Even if the office has a secret Santa policy, you can give a gift to someone you appreciate. But you may want to consider that many bosses don’t expect a gift and to some it’s looked upon as ‘kissing-up’.

Give something that you feel they would enjoy. Find out a hobby or interest and give accordingly.

Don’t give a gift if you feel weird giving that person one. They may feel just as weird getting one from you.

If you decide to give someone a gift, plan to give it at the last minute.

The IRS allowance for a ‘professional gift’ is 25.00.

Eat, drink and be merry, but don’t go to extremes.
These are your managers, co-workers and owners of the company. What happens at the office party rarely stays at the office party.

Dress accordingly.
It may be alright for a woman to wear a low-cut short red dress for a night out on the town, but it doesn’t look very professional at an office party. Find out if it’s dress casual. Being over dressed is just as bad as being over dressed.

Introduce yourself to everyone.
Treat the Office Party just like any other business networking event. Many times the only time you may be able to meet and talk with the CEO and other VP’s is at the office party. It’s alright to talk with them just don’t be a pest.

Find out who is invited.
Is it a party for just the company employees? Is the spouse invited? The children? The party may only be for employees and bringing the family would be out of place. But it may be for the family with a chance for the kids to meet Santa.

Pay attention to the time.
You may not want to be the first at the party, but you don’t want to arrive just a few minutes before it ends. A good rule to follow is ‘Don’t be the first to arrive, nor the last to leave’.

Give thanks to all.
Saying Thank You to the ones who organized the party will make them feel good. Saying Thanks to the managers will show them that you are appreciated. If you are a manager saying Thanks to those who assisted you over the year helps to create a good team.

When using the company’s email address, all messages should be business related.  Prime example of emails that should never be sent, shared and in reality received are joke emails.  People have been and will continued to have their employment terminated  due to inappropiate emails.

You shouldn’t use or check personal emails at the office.  The Boss has the legal right to monitor the use of the computer.  This could include having software on the computer to monitor each and every keystroke,

All work done on company time or with company resources are in reality the property of the company.  The next great American Novel that you wrote on the company time and one their computer can be claimed as theirs.

Don’t think that Instant Messaging (IM) is any less traceable than emails.  In fact some IM’s are easier to record for view by the boss than emails.

Many offices have policies on how electronics, those owned by the company as well as the employee can be used.  This policy is often called an Electronic Use Policy and part of the Employee Manual or Human Resource.  You should always know the policy.

10 Ways to Conserve Energy

It doesn’t matter whether you consider Global Warming a fact or a hoax. The one thing for certain is that we do harm the environment every day. These are things we can do to not only save and conserve energy but also help the environment.

10) Follow The Three ‘R’ – Recycle/Reuse/Reduce
American’s have become a very wasteful society. When our founding fathers were creating the nation in which we live, they didn’t waste anything. Washington at Valley Forge, the frontier families who settled west of the Mississippi, even the families of World War II used everything.

Today nearly every item that we purchase is in some type of disposable wrapper. This wrapping is used once and thrown in the trash. This uses another piece of a resource that is diminishing. By following these three ‘R’s’ one may or may not not see a direct savings. But in some cases the cost of manufacturing the products might be less. A recycled aluminum can requires less energy to reuse. than having a new one produced from the raw materials.

9) Drive Smart
There are a number of ways that we don’t drive smart. We are a mobile society and don’t always consider everything before we get in a vehicle to go someplace. How many of us have gone one place, come back only to realize we also need to go to another? Planning your trips will allow you to use less fuel as well as save time.

One of the biggest consumption of fuel in a vehicle comes from poor maintenance. Have the engine routinely serviced, will keep it running at peak efficiently? Don’t forget the tire pressure. Tires at the wrong pressure, especially ones that is low, are a big fuel waster. And don’t forget to have the brakes checked. A dragging brake not only causes the brakes to wear out faster, it will make the engine work harder, using more gas.

When driving, don’t make rapid stops and starts. This, as well as exceeding the speed limit, can quickly reduce gas mileage. By using the speed control on long trips, the vehicle runs at a constant speed.

8) Heat or Cool the Living/Work Space – Not the World
Does the building have enough insulation? Older homes and building probably don’t. Windows are also an area where energy costs are moving from their desired purpose to change the temperature of the outside air.

Many homes are heating or cooling areas that are seldom used. By setting up heating and cooling areas, one can save money and energy by keeping the seldom used areas warmer or cooler than the rest of the house. Many people may like a warm living room in the winter, but wants a cool bedroom. This would be another reason for separate environmental areas.

Use a programmable thermostat. By using a programmable thermostat you can automatically turn down the heat when it’s least needed, at night when sleeping or during the day when no one is home. Have it raised to a comfortable level shortly before getting up or arriving home. Be certain that it is the correct type of programmable thermostat for your heating or cooling system. Some heat pumps and air conditioning systems require specialized programmable thermostats.

7) Use Water Wisely
Water may be free, but getting it from the ground to the home costs a lot. There’s the cost of pumping it from one location to another, as well as the cost of treating it to be at a useable state. There’s also the cost of removing and cleaning the waste water.

6) Use Energy-Efficient Products
Many older appliances use a great deal more energy than a new one. The 20 year old refrigerator may be working fine, but a newer one could use half of the energy.

Water heaters can use as much as 14% of the energy bill. The older it gets the less efficient it is with one over 10 years being as much as 50% less efficient than as it was when new.

And don’t forget the light bulbs. Most of the energy used by old style incandescent lights is turned into heat. A 15-Watt Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) gives the same light as a 60-Watt incandescent using a quarter of the energy.

5) Turn Off and Unplug
Unplug devices that use a transformer when not in use. Example; battery chargers. Whenever these devices are plugged in they consume minor amounts of energy. Many devices such as TVs and DVD players still use energy when not in use. Turning them off may only save a small amount of the total energy used. Unplug them when they won’t be used for a long period of time.

Turn off computers at night, and use sleep mode as often as possible. When not in use turn off televisions, radios and other entertainment equipment.

4) Light the area reasonably
Office lighting can be the one single source of using the largest amount of electric each month. Reducing the energy used by lights can make a quick and noticeable impact to the bill.

Many offices either use too much light or does not use the most efficient type of lighting. It’s important to have enough lights in an area so that it’s safe, but there may be places where lights can be removed, the size of the fixture reduced or more economical sources of light are use.

Use task lights to reduce the amount of overhead lights. Task lights puts the required amount of light on the project at hand allowing the room lights to be at a lower light level, therefore saving energy.

Don’t light areas that aren’t being occupied. Install timers and occupancy sensors. These are great in offices for restrooms, storage closets and copier rooms.

3) Make it a Habit
Habits are those things that we do without thinking. Developing a habit takes time. At first it may take some constant thoughts and reminders. By spending time considering your actions and doing the things to save energy each day, these actions will become a habit.

2) Pass Along the Word
It’s amazing how many people there are out there that just don’t know, don’t have an understanding or just need to have a person they know and respect to assure them. Pass along the information. Let your friends know when you replace an appliance and see a drop
in the electric bill. Or when they throw a plastic bottle or newspaper in the trash let them know it can be recycled and used again. The more people hear it from someone they know, the more apt they are to follow the advice.

1) Switch Off the Lights
When being the last to leave a room turn out the lights. It will always be saving energy with few exceptions also saving money.

© 2007-2009 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved

Use mugs and cups that display your logo and other company information. Replace disposable items with items that can be reused. By adding the company logo on them is a creative use of the advertising dollar.

Along with the invention of computers it was going to help create a paperless society. Instead we seem to be using more paper. Try to print only those documents that are required and when possible use recycled paper.

If you don’t think an item can be recycled or reused check. You may be surprised.

Do an Energy Audit
Having an energy audit performed is a way to find some quick and inexpensive ways to conserve energy. One quick way is to walk through the office either a few hours before work begins or after the work day ends. Look for items that are on that could be turned off such as computers, lights or copiers.

It’s a misconception that equipment last longer if they are not turned off. A screen saver doesn’t save energy. It can at times use more.

Is the office temperature comfortable during these off hours walks? If they are thermostat temperatures need to be adjusted.

Even during the day look for lights that are on all day in rooms that are seldom used. These rooms may be a candidate for installation of room sensors light timers

Keep the Office Comfortable
While we are thinking about the temperature in the office, How does it feel? Is it hot in one place , but cold in another? This may be a problem with the HVAC system or possibly as simple as a blocked thermostat.

Recommended office temperature for winter months is 68-72 degrees and for the summer is 74 to 80.

How hot is the hot water? A hot water heater in the office environment only needs to have its water temperature at around 120 degrees, but many of them are set for 140 or hotter!

Schedule Trips Wisely
Running back and forth from one end of town to another not only is a waste of time, but also a waste of energy. Try to schedule appointments with clients in the same vicinity on the same day.

Need to make a trip to the Office Supply house? See if a nearby client would like you to drop by.

Or schedule those out of the office trips to correspond with the commute to or from work.

Use Nature
Use natural light instead of overhead lights. Opening the blinds can also help to heat in the winter, but you’ll want to close them to the sun in the summer.

Adding a plant into the office area not only makes it a more pleasing place, it also helps to filter out carbon dioxide and increase oxygen.

Take a System Approach
The best way to have a green office and to maintain it is to take it across the entire system. All employees from the owner to the part-time delivery person needs to work together. As with a chain keeping a green office is only as strong as the weakest link.

Also posted at SMB Tech Tips at SMBTechTips.com.

Speak clearly and slowly. Some people seem to speak faster when leaving messages on voice mail, and those are harder to understand.

Leave a concise message spelling out the reason for calling. If applicable leave referral names and mention mutual business associates. If you are delivering bad news don’t leave it via voice mail.

Always ask for a call back. Give a day and time you’d be available to receive their call.

Mention your name and phone number at the beginning and end of each message.

Allow a reasonable amount of time for them to call you back. Your question may be important, but calling back within the same hour and leaving another message just shows impatience.