With 1 in 3 employees believing the cybersecurity of their company is a moderate or major problem, decision-makers must do more to reassure them. Especially since remote work is now a big part of the workplace. And as more people work from home, digital security will become even more important for employees.

According to a recent survey and report from Nulab, 76% of employees say there is some degree of a problem. And only 24% say there is no problem at all. This means more than 3 in 4 have an issue with the cybersecurity protocol the company they work for has in place. And it affects companies of all sizes.

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Employee Worries About Cyber Security

The cybersecurity issue is difficult enough for large enterprises, but the problem becomes even more challenging for small businesses. So, how are small businesses with fewer resources managing the problem? The question is a timely one for the current environment. However, it is important to point out small businesses have always been a favorite target for cybercriminals.

The Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) says 28% of cyber-attacks target small businesses. And because it does not make the news like the security breaches of large companies, people, including business owners, wrongly assume they are not under a major threat. But this could not be further from the truth. And when you consider small businesses make up 99% of all firms in the U.S., the problem is that much more distressing.

image: Nulab

The Survey

The Nulab survey spoke to more than 1,000 full-time employees about their perceptions of workplace cybersecurity. These are people who spend at least four hours each day using a computer. They were then asked about the cybersecurity conditions of their company. The respondents were made up of 53% male and 46% female participants.

Results

In addition to the above data points, 42% of employees confronted their employees about poor workplace cybersecurity habits. Furthermore, employees also believe the digital information of their employer is not secure. In companies with 1-50 employees, 23% believe this to be the case. It goes slightly down to 19% for companies with 51-100 employees and down even further to 10% for those with 101-500 employees.

Overall, 15% of employees believe the digital information of their employer is not secure. But for small businesses, it goes up to 23%.

Another key takeaway from the survey is the lack of responsiveness by employers when it comes to employee cybersecurity concerns. The number is particularly high from small business employers. In companies with 1-50 workers, 44% of the employees say their employer is slightly or not at all responsive to the issue. For the next tier with 51-100 employees goes down to 33% and 25% for those with 101-500 employees. But it remains almost the same for companies with 501-1,000 and 1,001+ employees reporting 29% and 27% respectively.

Awareness and Reporting

Business owners must establish a culture in which employees can freely report any perceived threat to the company. If they are chastised or ignored, the likelihood of them reporting a threat next time goes down dramatically.

The report says 58% kept perceived cybersecurity risks to themselves instead of confronting their employer. This the report says is because few employees were listened to when they brought up their concerns.

Considering the threat, this should be a very frightening data point for any business owner. This is because the cost of a security breach is getting more expensive by the year. The 2017 Better Business Bureau says small businesses lose $80K on average to cybercrime annually.

The key to fully addressing cybersecurity is changing company culture and behavior.

Changing Behavior and Putting Cybersecurity First

The fact of the matter is data breaches are a very real threat to everyone. Whether you are an individual or a small or large organization, everyone faces this threat. For employers addressing the issue starts by changing the culture and behavior in the company regarding cybersecurity.

If you put cybersecurity first and establish a culture in which your employees are heard, you can catch a security breach or an attempt much earlier. After all, it takes an average of 191 days for companies to realize there has been a breach. And these slow responses are especially harmful to small businesses.

Regular cybersecurity training goes a long way in making everyone in the company more aware and reducing their exposure to cyberattacks. The training also stops decision-makers from disregarding a concern an employee brings up.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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Growing your digital presence now requires the right content mix to both attract and retain your audience. BrainStation is going to be holding a webinar to discuss content strategy with industry leaders.

The panel discussion, titled, “The New Rules of Marketing: Creating Stand-Out Content” is going to bring digital marketing leaders from LinkedIn, Chobani, La Colombe, and Unbounce together so they can share their expertise. They will address:

• Tips for creating branded content in a digital-first era

• Brand building vs. performance marketing

• Top performing content types

• What new platforms are worth experimenting with

• How to match channels/tactics with your marketing goals

• How to use data to inform and measure campaigns

This free event will take place on September 17, 2020 from 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm GMT+3. So click the red button and register to get some valuable insights from digital marketing experts.

 

Register Now

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Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Educational Webinar: Elements of Website Design
September 9, 2020, Online

Join us to learn about fonts, color schemes, and gain a basic understanding of visual hierarchy.

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Educational Webinar: Converting Visitors to Leads
September 16, 2020, Online

Learn best practices for optimizing webforms and CTAs in order to maximize the number of visitor conversions on their site.

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Free Webinar | New Rules of Marketing: Creating Stand-Out Content
September 17, 2020, Online

Join us for a panel discussion with digital marketing leaders from LinkedIn, Chobani, La Colombe, and Unbounce on their content strategies, the ideal content mix, and their top tips for finding, growing, and engaging digital audiences. #BrainStation

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Getting Started with Zoho One
September 23, 2020, Online

In this presentation, we will walk through an overview of Zoho One using real case studies from Zoho customers to demonstrate different ways Zoho One can support your business.

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Small Business Expo 2020 – PHILADELPHIA
October 28, 2020, Philadelphia, PA

Small Business Expo is a FREE one-day event to attend for small businesses to network, attend great business-growth workshops, build new business relationships, exchange ideas, shop from new vendors and learn from leading industry experts. If you are serious about starting or growing your business, Small Business Expo is a “must attend” event. Small Business Expo is the #1 Business to Business Networking Event for business owners, entrepreneurs, start-ups, decision-makers or anyone who works for a small business or is interested in starting a Small Business.

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LinkUpConferenceShow
November 12, 2020, Online

LinkUpConferenceShow (LUCS) is a digital networking conference that merges the incredibly dynamic worlds of tech and comedy to provide informative and personalized networking opportunities designed to help executives, entrepreneurs, business leaders and tech professionals grow and scale their businesses. LUCS is the tech conference that combines Silicon Valley insights with New York’s nonstop energy to bring the technology community a totally new virtual experience designed to inspire, engage and entertain.

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More Events

• Women’s EmPOWERment Virtual Summit: Moving Confident Women Forward!
  September 9, 2020, Online
• Increase Remote Employee Engagement: Understanding the Attributes and Requirements of Your Team
  September 9, 2020, Online
• Webinar: Developing Your Unique Value Proposition
  September 10, 2020, Online
• Advancing Integrated Project Delivery 2020
  September 14, 2020, Online
• SERENDIPITY 2020 – VIRTUAL SUMMIT for entrepreneurs, business leaders and Start Ups
  September 14, 2020, Online
• DigiMarCon Asia Pacific 2020 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference
  September 15, 2020, Online
• Indegene Digital Summit Virtual 2020 | Sep 25, Oct 2, Oct 16
  September 25, 2020, Online
• The Marketing Analytics for Brand Survival Virtual Summit
  September 30, 2020, Online
• Small Business Expo 2020 – PHOENIX
  October 1, 2020, Phoenix, AZ
• Transform USA 2020
  October 1, 2020, Online
• VEGPRENEUR Summit
  October 3, 2020, Online
• The WFH Virtual Conference | Remote Work Event
  October 8, 2020, Online
• World-Famous HR Technology Event, Oct. 2020
  October 13, 2020, Las Vegas, NV
• Creative Operations San Francisco 2020
  October 14, 2020, San Francisco, CA
• Building Business Capability Virtual 2020
  October 19, 2020, Online
• Miami’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 20, 2020, Online
• Small Business Expo 2020 – CHICAGO
  October 20, 2020, Chicago, IL
• Atlanta’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 22, 2020, Atlanta, GA
• Houston’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 24, 2020, Houston, TX
• Austin’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 26, 2020, Austin, TX

More Contests

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends.

You can see a full list of events, contest and award listings or post your own events by visiting the Small Business Events Calendar.

Image: brainstation

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As we head into the Labor Day holiday weekend, many companies are focused on having their employees return to the workplace to accelerate efforts to get business back on track.   To help companies safely bring employees back, Salesforce and CVS Health are teaming up to integrate Salesforce’s Work.com workplace management platform, which allows for wellness monitoring and manual contract tracing, with CVS’ Return Ready offering, which offers tracking and insights on COVID-19 testing.

To learn more about the partnership and how it can make it easier for companies to bring employees back in ways that keep them safe while still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I recently spoke with Bill Patterson – Salesforce EVP/GM of CRM Applications, and Kelly Jones – Division Head, National Accounts Business Unit at CVS Health.

Interview with Bill Patterson – Salesforce and Kelly Jones – CVS Health on How to Bring Employees Back Safely

Below is an edited transcript from a portion of our conversation.  Click on the embedded SoundCloud player to hear the full conversation.

Small Business Trends:  Before we get into the partnership, maybe each of you can talk about what each of your companies were working on to help get people and companies safely back to work.  Bill, maybe you can tell us about Work.com.

Bill Patterson: It’s a solution that we built on the Salesforce CRM platform infrastructure to really help organizations come back to work. Plan coming back to work, plan their safety for their employees, and to operationalize new policies, new procedures, new focus around things like wellness that I think are really just such a critical function for businesses today to kind of reopen their operations.

But the other thing that Work.com did was it really inspired us to lean in with the health and medical expert community. We have great partnerships with the UCSF Medical Center, working with great data sets like the New York Times around just the rate of testing and progression of the COVID-19 virus as we think about around the world. And we wanted to also lean in with our partners. I could not be more excited to have our partner in CVS here today really to kind of talk about how the power of applications, and data, and ecosystems come together really to manifest this new era of safety. I think that’s really just kind of the inspiration that we had in creating this new product line.

Small Business Trends: Hey, Kelly. Maybe you could tell us about Return Ready.

Kelly Jones: Kind of similar to Bill, when the pandemic initially started, we realized we’ve got some amazing assets that we can leverage nationwide to really help the nation, our citizens, our employers out there in the economy. From the beginning just about, we’ve had our focus on increasing access and accessibility to testing for COVID-19. It’s evolved from community testing … just open to the public at our CVS drive-throughs… to now what we call Return Ready, which is really an offering intended initially for employers.

And then we realized there’s a need as well for universities to be able to offer COVID testing on their own outside of just the public option, so that they can really get either back to work or to help with business continuity as well. We offer testing now as well through our CVS drive-through sites. But additionally, we can essentially stand up a laboratory onsite at an employer or campus to be able to increase that local access to testing, and basically give folks an easy button to be able to get testing.

Small Business Trends: What brought you guys together? What brought the combination of what Salesforce is doing with Work.com, with CVS and what you’re doing with Return Ready?

Bill Patterson: I think both of us really are cultures of action. As you talk about and hear Kelly’s words, there was a lot of great innovation that CVS has in its arsenal to be able to help at this time. What we know is that the focus around testing, tracing, quarantine … these are kind of key primitives that we’ve proven to be successful to help economies get into a better position to be able to reopen. As we went forth with the Work.com announcement, I think it was May 6th, it was not long after that we had a great partner in CVS wanting to stand alongside us to really come in and make this ecosystem really something powerful.

Kelly Jones: Just as we think about testing, it obviously plays a really important role in COVID management, workplace management, campus management. But that’s not the only thing that needs to happen really to have a comprehensive view of what’s going on in a community. You need to be able to take action off of those test results as well. That’s really where we saw a partner, or an alliance, possible with Salesforce where we could complete that circle. Looking at wellness checking, as well as the contact tracing. And with testing kind of sandwiched in between, and being able to inform both of those or be informed by those tools in those solutions as well.

Bill Patterson: Yeah. Brent, just one other thing that kind of led to the orientation of this. In this time, given the state of the pandemic, the opportunity for the private sector and the public sector to work with one another … We leaned in very early with the state of Rhode Island and Governor Gina Raimondo to use the Salesforce platform to stand up rapid contact tracing for citizens of that state.

Rhode Island today is one of the most densely populated states in the nation, and has done an amazing job with their contact tracing experiences. Also, Governor Raimondo was very instrumental in making the initial connections between our organizations. It’s not often that a software company and a health company have worked together closely, but she was very instrumental in it, and also made those initial.

Walking through an Example of How to Bring Employees Back to the Workplace

Small Business Trends: Could you walk us through how a potential use case, or maybe a typical use case, would be for this partnership?

Bill Patterson: Yeah. I’m happy to start. And Kelly, maybe you can kind of add in … especially the employer-led testing scenario I think would be great here. But Brent, you’re totally right. Man, there is nothing typical here. I think we’re all experiencing a relative degree of newness around the comfort of coming back to the office. The one thing that we do know is that data, and access to data, and clear access to data is super paramount in terms of planning the operations about coming back to work. We leaned in very heavily with Work.com and our Tableau data hub around public and private data sets coming together giving that information to decision makers, whether that be HR directors, facility managers, operations managers who have to plan the opening of their facilities.

 

The first scenario is just clearly access to data to make those decisions more harmonized. The second thing we did was we built out a wellness surveying application. And this example would be in the event that you were going to plan, say, a reopening of a building let’s say in San Francisco like where I work here in Salesforce Tower, you would want to notify everyone that the building is open. But prior to coming into the building, let’s have you go through a wellness test in a wellness check at-home before you get in your car or hop on public transportation.

The wellness application for Work.com, we built in partnership with the CDC. We modeled all of the initial questions for CDC guidelines for just overall screening. Those questions also can be modified or tailored to the needs of any state, any geography, any sovereignty that has maybe different data requirements to capture in the moment. All that data is stored privately, and with high degrees of discretion in the Salesforce platform. It’s not shared. It’s encrypted. It’s something that won’t be used for marketing or sales reasons. But the wellness application basically says I’m eligible to come in, but that’s where that Work.com platform kind of stops. This is where really getting into testing as someone gets into the workplace is really paramount, and I think a great opportunity for Kelly to share how the CVS solution comes in.

Kelly Jones: That’s exactly right. If you’ve got the wellness monitoring upfront, somebody raises their hand through that monitoring application that says, “Hey, you know what? I’ve got a fever. I’m not feeling well.” What do you do at that point? That’s where an employer could direct them to Return Ready depending on which mode of testing that they chose to have available to their employee population, and give them that access and direction on where they could go get a test.

And then conversely if they’re already at the worksite, they’re feeling well, we have a lot of employers that are using testing more as a proactive surveillance tool to make sure that folks are remaining negative, that they’re not there potentially asymptomatic working onsite as well. It gives them that option … just one more risk reduction tool in their arsenal of workforce strategy and business continuity.

And then conversely if somebody does test positive, whether it’s because they were feeling ill and they got a confirmation, or just through that proactive surveillance testing, then that’s where our solution has really robust comprehensive reporting that the employer can access down to individual-level results. We get consent to be able to share that information back with their employer, but then what does the employer do with that information?

They need to do contact tracing. Especially if that individual had been in the workplace, we need to be able to be sure that if they are in a type of job function where they were interacting with other employees or might’ve passed through an area. That’s where that contact tracing and the tools Work.com offers can really fill in that gap, and give the resources, and the technological aspect to be able to do that contact tracing in a less manual way than what a lot of employers started out with, which was truly just an Excel spreadsheet trying to keep track of it. That got old pretty quickly. So, being able to really do that full continuum from symptoms all the way to contact tracing, and then that testing is so critical in the middle.

Small Business Trends: What do companies need to do to be able to take the most advantage of this partnership? Are there things that they have to make sure they’re organizationally ready to handle before they jump full into this?

Kelly Jones: I think from the Return Ready perspective, we’ve designed an offering intentionally that’s meant to be very personalized and configurable by employers. We have multiple different types of testing that they can make available to their employees. Really, it’s sitting down, having a conversation, and allowing us to be consulted with them to help them design a testing offering that really meets their specific needs. Whether that’s rapid testing that’s right there on site, if you’re taking advantage of the 1,800 and growing CVS testing sites around the nation, or doing an onsite collection event. A large scale collection event where we can get everybody at one of their facilities. We have samples collected all in one day.

Having just that consultation, and talking to somebody who understands what a lot of different employers are doing and trying to manage is how to really start the process at least from a testing perspective. And then once they’re up and running with us, that’s where that tie in to Work.com happens where they can allow the testing results to be available within Work.com. It’s an easy action on their part, but that’s certainly something that … we recommend taking action off of the data, and Work.com is a great place to do that.

Bill Patterson: Kelly just said the perfect word, which is action. What employers need to do is act. And what employers need to do is act in the spirit of what is right for their employees, what is right for their customers, what’s right for their communities around them. It’s more than just kind of investing in technologies. It’s really being willing to step into boundaries that maybe once were not clear. As you mentioned, Brent, companies now need to be respectful with data around the health of their employees. They need to help all employees understand the new policies and procedures that will come back into the workplace, meaning maybe I’m not allowed to have personal items on my desk anymore. That might be a new policy that you really see as a result of kind of this crisis coming full suit.

But at the end of the day, it’s really action. I think that what we need right now are not really those just to sit on the sidelines and watch as this game is unfolding, but really get in there. Take care of your employees. Take care of your customers. Know the role that we have to reopen business to get our communities back and thriving again. This is truly something I think we need to make sure that we have a culture of action hitting our business landscape around us.

Small Business Trends: Is this aimed at any particular kind of businesses, or sizes of businesses? Who is this for?

Bill Patterson: The virus doesn’t discriminate if you’re a big business or a small business, nor do our technologies. This solution really for Work.com can be used by the smallest of businesses and the largest organizations around the world. I think that our partner in CVS is also really excited at making sure that everyone has a chance to participate here as well.

Kelly Jones: Yeah, and I’ll echo what Bill said. Yeah. We’ve designed the solution in such a way that it’s really about what the employer needs to address their specific type of work that they do, the type of job functions that they do. And if they have enough need for testing given their business, we are happy to be a partner with them to be able to provide that for them.

Small Business Trends: There’s a lot of … each state could have different regulations or different rules. How do you help with that part of the process?

Kelly Jones: From a Return Ready perspective, we actually handle all of the regulatory reporting. When you see all those statistics out there on how many positive cases there are, if that test was performed by CVS Health staff, we are handling the reporting to those agencies that then report it out publicly. We make that easy on the employers and then take care of that for them.

Bill Patterson: Yeah. Same on our side. We have built it … is a really an open platform so that if there are different regulations. I just saw last weekend that maybe six feet is not the required distance that we need to now be spending, so maybe it’s now 10 feet. Well, those are variables that can be easily modified quickly inside the platform, and things like your shift scheduling, or your distance spacing for Qs can be accommodated appropriately. We find out new things about this virus every day. I think sometimes it’s a little confusing for businesses about what are the actions that need to be taken, or should we wait for more clarity here? But technology can facilitate so much good. Again, working in this open platform way is something that we definitely want businesses to have the tools they need to mobilize.

CHECK OUT MORE:

This is part of the One-on-One Interview series with thought leaders. The transcript has been edited for publication. If it’s an audio or video interview, click on the embedded player above, or subscribe via iTunes or via Stitcher.

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Tech services like VoIP phone connections are essential for businesses around the country. But not all markets have access to them.

CyberSignal Technologies aims to bring some of those new tech services to a historic town. And there are a few interesting qualities that make this company stand out. Read all about them in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

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What the Business Does

Offers telecommunication services for businesses.

Services include VoIP phone services, computer/information technology services, and government contracting.

Business Niche

Personal service in an underserved market.

The company is a Service-Disabled Veteran owned business in Selma, Alabama.

Co-founder John Kinnerson Jr told Small Business Trends, “My company provides excellent service and was one of the first companies to offer VoIP phone solutions in the area.”

How the Business Got Started

To serve clients in their area.

Kinnerson says, “My business partner, Roger Blackmon and I started CyberSignal Technologies in 2019. I had an idea of offering VoIP phone services since no one in the area was at the moment.”

Biggest Win

Serving a major need during the pandemic.

Kinnerson explains, “My company offers phone services that are able to connect anywhere, especially from home. Before the Covid pandemic, many business owners did not really fathom this thought until the shutdown. Since, business has been very good.”

Biggest Risk

Choosing a business structure.

Kinnerson says, “Our biggest risk was deciding to go into a “partnership” with a single company instead of multiple affiliations.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Finding an office.

Kinnerson adds, “I would purchase an office for my company so we can expand.”

Business Mission

Supporting veterans.

Kinnerson says, “I’m a Service Disabled Veteran owned business. We have events for homeless Veterans and Disadvantaged people in the community.”

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Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program

Image: CyberSignal Technologies; John Kinnerson Jr and Roger Blackmon

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Are you searching for a good video conferencing tool to connect with your remote team efficiently? If yes, then there is good news.

RingByName, a leading provider of UCaaS and collaboration solutions, recently launched R! Meet. It is a free video collaboration web application. And it doesn’t require you to download any software program to start organizing virtual meetings. So, you can start using it right away without setting anything up.

More and more businesses are voluntarily or mandatorily allowing their employees to work from home amid the coronavirus pandemic. This has increased the demand for video conferencing and collaboration tools.

The recent launch of R!Meet is aimed at catering to the growing need for video conferencing tools.

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Key Features of R! Meet

R!Meet uses WebRTC technology, which simply means it works on any compatible web browsers.

To start using R!Meet, you just have to visit https://meet.ringbyname.com/ and create a virtual meeting room.

Once you’re in, copy the meeting link and share it with your remote employees. By clicking on the meeting link, your employees can join the virtual meeting.

You can now access this standalone service from RingByName for free. The company hasn’t launched an Enterprise version yet.

However, it has a plan to integrate the R! Meet software into its R! Web and R! Mobile applications. Doing so will help users do efficient scheduling, ad-hoc video meeting creation, and many other activities to enhance collaboration.

Following is a list of current and planned features:

• Scheduling
• Recording of any session
• Collecting session data & analytics (including the duration and quality of every session and every stream)
• Supporting for all your video use cases(1:1 consultations, group video chat, screen sharing, and large scale broadcasts to thousands)
• Offering advanced security, firewall-control, regional isolation, and compliance certification options
• End-to-end assistance (for Enterprise plan)

Kooi Lim, CEO for RingByName, said, “RingByName builds cutting-edge UCaaS software and services from ideation to operation,”

“R! Meet allows users with a desktop computer or a smartphone to participate in virtual meetings and is designed to bring co-workers, customers, and friends and family together although they are apart,” he concluded.

Tips to Ace Your Video Conferencing

Remote working is a win-win working arrangement for both employers and employees. So there is no doubt that remote working is going to stay even after the pandemic is over.

As a small business owner, you should try to adopt this new normal. Acing your video conferring meeting is one way to do that.

Here are some tips to bring your A-game while participating in video conferencing:

• Plan your agenda and share it with your team in advance
• Have a small talk to break the ice
• Make sure everyone recognizes each other
• Set some ground rules for remote meetings

Last but not the least, have everyone checked their system (mobile, laptop, tablet) before the meeting to avoid any last-minute glitch.

About RingByName

RingByName offers integrated telecom and software solutions to businesses to simplify and accelerate communication and collaboration. The company’s solutions are designed to help businesses build better relationships with their customers.

Image: ringbyname.com

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I think it’s fair to say that we are all sick and tired of zoom meetings.

Meetings, in general, are mostly a waste of time but at least you get to interact with other humans in person.

Covid-19 has turned meetings on their head and they have become a drudgery of time.

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Tips for Enjoyable Zoom Calls

Here is how to make zoom meetings actually enjoyable.

Email It Over Zoom It

We’ve all been in those zoom meetings where you sit there thinking “this all could have been sent in an email.” This is the fastest way to lose attention and turn it into drudgery. The key to success is to email ahead of an agenda and keep the meeting succinct.

As Andrew Roderick states 

“Make the focus around teamwork, and give each person a section to present a project/issue/anything they are working on for 5 minutes, and allow a 5-minute discussion afterward where everyone can help, offer support, feedback on what’s being done. Hosting your team meetings in this way allows you to ensure each team member is actively engaged and involved, while also making sure priorities from each team member are discussed.”

As an additional note make sure to set a hard out. A time that the meeting ends and you don’t go over. Respecting peoples time is a great way to keep people engaged.

Practice Your On-Camera Speaking Skills

Nothing is worse than having a boring presenter be it in person or on camera. Just like public speaking, presenting on camera is a learned skill anyone can achieve if they have the right guidance. Here are 10 tips to speaking on camera

Dress to Impress

Even though no one can see what you are wearing below the computer desk, you want to suit up.

Know what makes you look good too. As Dagmar Spichale says “Patterned tops make me look more awake and refreshed, and patterned button-downs are especially flattering because they create an elongated neckline that doubles to showcase subtle jewelry to its best advantage. My secret hack is wearing perfume and/or my favorite heels — no-one notices but I KNOW!”

Use Interactive Whiteboard Tools

As Mollie Suggests “To make things interesting in our collaboration sessions, we use Mural in Zoom for whiteboarding. It’s an interactive software where everyone could help in mapping out and bouncing off ideas about a project. We use photos, sticky notes, and doodling tools in brainstorming and getting things together.

Kevin builds on this idea “Sometimes, you just have to draw something out on a whiteboard to help everyone else understand what you mean. Using a tablet for your Zoom calls makes it much easier to sketch out diagrams and flowcharts to engage the other meeting participants.“

Start With A Common Interest

With the plethora of various TV shows, Netflix movies, and online entertainment. Its good to engage people in a common interest. As Jason VanDevere states “I discuss with my team a TV show we all agree on that’s worth watching. After a new episode, we spend the first five minutes of the meeting openly discussing the show. Did the episode ending surprise you? Were you shocked a particular character got killed off? How would you rate the episode?

This can be any television show, sports game, Netflix series, or YouTube show. With all the content out there, surely there’s has to be something out there your team can agree on. Participation is also optional. Employees that prefer not to participate may simply log in five minutes later.

I find that everyone appears to be more engaged in the meeting after coming off a discussion of a common interest.”

Use the 8% Rule

As Michael, the CEO of Teambuilding explains “Any Zoom meeting should have at least 8% of its time dedicated to non-meetings activities. This time could include icebreakers, trivia questions, dance breaks or any other light activity. This “off-time” can quickly reenergize attendees to participate in the more dense content of the meeting

Engage with Outside Interest

Willie Greer states “I always make time for stories. Zoom fatigue is real and can take a toll on a person’s mental and emotional aspect, so relaxing time is a must during meetings. Personally, I ask my employees how they are, is there anything they want to share, like their new hobbies during the lockdown, or online businesses they want to promote. It refreshes their minds after work and before leaving the meeting.”

A lot of people who are working from home are also starting side projects, and side businesses.  You never know what interesting hobbies people have or side business they create. Some of the most used Google Tools have started as side projects of employees. What is your side project? For example, I’ve created an entire side project focused on Unicorns.

Rotate The Hot Seat

Getting everyone to talk can be a bit of a challenge, but an easy way to do that is to call on participants throughout the meeting. Call on the first person and let that person choose the next person to speak. It keeps everyone alert and focused because they could be next!

Use Visual Cue Cards

We’ve all experienced an interruption during a meeting. Your speaker is presenting when someone pipes in with their 2 cents. This can be fine when you are in person because we can naturally slip in with perfect timing but due to the delay of zoom, it throws everyone off.

That’s where visual cue cards can come in and keep the rhythm of the zoom meeting flowing. I use visual cue cards made by DigiCards. 

They seamlessly integrate with my digital team and keep meetings running smoothly. I especially love the timing cards to let me know there are a few minutes left in the presentation.

These are just some of the best tips when it comes to making your zoom call more enjoyable. Let me know what I missed or if there are any other suggestions to make zoom meetings actually enjoyable.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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When the Penn State “Sandusky” scandal hit the news, I sat down and cried.

During my junior and senior years, I worked for the football office. Paterno was insane about integrity.  If a player didn’t have a 3.0 on Friday night, he didn’t play on Saturday. If a player got in trouble, the team had to clean the stadium after the game. I can go on, but I won’t because Penn State leadership’s lapse in integrity decimated a century’s worth of hard-earned reputation.

“Most companies think they have integrity, until they get exposed by data, skewered by the press, boycotted by customers, dropped by investors, and protested by their own employees. They’ll punish and apologize for transgressions but throw up their hands about how to prevent them — even though they van cost a company everything.” — Robert Chestnut

You Can’t Outsource Integrity

Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution by Robert Chestnut is a brand new book, released in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.  And this is a perfect time because corporations and their communications strategies have been disrupted like never before.

According to Chestnut, corporate ethics have been tested sorely, as he notes in an updated chapter on leading with integrity during a crisis.

“Suddenly business leaders had to answer questions on the fly. How to handle layoffs, adapt to customer expectations and shifting government requirements, and to transition entire workforces online?”

This crisis pointed out how important it is to have a culture of integrity.  For example, if one of your values is employee safety, then it’s a lot easier to make decisions about whether to prioritize profitability or employee health benefits.

 

Rob Chestnut’s Relationship With Integrity

The author started his career as an attorney with the U.S. Justice Department.  He was an Assistant US Attorney in Northern Virginia.  As a federal prosecutor he ran the Major Crimes Unit where he prosecuted a wide range of crimes including CIA employee Aldrich Ames who was prosecuted for espionage.

In 1999, Chestnut shifted his career and joined the private sector.  First with eBay where he got involved in fraud detection and prevention.  Then he joined LiveOps, Chegg and most recently, AIrbnb where he grew the legal team from 30 to over 150 and started the “Integrity Belongs Here” program to drive ethics throughout the culture of the company.

It’s Never Too Late for Integrity

In Intentional Integrity, Chestnut strives to show leaders that integrity isn’t a roadblock to getting things done, but a “potential superpower.” The book shows you how you can set the tone and set an example with your words and actions.

When leaders embrace that integrity and responsibility are important elements of your job.

Your employees are a reflection of who you are and what you do.  And when you practice intentional integrity, there’s a ripple that goes throughout your company and into the community.  Being integrity consistently over time, will ultimately build trust and give your organization a long-term advantage.

The 6Cs Process is a Roadmap Toward Intentional Integrity

To infuse integrity into your organization, Chestnut proposes the 6Cs process and this is what the entire book is devoted to.  Each chapter is one step of the 6Cs process.

1. Chief: If the CEO of the company doesn’t embrace integrity, you can stop there.
2. Customized Code of Ethics: Assuming your CEO has a level of integrity, your next step is to publish a code of conduct.
3. Communicating the Code: This means regular and varied types of communication of the code throughout the organization.
4. Clear Reporting System: Make it easy for employees to report ethical lapses.
5. Consequences: The integrity code must be enforced.
6. Constant: The last “C” is about being constant, consistent, pervasive, ubiquitous — yes, everywhere and all the time throughout your organization.

Is There Hope for Integrity?

On the first day of “Business Law” in graduate school, the professor walked in. Plopped his briefcase on the desk and then sat on the desk, with his legs dangling over the edge and asked: “Do you know why we have lawyers?”

The entire class sat in silence.

He waited for a few seconds and then said “We have lawyers because people are no damned good.”

When he said “people are no damned good” he didn’t mean that people were “bad” or “evil”.  What he meant was that people didn’t behave with integrity; they would say one thing and do something else.  They would promise to do something and not do it.  People would say they valued something and then act like they actually value something completely different.

Integrity vs Ethics

In Intentional Integrity, the author combines ethics and integrity into one package. I’m not sure that is entirely fair and accurate.

We understand integrity to mean “honesty”.  But the true foundational meaning of integrity means to be whole and undivided.  In other words, at its core, integrity means that your actions match your values.

I posit that CEOs (especially of large enterprises) have integrity (meaning that their behavior is consistent with their values).  But not all leaders have ethics, which are moral principles that guide behavior.

And this book is written for those CEOs who are committed to having their ethics reflected in their values and those values be clearly communicated throughout their organization — thereby creating INTEGRITY (being whole and undivided).

What’s Odd About This Book

I would say Intentional Integrity is the motherhood and apple pie of leadership books.

But, to be honest, it’s preaching to the choir.  The people who will most enjoy this book are the people who are already running their business with a high level of ethics and integrity,  And these people will get a roadmap toward shifting your values and ethics out of your head and throughout your organization.

In some ways, it’s like Chestnut is writing to those people who may have strayed from the ethical straight and narrow. Maybe it’s people who have started their business with high-minded values, but who have been challenged by the complexities and impossible choices between people and profits.

Ultimately, the message underneath Intentional Integrity is that ethics and integrity count. And that one simple lapse in judgment can decimate the business you’ve worked so hard to build.

Image: amazon.com

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As part of the final Educational Webinar series, Zoho is going to showcase Zoho One and show you how you can use it to optimize your digital presence.

Zoho One for Every Business Need is going to be held on September 23, 2020, from 1- 2 p.m. EDST.

The previous webinars tackled Setting Up Your Website, Establishing Your Brand Story and Elements of Website Design, and Converting Visitors to Leads: Web Forms, CTAs (Call to Actions)

Together these free webinars are intended to provide a basic understanding of getting online. Whether you are trying to create your first eCommerce site or blog, you will know how to get started.

With Zoho One, you can take this knowledge and use the more than 40 applications in the suite to run your online business. This includes applications to grow sales, market your business, do your accounting, communicate with teammates and customers, and much more.

Click the red button and register now to attend Zoho One for Every Business Need.

Register Now

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Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Educational Webinar: Establishing Your Brand Story
September 2, 2020, Online

Learn how to find, incorporate, and use your brand’s voice throughout your website to increase website traffic, improve customer engagement, and drive brand loyalty.

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Educational Webinar: Elements of Website Design
September 9, 2020, Online

Join us to learn about fonts, color schemes, and gain a basic understanding of visual hierarchy.

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Educational Webinar: Converting Visitors to Leads
September 16, 2020, Online

Learn best practices for optimizing webforms and CTAs in order to maximize the number of visitor conversions on their site.

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Getting Started with Zoho One
September 23, 2020, Online

In this presentation, we will walk through an overview of Zoho One using real case studies from Zoho customers to demonstrate different ways Zoho One can support your business.

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Small Business Expo 2020 – PHILADELPHIA
October 28, 2020, Philadelphia, PA

Small Business Expo is a FREE one-day event to attend for small businesses to network, attend great business-growth workshops, build new business relationships, exchange ideas, shop from new vendors and learn from leading industry experts. If you are serious about starting or growing your business, Small Business Expo is a “must attend” event. Small Business Expo is the #1 Business to Business Networking Event for business owners, entrepreneurs, start-ups, decision-makers or anyone who works for a small business or is interested in starting a Small Business.

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LinkUpConferenceShow
November 12, 2020, Online

LinkUpConferenceShow (LUCS) is a digital networking conference that merges the incredibly dynamic worlds of tech and comedy to provide informative and personalized networking opportunities designed to help executives, entrepreneurs, business leaders and tech professionals grow and scale their businesses. LUCS is the tech conference that combines Silicon Valley insights with New York’s nonstop energy to bring the technology community a totally new virtual experience designed to inspire, engage and entertain.

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More Events

• Advancing Integrated Project Delivery 2020
  September 14, 2020, Online
• Small Business Expo 2020 – PHOENIX
  October 1, 2020, Phoenix, AZ
• World-Famous HR Technology Event, Oct. 2020
  October 13, 2020, Las Vegas, NV
• Creative Operations San Francisco 2020
  October 14, 2020, San Francisco, CA
• Miami’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 20, 2020, Online
• Small Business Expo 2020 – CHICAGO
  October 20, 2020, Chicago, IL
• Atlanta’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 22, 2020, Atlanta, GA
• Houston’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 24, 2020, Houston, TX
• Austin’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 26, 2020, Austin, TX
• Claims Innovation USA Virtual Event
  October 26, 2020, Online
• AI DevWorld 2020
  October 27, 2020, Online
• Salt Lake City’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  October 31, 2020, Austin, TX
• Denver’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  November 2, 2020, Denver, CO
• San Jose’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  November 5, 2020, San Jose, CA
• San Diego’s Largest MBA Event! QS MBA Tour
  November 7, 2020, San Diego, CA
• 17th International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining MLDM’2021
  July 17, 2021, New York, NY

More Contests

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends.

You can see a full list of events, contest and award listings or post your own events by visiting the Small Business Events Calendar.

Image: Zoho

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Most business owners perform many of the same functions on their computers over and over, day after day. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a quicker and easier way to complete these repetitive tasks? Instead of browsing through your device to find specific programs or open commonly used documents, you may benefit from using a programmable keyboard.

These products include buttons that can be customized to perform specific functions like opening programs or cutting and pasting text. There are also options made for specific functions like content creation, photo editing, and gaming.

Some of them are fully customizable. So all of the buttons can be set for the various functions you perform frequently. And others include just a small section of buttons that you can customize. So you can use the rest like a standard keyboard.

If you’re looking for a way to save time and cut repetition out of your busy day, then a programmable keyboard is just the thing. Here are the best in 2020.

Best Keyboard with Programmable Keys	Best Fully Programmable Keyboard
Redragon K511 PRO RGB Gaming Keyboard Wired LED Backlit Programmable Macro Keyboard	X-keys Programmable Keypads and Keyboards
Buy on Amazon	Buy on Amazon

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Programmable Keyboards to Consider

Choosing the best programmable keypad for your business starts with understanding the options. There are some products that are completely customizable. And there are others that just include small sections of keys that you can turn into macros and shortcuts. If you are going to a pay premium price, consider the customer service the company offers. Especially if the keyboard has a hard learning curve.

Below, we’ve broken down these products so you can find the best fit for your needs. Each one includes a rundown of the essential features, details, and price. If you’re interested in purchasing a programmable keyboard for your business, here are some top options to consider.

Best Keyboards with Programmable Keys

The keyboards on this list have a certain number of function keys that can be configured to run multiple functions and macros. Then the rest of the keyboard simply works as normal. Many are marketed for gaming use. But there are plenty of functions you can set that may work for business use as well. These products tend to work best for those who want to stick with just one main keyboard but want to reap the benefits of programmable buttons.

Redragon K511 PRO RGB Gaming Keyboard Wired LED Backlit Programmable Macro Keyboard

This gaming keyboard from Redragon includes 104 keys. And 5 of them are programmable macro keys. It has quiet keystrokes that make for a quiet working environment. It also includes backlighting in various colors and levels for extra style and visibility. It’s compatible with many top PC brands and operating systems. And it is currently priced at $29.99, so it’s a fairly affordable option.

Dell Alienware Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard AW768

From Dell, this silver keyboard includes 15 programmable keys that can be attached to different macros. So it includes more options than many other semi-programmable keyboards on the market. It can be customized with different leg angles and optional palm rest for maximum comfort. It also includes ambient lights in various colors behind the keys. The price of this one falls at $95.97.

Das Keyboard 4Q Smart RGB Mechanical Keyboard

This mechanical keyboard from Das Keyboard works using a smart RGB Cherry MX version of Das Keyboard. So it does require some knowledge about programming and the platform for users to enjoy maximum functionality. All of its buttons can actually be customized. So there are really endless options for those who want to create a lot of shortcuts. But it includes a standard keyboard layout so it can still work for those who want a mainly traditional setup. Prices start at $149.25.

The Cherry MX series line of switches was introduced in 1985. They are known by the colors, which denote the handling characteristics. This includes how much force is required, whether it is clicky or tactile. Cherry MX Red, which was introduced in 2008, for example, has a low actuation force. So the color you choose will dictate how they function.

Trust GXT 285 Adjustable LED RGP Backlit Wired Gaming Keyboard

This keyboard with customizable keys comes from Trust Gaming. It includes 5 custom macro buttons and 3 different profiles so you can actually save up to three different macros for each key. Then you simply switch modes or profiles when you’re performing different tasks. This is mainly useful for gaming. But it could be useful for those who have different categories of macros used in different instances. For example, you might use one profile when working on spreadsheets and another one for video editing with media keys. The black keyboard is backlit and connects to a device using a USB cord. It also includes software for easily programming macros. This programmable keyboard runs for $39.97.

Best Fully Programmable Keyboards

On the other hand, some keyboards come with buttons that are completely customizable with macros and shortcuts. Many of these are smaller than traditional keyboards since most people don’t need to create too many customizations. These can be used on top of a traditional keyboard or for specific functions like design and photo editing. However, there are options at pretty much every level of complexity and price point. So here are some of the top options available for business users today.

Koolertron Single-Handed Programmable Mechanical Keyboard with OEM Gateron Red Switch

This keyboard from Koolertron includes 48 keys, all of which are programmable. It also pairs with configuration software to help users create up to eight complex macros with its mechanical keyboard. They remain programmed even if you disconnect the keyboard and attach it to a different computer. So it may be especially useful for those who switch between different devices frequently. This one costs $81.99.

Elgato Stream Deck

This Elgato product comes with 15 customizable LCD keys and and adjustable stand. It’s made for use by content creators. So many of the functions are specifically tailored to these types of tasks. It’s also designed to be easy to use even for those with no programming knowledge. In fact, you can use an app to easily set functions for each key by dragging and dropping functions to each button in the software interface. It’s compatible with Windows 10 and MacOS 10.13 or later and currently costs $149.95.

Penclic N3 Office Numeric Keypad

Those who want a simple extra keyboard may opt for this Penclic option. All of its 22 numbered keys are customizable with different functions. It also has an ergonomic design to maintain comfort while you work on those repetitive tasks. Speaking of ergonomic, make sure to get a wrist rest to avoid any injuries.

Penclic also has a plug and play setup for easy use. Just connect it to your device with a USB and start setting different functions for each key you want to use. And at just $29.99, it is affordable.

ELSRA USB Wired Programming Numeric Keypad ControlPad Black PK-2068

This ELSRA keypad includes 23 keys that can be programmed on multiple levels. There are two separate modes. So you can set different macros that work when the keyboard is in each mode. So you can keep the number of buttons down but still enjoy tons of functionality with different macros. It easily connects via USB so you can get it up and running pretty quickly. However, it only works with Windows devices. So those who have Mac or Linux computers may be better off with another option. The current cost is $38.90.

X-keys Programmable Keypads and Keyboards

This X-keys keyboard includes 60 macro keys for those who want to include tons of customization options. The company says it is perfect for use with programs like CAD and PhotoShop. It includes software for easy programming on Windows devices. However, those who use Mac or Linux devices will need to program it using Windows device; those settings will then save and be usable on those devices afterward. This product runs for $199.95.

What is a programmable keyboard?

A programmable keyboard is a product that allows you to assign custom actions to various keys. This allows you to create shortcuts to the functions you use most often so you can save time. Some keyboards have just certain sections that can be programmed, while others are fully programmable.

What are keyboard macros?

A keyboard macro is a series of actions that are designed to perform a specific task. For example, you might assign a key and/or mouse action to open your email program. Or you could press a short series of keys to insert a certain graphic into your company’s spreadsheets. This allows you to save time on the repetitive tasks you perform most often.

Can I use a second keyboard for macros?

Yes, some people prefer to keep one classic keyboard and one programmable one. Having a full keyboard available to program can really open up the options for you to create tons of macros and be super-efficient. Each keyboard needs to be a different model if you go this route. You may also need to install programs like Lua Macros or AutoHotkey. The videos below explain a bit about the process for those who want to learn how.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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