Improving Teamwork Effectiveness

The best ways to improve teamwork effectiveness in a modern work environment are to open up the lanes of communication and allow employees to work on what they find interesting. Common office design for the last two decades has involved separating individual employees with walls, doors, and tiny cubicles with no space for visitors; this stifles the communication and idea-sharing between employees that allow creative growth and productivity. According to Desiree J. Hanford of Facilitiesnet.com "when it comes to fostering teamwork, there's no one template that applies across all organizations. But more and more companies are pushing harder and harder to encourage open communication and spontaneous idea sharing." This involves tearing down the walls and doors in the office and creating common areas for different parts of the team to "run into each other" such as a break room or the drinking fountains. When your designers are working closely with your programmers, products will improve as a result.

Assigning employees to tasks regardless of interest level tends to result in team members who are disinterested or not putting in a lot of effort; the remedy is to allow employees to choose what projects they work on. This does have potential downsides depending on your company and may not fit every situation; however, the game developer Valve has exploited this idea very successfully. "Each person decides individually what he or she wants to work on. This freedom doesn’t just apply to choosing day to day tasks, but even in selecting and forming teams and projects. The desks at Valve are all on wheels, enabling workers to move to new projects as they see fit." says Jeff Wofford of jeffwofford.com. Valve has become famous for it's high quality products, and an open and collaborative environment are a big part of the reason why.


References:

Hanford, D. J. (2012, August). Collaborative Workspaces Encourage Communication, Idea Sharing, Flexibility. Retrieved March 6, 2013, from Facilitiesnet: http://www.facilitiesnet.com/designconstruction/article/Collaborative-Workspaces-Encourage-Communication-Idea-Sharing-Flexibility--13385#

Wofford, J. (2012, May 2). Is Valve Too Good to be True? Retrieved March 6, 2013, from Holy Ghost Stories: http://www.jeffwofford.com/?p=943

What Can Professional Blogs Do for Businesses?

Creating a blog is a very cost effective alternative to a full website. According to  Chris MacKechnie from the Houston Chronicle "A simple but professional website can usually be produced starting at $2,500, plus basic Web hosting". A simple website provides little more functionality than a free blog. For a small business owner, every penny counts; from this point of view, a blog is a very appealing option. Most small businesses don't need a complex website when they start out, they just need a tool to put their name out there and provide information about their company; a blog is the most cost-effective way to do that.

References:

MacKechnie, C. (n.d.). The Average Price of a Small-Business Website. Retrieved February 19, 2013, from Small Business - Chron.com: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/average-price-small-business-website-3203.html

What Can Professional Blogs Do For Businesses

Blogs can be an incredibly useful tool for small business owners to provide the consumer a direct insight into their company that would otherwise be impossible because 1) easy to use; 2) they can promote your company's name on the internet when you cannot afford a full website; and 3) they provide a way to share information that customers want to know e.g. a compilation of all of the facts Snapple puts on the bottom of their bottle caps such as the compilation found on http://mysnapplerealfacts.blogspot.com/.

Blogging sites such as Google's Blogger, Wordpress, and Livejournal make it easy for business owners to create a presence on the web. You don't need to learn any HTML to create a blog; you just need to be able to type on a keyboard and point a mouse. The signup process for a blog is simple, you just fill out some basic information about yourself, pick a layout and color theme, and name your blog; from there, its just a matter of creating interesting content for your customers to read.

Creating a blog is also a very cost effective alternative to a full website. According to  Chris MacKechnie from the Houston Chronicle "A simple but professional website can usually be produced starting at $2,500, plus basic Web hosting". A simple website provides little more functionality than a free blog. For a small business owner, every penny counts; from this point of view, a blog is a very appealing option. Most small businesses don't need a complex website when they start out, they just need a tool to put their name out there and provide information about their company. 

Sharing information about your company is an excellent way to connect with your customers. For example, Snapple became quite popular due partly to the fun facts they would put under their bottle lids. Creating a compilation of these facts was likely a lot of fun for the customers. Other businesses share insights into their technical processes that make customers more receptive to their product, and others share tips and tricks about their product.

There is no doubt that Blogs can be an excellent benefit to small business owners. Blogs won't be a good fit for all situations, however, for the majority of small business owners a blog is the perfect solution to give them a web presence when they first start their company. Once the business is successful it will likely need more functionality, but it will probably be able to pay for a full website by then.

References

MacKechnie, C. (n.d.). The Average Price of a Small-Business Website. Retrieved February 19, 2013, from Small Business - Chron.com: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/average-price-small-business-website-3203.html

myhumbleopinion. (2009, 12 27). Snapple Real Facts. Retrieved February 19, 2012, from Blogger: http://mysnapplerealfacts.blogspot.com/