3/18 – NS

If you would have told someone 20 years ago, that you could handle work calls, manage your office, and save your business money, all from the golf course, they would have called you crazy. They might remind you that you were forgetting about putting on a suit, struggling through the commute, briefing your secretary on your schedule, and sitting behind your phone waiting for calls. Fortunately, they’d be wrong. In 2017 work is happening everywhere and anywhere except traditional office spaces, and employers and employees are loving it.

More and more, the brick and mortar office of the past is adding up to be a poor decision in the current fast paced, technology driven business world. The trend line is clear. Offices are falling by the wayside and new services are replacing them. Research from Global Workplace Analytics reports that work being performed out of an office and in nontraditional spaces has increased 103% among non-self-employed workers since 2005. The reasons behind this trend are easy to see. The costs of a traditional office are simply too much for some small businesses or start-ups and increasingly, entrepreneurs are rejecting these unnecessary expenses for more efficient solutions. Besides costing less, the advantages of virtual space are higher productivity and general job satisfaction. Anyone would be happier taking a work call while relaxing on the couch rather than in an office!

However, while the physical idea of the office is changing, the implications and thought process behind the word are not. People are interactive and social beings and still need a way to communicate face to face comfortably and efficiently. For this reason, the traditional office is dead but the temporary office space, conference facility, and hourly business setting are all alive and well. Working remotely and using technology doesn’t eliminate a need to present a professional office image occasionally, but it does make it foolish to pay for a traditional space year-round, 24 hours a day.
Maybe we’re a little ahead of our time here at Officense, offering creative alternatives to the traditional office for nearly 10 years. But it’s like Shel Silverstein said, “If you’re behind the times, they won’t notice you. If you’re right in tune with them, you’re no better than they are, so they won’t care much for you. Be just a little ahead of them.”

March 13th – Elena Goldsborough

Human productivity is essential to every business’s success. Through technological advances our productivity should be increasing at a steady rate, right? However, this is not the case. “How the Human Quotient Improves Careers and Companies” by Ryan Stelzer, Co-founder of Strategy of Mind, outlines why our productivity has fallen and how businesses can improve their employees’ productivity.
Stelzer explains that human productivity has slowed in comparison to technological advances because employees are becoming overwhelmed with the breadth of knowledge needed to function in the workplace. As employers continue to expect more from their employees, he hypothesizes that the human quotient, which is the inherent elements of being human, can assist companies and employees by increasing their productivity. For example, according to the 2015 Global Empathy Index, empathy training of employees has been shown to correlate with increases in business profit. Stelzer’s argument has provided an interesting alternative solution to improving business productivity. Many business owners may benefit from considering that important human element when running their businesses.
If you find your business in a situation of decreased productivity, give Officense a call. We have virtual Executive Assistants, who can help increase your productivity. For example, our staff can provide live answer calling, appointment scheduling, mailing services, and so much more. The less time spent on administrative work means more time running your business.

January 18|

Officense is proud to announce the addition of video conferencing services.

Video conferencing provides an innovative and powerful channel of professional communication with the ability to visually correspond with one’s counterparts nationally or internationally instantaneously.

“One of the key strategic objectives for OFFICENSE, since it became independent April 2010, was to offer its clients the freedom to work with their clients/vendors in any city they desired – cost effectively. Last year we partnered with a virtual office network that extends our reach into over 750 offices worldwide. The beginning of this year, at the request of several of our clients who wished to save on travel cost and time, we are launching video conferencing based on our clients’ interest in this service. Now they can hold legal depositions, board meetings or presentations at a moment’s notice.” says Michael McNulty.

Our market research into video conferencing turned up many more benefits. Some of the key ones are listed below in no particular order depending on your circumstances:

• Greatly reduced costs! No more travel expenses of plane fare, baggage fees, and hotel stays required for face-to-face meetings.
• Eliminate travel safety and security issues and significantly reduce travel time commitments.
• Maintain closer relationship with clients through visual contact.
• Increase productivity by enabling faster decision making for the development of new ideas, products and services.
• Improve company effectiveness and reduce risks by eliminating blind approvals of over the phone descriptions.
• Conduct meetings with various people, from different locations, for a quick discussion or a planned conference. Just walk into the video conference room and everyone is there; whether they are actually two miles away or two states away!
• Shorten the hiring process by conducting interviews without coordinating numerous schedules or requiring someone to travel.
• For Eco-Friendly supporters, reduce carbon foot print by dramatic reduction of travels.

Video conferencing is provided through a 42” High Definition (HD) monitor and a Polycom video camera, allowing users to experience in-person quality , even when located miles away. The remote control access allows users to easily control cameras on either ends of the communication session and its auto adjustment also allows you to move freely without the constrictions of sitting still.

Officense video conferencing services provide the simplicity of setting up a conference at anytime. Expanded hours are available to access video conference rooms 24/7. Additional administrative and business services are also available per request.

For more information, contact Noah Shumway at 410-814-7500|info@officense.com