Communications

How to Manage Social Media at Work
 
A recent article in the Globe and Mail described how Canadians spend on average approximately 43.5 hours a month on the web, which is, according to data released by a web research firm comScore, almost twice the worldwide average of 23.1 hours. With numbers this high, employers have to wonder: how much of that time surfing the web is done during working hours and involves posting comments relating to the workplace?

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Clicking in to the Web
 
Your condominium corporation now has a professional website … So, how do you get people to use it?
 
Consider how the technological advances of the past decade have altered the way we interact with one another on a daily basis.
 
Facebook, for example, was launched a mere six years ago and it now boasts more than 500 million active users. In fact, if Facebook was a country it would be the third largest behind China and India! Twitter was launched just four years ago and enjoys more than 176 million users. Amazing how technology has become part of the fabric of our lives.

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Wireless, paperless and effortless
 
Today’s condominium owners are mobile, connected and socially active. Their lives exist on an entirely different platform - the Internet. Some 80 per cent of the Canadian population is actively using the Internet, and it shows no signs of slowing. Text messaging is outpacing email and voicemail because it’s a simple and fast communication. More than 4.6 billion cell phones are being used worldwide revealing that the mobile lifestyle is here to stay. But while residents are adapting to a new connected lifestyle, are their property managers and board members keeping pace?

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HICCUP your way past competitors on facebook
 
Every company is trying to use Facebook in an attempt to move their business forward and stay connected to their customers in this fast paced world. Why are some companies more successful at this than others? Content is the key to staying in touch with your customers and keeping them informed. The content, however, must be a rich mix of information, education, humor and fun. Use the HICCUP approach to make your Facebook page more successful.

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The massive price of negotiaphobia
 
Why is it that today so many people are reluctant to engage in negotiations?  The symptoms of this infliction are due to three things: a desire to avoid confrontation, a lack of skill in the negotiation process and a victim-like willingness to simply live with the status quo.

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Five ways to simplify remote management
 
Managing people and projects from across the hall is tough enough. Managing people and projects from different cities is infinitely more difficult. You might as well be on different planets. And, as the world economy changes, this remote sort of management is becoming more and more common. The lack of opportunity to run into the other members of your team can be devastating to the team's performance. While there are certainly some advantages to a remote workforce, its downsides must be recognized and either minimized or avoided completely.

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Keeping owners informed year-round
 
There is a new generation of condominium corporations across Canada – corporations comprised of baby boomers and retirees who spend several weeks at a time, or even months, vacationing each year. These owners may have a condominium as their primary residence but spend the winter months in a warmer climate, in a vacation condominium in many cases.

Resolving the skepticism of greenwashing
 
Many building owners, managers and operators are adopting green initiatives, but how do they verify their sustainable progress, let alone measure this progress against buildings in their peer group? Seeing through the green sheen can be difficult with so many claims to sustainability from renewable products to water conservation efforts to energy efficiency. Tracking and benchmarking energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions seems to be the only solution to dispel the skepticism towards greenwashing.