(BPT) – Creating efficient work environments is a common goal among executives and office professionals alike. To keep everything running smoothly in the workplace, organization is essential.

A new Post-it Brand Workplace study surveying 1,000 full-time office workers found that a consistent commonality among office professionals, including managers and executives, was a shared desire to increase proficiency surrounding meetings. In fact, on average, professionals feel they attend three unnecessary work meetings per week.

Based on findings from the study, here are some easy and practical tips to make the most of meetings.

Who’s in charge?

Greater organization is needed for meetings to run smoothly. Sixty-three percent of employees feel that meeting leaders frequently lose control and a clear meeting plan helps keep attendees on track. Try writing the meeting objective on a Post-it Easel Pad or Big Pad to keep the purpose front and center and help attendees stay on task. In fact, 51 percent of employees and 64 percent of executives admit they’ve forgotten the purpose of a meeting while in it. A clear, written objective will help everyone stay on topic.

Bring a pen and paper

An overwhelming 56 percent of employees and 79 percent of executives feel that attendees aren’t paying attention if they’re not taking notes. Encourage participants to bring a pen and paper and write down important facts. Post-it Super Sticky Notes make it easy for attendees to jot down key information so they can remember ideas discussed after the meeting concludes.

Small is better

Keep the meeting a manageable size. On average, employees believe productivity in a meeting starts to decline when more than 11 people are in a room. Additionally, 59 percent of employees feel that for brainstorming new ideas or concepts, multiple, smaller meetings are more effective, rather than one large meeting with the entire team.

Gather ideas

Encourage collaboration by creating a central area for attendees to stick their suggestions throughout the meeting. Utilize Post-it Flags to mark great ideas among the group and help fuel the discussion. Having all ideas in one central location will help meeting attendees stay focused on the topic and will foster idea sharing and conversation. 

End with a plan

Conclude the meeting with action items and a clear definition of who is responsible for what. Fifty-three percent of employees say a written “action map” outlining the tasks needed to complete a project is necessary for a successful meeting. With everyone on the same page, it’s easy to keep the energy and momentum generated in the meeting going even after the meeting has ended.

For more tips, organization ideas and ways to help facilitate productive meetings, visit www.Post-it.com/office.

Survey details: The Post-it Brand Workplace Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 U.S. office professionals, office administrators and office managers employed full-time in 2016 using an email invitation and an online survey.

Sean Carney, yourhighness on Fiverr, is a recent graduate from Ithaca College, where he studied Integrated Marketing Communications (B.S.), with a focus on advertising, public relations, and marketing. He is the station manager of Ithaca’s award-winning student-run radio station and … Read More

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(BPT) – Research shows that for small employers, being able to offer quality health insurance for employees is a high priority. Even so, you may be wondering about how to control costs while offering quality coverage, which policies to choose for your employees and how to enroll.

Understanding the ins and outs of insurance can be challenging. The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace is here to help. Created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the SHOP Marketplace offers small employers (generally, those with 1 to 50 employees) an easy way to find affordable, high-quality private health and dental insurance.

Why might the SHOP Marketplace be a good option for you?

One of the biggest advantages of offering your employees quality health coverage through the SHOP Marketplace is that you could be eligible for a tax credit to make offering coverage more affordable. Employers with fewer than 25 employees may be eligible for a tax credit worth up to 50 percent of their premium contribution.

Another key feature of the SHOP Marketplace is the choice and flexibility it offers for employers. You can choose one health insurance plan, or you can give your employees the option to select from a variety of plans. You can also decide what types of coverage to offer (health, dental, or both) and whether to offer coverage to dependents. It’s your choice — you decide what works for the needs of your employees and your bottom line.

Still, you might have questions about how to navigate the process. The good news is you can get help. Registered agents and brokers are available to advise you about the quality options available. They’ll even walk you through the actual enrollment process itself.

But here’s the best news of all. To find out more about the benefits of the SHOP Marketplace, all you have to do is go visit HealthCare.gov. 

 

(BPT) – When Cyndi Roberts steps into her classroom in Columbus, Ohio, her 19 students finish their conversations and get ready to start the day’s lesson. Like a scene from a high-tech science fiction film, she’s followed by voice-activated motion-detection cameras as she greets 14 people in the seats in front of her and five students who are gathered almost 500 miles away.

For Roberts, assistant national dean, College of Engineering and Information Sciences at DeVry University, any distance vanishes. She writes on the whiteboard in her Columbus classroom, knowing her notes are appearing, in real-time, on the whiteboard in front of her students in Philadelphia. Cameras automatically follow the student voices and movements there too, so Roberts can hear their questions and see their responses.

Exchanges like this are the norm for students who take classes in DeVry University’s innovative connected classrooms. The new learning experience incorporates cutting-edge technology to connect two to three classroom locations for simultaneous instruction, with a single instructor.

“This connected-classroom technology is not merely a teacher standing in front of the room, lecturing to students over a video feed,” says Brian Bethune, Ph.D., national dean of the College of Media Arts & Technology at DeVry University. “It is a completely interactive, immersive education environment. Through this technology, we aim to meet the next generation needs and expectations of our students, and provide an enhanced experience. Here, students take active roles in discussions and interact with professors and fellow classmates —

whether sitting next to each other, or in cities far apart.”

Framing today’s education experience

Currently, there are 23 innovative classrooms on campuses across the country, each equipped with voice-activated motion cameras, facial recognition software, high-definition wide-screen monitors with picture-in-picture views, desktop cameras and interactive touch-screen whiteboards. The technology enables an immersive learning community among students with diverse geographies and education needs.

The classrooms are used for courses ranging from engineering technology to composition and financial accounting. Instructors complete in-depth trainings so their curriculum fits the classroom format, rather than vice versa. While remote conferencing is widespread in the business world, a setup like this is completely new to education.

“From day one, I made a point to learn remote students’ names and include them —

so much, in fact, I now have to hold back from calling on them exclusively,” says Teresa Hayes, a professor at DeVry University’s campus in Chicago. “It’s made me very aware of each student in my class. I can tell which ones are struggling and give them the attention and resources they need. The technology has changed the way I teach.”

Hayes’s adaptive approach represents the state of education as a whole. A Pew Research report, “’How Do They Even do That?: How Today’s Technology is Shaping Tomorrow’s Student,” indicates that as technology changes how humans interact and access information, it is also changing how students prefer to learn. The report acknowledges digital technology not only enhances existing classrooms, but it can also completely change the relationship students have with their physical learning environment.

Driving tailored, targeted learning for tomorrow

Technology-driven classrooms can fill a gap in today’s globally connected world. When classes are only offered online or in-person, students who prefer on-site learning are limited by course offerings at their local campus. The connected classroom technology provides benefits on a practical level, including having access to more courses and exposure to video conferencing capabilities that mirror the way communications happen in many companies today.

The next steps for the technology will be to expand to more DeVry University campuses and more classrooms in the near future.

Toward the end of class, students from the different campuses wave goodbye and wish each other a good weekend. It seems connecting new friends is one thing that may never change about the college experience.

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(BPT) – Smart homes make life easier and more convenient. Who wouldn’t love being able to control lighting, entertainment and temperature from their couch — or from anywhere for that matter? Whether you’re at work or on vacation, smart devices alert you to what’s going on at home and help you stay connected and protected.

“Since inventing the world’s first residential smoke alarm, First Alert has been at the forefront of advancement in home safety technology,” says Tom Russo, president of First Alert. “Our Onelink portfolio of smart products goes beyond traditional perceptions of safety products and ushers in a new era of interconnectivity between a home’s comfort level and people’s safety and lifestyle preferences.”

According to the experts at First Alert, the following are just a few of the many benefits of giving your home a “smart” makeover:

Safety and security

Having the ability to monitor your home from wherever you are is one of the biggest benefits of a smart home. Devices that deliver notifications about everything from intruders to water leaks help homeowners react quickly and avoid major disasters.

For families with children, smart devices can provide parents with added peace of mind. You can safeguard doors and drawers, such as the liquor cabinet or gate to the pool, with connected contact sensors. With smart locks and cameras, you’ll know when your kids get home from school, and can ensure their safety when the doorbell rings with mobile access to live video. There are even smart safes with motion detecting technology and access notification that are ideal for keeping weapons and medications safely locked away.

Convenience and customization

Convenience is one of the most common reasons people purchase smart devices. These high-tech products streamline common tasks by giving users remote access to everything from heating and cooling systems to multimedia devices, kitchen appliances, security features and even a forgotten garage door. You have the ability to program devices to your family’s specific needs and preferences, and the flexibility to choose which features to integrate into your smart system to create a connected home custom designed to cater to your specific lifestyle.

Ease and expansion

Unlike their complicated predecessors, many of today’s smart home products can be easily installed, and you certainly don’t need to buy everything all at one time. One of the best places to start building a smart home system is with essential devices like a thermostat, or smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

To make things as simple as possible, the Onelink by First Alert Wi-Fi Smoke + CO Alarm is designed to work with most existing interconnected hardwired alarms, so users do not have to replace all of their existing alarms at once. The Apple HomeKit platform makes it easy to add new alarms and other devices to expand a smart home system. The alarm can be easily tested or silenced using the Onelink Home app on an iOS device (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch) or Apple Watch. In the case of an emergency, the Onelink Alarm will instantly alert the homeowner via a notification on their mobile device, allowing the user to assess the situation and alert authorities if needed, or silence the device in the event of a false alarm, like burnt toast.

Energy efficiency and cost savings

A major part of what makes “smart” devices smart is their ability to save users money through improved energy efficiency. Lights can be programmed to turn off automatically when no one is in a room. A thermostat can be set to let the indoor temperature drop during the day before returning it to a more comfortable level just before residents arrive home in the evening. You can even track energy usage and expenditures to determine ways in which your family can reduce consumption.

In addition to all of these benefits, automated home products are fun to use. Whether setting lighting and music from your iPhone for a surprise romantic evening at home, or keeping an eye on your house from a tablet while lounging on an exotic beach, you’ll find home automation easy and enjoyable.

For more information about Onelink by First Alert, visit www.firstalert.com/onelink, and for more information about Apple HomeKit, visit www.apple.com/ios/homekit.

(BPT) – Cash, new wheels, dream travel, gift cards — what will you be giving the graduates in your life this year? Chances are good, what they really want is a laptop; 51 percent of high school grads and 43 percent of college graduates said a new laptop was the gift they most desired in 2015, according to a survey by technology protection provider Asurion.

Parents probably aren’t surprised when their soon-to-be graduates ask for laptops. Technology is a big-ticket item students likely can’t afford to pay for themselves. Yet, its something they really need to succeed in college and in professional life. Whether they plan to go to college (69 percent of high school grads go on to college, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), go to work (36 percent, the BLS says) or start their own business (72 percent of high schoolers and 64 percent of college students want to be entrepreneurs, according to research firm Millennial Branding), quality technology is a must-have tool.

Balancing cost and quality is a critical concern for parents, who are already facing significant expenses sending kids off to college or helping them get started in their professional lives. If you want to purchase a laptop for your graduate this year, you don’t have to overspend to find exactly what they need. Armed with some knowledge of popular options and the types of tasks each is best for, you can choose an affordable, powerful piece of technology for your graduate.

Here are some common and popular options, all of which run the powerful Windows 10 operating system:

Laptops

For power and flexibility, laptops excel. With capabilities comparable to what you would find in a desktop, laptops offer portability, powerful video editing and game development capabilities, and the ability to add external peripherals like printers and external hard drives. Keyboards and screens that are larger than the average tablet also enhance their usability. Options like the Dell XPS 13 are also lightweight, squeezing a 13-inch display into an 11-inch frame.

Tablets

Portability, a sleek appearance and touch-screen convenience are all hallmarks of tablets. Earlier iterations lacked power to compete with laptops, but newer options like the Surface Pro 4 are both powerful and portable. Paired with a Surface Pen, the tablet empowers students to take notes in class, sketch out designs, finish a report or project, or just kick back and watch a movie in the comfort of their dorm room.

Hybrid Laptop

Deciding between a laptop-style device with a keyboard or a tablet can be a challenge. Each performs different tasks in different ways. If your graduate needs a device that merges the best attributes of tablets and laptops, the Surface Book can be a solution. The device comes with a keyboard and detachable 13.5-inch screen you can use on its own like a clipboard, similar to the Surface Pro 4. Add in a Surface Pen for digital note-taking and drawing, and the high-performance Windows 10 laptop allows users to create dynamic school projects and seamlessly edit photos and video.  

All-in-ones

While hybrid devices can function as either laptops or tablets, all-in-ones step up the game with the ability to take on multiple configurations. Whether it’s taking notes on a tablet, typing on a laptop, or displaying a presentation in a tent or stand configuration, multi-tasking all-in-ones like the Lenovo Yoga 900 offer maximum versatility to fulfill a variety of tasks. The device can deliver in all four configurations: laptop, stand, tent or tablet, and offers a flawless writing experience on its touchscreen.

Knowing these basic options before you start shopping can help ensure your graduate gets the technology he or she will need to succeed in college or the professional world. If you’re still not sure what to buy, go ahead and ask your graduates for input — they’ll be delighted to know they’re getting the No. 1 item on their graduation wish list.

(BPT) – Today, it’s easier than ever to stay up-to-date on current events, maintain a close connection with family and friends and to share your views with the world — all thanks to the power of social media.  The convenience that platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide is now making it easier to get involved in important causes. From donating money to raising awareness, there are numerous ways to give back using your favorite social media sites. If you’re interested in helping a charity, but aren’t sure how to get started, get inspired with these five online giving ideas. 

Engage with online charity campaigns

Many charities are taking advantage of social media to increase awareness, find support and raise money. You can join in too, by participating in these online campaigns. One campaign going on right now is the #MakeMLaugh challenge. M&M’S(R) is teaming up with the Red Nose Day Fund to raise money for kids around the world who need our help. Each day until May 26, 2016, a new challenge, designed to make fans laugh, is shared on the M&M’S Twitter channel (@MMSChocolate). Every time fans engage with the #MakeMLaugh hashtag, the brand will donate $1 to the Red Nose Day Fund and each day, M&M’S will feature one lucky fan’s participation in the challenge to trigger an extra $1,000 donation to the Red Nose Day Fund up to $500,000. To see all the challenges and get involved, follow the M&M’S Twitter page, www.twitter.com/mmschocolate.

Follow nonprofit organizations on your social media sites

Stay up-to-date on new events, issues and campaigns by following your favorite charities online. This simple action can lead to more acts of giving in the future, and it helps you stay educated on the issues you consider most important. 

Share a cause you care about with your network

Often, the most effective way to support a cause is to get more people involved. Share posts published by charities you follow, and explain why their work is meaningful to you. In fact, 68 percent of people said they would learn about a charity if a friend posted about it on social media site, according to MDG Advertising. Friends and family who read your updates may become interested in the cause and want to help as well. 

When sharing your thoughts on an issue or promoting a nonprofit organization, be careful not to overdo it as users don’t like feeling pressured to donate. A post now and then raises awareness without annoying followers. 

Pay attention to brands that support good causes

Sometimes you can make a difference simply by buying the brands that give back. Do a little digging online to find companies that give a portion of their profits to charities or important research. Then, follow these brands on your social media channels to continue learning how the money is helping. 

Sign an online petition and give social media friends an opportunity to do the same

You can do good even if you don’t have a lot of money to spare — giving back can be as simple as typing your name into a box. Sign an online petition that’s related to an issue you care about, and share the petition online to raise awareness of the cause to others.

Thanks to social media, it’s easy to support the causes you care about even while juggling a busy schedule. Get started today by engaging with M&M’S #MakeMLaugh campaign, and continue to become involved with the issues and organizations you find important by sharing them with others.