Communication isn’t one of the easiest tasks but with  little bit of patience, will and practice we can all learn it.

When sending a message across, we immediately assume that the other person understands it, but assuming is generally wrong.

I wanted to make this post long, fill it in with lots of communication goodies, but then I decided to start with some very simple basics.

While looking around I found a nice little article at Paulstips.com: Seven tips for powering up your communication skills and you might want to have a read….In fact read it few times if you have to and read it loud to yourself, then remember your last time when you were frustrated because of a broken communication channel and its effect, or when you communicated something and for "some reason" people didn’t get it.

An example:

Don’t just expect others to know.
If you do expect  others to know and you care only about this much, then maybe is wise to share the blame when something fails.
When something fails, before pointing fingers and throw blame, let the other person defend and say why things went wrong.
That person’s answer might give you clues on how to handle the communication next time, because knowing the people you’re in contact with is a part of knowing how to efficiently communicate your messages.

You might want to read as well the 12 steps to smoother conversations and if you want to get deeper try the Communication Skills Manual (PDF ahead 84 pages).

Have fun reading!

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In a previous entry, I was talking about Mail2Web and it’s ability to retrieve your e-mails, keep yourself organized with the Task and Calendar features, import and manage your contacts and so on…

Today I will be talking about the beta version of ContactOffice, a virtual office pretty much with the same features as Mail2web plus some more.

The main difference between these two is that ContactOffice doesn’t require you to sign up for another e-mail address, but Mail2web does.

When using Contact office, you will be able to use your e-mail address with which you’ve signed up with to send and receive your e-mail, and signing up for a yourname@contactoffice.com e-mail is a free option.

Another option, just like Mail2web, is the ability to retrieve e-mails from other accounts into one place.

Here’s a shot of the main home page:

There are 4 main versions of ContactOffice, ranging from Individual version for a single user (no data sharing) to Education version for 1000 users and more.

These are some of the main features, but not all offered to the single user

• Groups - Create internal groups or intercompany groups to share files and data.
• Messages - Retrieve, send+receive e-mails, SMS, Fax
• Calendar
• Address book
• Documents - Store and share all files types
• Virtual drive - Access your online documents easily from a special folder on your operating system desktop
• Forums - Secured forums that can be only accessed by the group members.
• Chats- Secured chats between group members
• Notes
• Bookmarks - Store your bookmarks online to access them from any computer - Import and export features work with all Web browsers
• Tasks
• Phone Calls - Send phone messages to your group members in a structured way
• See also the Web Features List.

There’s more to it, so if you wish to explore it, just visit http://beta.contactoffice.com/ and click on the flash Demo.

Personally, I love this service and I will be using it.

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 Got a minute?

We all have our share of pain when it comes about time, and managing your tasks in time.

We also get stuck into doing things that aren’t important, or they are low-priority.

 Susan Ward , has put together and article about 11 Time management tips that i believe will be very helpful to most of us.

Here’s a teaser:

1) Realize that time management is a myth.

No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn’t change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.

 Go ahead and read the whole article .

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One installation, one button, two machines, one answer - iCopy .

iCopy is an open source and very light application, aimed to help you turn your scanner, together with your printer into a photocopier.

The process is simple.

If you have the two machines hooked up to your computer, then you won’t have to open their applications anymore to get a copy of whatever paper you might need.

Just install this app, and then choose your scanner’s and printer’s settings, in the options panel , choose the number of copies you want, and you’re set.

Note : iCopy will automatically detect your printer and scanner.

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