Dear Ritz-Carlton: When customers don’t like attention and want to be private, how can you give them excellent service? Answer from Jennifer Blackmon, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: At The Ritz-Carlton, we have a concept that assists our employees—also known as our Ladies and Gentlemen—in understanding the "unexpressed" needs of our customers. This concept or mnemonic device is "Radar On and Antenna Up," and it reminds us to be alert and intuitive. To successfully serve others it is imperative that we can feel where the customer is in the service experience—whether it is verbalized or not. This is especially true when discreet service is wanted. There are few customers that will come right out and state, "Please stop speaking to me." Consequently, through our "Radar On Antenna Up" training we show, through example, how to read body language, tone of voice and facial expressions. If you are truly paying attention to these customer clues, it is not difficult to quickly recognize when someone would prefer to be left alone. This is also an exceptional customer service experience. Often the "WOW" is expected to be this engaging, amazing moment, but many times a knowing nod, eye contact and simple quiet can be just as impactful. ∞ Join us for a one-day symposium, "Your Journey to Service Excellence." The day includes a keynote speaker, a Q&A session with The Ritz-Carlton executive panel, an optional networking reception and presentations about legendary service, employee engagement and developing a customer-centric culture. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Customers who want privacy? appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

I’m the product marketing manager for GoToMeeting, and one of the most exciting and satisfying aspects of my job is when I interact with our amazing customers and find out that they’re just as passionate about this product as we are here at Citrix. Interviewing Wendy Lea, CEO of Get Satisfaction, was a spectacular insight into how she and her company use GoToMeeting with HDFaces every day, from communicating with customers face to face to taking on the next stages of growing their business. As a marketer, you thrive on key customer insights - they are the best and most honest testament of how your product helps. With GoToMeeting, we’ve seen people communicate better and get more quality out of the time they spend collaborating in online meetings. Interviewing Wendy for our customer-focused Meeting Is Believing campaign was nothing short of enlightening. Wendy opens up our newest TV commercial by stating, "We believe that good relationships make good business - and from that trust gets created." This is apparent in everything Get Satisfaction does: building customer communities that drive actual business results. By creating simple and engaging environments where customers can interact, make suggestions and answer their questions, Get Satisfaction helps companies acquire new customers, reduce support costs and drive product innovation.  The interview itself began with Wendy, a brilliant, fun and energetic leader, quipping (in a sweet drawl), "I’m on GoToMeeting all day. What else do you want me to say?" Could we live with just that simple statement? I was tempted. Our product is all about simplicity after all. But she continued to share more, talking about her passion for collaboration and getting face-to-face contact in an increasingly distributed and disconnected world. Her sales and services teams also use GoToMeeting regularly to build trust with their client base. Doug Nugent, VP of customer success, spoke intently to us about how Get Satisfaction employees need to share not only their screens in real time but also their expressions of enthusiasm, perfectly communicated to clients in high-definition video. Wendy also talked about working with her internal groups and getting commitments from her teams. She told me, "It’s easy to hide behind an email or telephone." How many times have your projects failed because commitments were not made authentically? Companies require trust and commitment every day. That’s what GoToMeeting does for Get Satisfaction. "With GoToMeeting, it’s so much easier to get work done faster and get that reaction in real time," she said. That day, my conversation with the leaders at Get Satisfaction left me in a certain kind of marketing awe - I heard first-hand how GoToMeeting has a huge positive impact on daily business. Communicating the diverse ways in which this impact happens can only be accomplished when we see the value through the stories of our innovative customers and how they use GoToMeeting. Visit the Meeting Is Believing website to see how our other customers, such as Angie’s List and Mindjet, evolve their businesses using GoToMeeting with HDFaces in their own way. And starting this week, be sure to tune in and see Get Satisfaction’s story in our Meeting Is Believing television commercials! And last but absolutely not least, do you want to share your experiences as a GoToMeeting customer? We’d love to have you join the conversation on our community site, because, who knows, your story could be on TV some day!    

Each month, The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center (RCLC) features an interview with an employee—also known as a Lady or Gentleman of The Ritz-Carlton—in order to share an insider’s view of the organization. This month’s interview is with Abner Nelms, 34-year veteran Doorman and Driver at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead in Atlanta. RCLC: Please talk a little about your role with our organization and how long you’ve been with The Ritz-Carlton. Mr. Nelms: I have been at The Ritz-Carlton since January 1984—that’s over 31 years. I work in guest services and have for my whole career here. I’ve worked inside as a bellman, but most of my career was working as a doorman up front. Most recently, in addition to working as a doorman, I’ve worked as a driver. RCLC: Can you share why you’ve chosen to work at The Ritz-Carlton for so long? What do you enjoy about working here? Mr. Nelms: Well, there are a lot of things I enjoy about working here! If I go back in time, I was one of the first people to be hired. The neat thing about our property is that it’s the first Ritz-Carlton to open in the modern brand—so it was really an honor and it was exciting. It’s good to be part of the beginning of something—especially something that’s so successful because back then, we only had two hotels in the whole company. At that time, I had worked for other hotel properties, small properties, but you know when The Ritz-Carlton came along, it was like something I had always dreamed of working for—a real, "first class," luxury hotel. So I think I was just at the right place at the right time. Other opportunities have come up, but when you’re working for the best hotel company in the business at that time, probably in the world, I never thought about leaving—at least not to go to work for another hotel. RCLC: What do you value about the culture of The Ritz-Carlton? Mr. Nelms: I would have to say that all the things that the company has put in place: Gold Standards, all our Service Values and everything. I was in my thirties when I started working for the company, and I’m in my sixties now. When I think back, I see that the culture has taught us how to be gentlemen, how to behave. RCLC: What does customer service mean to you? Mr. Nelms: What does customer service mean? Wow, it means a lot of things! I feel that customer service is serving a customer or guest in the manner that they want to be served, that they want to be taken care of. I say that because I have been in some customer service situations where it didn’t go well, and when you’re in a customer service business, you’re well aware of when you’re not getting good customer service. Right? So that’s what it means—taking care of a customer the way they want to be taken care of. RCLC: Have you built relationships with customers throughout the years? Mr. Nelms: Most definitely! At The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, we’ve been there so long, not only have we built long-term relationships with the guests, but we’ve built long-term relationships with their children. Sometimes I’ll see a long-term guest that is arriving and being taken care of and the person that is taking care of them might not recognize them, and then they’ll ask them a question like "have you ever stayed here before?" and if I get the chance, I’ll always go over and greet them myself, recognize them and then introduce them to the employee that doesn’t recognize them. I kind of tease them, and I introduce them as a "Charter Member." "Oh yeah, Mr. Johnson, he’s a Charter Member, he’s part of the beginning!" We do have a lot of guests that have been staying with us for the entire time. It’s always fun because it gives me the opportunity to connect with that guest, that long-term guest. RCLC: Are there any memorable customer experiences (WOW moments) that you would like to share? Mr. Nelms: There are so many! Immediately when I think about WOW stories, I feel like I’m the one that was probably WOWed by the person I was taking care of. One moment comes to mind: a lot of people who come to our hotel are here on business, and they never get a chance to really get outside of the Buckhead area. Sometimes they think that that’s all Atlanta, right? Just that concrete area. We have the Atlanta History Center and that brings people to Buckhead, so these guests I was driving did break away long enough to go see the History Center. On the way back, I said to them "if you have a moment, I’ll take a little scenic route that will take us back to the hotel. It will only take us 10-15 minutes," they wanted to do that—so I showed them the neighborhood that they never had a chance to see. They talked about it, and they were so excited because they had read about it in books and saw pictures in magazines. We have an area, the West Paces Ferry area, where our Governor’s Mansion is, as well as a lot of antebellum homes and properties with rolling hills and magnolia trees. There’s a particular mansion where parts of Gone with the Wind were filmed. I was just amazed at how excited they were about it. So it really made me feel good, and they didn’t even really know about that part of our town—so that’s probably the most memorable. I enjoy doing that, introducing people to things like The Swann House, the most photographed house in Atlanta. I think I was just as WOWed as they were. They WOWed me! RCLC: Have you had to deal with upset customers? If so, any advice on the best way to handle this? Mr. Nelms: Like we were saying about what customer service means, the best way to handle an upset guest is first of all to listen, empathize and see what their problem is. Especially to listen, you have to let them vent, let them get it all out and then be thinking, anticipating, what you can do to help. Then I will ask them, "what can I do to help in this situation?" I’ve been in that situation before, and fortunately, I’ve had the resources to help people. We’ve had situations when people’s limousine transportation didn’t show up, and they were stressed out so we were able to put them in our vehicle and take them to their appointment—even though it was outside of the usual area where we typically go. They’re always wild about that. RCLC: What are a few of the customer service lessons you’ve learned over the last three decades? Mr. Nelms: You have to listen to people—listen to them and remain pleasant. Don’t allow yourself to get upset since a lot of times we deal with so many different kinds of personalities. Sometimes when people are upset, they want you to get upset. That’s the most important thing I have learned to do is to listen and then be thinking how you can assist them. "What can I do to make this better?" That’s what people want to hear in a customer service situation. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post Our Ladies and Gentlemen: Abner Nelms, The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Productivity at work is a subject close to my heart and something I’ve written about before. But everyone’s approach to work is different, and each of us will have unique ways and means of maintaining our productivity. That’s why we’ve created the Productivity Generator, to give tips that should help anyone perform at his or her best the entire day. The generator measures your energy, creativity, organization, motivation and wellbeing, asking how you’re feeling about each. It then provides you simple, practical advice for boosting these areas - whether that’s having a healthy snack or trying to mix up your daily routine. Once you’ve explored all five areas, the Productivity Generator will produce a custom infographic for you to use that you can even share with colleagues. Give it a try and let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @GoToMeetingUK.

Today we have a guest post from Bob Hanson. Bob is the President of lead generation and conversion consultancy at Quantum Leap Marketing and creator of the Must-See Webinars™ success system. To get a free chapter of the guide "How to Create and Run a Winning Webinar Series" or to request a no-obligation consultation on creating successful webinars, email Bob at bhanson@qlmarketing.com or go to www.yourcuttingedgemarketingtips.com. It may not come as a surprise that a new survey conducted by our company, Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc. (QLM), revealed that online events are now the default choice for marketing, training and internal communication events for small and medium-sized organizations. After all, in any economy, smaller companies are looking for ways to do more with less. The survey results revealed that in-person seminars and trade shows cost 4 times more than marketing webinars do; likewise, in-person training costs 7 times more than online training does. In addition, 92 percent of organizations that participated in the survey plan to hold an online event in 2013, and 20 percent plan on adding marketing webinars to their repertoire. Here’s another reason for online events moving up into the default choice: the use and adoption of video is on the rise in the business world. Over 75 percent of webinar producers are considering or planning on using video in their online events this year. And here’s why: The majority of learning happens visually - some estimate that as much as 80 percent of learning is visual - so the increased adoption of video in online events means better education and information retention. In online events, most presenters and attendees prefer face-to-face interaction, and online video offers that. The availability and use of consumer video conferencing has lead to increased usage in business-use cases, too. Video offers a more personal and engaging online environment, helping event coordinators effectively reach a wider market than they could in person. All these factors suggest that we can expect video adoption to continue driving more online events and pushing the ROI of those events even higher when we survey webinar producers again next year. Download The ROI of Online Events for 2013 eBook.

"The biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work." - Charles Kettering, American Inventor The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: One of the common questions asked in a job interview is, "What does success look like in this position?" While that is an important question, an equally important question is, "What will happen if I fail?" You may not want to ask that in a job interview—because you don’t want to suggest that you may fail. However, how your organization handles failure could impact your success. When you start a new job, your learning curve is huge, and it’s likely that you will fail many times when you are first starting. For example, you may set a time frame for a goal that is reasonable from your past experience but unachievable in this new work environment where the red tape is harder to penetrate. Will your fledgling failures be seen as learning opportunities? Or will you retreat from taking risks? At The Ritz-Carlton, there are two Service Values that encourage our employees—known as our Ladies and Gentlemen—to feel secure when exploring new territory. One Service Value states, "I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve The Ritz-Carlton experience," and the other Service Value notes, "I have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow." These two Service Values give our Ladies and Gentlemen permission to take on new risks and hopefully, learn from failing intelligently. As Charles Kettering points out, we often find out what works when we eliminate what doesn’t work. How does your organization guide new employees from mistakes to achievements? ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton.  The Blog Post Inspired Thinking: Fail Intelligently appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Today we have a guest post from Stephanie Brennan. Take a minute to look around your office. How many computers are on? How many lights? Do you think the copy machine has ever been unplugged? What temperature would you guess is on the thermostat? According to the Energy Information Administration, offices consume more energy than any other type of building, and the U.S. Department of Energy expects this consumption to increase in the coming years. When we try to think of ways to shrink our carbon footprints, we usually think of how we get to work, not how work gets to the environment.  But even if you carpooled or rode your bike to cut your CO2 emissions, your office would continue to be a huge energy guzzler. Still, you have to go to work, right? Wrong! Work is not a place. It’s a thing you do. So why not do the thing you do wherever you want? How about a place where you can control the thermostat and install energy efficient light bulbs like, say, your own home? As mentioned in a previous workshifting.com post, if everyone worked from home just half of the time, each year we could each save hundreds of dollars at the pump, collectively cut spending on foreign oil by $23 billion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 53 million metric tons. And that’s just the "get to work" part of the equation. If employees worked from home - even just a few days each month - office buildings could give the environment some deserved vacation days, turning off the air conditioning or heating, reducing electricity usage and curtailing the financial and environmental costs of running the office at full power. What about the energy used by the workshifters at home, you say? True, they have to have lights, heat and computers, too. But they don’t have vast empty conference rooms to heat or cool, copy machines on all day or industrial strength lighting. All in all, I think a home office is pretty Earth friendly compared to an office building. What do you think? Photo Credit: Ben Heine via Compfight cc

Dear Ritz-Carlton: What happens if an employee does not fit into The Ritz-Carlton culture? The above question is from an attendee at "Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence" in April. The following answer is from John Cashion, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: The Ritz-Carlton works very hard at selecting the top 1% in the service industry. We pride ourselves on ensuring that we take the process (which is very robust) very seriously. We work to select our employees—known as our Ladies and Gentlemen— who naturally align themselves with our culture. With that being said, there are times when our Ladies and Gentlemen do not fit into The Ritz-Carlton culture. When this happens, we must work to develop them. We invest in our Ladies and Gentlemen through coaching, mentoring and training. We feel that this investment will strengthen their desire to grow and develop and help them better understand The Ritz-Carlton brand. We are very passionate about our culture. Our written philosophy—which is called the "Credo"—is a Latin word for "I Believe." All of our Ladies and Gentlemen must believe in our service culture, or it will not work. If they don’t believe in what it stands for, they cannot provide the true meaning of Ritz-Carlton service.∞ Join us for a one-day symposium, "Your Journey to Service Excellence." The day includes a keynote speaker, a Q&A session with The Ritz-Carlton executive panel, an optional networking reception and presentations about legendary service, employee engagement and developing a customer-centric culture. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: What happens if an employee does not fit into The Ritz-Carlton culture? appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Toady we have a guest post from Ashley Verrill. Ashley is a market analyst at Software Advice. She has spent the last six years reporting and writing business news and strategy features. Her work has appeared in myriad publications including Inc., Upstart Business Journal, the Austin Business Journal and the North Bay Business Journal. Before joining Software Advice in 2012, she worked in sales management and advertising. She is a University of Texas graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Email marketing to a house list, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media (not ads) are the most popular lead generation channels with business-to-business marketers, according to research firm Software Advice.  I recently released the results of the 2012 B2B Demand Generation Benchmark Survey. The report shows marketers increasingly prefer digitally focused channels. About 98 percent of the sample uses email marketing to a house list, for example, versus just 50 percent using radio, television and print advertising. SEO was the second most popular with about 94 percent of the sample using this channel, followed by social media (not ads) with about 88 percent of the group. Trade shows were the exception to the digital trend, with about 87 percent of the sample using this lead conduit. The digital focus was also apparent when marketers were asked about the success of each channel, as far as producing quality and quantities of leads. Both search engine advertising and in-house email marketing ranked in the top three for quantity of leads, with 73 percent calling these channels medium to high quantity. These channels utilize inbound marketing tactics that draw prospects to you with content and optimized web search. These methods allow you to specify the kind of traffic you drive to your site and therefore only attract those leads most likely to buy from you. These tactics also allow more focused results tracking, so marketers can consistently tweak their content audience, optimization tactics and paid search. For similar reasons, in-house email marketing also topped the list for quality with about 89 percent of respondents agreeing that leads from this channel are medium to high quality. Prospects that convert through this method have already raised their hand once and expressed interest in your company by subscribing to your email list, so they are more likely to come back and buy from you. SEO came in second for quality, with about 84 percent describing prospects from this channel as medium to high quality. Again, this ranking is possible because of the ability to target only the most relevant potential buyers. At Software Advice, for example, we focus our optimization around keywords that show high intent to buy software. We target phrases such as "CRM software comparison" more so than "what is CRM software?" because the latter search indicates someone still early on in the research process. In this way, we see the greatest return from SEO because we can choose keywords where the buying intent is clear. Even if the total search traffic might be high for "CRM software," a large percent of people searching that phrase likely aren’t in the market to buy. Quality and quantity were not the only drivers, however, of channel popularity. Cost per lead was also important, the survey showed. Social media, for example, was listed as the lowest cost channel and among the most popular. But the medium did not score high for quality or quantity of leads. This may have a lot to do with hype, but it may also be that social media isn’t just used for lead generation. Many marketers use social media for relationship building and pre-funnel networking. This could be one reason Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media efforts will be a top spending priority this year. About 55 percent of the sample said they will spend more on social media (not ads) next year, while about 53 percent will spend more on social media ads and 52 percent will increase their search engine advertising budget. About the research The survey was conducted over about four weeks in October and November 2012. Researchers received 155 responses from mostly C-level marketers in smaller organizations. See the study results and a breakdown of the sample by business size, marketing budget and seniority.

With the long-awaited promise of summer in the air, we’re inspired to hold another competition! We’re giving away an iPad Mini with a year’s subscription of GoToMeeting so you can harness the power of online meetings wherever you choose work. To enter*, just follow @GoToMeetingUK and tweet this message. Win an iPad Mini with GoToMeeting! To enter, RT and follow @GoToMeetingUK http://bit.ly/17xqwUf #GoToMini Competition bonus! For the duration of the competition, we’ve made it even easier to try GoToMeeting. Sign up for our exclusive free trial of GoToMeeting and enter promo code GoToMini. No credit card details required.    The competition ends on Tuesday, May 10. Good luck!  *This competition is for UK residents only. For full details, read the competition terms and conditions. Photo Credit: @NickyColman via Compfight cc

Studies show that "companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202 percent." That’s a huge impact on your organization! When your employees are engaged, they are more likely to go above and beyond for your customers and patients. In the following guest story, the employee was addressing a customer complaint and was able to not only solve a problem, but turn the situation into a memorable and personal customer experience. Moving a Ruckus to a Rink A Loss Prevention Officer at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto was called to a guest room for a second time after receiving a complaint of children playing hockey in the hallway. He spoke to the children’s mother, and she apologized and promised to keep the children in the room. The Manager of Loss Prevention understood the aspiration of young athletes and decided to find a more creative solution to the problem. He enlisted banquet employees to isolate space in one of the meeting rooms and create a floor hockey rink using banquet tables as a frame for the rinks. During setup, the Manager of Loss Prevention ran to a local sports store and bought two hockey nets, six sticks and hockey balls for the big match. When setup was completed, the Loss Prevention Officer delivered a written invitation to the family, letting them know that in Canada "hockey just isn’t a game, it’s a lifestyle" and that The Ritz-Carlton had a hockey rink for those who wish to play. Further, the Loss Prevention Officer challenged them to a match against the Loss Prevention All-Stars. The children’s father was incredulous that The Ritz-Carlton had a rink and a team on site and vowed they would be down shortly. When the father and son arrived at the meeting space, they were awed by the hockey rink and pronounced "game on!" A Game to Remember The Loss Prevention Supervisor joined the Manager of Loss Prevention and the Loss Prevention Officer to round out the "Loss Prevention All-Stars" and the Guest Services Supervisor joined "Team Family" to even out the odds. The Loss Prevention All-Stars started out with a strong two-point lead. Team Family responded with two goals—one from the son and the other from the father. With the game tied, tensions mounted and the teams played neck and neck for several minutes. The Loss Prevention All-Stars then scored another goal. Team Family stepped up their game and came out in strides of glory—scoring three goals for the win! Hands were shaken and Team Family was invited to return for a rematch anytime. The game was recorded on the Loss Prevention in-house cameras, and Team Family was sent photos of their epic game. From Whoa to Wow In the above story, the Loss Prevention Officer could have knocked on the family’s door, asked them to be quiet and then just gone on with his day. There’s certainly nothing in his job description that requires him to build hockey rinks if needed. Instead, he devised an impromptu hockey match that WOWed and engaged the guests. In the process, he exemplified our Credo by fulfilling an unexpressed wish and enlivened one of our Service Values, "I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests." Engaged and empowered employees have the resources, creativity and drive to craft solutions that let everyone win. ∞ Join us for a one-day symposium, "Your Journey to Service Excellence." The day includes a keynote speaker, a Q&A session with The Ritz-Carlton executive panel, an optional networking reception and presentations about legendary service, employee engagement and developing a customer-centric culture. The Blog Post Guest Story: Personal Customer Experience appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Instant messaging has changed how we communicate in our private lives and when we do business with one another. It serves that important communication need when email is too slow but a call (especially the obligatory phone etiquette) isn’t necessary. It brings us closer together and helps us make decisions faster - an especially important point for dispersed teams. But the potential of IM in business has not been fully realized. Often employees in the same company are using different programs, and often Instant Messaging is not rolled out universally to all employees or even within teams. Let’s not forget your partners and clients outside your company. How do you chat with them? Before long you have to log in to three or four different instant messengers - all disconnected from your real work - just to keep up with all your contacts. As a result, most IM programs become silos of information, and you don’t have all your chat logs in one convenient place. Podio Chat is changing that, and it is out now. (Try it yourself by logging in or signing up at podio.com.) It’s built to bring instant messaging to the source of your work - right where you plan and execute your projects and workflows. You can use it to chat with any of your co-workers and external contacts on Podio without pop-ups or a separate login, and all your chats are stored as ongoing conversations inside Podio, so you never lose valuable input or files you’ve shared. Like other Podio features, Chat works on the web at podio.com and on the mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. So you’re never out of touch with your team when you need them. COMING SOON: Since Podio became part of Citrix, we’ve been working hard to bring the world-class Citrix audio and video technology into Podio. We are happy to report that we will launch ad hoc video conferencing this summer, meaning you can launch face-to-face meetings from right inside Podio. It will be the perfect way to brainstorm ideas, perfect details and make decisions with colleagues that aren’t sharing the same office. Find out more at company.podio.com/chat and get the full product update on the Podio blog.  

History has always fascinated me, and the Pompeii exhibition currently on display at the British Museum got me thinking about how the old Roman society compares to our own. How different their approach to work must have been! As a society, we’re reluctant to consider changing the way we work, yet the way we work is constantly evolving. Believe it or not, working in offices is a recent trend, and although it’s hard to imagine a future without it, just think how alien our modern-day offices would seem to people from ancient Rome. In fact, working from home or a non-office environment has been the norm for most of human history. We still fondly refer to cottage industries, but for many people this was a way of life - their home and work spaces intertwined. Throughout history, the idea of a centralised office where everyone went to work was primarily confined to local and central governments. Offices were somewhere for tax collectors, scribes and other bureaucrats to keep up with the day-to-day business of the administration. Merchants and guilds only adopted the idea of a central hub during the middle ages. The office as we know it, like so much of our modern society, came about as a result of the industrial revolution. The need to keep track of a multi-stage manufacturing process and often complex accounting procedures made a single work site for overseeing a company’s operations necessary. The rise of the office was also facilitated by technology, with the telegram, telephone and typewriter all making these hubs more practical and efficient. This change through technology convinces us at Citrix that our current office environment doesn’t represent an end point. We believe the future working environment will be fundamentally about choice. Each individual employee will decide where is best to work from and what tools are needed to do a job well. For some this will be a spare room at home, for others their local coffee shop. Still more will choose to continue to work from the office, but they may put their own twist on their surroundings. They may opt for a stand-up desk or even no desk at all, working wherever they can find a space and somewhere to charge their laptop. This choice is why we’re committed to developing tools to help you work with your colleagues wherever you are and however you want, whether that’s meeting remotely or collaborating on a shared task list. Photo Credit: deflam via Compfight cc

When GoToMyPC entered the U.S. market over 10 years ago, it was a pioneer in the remote access industry. Since then, we’ve seen American work culture change - as we like to say at Citrix, now "work is not a place; it’s a thing you do." Today, we’re launching GoToMyPC in Japan, and it’s exciting to think about how it could help enable a similar change in work habits for Japanese workers. Citrix will be offering GoToMyPC through our Japanese partners KDDI Corporation and Ascentech K.K., leading distributors of cutting-edge business technology in Japan who will not only deliver the solution to customers but also provide localized customer support. Why now? While KDDI and Ascentech had previously partnered with Citrix to deliver other solutions to the Japanese market, it wasn’t until after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown disaster that the continued business access and disaster recovery capabilities of GoToMyPC became imperative. The scope of 3/11 was the catalyst for KDDI to explore other remote access tools available in the market and they found that GoToMyPC was more robust than the rest. And they realized that other companies would appreciate that robustness as well. All it needed was to be translated into Japanese, which we were happy to do. In addition to their increased awareness of business continuity, Japanese enterprises are very conscious of data security. To ensure proper governance, most of their critical information is stored on desktop machines or servers within the traditional four walls of their company. That’s why when we did live demos of GoToMyPC to our prospective partners, they were most impressed by its screen sharing capability - they liked that they could actually see and interact with their entire desktop and access all the information and functions they needed to work. Our hope is that once businesses in Japan see how GoToMyPC safeguards data, they will consider the benefits of enabling workers to adopt a more mobile workstyle. In a nation where so many people commute long distances, and where so many people carry the latest technology in their pockets, there is a great opportunity to use the GoToMyPC mobile apps to make the most of their time. Then, GoToMyPC could be employed not just as an occasional business continuity tool, but also as an everyday productivity enhancer. What’s next? Today’s launch of GoToMyPC in Japan is part of an ongoing global expansion for Citrix SaaS products. We look forward to continued growth in Europe and Asia, and hope to develop a presence in Brazil in time to help its businesses stay productive through the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Meanwhile, we are eager to see how the Japanese receive GoToMyPC. Perhaps, in a few years their commuter trains won’t be so crowded, thanks to people using GoToMyPC to work remotely, and the people on those trains will be using GoToMyPC to get their work done faster. Photo Credit: Sprengben [why not get a friend] via Compfight cc

I recently found out that if you use GoToMyPC with the voice input feature on your smartphone, you can dictate copy to your host computer. So, instead of trying to type with your thumbs, you talk into your phone and it comes out as text in an email, Word doc, spreadsheet or presentation on your Mac or PC. Pretty cool, huh? This got me thinking - when would you use this "The Jetsons meets Dictaphone" capability? Seems like anytime you only have one hand free would make sense, plus a few other occasions when it simply feels like a good idea. You’re walking the dog. You’re holding onto the pole on the subway/bus. Your other hand is in a cast. You’re eating something you can’t put down (like a pita or ice cream cone). You’re holding a drink at a party. You’re playing cards. You’re holding a baby. You want to impress your date/potential in-laws/boss. You stink at texting. You’re just in too big of a hurry to type. Note that "You’re driving" is not on the list - let’s keep both hands on the wheel, folks. Want to learn more about how it works? Read the GoToMyPC Mobile Voice Input fact sheet. Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds via Compfight cc

Recently, we ran a competition to help people discover the power of online meetings by giving our UK followers the chance to win an iPad mini with a free subscription to GoToMeeting. Judging by the number of entries we received - a lot - this was a very popular prize!  I’m delighted to announce that William Bellis has won our competition. Well done, William! With summer on the way, now is the perfect time to escape the office and discover the benefits of flexible working. Thanks to all who entered. Be sure to look out for our future competitions as well as my regular posts with tips and tricks for maximising productivity. Enjoy the sunshine!   Photo Credit: CalypsoCrystal via Compfight cc

Is there any greater sight in the world of sport than the British and Irish Lions striding onto the field to face off against the Southern Hemisphere’s rugby giants?  Men who would normally find themselves competing against each other suddenly become dear comrades on this all-star team, representing the ultimate triumph of collaboration over competition. For the majority of their careers, these athletes are sworn adversaries who would rather die than share their tactical secrets with their opposition. But for two incredible months, they all pull in the same direction and develop a strategy that will allow them to overcome their opponents. In business, we often set different departments their own targets and expect them to pursue these goals independently. But a modern company is surely better served by working together in pursuit of one overarching goal, with each employee and department focusing on how best they can contribute to the team effort. We should encourage resource sharing and place the use of internal social networks such as Podio at the heart of our wider business strategy. We can achieve a great deal working alone or in small networks, but we can achieve so much more if we are all working as part of one harmonious team. Most importantly, by encouraging an open culture within our company, we can see what other aspects of the business are doing and where we can help out. It also allows us to better identify where specialist skills are when we need them. It’s far better to know that John in HR is also a great amateur photographer when I need shots of a new event than to spend time and money on an external photographer who won’t be as familiar with the company’s approach to business. This ethos can and should extend to the way we deal with our suppliers, freelancers and contractors. Rather than giving them the bare minimum, we should look to share as much information as possible and see what opportunities this opens up. Collaboration and openness are the future of business, and the sooner we recognise this, the larger our headstart on rivals will be. So here’s this week’s challenge to you: the next time you have to tackle a big, new project, take an hour at the outset to figure out what skills or resources other departments within your business may have to offer. Use Podio to establish a discussion around your objectives and how they benefit the wider company, and I’m sure you’ll be amazed by what you can accomplish. Photo Credit: Catching Magic via Compfight cc

Dallas is hot (in more ways than one). The GoToTraining team is here at the ASTD 2013 International Conference and Expo in Dallas amid 90-degree temperatures to rub elbows with about 9,000 fellow learning professionals. If you care about learning but have never been to ASTD, you really should try to make it someday. This year’s speakers include Sir Ken Robinson (his TED talks are extraordinary!) and John Seely Brown of Xerox PARC fame. The exhibit hall is packed with more vendors than I’ve seen at a conference in a long while. We’re camped out in our Citrix booth complete with all of our products, a specialty tea bar and even a lady who reads tea leaves. I’ve yet to get a reading from her, but I’m pretty sure that sore feet are somewhere in my future.  The crowd here is fantastic. I live and work in Silicon Valley, and it is pretty easy for me to get caught in the "tech vendor bubble," so spending time talking to the people who actually use our solutions to do their jobs is always educational. Learning folks are a fun group (really!), and I always have interesting and sometimes challenging conversations at events like this. For example, here at ASTD, we’re spending a lot of time talking about social, collaborative learning. It is an incredibly hot topic in learning circles, and we’re just starting to explore how our customers can leverage Podio, our collaborative work/learning platform, to improve the effectiveness of learning in their organization. I’m a big believer that the most innovative, successful organizations understand that learning is essential to their growth and even their survival. In today’s world, everybody teaches and everybody learns. (I need to trademark that!) We’re going to find out a lot about social, collaborative learning in the real world just from the conversations we are having here at ASTD, and we’re going to share what we discover in a webinar on social learning that we have planned for June 12.  So aside from an aching back (my Fitbit wristband tells me that I’ve walked a little over 5 miles) and some pretty hot weather, ASTD has been a gas. Tomorrow, I’ll share some of the questions and trends we are hearing from conversations on the show floor, but right now, I’m going to go soak my feet.

The top analyst firm IDC recently released their 2012 remote access market report, and once again GoToMyPC is the market leader. GoToMyPC started back in 2001 right at the height of the dot-com implosion, and way before software as a service (SaaS) was cool. In fact, the acronym didn’t even exist until February 2001, when it first appeared in publication. And we’ve been delivering secure, reliable remote access ever since. As GoToMyPC continues to grow and enter new markets, we thought it would be fun to look back on the history of GoToMyPC and the technological and workstyle trends that have helped propel it into a great SaaS success story. Mouse over the infographic below to reveal links to key events in the history of GoToMyPC. Our team is always working hard to build the best remote access service featuring the latest technology, because we understand our customers’ needs are evolving. Some big changes are in development, and soon GoToMyPC will make it even easier for today’s busy professional to work from anywhere.

Festina lente ("make haste slowly") - a simple adage, but one which epitomises the philosophy that was at the heart of the Roman Empire’s success. Planning was the key, with every decision carefully considered in advance and a particular emphasis given to long-term outcomes. The most famous example of this was the Romans’ commitment to town planning, and in particular their insistence on straight roads whenever it was practical. They understood that if they got the basics right, success was sure to follow. This approach, although now an accepted part of history, was not without its challenges. Straight lines are the easiest way from point A to B, but they were far from the norm prior to the Romans. Traditionally, roads and routes followed existing patterns or thousand-year-old hunting tracks, with people preferring tradition over radical change. But an essential part of the planning process, and one that we frequently neglect, is preparing for the long term and acknowledging the initial challenges that may result. In the short term, the Romans recognized that straight roads may make life more difficult for their engineers, who would have to design a whole series of new routes and encourage people to use them. But the Romans reasoned that the long-term gains generated for both their army and trade would be far greater than any short-term discomfort that may be incurred. It’s human nature to avoid short-term pain whenever possible, and this carries over into business, too. No one wants to propose an immediate dip in profits with the promise of future benefits that could be years away. But the sensible business accepts that such projects are not only useful but an occasionally necessary part of growth. The introduction of a new technological structure is often expensive and something we may be reluctant to do, because it offers little immediate benefit and often incurs displeasure from employees who are familiar with existing systems. But avoiding such changes will only cost us more in the long run and leave us flagging behind rivals, who were willing to accept the short-term pain. Change is never easy, but with the right planning, we can make the process as smooth as possible. So take some time this week to figure out where your business wants to be in two, five or even ten years and begin to map out the changes you’ll need to achieve your goals. By planning ahead we can minimise the pain and identify which areas are most in need of renewal. Photo Credit: Rufus Gefangenen via Compfight cc

Today we have a guest post from Bill Cates. Bill is the author of Get More Referrals Now! and Beyond Referrals. Bill helps salespeople and small business owners get more referrals and turn those referrals into new clients. He helps sales organizations boost production through referrals and other sales-generating strategies. You can contact Bill directly at BillCates@ReferralCoach.com. What’s the number one killer of houseplants? Under watering. What’s the number two killer of house plants? Over watering! It’s a balance. And so it is when following up with prospects as you move them through your sales pipeline. How many contacts does it take to convert a prospect into a client? How do we remain professionally persistent without crossing the line and become a pest? It depends. Every sales scenario is different for different industries, products and services. There is both an art and a science to prospecting and selling. The science means having a system to follow so you’re not winging it every time. The art means having the awareness and good judgment to know the right timing of what to do and what to say. Here are three things that I always do when I follow up with my prospects: I work with my prospects beforehand to agree on time frames for my follow-up. Immediately after a phone call or an online meeting ends, I take notes of ideas for what I might say and do next - while the meeting is still fresh in my mind. When I follow up, I always try to lead with value. I send a tips sheet, link to a video or otherwise bring value to my prospect in a way that’s related to what I sell, their business or sometimes a personal interest of theirs. For more tips on making sure you don’t cross the line and become a pest, check out my free report "How to Be Persistent without Being a Pest."   Photo Credit: M.Angel Herrero via Compfight cc

In today’s economy, more and more families are relying on dual incomes, working longer hours and juggling schedules to ensure child care. While fathers may have traditionally held the role of sole breadwinner, modern-day families tend to share responsibilities. As Stephanie Coontz, co-chair of the Council on Contemporary Families, recently told NPR, there’s an increasing number of fathers who both work and are their children’s primary caregivers. "Men today are now reporting higher levels of work-family conflict than women are," Coontz said. They feel "not just pressure, but the desire to be more involved in family life and child care and housework and cooking." So with soccer games to cheer on, dinner to serve and work deadlines to meet, success at work and at home begins with finding the right tools that help create harmony. For Chip Pyfer, a financial planner from the Bay Area, his go-to tool is GoToMyPC. "I use it virtually every day and often multiple times a day," he said. "It’s kind of crucial for my work-life balance." Rather than battling traffic first thing, Chip says he often uses GoToMyPC to access his work files at home, completing odds and ends while also spending mornings with his wife and three children. "It gives me a lot of flexibility to be dialed in working," he said. "I’m absent physically from the office, but people know I’m doing activity because of the software programs I have." Web-based email clients and home word processors can only go so far; for professionals who need to reference sensitive data and secure servers, remote access tools like GoToMyPC enable productivity no matter where they are. So whether it’s getting home in time for dinner or leaving in the middle of the day to attend a school function, GoToMyPC enables Chip to be with his kids at crucial times while still accessing essential programs and files if he needs to work remotely. "If I need to make up time or get work done, I could easily get home, have dinner with the family, throw the baseball around and then dive back into work when the kids go to bed," he said. Attorney Tim Brouillette agrees. Using GoToMyPC has allowed him to maximize time with his family, particularly during the moments he’s set aside specifically for them. Rather than spend vacations distracted with work issues, Tim uses GoToMyPC to check messages and leave instructions for his staff early in the morning, allowing him to confidently disconnect for the remainder of the day. "My time with my family has improved significantly," he writes. "I have used it in Spain, Mexico, Ireland, England and France while on vacation to ‘check in’ to the office before starting my day with my family." For Chip and Tim, Father’s Day may begin with an early morning check-in for work, but it’ll end as a wonderful day with their families. Cheers to you, dads (and moms), for finding ways to achieve workplace success and family harmony. Photo Credit: linsight via Compfight cc

The sun is shining, festival season is upon us and there’s more great sport going on than you can shake a stick at. But with all these distractions, it’s easy to let our productivity levels drop. To help you avoid that summer slump, we’re hosting a networking meet-up on July 17 in Clerkenwell, London. We’ve lined up a great set of speakers, who we know will inspire you to make the most of your summer. Our format of choice is Ignite - a series of fast-paced talks (just 5 minutes per speaker) with 20 slides set to auto-advance.We’ll be joined by a selection of amazing speakers, who combine passion with real-world experience of how the world of work is changing and how we can maximise our personal productivity levels. Our confirmed speakers include: Tom Ball, NearDesk Bernie Mitchell, Engaging People David Clare, One More Life Hack Alex Butler, KindredHQ As well as the inspiring talks, we’ll also be providing a selection of drinks and nibbles to make sure your body is fed as well as your brain. Tickets are free and you can sign up here. I look forward to meeting you all on July 17. Sign up for Productivity Ignite today!

For many of us, our daily commute has become such a normal part of working life that we barely notice it. It is camouflaged by routine. Even so, the average UK worker spends more than five weeks every year solely commuting to and from work. That’s a lot of time. But have you ever wondered how much time (and money) you could save by skipping the daily commute just once or twice - or even more - each week? We did, so we developed a new web app, the GoToMeeting Calculator, to do just that. Simply enter a few details about your work routine, along with how many days you’d like to work flexibly, and it will do the rest. Once you’ve calculated your savings, you’ll be equipped to make the case for flexible working. Why not try it now? Take 60 Working flexibly for just two days a week would give back to the average UK worker a hefty 60 hours per year. Here’s what you could do with the time: Read 52 bedtime stories (15 minutes per story) Go for 10 5km runs (1 hour per run) Prepare 10 healthy home-cooked meals (1 hour per meal) Get 5 massages (1 hour each) Master 5 songs on the ukulele (2 hours per song) Give something back and volunteer for 12 hours What would you do?