Core Values Part 2 - Get Stuff Done: The Newmind Hallmark

Earlier this year we held our summer company party. At that party we take time to recognize team members that best personify the 5 Core Values of Newmind Group. Those 5 core values are: Be Awesome, Get Stuff Done, Make Things Better, Make Mistakes, Rest and Reflect. This is the second article of our Core Values series, written by Newminder Luke about the Newmind Group core value. Enjoy!

The cardinal Newmind value is Get Stuff Done.  GSD.  It’s blunt, and it speaks for itself.  There’s no explanatory paragraph on why Newmind thinks Getting Stuff Done is important, because Newminders define it ourselves.  We’re proud of the incredible work ethic we all have, and we have fun feeding off each other.  We might recognize our teammates’ GSD prowess with impromptu high fives, group email shout-outs (sometimes triggering hilarious .gif memes),  or nominations for the Hustle Board.  Hustle Board?  On the giant, 12 foot whiteboard that sprawls across a wall at Newmind HQ,  that’s the prestigious spot in the corner reserved for the Newminder that recently went above and beyond.


Plus, every year at our summer bash, a special event takes place: the Newmind Awards.  Votes are tallied for which Newminder we all think best represented each of the 5 values over the course of the past year.  We rally around these traditions because they’re authentic.  Nothing is forced; participation is organic.  Recently, we dedicated a full week to each Newmind value.    Winners in each category gave tips on how they mastered their value.  Then, at the end of the week, we shared how we all focused on integrating that value into our workflows.

How I GSD

If you could take a pair of scissors and just cut out all the nonsense from your job, you’d be left with something that looks a lot like working at Newmind.  That being said, the crew at Newmind is at a real advantage when it comes to great coworkers, even better leadership, and an established company culture that’s just awesome.  When I, and fellow Newminder Steve, co-won the GSD award, we both shared our tips & tricks for Getting Stuff Done.  Remarkably, our methodology for serious work handling were very similar.

3 Common Principles To GSD

We both found that, when faced with a mountain of work, we attacked the problem in much the same way.  We talked about them differently, but three common principles were part of both our arsenals: Organization, Sequencing, and Adaptation.

1) Organization
Organization seems like an obvious precursor to kick-ass productivity, but it can easily be pushed aside during a GSD blizzard.  That’s why pre-storm prep is crucial if you want to see the sun again.  Taking time, before you dive into your day, to think about how the tasks at hand can make a huge impact on what you get done.  Step back and think abstractly about what needs to be accomplished, and then prioritize it.  For most of us, there is more to be done than what a day can hold.  This way, the critical tasks get crossed off the list first.

2) Sequencing
Sequencing is another key ingredient in a tasty GSD pie.  When you have 6 hours of X to do, 1.5 hours of Y, and a half hour of Z, what’s the best way to get through all three?  Plow through each like you’re pushing a boulder up a mountain?  Maybe you enjoy Z more than X or Y.  Slicing Z up into 15 minute pieces, and then breaking up X and Y with those delicious Z filets can help keep your motivation where it needs to be.  Shifting gears like that helps keep my mind fresh, and lets me re-approach things throughout the day with renewed perspective and all-around more GSD attitude.

3) Adaptation
Adaptaion is the final piece of being a GSD champion.  You can master the first two, but when things pop up in the middle of the day, or something doesn’t go like you envision, agility will keep you from being tackled like a quarterback without a defensive line.  Changing directions on the fly can mean things getting dropped in the chaos.  Keeping thorough notes throughout the day about progress, updated priorities, changing variables, or other details can mean the difference between being able to pick up right where you left off and looking at your work like it’s some kind of stone tableau adorned with undecipherable glyphs carved in what looks nothing like your handwriting.  Leave yourself a trail of informational breadcrumbs, and you’ll find your way back home every time.

How Do You GSD?

So these are some rough dimensions of a workspace that fits my needs, but you may have something else in mind.  I like space westerns, maybe you’re into documentaries about bioluminescent fish.  Thanks okay, just own it.  My main advice here is to take the time to identify a handful of actionable principles that compliment you at your job.  When you find those methods that work, zoom in on why.  What is it about working a certain way that makes you better?  Once you have that answer you can start applying it to other areas of yourself, and you’ll be on the road to GSDville.

Luke Reynolds is a new member of Newmind's IT managed services team. Previously he worked with schools, not-for-profits, and businesses to help them acquire and deploy Google Chromebooks on the enterprise level.

Luke Reynolds enjoys writing, music, film, and any form of radical human expression. He's also a rabid proponent of Kalamazoo's local roller derby team, the Killamazoo Derby Darlins.

Core Values Part 1 - This is an Awesome Blog Post

Earlier this year we held our summer company party. At that party we take time to recognize team members that best personify the 5 Core Values of Newmind Group. Those 5 core values are: Be Awesome, Get Stuff Done, Make Things Better, Make Mistakes, Rest and Reflect. As we get closer to the end of this year we’re going to showcase those Newminders and their stories as only best they could, in their own words. Enjoy!

Hi, I’m Ben. I was rated highest for the 'Be Awesome' core value. I know what you’re thinking. Yes, it is a big deal.

I am awesome in large part to my exuberant hilariousness (second only to my sincere humility.) Everyone, of course,  is awesome in different ways. There are ways to be awesome besides God-given natural talent. I have compiled some ways to exude awesomeness in your life.

Be Happy

“When things go wrong, don't go with them.” - Elvis Presley

Being positive and happy gives your customers, the people you work with and yourself a better experience. You can’t go wrong with positivity. Smile when you are talking to people whether face to face or on the phone. The difference is amazing.

Part of being happy is understanding that you have control over your own happiness. It is not just people with great lives, tons of money and Chevy Astro’s that are happy. ‘Happiness experts’ say that 40% of your happiness is in your control. I do not know what that means or how they figured that out. I do know that we can choose to be happy.

Ben with his Chevy Astro

Be Kind

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” - Dalai Lama XIV

Being kind is what good people do. It helps you as well as making life better for others. Kindness has been scientifically proven to make you happier. Every time you perform a selfless act your brain produces serotonin. Serotonin eases tension and lifts your spirits.

Treating people well also helps you to deepen your relationships. When dealing with people it is easy to judge the situation from your point of view. A good way to find kindness in a situation is to put yourself in their position. I find this especially helpful when dealing with customers about anything technical. What I deal with 40 hours a week should seem simple to me, not the customer.

Be Thankful

“Rest and be thankful.” - William Wordsworth

One of the simplest and most powerful things you can do in your life is be thankful. The simplicity lies in how many options there are. In today's fast paced world it is increasingly less common for people to reflect on their life. It should only take a second to think of something to be thankful for. I am typing on a computer. I am thankful I have a computer (a pretty sweet one too). I am in a house. Bam! I am thankful for shelter. I have coffee, food, family, a car, insanely good looks. See how easy it is!

If you are feeling sad about your life get perspective. You  are probably going to eat today. Some people aren’t. Access to this post means you are among the richest people in the world. See where you fall here: www.globalrichlist.com. Understand how great you're life is.

Reflect on how you can be thankful to others. I am sure we have all spent a decent amount of time reflecting on how horrible people are. I think it is only reasonable to spend at least as much time on how great people are. Never miss a chance to say thank you.

Be Humble

“A great man is always willing to be little.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here at Newmind I am surrounded by people that are brilliant. Leaders, tech masters, customer relations experts and more. The ability to see my faults and be awestruck at others’ proficiency is good for me to appreciate not only their greatness but my shortcomings. Knowing that there is so much that I can improve upon keeps me humble.

Self glorification and competition to assuage your ego is anti humble. Do everything you can well because it is who you are. Not for some gratification or reward and you are a humble zen master.

Go Be Awesome

These are all big ideas and I am no expert on any one of them. You don’t perfect being happy and move on. The important thing is to have self awareness of how awesome you are and always push yourself to become more awesome.

Writing this has challenged me to be improve on these facets of my life. So to recap... I was happy writing this, you are all awesome, thank you for reading, and I expect no rewards.

Continue to the second article of the Core Values series: Get Stuff Done

Ben Morris is the reigning Funniest Newminder (yes that’s a thing), a father, and is a new member of Newmind Group's Google Apps team. He holds a bachelor's degree in communications from Western Michigan University and is determined to uncover the secrets of how humor can help organizational communication.

Ben loves the great outdoors and spends his time outside of work camping and boating with his wife and three children. Contact him at ben@newmindgroup.com.

Chromebooks Update [October 2013]

Notable new features include:

• New Chromebooks!! Check out the HP Chromebook 11 & Acer C720
• Admin Updates - Regulate automatic reboots
• Share Docs, Slides and Drawings with people who do not have a Google Account
• Chrome OS Update - The Stable channel has been updated to 30.0.1599.101

Full release notes below...

2 New Chromebooks

Introducing the HP Chromebook 11 & Acer C720

HP Chromebook 11	Acer C720
Highlights 0.69 inches thin and 2.3 lbs USB micro charger 176-degree viewing angles No Sharp edges	Highlights 0.75 inches thin and 2.76 lbs Boots up in less than 7 seconds Up to 8.5 hours of use 11.6” display
For full specs and release timelines click the link below to get in touch with a Newmind Chromebooks team member.

Get the new Chromebooks

Get a Quote

Admin Updates

Regulate automatic reboots

Scheduled reboot, allows admins to set a time period for devices to automatically reboot. Auto reboot after updates, will control whether a reboot occurs after a successful update. Both policies will apply when the device is at the sign- screen.
(Source)

Share Docs, Slides and Drawings with people who do not have a Google Account

Based on recency of websites visited

Files shared outside your domain to an email address not linked to an existing Google Account can be viewed without having to sign in or create a new Google Account. If a file is shared with edit or comment permissions, the recieving user must still sign in with a Google Account in order to edit or comment on that file.
(Source)

Flash Player Update

We are updating Flash Player to version 11.9.900.117 on Windows and Mac via our component update system (i.e. there will not be a Chrome update).

(Source)

Stable Channel Releases

This is a list of stable channel releases from the past month:

• Chrome (October 15) - Release 30.0.1599.101 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. (Source)
• Chrome OS (October 14) - Release 30.0.1599.101 for all Chrome OS Devices. (Source)
• Chrome for Android (October 2) - Release 30.0.1599.82 (Source)
• Chrome (October 3) - Release 30.0.1599.69 for Windows, Mac and Chrome Frame. (Source)
• Chrome (October 1) - Promotion of Chrome 30 to the Stable channel for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. (Source)
• Chrome (September 18) - Release 29.0.1547.76 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. (Source)

Preparing for a Backup solution

Server crash...Data corruption...Virus attack...Coffee spill over a laptop…Phone dropped down a sewer drain...

In the normal day-to-day, hopefully these won't be very common. In reality, the average organization will experience one of these more than twice a year, giving credence to the need for quality reliable backup or business continuity. But this post is not about what backup service to go with, instead what information you’ll need to help evaluate which solution will work best, thus making it easier to deploy.

Calculate Space Requirements Part 1

Backup services are based in some way on the amount of space you require. Believe it or not this will be more than the sum of all the data your organization has. Some machines may need to be virtualized and you’ll need extra space to make that happen. Also, many backup services offer incremental backup, which is great, because it allows you to restore a past version of document and reduces the amount of full images you need to make saving time. Although increases the amount of space you need based on the amount of changes you need to capture. So, we’ll get back to this calculation in a moment. First we need to know what to add up together.

Identify image-level machines

An image backup is a snapshot of an entire machine - settings, files, programs, registry, etc… Its really your bread and butter. An image allows you to restore files and even virtualize a machine so that users can access it even if the actual machine dies. Not every machine in your organization needs to be imaged, only those most critical machines.

Make a list of all the devices within your organization that require image backups and calculate the amount of space they require and move on to the next part.

Identify file-level backups

For machines that aren’t mission critical file-level backups may be the best choice, but if you prefer images - I’m not going to stop you. The important part is that you’ve compiled a list of machines and the the space requirements.

Calculate Space Requirements Part 2

Now that we know how much space our data requires we need to account for incremental back ups and virtualization. A rule of thumb we like to recommend is to anticipate an extra 100%. If you have 400GB of data be sure your plan is at least 800GB. The first 400GB is for the initial images and files, the remaining 400GB is for increments, virtual machines, and growth.

Determine On-Site vs Off-site

Time & security is a factor in backup success and business continuity. Some files and data are necessary to stay in business. These should be stored off-site (>50 miles away) to protect from not only human error or local issues, but from natural disasters. may require weekly, daily, hourly backups. While data redundancy off-site is for protection, on-site backup is for files you may need at a moments notice. Finding an off-site vs. on-site strategy can take some time, but having an initial strategy prior to choosing a backup service will help you evaluate one that fits your needs.

Start Evaluating

Last, start evaluating services and products. Now that you have a clear view of your needs finding a solution should be much easier, not to mention you’ll get more accurate quotes with more precise numbers. Unfortunately all this work doesn’t help with the roll-out, but you can always grab some help for these special projects instead of overloading your IT staff!

Backup & Business Continuity

Newmind Group Data Recovery offers remote data backup and storage services ensuring your sensitive business data, applications, and systems, are safe and secure, so that in the face of disaster your business stays up and running.

• Reverse incremental technology enables fastest possible restores
• Anti-corruption technology to ensure health of backups
• Customizable scheduling and retention policies for compliance and archiving
• and more...

Learn More

Heath Miller is a member of Newmind's IT managed services team. Heath collaborates with clients to help them transition to Google Apps as well as manage and deploy backup solutions.

Heath Miller enjoys movies, volunteering, & restoring classic arcade games. He holds the office high score record for Aero Fighters, Ninja Turtles, Sunset Riders, and Dr Mario.

A Student's BYOD Experiment

I am a technophile. I like technology, the latest gadgets, trends, software, and everything else. This is to be expected, as I’ve grown up in the age of digital media, smartphones, and the internet. I use technology everywhere, however, I recently noticed a technology black hole in my life: School. It seems backwards that in a time when more and more teens have a smartphone or a mobile device, the places where teens spend the majority of their time have not embraced this trend. A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in March of 2013 found that 37% of teens age 12-17 within the US own a smartphone. That amounts to a lot of untapped potential for educators with smartphones alone.

Don’t get me wrong, schools do have technology integration. However, many times technology is under-utilized in the classroom. I’ll use the school that I attend as an example. We have computer labs, Google Apps for Education, and an online grade viewing program. However, the IT infrastructure is aging and inadequate at times. My school is working to remedy the problem by creating a program where every student has an iPad to use for class, allow for easier access to materials, and other digital learning tools. This program has worked well but at the moment it is only available for several grade levels. The program will begin rolling out in our high school within the year, but many teachers are beginning to take the jump to digital learning early.


Since I am excited about this entrance of technology into the classroom I decided to embrace this new program while I don’t yet have an iPad. To do this I implemented my own BYOD strategy in order to efficiently use these digital resources. This strategy worked well for me, although some of my teachers are less than friendly to unauthorized technology in the classroom (Although, I remedied this by using some common sense regarding device usage). I started using my Android smartphone and Samsung Chromebook to complete assignments, take notes, and share materials through Google Apps for Education. Here are my three observations:

• It’s lighter
• It’s cheaper
• It’s faster
  

Lighter

Many times I have to take a whole binder of material home when I have an assignment for the class. This becomes quite a heavy load when I have six classes where I receive assignments regularly. A University of California (Riverside) study found that an average middle school student's backpack can weigh up to 37 pounds. Google Apps for Education, my smartphone and Chromebook, reduce this load significantly by allowing me to view and complete assignments online without the need to bring home a backpack full of extraneous documents.

Cheaper

This switch to digital learning is also cheaper. According to the few articles I could find, as there hasn't been much documentation, an average school or department of about 1000 students will spend anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 on printer ink, toner, and paper - not to mention printer wear-and-tear costs. (Source 1 | Source 2)

Before the switch I had to print off an assignment or paper several times, once for each draft or revision, for the teacher’s review. With Google Apps for Education I can share a document with a teacher and get their feedback during the revision process without having to print off a new copy of a paper every time I find a portion that needs to be changed. This has significantly cut down on the amount of paper and ink I use for school, especially since I am taking classes that focus heavily on papers and writing assignments. This has the potential to save schools thousands of dollars every year.

(I also switched to using a Chromebook, instead of a laptop, and wrote about that experience a few weeks ago.)

Faster

This strategy has also been dramatically faster. Google Apps for Education allows collaboration within a document and instant saving of changes. This allows me to view the comments and grades of assignments the moment that a teacher adds them so that I can begin working on areas where I need improvement without having to wait for the teacher to give back the assignment in class. I can search all of my documents, and create files within Google Apps for Education. One of the best features of Google Apps for Education is its cloud based nature, which allows me to forego using a flash drive to transfer information and it also solves the problem of having different versions of the same information scattered across multiple computers.

Distraction

Many people claim that technology in the classroom is a distraction for students and that students will abuse devices in the classroom by playing games, going on social media, and texting others. While I agree that all of these things can happen I believe that distractions are always present in the classroom, staring out a window is just as easy as texting in class and it is generally a less conspicuous way to be distracted. Through my experiment, other students weren’t distracted by my smartphone usage, primarily because smartphones are commonplace, and I am hardly setting a precedent for phone use. Now that phone restrictions have been lightened at my school most students with smartphones are doing the same thing that I am, accessing assignments and enhancing their education by using their smartphones.

Going Forward

After completing this experiment for the past month I have decided that I will continue using this BYOD strategy for my education because of the many benefits that it provides. It has been easier to keep track of assignments, and although I haven’t seen any significant increase in my grades (because I'm already a pretty decent student) it has certainly made my life as a student easier. The integration of technology within classrooms increases the ease and efficiency of learning, especially at a time where so many students are constantly connected to the internet through mobile devices. Google Apps for Education and other digital learning services also offer a host of functionality at a minimal cost for educational institutions, in fact Google Apps for Education is free for educational institutions.

Getting started with Google Apps

As a Premier SMB Reseller and award winning Managed Services Provider, Newmind has brought hundreds of businesses to the cloud exposing them to improved collaboration, security, and mobility, while increasing the overall return on their IT investments.

• Free for schools
• 99.9% uptime reliability
• Full administrative control
• and more...

Learn More

Tyler Triemstra is a new intern at Newmind Group. He works on internal improvements to make the sales process more efficient, but mainly, he is learning a ton from the team at Newmind. He has a passion for technology and enjoys being part of a team that helps businesses use technology effectively.

Tyler is a senior in high school who enjoys reading, traveling, and volunteering. He can’t wait to graduate from high school and is busily searching for a college to attend.

Build IT Together Detroit Wrap Up

Thank you to all who joined us at Grand Circus in Detroit for Build IT Together on October 1, 2013. We're happy to say it was a success with over 20 different companies' CIOs, and Technology Directors coming together to share experiences and collaborate on emerging trends and ever present needs. Congratulations to Eric Spicer, of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, and Jeff Schefke, of City of Oak Park, who won themselves a Nexus 7 tablet and Samsung 303 Chromebook, respectively. We have already received great feedback and look forward to being involved with future collaboration events.

Philip MacKethan of
University Liggett School testing Google Glass

We all gathered at Grand Circus early Tuesday morning and were able to experience brand new technology including Google Glass & a Double Robotics robot. It was fun to see attendees' reactions to wearing Google Glass, trying out the voice commands and hear the discussions about use-cases for the new form factor. Many discussed practical applications of the device in their environment, from streaming technical specs and hands-free information look-up to training videos for new employees. When it came to the Double robot, the ability to interact with a space and group over long distances seemed to be the most valuable feature.

Getting to Know Each Other

Build IT Together opened with a unique survey allowing attendees to anonymously compare their current IT environment to the rest of the group. This allowed everyone to reflect on areas of improvement, while simultaneously providing connections to others at the event with which to network and learn from. Those in small companies were able to compare their current setup with that of a mid-sized company and glean insights for how to scale. Larger companies were able to see what helped smaller companies remain nimble.

Technology Infrastructure Benchmarking

We're building an IT Assessment Tool to help your organization benchmark your technology infrastructure against industry trends.

Learn More

Sessions & Take-a-ways

Breakout sessions were available in 4 topic areas including: data backup & business continuity, helpdesk, mobility & collaboration, and change management. Below are some of the highlights.

Anytime Anywhere

• The demand for mobile technology and collaboration tools is so great that when IT departments don’t give them company tools many end-users use their own, putting company data at risk from both security and ownership standpoints.
• Google Apps for Business was highlighted as a tool that many attendees’ organizations have found success with while Office365 and Vibe were mentioned as potential alternatives.
• With the paradigm shift in tools and functionality from personal productivity to team productivity, change management and solid training curriculum, particularly for older end-users, are essential for good adoptions rates.

Beyond Backup

• Randy James from Greenleaf Hospitality Group provided some insight into the decision-making process he went through when moving to a tapeless backup solution with replication to the cloud
• Many attendees had questions about specific implementation points, including bandwidth throttling, hardware configurations, Disaster Recovery scenarios and data classification
• It was noted that upwards of 60% of business data now resides on laptops, of which 30% are stolen, lost or damaged every year
• Long-term, the feeling in the room was that other cloud-based services would reduce the exposure to data loss and that only mission-critical and data-intensive applications would remain local to businesses

Change is Hard

• Managing expectations of the Executive team and explaining the change management plan for a project is a best practice and worth the extra effort, increasing strategic thinking about the benefits of the new technology and ensuring training for staff during adoption is budgeted for.
• Utilize the early adopters within your staff from many departments to vet new technology is very helpful for smooth rollouts. They will be social champions when the roll-out occurs as well as training agents for co-workers within their team.

Helpdesk Panel

Daniel Jefferies leads the helpdesk panel including
Brian Miller of Davenport University,
Michael Cross of Greenleaf Hospitality Group, and
Hans Erickson of Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce

• Measurement is key. Tracking time to close of support tickets as well as number of tickets closed on first call are most important data points in tracking improvements and creating a great opinion of the helpdesk among end-users.
• Optimizing helpdesk personnel by hiring for attitude and training for aptitude is a best practice.
• Investing in helpdesk personnel training to ensure a majority can close any ticket, regardless of complexity, on the first call is better than having a more traditional L1, L2, L3 tiering structure in securing praise and satisfaction from end-users.
• When there is a high opinion of the helpdesk within an organization the entire IT department benefits from higher user satisfaction, supported and increased access to budget resources.

Wrap-Up

Build IT Together was a great experience and we look forward to being involved in other collaboration events. There were plenty of great ideas shared, techniques, and strategies. More than we can put into this wrap-up article. Please share your favorite moments & ideas you found valuable below.

Google Apps Updates [October 2013]

Announcement - Gmail Outage Explanation

On September 23rd, many Gmail users were receiving messages slowly, and some of their attachments were unavailable. The message delivery delays were triggered by a dual network failure, where 2 redundant networks failed. Google has assured us they are taking steps to ensure sufficient network capacity, including backup capacity for Gmail, even in the event of a rare dual network failure. Even including this event, Gmail remains well above 99.9% available, and we intend to keep it that way!

Notable new features include:

• Monitor user logins, storage consumption and apps usage with the Admin SDK
• Quickoffice Acquired - Share & edit files with people that heaven't made the switch to Google Docs.
• Real-time data in BigQuery -using new API calls, you can stream & query real-time data. 
• 4 New Google Form Customizations

Full release notes below...

Protect your Google Apps with e-archiving

Archive and retain emails and chats according to your policies, preventing inadvertent deletions.

• Ensure compliance
• Be prepared for audits
• Prevent deletion
• and more...

Learn More

Monitor user logins, storage consumption and apps usage with the Admin SDK

New features have been added to the Admin SDK Reports API to more easily visualize Google Apps' usage within your domain. New API calls include:

• Login Audit - view all web browser based logins with IP information
• Authorized Applications - list of all 3rd party applications that users have shared data with
• Storage Quota - total usage and split by gmail, drive, G+ photos
• Google+ Usage - 1-day, 7-day, 30-day active G+ usage in your domain

Source