GOOGLE FORMS!

Google forms is quite a discovery! I was not aware of the existence of Google forms and was quite surprised. I could, I suppose go into an extensive discussion of what is possible with such a tool, but honestly the possibilities are endless. I can think of a few nice things that maybe could be useful. How about a party invitation? You display what the other invited guests are bringing and rule out everyone showing up with desert! 

You could take a vote on where to have the family reunion. Coordinating any sort of meeting or event could be simplified with any Google form. 

If you are in a band, you could send out a survey to all the fans on your mailing list and ask them what they thought of you last performance. You could take requests (and give a discount for responding) and give a shout out at the next show. 

Getting opinion on anything is easy with a form. Reaching consensus that avoids the tendency of distracting arguments could be really helpful, especially with my family! I can’t imagine my mom using “forms” but she could have decided on the dinner menu with no resistance from her kids! 

You can keep track of your budget and passwords and many other things and have access from any computer! So many things you can do!

LINKEDIN connections

Linked in!

I have connected on Linkedin and it seems like a good think for professionals. It seems more formal than the Facebook or Google sites and thus maybe more geared to that audience. Maybe it will help me find work someday, but time will tell. I have connections with friends in rather high places, but I don't know if I can call on them to get me connected. Just not sure if I want to mix business with old friends. My other concerns are that, all of my personal data is up there on the web and this is just more of the same, but with information that is NOT, most definitely not intended for a broad audience. I don't want people knowing my work history any more than I want them seeing me get the morning newspaper off my front lawn in my bathrobe! I mean, it concerns me that at some point that there will be a breach and of course there will be and then my whole life will be public knowledge! Just think about that for a moment...that job that you had and lost, for what ever reason is now public. I don't mean to say that I'm a spy and that the security of the nation is at risk, but maybe we don't quite know the consequences of the whole thing just yet! I know, I know...we're all in this together and it will affect us all equally at some point, but I just don't want it to be ME first!

The mobile Executive.

The  effective use of mobile devices in business can possibly be best measured from the top down. For the average person, the need is mostly a convenience and not mission critical, but in the intensely busy and hurried existence of business executives, the need to communicate is magnified by the responsibility level.

Old Office Technology

 

Executives use both smart phones and Laptops, but they use laptops more, but only by a small percentage (%5) difference. Twenty-five percent of all executives use both devices. A large percentage of executives use more than 2 devices. The average is 3.46, while CEOs use 4.21 devices, while CFOs use about the same (4.22) devices each. That sounds like a too many!

  

Privacy!

Twelve percent of executives use their smart phone most often, but most consider the PC as the most important device at their disposal as it has features not available on a mobile device (Excel and Office programs). Younger execs see the smart phone as their most important communication tool, while older execs not so much.

 

 

Not so smart phone!

 

The younger the Exec the more likely they are to use the device to communicate via text or email rather than voice.  Almost half of these senior execs had a preference for making business purchases on the internet (mobile or otherwise) as opposed to the phone. The younger execs tend to be less concerned about the type of device used as the older(over 40) execs, who still prefer a laptop (PC) device, but the younger groups preference is clearly for mobile technologies and apps.

 

 

Complete "mobile" office!

Mobile Executive!

 

Their preferences lean towards the convenience of mobile access to boost productivity. In fact, almost 50% of all executives believe that within the next 3 years, their primary tool for business related tasks will be a mobile device such as a smart phone or tablet. As these devices become more powerful, with enhanced features, the popularity will likely also increase. Mostly these execs feel the need to be connected on a constant basis. The total amounts of communications they receive are astronomical and they need to be accountable 24 hours a day. The mobile device is the only thing that reasonably accommodates this need.

 

Forbes: The Untethered Executive
http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/The_Untethered_Executive.pdf