Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: tools

  • Listen In -> Clutter: Friend or Foe? #3: All Those Tech Tools

    Where is that conversation thread? On my phone, my tablet, my laptop, or my desktop computer?

    We are surrounded by dramatically new, increasingly fantastic, ever-changing tools. When do the new options propel us forward and when do they confuse, distract or paralyze us?

    In this week’s podcast discussion, web developer Jorge Rosas and I take a look at the myriad new technology tools which are available to us.

    Each new tool has the potential to create as many problems as it solves.

    Some of us thrive with new tools and some of us get overwhelmed.

    It wasn’t that long ago that a telephone had a single, very focused capability while a desktop computer had a different capability and purpose.

    Now they are almost completely interchangeable. We can surf the web on our phones and talk to family in Asia on our computers.

    For some the new tools have dramatically increased our effectiveness. For others the new tools have only increased the confusion and mess.

    How many contact lists do you keep for phone numbers, email addresses, messaging user names, and residence addresses?

    What are you carrying today? Your phone? Your tablet? Your laptop? All three? 

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Listen In -> Technology… When Less is More #1: Slave To Your Tools?

    Do you work for your tools or do they work for you?

    Imagine a hammer and a saw telling a carpenter how to build a house. Silly image?

    Not if the tools involved are your workplace technology.

    More often than not, our computers, our telephones, our word processors and databases are dictating the terms by which we can access their benefits.

    We become unwitting partners in this unfortunate role reversal by shopping for the latest, fastest, most versatile, most interconnected devices available. As if having the most features meant having the best tool.

    Not so.

    Join me and our special guest, Jorge Rosas, in a new series on Technology… When Less is More. Jorge is a passionate early adopter of all things tech, programmer, webmaster, musician, and producer of the Working Matters podcast.

    We dare to suggest that you are the carpenter, and it is the house that you want to build that determines what tools will best serve you and not the other way around.

    Technology… When Less is More
    Week #1: Slave to Your Tools?
    Week #2: Getting Work Done
    Week #3: Getting Organized
    Week #4: Communicating with Purpose
    Week #5: Collaborating Effectively

    Listen in.

  • Opportunity to Serve

    Having trouble either keeping volunteers busy or with non-performing volunteers?

    Try using this simple form to create a job description for each opportunity to serve for which you are recruiting volunteers.

    Such a tool would help you and your team define more clearly what you actually needed help with. More importantly, prospective volunteers would see up front how much time was being asked, the duration of the commitment, the tasks involved and the skills required.

    This job description could serve as a talking tool or discussion guide when interviewing interested recruits. You would be able to highlight how the person’s heart fits with the organization’s mission, without sacrificing the substance or quality of the job that needs to get done.

    Download pdf form here.

  • Passion Finder and Focus Pads

    Passion Finder CoverThe Passion Finder and Focus Pads are, of course, still for sale. Get them here temporarily, and thanks in advance!