I had to create a new document today for a number of people to manage. I had a suggestion from a few people to put it on Google Docs. I am not a huge fan of Google Docs… it is not quite as responsive as I like and I really like local documents so that I can work offline whenever I want. Not too mention, it is not as fully featured as MS  Office Applications or OpenOffice.org Applications.

Nevertheless, it really did make most sense for me to have this particular document online so that I don’t have to continue to email the document when I make an update.

So, I got to thinking… how great would it be for there to be a way to synchronize Google Spreadsheet with a Microsoft Spreadsheet? If I could find a way to mirror the two documents… one online and one on my desktop, it could give me the best of both worlds. I figured if I could synchronize my Google Calendar with my Outlook Calendar, surely I could do it with my documents, also.

Evidentially, I am not the only person thinking the same thing.

In my search, I found DocSyncer. You have the ability to have all the supported documents automatically sync for you. It is a little slow in the sync (i.e. you can’t make a change and force it to sync right away), but it really does seem to work well.

Setting DocSyncer up is a breeze. In about 15 seconds, you have your account set up. You simply add your Google Apps login information, install the software and it will start to sync. It takes a little time for it to get the sync done the first time (so be patient), but it work great.

Try it out. Let me know what you think.

I have been thinking a little about the reasons why I might procrastinate getting something done.

I sometimes amaze myself at what I will procrastinate. I will put off till the last minute some things that don’t take very long in the end. Often times these small things can make me a lot of money if I would just get them done.

Not long ago, I put off getting a time card program set up for my employees because I just didn’t want to deal with it.

In an effort to understand why I procrastinate, I have learned something interesting about me.

First. When I complete a project, I get a great sense of accomplishment… even when that project was very simple.

Second. I hate starting a project, because I am afraid that I won’t be able to get it complete… because if it doesn’t get complete, I feel a great lack of accomplishment.

Third. I am very apprehensive about any project that has many unknown variables. If I don’t know how do large components of the project, I don’t like to tackle it because I don’t know how long it will take.

So, there are a few simple things that I do that have helped (not completely mitigated, but helped):

1. Bite Sized Chunks. If I can break a project down into small tasks, I can get small victories and small bits of accomplishment.
2. Make A Task List. I have found that a written list gives me the added satisfaction of crossing something off. As computer-centric as I am, there is something nice about a pen and paper list.
3. Delegation. The fastest way to get something off your list is to delegate it. If you are an owner or a boss, this may be easy… if not, this may not be possible. Just don’t procrastinate getting it delegated.
4. Set a goal to learn something new everyday. I think that the biggest reason for procrastination is that we are afraid we’ll have to learn something new. If you already know you are going to learn something new, make your tasks fit to what you are going to learn.
5. "Plow Through" time. Sometimes I find that I get a list of a number of things that will take a bit of time. If I set a block of four or five hours as "plow through" time and unplug, I can get a lot accomplished in a very short period of time.

In business, to ensure efficiency, you should have a process for everything. You should know what needs to be done to accomplish everything you do as effectively as possible.

You may not realize it, but even if you are a one man show, you have processes that dictate the things you do. If you are a small operation, then it is likely very easy to tell me what you do on a regular basis. As you get larger, that becomes more complicated.

Ask five people in your organization how you do something. I bet you get five different answers. Five different ways of doing the same thing. Five different reasons for doing those things. Five different timelines for getting those things done.

The important distinction is between a process and a procedure. The more you can dictate a process the greater efficiency you can incorporate. However, often times, if you get too specific on a procedure, you can negate much of your efficiency. The reason is that as people become more proficient at what they do, they will invariably find short cuts to the procedures you teach them… so, what are the differences?

A process is a high-level view of tasks. It is the main steps at which something gets accomplished. For example, to the right is a section of the process that I go through to build a new web site for a client. You can click to enlarge and see the section better.

Notice that the steps indicated are very generic. They aren’t specific to how it is to be accomplished… only that it needs to be accomplished. That is a process.

A procedure is a step by step guide on how to accomplish a task. To the left is a sampling of a procedure for one of the tasks in my process above. It is a step by step instruction sheet for accomplishing that task. You can click to enlarge.

Often times, it is important to follow certain steps in order to complete a task to be as efficient as possible. Some times, it doesn’t matter at all. For example, if you have a task of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, taking out the bread is a critical first step, but it really doesn’t matter whether you put the peanut butter on or the jelly on first. Putting the top on the sandwich has to come last unless you are getting creative with a traditional sandwich building exercise.

So, the question some will have… do you have to have a process for everything? My opinion is yes… you should. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but you should know what you do and how you do it. If you don’t, how can you sell it? How can you tell other people what you do and why you are better?

In my opinion, the more important question is, should you have a procedure for everything? I think that entirely depends on what you are trying to get accomplished and why type of employees you want to have. If want to hire $7 per hour employees, you better have a procedure for your tasks because it streamlines training and gives you an objective measurement for what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to hire a $50 per hour or $100 per hour employee or contractor, then a procedure will just get in the way.

Sometimes you want to have the expectation that someone will take a process and fill in the procedural gaps, but more often than not, you don’t have the luxury of being able to afford the person that can do that.

A good day at work is not defined by the number of hours you spend on a project, sitting behind a computer or talking with clients. A good day at work is measure by what you have accomplished that is meaningful.

Don’t confuse busyness with working. Don’t think that just because you put in 8, 10 or 12 hours that you actually accomplished something.

If you can’t look back on your day and honestly say that you have completed something of consequence or significance, then you didn’t have a good day at work.

I have run this blog for more than a year now. I must say, it has been a fun thing for me. I would guess that I have learned a lot more than anybody who has read this blog. It certainly makes me think a little more about business and technology. When ever I go anywhere, I always think about the blog that I can write. I am sure that I have come up with some bad posts, but I thought I would share a few of my favorites from the last year.

	Tell me why this clearance post is needed? Leading up to this ATM, there is no covering, no ceiling, nothing over your car. After you leave the ATM, you end up in the parking lot where you can get out on the street. Again, nothing over your car. The only thing you drive under going to and from this ATM is the clearance warning. This was just stupid, see the full size image and the rest of my thoughts at Warning Sign Not Needed.
	Why does change fail to generate an ROI in business? Assuming that change is the right thing to do for your organization, you may find that it will fail. Anytime you work to make change and it fails, you not only lose the cost of implementation, but you also have lost opportunity. My humble opinion - a great post on change and ROI at Does Change Always Equal an ROI?
	“There are absolutely ‘no refunds’ for lessons or private parties. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” Yeah, sure. They really care. Read my suggestion at Do You Really Care?
	How about this? Rather than just moving the branch, the paint truck just drove around it… as a result, a sub-standard job. How often do we ignore the simple things that will allow our service to stand out in the crowd because it is simply not our job? How can we ever expect to be great if we keep passing the buck? Read the full post at Not My Job.

Of course, there are some posts that I like that don’t have any “fancy” pictures associated. The page I get the most hits via search is “Dear Valued Customer”

I had an entire series (13 posts, I think) on the Customer Experience. You can take a look at the trackbacks in that post to see all of the links, but some of the ones that I really like are:

• Do you really care about your customer?
• Can’t vs. Won’t
• Customer Loyalty Programs are Meaningless
• Your Document Management Policies Degrade the Customer Experience
• Of BBQ and Burgers

One of the key things my blog as taught me is the benefit of internet marketing. Ten years ago, I told my wife that the internet wouldn’t amount to much from a money making opportunity for the masses. At that point, search was in it’s infancy. Since then, Google has changed the face of how the internet is perceived. So, when I started this blog, I really wanted to understand. So, I wrote a little whitepaper about new media. I hope you like it. It is titled, New Media: How Technology Can Bring Success.

If you have any posts that you have read of my nearly 400 posts, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. The Good, the bad or the indifferent. Let me know what you think.
Corey Smith
Co-founder of Resumango where you can build a better resume for free

A few weeks ago, I moved my email services to Google Apps. My main motivation was I wanted to find a good alternative to an Exchange Server. Since I left corporate America a few months ago, I have missed the synchronization that an Exchange Server provides. I can’t justify the costs of one, so I needed an alternative.

Google Apps provides free email hosting for up to 100 email accounts on your domain. You can petition for more without paying extra. The shared calendars are pretty cool, too. Recently, they added IMAP support which allows the users to have their email in their favorite email desktop client sync with the Google Gmail interface… so you can have the best of both.

If you are used to the way that your client handles email in a POP3 or Exchange environment, it takes a little getting used to (for example, you can’t hit delete in Outlook, you have to drag and drop to the trash and identifying something as spam or not as spam is a little more complicated). But, once you get used to it, it works really well.

One of the things that I really didn’t like very much was that I couldn’t synchronize my calendar. I still prefer to use Outlook for my email. I do because it is so well used. But, I really like the idea of having a web interface to modify my calendar.

Yesterday, Google released a little app for windows that allows the synchronization to work. It is pretty cool. I set it up and, in no time, my Outlook calendar was in sync with my Google Calendar.

I think that Google has a long way to go to replace Exchange. There are still many services that Exchange can do that Google can’t. However, having worked in Corporate America, I tend to think that for the features that the majority of users utilize Exchange for, Google is a better choice for a better price.

Now, you might be interested in how to set up your Google Calendar to share with Outlook. So, here are some instructions:

If you don’t have a Google account, you need to set one up first from here. Or, better yet, just move your email to their service from Google Apps.

1. First, you download Google Calendar Sync from: http://dl.google.com/googlecalendarsync/GoogleCalendarSync_Installer.exe

2. Simply save the file to your desktop so that you can find it later.

3. You’ll have to agree to the terms and conditions.

4. Read through the Google Calendar Sync Terms of Service, and click “I Agree.”

5. Continue to follow through the Installation Options and click “Install” to finish the set-up process.

When you have Google Calendar Sync is installed on your computer, the Google Calendar Sync Settings window will appear:

Simply enter your settings and hit save. It should take care of the rest for you.

Now, I haven’t tried every permutation of how your calendar can be set up, but I didn’t have one problem.

Here’s the best part. I can manage my calendar in Outlook, but share it via Google to other’s on the web. Microsoft, eat your heart out.

Corey Smith
Co-founder of Resumango where you can build a better resume for free