives you a concrete and

measurable basis for analyzing past projects as

well as to plan for future ones.

Time tracking allows creatives to manage

their time wisely

Creatives are notorious for haphazard time

management. If this is the case in your

company, then it is up to the agency to instill a

system that allows the artistic staff to be able to

work productively within reasonable limits.

This kind of planning ensures that time is not

wasted on unnecessary things and that there

will always be enough time to do the creative

work that must be done.

Time tracking allows you to charge

clients appropriately

Once you know how much time you put into

each of your projects, then you can bill your

clients properly. The project that takes the

longest time to do and eats up the most hours

should, logically, be the ones that pay you

more. This is only fair for you, your clients, and

your staff.

In short, time tracking is a great tool for

creatives

Time tracking need not be the enemy of

creativity that it is usually made out to be.

When productivity and the completion of a

project is the end goal, then having a system of

time management could even be beneficial to

each one of your creative staff and to the

company as a whole.

Source: FunctionPoint

2

1

Ruminate December 2012 | 22

More from Blog.xamun.com

Top 5 Problems of Remote Workers Today and How To Solve Them Now that we our lives are global, more and more businesses are seeing the benefits of having a virtual office: reduced operations cost, happier staff, and increased production to name a few. On the flip side, there are a few problems that arise from working remotely.

emote workers face problems that are not usually seen in a traditional workplace. So if you

want to make the most out of your business and motivate your remote workers to their fullest,

watch out and prepare for these trouble spots:

R

Training is tricky

If your remote workers have recently transitioned from in-office to a remote working place, you

better brace yourself for difficult training sessions ahead. It will take more effort on your part, as well

as patience, because the only form of communication that you’ll have with your employees will be

thru emails and IMs.

To clear up any misunderstandings and issues faster, assign knowledgeable support staff that

could provide guidance with your new remote employees. This way, they will feel that they have a

mentor whom they can always call for help.

Issues on hardware and software compatibility

Not all people are technologically inclined and having a remote work setup can be frustrating,

especially when issues on hardware and software arise. Without any IT support staff nearby,

productivity time will be drastically affected.

It’s best to practice being proactive and provide your employees with guidelines for fixing issues.

You can also provide tutorials and FAQs on how to properly use the tools that you will provide. This

way you’ll save your remote workers downtime and the hassle of dealing with hardware and software

incompatibility.

Ruminate December 2012 | 23

Top 5 Problems of Remote Workers Today and How To Solve Them

While remote working provides numerous benefits, there are also problems that need to be dealt

with. This way, the distribution of workload will be easier and your work staff will be happier and

more productive and satisfied with how you handle the business.

3

4 5

No social life

The office is one big social space for many

people and the transition from on-site to

remotely working can be a shock to newbies.

Having a new work environment all to yourself

will be a new experience, plus it takes some

time to accept the fact that they’ve lost the

social aspect they’ve always been used to.

To save your staff from the loneliness of

working alone, organize regular staff event so

that they’ll get the chance to know the other

people they’re working with in the cyber office.

Rewards are somewhat intangible

Most remote workers feel their worth being

disregarded and their efforts unnoticed because

of the cyber barrier in remote workplaces. As a

supervisor, make them feel valued by giving

them positive feedback to increase their morale.

While a tap on the back and a verbal praise is

next to impossible in a remote working place,

spending time to make a customized short

email on their job well done will suffice.

Promotion can take a long time

Working remotely can be a big challenge for

those who want to climb up the ladder of the

workforce. With the work distribution, they will

feel more often than not more like a tool to get

the job done without their abilities being

noticed. This is especially true when companies

also employ on-site staff.

As the employer, it is your responsibility to

make it clear that promotions are performance

based, so that remote staff will feel they are as

visible and valuable as on site employees.

Source: GigaOm

Belongingness

Belongingness is a human need for the mind and soul and it greatly affects how someone

functions, especially socially and mentally. Remember your employees are human beings too and the

sense of belonging in the workplace is what keeps them stay and motivated.

Make your employees learn about you and each other better through fun side activities like parties or

sports. Simple chit-chats over coffee or even free company shirt giveaways can make them feel a part

of a big family.

Involvement

Employees are always eager to apply their skills and knowledge to their jobs. They have a lot to

suggest in fact so let them be free to share these ideas during work. No one wants to be a robot who

just takes orders.

Let everyone involved by sharing your ideas, listen to theirs and even have a healthy argument to

prove each other’s points. With these, your employees would feel important, be more interested and

gladly accept challenges.

Growth

Learning doesn’t stop after studying. It’s a continuous experience and should definitely be

available to your employees. Fewer learning activities create less motivated employees and thus lead

to less productivity.

Ruminate December 2012 | 24

More from Blog.xamun.com

Motivate Employees With a BIG CAR

hat’s right. Having a BIG CAR not only makes your workers feel satisfied, it also helps keep

them motivated. But this doesn’t mean you’ll have to give each of them a Hummer (we know

that’s too much). BIG CAR is simply an acronym, and we’ll tackle what each letter means below.

T

would be your instant answer, but there’s more to that. Although a good salary is

important, it’s only a part of what they love about their jobs. What they really want is

simply, a BIG CAR.

What do employees really want? Their paychecks plus the benefits

Prevent having stagnant employees and give them a reason to be excited with new challenges and

responsibilities by offering learning opportunities both in and out of the office. More than acquiring

new knowledge, training your employees lets them renew their energy and creativity, driving them to

perform better.

Connection

“How are you?” A simple yet meaningful question that shows that somehow in your tight schedule

you still have the time to show your employees that you care.

Short personal whats-ups, asking for what they need, or just a “Hello” with a sincere smile

connects you to your people, even if you’re just passing by their cubicles. Easy but it could be a day

maker.

Achievement

There’s no point in doing something if you don’t have a goal. You and your employees must have a

clear line of sight on what should be done and where you want to go.

Share to your employees the company’s goal and assign them their missions that should be

accomplished for a certain time. This will tell them where they’re heading and push more to reach the

goal. In the end, they’ll feel better knowing that they were a part of creating something big and

successful.

Recognition

Getting noticed and feeling appreciated are what your employees want the most. After long days of

hard work to finish something, the best thing they can hear from you is that they did a good job and

you fully appreciated it.

Saying “You did well!”, rewarding certificates of recognition, or giving better incentives to those

who deserve it will create happy and fully engaged employees. These will also drive other workers to

work better.

Start having that BIG CAR in your company, make sure it’s working fine and nothing’s missing to

have a productive and happy ‘road trip’ with your workers.

Ruminate December 2012 | 25

Motivate Employees With a BIG CAR

Source: MindFlash, Work.com

Ruminate December 2012 | 26

More from Blog.xamun.com

H ave you ever wondered why a lot

of people are willing to pay a lot of

money for products with low quality? Or

have you ever looked around shops and

How To Get Pricing Right For Your Business

wondered why so many items have prices ending in the amount .99? Well, it’s really a

pretty basic concept in marketing: the way you price your product affects what your

customers think about it.

Here’s something every marketer should know: every customer has her own preconceptions

regarding any product or service they will be buying. In other words, everyone has a price range; it’s

simple psychology.

When you quote a price that’s outside their price range, whether it’s too high or too low, you better

be able to justify it or say goodbye to your sale. Here are some pricing tips to help you close more

deals:

Bundle your products

There are two ways that businesses get

pricing wrong today: the first is when they

bunch all their services together into one

generic and vague offer: something like “IT

Solutions: $3,500.” People are likely to shy

away from this because they have no idea what

the value of the product is. Similarly, you should

also avoid pricing each item individually, as this

lead customers to question the value of each

element.

Bundling your service is all about giving the

client an idea of the value of the product

without itemizing every bit with a cost estimate.

People today are task-oriented, so every service

should be broken down into tasks, not

timetables. Make sure that the client knows

what he or she is getting and that every element

of your service bundle is essential to the whole.

Options, options and options

Avoid backing the potential into a corner

where he or she has to say yes or no to your

price. Make sure you offer options. This actually

puts your potential customer into a state of

mind where they’re already decided on getting

your service, and only just have to decide on

customizing their personal experience.

Use discounts for the right reasons

When you do offer discounts, do it to

encourage right customer behavior. Don’t offer

discounts just to get customers, it devalues your

business. Offer discounts for paying up front, or

for paying with cash, not credit card. Use

discounts to make things more convenient for

you, not to get customers.

The right pricing strategy will not just give

you better income, it will also get customers in

the right mindset about your business. Try

these strategies out and tell us which of these

pricing techniques work for you.

Charge for value, not cost.

A sure way to get yourself stuck working

without making any real income is thinking

that value is the same as cost. When you price

your items, don’t price them by thinking about

what they cost you and then add a bit of

markup. That’s transactional thinking and quite

frankly, it won’t get you either income or

customer loyalty.

Think about what a specific customer would

be willing to pay for what you have to offer. The

key here is to get patronage, not a single

transaction. Remember that repeat business is

what every enterprise thrives on.

Don’t blink: reduce value, not just price

Some customers like to play a bit of ‘business

chicken’. Cite a price and they’ll haggle, asking

you to lower the price or threaten to walk away.

Whatever you do, do not give a discount. This

will get them thinking that the service you offer

is at a lesser value than they thought. If you

really want to work with that specific client,

take a look at the items on the bundled price

you quoted and ask them which services or

elements they would be willing to forego in

order to pay less.

Ruminate December 2012 | 27

How To Get Pricing Right For Your Business

Source: MindFlash, Work.com

Ruminate December 2012 | 28

More from Blog.xamun.com

G reat ideas are often inspired, be it

from nature, existing tools, and

other great ideas. Think about it: if the

apple hadn’t fall from the tree, Isaac

Newton wouldn’t have thought about

that universal force that pulls everything

to the Earth’s surface we all now know as

gravity. A new concept will always

attribute itself to an older concept. We

get ideas from other ideas, and we really

can’t do without inspiration.

Get Inspired By Copying The Best

In the workplace, inspiration is one of the driving forces behind creativity. Sometimes, though,

expressing an idea, no matter how great, can be difficult. It’s hard to tell others exactly what you

want, so you have to give them something they can base their work on.

That’s where the “peg” comes in.

“Peg” is ad-speak for “inspiration” or “basis.” It’s what you show your team to give them an idea

for the kind of look or feel you’d like for a certain product. For every project, it’s important to give

your team a peg so they can see a more concrete concept of what you want, and work within

reasonable limitations.

Here’s an example: you want a neat, magazine-type website where you can introduce your

company, boast of your previous achievements, show your products and services, while connecting

with your clients. You can explain all these to your team, but for additional inspiration, you can give

a peg, such as TribalDDB.com they can follow.

Pegs can definitely make you and your team’s life easier. With good reference, you can:

- create clearer communication lines between you and your team.

- whip up better ideas, products, and executions by revolutionizing previously effective concepts

- save time by doing away with back-and-forth paper and email work due to revisions.

Now, you might ask yourself: “I’m getting all these really neat ideas from other people and using

them as pegs — does that mean that I’m plagiarizing them?” Don’t worry, you’re not. Getting

inspiration from great pegs isn’t idea stealing — as long as you don’t copy it pixel by pixel. Many great

writers, artists, and photographers all have their own sources of inspiration. What they did was to

take an old idea and transform it into something wholly new and relevant, and call it their own.

So the next time you brief your team about a new assignment, give them something to work with.

Inspire them with an old concept, let them build on it, and watch them create something bigger and

better.

Ruminate December 2012 | 29

Get Inspired By Copying The Best

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