Blog | Blou Designs

July 31, 2019

Don’t Be Caught Out by These 6 Hidden Software Costs

The upfront cost of new software tends to be perceived as rather obvious. There’s the money you spend on the actual software purchase (if any) and the money you spend on any required hardware (if any). Folks frequently overlook at least six additional cost considerations that can impact both your future budget and your productivity. #1: Hidden Upfront Cost: User...

Tech Stack

May 31, 2019

How to Find the Best App Ever

People frequently ask me questions like, “What’s the best app for X?” That ‘X’ could mean the “best” CRM, the “best” photo management app, etc. It’s a good question, because there are a plethora of apps out on the market, some free and some not, some lackluster and some brilliant. So, how do you find the best app for a...

Processes & Productivity/Tech Stack

April 30, 2019

Can you afford a $90,000 mistake?

In today’s world, we’ve digitized almost everything, including our invoicing and payment systems. Even so, when we don’t support our data flows with an underlying structure, it can be easy to introduce costly human errors. I recently worked with a training client who was using an electronic payment voucher form, but the form still required manual (i.e., typed) data entry...

Data Strategy

March 31, 2019

Sometimes It’s the Process That’s Missing, Not (Just) the IT

Learning software isn’t always just an IT thing. I’m frequently called in to address what’s been identified as a technical skills deficit, only to learn that the IT skills gap is being blamed for a bigger issue, that is, an underlying process-based skills gap. IT-based skills gaps frequently come in the form of “here’s how this thing works, and so...

Processes & Productivity/Training

January 17, 2019

Sluggish Applications: Is it a Software or Hardware problem?

There’s a fine line between software and hardware, and it can difficult to tell which one is causing your computer’s sluggish behavior. In this post, I present two case studies in which one was being blamed but the other was the cause. Redesigning Sluggish Excel Files TL;DR? Sometimes you need to rethink how you’re using the resources already at your...

Tech Stack

December 7, 2018

Templates, Audit Trails, and Client Confidentiality

A few months ago, I was the client of another business person. At the close of our business, this person sent me a standard business letter (i.e., date, name/address, subject, salutation, body) with the intent of summing up the transaction. A quick review of this letter made obvious that the business person had opened a previous client’s letter with the...

Processes & Productivity/Tech Stack

April 26, 2018

Brainstorming: You brought us here. What do we do now? | Q&A

Brainstorming as a practice can seem completely nebulous, and so can quickly devolve into a practice that is completely unstructured. Like any productive practice, it takes a lot of mindful preparation and a lot of structure in terms of dealing with group dynamics and being capable of changing directions when the session isn’t fruitful. Once invitations have gone out, some...

Processes & Productivity

April 4, 2017

What the pour over can teach us about our software choices

TL;DR? It’s easy to feel left behind by new jargon and new technologies. It’s also easy to get distracted by Shiny Object Syndrome. Choosing software for your business shouldn’t be determined by either of those things. When faced with something new, there’s a 5 phase process we typically go through. The first phase is largely emotional. Phases 2 through 5...

Tech Stack

December 5, 2016

Training for Best Practices and Clean Data

There are a lot of things we each need to learn to be successful in the workplace. Some things just need to be memorized and recalled, like which storage closet houses the pens or the light bulbs. But most of what we need to learn is a process, from emailing to filling out paperwork to entering work orders to performing...

Data Strategy/Training

September 29, 2016

Preparing for a Productive Brainstorming Session

By definition, brainstorming is a “spontaneous” group activity in which participants try to generate as many ideas as possible, however outlandish, without criticism. Brainstorming can take a lot of forms, and the “spontaneous” part is often misinterpreted as “if you invite people into a room and tell them to brainstorm, then magic will happen.” That (almost) never works. I believe...

Processes & Productivity