Washington Works Blog

Having tools that help enhance your ability to support your customers is rarer than you may expect. One of the best tools a lot of businesses employ is Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The CRM system can transform how a business operates, but to make the most of it, you’ll need to employ some strategies. 

If you want your business to thrive, then you need to set goals that allow it to do so. Today, we want to explore a framework for goal setting that your business can benefit from: the SMART goal framework.

The cloud has the potential to revolutionize a company’s operations in countless ways. Let's explore the cloud and how it can support your operational goals and needs.

IT is a crucial part of running a business, but it plays a deeper role than many realize. Today, we want to explore the relationship that businesses have with IT and, in particular, the effect technology has on company culture.

Ransomware is not just a business problem; it is also a consumer and user problem. While it might lock down your business’ files and make them inaccessible, there is also the possibility that the cybercriminals will steal and sell the data on the black market rather than safely return it. What happens to users who have had their data stolen during a ransomware attack?

When businesses start operations, they require a stroke of luck to realize their growth ambitions. With numerous businesses folding shortly after launching, seizing available opportunities becomes critical. In this month’s newsletter, we’ll explore strategies for businesses to better leverage these opportunities.

AI can have transformative effects on your business' operations, provided you can navigate its various pros and cons. Today, we want to highlight some of the greatest benefits and disadvantages that AI poses for any business looking to implement it into its operations.

No two leaders will have the exact same approach to the considerable task at hand, but it can be remarkably helpful to see what others do so you can make better decisions regarding your own management style. Let’s take a look at some specific leadership styles and whether they work well (or don’t).

With technology being so important for all businesses in at least some capacity, it’s no small wonder that effectively using it (and having someone on-hand to manage it all) is tremendously valuable for any company. This is where a managed service provider (MSP) can be helpful, even for businesses that have a dedicated IT department. All small businesses benefit from working with an MSP.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that the better your relationship is with your employees, the more your business will benefit. Despite this, many businesses today lack trust between their organizational levels. Let’s go over a few simple tips that you can use to help maintain positive feelings amongst your team.

I was meeting with an old colleague the other day. We met over Microsoft Teams to just check in and see how they were doing—no real itinerary, just to check in with a familiar face that I haven’t personally talked to in a few years. They had a little trouble getting into Microsoft Teams, since they were used to Zoom. I patiently smiled and helped them through it, and told them “No worries, it’s always the little differences that complicate things!”

At the time, I said this just to be empathetic. At first, the nerdy computer-geek part of my brain told me that the process to get into a Zoom meeting vs a Teams meeting, from their perspective, is exactly the same. But after the call, I really thought about this small interaction, and you know what? Things have gotten complicated.

So, you want to utilize cloud computing for your business. Making that decision is a good start, but now you need to figure out how the cloud will help accomplish the goals you’ve set for your business. You need to develop a cloud strategy.

Fortunately, we can help.

The business world is always ebbing and flowing with new concepts, ideas, and strategies in the  attempt to innovate. The more technology can be used to do things that help a business run, the more processes can be automated bringing a layer of efficiency that isn’t possible without it. Let’s take a brief look at some of the technology trends that small businesses will be confronted with in 2023. 

Cybersecurity is critically important to businesses of all sizes, which means that all businesses need to put forth a concerted effort to ensure their security is locked down. This, in turn, will require someone to take point on developing a cybersecurity-focused internal culture.

Who better to do this than the boss?

When we say “improve communications” you probably are expecting an article about telephone systems or which video conferencing platform works the best. Normally, you’d be right, but today we decided to briefly go over four ways that you can foster better communications between management and their employees inside of your business.

I hope I don’t have to tell you how important your business’ data is to its continued survival, just as I hope I don’t need to explain why this makes this data a priority to protect, regardless of your business’ size. What I do want to explain is the concept of the 3-2-1 Rule and how it pertains to your data backup, and why we would recommend that one for your business’ purposes.

What makes a small to medium-sized business so different from a large, enterprise-sized one? The amount of people and moving parts, of course, but if you really consider it, there isn’t all that much. This is why when looking to control your small business’ IT support costs, choosing managed IT services is a good option. This month, we thought we’d take a look at some of the other benefits managed IT can bring your organization:

It isn’t often that you’ll hear a managed service provider say something like, “There’s no school like the old school.” In many ways, however, the basic principles of a solid business IT strategy haven’t changed all that much… despite the momentous changes that we’ve witnessed in terms of the technology we use. Let’s consider some of these principles, and how they’ve changed over time (if at all).

Nowadays, social media companies have a lot of power and influence, which is part of the reason that so many of today’s largest businesses have adopted social media as a critical promotional tool. With the average person spending about two hours and 24 minutes on social media and messaging applications per day, this makes social media a clear opportunity for any sized business to embrace. Let’s consider a few ways this can be accomplished for these different businesses.

Let’s be real. For most small businesses during this period, it’s been extremely difficult.  If you were somehow able to sustain operations during this time, you most likely had to make some serious alterations to the way that you normally do things. Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the technologies that you probably already have, and how you can change the way you use them to benefit your business as concerns spike over COVID-19.