Dot Connector Blog

Want to be more successful at work? The Dot Connector blog helps you do just that. Here is a recap of the most popular Dot Connector posts. Each can help you be more effective at work, and think differently about the work world around you!

5 Useful Blackberry Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Productivity

If you have a Blackberry, chances are you picked it up, and started emailing right away. Did you know, there are several time-saving features built in, and several tricks you can do to make your Blackberry even more useful? Here are 5 of my favorites…

10 Tips for Getting Organized with To Do Lists

Getting organized — and staying organized — can help you get things done, feel more fulfilled, and clear your mind for more creative thought! A cornerstone of every organization “system” are to do lists.

10 Tips to Improve Your Voicemails

Voicemail is one of the most frequently used communication tools within an organization. And, it seems that the more senior the person you are communicating with is within your organization, the more likely they will favor voicemail over email. Here are 10 tried-and-true tips to improve your voicemails.

Top 5 Characteristics of Effective Work Relationships

Effortlessly working with your peers is one of the things that is so hard for many to attain, yet so easy to take for granted. In this post, I’ll discuss my top 5 characteristics for effective relationships at work.

Get Control of Your Email – Email Management: Part I, Part II, and Part III

Email. We all have it. We rely on it, and sometimes, we can’t get away from it. Overflowing Inboxes cause us stress. Trying to find an email causes stress. Wondering if you replied to all of the emails you need to causes stress. Today, that stress goes away!

6 Blackberry Tips for Reading Emails

Did you know you can use the keyboard to read Blackberry email? Here are my favorite keyboard shortcuts, especially useful when only one hand is free.

There’s an old saying that goes “you have to tell your story or someone will tell it for you.”

That single principle, that you have to be continuously “telling your story,” is an essential business communication tip.

Why? Think about these sample situations:

• You work for 3 years with a high-level executive. Then, that executive is replaced with another. The new person might not know all of the things you have accomplished or plan to implement.
• You work with a large project team where new team members are rotated in and out of projects on a frequent basis. If you haven’t created a good story (and chronicled your successes and failures), new project team members will have a hard time assimilating into the team.
• You work in a large organization where you may come into contact with tens, or even hundreds, of different people across your different projects. It’s always best if your good reputation preceded you.

Ok, but am I saying you should brag about yourself? Absolutely not. So then how do you tell your story?

1. Connect the Dots! If there are projects you are working on that others might benefit from knowing about, tell them! Remember, tell your story by talking about “what’s in it for them.” They’ll appreciate that you were thinking about them, and it will build trust between you.
2. Create a Weekly Paper Newsletter! I created a newsletter called The Weekly WOW! for a controversial project that involved over 75 people. I used this newsletter to communicate the progress of the project (complete with a countdown to launch), share stories about the project team’s individual accomplishments, and include motivational quotes. People loved it! It wasn’t a voicemail, and it wasn’t (another!) email, it was just clear, beneficial information about the project that showed up as a printed newsletter at everyone’s desk on Fridays. (Side note: the project was a huge success!)
3. Use Voicemail to Get the Word Out! Do you send a weekly voicemail update to your “Clients” about your progress? If so, great! If not, why not? Share the great information you know with them. You can also use voicemail to share when you can’t see them in person. If this idea interests you, be sure to check out my 10 Tips to Improve Your Voicemails post.

Tell your story and you’ll be amazed how much it can help you!

(Source: edans)

If you have a Blackberry, chances are you picked it up, and started emailing right away. If you have a personal email management system, your Blackberry can be a real asset to your productivity.

Did you know, there are several time-saving features built in, and several tricks you can do to make your Blackberry even more useful? Here are 5 of my favorites…

#1: Master the Keyboard Shortcuts

Just like on a computer, the keyboard on a Blackberry is full of time-saving shortcuts. Here are my favorites:

• “I” - Hit the letter “I” when looking at email in your “inbox view,” or when reading an actual email to file it. If you’re already using my plan for getting control of your email, then you know the importance of filing email to achieving an empty inbox.
• “0″ - Hold down the “0″ (i.e. zero) button and then use the thumbwheel to select multiple emails when in your “inbox view.”
• “Del” – Use this to delete email you don’t need after highlighting it in “inbox view” – to speed this up even more, you can also remove the delete confirmation.
• “C” - Hit the letter “C” when looking at your email in your “inbox view” to compose a new message.

Be sure to check out my “6 Blackberry Tips for Reading Emails” post with additional keyboard shortcuts too!

#2: Setup Your Blackberry to Work Well with Voicemail

• In my 10 Tips to Improve Your Voicemails post, I discussed setting up speed dial hot keys (Tip #6), making logging into voicemail easier (Tip #7) and forwarding your voicemail (Tip #8) to one voicemail box.
• If you use your Blackberry as a phone, be sure to put all of these to work for you!

#3: Get Google Maps for Mobile

• One of the most useful apps you can download for your Blackberry is Google Maps.
• With a simple search (i.e. “breweries in Duluth, MN”), you will get results on a map, turn-by-turn directions, and one-click to call the business you looked up.
• If you do any business travel at all, it’s an absolute must. I’m sure it will quickly become one of your favorite apps!

#4: Reorder Your Apps in Order of Most Popular

• If you hold down the “Alt” key (below “a”) when clicking on an app, a pulldown menu will appear where you can select “Move Application.”
• Then, you can order the apps in any way you want! I put my most used apps right next to each other to minimize scrolling.

#5: Update Your Blackberry Email Signature

• Your email signature is a valuable “one stop shop” of contact info so people can get a hold of you.
• Make sure you always use the same signature on your Blackberry that you do in your main email (usually MS Outlook).
• That way, readers of your email are less likely to pre-judge your message (“Oh, she’s stuck in an airport and dumping ideas again!”), and they are less likely to know where/how you sent it.
• It’s also a great idea to remove all “Sorry if this is misspelled, I’m on a Blackberry” messages. That’s like a website having an “under construction” page – it’s just not necessary. Plus, it makes you look like you can’t spell.

Bonus Tip!  #6 – How to Dial “Letter-Based” Phone Numbers on Your Blackberry

Ever want to call one of those alpha-numeric phone numbers, like 800-QUICKEN, but can’t find a “land line” dial pad to figure out what numbers to hit?  Fear not!  Thanks to Ron O’Connor, at Quicken Loans, you now have the answer: use the “alt” key + the letter to dial the numerical equivalent of the letter!  For example, to dial the letter Q, just hit “alt-Q” and your Blackberry will show you the Q, but enter a 7.

I hope these tips and tricks prove useful for you. If you’re reading this and thinking, “but he didn’t mention…” then please, leave a comment!

(Source: Pixel Addict)

80% of all project issues are communication issues.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we create our own leadership “glass ceiling” through our communication. Improving our communication improves our connections with others, and ultimately, our ability to grow.

Enter voicemail. Voicemail is one of the most frequently used communication tools within an organization. And, it seems that the more senior the person you are communicating with is within your organization, the more likely they will favor voicemail over email.

If you work remotely, you know that voicemail is often preferred over email because you can “get personal” by injecting emotion and physiology of communication into your message, something that’s very hard to do in email.

To help you grow your communication abilities, here are 10 tried-and-true tips to improve your voicemails:

1. Always stand up and smile before leaving a voicemail. You’ll be amazed at the positive energy you bring to your message – it will definitely come through in your voice! (Be sure to do this when recording your outgoing voicemail message too.)
2. Write out important voicemails before you leave them. When doing this, be sure to simplify what you have written (twice!) before actually leaving the message. Also, be very tuned into how you are leaving the message, so you don’t sound like you are reading from a script.
3. Always start a voicemail with: who you are (“Hi, this is Regis Hadiaris…”), who you are sending the message to (“…with a message going out to Jen, Doug, and Melissa…”), and (in one statement) what your voicemail is about (“…about the decisions that were made in today’s team meeting.”)
4. Always end every voicemail with your phone number (or extension if calling within your organization). It’s a good idea to repeat this number twice.
5. Copy yourself on important voicemails (if possible, usually you can do this when you are using an internal voicemail system) so you can be sure to have a copy.
6. Assign your voicemail call-in number a speed dial “hot key” on your cell phone. The fastest way to dial your voicemail call in number (i.e. the number you use to check your voicemail messages) is to assign it a speed dial hot key in your cell phone address book. That way, if you are driving, etc. you can just hold down one button and it will dial your voicemail!
7. Enter any “login” data for checking your voicemail into your cell phone address book. Most cellphones support a “pause” feature that allows you to put you login data (extension, password, etc.) right after the phone number in your cell phone address book. That way, when you call that number (using speed dial – see #6), you will only have to hit one button and it will automatically dial this info for you. This is priceless when checking messages while on the go!
8. Forward all of your voicemail to one location. To simplify all of the places where you have to check voicemail, you can forward them to one location. Most of the wireless carriers support this functionality (for example, for Verizon you can hit *71, *72, or *73 to activate and deactivate their forwarding functionality).
9. Setup your organization’s voicemail to call you if you get a priority messages. Most voicemail systems support this priceless feature. Just enter a number (like your personal cell phone number) where you should be called when you get a priority message. That way, you will always be on top of your “hot” voicemails!
10. Check and reply to voicemail on “off hours” once in a while. Senior managers are always checking to see how engaged their team’s are. By checking and replying to voicemail during off-hours on occasion, you show your dedication and focus – a great way to build confidence amongst your leadership!

I hope these tips and tricks make you a more effective voicemail communicator!

Need help organizing your email?  Check out Dot Connector’s 3-part email organization series.