The Educated Emotion

For small business owners and technology users, integrating new technology can seem daunting. Some people resist the idea of learning something new, and it's not uncommon to hear employees say, "We already have a system that works." Of course you already have a system — it's a question of whether that system works well, or whether it can be improved. Employee Buy-In Even more than fear of new technology, the biggest challenge for many large corporations is employee attitudes about change. Fourty-four percent of CEOs cite employee resistance to change as their top obstacle in adapting new technology . Drop the Decision to Adopt New Technology on Employees in an Email. Many large corporations deliver major changes to employees with an email to their supervisors, followed by a condensed version to their subordinates. This does nothing to address employees' feelings of being undervalued or their anxiety about performing well with the new technology. ...

All Blog Activity will continue the second week in July, as we are preparing for a new chapter for The Educated Emotion Blog. Until then, please keep up with small business articles and social media ! Diego Delso [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commonscaption

Ann Arbor Workshop to Help Writers Get Found by the Right People by Chris Wechner Twitter: @ CWechner Summary : Southeast Michigan professional writer and marketer Leslie McGraw and publisher Heather Buchanan-Gueringer will present on August 9 in Ann Arbor to help writers learn how to create opportunities and improve their chances of getting discovered. Ann Arbor, MI – Many writers in Southeast Michigan and all over have a passion either writing or the topic they cover; however, there are bills to pay, and writing does not really seem to be paying those.   Most writers are not sure how to make enough money to pursue their passion, even though they are truly good writers.   People who read what they write enjoy it, but not many people are in position to read it, because they do not even know these writers exist, much less know to read what they have written, but a couple of local professionals are offering help. There will be an upcoming event to ...

There is no getting around it! Monday, with its 700 emails and malfunctioning alarm clock, comes every week. According to a recent study, the average worker is only productive about 3 1/2 hours each Monday. That means at least 5 hours each week employees are paid for complaining about Monday, traffic jams, running kids to school after they missed the bus, locked car keys, eating out after leaving lunch on the counter, stressing out about starting the week, anxiety, head and stomach distress. There is even a 20% increased risk of having a heart attack on a Monday! Even as an entrepreneur with a home office, I still fall prey to the dozens of unplanned distractions each week that all seem to occur on Monday. To help you get through this Monday, and the 32 Mondays left in the year, I have a couple ways to help you be more productive on Mondays. Preparation - I was sick this past weekend. Consequently, my mom and a friend brought me lunch and dinner, respectively, yesterday....

[ View the story "Happy Mother's Day!!" on Storify ]

The Crime Scene. Within minutes of the robbery, my local coffee shop was transformed into an action scene with detectives and all! Last Thursday, me and a writing buddy were at one of my favorite local coffee shops when, in broad daylight, an armed robber clad in a ski mask came and demanded cash. Unbelievably, I was so engrossed in my work that I missed the entire altercation. By the time I noticed that there was even a robbery, the suspect was out the door and a police car was speeding into the parking lot. My first reaction was that this had to be the quietest thief ever! How could I have missed a masked man, a woman shoved, a foot chase?  As a "regular" and a writer, this was pathetic. In hindsight, though,  I was lucky...blessed even. What could have been a very scary scene was more of a warning to be more observant and chance to give thanks and be grateful that nobody, including my teen baristas, were physically harmed.  Thankful Thursdays   For ...

Gotcha! There is no poetry tax (yet). This was my first year adding self-employment income to my tax preparation. The IRS estimates that small business owners spend about 13 hours preparing taxes. That includes times spent collecting and compiling receipts, reading up on new tax codes and laws, as well as actual preparation time. I did not log my time, but I am pretty sure I spent about double that amount of time preparing. Now that I have e-filed and my peers are running around on tax day, I can breathe again. And, by personality, if I am breathing I am smiling. So, in lieu of Annual Poetry Month and Tax Day , I thought I might share a few of my favorite tax poems: The Eiffel Tower is the Empire State  Building after taxes. Anonymous. In "Thoughts on the Business of Life, Forbes, 12/29/97. The more you earn, the less you keep, And now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to take, If the tax collector hasn't got it before I wake. Ogden N...