The Green Awards 2010
Posted by proactivepaul in Professional Speaker on May 31st, 2010
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2 November 2010
Almost by accident, I came across the web site for The Green Awards 2010 , just a few days after my book was published and just a few days before the 2010 entries closed.
The event takes place on 2 November 2010 in central London and I’m looking forward to being there.
Writing the book has been great fun! Writing the proposal for The Green Awards has been even more fun! It made me realise why I wrote the book in the first place. I wanted to share the information with you, and so I’m also taking this opportunity to share the proposal with you - in full!
Proposal
1. The Paperless Expert
Proactive is proactive!
And they are paperless! Yes, totally paperless. And it cost them nothing!
From their foundations in 1997, Proactive was one of those small accounting practices that was bogged down in paper. And having to keep records for six years meant that by 2003 they had racks and racks of files filling entire rooms and stretching from floor to ceiling. The desire for a paperless solution was born. They tried going paperless in 2005 and failed.
Once bitten twice shy, but by 2007 with ever increasing quantities of paper, the need was more compelling. A unique, in-house solution was developed. It was documented, tried and tested, and it was launched in full on 1 January 2008.
Clients demanded to know how it was done! They wanted to replicate it for themselves! And so the book was written. Released earlier this year “The Paperless Expert, the open-source cross-platform cost-free solution for everybody!” shares the secrets.
Get the book from the library for free. Implement the solution for free. Run it on as many computers as you like for free! Nothing like this has ever be seen before! Total freedom from paper, for free!
2. An in-house solution
The Paperless Expert (TPE) is different.
There has been an inherent premise that businesses need to print things, and that being paperless means that we have to scan paper. Both of these assumptions are wrong. We simply have to convey the two-fold message:
- We send out all of our communications electronically.
- We expect our clients and our suppliers to follow suit, communicate with us electronically.
No mention of paper! No need for a scanner!
The difficulty is that nobody has told us how to be 100% paperless from the outset. Until now!
In 2005 Proactive fell into the trap that many businesses fall into and that is the belief that being paperless is all about scanning paper. It isn’t. The scanner isn’t mentioned until chapter 6 of the book, and even then it’s discussed only in the context of a hybrid office.
In 2005 Proactive made the mistake of using a tool like Paperport for scanning and relying on Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to help identify documents. Although hardware and software have improved since then, scanning is still a slow business and OCR slows it down further. With hundreds of documents to scan, there was barely time left to do any work. And, with hundreds of clients having documents containing phrases like “2005 tax return”, pinpointing any one individual document was still a difficult task.
The solution lay, not in checking the contents of every file, but in having a sensible file naming convention so that the file name alone tells us enough about the contents. The 2005 exercise was abandoned as no alternative proprietary software (using a file naming convention) could be found.
The solution lay in the staff and their ingenuity. All computer files (whether scanned or not) needed a consistent and reliable approach to file naming, which included a unique way to convey a message about the contents. The system that developed during 2007 required numeric codes for everything, and perhaps a little narrative too.
Knowing how the system works, both humans and computers can recognise that the file . . .
1234567890 444600 20060401 20070331 20070527 accounts.xls
. . . is a set of statutory accounts for the year ended 31 Mar 2007 for client 1234567890. The single most revolutionary act in the development of TPE was the construction of a list of document codes. That allowed a standard file naming convention to be established.
The preparation of the TPE taxonomy, combined with information published on the company’s Wiki, has enabled all staff at Proactive to quickly and easily adapt to this entirely new way of working. A paperless way of working! Moreover, as the system is based on nothing more than a simple taxonomy, it can be replicated by anybody, anywhere, without buying specialist software.
No proprietary solutions - No lock in - No hidden agenda - No selling!
3. Zero Paper
Before TPE was implemented at Proactive, stationery was ordered on a monthly cycle. In 2010 one single order has been placed and that was for only £48! As this chart shows, the trend is leading towards zero paper consumption!
The true reduction in paper is masked by the inclusion of desktop software in stationery. None the less, even without isolating paper stationery from digital stationery, there has been a 47% reduction in these costs between 2006 and 2009.
More than anything else, the thing that surprised the company the most has been the concurrent savings on motor and travel expenses. These are down by 20% over the same four year period. Whereas in the past the collection and return of paper records were often seen as an excuse for a business meeting, these days the lack of paper means fewer trips out of the office. Telephone calls and e-mails have replaced many meetings, and it’s anticipated that current trials of video meetings on Skype are going to lead to further savings!
4. Green by Accident!
All this has been a bonus. Remember, this whole exercise started out when the company was faced with the prospect (and the cost) of taking on more premises for no other reason than to accommodate the growing mountains of paper.
Proactive has become a green champion by accident. They developed their own internal solution to a global problem. And not only that, they made it work on PCs, on Macs and on Linux machines.
TPE is not software, it’s a methodology. This is not a package that can be bought on the High Street, or on the internet - this is nothing more than information. That’s what makes it different!
A methodology, like knowing how to make bronze out of copper and tin. A methodology, like knowing how to win at chess. A methodology which sets out a route to a truly paperless environment.
When Tim Berners-Lee developed HTML and brought the internet within reach of everybody, he shared that information freely. Proactive has developed TPE. And TPE brings a paperless environment within the reach of everybody.
In the spirit of Tim Berners-Lee, this new information is also being shared freely.
5. The Right Tools For The Job
The author is the first to admit that “The Paperless Expert” is more about managing work flows and less about managing paper. Before paper became widely available, people still managed to do their work! Paper is a tool which has served us well for the past 2,600 years.
Before that, artisans, merchants and farmers still had tools which helped them to do their work. The Stone Age gave way to the Bronze Age, and the Paper Age is now being replaced by the Digital Age. It’s simply a matter of education. The new tools are all around us, but nobody is telling us how to use them.
TPE can be improved upon greatly. It is currently a collection of many disparate (yet open-source) tools. And although they work together and they deliver, they were never originally intended to work this way.
In the same way that WordPress has become synonymous with blogs, themes, widgets and their developers, TPE can become a focal point for a unified paperless solution. It may never be one tool, but it can be one properly engineered toolbox, and an open-source one no less!
6. Education, Education, Education
What we actually have at the moment are big corporates delivering “document management solutions” revolving around scanners and making money out of consumers who don’t know any better! These financially driven Leviathans are the same people who wanted the earliest pioneers of motoring to fit their cars with horse shoes. The world has evolved!
Let’s educate people. Let’s build a following in the open-source community and in the academic community. Let’s take this message in writing, in print, in digital form, and in person to every corner of the globe. If we did nothing more than get a copy of “The Paperless Expert” into every single library on the planet, that could be enough to put this information into the hands of everybody – for free.
7. Blast Off
“The Paperless Expert” has come from a humble background. It is one man’s selfless work. It is an astonishingly open and frank discussion about the development of a paperless solution which none of the big corporates have been able to deliver. Most importantly it is:
- open-source
- cross-platform
- cost-free
In order to establish a firmer foundation from which to deliver this vital message to the world “The Paperless Expert” deserves to win the Grand Prix award this year.
Time Management and e-mail!
Posted by proactivepaul in Professional Speaker on September 24th, 2009
Time management is about two things, and neither of those two things is managing time! You cannot do much about the clock! All you can do is manage the things you do with your time.
Did you spot the answer yet? It’s in the last sentence of that last paragraph. What we all tend to call time management is actually about:
- managing things
- managing yourself
It’s about knowing what things are important and getting on with them, and it’s about having the self-discipline to keep on keeping on.
And what about e-mail? And Twitter? What are we supposed to do about them? The same as we have always done! We have always had to manage our communication methods, no matter how old or modern. And, we have always had to manage our marketing methods. The fact that we can now do these things electronically and on the web, does not make the tasks any different to what they were before. The tasks have not changed - the mode of delivery has.
Do you have a problem with e-mail? How many messages are in your inbox? I have no problem, and there are normally between zero and twenty messages in my inbox. I use the incubator and repository method to manage my e-mail, and I use the zero inbox philosophy.
How do you manage your e-mail?
Lo Tech versus Hi Tech
Posted by proactivepaul in Professional Speaker on August 23rd, 2009
It was Brussels! It was October 2004! I had just driven from Amsterdam where I had given a presentation about MS Excel. I was (I still am?) a wizard on Excel and it’s amazing what we can find in there. And whilst most of us use only 10% of its functionality I probably use about 50% or more.
Anyway, I arrived in Brussels and checked in to my hotel at about 5pm. I was due to speak at 7pm and my normal routine always requires me to arrive one hour early, to familiarise myself with the room, and to psyche myself up! That was certainly true back then when I had just turned professional. And just as I had planned, I was in the seminar room by 6pm.
I didn’t have a PowerPoint presentation, but I had a collection of spreadsheets and other notes on my laptop. My client had promised a projector and I duly hooked up my laptop to his projector and nothing happened. I was prepared . . . I fetched my spare laptop . . . and nothing happened. We spent around 30 minutes wasting valuable time, and the delegates began to trickle in. At 6.30pm we moved to Plan B and asked the hotel if they had a projector. Yes they did, it was a bit old and they weren’t sure where to find it!
At 6.50pm, with just 10 minutes to go, I was trying to work out how to demonstrate Excel’s whistles and bells without a projector, with 30 people in the room, and with a 15 inch screen on my laptop. Five minutes to go, and the steam driven projector owned by the hotel materialised. It took an age to warm up. My host embarked on a long winded introduction. A colleague and I feverishly coaxed that suitcase sized piece of apparatus into action . . . and it worked. I was on!
And that was the last time that I ever used Hi Tech to give a presentation!
To be honest, that experience was not the whole reason I switched. Just a week or so after that disaster had been averted, I attended a talk given by John Ketley . . . about the weather. He was a BBC weatherman until 2003 and had moved in order to set up a private company specialising in refined forecasts. Amongst his clients were the groundsmen at Arsenal and the bosses at Cheltenham Race Course. John started his one hour talk by picking up a light bulb from a table laid out with 14 visual aids. He was an expert speaker. His visual aids were all Lo Tech and they were all spot on. I had been converted.
I have never used PowerPoint, and since Oct 2004 I have never even used a computer, only Lo Tech visual aids. It makes a presentation all the more memorable. Can you remember the last set of PowerPoint slides you saw? Can you remember the most recent Lo Tech aid you saw? See what I mean?
During the last four weeks, I have used a bucket of water, a frisbee and a toaster. Next week, I have a giant cuddly bat and a catamaran to help me. If you’re free on Thursday evening 27 Aug 2009, I’m giving a short talk in London on the use of Lo Tech visual aids. It’s a session at my speaking club, it’s a short walk from Victoria station, and it’ll be a lot of fun. You’re welcome to come along as my guest. There will be other speakers, not just me, and entrance is free! Click here for more details.
Just a Minute and WPF
Posted by proactivepaul in Professional Speaker on July 1st, 2009
I was delighted when WPF Therapy invited me to help them stage Just a Minute at their 40th Anniversary Celebrations on 30 June 2009. I love the game Just a Minute whether I’m a listener, a panellist or in the chair, and coincidentally, I also love anything to do with psychology. I simply knew that I would learn something by helping out at WPF!
As with any speaking engagement, the key is in the preparation. WPF had arranged suitable panelists in advance and had developed ample topics for me to play around with. Between us we had all of the equipment we needed and we had a room packed from wall to wall with enthusiastic supporters.
Starting with an easy topic is always a good idea, and the choice of “31 degrees Celsius” was in keeping with the current heatwave! And who cannot fail to have something to say about the good old British weather?
It never ceases to amaze me that the participants who appear to be the most reticent beforehand, are actually the most lucid when speaking. They can take any subject and torture it, and emasculate it, so that it conforms to their knowledge and beliefs. Having a panel of professionally qualified psychoanalysts also allows the chairman to experiment - to throw down the gauntlet - and to issue some bizarre and challenging topics.
Predictably “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” was in there with much repetition of “tarts”. And I was surprised to learn that “Sigmund Freud’s Favourite Tube Station” is apparently Swiss Cottage. I had always thought that it was Upton Park . . . being two stops short of Barking!
Bonus points were awarded for good humour and points were also deducted for bad behaviour. Peter, my right hand man, did a splendid job as timekeeper and scorekeeper and kept me abreast of scoring opportunities that sometimes eluded even the chair. Running “Just a Minute” is not the sort of thing that can be done single handedly, and a functionary or two are great assets. A gavel is also a must, when attempting to disentangle hyperactive medical experts!
The greatest thing about working with local charities and smaller concerns, is that everybody is so committed to the cause. This was more like a big family outing, and as a comparative outsider, I was made to feel truly welcome. WPF Therapy undoubtedly has many talents, and the one I shall remember is the ability of every single member of staff to greet you with a genuine, warm and sincere smile. I have learnt that a smile works wonders!
Sharpen up your meetings with OGASM
Posted by proactivepaul in Professional Speaker on June 17th, 2009
Do you have too many meetings and too many unproductive meetings? One of the things I do to make meetings more fulfilling is to follow the OGASM process.
OGASM is a mnemonic which helps me to remember the 4 steps in the process. The 4 steps are GASM and the O is there to encapsulate it all . . . or O is for “organise” if you really want it to stand for something!
G - Good
A - Any
S - Something
M - Most
Nearly all of my meetings start with the question “when we get to the end of this meeting, how will we know if we’ve had a good meeting?” That allows me to understand my counterpart’s main objectives and to focus on just those elements for the main part of the meeting.
Meetings are concluded with three quick fire questions, the first of which is a double barrelled any. “Is they any-thing else I can help you with . . . is there any-body else you know who needs this sort of help?” The point of this question is to give me opportunities to sell additional services to this person or to other people in this person’s sphere of influence.
“Is there something we should have said, that we haven’t?” All meetings contain missed opportunities. There may be insufficient time left to discuss anything new in detail, but it shows your counterpart that you care and it gives you the opportunity to plan a “next step”.
“What was the most important thing that we discussed today?” Whatever I think is important, is not necessarily the same thing that you think is important. By asking this question I am able to progressively refine my meeting processes and always work on what is really important.
I benefit from the OGASM process, because my clients are acting as intelligent filters, leading me to their most important issues, and leading me to new clients . . . is there anybody else you know who needs this sort of help? Contact me!
Content managed web sites rule!
Posted by proactivepaul in Professional Speaker on June 1st, 2009
The long overdue update
It has been a long time coming, I know! And today I am very pleased and happy to announce that the Proactive Paul Dot Com web site has finally entered the world of web2.0 . . . about five years late! According to Tim O’Reilly, who conjured up the expression web 2.0 at the O’Reilly conference in 2004, web 2.0 is about intelligent interaction between humans and computers. It’s about one plus one equals three, it’s about the whole being more than just the sum of the parts. It’s about achieving something that neither humans nor computers could achieve on their own.
So, gone is the old static web site (the web 1.0 version) and here I proudly present a new and evolutionary site which will be updated far more often than the old one ever was. I will continue to blog on a daily basis on my personal site, and I plan to keep this Professional Speaker web site up to date with newsworthy reports on speaking opportunities, whether it’s yours or mine, or anybody else’s that captures my imagination!