The Internet has changed the way we get our news, watch movies, and pay our bills. It’s no wonder, then, that it has also changed the way we listen to music. Today, the web is home to several top music-streaming services – online services that allow users to listen to their favorite music on their laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.

But which music-streaming services are the best? Here are some recommendations:

Pandora: Pandora is hardly a surprise choice, but there is a reason this music-streaming service remains well-liked: It is not difficult to use and it can quickly expose users to new music that they might not experience otherwise. The concept behind Pandora is simple: After logging onto the service, enter the name of a favorite artist, say “David Bowie.” Pandora will then play songs by Bowie and will also play songs from similar artists. This gives you a taste of other tunes that you might also like.

Grooveshark: This streaming service is very similar to Pandora, in that it creates a personalized “radio” station determined by your musical tastes. You do not have to create an account to listen to Grooveshark, or to create your own playlists. However, in order to save your information, you will have to create one. One benefit to Grooveshark is basically that you are able to enjoy whole albums instead of a station you made. One of the more exciting features of Grooveshark is that users can add their own music if the Grooveshark database doesn’t have what they are seeking.

Rhapsody: Rhapsody’s appeal is based on its huge database of music: more the 14 million songs. Unfortunately, this service is not free, it is $10 a month for unlimited music.

Spotify: Spotify is a Swedish music-streaming service that was launched in 2008. It has quickly grown to one of the most recognized and widely used services out there. People like the flexibility of Spotify. When you search for an artist, you can listen to a whole album or choose to use the radio function and Spotify will find similar artists for you to enjoy. Another benefit of Spotify is that you can create your own playlists and share them with other users if you so choose.

Remember when Windows was considered cool? It’s been a long time. However, the Kinect – a motion and voice-sensing device originally meant as a nifty feature for the Xbox gaming console – could help Windows recapture its long-lost coolness quotient.

Not surprisingly, a version of the Kinect is compatible with Windows-operated PCs. So almost immediately after this new version was released in February, companies started coming up with creative, out-of-the-box uses for it.

Innovative Uses for the Kinect

For instance, at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this year, the chief marketing manager for Nissan North America used Kinect for Windows to create a virtual tour of the Pathfinder’s upgraded interior. This proved especially beneficial because the marketing manager only had the Pathfinder’s empty shell to show off at the Auto Show. A large screen powered by Kinect showed visitors just what they’d be seeing if they were actually sitting within the finished body of the new Pathfinder. The screen, for example, displayed the car’s dual moon roofs and many other features.

Microsoft is working with companies to develop applications for the Kinect. This not only encourages creativity but it puts the Kinect at the center of many of the most recent innovations. One example of a company that is working closely with Microsoft in this manner is Boeing. Boeing used the Kinect to create virtual tours of its jets. Another example is a healthcare facility in Canada. They’re using the Kinect’s gesture-recognition capability to swipe through CT scans. This reduces the danger of getting germs on their hands from a keyboard or mouse.

Kinect: A Solid Hit

Microsoft hit a home run when they created the Kinect. The Xbox 360 was last year’s best-selling video game console, and they have the Kinect to thank for that. Since November of 2010 Microsoft has sold over 18 million Kinect devices.

It might seem hard to believe, but Windows and its creator might have actually found something that’s not only useful, but cool, which can do nothing but good for their reputation.

Do your employees communicate their ideas and thoughts? Do they come to you with ways to increase efficiency or new innovative marketing ideas?

If this does not sound familiar, your company may be mistakenly stifling employee creativity. A lack of creativity among your employees, in today’s business environment, can spell the doom for your company and may keep you one step behind the competition.

Despite the industry, creativity is required to generate new ideas and rethink processes. Getting your employees to think creatively can mean that you have a whole team of people trying to enhance your business. Not always, but generally employees will not apply their creative minds to your company unless you motivate them to do so.

One of the best ways to inspire fresh thinking is to simply listen to your employees when they share new ideas. Most employees are nervous when approaching their superiors with new ideas, particularly when it’s a notion that falls “outside of the box.” So make sure you give them an open forum to discuss their ideas and give them the respect to listen closely to them. One more way is to ask your employees, if you are trying to think of a way to improve the company’s blog, or products, send out an email asking for ideas. Not all of your employee’s ideas will wow you, but, so as not to single anyone out, listen to them all.

If you dismiss employee suggestions or disregard them without listening to them, you’ll only encourage your employees to do their jobs as rapidly as possible. Rather then thinking about ways to boost the company’s performance, these workers will worry only about carrying out their work and getting paid.

To truly inspire creativity, reward those employees who do come up with strong ideas. This could mean having to pay a small bonus to those employees whose ideas you use. It could mean praising employees in company newsletters or memos. It could even mean an in-person “thank you.”

Many people want a job that allows them to be creative. It stimulates their minds and prevents boring redundancy. Many employees also have ideas on how to improve their place of business; they just haven’t voiced them to you. So encourage them to let you know what they think. It doesn’t mean that the way you have been doing things is bad; it just means that they may have ideas that you many not have thought of. Regardless, you and your business will reap the benefits of their creativity and your employees will be happier for it.

Your comments are encouraged and appreciated.  I’d love to hear your ideas about how to encourage employee creativity in the workplace, or even examples of things that you’ve done.

Putting your best foot forward in life is important, particularly in the workplace. Hooking a career is more difficult now then ever, so it is more important than ever before to dress for success.

I know very well what you’re thinking: “The corporate world has gotten so casual—people wear flip-flops for goodness sake! Workplace attire doesn’t matter anymore.” Not true! The way you dress says a whole lot about you and how you feel about your career, and potential employers certainly notice.

Here is a simple rule for a interview: Overdressed is far preferable to under-dressed. Even if you are interviewing for a company that has a relaxed working environment, you will still should wear proper business attire for the interview. The better dressed you are, the more you show yourself off as somebody who is focused on their career and this particular job. If you show up to an interview dressed down, you’re starting from a weaker position.

In the workplace you should still think about the clothing you wear. Even in a casual place you can certainly still look sharp. If you just grab yesterday’s jeans off the floor and run out the door you won’t be noticed. People that put more thought into their style stand out from their peers, which is never a bad thing if your boss is looking to promote someone!

Of course, you still have to be a good worker. You can be the best-dressed person in the world, but it won’t help you if you don’t do your job well. All things being equal, the better-dressed employee will always make the better impression.

Mouse-free computing is something we’ve just begun to taste. We have touchscreens on many devices including tablets, phones, and e-readers. These allow us to access the Internet; send texts, and emails all without a mouse. So is this the shape of things to come? Can we eventually leave the mouse in the dust and move on to more advanced ways of communicating with our computers?

Gesture sensing

Consumers who own Wii or PlayStation video game systems already have an idea of this. These two game systems offer users the chance to play games and explore the internet through wireless remotes that synch with body movements. Wii players can smack a tennis ball by swinging their hands while they hold a wireless remote. They are able to jog in place, climb a virtual mountain, or shoot menacing robots in the same way. This is called gesture sensing. The tech isn’t quite ready for standard computing yet. However, it isn’t difficult to imagine a future where gesture sensing becomes one of the primary modes of interacting with our computers.

Multi-touch technology

Multi-touch technology is the one other interactive innovation that is being used in a few common devices, namely, tablets, e-readers, and smartphones. This technology allows users to tap icons to open program, pinch or extend their fingers to zoom or minimize the images on their screens. Since this is a relatively new technology it’s still being refined. How do you think this will be utilized in the foreseeable future to allow us easier navigation around our computers?

Voice recognition

Another possible technological advancement that may replace the mouse involves voice recognition. Instead of clicking on a mouse button to open up a program, users can simply tell their computers to open an individual word file or close iTunes. Some of this already exists, most notable is Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which allows users to dictate reports and stories to their word-processing programs. Again, the tech still needs refinement, but a future where we speak to our computers isn’t really that far-fetched.

No matter what new technologies arise or how refined the ones we spoke about get, the odds are that the mouse will not disappear all together. It has served us well, and we know we can easily rely on it.

Our last blog centered around company culture as well as the effect it could have on your brand. Your company’s culture, good or bad, shows up in your brands reputation. We talked about ways to measure the cultural health of your organization, but exactly how do you give your company a cultural transformation?

The first step is to ask yourself a few questions to get a sense of the “feel” you would like your business to have:

• What traits do you want your company’s environment to embody? Originality, respectfulness, acceptance, fun, etc.
• How can you mirror you company values in the culture?
• How is information distributed to employees? Are they left in the dark frequently?
• Do you reward employees and in what ways? 
• Does everybody in the company feel heard? If not, how could you improve this?

These should lead you to more questions. Consider having a brainstorming session with your employees to determine the right answers for your company. Below are some ideas we came up with:

Suggestion/Thought box – This is an easy way to allow people to share thoughts and opinions about the current events within the company. The employee could choose to make the suggestion anonymous or not, and any suggestions or concerns could be addressed in monthly company gatherings.

Empower employees – Give people control over their jobs by treating them like peers rather than peons. You can accomplish this by being more transparent; don’t just communicate when you have successes, let them know when things aren’t going flawlessly. It will create a team full of mutual support.

Flexible hours – You hired your employees because you have confidence in them to do their job. Permitting them to have relatively flexible hours shows you trust them to get their work done well and on time. The respect you give them will be reflected in the respect they give you.

Dress code – Today it is unusual that people are required to don suits and ties on a regular basis.  Giving employees freedom to express themselves using their wardrobe is a simple strategy to make them feel accepted for who they are. To take this one step further, think about themed days: silly hat day, bright clothing day, 80’s day, etc. It’s astounding how beneficial self-expression can be.

Celebrate – Your organization is the sum of everybody in it. Celebrate your team with group activities.  For example, cater lunch for everyone, have a movie or game day, or just throw a party. This can produce more cohesion in your team and promote collaboration.

Here are some things companies have done to give their culture a fun edge:

• Spontaneous Nerf gun wars
• Painting inspirational quotes on the walls
• Hitting a loud gong when there is a success to let the whole company know
• Foosball tournaments
• Lunchtime Yoga
• Lunchtime Crafting Club
• Monday Mad Libs, whoever wishes to contribute, does, and then the completed Mad Lib is emailed to the company

Strategy is typically at the forefront of a company’s focus. Strategy is not the only thing which makes a company successful. Culture also plays an important role. The culture of your company impacts your branding, your marketing success, and daily operations, all of which have an effect on how the world sees your organization. The logos of brands like Apple, Google, and Starbucks are recognizable not only because they appear to be everywhere, but also these companies have strong cultures that shine through their employees, storefronts, and logos. These positive, strong cultures all begin within the walls of their offices.

Why Culture is so Important

A healthy office culture fosters creative thinking. When employees like the place they work and feel like they are part of the team it can make them challenge themselves in innovative ways. In a workplace in which people feel invisible or stifled they’ll often do the bare minimum required. It is part of human nature to want to feel appreciated and important. A business is made of its people so whatever mindset prevails will show up in your brand and the merchandise and service you provide. In the end, taking care of the culture of your workplace is everyone’s duty from the CEO to HR.

If you are not yet convinced, here are some of the obvious benefits of promoting a healthy culture.

• Focus – Keeping employees dedicated to the same goal helps a business run with efficiency. Getting people to care about the goal comes with having a healthy focus. If your employees feel like they are an important part of attaining that goal they’ll be more likely to push themselves. When people feel like they have no effect on the main goal, they loose focus, and can become cynical.

• Cohesion – For a team to have cohesion they should have strong communication. Companies with a healthy culture find that the communication of both success and failure happens more often and more quickly.

• Motivation – A enthusiastic workforce gets things done. That might seem apparent, but companies that don’t pay attention to the health of their culture could be suffering with regards to productivity. Being motivated to work hard is a trait that should be present in every individual in the company if the culture is healthy.

Measuring the Cultural Health of Your Company

This can be a difficult step but should be examined several times a year. One of the primary steps is to look at how individuals are managed, how tasks are given out, and do people have some say in what they’re doing? Of course you might find some people who’ll never be happy, but if the general opinion is unfavorable, start thinking about making a few changes for the healthy of your business. Check back soon for some tips on transforming your company’s culture for the better.