Day: March 8, 2023

Categories
Technology

How to use and promote the digital boom of the moment

It has always been said that digital transformation had a sine qua non condition: the right culture. Today we have it, technology is an imperative, it keeps many companies running, it was democratized and, as if by magic, the need made many of us learn what previously seemed complex to us.

Just to give an example, three of the issues that generated all kinds of questions and sensitivities five months ago are today protagonists in the world: automation, which allows many companies to continue operating and be more efficient; artificial intelligence, the resource that is helping the most to get ahead in decision-making; and robotization, which guarantees the operation and minimum income to critical sectors of the economy.

What previously seemed like a utopia, such as Rappi delivering addresses with  robots , was seen on the streets of Medellín, thanks to the  Kiwibot company from Antioquia ; while in China and South Korea, through georeferencing of smartphones, the proximity of those infected with COVID 19 is detected, highlights  Helmut Cepeda , vice president of Expansion at  RD Station , a services and information technology firm.

To complete this good moment, the crisis has provided the world with a greater awareness that puts people before the economy, a fine line between development and technological transformation.

Contactless technologies are leading the new digital transformation, says  Edgar Salas , CEO of  AZLOGICA , an internet of things solutions company.

Post-covid technologies

  • Contactless interfaces:  biometrics, iris reading, voice assistants and other developments that allow entering, exiting, turning on, turning off, activating and accessing services without touching anything.
  • Big data:  from the capture, storage, design, presentation and analysis of data.
  • Internet of things:  for remote monitoring of processes and asset surveillance.
  • Machine learning : to attend and make decisions with data interpretation in real time.
  • Telemedicine : for check-ups and remote health care.
  • 3D printers:  for the manufacture of devices of all kinds at home.
  • 5G:  the ideal communications platform to reduce network latency in processes such as telemedicine and in other specific cases that require greater support.
  • Robotization:  to facilitate the operation of companies, while people think.
  • E-learning : to facilitate personalized, remote and on demand teaching  .
  • Artificial intelligence:  to anticipate decision-making of all types and sectors.

To support digital transformation, it is a priority to develop ultra-learning in work teams, which includes self-taught and taught methodologies to acquire skills and knowledge more quickly and efficiently, highlights Ricardo Pineda, co-founder of Vansa,  an education  company for job of the future

The objective of the technological transformation will be to support adaptability to changes that will become stronger and more challenging, in addition to facilitating remote team work techniques with four relevant principles to face the pandemic: empathy, ethics, self-management and emotional intelligence at the service of people first, and then the economy.

The 6 phases of digital transformation

  1. Strategic vision:  it is up to management to see risks and opportunities of digital transformation, set guidelines and generate  empowerment  for change.
  2. Digitize processes:  how to apply technology to be more economical in time, money and value creation for the user.
  3. Contact points:  understand the processes for current and potential customers and suppliers, etc. to add value.
  4. Products and services:  how to digitize products and services or create new ones through digital.
  5. Business model:  how to rethink monetization by adding technology to products and services.
  6. Change management:  how to manage digital transformation with soft skills.

People will not be replaced by technology, but by people who know how to relate well to machines.

Categories
Innovation

Study at home: education in times of crisis

The imminent arrival of COVID-19 required primary, secondary, and university educational institutions to quickly adapt and use technological platforms. How have you been? We spoke with a high school teacher and a university head.

In schools

David Alejandro Restrepo Giraldo , teacher at Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá Parish School, Medellín.

From the classroom to the virtual

When we talk about training, we face several challenges to guarantee comprehensive training and safe learning. In the face-to-face contact remains, the human and the experimental. In the virtual, the concept, the content and the best way to transmit them are prioritized.

The challenges in the crisis

  • Efficient and adequate use of Information and Communication Technologies, ICT.
  • Raise awareness among the educational community, parents and students, to use the tools and optimize study times at home.
  • Set new paradigms.

used platforms

  • Educate me from Editorial Norma.
  • Google Classroom.

An opportunity for the future

The world will obviously have an economic, social, political and religious turn that presents us with a new educational paradigm, that is, a mental model with other ways of thinking, teaching, learning and solving problems. This will break schemes and will lead us to forge the education that we have demanded for years.

in the universities

 
 
 

Catalina Calle Pineda,  head of the CES Virtual area of ​​the CES University.

From the classroom to the virtual

We know that in person we have to coincide in time and place with the actors in the process. On the other hand, in virtuality we have the flexibility to meet through digital scenarios that do not necessarily need synchronization. In addition, the teacher, more than a transmitter of knowledge, is a guide and a motivator; while the role of the student is much more active and autonomous.

The challenges in the crisis

  • Migrate the entire academic community to a technology-assisted face-to-face modality.

used platforms

  • Zoom.
  • teams.
  • Moodle.

An opportunity for the future

Adopt technology with a pedagogical support that allows training processes to be carried out while preserving quality. Virtual scenarios open up countless possibilities and alternatives for the entire educational community. Universities will not be the same after this pandemic. This was a call to reinvent ourselves and strengthen educational innovation processes within each of the institutions.

Categories
Security

Teleworking without cyber risks

Would you leave your front door open while you work in a room? No, they could rob him, right? But surely, you would connect to a public WiFi to send a corporate file. Both actions are risky, and even telecommuting without good cybersecurity practices could leave your company’s door wide open.

Cyberattacks are among the ten most serious threats on the planet,  according to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Risk Report . And even, cybercrime generates annual profits of 600,000 million dollars and is more profitable than drug trafficking, which moves about 400,000 million dollars a year.

These realities give great value to information as a profitable asset that must be protected, aligned with the sustainable strategy and understood as part of the corporate culture.

This is how cyberattacks affect organizations

  • 40% interrupt operations.
  • 39% cause loss or compromise sensitive data.
  • 32% affect the quality of the product.
  • 29% damage physical assets.
  • 22% harm the staff.

SOURCE: Global State of Information Security 2018

“It doesn’t matter how much technology and controls you have if your human team doesn’t make good use of them,” says Lida María Montoya, IT manager at Cadena SA, a company that started remote work a week before the quarantine was decreed, with a strategy gradual for 200 employees, and that today it has 420 people who work from home.

“The crash plan required us to ensure, in record time, that all the computers had antivirus updates, VPN installations and were inventoried, at the time the company left,” explains Juan Carlos Lujan Duque, Director of Information Security in Chain SA

Due to recent security problems, Zoom was banned from North American schools and entities. The company implemented reliability defaults.

For their part, spokespersons for Bancolombia, which has 19,500 employees working from home, highlight that the remote work plan included a “donation” or obtaining thousands of laptops among all areas in order to send the largest number of employees to telework possible, which required setting up the security equipment to facilitate the remote monitoring of data in real time, as was done at the bank’s facilities.

Among others, untimely teleworking required companies to have signed, as part of labor contracts, commitments to good use and compliance with safety recommendations and manuals, to have technological control and monitoring attachments, and mobility supports.

The support of the internal communication and human management units has also been key to sensitizing the human team about cybersecurity situations that may arise and the possibilities of dealing with them, how to use the devices correctly and have safe behaviors.

But beyond that, understanding how cybercriminals think and act makes it possible to implement and socialize good data protection practices in terms of being thoughtful when receiving, opening, and sharing information.

Internet criminal tricks

  • They build trust, create attractive relationships or contacts to access information.
  • They take advantage of emotional ties to a loved one who needs help.
  • They exploit fear, anguish and uncertainty at the possibility of losing access to valuable information.
  • They blackmail the victims.

Corporate teleculture changed offices and business corridors for   telephone  chats , extranets , video calls, and virtual channels that keep people together and almost inside the office. Today, standing aside is not possible, but it is possible to share the screen, see each other talk and make decisions.

This is how a person protects himself on the internet

    1. Make regular backup copies on external or corporate media.
    2. Close work sessions and apps when you’re not using them.
    3. Use double or triple factor authentication to make financial transactions.
    4. Work in spaces where there is no risk of losing information due to equipment damage, this includes moving away from food.
    5. Avoid sending files with corporate information through unofficial means such as WhatsApp, Dropbox, Wetransfer or free domain emails, among others.
    6. Do not connect to unknown networks or USB ports.
    7. Do not install applications that do not come from reliable sources, from official stores or that require permissions to access confidential information (agenda, geolocation, contacts, etc.).
    8. Keep the operating system of the equipment up to date.
    9. Do not lend your company devices to your family.

This is how companies protect themselves on the network

    1. Activate multifactor authentication in email accounts and tools (access to systems after two or more proofs of identity).
    2. Before enabling services on the Internet, evaluate that contingency actions do not affect data security.
    3. Update the operating system on all devices with the latest security patches released by the manufacturer.
    4. Install and keep antivirus software from a reputable manufacturer up to date.
    5. Deploy storage solutions like corporate Onedrive and Google Drive to store collaborator files.
    6. Permanently monitor the infrastructure of the services used by employees who work from home in order to analyze possible unauthorized actions. Generate backup policies to avoid information loss.
    7. Implement encryption policies on computers, servers, and transactional tools to protect information.
    8. Use comprehensive and centralized protection tools for devices.
    9. In the event of device loss, configure security measures to protect corporate information (location, screen lock, remote data wipe, and monitoring of running applications).

Report cyberattacks or fraud attempts like this:

If you are a citizen  caivirtual.policia.gov.co
If you are a public entity  csirtgob@mintic.gov.co
If you are a private company  contacto@colcert.gov.co

 

Categories
Technology

8 tools for teleworking

Categories
Innovation

Brands that add up in uncertain times

Imagination, reaction capacity, solid values, innovation to minimize impacts, commercial vision and long-term projection, are the qualities of the brands that have created powerful initiatives to face the COVID19 crisis. How did they do it? What are your successes?

In a week life in the country changed as part of the staggered transformations in the world by COVID19. However, in that same time, much less, disruptive initiatives have been created to overcome job uncertainty in the present and in the future.

The paths have been to give value to generosity, reaffirm purposes, act as a result of new needs, not disguise commercial actions, communicate on time, unite ideas and think more than about clients, about human beings.

These are some brands and actions that add up. His great lesson from him is, without a doubt, not to stop before the crisis, not even to think; and implement ideas that on the fly will tell if they were worth it or not.

Giving value to solidarity, Sunrise

 

His  slogan is:  Solidarity is more contagious than a virus .

That’s how it works:  is a platform that unites companies and consumers for the purchase and advance sale of products in order to help SMEs to survive during the crisis. Entrepreneurs set a sales goal and can access advertising files to promote themselves. Consumers shop through a checkout gallery and receive bonuses that they can redeem after quarantine. In 15 days, Sunrise provided 353 businesses with the pre-sale of products for more than 182 million pesos to 2,578 supportive consumers.”Our great achievement has been to restore hope to small businesses who only saw bankruptcy in the future and now have to pay their payroll and obligations and believe in starting over and reinventing themselves,” says Daniel Harry, one of the five creators of this initiative that he was born in a beer among friends, and that in one day he already had 300 registered businesses, and in a day and a half, he launched his website and received 50 transfers for 3 million pesos in pre-purchases. They started with Google forms, Excel files and consumer code. Today, six companies support them with legal consulting, design and video  marketing , business data verification, payment gateway, incubation advice and technical support.”This virus does not end in quarantine, so this project will continue to strengthen with a clear value proposition, believing in advance sales as a business model for small merchants such as bakeries, bookstores, cafes, restaurants, and others,” adds Daniel Harry . .

 
 

Act as a consequence of new needs, Store nearby Postobón

 

His  slogan is:  Stay at home, take life responsibly .

That’s how it works: is a web directory that makes neighborhood stores, bakeries, supermarkets and mini markets visible so that Colombians can get their supplies of food and groceries at home. “With this tool, we want neighborhood stores to remain in force, since they are engines of national commerce and economy, vital to strengthening the social fabric,” says Juan Fernando Maya Restrepo, Vice President of Sales at Postobón. The website is free, has more than 4,000 businesses in more than 115 municipalities and allows any business to register for addresses and be published after verifying their name, address and telephone number. It operates under georeferencing, which allows to know and contact stores near the houses. Postobón also invests 9.

 
 
 

Think more than about customers, about human beings, #we are stronger than Renault

 

“It fills us with satisfaction to be able to be an important support for these initiatives that want to move the country forward, in the midst of this pandemic. We know the effort that we are all making in the midst of the COVID-19 contingency and for this reason we want to invite other companies to join these initiatives”, says Matthieu Tenenbaum, CEO of RENAULT-Sofasa.

Their  slogan :  Let’s not let the country stand still.

This is how it works:  three initiatives, carried out by Renault Sofasa in its challenge to motivate companies and individuals to contribute a grain of sand for the benefit of the greatest number of people in a condition of vulnerability due to the global pandemic: it put the vehicles on test drive and demonstration available to the mobility of the Government’s social programs. With the program The field comes to me , In alliance with the E-Commerce platform Siembra Viva, the Mónica Uribe Foundation, Ruta N and the Mayor’s Office of Medellín, it facilitates the donation, sale and delivery of local agricultural products -cultivated without agrochemicals and fair trade- to families with disabilities. And, he joined InnspiraMed, with a multidisciplinary team that provides agile and industrial scaling methodologies for the development of low-cost mechanical ventilators to supply hospitals. “We know the effort that we all make and for this reason we invite other companies to join and we join these programs. It fills us with satisfaction to be able to be an important support for the initiatives that want to be carried out and give privilege to life,” said Matthieu Tenenbaum, CEO of Renault Sofasa.

 
 
 

Other initiatives that add

Expert knowledge at the service of the world,   Microsoft’s BingCovid, to see in real time the indicators of the spread of Covid19 in the language of each country.

Act according to the purpose of the brand,  Netflix Party ,  from Google and Netflix, a Google Chrome browser that allows you to watch series and movies in a virtual group.

Communicate on time,  #JuntosEnDigital , Vodafone to encourage people to express affection virtually, especially older adults.

Reaffirm the values,  #Somosungremiofuerte , Camacol Antioquia to give union support and hope to the construction sector.

Keeping the audience going,  Nightly Met Opera Streams ,  the free opera broadcasts from New York’s Metropolitan Opera, which also paves the way for donations for artists who have had to stop working.

Adding value to society in times of crisis is the best tool in the face of uncertainty  and can become the support and loyalty of current and potential customers.

Categories
Innovation

100 years and the successes of Fabricato

Pertinent alliances, acquisition of technology, adaptation to the environment and many other things have worked for Fabricato throughout its history. Their commitment to sustainability and to being a socially sustainable company, allowed them to celebrate a centenary in February 2020.

Fabricato closed 2019 with a gross profit of 3,897 million, a figure that compared to the previous year had a variation of 26.5%. The company that began to weave in 1919 with the aim of making textile production, was a pioneer at that time in its organizational structure. Twenty years after its creation, Fabricato built a space so that the workers who lived in rural areas could settle and live with the essential services; In addition, it built a private clinic with the full range of health services for its employees, so that they could enjoy this service free of charge.

Fabricato throughout the years has been committed to the education of its employees and that of their children; For 2019, the company invested 1,062 million in scholarships, a task that it continues to carry out and in which it is still involved today.

Responsibility with resources:

Since 1951, when the filling of the La García reservoir began, with the purpose of supplying energy to the factory and water to the Medellín aqueduct, Fabricato demonstrated its commitment to the environment and resource management.

Today this water source contributes to the preservation of the natural wealth of the region. The La García dam, located in Bello, has 300 hectares dedicated to natural conservation, which allows the company to:

  • Caring for and protecting biodiversity.
  • Conserve water reserves.
  • Maintain soil fertility.
  • Maintain the natural conditions of the environment.

Currently, 65% of the water used in the organization is recovered in other processes.

Present

In the book:  Fabricato 100 años , written and edited by the Eafit University, the latest bets of the company are told. With the arrival of Carlos Alberto de Jesús, current president, was it taken? the decision to separate Fabricato’s businesses into two: textiles and real estate. While the former would continue to be the central axis of the company, the latter would become a valuable source of income to ensure the company’s sustainability.

Manufactured opto? for focusing on four main product lines: denim, the basic fabric that people use to make  jeans . Drills and poplins, knitted fabric and the non-woven line.

Ciudad Fabricato is a real estate project that is being developed in Bello, there is a commercial and housing offer there, the company’s project expects to have said project ready for this year.

Open up to other markets

In 1961 the company began to export, to date it has a presence in 16 countries; 29% of its production is exported and it is expected that the alliances and the opening to new markets will be strengthened over time.

Today Fabricato, considered one of the most modern textile factories in the world, hopes to continue growing, reinventing itself and benefiting its environment through this growth, being a socially sustainable organization.

 

Categories
Technology

CRM and technology as service supports and experiences for current customers

The digital transformation has brought with it a number of products, habits and processes, which have provided efficiency and an absolute improvement for the relationship with the client. In today’s business, the customer demands recognition, and the way it can be achieved is through CRM.

The first technological requirement for optimal customer service is the CRM, since this platform will be the repository of all the information on the customer’s profile (age, gender, profession, tastes and preferences), their behavior (purchase frequency, type of products you purchase , among others), and your attitude (complaints, suggestions, requests) and therefore, there the information required for the generation of algorithms will be obtained, an essential requirement of any technological aid supported by Artificial Intelligence.

For the preparation of this article, we were accompanied by Luis Fernando Botero Carrasquilla, Business Administrator, with more than 10 years of experience in business, management and marketing consulting; postgraduate professor at the Javeriana University and former columnist in the magazines Dinero and Portafolio. Currently, he is the manager at BJ Consultores and CEO of Csmart SAS

CRM: The king of customer service

As technological support for all information, the CRM is the champion. “There is no advance in artificial intelligence, be it  chatbots  or any automation, that does not require the support of information in real time of all the interactions between the client and the company, to guarantee an excellent service.

“The  different contact channels  that an organization may need to be  articulated . All responses and contacts must be integrated into the CRM so that there is consistency in the response: what is spoken to the same customer by email and social networks must always be aligned; because the client is not willing to tell the same story every time the brand communicates with him”, confirms Luis Fernando Botero.

The big brands in the world, recognized for their good customer service, have a widely used term: Guarantee of solution in a single contact.

Many companies make the mistake of opening accounts through all channels, be it: email, website, social networks,  chatbots , customer service line and others; but within these accounts, there is no integrator that consolidates the issues in each contact and allows the agent to respond to the client; have the information to prevent the customer from having to repeat it and also be sure that he or she is not  a single customer for the entire company, but a different person for each contact channel. On average, consumers use three contact channels and 60% expect not to have to repeat their problems to other agents.

Multichannel means that the brand offers multiple  contact channels; but, in addition, it has very clear requirements: quick responses (within minutes for any channel), effective solutions, recognition, among others. Offering multiple contact channels requires effective management of each one.

Omni  -channel  means that customer management for each contact channel is consistent, that is, regardless of the contact channel, the customer feels recognized, he does not have to repeat what he already said to the first agent with whom he spoke and the answers, Regardless of the channel, they generate satisfaction and are an express manifestation of its importance for the brand as a whole.

Brands that have social networks and websites, and do not have immediate support, it is as if they had nothing; It’s like having an open warehouse with no staff, making customer communication reactive rather than proactive. For this reason, among all the contact channels there must be an integrator.
 

This is how CRM goes beyond being a software; its incidence is such that it becomes a customer-focused business strategy. CRM as such is not a new term; What is new is all the technology that allows you to do what traditionally was done in neighborhood stores: the owner could have few customers, but enough memory to know and remember what each one liked. And that’s exactly what the technology is trying to do right now: it allows us to go back to that kind of model.

However, today’s business model requires immediate responses to users and definitive solutions. All digital contacts must recognize the client and this cannot always be the provider of the information. It is at this point where the need for internal support arises, a technological help application.

Luis Fernando Botero

Today’s technologies and their impact on customer service

Currently, technology allows various options, with technological devices in customer service:

  • Face recognition.
  • Speech recognition.
  • Fingerprint.
Technology makes proactive customer service possible, as it gives them recognition and builds their loyalty.

These technological devices  build customer loyalty and recognize them , allowing them to place them in the context of how much they have bought and what they have bought; in order to be able to follow up and offer you possible maintenance or renewal of the product or service at a certain time. In short, it is like a potential observer of customer behavior when buying, and keeps track of their history, their tastes, preferences, important dates, and more.

The best time to communicate with customers

The best communication days to have with the client depend on the sector and the industry: they are circumstances that must have special consideration. There are times when the peaks skyrocket, so the days depend on the seasons. For example, educational institutions have their peaks in the weeks prior to enrollment; beginning and middle of the year. Hotels and resorts have their peaks in the weeks or months prior to vacations and holidays and thus, each company has its seasons: the type of business provides the information.

“When that moment arrives, the brand must be prepared to enable all available contact channels and ready to generate immediate information. And of course, being in total synchrony with all the means of communication”, complements Botero.

Customer service is a strategic responsibility and cuts across the entire organization. At all times, the leader of the customer service area must attract all areas of the company to be aware and provide immediate support to the needs of any employee who requires it or client who needs it. This is a model that must be permanent, all employees of the organization must feel and understand the client. Regardless of the area, there must be a  guarantee of support  when it is needed, be it in human resources, the financial area, the legal area and all the others.

The CRM must have a user in each employee of the company and through him, all the agents will communicate to guarantee that the answers have the “tracking” so that any agent facing the client, knows the characteristics of the client and the urgency of their requests. requests.

The telephone continues to be the preferred channel for customers

Being the telephone the preferred channel for users,  chat ,  social networks  and all  digital channels  are growing rapidly. The reason is the speed in the responses. People who have grown tired of hotlines have chosen to make their problems public through social networks, with the consequent risk for brands, and given this reaction, companies see the need to act more quickly.

Technology: the best ally in times of crisis

When there is a breach in a service or a failure in a product, that is when technology must emerge and companies must take advantage of it. Activating an alert system, whether by SMS, chat, mail and others, will be essential to send response messages to customers who were breached or received a defective product. Always apologize for the inconvenience and say that the company is working to fix it as soon as possible. This is proactive customer service .

Companies with excellent customer service behaviors, such as Amazon, Nordstrom, Apple, Zappos, Southwest Airlines, Uber, Airbnb, Sura, Bancolombia, among many others, have worked tirelessly to build loyalty and create the best experiences for their customers. And of course, they have had excellent CRM and other technologies as allies.

At Cadena we tell our entrepreneurs: these days #StayAtHome and use digital channels.

The CRM optimizes the customer’s life cycle in its entirety since it is the support to generate memorable experiences for all customers. It generates alerts to respond proactively and, in addition, values ​​each client so that, depending on their value to the company, they receive a service according to it.

Categories
Innovation

Spotify’s success story

Spotify, a company founded in October 2006 in Sweden and launched in Europe in 2008, demonstrates how 14 years are enough to innovate, be disruptive, work with new technologies and be simple.

Spotify was created by: Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, both Swedish businessmen. The application began to listen to streaming music and began to gain strength due to its  freemium model  in different countries around the world. Today with a presence in 79 countries and more than 200 million active users.

What is freemium:

The  freemium model  is the combination between  free  and  premium , this means that users are offered the possibility of enjoying a free basic service and in turn having advanced tools for paying users. One way to gain the trust of a user is to provide a service at no cost and, after learning about it and having a positive perception, start charging them for certain functions or privileges.

The platforms declared  freemium  must have a limited time for the use of the tool, a defined number of times to use it or defined users.

to which no one believed

A few years ago it was unimaginable to think that an application would have the official music of the artists available and that users could access it without resorting to piracy. Spotify is even considered to be an ally of the music industry because it allows revenue to return to the industry. The company has made high payments for music licenses and copyrights, which in many years did not allow it to make a profit; However, the company went public in 2018 and each time it is capitalized with the payment of user subscriptions, which grows at an exponential volume and the advertising that those who enjoy the free service listen to.

The success:

User experience : Spotify allows users to listen to music without internet, thanks to its download function. It also allows you to have playlists separated by genres or interests. Its multiplatform does not put any barriers to music-loving users, you can enjoy music on tablets, cell phones and computers.

Alliances : in a world where the collaborative economy increasingly demonstrates its strength and how good it is for business, the alliance that Spotify makes is designed to generate  commodities  for its users. Spotify makes alliances with telephone companies in the world so that the payment of users for the application is lower.

Social networks:  the social media strategy has been a fundamental ally for the expansion of Spotify, since users can create playlists and follow people with whom they share musical tastes. Thus, Spotify saves on advertising costs and its community or active users organically make the content go viral.

Spotify and artificial intelligence

La compañía usa la inteligencia artificial para beneficiar a los usuarios y a su vez a los artistas. A los usuarios entregándoles listas personalizadas por gustos, las canciones y artistas más escuchadas del año, entro otros y a los artistas, ofreciéndoles aplicaciones como “Spotify for artist” que les ofrece ingreso alos artistas a una analitica en la que pueden saber cómo sus fans interactúan con su música, incluso tiene otra herramienta que les permite encontrar los usuarios más activos o sus “fans” y así, entregarles ventajas diferenciadas como entradas a los conciertos, envío de información a sus correos, entre otros.

Si usted no tiene Spotify, es el momento de conocer y navegar la herramienta; si ya la tiene en su dispositivo, les recomendamos esta lista de podcast dirigida a empresarios y líderes:

  • BBVA Blink
  • TED Talk Daily
  • 13%
  • The Frye Show
Spotify tiene hoy más de 200 millones de usuarios activos en el mundo. Salió en la bolsa en abril del 2018 con una capitalización superior a los US $26.000 millones.

Categories
Innovation

CEO Habits and Disruptive Entrepreneurs

A lot of information is produced and shared around the practices of successful people. However, more than advice, it is even more relevant to know what habits managers have, those leaders who make a difference in the industry.

Some advice such as discipline, the need to be informed, the importance of being a leader and not a boss, are some of the frequent readings that we have at hand to remember what things the pioneers, the CEOs of the most important companies, do well. of the world.

At Staff we gather a series of habits and practices that promise to be prodigious for any manager.

obsession with passion

In the Netflix documentary “Bill Gates under the magnifying glass” a human and professional facet of the Microsoft co-founder is shown, however, that professional facet is not so “ideal”, on the contrary, the obsessive way of living a passion.

The hobby for programming for Bill Gates began at a very young age. While his schoolmates played, Gates programmed; That difference that made him different from his peers, he turned into a difference for the world, an idea, a business that keeps him on the Forbes List as one of the richest men on the planet for more than fifteen editions.

Should obsession be a habit that is exposed as something positive? Obsession has always been shown as a not-so-kind practice, but for Bill Gates, his obsession with his passion was and is a trait that sets him apart and determines his history. Gates spent more than 14 hours doing the same, his experience was based on perfecting his expertise.

Outliers,  a book written by Malcolm Gladwell, defines success in a particular and different way. In this edition, the author dares to propose and recount with examples of successful people through uncommon merits and outliers, how they achieved success. Next, we exalt some of them with real situations:

The experience

One of them is  the experience , in which he proposes that people achieve success when they are experts in a subject. “Practice is not what you do when you are good. It is what one does to become good.”  Her concept is based on doing a task 10 thousand hours; after spending this time repeating the same activity, you can become an expert. This highlights the success of Thomas Alba Edison, Bill Gates, Mozart, among other famous public figures.

Criterion

The second concept developed by  Malcolm Gladwell  is  the criterion . He cites examples of how very intelligent people who are afraid to speak to authority or defend their ideas in public end up being common in their professions, but like others who may not be so “great” with clear criteria, convinced of what they want that is, they achieve success in their professional life. Arguing, defending one’s own ideas, not being afraid of the hierarchy, speaking to a manager as one speaks to a peer, is, according to Gladwell, essential to achieve success.

To procrastinate

Siempre se ha dicho que procrastinar está mal, que los millennials pierden tiempo valioso procrastinando y así, poco a poco, este término toma una “mala” fama; sin embargo, Adam Grant en su charla de TED: Los sorprendentes hábitos de los pensadores originales, expone cómo procrastinar en un punto de la curva asociada con el tiempo, es positivo.

Explica que cuando se inicia una tarea, y se deja abierta, las ideas giran en torno a este problema por resolver que dejamos en nuestra mente, y el cerebro se obliga a formular posibles soluciones; pues asegura que en estos lapsos llegan las ideas divergentes y muchas veces las ideas disruptivas.

Simplicidad

Perhaps, when talking about simplicity, for many, the Apple company immediately appears as a benchmark, or at least those who have had a product from this company know that its differential is this; but if Apple equals simplicity, it’s because Steve Jobs made it happen.

When Jobs returned to run the company from which he had been fired, one of the main things he did was:  simplify its product offering . This in order to have fewer products, which were the best: focus the brand’s message on a differentiated identity.

Jobs defended that it was not necessary to have so many products by segments; he defended the fact of focusing the company on compelling objectives, on having less variety, and yes, more quality. Thus, his collaborators were more focused and marketing was better optimized. In the words of Steve Jobs: “ Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

“The culture to which we belong and the heritage of our ancestors shape the pattern of our achievements in ways that we cannot begin to imagine.” Malcolm Gladwell

Categories
Technology

How to apply IT in times of the Coronavirus

The Coronavirus has generated a disruption in the market, leaving companies more prepared for collaboration and digital connectivity with a competitive advantage. The relevant question at this time is: How prepared is your company to work digitally?

The reality that the world is experiencing leaves businesses with an immense challenge that will undoubtedly accelerate the  home office culture , this being one of the ways to protect themselves from this global pandemic. But, how prepared are companies to implement information technology (IT) in their processes from the homes of their workers?

Given the increase in cases of COVID-19, technologies promote remote work, both for its employees and customers and users. These changes, which seem untimely and occur randomly, are bringing with them a more intense  home office culture .

It is possible that companies will observe a decrease in their fixed costs and reduce the times of administrative processes and internal procedures, which will invite them to stay in the  home office  with some of the areas of their organization, since it must be taken into account that not all processes can be performed remotely.

For this article, we have the advice of Systems Engineer and Master in Senior Management: Andrés Felipe Robledo Zapata, with more than 17 years of experience in IT, 17 years in which he has been a participant in different digital transformations in companies in which that has been.

It is a fact: more and more technologies are joining the measures against the Coronavirus. “Although personal interaction in business generates much more empathy, such as gestures and visual interaction; we are being forced to do it virtually; For this reason,  we have to learn to communicate through digital platforms , and this requires certain skills” Robledo affirms.

The companies that have been working under this  telework model have a great competitive advantage at this time, because for them it will be transparent: their teams are already used to working under this model and its impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the company will be smaller. While those who have not done it and are just going to dabble, are in the process of understanding and looking for how to do it, making a change in the culture of people to get them to really connect and know how to work collaboratively: work as a team  , in the same file, through collaboration platforms and not through a number of emails, is an example .

“Companies that have not implemented the telework modality will surely begin to have some deficiencies, and this curve may take between 4 and 6 months; while the companies that were already prepared, during this window of time, will be able to serve their markets more efficiently and the impact on their service will be much less; your employees will feel more comfortable and the value generated by your products and service will be better”. Andres Robledo.

However, the solution does not only lie in practicing  remote work ; people should start having  hygiene from the point of view of the  home office , because this requires a series of rituals and good practices:

  1. Have the technology in order: ensure that you have the updates and the VPN to work and connect safely with the company’s platforms.
  2. Having not only the mail tool such as Outlook, but also all the necessary applications to work collaboratively.
  3. Maintain a regular agenda: prepare for the day as if you were going to work: manage schedules, respect meal times, take active breaks.
  4. Define priorities: ideally, at night, spend at least five minutes planning: follow up on pending issues and establish proposals for the next day’s work.
  5. Choosing a fixed workplace; Hopefully a place where the door can be closed. It is advisable to use a study room or your own bedroom, and of course, having a chair and desk, a bed or an armchair are not the best allies for working at home.
  6. Schedule follow-up sessions with the team to stay close and connected.
  7. Turn on the  webcam  so that the interlocutors feel you are present; That they can see you is important, so people will not lose their closeness when they see your face.

collaboration tools

Today, the market offers a large list of platforms, whose goal is to synchronize people: connect them with others virtually and provide them with the best possible experience. Thanks to them, companies will have a more coordinated workflow by providing a unified platform for team discussion, file sharing, online storage for documentation, assigned tasks and real-time project collaboration.

Among the most used digital platforms, which promote teleworking and collaborative work more efficiently, are:

However, you have to know how to do it; “technology is useless if we do not have healthy habits of digital communication. This should be integrated with some good  skills. Timely planning, impeccable content, and targeted interactions are critical to connecting both internally and externally with customers.” Robledo complements.

Today, there are companies that are dedicated to providing the necessary consulting to adopt these skills to their organizational culture. And in case you want to connect digitally with customers, in a more sophisticated and massive way, there are also production and support companies for virtual events.

It is no longer an option, the crisis that the world is experiencing due to the Coronavirus has raised the health requirements in the world with the aim of preventing the disease from continuing to spread, and this forces companies to change the way they communicate with their different audiences.

Andrés Robledo proposes that “hacking” the culture of companies is a good option to achieve this: “for people to unlearn and change their behavior in the face of technology, implementing a change management strategy.” For this, it is not enough to train employees in its use; day-to-day monitoring and follow-up is necessary to understand how to shape technology as a team to add value in different business scenarios, and for employees to use those functions that add the most value to their role. “Technology alone doesn’t do anything, if you can’t find a business use for it. Technology must  fit  with the uses and customs of the culture and processes within the organization”.

So cheer up! Companies can turn this contingency into something positive, acquiring healthy  home office habits  and implementing it properly.

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