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The D-O-C-E Method of Productivity Improvement

Published 6 November 8 2:35 PM | Aaron

If there’s one way to improve your organization’s productivity, it’s by streamlining your organization’s operations using processes . Processes help businesses eliminate key HR issues and boost productivity by introducing standard methods for completing...

Filed under: Flowcharts, Business Processes, Productivity

Three Ways Our Customers Are Fighting the Recession

Published 29 October 8 2:32 PM | Aaron

The economic climate as of late has become demonstrably unstable and, as a result, many businesses are battening down the hatches and making preparations for the upcoming fiscal year. This means cutting down on operating costs, eliminating projects that...

Filed under: Flowcharts, Gantt Charts, Cut Costs

Three Examples of How Processes Improved Our Operations

Published 21 August 8 4:32 AM | Aaron

In this screencast I quickly review what we've covered in August with respect to business processes, i.e. why businesses need processes , the key employee problem , and so forth. But the real core of this presentation are the three examples of how we...

Filed under: Flowcharts, Screencast, Business Processes

Stop Reinventing the Wheel

Published 15 August 8 6:2 AM | Aaron

Imagine this scenario: It’s 2008, you're a multinational coffee conglomerate named Starbucks; your business is in a crunch and you have to start closing stores. You can't just close down any store—you have to close down the stores that are...

Filed under: Process Design, Flowcharts

How to Capture Business Processes

Published 12 August 8 4:30 AM | Aaron

Last week I wrote about what businesses need in order to grow without the growing pains . In those posts, I talked about the benefits of using processes to avoid unnecessary overhead (reinventing the wheel) and to accommodate growth. Business processes...

Filed under: Flowcharts, Business Processes

Why Businesses Need Processes

Published 8 August 8 11:34 AM | Aaron

Processes are essential to preparing your organization for growth - no large organizations would exist without them, and there's no reason why your small organization shouldn't convert all of its work into processes. Your work should consist of processes...

Filed under: Flowcharts, Business Processes

Having Trouble Putting a Presentation Together? Try Storyboarding

Published 1 August 8 8:30 AM | Aaron

Last week (July 23rd) I had the opportunity to guest blog on Dumb Little Man , a terrific personal productivity blog. I wrote an article called " 5 Steps to Planning Effective Presentations " and one of the points I covered was the concept of "storyboarding...

Filed under: Presentations, Flowcharts, Storyboarding

Screencast: Storyboarding for More Effective Presentations

Published 30 July 8 11:30 AM | Aaron

In this screencast Kenneth Roberts shows you how to storyboard a presentation using flowcharts . If you'd like to read our accompanying PDF, "Working Smarter with Presentation Storyboards" then download it here . --> This SmartDraw screencast requires...

Filed under: Presentations, Flowcharts, PowerPoint

Four Techniques I Use to be a Better Manager

Published 22 May 8 4:0 AM | Paul

When I founded SmartDraw.com I was a software developer not a manager. Not that this mattered much because the only person I needed to manage at the time was me! As the company grew, management was "thrust upon me", and I learned four techniques I still...

Filed under: Flowcharts, Be a Better Manager, Mind Maps, Team Charts, Org Charts, Gantt Charts