Humility, transparency and urgency are the keys to successfully steering an organization — big or small — through the challenges that come your way.
In this issue of the Pulse, we share a video from the TED series “The Way We Work” wherein leadership expert Amy C. Edmondson provides clear advice and examples to help any leader rise to the occasion.
There is a whole generation of adults in the workforce who have never, or rarely, had to use a fax machine. Fax machines, or early iterations of them, have been around since the mid-1840s, and have been a critical technology in business communications and transactions ever since. But in the age of eSignature, 5G, and the cloud, why are we still faxing?
In this article, we investigate the longevity of this crucial business technology.
Since the 1980s, fax machines have been operating on an international technical standard. Meaning, fax machines (and other systems capable of fax transmissions) conform to all current and previous standards. Fax machines therefore never become too outdated to use, and compatibility is maintained across all models.
Likewise, because these standards apply across the globe, fax is still useful in doing international business.
Because faxing isn’t done via the internet, instead relying on the connection between two devices, it’s an incredibly secure way to send information. That’s what makes it the preferred method of industries like healthcare, legal, and more. In fact, as much as 70% of healthcare providers still choose to use fax, despite modern software alternatives.
Because of the tight standards and security fax technology offers, fax is built into the regulations for some industries. Depending on the nature of the information being transferred, your organization may be required to use fax.
You may not think about faxes very often, but service providers and their business customers still do. Faxing – or an eFax solution – is included in modern VoIP service offerings. Businesses searching for comprehensive communications suites won’t have to look far to find fax solutions.
Whether it’s user preference, or a resistance to change established systems, some businesses use fax machines because it’s the way things have traditionally been done. If it’s not broke, right?
eFax is a service that allows users to send and receive faxes electronically over the internet. It eliminates the need for a physical fax machine and phone line, and instead allows users to send and receive faxes through email or a web-based interface. With eFax, users can send faxes as email attachments, receive faxes as email notifications with attached fax documents, or access faxes through a web portal.
eFax services also often include features such as digital signatures, fax archiving, and the ability to send and receive faxes from multiple devices, such as computers, smartphones, and tablets. eFax is commonly used by businesses and individuals who still need to send or receive faxes but prefer a digital, paperless solution. While it provides convenience and flexibility, it may not be as secure as traditional faxing methods in certain aspects, due to the required internet component.
The global fax services market is expected to grow at 11.03% per year until 2027. In other words, although faxing may seem antiquated, it shows no signs of leaving our business culture. Due to its consistent standards and practical uses, the fax machine is here to stay.
Going into business is a calculated risk. So is moving to a new city for a new job, applying for a position outside of your comfort zone, or asking for a raise you believe you deserve. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, or a professional working for someone else, taking risks is important.
In this issue of the Pulse, we look at risk-taking in your career, and why it’s critical for your career development.
Canadian writer and motivational speaker Robin Sharma once said, “If you’re not failing a lot, then you’re not doing very much.”
Taking risks may sometimes lead to failures and mistakes, but it also opens new opportunities for professional and personal growth. Any time we do something that puts us outside of our comfort zone, we open ourselves up to acquiring new skills and valuable learning experiences.
Risks often involve trying new things, using new methods, considering new perspectives, and thinking outside the box. This can lead to breakthroughs that inspire innovation and creativity. New approaches not only develop your own existing skillsets but could also lead to wins on professional projects.
For example, trying a new sales pitch may not only show you an alternative path forward to success, but can also offer valuable insights into what works with your prospects.
You’ve heard the expression, “fortune favors the bold?” Well, that’s because boldness and taking risks can get you noticed, where others may fly under the radar.
Taking risks can help you get noticed by others in your industry or organization. When you take on challenging projects or roles, you increase the likelihood of gaining visibility and recognition for your work, which can lead to increased opportunities, networking, and career advancement.
No one likes being left with a heap of “what ifs”. We often regret the risks we didn’t take more than the ones we did. By taking calculated risks, you are giving yourself a chance to pursue your goals and aspirations, and you are less likely to wonder later in life what could have happened if you had taken that chance.
There will always be risks in your professional career – some worth taking, some not. However, don’t resign yourself to never taking any calculated risks. There are lots of reasons why a well-planned risk could be in your favor.
We all have a choice when we are not happy or fulfilled. We can wallow in our misery, or we can choose to make a change. We can continue to feel trapped, diminished, and overwhelmed, or we can choose a road travelled by those we admire.
Call it following your dreams. Call it taking a leap of faith. Call it whatever you want – there’s a moment when pursuing your goals where, to change your life, you need to step past the point of no return.
That can be a scary prospect, especially for those of us who are calculated, thoughtful decision makers.
However, sometimes the hesitancy to take that fortuitous step forward can be the stumble that gets in the way of your success. That hesitancy, called ‘your comfort zone’, keeps you where you are right now.
In this article, we look at what it takes to really change your life. We will challenge you. Are you serious about your own complaints, your own unsettled concern for your future, your own need for accomplishment before you’re dead? Ouch, that’s blunt.
Renowned Louisiana painter, Walter Anderson, once said, “It is only when we take chances, when our lives improve.”
Let’s break this down. You’ve spent long hours thinking about what you want out of life. You’ve weighed the pros and cons, done a lot of self-reflection, and attempted to settle on a path forward you think would best suit you. Rather than work for the same boss, the same company, and the same old routine that, albeit stable, isn’t serving you anymore, you have choices.
The risk you need to take to change your life may not be reckless, but rather, fulfilling. Like Anderson suggests, it’s time to take that chance on improving your life, if you really do want to change your future and your fortunes.
Chances are that the hesitancy holding you back from changing your life is rooted in fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Humans are often powered by a survival instinct that lends itself towards the known and the stable, causing a fear of anything that might shake up our existing routine. Even if shaking it up is exactly what we really want and need.
So, the question is, ‘is our dream just a dream, or do we have the courage to make it reality’?
Some of the factors that cause fear when considering career options include:
You’ve probably heard the moniker, being brave isn’t lacking fear, it’s acting in spite of fear. And that’s true. But it’s easier said than done.
The important part of acting in spite of fear is challenging your thoughts and applying logic. First, to the situation. Then, to your own self-doubt. If you’ve done your research, and judged your own skills and strengths objectively, it’s likely that logic will dissuade most, if not all, your fears.
Ask yourself questions like:
Once you can answer these questions, you’ll find the risks a lot less frightening.
Purpose defeats fear. Find Purpose. Decide.
A second method of dealing with fears is to think about other people you admire. Write down five people you look up to, or where you aspire to be similar. Then reflect on each of them, one at a time. Did they go for it? Did they bust through their fears? They had them too. Did they knock down barriers? Did they take the risk? The answer will be a resounding yes on all counts.
They are no better than you. They just decided. They just went for their quest.
What is your quest – more money, freedom, security, time for yourself and family, control of your future?
Most of us spend our lives working for other people’s gain. That’s usually not our dream. Often times, we are living something less than our dream to create a stable income, when our families depend on us, when loans need paying off, and so on. However, if you are serious about changing your lot, and if you’ve reached a point in your career where you have the means and the path to make a bet on your dreams, you owe it to yourself to try. Maybe it’s even your duty.
That is, if changing your life really is important to you.
Two-thirds of full-time workers experience burnout on the job. While our typical image of a worker suffering burnout might be a doctor, nurse, or therapist, this is a big problem in the corporate world as well. As it turns out, mismanaged corporations are a huge cause behind workplace burnout, and there is little the professional working for them can do if they choose to stay.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “burnout is a special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.”
The World Health Organization calls it a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
Burnout is not considered a medical diagnosis, but an “occupational phenomenon.” Meaning, while certain people may be more likely to become burnt out, the fault does not lie inherently with the person, but is connected to their work.
UC Berkeley psychologist and the world’s foremost burnout expert, Dr. Christina Maslach, describes the antithesis of burnout as ‘work engagement’ or “a persistent, positive affective‐motivational state of fulfillment…”
Think of a job you’ve loved in the past. It didn’t necessarily exclude stress or working long, tiring days – in fact, some of the best positions require all of that. However, the measures taken by your management or employer to keep you motivated and engaged in that work were likely much more successful than a job you’ve hated.
We can understand burnout by thinking of everyone we work with, and ourselves, as having two sliding scales; one for satisfaction, and the other for dissatisfaction. Rather than satisfaction and dissatisfaction being opposites, they can work alongside each other, building up quite the reserve of frustration in an individual.
So, while a person’s passion and motivation to do their job well (satisfaction) might be high, the lack of their fundamental needs being met – lack of sufficient salary, personal time off, safe work environment, etc. – (dissatisfaction), might eventually overwhelm their motivation, leading to burnout. With burnout, it’s often a case of being a frog in a slow-to-boil pot; the employee might not notice their dissatisfaction all at once, because it’s a gradual, building process.
This begs the question, what are the main irritants that lead to the pot boiling over? A Gallup study of nearly 7,500 full-time employees sought to answer this exact question. It found the following to be the five most common causes of workplace burnout:
The biggest takeaway from the Gallup study is that burnout is not inevitable. The findings emphasized that leaders “can prevent – and reverse – burnout by changing how [they] manage and lead [their] employees.” Meaning, if you’re suffering from burnout, and the onus is completely on you to change and get better, without any consideration from your workplace as to its role in the matter, you likely won’t find the relief you need in your current position.
Unfortunately, most treatment for burnout is aimed, ultimately, at getting the individual to return to the workplace with successful performance. This is not always congruous with what is best for the individual or what will prevent burnout from recurring.
If you’re suffering from burnout, and you find that your organization is unwilling to change, the hard truth is that you may not find relief. Leaving may be the best option for your overall health and wellbeing. Until corporate culture can adjust to meet its employees’ needs, businesses will continue to see turnover and burnout impacting their bottom line.
The term “recession proof” refers to industries and companies that are well insulated from the negative impact of an economic downturn. Traditionally, businesses that are least impacted by a recession are those dealing in essential services. Health care, grocery stores, senior care, maintenance – critical services that you just can’t do away with when trimming the fat.
There are plenty of steps that any business can take to help guard against recession, and one of the key ones is the concept of pay as you go. In other words, tying your business expenses to matching sales. If your business needs supplies, you pay for them from the sales generated within the same period the supplies last.
In a pay as you go model, lower overall expenses means fewer required sales to stay in the black. That’s why Schooley Mitchell is recession proof: Our services are just as relevant – if not more so – during a recession as they are in times of plenty.
Schooley Mitchell reduces business expenses for our clients, and there is no fee to do so. There is only a share of the savings. When business is good, our clients are focused on sales, growth, expansion – and expansion isn’t cheap. We help them optimize their expenses so their money can go towards building their business instead of in the pockets of their vendors.
When business is tough, they’re focused on weathering the storm. The most critical tenet in the recession proofing handbook is to carefully manage your expenses. After all, expenses come off the bottom line, which means a dollar saved is worth more than a dollar earned.
There are many cost-cutting initiatives that have negative impacts on the sustainability and growth of an organization – reducing product development, laying off staff or increasing prices of goods and services can be detrimental to the long-term health of a company. However, by reducing essential business service expenses, businesses are able to increase their profits without affecting the revenue-generating aspects of their business.
In other words, Schooley Mitchell’s services are critical during recession because they give businesses room to breathe. They save jobs, keep prices reasonable, and help maintain continuity. Schooley Mitchell is 100 percent elastic to economic conditions. Businesses will always want to reduce their expenses and save time dealing directly with their vendors. Schooley Mitchell also provides critical decision-making knowledge directly to our clients, and the security that comes along with knowing an independent business with marketplace clout is on their side of the table.
We know consumers care about sustainable shipping methods when online shopping. Recent studies have found that not only are as many as 69% of consumers willing to pay more for sustainable options, but nearly 50% of consumers have found an increased interest in sustainability in the past year.
So, it may be in your business’ best interest to consider how you could make your shipping packaging more sustainable. But how expensive and realistic is that thought? In this article, we take a look.
How much does sustainability mean to consumers?
While consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly options, there is a limit. The majority of consumers who answered that they would pay more were willing to pay up to 5% more. Only 4% were willing to pay 20% more.
What does this mean for your business? While a commitment to sustainable shipping options is becoming increasingly important to your customer relations and brand reputation, you are limited in how much of the cost of implementing those changes you can expect to recoup.
When planning how to increase the sustainability of your shipping packaging, keeping this cost-benefit metric in mind will be important.
There are several ways to make your shipping methods more eco-friendly.
The thought of making significant changes to your shipping processes can be daunting, especially if there is extra cost involved. However, there are various solutions for your packaging’s sustainability, and not all of them come with a big price tag.
Reduce package sizing/excess packaging.
It’s always a little ridiculous when a big box arrives on your doorstep with a tiny item surrounded by heaps of plastic inside. It feels wasteful.
One way your business can increase sustainability without significantly increasing costs is by optimizing package sizing and reducing excess materials. Smaller packaging creates less waste and reduces any shipping fees that are charged by dimension. Excess packaging inside your parcel or box, beyond what is needed to protect the contents of your shipment, is also an unnecessary expense that often ends up generating trash.
Use recyclable materials where possible.
Depending on your packaging options, recyclable materials may actually be a less expensive option than their alternatives. Cardboard boxes, for example, are as much as $15 USD cheaper than their plastic alternatives of the same dimensions. The opposite can be true of filler materials, though. Plastic packing peanuts, for example, tend to be less expensive than shredded kraft paper. However, re-examining your packaging and cutting down on excesses may reduce your need for expensive filler.
When it comes to recyclable materials, some solutions may be more cost-effective than others. Doing your research, talking to vendors, and examining how much of that cost you can put on your customers will help you determine what is the best choice for your business.
Increase customer awareness.
With a little ingenuity, this is a very cost-effective option to reduce shipping waste. You can encourage customers to reuse or recycle packaging by including messages or symbols that highlight the recyclability or reusability of the packaging. For example, you can use packaging that can be easily repurposed or include instructions for how customers can recycle or reuse the packaging. This is not only a potentially creative way to connect with customers, but also helps educate them on the materials they, as consumers, are using.
Implement reviews of your shipping environment.
Regularly review and audit your packaging processes to identify areas where you can further reduce waste and improve sustainability. You can seek feedback from customers, employees, and stakeholders to identify opportunities for improvement.
In conclusion…
Transitioning to more sustainable business options can improve your reputation and relationship with your customers – but it doesn’t have to break the bank.
Self-doubt is a huge obstacle many of us have to face, whether it be as an employee or a business owner. It can prevent us from taking important steps forward, impact performance, and can even negatively affect the way others view us. While a degree of self-doubt and insecurity is a part of being human, letting it hold you back from success helps no one.
In this issue of the Pulse, we look at self-doubt in business and how to combat it.
Doubt is a lack of trust, certainty, or conviction; in the case of self-doubt, that’s directed inward. Even if, on some level, you’re aware of your skills and assets, there’s an underlying nagging sense that you’re not going to succeed or you can’t accomplish your goals.
There are many potential culprits behind a person’s self-doubt:
There are a lot of reasons why a person might be generally insecure, but when it comes to someone’s career, these factors are certainly counterproductive.
On top of it being simply unpleasant, there are a lot of ways self-doubt is holding you back when it comes to business. Here are just a handful of the consequences to self-doubt in business:
All these facets are incredibly important to business success. Sharp, rational decision making is a crucial skill for any businessperson. Confidence and self-esteem are often needed to make successful pitches or stay afloat during hard times, while increased anxiety and stress can lead to the opposite. Personal growth is tantamount to growing your career, and fostering strong relationships is also critical in that process.
All of this to say, in order to thrive, you need to find a way to combat self-doubt.
If you’re caught in a loop of self-doubt – maybe it’s about a business decision, or maybe it’s anxiety before a pitch to a prospect – you have to stop and identify the source.
Are you focusing on a similar time in the past that went poorly? Do you not have enough information to move forward comfortably? Are you, in general, paralyzed by a fear of failure? All of these are valid concerns – but can be addressed productively to move forward.
If the issue is that you just don’t feel like you have enough details to comfortably move forward in a given business scenario, then combat your doubt with information as your weapon.
Educate yourself on any relevant topics, seek details and clarifications, and answer any questions you might have that could be contributing to your self-doubt.
Easier said than done, right? Well, chances are, if you were able to remember everything neutrally, there would be a higher number of times when things went well compared to when things went poorly. While our brains are easily drawn to the bad, if you take the time to list all the times things went well, where you succeeded and achieved your goals, you’ll find confidence comes a bit more naturally.
If you’re stuck in the limbo of self-doubt and indecision, rip off the band-aid. Break the anxious thought loop, and do what needs to be done.
Dealing with self-doubt is a universal human experience. Chances are there are other people in your circle who have experienced the same thing. Whether it be a close friend, a family member, a peer, or a colleague you can trust, opening up and talking about your self-doubt can be the first step in resolving it.
The important thing to remember is to choose people who will be honest with you about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as challenge you to take those next steps and get outside your comfort zone, not hold you back.
Falling prey to self-doubt – while a normal human experience – only holds you back when it comes to business. Finding strategies to combat it will improve your confidence and decision making capacity, all while opening you up to new opportunities.
Have you ever stood at the pump and wondered why people pay more for diesel fuel and what its advantages might be? Whether your business is trying to decide between gasoline or diesel for your fleet, or you’re just genuinely curious about the difference between the two fuels, in this article, we break it down.
Both fuels are what can be found at your typical gas station and are used in internal combustion engines. However, they have different chemical makeups and ignite differently.
Gasoline – or petrol – is made from the crude oil petroleum, and is designed to burn quickly and cleanly in spark-ignition engines. While diesel is also made from petroleum, it contains a different hydrocarbon composition, and is designed to burn slowly and efficiently in compression-ignition engines.
Diesel typically costs more than petrol gasoline these days, so what are the advantages to using it? Here are some of the benefits to diesel fuel:
Many vehicles are also made for diesel due to the benefits of a diesel engine. These include:
There has been a lot of controversy over which fuel – diesel or petrol gasoline – is better for the environment. While neither of them are as clean as, say, an electric vehicle, it is still important to consider which fuel burning process makes less of a negative impact.
For a long time, diesel was considered to be more environmentally friendly due to its higher fuel efficiency. However, in recent years, research has found that diesel engines emit a more polluted exhaust than their gasoline counterparts, resulting in governments considering banning diesel engines for densely populated areas altogether.
Today, the largest concern with diesel engines remains the use of older vehicles, as newer vehicles are typically manufactured to meet current emissions standards.
There is no one-size-fits-all right answer to this question. Whether diesel or gasoline engine vehicles make the most sense for your business is going to depend on what you do, how far your fleet drives, and where it is driving.
For example, a restaurant with a delivery driver in an urban area would likely be best to use gasoline vehicles. However, a fleet of long-haul trucks would likely save money on fuel and repairs by using diesel vehicles.
Petrol gasoline and diesel are both petroleum-based fuels, differentiated by the way they burn in different engines. While there are many benefits to diesel, there are environmental concerns with its emissions, as well. Whether or not your business should use diesel is truly dependent on your unique circumstances.
Feeling overloaded with collaboration? This fascinating new TED Talk, by collaboration pioneer Rob Cross, examines how to be a team player without burning yourself out.
