Posted on Tue, Sep 07, 2010 @ 01:25 PM
Stakeholders Buy-In & Change Management
The iCompass Collaboration Series is focused on bringing busy professionals together to share and learn from each other on topics that drastically boost office productivity. This Month’s session on Stakeholders Buy-In and Change Management should not be MISSED. So join us on Friday, Sept 7 @ 10:00- 11:00am PST.
Register Now
This webinar will be presented by Stephen Orteza, Implementation & Training Consultant in collaboration with our Showcase Customer. Join Stephen as he and our Showcase customer provide insights into some of the benefits of Stakeholders Buy-In and Change Management including establishing:
- Clear success criteria
- Making a strong Core Team
- How to look and celebrate success
Log into the iCompass Customer Resource Center for upcoming webinars, dates & times, replay of sessions and much more!
- Stephen Orteza, Implementation & Training Consultant
Posted on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 01:40 PM
Reporting Problems in Software
In part three of the Customer Empowerment Series, I’d like to take a high-level look at the pieces of a computer and how they interact in hopes that when something goes wrong, you’ll have the ability to effectively describe the problem area to someone tech-savvy, such as myself.
When something goes wrong with a computer - and this is especially true of phone support - as a user you need to be able to describe the problem and the problem area in good detail. You must also use terminology that’s common to all computer users, otherwise a lot of time can be wasted trying to determine “where” something is happening before getting to the much more important “what”.
Think of yourself as a professional error reporter. In your report you need to include various pieces of information and we’ll cover how to discern them throughout this post. We need Operating System and Program Information, the type of problem, and recreation steps.
The biggest piece of software you have on your computer is your operating system. Most people have some version of Windows (XP, Vista, or 7). There are other operating systems like Mac OS X, Ubuntu, Fedora and others. Be sure when reporting an issue, you know what operating system and version you have on your computer. In Windows, you can hold the Windows Key (between CTRL and ALT) and press Break (usually on the top right area of the keyboard) and it will show you what version of windows you’re using.
Running on top of the operating system are all of your programs. Examples of programs are: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. When reporting problems, it’s good to know what program it is, as well as the version. Most programs will show you the version if you find the help menu and click “About.” You can look at this example to see what it looks like in Internet Explorer. Here we can see that it is Internet Explorer 8.0.7600.16385 64-bit Edition.
Talking about browsers, there are a very large number of people who think that Internet Explorer is the internet. This is a common misnomer and it’s these types of mix-ups that can cause confusion when reporting issues. To clarify, Internet Explorer is a web browser and only facilitates browsing the internet. Sometimes Internet Explorer can have a problem and it has nothing to do with the internet connection. When this occurs, you can use another browser like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome to browse the internet.
Now let’s take a look at identifying the different types of errors that you’ll typically encounter while using iCompass services.
JavaScript Error: The symptoms of a JavaScript error is that a webpage just “stops working”, most buttons don’t work but links are still clickable. In Internet Explorer it’s easy to see if there’s a JavaScript error. Simply look at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Double clicking on the exclamation mark will bring up the error message which you can then describe to a technical support person. Just think about how smart you’ll sound when you say: “I’m receiving a JavaScript error on this page. The error details are….”
In Mozilla Firefox there is no warning that there has been an error so you’ll have to go to the error console which is located under the Tools menu (or you can press CTRL+SHIFT+J) to see if there has been an error.
The details of a Javascript error will rarely help you solve your problems, but they can be very valuable to a technical person.
Program Errors: This is when a program (like Internet Explorer, for example) locks up, or crashes altogether. These problems can be caused by a variety of things and reporting them is usually difficult because often times, you cannot re-create them. The best thing to do is to find a re-creation scenario; otherwise it may have just been a one-time issue. Computers are incredibly complex things and sometimes just the right conditions can be met to cause a lock up or crash. Keep reading to find out how to go about retrieving re-creation steps.
iCompass Errors: An iCompass error (where our product tells you there is a problem and that you should phone Customer Support) is a little bit of a different beast. The iCompass error usually has more to do with our software than with the operating system or software on your computer. The most important information you can gather when you encounter an iCompass error is the recreation steps.
Getting re-creation steps is the most important part of reporting an issue. Maybe you clicked a specific button, changed a dropdown and clicked a save button and that series of steps produced the error. Once you get the error, you should venture onward yourself and try to re-create it by remembering what you had previously done. If you can re-create the error and report the steps you took to achieve that error, the problem will be solved with great haste. You won’t always be able to get re-creation steps or maybe you’re just not able determine what they are without help. In this case, just try to provide as much detail as possible around what you were doing at the time.
That’s all on reporting issues. Remember to try to get the three pieces of critical information: 1) Operating System, program names and versions, 2) Error type and, 3) Re-creation steps. Hopefully this will help you gain confidence when preparing for a technical support call. When you make the call, you will be equipped to provide useful information and hopefully get back on track quickly. Hopefully you won’t need to utilize this skill often but when you do it will certainly be handy to have.
- Aaron Lefkowitz, Application Developer
Posted on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 @ 08:20 AM
On a given day, can you look across the hall and know exactly what your colleague is working on? If so, great. If this scenario generally doesn’t play out in your office, I urge you to read on.
At iCompass, we pride ourselves on accountability and transparency throughout all levels of the company. Everyone knows what everyone else has planned for the day and more often than not, it’s company knowledge if a daily priority isn’t completed or if it is postponed. In my mind, this is an essential tool in effectively increasing visibility within your organization. Due to its very nature, transparency within the ranks of your organization will empower your employees to work harder to reach their goals, because let’s face it, if they don’t succeed everyone will know.
On that note, our Action Tracking customers know how critical transparency can be. Among many of its other functions, our Action Tracking application allows municipalities to track key deliverables to determine who has been assigned what tasks and how far along they are.
If you’re wondering how we can be such cheerleaders for accountability within our services and on a day-to-day basis, it’s all in the huddle. Every morning without fail, we all gather for roughly 10 minutes to go over news, employee/company recognition, challenges, updates and priorities. No one gets a pass; no one gets an “I don’t have time for the huddle” excuse. The meeting is mandatory.
At first, the idea of another meeting may seem counterproductive, but trust me when say that it’s anything but. The morning huddle is an excellent way for everyone to get on the same page and according to Verne Harnish, author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, “This rhythmic pulsing of daily meetings constitutes the real heartbeat of a growing company.”
In football, team members huddle in an effort to strategize, motivate or celebrate. Although we’re not wearing matching spandex uniforms or throwing around the pigskin, our huddle is not far from that of a sports team. Besides, at the end of the day, it’s all about the efforts of the team and how well we played the game anyway.
-Jessica Scharien, Corporate Communications Officer
Posted on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 04:24 PM
According to Wikipedia, nearly 95% of all people have some degree of anxiety related to public speaking. Since my time at iCompass, delivering presentations about our CivicWeb & AcademicWeb services has been a big part of my responsibilities, whether those presentations were online, in person, to a small group or to a large audience. For me, the guidelines I follow to conduct the presentation rarely changes, but the message and the hooks you use to interact with your audience can change from meeting to meeting. For example, you would think that having a training session on how to effectively build your agendas using our Meeting Management Solution would be very different than a sales presentation to prospective customers on the benefits of the Meeting Management Solution, but in reality it’s not. Now I have read probably hundreds of techniques on what makes an effective presentation, but ultimately I have found that if you are knowledgeable and passionate about your topic, everything usually goes smoothly. People usually spend hours ahead of time preparing their presentations, but once you take your place in front of your audience, what you do next will ultimately determine whether your presentation is a success and your message is
successfully delivered.
Any good presentation is one that will deliver its message in as basic terms as possible and appeal to the emotions of your audience. Regardless of how formal your presentation is, always consider to following format when preparing your presentation, ensuring that the content has a beginning, a body, and a wrap up. The format of your presentation will help you maintain the structure of your message while keeping it interactive and flexible. The key to a good presentation is to ensure that you are interacting with your audience; the easiest way to lose your audience would be to start into a monologue for the duration of your presentation. I have found that whether you are conducting a training session or sales demonstration, I usually structure my presentations in the exact same way, using the guideline mentioned above, and that usually helps me keep on track during the presentation, while maintaining a certain level of audience engagement.
- Tara Holdbrook, Sales Rep
Posted on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 02:40 PM
The Power of Browsers
In part two of the Customer Empowerment series, I’d like to delve into how to effectively use a web browser. Most of us are spending a lot of time using web browsers in our everyday lives. Whether it’s for work, pleasure, Facebook or Meeting Management, we do a lot of things in our browser.
One of the easiest things you can do is learn how to use tabs properly. Some people refuse to acknowledge their existence and think they only serve as a troublemaker. However, you can use tabs to gain an incredible edge while using the web. Throughout the rest of this series, I’ll be providing you with shortcut keys and I’ll provide a quick reference at the end so you don’t have to write them all down.
To start learning how to use tabs the best thing to learn is a quick way to open new tabs. A lot of people don’t know that the mouse wheel on their mouse also serves as a third mouse button. If you press down on the mouse wheel you should feel and hear a click. The reason I’m telling you about this mysterious third mouse button is because if you middle-click on a link in your browser, it will open a new tab and go to the link you clicked on. An alternative to this shortcut is to hold control and press the left mouse button on a link. If you want to keep your current site opened and navigate to another site, you can press CTRL + T or click the icon to the right of the last tab in the list to open a new tab and go to the new site in that tab. Now you have two tabs open with two different sites.
Now that we know how to open tabs easily, let me give you a scenario where this can be useful: You’re staring at an item list in Action Tracking (or an Amazon.com product search as another example) and you’d like to quickly view several items. Rather than opening one tab, saving and closing it to get back to the list, opening another, saving and closing that to get back to the list and so on, you can simply middle click (or CTRL + left mouse click) on the edit pad icons and they’ll all open up in new tabs. This is a great way to view multiple items, especially if you need to cross-reference information. You should be aware that in our product we design it without tabs in mind because most users don’t use them. So if you click save and close in the item, that tab will be taken back to the item list, and you’ll then have two item list tabs opened. However, if you don’t have any changes to make you can simply close the tab, and you won’t have to wait for the item list page to load again before you can start using it because it’s still loaded in the other tab.
Closing tabs is just as easy to do; click the ‘X’ icon at the top right corner or press CTRL + F4. Internet Explorer is prohibitive compared to other web browsers when it comes to closing tabs and you actually have to click on the tab before the ‘X’ will appear.
You can do many other things with multiple tabs like open a blog article you want to read and leave it for a while almost like a to-do list. Tabs can act as magnified views of a list’s items. You can Google a word that you found in an article without leaving that article by opening a new tab and using Google in the new tab. There are so many ways you can make tabs work for you. Try out some of the shortcuts I’ve shown you to open and close them and see what works best for you. By using the shortcuts provided and the concept of tabs, you can do wonders inside your browser. Hope that helps!
- Aaron Lefkowitz, Application Developer
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Open a new tab
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Click the new tab button.
CTRL + T
CTRL + left mouse click (On a link)
Middle Click / Mouse Wheel Click (On a link)
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Close a tab
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Click the ‘X’ on the tab.
CTRL + F4
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Posted on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 09:30 AM
During the week of August 16th, the technical team at DATANET had the good fortune to work directly with iCompass at their office in Kamloops, B.C. As a new technology partner, we could not have been more impressed by the generosity, attitude and corporate culture of our hosts.
Our schedule was a healthy blend of technical theory and practical exercises with the CivicWeb Solution. We thought we were amazed by our first impression but the second, third and ongoing impressions remained with us even on the flight home.
The CivicWeb Solution is an oasis of functionality, usability and product intelligence in a desert of competing organizations. The iCompass product line really cuts the fat out of the workflow process to get you to where you need to be as quickly as possible. Design intelligence is evident in features such as real-time previews of formatting changes. You can’t possibly make a mistake! The CivicWeb services are designed to let your intuition guide you through managing agenda meetings, minutes, documents and Action Tracking. It is so easy to use at a first glance that ‘product orientation’ may be a more suitable term than ‘training’.
Through several social moments (and a fantastic dinner break at a mountain resort), we got to know the people behind the Meeting Management Solution. The iCompass team operates with the efficient devotion of bees to their royal product. It is no surprise to see that the minds behind the scenes are as sharp as the tools comprising CivicWeb.
It was a wonderful week immersed in the technical, operational and logistical streamline that is iCompass. It is easy to see why iCompass has become so attractive to municipal and educational entities – they are a perfect fit for any organization; especially us.
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-Daniel Johnson, Systems Architect, DATANET
Posted on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 @ 12:02 PM
Shortcut Keys Galore - Part one of the Customer Empowerment series is about shortcut keys for every program and for Windows XP/Vista/7 in general that can help you become quicker at everything you do on the computer.
Think of the meaning behind the terminology “shortcut key.” It’s a shortcut because using the mouse is a longer path to achieving whatever you want to do. We’ll take a look at why this is true in the rest of this article.
In the past I have seen a lot of users struggle to get things done on a computer quickly because they refuse to interact with the computer with anything other than the mouse. A computer is a tool, and like most tools it can be used with two hands to make life easier. Think about eating a steak with a knife and fork; using only a fork to eat the steak would be incredibly slow and painful. If you add in the extra (and slightly different) functionality of a knife, suddenly it becomes much easier. Similarly, the mouse and keyboard serve different functions and when used together, you’ll get the most efficient use out of your computer. Now let’s examine the effects of using two hands on a computer.
The most obvious shortcut keys that almost everybody knows (and for good reason) is CTRL + C (Copy) and CTRL + V (Paste). Let’s compare the steps and the amount of work it takes to use the keys and mouse versus just the mouse to copy and paste between two word documents.
To do this using keys and the mouse, I highlight the line with the mouse, and press CTRL + C as my finger lets go of the mouse button. Click the other word document in the taskbar, click where I want it to go and press CTRL + V as my finger is completing the click. Because I’m using two hands, I’m not waiting on the mouse to do the copy/paste part. Essentially, the copy command becomes part of the highlighting and the paste command becomes part of selecting where I want the material to go. It boils down to this: Highlight, change documents, and click where I want it to go. Without having to think about it (through a LOT of practice), I’ve copy and pasted tons without ever waiting on my mouse hand.
To do the same thing using only the mouse, you’d have to highlight the line, right-click, select copy, click the other document in the taskbar, right click where you want it to go, and select paste. Doesn’t seem so bad, right? Well, when you’re waiting on one hand to do all of these tedious actions, it can waste a lot of valuable time.
When you get fast at it, it will feel like three actions as opposed to six. It may seem like a small gain, but when you do that same thing hundreds of times in a day, you won’t believe how much time you’ll actually save. With that, I’m going to leave you with a great big reference list of shortcut keys. Do yourself a favor and force yourself to lay off the mouse a little and give your other hand something to do. As a challenge pick three shortcuts to learn and whenever you go for the mouse, stop yourself, find the keys, and use those instead.
Hopefully after reading this post, you’ll have the tools to help you cut down on the amount of time you spend on the computer, so you can spend time doing more things away from the computer. Happy shortcutting!
- Aaron Lefkowitz, Application Developer
Download a list of all shortcut keys!
Posted on Tue, Aug 24, 2010 @ 11:23 AM
Hi there. I plan on writing blogs for iCompass for a while so I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Aaron Lefkowitz and I’m a developer at iCompass Technologies. My responsibilities typically include, but are not limited to, helping design and implement the new functionality within the Meeting Management Suite. I’ve been involved in the up-front analysis and development of our product since the Minutes project.
I have been using computers all my life and have a good handle on how to use them efficiently. Since I started at iCompass my goal has been to deliver a tool to users that will help them efficiently manage their entire meeting world. Now, I’d like to impart some of the best practices I use in my day-to-day life while using the computer to help you to achieve the efficiency of use of your computer, your browser and our products. I’m calling this the Customer Empowerment series; it is a beginner-level approach to increasing efficiency in the day-to-day use of a computer.
Between articles in this series I’d also like to present some high-level knowledge about iCompass and what we do behind the scenes in terms of our development processes. I’ll highlight some of the ways our customers can get involved and influence the product in a very real way.
-Aaron Lefkowitz, Application Developer
Posted on Tue, Aug 24, 2010 @ 11:05 AM
Working for iCompass was literally a dream come true for me and I can honestly say there aren’t many dreams I have seen come to life. When they say “reach for the moon so that if you fall you will land among the stars,” they don’t go on to tell you what you should do if you actually achieve the moon you were reaching for. When Brett Butler wrote, “Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don’t,” in his book Knee Deep in Paradise, he was looking at the situation of realizing ones dreams from a very pragmatic perspective.
True to what Brett Butler said, I was very apprehensive on that first day in April when I started working for iCompass. Ever since then though, I have learned that the developing team here at iCompass is dedicated to using the very best technology to deliver the best possible product to our customers. When a product is being built, the user is the company’s main consideration. Our tools are meant to be “user friendly,” i.e. they are easy to learn to use and eventually easy to use as well; such that our customers don’t have to spend too much time learning how to use either Action Tracking, Meeting Manager, FilePro, iWeb etc.
I also learned iCompass’ culture and I can safely say iCompass is the first company I have worked for that has a self-motivating culture; such that employees need less managing, as iCompass tries to hire people who already fit the culture. iCompass core values include:
- Trust - They are driven from a place of openness, honesty,
integrity, reliability and respect
- Getting Things Done – They hire the right people for the right roles and are aligned and focused on the right priorities as well as being dedicated to doing whatever it takes to get the job done
- Teamwork – They are a fantastic team and they show it to each other everyday
- Passion – They are driven to provide unequalled customer service and have fun in the process
As a new developer it is exciting to be working in a fast-paced environment where everyone is friendly and welcoming. I have learned a lot and would encourage other co-op students who get an opportunity to work with iCompass to grab that opportunity with both hands and hang on tight. The amount of knowledge I have attained here is impressive and I feel I will be way ahead of my program when I return to university.
-Esther Soko, Application developer
Posted on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 04:38 PM
Here are a few quotes to get you thinking. Once you’ve been inspired, I’ll explain my point.
“Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.” – Author Frederick Wilcox
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – British poet T.S. Eliot
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Roman writer Marcus Annaeus Seneca
Encouraged yet?!
In the complex world of technology, there are various types of prospective customers, some of which are keen to incorporate new devices, gadgets and services into their organizations and lifestyles, while some are very against the idea. According to Geoffrey A. Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm, there exists a technology adoption life cycle as follows:
Innovators – individuals who aggressively seek out new technology
Early Adopters – those who easily relate to and see the benefits of technology
Early Majority – individuals who are more practical when it comes to adopting new technology
Late Majority – those who are uncomfortable and lack confidence in handling new technology
Laggards – for many reasons, these individuals want nothing to do with new technology
Risk-taking is an essential element to moving yourself up within Moore’s “adoption life cycle.” You’ll never know just how beneficial technology can be for your organization if you don’t take a leap and test it out. If you have already made steps to take that leap, but haven’t jumped yet, what’s holding you back? You’ll only work more efficiently and see bigger gains in the way of time-management within your office. In the words of Jack Canfield, motivational speaker and author of numerous books including The Success Principles, “If you want to get from where you are to where you want to be, of course you’re going to have to take that risk.” Eventually one day, you’ll look back and wonder why you hadn’t adopted technology sooner.
The great thing about risk-taking is it doesn’t have to be isolated to technology – it can apply to all aspects of your life, personally and professional. Start making riskier decisions on a day-to-day basis and you will undoubtedly see great results. Sure, you might make some mistakes and struggle along the way, but all of those challenges only build character and help you grow as an individual. I should point out that I’m not advocating doing anything life-threatening or dangerous. I’m simply presenting a concept of going out of your comfort zone every so often and doing things that might make you feel uncomfortable or scare you. In pushing yourself or your organization to overcome daunting challenges, you’ll gain confidence and increase your success rate.
-Jessica Scharien, Corporate Communications Officer
