August 19, 2008
Using Microsoft Sharepoint for Acculturation Onboarding
Author: Jeff Hayden
When a new employee shows up for their first day at a new job, they face a mountain of paperwork, a bleak office or a stark and empty cubicle, a bunch of strange faces, a new role to learn, and a new company to learn how to fit into. You as the employer have a vested interest in helping the new employee overcome the fears and uncertainties that is natural to this situation: the quicker you do this, the quicker the new employee is helping the company. Some onboarding software vendors try to address this by offering an onboarding system that establishes a portal specifically for new hires. We call this an acculturation onboarding system, which is different from a transactional onboarding system, which really focuses on that mountain of paperwork. They tout that their onboarding portal is uniquely qualified to speed your newhire to effectiveness, that their onboarding portal is a best-practices approach to acculturating, or socializing, a new employee. But it bothers you that you’re being asked to implement another portal, and you’re concerned that putting up another portal that separates new hires from the rest of your workforce might actually slow the socialization process; after all, doesn’t it make more sense to direct new hires to a portal they work in every day?
If you already have an employee portal or intranet, your concerns are valid. It truly doesn’t make sense to implement yet another portal, particularly if you have as flexible a portal platform as Microsoft’s SharePoint. If you’re like most organizations, your resources are already tapped out maintaining what you have, even if the proposed onboarding portal is hosted. If an employee’s first day is point A, and productivity in the company’s current intranet is point B, then having the onboarding portal built on the same platform of point B seems to be the best choice.
At a recent technology trade show, an informal show of hands from the 200 or so audience members indicated about 80% of those present had an operational company portal built with Microsoft SharePoint. With Microsoft’s viral adoption methods—after all, SharePoint is a free component of Windows Server—this is no surprise. You might also have an employee self service portal, perhaps provided by your HRMS vendor, and if it’s as flexible as Microsoft SharePoint, then it will make even more sense for you to implement your onboarding portal there, but in this article I’ll explore how you might build an onboarding portal on Microsoft SharePoint.
Let’s begin with establishing goals for the typical onboarding portal. From there we'll add some of our own goals, and we’ll discuss how Microsoft SharePoint can be used to achieve those goals. Typical onboarding portals offer the following functions:
· Greets new employees with messaging from the President of the company and other relevant managers and executives
· Gives new employees a place to complete tasks such as newhire paperwork and benefits forms
· Introduces new employees to their new company and its culture
· Introduces new employees to their teammates and colleagues
· Introduces new employees to their new role, projects, and work in progress
· Offers new employees a library of documents and resources about the company
We’ll take the list of goals a step further by adding the goal of achieving all of the above goals within the company’s existing SharePoint-based company Intranet, which will encourage and facilitate the new employee—as they are ready—to venture outside of the onboarding portal into other areas of the company’s Intranet; we even wish to encourage this.
The easiest of these goals to accomplish are those that are document-centric. SharePoint, almost since its inception, has been document-enabled, allowing administrators and users to create, share, and collaborate on content. A letter from the President of the company (and other executives or managers) is simply a document, presumably written by the President, which is made available either through a link, or better yet through a document viewing frame, added to the onboarding portal. If the President decides to update their greeting letter, it’s no more an effort than updating the letter’s Word document from the President’s personalized page in SharePoint.  The same is true for all documents, such as employee handbook, policy documents, benefits descriptions, and so on: as they are updated, their associated links or frame views on the onboarding portal automatically pick up the document changes.  SharePoint’s natural document collaboration can be applied in many ways to achieve the goals of introducing the new employee to their company, its culture, and their new role and projects.
By contrast, if you implement a standalone onboarding portal, if the President wishes to change their new employee greeting letter, they will likely have to send the new letter to HR to incorporate the changed letter on the onboarding portal. If the employee handbook is updated, not only must it be updated on the company intranet, it must also be updated on the onboarding portal. Having a separate onboarding portal typically doubles the points of maintenance for content that is important to new employees.
All new employees have a series of tasks that must be completed, paperwork being the most obvious. Workflow-based software typically is used to drive this functionality, assigning tasks to the new employee as they are due.  For example, on their first day, they might have a task assigned to them to complete their employee newhire forms package. SharePoint accomplishes this with the Windows Workflow Foundation, released as part of SharePoint 2007. Also known as WWF, it is well integrated with SharePoint, so much so that it almost doesn’t make sense to use SharePoint without it.  The tasks that are assigned can be any that are WWF-compatible, and might not only drive completion of paperwork, but perhaps also training and mentoring tasks, post-hire assessments, or benefits enrollment that are delayed, even if several years after the employee's start date.
Your HRMS application might provide some workflow capability, but check to see if it's integrated with SharePoint. A standalone onboarding portal might also provide workflow functionality, but check also to see if it can be integrated with SharePoint: if the vendor provides their own portal, they more than likely won’t have bothered to integrate it with SharePoint. Yet another possibility is a standalone Business Process Management (BPM) system, which is a much more robust and scalable workflow functionality; practically any BPM-based onboarding system will provide SharePoint integration capabilities.
Having true workflow capabilities such as is available in SharePoint can also support introducing new employees to their new company and their new employees, by actually encouraging them—through assigning tasks—to read and learn about the company or to meet new employees, then actually testing to see whether the employee has followed through on the tasks.  This can be implemented as a gentle nudge to move the new employee through socialization.
Also introduced in SharePoint 2007 is personal profile and networking features, much like is found in sites such as FaceBook and LinkedIn. Using this feature, coupled with the more official organization structure from your HRMS, your new employee can be introduced to their official colleagues and teammates, and they can be encouraged to explore the more unofficial networks within the company’s social network. Finding and utilizing mentors in the company’s social network may be a completely unstructured activity, or it may be a much more structured, task-driven activity (as described previously), depending on the company’s philosophy and culture. SharePoint does a much better job than typical standalone onboarding portals in implementing corporate social networks, but if your organization is embracing corporate social networking on a more strategic level, there are many platforms that provide additional, rich functionality, and more than likely integrate with SharePoint, much more likely than standalone onboarding portals.
It should be obvious by now that you can use SharePoint to achieve your acculturation onboarding goals. But have we achieved these goals more effectively from within the SharePoint environment that we want the employee to permanently work within? In other words, have we shortened the “A to B” path to productivity, or at the very least, made it more of an A-to-B rather than an A-to-B-to-C path? To answer this question, it's important to understand a fundamental aspect of how SharePoint is structured. Within a single implementation of SharePoint, you create multiple “sites”. Each site has its own theme, its own purposes, and its own set of users. Departments and projects are typical candidates for having their own SharePoint site. Hence, you might have an HR site, and beneath the HR site you have a Newhire site (our SharePoint-based onboarding portal). The most important thing to remember is that all of the SharePoint sites comprise the company’s overall SharePoint-based intranet. Hence, as the new employee works in the onboarding portal, they are working completely within the company’s overall intranet; you can even see this in the SharePoint URL address. Not only is there no impediment in place for the new employee to jump to other sites in the entire intranet, but by using tasks assigned by workflow, you can also encourage it. And not only that, with SharePoint, you can measure and evaluate in ways not possible between SharePoint and a third party.
In summary, Microsoft SharePoint is not just a viable platform for building an acculturation onboarding portal, but in many ways, it’s a preferred platform.  Not to mention that there’s likely no additional licensing investment for you to make. Pick a great transactional onboarding system that automates a mountain of paperwork and integrates well with Microsoft SharePoint, and you’ve deployed an exceptional onboarding system.
About the Author:
Jeff Hayden is the VP of Product Management for Emerald Software Group. He has more than 20 years experience in the IT industry, including as a Sr. Network engineer with ABN Amro Bank and Allstate. Jeff can be reached at jeff.hayden@emeraldsoftwaregroup.com
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/using-microsoft-sharepoint-for-acculturation-onboarding-504088.html
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August 15, 2008
Microsoft Outlook Sales Software
Author: Jose Vanegas</a></strong><br />
Making Microsoft Outlook Better Microsoft Outlook is the most commonly used email program on the market today. It has become essentially the industry standard for business email programs. What many people do not realize about Microsoft Outlook is that it has far more power than just functioning as an email program. Microsoft Outlook provides date book calendaring functions, task list management, contact information management, follow-up reminders and more. Microsoft Outlook is the top Personal Information Manager (PIM) in use in business today, and with add-on programs it can offer much more functionality for your business. Getting the most from Microsoft Outlook <br /> Microsoft Outlook can provide you with a great deal of functionality if you know what you have at your fingertips. The segment of Microsoft Outlook people are the most familiar with is typically email. This is a great place to start. With Microsoft Outlook email you can send messages to individuals, predefined groups, and groups of people in your Microsoft Outlook Contact folder. Once you become familiar with email, moving on to the Microsoft Outlook Contact folder is a good next step. Here you can create an electronic card file for all the people you associate with. You can group them by business or personal and organize them by state, phone number, and more. <br /> Your Microsoft Outlook Calendar lets you create individual or recurring appointments, set pop-up reminders, and send meeting requests via email. With Microsoft Outlook Tasks you can create a To Do list of activities and keep track of your progress. Learning more about Microsoft Outlook is easier than you may think. One tool that many people forget is the Microsoft Outlook Help function available by clicking the "Help" menu in the top toolbar. Microsoft Outlook Help provides you with a volume of information through the local help files, as well as giving you access to Microsoft Office Online help. All you need to do is type in a question or statement about what you want to do, and Microsoft Outlook Help searches the files for related information. Rarely will you not find the information you are looking for. If anything, you end up learning more than you set out to. You can also activate the Microsoft Office Assistant. Most people know this as the little annoying paperclip that hangs out on your desktop. This can actually be a very easy interface to access help on Microsoft Outlook, and what’s more is you can change the character to a robot, cat, dog, or other to match your personality. <br /> Powering up Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook can be a great information manager for your business, but in order to really get the functions you need you may have to look at other applications. This isn't necessarily an appealing thought if you like working in Microsoft Outlook and dread having to switch to another program. Wouldn't it be nice to have the features you need right inside your Microsoft Outlook? In order to get what you need, look for Microsoft Outlook Add-ins that provide the functions you require. There are plenty of programs designed to add functionality to your Microsoft Outlook, so many that it can sometimes be overwhelming. Consider carefully what functions you need and how you want to use them. A good Microsoft Outlook add-in will provide you the features you need, be easy to use, and continue to provide long-term value. Avoid add-ins that change the look of your Microsoft Outlook and add complexity to how you do things. One of the most appealing things about Microsoft Outlook is that it’s easy to use. To get the most benefit from it, keep it that way. About Avidian Technologies: Avidian Technologies is a software company specializing in creating software solutions for users of Outlook and Exchange. Prophet, developed by Avidian Technologies on the .NET platform, is the leading contact management and sales CRM software built in Outlook. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. For more information, please visit http://www.avidian.com or call 1-800-860-5534.<br /> About the Author:
Many of today’s most successful large and small businesses have chosen Avidian’s CRM Software as their sales management and contact management software. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/microsoft-outlook-sales-software-257465.html Technorati Tags: computer software, linux, photoshop, microsoft,car simulator baby sleep inducer
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August 13, 2008
Antivirus Software and Intrusion Prevention Solutions
Running Windows applications on a computer connected to the Internet without antivirus software is insanity to say the least. There are countless viruses and worms that can be introduced via the Internet to any computer. Your wisest investment for your computer is your antivirus software. It should also be your highest priority to purchase.
For the benefit of the new computer user, let’s explain what a virus scanner is. Authors of viruses and worms insert code into programs that will do damage to a target computer if run. This code can come in the form of a file with a .exe extension on the filename or as a Microsoft Word or Excel macro. These are the most popular delivery methods. What happens usually is that you will receive an email attachment or your web browser will run a script and it will invoke the damaging code. Damages are invoked depending on the virus. Some will deny you further access to the Internet. Some will even install there own email sender and spread the virus to everyone in your Outlook address book by sending unsolicited mails with the virus attached. The reason you need an antivirus program is so that it can catch the introduction of this software into your computer and either delete it or isolate it in some way. Folks work to discover the attributes of a new virus and then write ways into the antivirus software to detect the virus or worm. This is called detecting the “signature” of the virus or worm.
Many new computers come with an antivirus package already pre-installed. These pre-installed antivirus packages come with a 90-day evaluation license for automatic updates of virus definitions. When the 90-day period expires, you are given the choice to renew the license for usually a year or if you do not want their product then you can buy another one. If you continue to use the antivirus program you will probably not receive updates of new signatures and therefore will not have protection from new viruses. This is where you would be wise to shop a little more to find the antivirus scanning program that meets your needs.
Freeware antivirus software is virtually nonexistent. Usually if you do find a freeware antivirus program it does not have three very important features. The first feature is the ability for it to scan for viruses introduced into memory or while Windows is running. This is an automatic scanning feature that requires no human interaction. The second feature is the ability for virus and worm signature updates to be automatically applied via the Internet. You also have to manually download the signature updates and apply them. The third feature has to do with support. You do not get the vendor support for freeware antivirus programs like you do with the ones you pay for. You might find information on Internet forums but the live technical support from the vendor is just not there.
Microsoft has an excellent program where you can get 90-day trials of antivirus programs. These are fully functional trials and you can see how they will work with your system. The link to this offer is at:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/wsc/en-us/default.mspx
Try them out and pick the one that suits you the best. Make sure you check out the Downloads32.com Discounts tab (http://www.downloads32.com/discounts.htm) because you will probably find an antivirus package that qualifies for a vendor discount making it even more fitting to your budget. Some antivirus programs may not work well on your system because they are resource-intensive. Keep in mind that the automatic scanning has to do this task at periodic intervals and this will consume resources such as memory and processor time. So by comparing all the trial antivirus programs you can be certain of the one that will work the best for you before you spend money on licensing it for your use.
Joe Cohen is an information technology professional. He loves to do research and write articles about computers. He has a dog.</p>
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August 11, 2008
How Do We Search for Formatting in Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel is one of the most diverse tools you can get for spreadsheeting. Whilst I am slightly biased because I’m a Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor, never the less, Microsoft Excel is one of the most powerful tools you can use and in reality most people only use about 5% of the functionality that is actually in the application. One of the nifty tools I stumbled on many years ago when I first sat my Microsoft Office 2000 Master Instructor Exams was the ability in Microsoft Excel to utilise the Find command to actually search for text or cells with a specific format such as a cell that has a Yellow background or text with bold formatting.
That’s right …
you can use the Find command to search for specific formatting in a cell.
To begin with we need to setup a few cells in a spreadsheet to demonstrate this tool. First of all open Microsoft Excel and a new workbook should open. If it does not simply choose the shortcut keystroke [Ctrl] + [N] and a new work book should be visible.</p>
<p>Okay so what we need to do is to select a couple of cells and change their formatting. Lets choose the cell address C8 and apply a yellow background. To do this simply choose the Format menu and choose Cells from the drop down menu and then choose the Patterns tab. Now its time to choose a colour and lets choose a Yellow colour. Then go through and make three other cell addresses yellow such as F9, E10 and G42.
Now follow the same steps outlined in the previous paragraph and choose a second colour for the background of the cells like a blue. Make sure that you don’t put any text in the cells as we want to simply move through the cells by the formatting.
Alright, to start off, let us look at how to access the Find command. There are two ways to access this command and the first techniques is pretty straight forward, you simply go to the Edit menu and choose Find from the drop down menu and the Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
Alternatively, you can bring up the Find and Replace dialog box by using the shortcut keystroke [Ctrl]+ [F]. If the Find tab is not visible, mind you it should be, simply choose the Find tab. Press the Options but you will notice that a Format button will appear next to the Find What text box. Simply click on the Format button.
You will notice a dialog box pops up similar to the Cells dialog box. What you need to do at this point is to choose the same Yellow colour that you used for cell address, C8, F9, E10 and G42 and then press the OK button. Make sure that you do not have any text in the Find What text box. It is now time to find all those cells that have a background formatting of yellow. To do this, simply choose the Find Next button. What will happen is that it will go to the first cell that has the background colour of yellow. If you keep pressing the Find Next button it will go to each of the cells where you have used the background colour of yellow.
By using the Find function, you can literally search your whole document for any formatting that you require. Note also that whilst we did not have any text in the cells, you could do a similar Find command for looking for text with a certain Font Type, a certain Font Size or border type. You could even search for a certain number format as well.
Why not try a different background colour.…Try searching for the blue colour background and see what results you get.
The Find command is a very useful tool as it allows you to search not just for text but text with certain formatting or simply for certain formatting on cells. One of the key advantages of using this technique in your spreadsheets is to help speed up your ability to find the data you are looking for.</p><strong>About the Author:
Chris Le Roy has developed a number of Microsoft Office Tutorials including a Program, Microsoft Excel Tutorial and a Microsoft Word Tutorial</a>.</p><p>Article Source:
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August 10, 2008
Types of Computer Software
Author: John Cage
Way back in 1946, a German engineer by the name of Konrad Zues developed the world’s first computer programming language called Plankalkül while hiding in the Bavarian Alps waiting for the war to end. Among other uses, Konrad used this table and data structure on his Z3 computer as a chess opponent. You can’t help but wonder if Konrad would feel at ease today with all of the different types of computer software available, or would he go back up into the mountains, play chess and hide from the world.
No matter what your goals, no matter what you’re trying or want to do with your computer (or what you want your computer to do for you), it’s almost certain that there are a variety of different computer software programs to get your project done. One of the most popular software categories of the day is the type that protects your computer from viruses, as just the thought of a virus attacking and impairing your computer from use is enough to make anyone cringe. Anti-Virus software comes in all different shapes, sizes and price points, each offering protection from a vast array of worms, spyware, Trojan horses, as well as the latest in the virus spectrum.
On a more blissful note, graphic software is still one of the most popular categories for computers and keeps getting better all the time. So whether you’re interested in creating animated webpages on your site, drawing your own graphics for your business, or you want to be able to get the red eye out of your family’s vacation photo’s, there’s sure to be an ample supply of graphic software to suit your needs.
For those that want to eliminate the need for a CPA in their personal life or business, there is plenty of accounting software options available to help you with this task. From personal and business income tax preparation, to accurate time card records, to in-depth inventory capabilities and more, you can easily turn your books from being “in the red” to black as quickly as you’d like.
Don’t forget about spam solution, mail management and contact management to name just a few of the latest business software programs out there to help your company run smoothly.
One important point to keep in mind while shopping for software, What good would even the best software at the cheapest price do if the customer service you receive is less than adequate? Be sure that the computer software provider of choice has qualified employees that can answer any question or solve any problem that you may encounter. Of course, a guarantee to make sure that you’re completely satisfied with your purchase is just one way a quality company will let you know that they actually care about you and appreciate your business.
About the Author:
John Cage recommends that you visit http://www.atomicpark.com/ for more information on Computer Software.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/types-of-computer-software-61637.html
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Do you often wonder why the computer performance depreciates with the passage of time? When you first bought the computer, it works smoothly, with a good response time, however the speed gets slow as the time progress and you experience a lot more time to perform the same activity which you used to finish in seconds.
This is because of the computer’s window registry. The registry is a database that updates itself with the modifications done to the computers. Windows registry also contains the important files that the computer needs to operate successfully. It is recommended to perform regular registry scans to erase the unnecessary and redundant files and to repair the errors messages that pop up from time to time.
The top registry repair programs come with the ability to schedule the registry scans on a regular intervals. There are numerous free registry cleaning options available however they do not have the same number of features that you can obtain by acquiring the paid version of registry cleaning software.
One of the top brands of registry cleaning softwares comes with the name of RegCure. It is an exclusive “Registry repair” program that will provide a permanent solution to most of your computer related issues. RegCure will enhance the system’s real-time performance and also eradicate the popping up of unwanted dialogue boxes while running various operations on your PCs. Incase you are not convinced by your system’s efficiency and have a constant fear of loosing your invaluable data, than RegCure will put all your fears to rest.
The viruses in window registry are mainly the reason behind most of the computer related problems. At times, even the most advanced anti viruses’ available in the market prove to be impotent and fails to deliver their desired function. For this reason, a registry repair system can prove to be a real cure to the computer troubles and surely facilitate in keeping the computers up-to-date. This registry cleaner program automatically updates itself which consequently trouble shoots the issues that came across in the window registry. Incase you are quality conscious and wants the best for your computers than only RegCure would be your obvious choice.
For more reviews about the registry cleaneing programs, please visit Registry Cleaner Reviews here. It is a wonderful resource for finding comprehensive information about the latest registry cleaning programs available on the internet. Read our Regcure review here.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azam_Mehraj
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August 6, 2008
Customizing Microsoft Money Check-printing
Author: Stephen L. Nelson, CPA
To change the way Money prints checks, choose the Tools menu’s Options command and click the Print Checks tab. Money displays the Print Checks dialog box.
Setting the Printing Checks Options
The Printing Checks box has check boxes that let you specify several criteria.
Selecting the Prompt If Checks Are Postdated check box tells Money to confirm that you want to print checks that use a date in the future.
Selecting the Print Payee Name In First Line Of Address Field check box tells Money to print the payee name in the address block. (You want to print the payee name in the address block if you plan to mail the checks using an envelope with a window.)
Selecting the Use My Existing Checks From Quicken check box tells Money that you are going to use checks that you originally purchased for Quicken with the Money program. Money needs to know if you are using Quicken checks because they are slightly different from Money checks.
Click the Font button to control which font Money uses for the checks it prints.
Changing the Check Printing Fonts
Clicking the Font button displays the Check Printing Font dialog box. This dialog box is easy to use. Use the Font list box to specify a font. Use the Size list box to specify a size for the font. Notice that Money shows how your font specification will look in the sample box. If you make changes to the font, be careful to use one that is legible and adequately sized.
Adjusting the Printing Alignment
The Printing Alignment box has options that allow you to make several important specifications about the actual check forms themselves. For example, the Full Sheet Of Checks Vertical Alignment box lets you specify whether Money needs to begin higher or lower on the page. If Money should be printing lower on the page, enter a value in the box. One equals 1/16th of an inch. A positive value means that Money should move the printed information down the page. A negative value means that Money should move the printed information up the page.
The Full Sheet Of Checks Horizontal Alignment box works in the same way— except that it controls whether Money should move its printing to the left or the right.
Again, one equals 1/16th of an inch. If you want to move the printed information to the right, enter a positive value. If you want to move the printed information to the left, enter a minus value.
The Partial Sheet Of Checks Vertical Alignment box and the Partial Sheet Of Checks Horizontal Alignment box work in the same way as their full sheet counterparts.
However, these alignment settings affect only those situations in which you are printing a partial sheet of checks. Again, you need to remember the following points: one equals 1/16th of an inch; if you want to move the printing down or to the right, enter a positive value; and if you want to move the printing up or to the left, enter a minus value.
NOTE In general, if you are working with an inkjet or laser printer, you should have no problem with check alignment. Check alignment problems usually occur only when working with an impact printer.
About the Author:
L. Nelson is the author of do it yourself kits for Incorporating in Wisconsin, Wisconsin S corporation, and Wisconsin limited liability company.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/accounting-articles/customizing-microsoft-money-checkprinting-357737.html
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