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        Flexibility is the biggest selling point that we have over our larger rivals. We give our clients the freedom needed to thrive in today’s fast-paced business world, organisations say to us that they often see higher quality work from independent consultants like us, this reason is the primary motivator when choosing us over a big firm. This means that we have the same skills and experience as the big firms, with added freedom and flexibility to let us focus and resolve client requirements.

      • Latest news
        Future-focused predictions for 2025

        Although none of us can predict the future with certainty, it is our collective duty to consider the potential outcomes and make preparations for them. That involves putting the necessary people and technology in place now so that the financial function can benefit from the impending disruption. Without a clear financial vision and strategy in a digital environment, that is unlikely to occur. It's time to take a step back and make sure you have a clear plan for that future. Here are 3 predictions:


        1- Self-service becomes commonplace


        When it comes to fundamental procedures like business processes, many businesspeople don't require assistance. They would be delighted to have a digital voice on their smartphones respond to their inquiries. Report generation, budget queries, and other tasks will all be automated. As time goes on, intelligent agents will discover the kind of business data that each person requires and provide it in a proactive manner. Spreadsheet data will eventually give way to visually appealing, easily navigable, and intuitively accessible information.
        Getting self-service right is crucial since your company is expecting more and more responsiveness and quality. The last thing you want is for your consumers to be irritated or upset whenyou are responsible for taking care of themselves.

        2.Standardization will result from the proliferation of APIs
        Few businesses are putting in the effort required to integrate and harmonize data, which prevents them from reaping the benefits of digital transformation. Those looking for a magic solution to their data issues will be let down. The labour will still be difficult and time-consuming, but automation and cognitive processes will make it easier. What are we discussing? Data-entry fields, nomenclature, commas, and hundreds of other related elements. It's neither glitzy nor glamorous. However, it is significant.
        For many CFOs, data issues lurk beneath the surface, and some are unaware of the amount of work needed to fulfill their objectives. This is due in part to the technical nature of the problems and in part to the lack of incentive for personnel to bring them to the attention of the corner office. Nobody wants to be the one to deliver terrible news.

        3. AI Cloud Revolution will force enterprise to be multi cloud.

        Even if cloud providers are already incorporating digital technologies like blockchain, automation, and cognitive tools into their offerings, competition will still exist. As unique quantifiable internal business developments (with Copilot) enter the market with specialized applications and microservices that sit on top of—and interface with the cloud platforms, expect the landscape to change.

        Enterprise is about to enter a technological golden era. Applications, microservices, banking, and finance will all grow in popularity as multi cloud computing becomes the standard. You will be able to lower technology's cost , complexity without compromising its usefulness and vendor lockin.

         

         

         

         

        Sharing my favorite top 20 Mac shortcuts

         

        These shortcuts make me save more time at work. Try them out and see the difference they’ll make:

        1. Open the Spotlight Search Tool

        Command + Space bar

        This is perhaps the most helpful Mac shortcut of all. Anytime you search for a file on your Mac, use this keyboard shortcut and type the file’s name. The result is instant. Also, Spotlight will search through bookmarks, iMessages, and all the files on your hard drive. This shortcut also offers a quick way to find and open applications that aren’t on your dock.

        2. Quit Any Application

        Command + Q

        You can use this keyboard shortcut to shut down any application immediately. Remember, this Mac shortcut doesn’t just minimize applications – it completely shuts down the apps.

        3. Switch Between Different Windows in an Application

        Command key + ∼

        This Mac shortcut makes doing research a lot easier. For instance, if you have three documents open from the Apple Pages app, one with a research document, another with your draft, and the other with your notes. This shortcut lets you switch easily between the three documents. It is helpful, especially when you’re working on a MacBook with a small screen.

        4. Switch Quickly Between Active Applications

        Command + Tab

        When you press and hold the Command and then tap the Tab button, this opens the App Switcher, letting you switch between all active applications with the Tab button.

        5. Force-Quit an Application

        Command + Option + Q

        If an application is locked up, and the Command + Q shortcut isn’t working, you can use this Mac shortcut to force the application to quit.

        6. Record the Screen or Take Screenshots

        • Command + Shift + 4: This Mac shortcut screenshots a particular area of your screen with the help of the rectangular cropping tool. This shortcut is ideal for sharing snippets of text or images with your target audience on social media.
        • Command + Shift + 5: Starting with macOS Mojave, Apple makes it easy to view all the screenshot tools at once using this keyboard shortcut. When you press this shortcut, you’ll see a toolbar that gives you the options for capturing your entire screen, capturing a particular portion of a window, or capturing a specific window. 

        7. Address or Search Bar (on Safari)

        Command + L

        Reaching for the mouse to activate Safari’s address or search bar wastes a ton of time. But when you use this keyboard shortcut in Safari, your cursor will jump up to your search bar, where you can type a URL or a search term. 

        Safari has some other brilliant keyboard shortcuts, including the Command + T shortcut, which opens a new tab, and the Command + Z keyboard shortcut, which reopens the last tab you accidentally closed. 

        8. Instantly Lock Your Mac Device

        Command + Control + Q

        If you want to step away from your desk at the office or home office and you don’t want anyone snooping around on your Mac device, use this shortcut to immediately lock your screen. This is a lot faster than switching to a lock screen using the menu bar. 

        9. Move Files to a Folder

        Command + Control + N

        If you have a lot of files saved on your desktop and you want to move them to a new folder, this Mac shortcut can help you out. You just need to select all the files you want to move and then press Command + Control + N to move the selected files to a new folder.

        10. Preview Files Using Quick Look

        Click + Space bar

        If you wish to see what a file looks like but don’t want to waste a ton of time opening the associated application, select the file in the Finder folder. Then, press and hold the spacebar. Also, this works with files saved on the desktop. A Full-page preview will appear alongside Markup options. This works perfectly with everything from Microsoft Excel files and images to PDFs.

        11. Display Sleep

        Control + Shift + Power button

        Use this shortcut to turn off your Mac’s display without shutting down the entire system. It’s your best bet when you need to preserve privacy, save energy, or take a short break without disrupting ongoing processes like downloads or active applications. The system will continue to run in the background.

        12. Show/Hide the Dock

        Option + Command + D

        This shortcut allows you to show or hide the Dock, providing more screen real estate when needed. It’s particularly helpful when working in applications that benefit from a larger display area or when aiming to reduce on-screen distractions.

        13. Create Duplicate Files

        Command + D

        Need a backup of that important file? Or maybe you’re experimenting with different versions of a document? This shortcut lets you quickly create a copy to save the hassle of manual copying and pasting.

        14. Get File Information

        Command + I

        Get detailed information about files or folders, like size, type, and modification date, quickly and without the need to open additional windows or applications.

        15. Open Recents Folder

        Shift + Command + R

        Navigating back to your recently accessed files can often be a hassle, especially when working on multiple projects.

        The Shift + Command + R shortcut simplifies this by instantly opening the Recents folder on your Mac. This folder is a dynamic space that automatically updates with the files and documents you’ve worked on recently to save the time and effort of manually searching through your directories.

        16. App Switcher

        Command + Tab

        Do you need to switch between applications quickly? The Command + Tab shortcut activates the App Switcher, which displays all your active applications, allowing you to navigate between them seamlessly. This shortcut is especially useful for multitaskers who frequently alternate between different programs.

        17. Paste Without Formatting

        Command + Shift + V

        This shortcut is for Paste and Match Style (or Paste and Match Formatting).

        It pastes the copied content (text, for example) into a new location while matching the formatting of the destination. For instance, if you copy text from a web page (which may have specific fonts, sizes, and colors) and use this shortcut in a word processor, the pasted text will adopt the formatting of the rest of the document in the word processor, rather than retaining its original web formatting.

        18. Dictionary Lookup

        Control + Command + D

        This shortcut is used for looking up the definition of a word. When you hover your cursor over a word in a text and press these keys, a small popup appears, providing the definition, synonyms, and sometimes even Wikipedia excerpts related to that word.

        It is incredibly useful for quickly accessing dictionary information without interrupting your workflow. The shortcut enhances productivity, especially for writers, researchers, or users who frequently work with text and need to understand or clarify terminology efficiently.

        19. Select All Items

        Command + A

        This Mac shortcut selects all the items or text in the current window or application. It is so handy when you want to quickly select everything in a document, a webpage, or a list of files in a folder.

        For example, if you’re working in a word processor and press Command + A, it will highlight all the text in your document. This makes it easy to apply changes to the entire content or to copy and paste everything into another document.

        20. Find Misspelled Words

        Command + semi-colon (;)

        You can use this shortcut in word processing programs like Microsoft Word and Apple Pages to cycle through misspelled words in a document. When you press this key combination, the cursor jumps to the next word that the program’s spell check function has flagged as potentially incorrect.

        This way, you can quickly review and correct spelling errors in your document and streamline the editing process and ensuring your work is free from common spelling mistakes.

        Got early access Alpha to GPT4

        Chatgpt moving well , search is getting better, Google still being the leader in AI, should be very careful, the new version will hurt them:

        Here is why Google should be careful , 4 reasons

        1- With Alpha mode, Web Browsing with GPT-4 is OpenAI's most advanced model, gives ChatGPT real-time data access to the web.

        2- Provides stock analysis

        3- You can ask it for reviews for products you planned to purchase or you want to buy

        4- Cites sources

        Have a great Sunday

      • What we offer

        Business & Technology Consulting

        We offer clients specialised consulting in areas that we deeply understand. Our services include:

        • - Skills To Envision, Design And Develop Enterprise Apps
        • - Talent For SaaS/PaaS/IaaS In The Cloud
        • - API Architecture
        • - Data Science Talent
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  • Tips for Keeping Productivity the Main Focus of Your Virtual Meetings

Blog

Tips for Keeping Productivity the Main Focus of Your Virtual Meetings
28 September 2018

As today’s workforce becomes more mobile and diverse, the landscape of meetings as we know them is changing drastically. More employees are utilizing flexible schedules, spending part of their workweek at home, and workforces are also becoming diverse with employees in different geographic areas or even corners of the globe. Because of this, virtual meetings are becoming more of the norm and less of the exception in the modern workforce. And with that, it presents a host of new challenges for employees to keep these meetings productive for everyone involved. Take this video for example.

Anyone who has ever participated in a conference call or virtual meeting has probably had at least one experience like this! - had one yesterday :)

The next time you’re in charge of leading a virtual meeting, here are 7 tips to keep in mind to help make it worth the time of everyone involved.

Remember that Relationships Matter

When it comes to meetings of any kind, it’s important to remember that it’s not just all about business. It’s the people you’re interacting with and the cohesiveness of that group that can make or break the productivity of that meeting. If these meetings occur regularly with team members, make it a habit to work on improving relationships too and not just furthering matters of business. You may want to consider opening up the conference lines a few minutes early so team members can catch up with causal talk before the agenda begins. Or, as the meeting leader, you can even plan a few minutes at the beginning of each agenda to allow team members to update the group on what’s happening in their lives. Ask them about one of their other projects, how their family is, or what’s happening in their city or country. Working on building relationships with meeting attendees sets the tone for authentic conversation and a productive virtual environment where everyone feels like they’re part of a team.

Be Proactive about Potential IT Issues

There are a lot of different virtual meeting tools out there, and while you may assume that everyone who will be involved in the meeting already knows the ins and outs of your preferred meeting software, don’t take that for granted. Prior to the meeting, consider sending out a brief email reminding attendees about any updates they should make to their software beforehand, plugins they may need, etc. It also wouldn’t hurt to remind them that to keep things efficient for everyone involved, that they should have a fast/reliable internet connection, a headset or earbuds to prevent echoing, etc. The more you can do beforehand to prep attendees the more smoothly things will run during the meeting.

Create and Distribute an Agenda Beforehand

Making an agenda is also a crucial step to prepping for heading up any virtual meeting. Make a list of the topics you plan to discuss (along with any sub-topics or notes) and distribute them to attendees prior to the meeting so everyone can prepare accordingly and be more focused during the time you’re working together. For each topic you list, consider also including the answers to the following questions:

  • Why are we discussing this topic?
  • What are the ideal outcomes of this discussion?
  • What do we need from participants for this discussion?

Sending out your agenda ahead of time rather than just reviewing it quickly as the meeting is starting will help keep things on track during the meeting and produce far more effective outcomes.

Plan Extra Time

When it comes to virtual meetings, you almost have to plan for the unexpected. Someone may be late joining in, another may have technical difficulties mid-discussion, and you may find that you need more time to discuss a certain topic than you had originally thought. As a rule of thumb, plan 20% more time than you think you’ll need for each topic on your agenda. Allotting extra time than you expect that you’ll need is always a good idea for meetings, and you can always end early if you’ve covered everything on your agenda. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who complains about a meeting ending early!

Set the Right Expectations

As the leader of the virtual meeting, it’s also important that you set expectations from the start about how you will be guiding the conversation. Make it clear that you will try to be firm about keeping the conversation on track and that you may call on people during certain conversations where their input seems appropriate. As the leader, it’s also a good idea to ask attendees to stay focused on the agenda at hand while leaving their other technology aside during the meeting, unless they have a good reason not to.

Encourage Participation

It’s common for most virtual meetings to have at least one “silent attendee”—the person who listens to the entire conversation, but only chimes in upon greeting or leaving the meeting. As you lead and direct the meeting, make participation paramount for everyone involved. Keep a chart of everyone who is attending the meeting so you can easily call on them by name. Whether you would like their specific input or just simply ask if they have any further questions about the topic, try to make sure that you’ve included every attendee by name at least once during the meeting.

Close Effectively

The way you close your virtual meeting can be just as important as the topics you discussed during its duration. Before you wrap things up completely, check for the following:

  • Completion – Does anyone have something else to add to the conversation or ask if things were unclear about a specific topic?
  • Alignment – Does everyone agree about where the conversation ended up?
  • Next Steps – Is everyone clear about their actions moving forward?
  • Value – Are you taking away something valuable from this meeting?
  • Acknowledgment – Is there anyone we should acknowledge before ending?

With a little bit of planning and extra attention to structure, virtual meetings don’t have to feel like they’re a waste of time ever again. As the meeting leader, it’s your job to make sure members of your group feel included as a team, that they know what their role is in the meeting, and that everyone leaves the meeting feeling like their time was well spent. Do you have any other tips for how you make virtual meetings productive? Please share in the comments below.

*****

Thank you for reading my post. I regularly write about Management, Technology and Enterprise Application Software. If you would like to read my future posts then click 'Follow' or send me a LinkedIn invite. And, of course, feel free to also connect via Twitter.

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