Now that everyone’s back, the New Year has really started in the UAE. Most of us are rested and recharged and full of ambition, goals, and focus for the year ahead, part of which for most of us revolves around increasing productivity and efficiency in our work. With the implementation of VAT, it’s going to be a particularly challenging month for a lot of people, and the collection and retention of documents and records will become increasingly important. Organizing your office and digitizing documents is one of the best ways to make your business more efficient. A tidy office can help keep your mind clear and keep you focussed on those resolutions and goals. This means that you get rid of all the clutter, think about having specific shelves or trays for incoming and outgoing files, and use organizers for everything else that you bring to work, such as chargers. [...]

Having the right office space can be crucial to the success of your business. Setting up an office takes more than just finding a location or building to rent and furnishing it with furniture and equipment for people to use. Most of us spend the majority of our lives at work, so you really should spare a thought about your workers’ comfort. Happy workers are productive workers, and having an office layout that fosters comfort, and some happiness can do wonders for employee performance and your company’s bottom line. Your office layout should reflect your company's values When setting up your office, keep in mind that it is not just a building full of people, but it is also part of your company's image and brand. In this way, offices can be quite a business tool. Your office should reflect your company's core values, with the design elements reflecting or [...]

So Ramadan has started and as we all observe and respect the rules and traditions associated with the Holy Month whilst trying to continue with ‘business as usual', we wanted to remind our followers of the basic etiquette for doing business at this time. The basics The first step towards being culturally sensitive during Ramadan is understanding the basic requirements of this religious period. Muslims observe the five pillars of Islam, and one of these pillars is fasting. They believe that they will be greatly rewarded for following the 30-day fasting period of Ramadan. During this time of fasting, devotees are required to fast for up to 18 hours a day: from sunrise to sunset. Fasting means not taking part in anything by mouth, including food, drink, gum, or cigarette smoke. Fasting can have dramatic effects on the mind and body. It is no easy task and is meant to [...]

With this month’s focus on Earth Day and all the talk in the news recently about missions to Mars, it’s actually a good time to think about what each of us can do to protect our own planet - the things that we can actually change to make a difference. We spend most of our time at work, so let’s start there. How environmentally friendly (‘green’) is your office? How highly do you score on the checklist below of green workplace initiatives? 1. Do you really Reduce, Re-use and Recycle? The three R’s help us to limit wastage, saving precious resources, energy, time, and money. Don’t print unless you really have to, and when you do, try to print on both sides (duplex). Save old printouts and scrap paper for taking notes at meetings instead of breaking open a new notepad. Don’t leave water running or lighting and air conditioning [...]