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18 Worcester Business Journal | July 24, 2017 | wbjournal.com W e all know communica- tion is important in our profes- sional lives. Yet a lot of us still seem to struggle with consistently and openly communicating in the work- place, which is a big problem since we rely on critical infor- mation to do our jobs well. Many of us know we need to get better at it, but with every- thing we have to juggle throughout the day, improving communication probably isn't at the top of the list. It can be hard to break patterns, but starting with simple steps can help. 1. Be aware. In a lot of instances, it sim- ply just doesn't occur to folks that they should share certain information with particular individu- als. Our work days are jam-packed, and we have a million things to get done, so we're not always firing on all cylinders. We usually have good intentions, but either forget to share information with someone, or are maybe unware that a specific person has been brought into the fold. Being more mindful of who needs to know what in the workplace can help allevi- ate this issue. If forgetfulness is the problem, make a daily list of the most important items you need to share with your colleagues each morning. 2. Exercise restraint. We may think we over-communi- cate, but chances are, we're probably at the right level of communication. The exception to this is the "Reply all" but- ton in email. It serves its purposes when we truly need to let a lot of folks know what's going on, but I think most of us can agree that there are times when it's really overused. 3. Talk more, email less. Many of us use email as our main form of communication with cowork- ers, clients, vendors, etc. It's quick and easy, and it provides written documen- tation. But sometimes, it's in our best interest not to use email, but to call or have an in-person discussion instead. Obviously, some things just cannot (and should not) be relayed in an email, particularly sensitive or confi- dential information, but we should challenge ourselves to rely less on email regardless of the mes- sage. With all of the email we receive each day, it's nice to have face-to-face conversa- tions (and it usually gets us the answers we need faster). 4. Get creative. Corporate newslet- ters are a great way to share news within the company. At JM Coull, we have a quarterly newsletter featuring project updates, industry trends, new hires and promotions, employ- ee news, and company-wide announcements. Everyone in the company is encouraged to contribute. The newsletter is distributed to all employees, as well as our clients and business associates. Though this obvi- ously doesn't replace day-to-day com- munication, it does do a great job of keeping everyone informed at a 30,000-foot level, which is particularly useful for our field personnel who are on project sites most of the time. Intranet sites and internal blogs can be effective methods for sharing information. 10 T H I NG S I know about . . . . . . S a f e c o m p u t i n g By Libis R. Bueno Libis R. Bueno is CEO and chief technology officer at Worcester IT firm Domitek. Reach him at lbueno@domitek.net. K N O W H O W Take small steps to improve communication F or a C-suite executive or business leader, efficient time management does not mean blindly diving in and tackling whatever is in your inbox or on your desk. To manage your time strategically, it could even mean not doing a particular task at all (or at least not that day). Here are some things to keep in mind when structuring your week, day or afternoon. Prioritize high-payoff activities Which tasks will get you the most result? Joe Mathews, Don Debolt and Deb Percival of Time-Management- Success.com suggest figuring out those tasks and committing to them. "Focus on the 'vital few,'" when it comes to projects, they say. "People give them- selves more work to do when they unnecessarily volunteer ... They say 'yes', based on feelings such as enthusi- asm for a project or a desire to impress," rather than those with the largest payoff. Try and catch yourself when you do that, and refocus. Visualize goals met Before you jump on that next call or attend that next meeting, take five minutes to establish what you want to gain from the interaction. Put the desired end result in your mind. "Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved," says Entrepreneur.com. "If not, what was missing? How do you put what's miss- ing in your next call or activity?" Don't forget to delegate ProjectManager.com's Stephanie Ray points out not delegating tasks sends a bad message to your team. "It's both detrimental to the work and not even feasible," she writes. Managers will still be overwhelmed with work if they try to do it all. And without delegating, "you're sending a strong signal to your workforce that you don't believe they have the skills and experience to do the job you hired them for. That's a surefire way to erode loyalty and lose talent." BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal 10 1: T i m e m a n a g e m e n t 10) Use strong passwords and keep them secure. Passwords should contain a mix of capital and lower-case letters, numbers, symbols and spaces. They should create images or acronyms that are easy for you to remember, but hard for others or a hacker to figure out. 9) Use anti-virus software. This software scans files on your computer's memory for certain patterns indicating malware. 8) Secure area and devices. You should shut down, lock, log off, or put your computer and other devices to sleep before leaving them unattended, and make sure they require a secure password to start up. 7) Backup your data. Backing up your machine regularly can protect you from the unexpected. 6) Don't install unnecessary software. Potentially Unwanted Programs or PUP's are software or apps you don't want on your devices. Without your knowledge these programs come bundled mostly with freeware and install themselves on your devices. 5) Restrict administrative access. In multi-user environments, it pays to restrict administrator access to only the users who know how to keep the computer safe. 4) Protect sensitive data. Securely remove sensitive data files from your hard drive when recycling a computer. 3) Patch, patch and patch Set up your computer for automatic software and operating system updates. 2) Use email responsibly. Type links in the web browser instead of clicking to ensure you reach the site you plan on reaching. 1) Encrypt sensitive files. A truly private message must be encrypted before it leaves your computer, and remain encrypted until it is received. BY LAURA BURCH Special to the Worcester Business Journal W W W Laura Burch is the marketing manager at JM Coull, Inc., a construc- tion management, design-build, and general contracting firm based in Maynard.