Did you know that today is Administrative Professionals’ Day? It’s the one day (and sometimes week) where the staff members that provide support to the rest of the company get recognized for their awesome work! An Administrative Professional’s duties revolve around managing and distributing information within an office; including answering phones, planning meetings and luncheons, bookkeeping, documentation, and more!

They are also the ones you go to for help when you need to get envelopes, stamps, or mail a document. Stamps, envelopes, printer ink, and printer paper can add up to be quite expensive (just check out the budget for these items) but a new concern was added recently—the instability of the U.S. Postal Service. In February, they announced the expected closure of nearly half (more than 200) of their mail processing facilities in an effort to consolidate and save money. In addition, they are considering the end of Saturday mail delivery, the elimination of door-to-door delivery, and a slowing in first-class mail service.

Customer Support is a department known by customers for being difficult to work with; most people dread having to contact a company’s support staff. But ShareFile’s clients have a different opinion– our Support team is known for being extremely helpful, available, and quick! Did you know that we boast an average phone answer time of 20 seconds? In addition to phone support, ShareFile is also available by live chat and email. In the video below, we’ll introduce you to the ‘Help’ tab of your account which is home to all of your customer support needs including training tutorials and the contact information for your Dedicated Account Manager.

I’m sure at some point you’ve felt like there just wasn’t enough time in the day- it flies by when you’re busy. In an effort to maximize your time and provide exceptional service to your clients, here are a few tips for time management.

Manage your inbox. It’s easy to get caught up in your overwhelming inbox. If you’re like me, you may have a habit of keeping your Outlook (or other email service) open all day long. Sometimes it’s hard not to, right? Here’s something new to try- set a defined number of times per day that you will check your email. A good starting point would be to check your email 3-4 times throughout the day. Use those times to dedicate solely to answering emails. Set a specific time frame for how long you will read and return emails. Once complete, refocus on the other to-do tasks.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post about going green with ShareFile. I outlined the various ways ShareFile can help you reduce paper consumption and waste by sending, receiving, and storing all of your important documents online. Now that you are en route to becoming a “paperless” office (and with Earth Day just around the corner on April 22nd,) I thought I’d share a few more easy tips with you on how you can incorporate “going green” into your daily routine.

Recycle. How many times have you seen a coworker throwing away a recyclable item such as a water bottle in the trash? Make sure recycling bins are available and clearly marked throughout your office so that there is no confusion between the trash and recycling bin. Most people will recycle when given an option, but if they don’t know the option is there, they may take the more convenient route.

Did you know that it’s National Volunteer Month? In today’s business world, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day time consuming activities that take place. However, April is dedicated specifically to volunteering in your community. Citrix has developed a corporate citizenship program, which has a vision to, “help people work better and live better, strengthening the tie between work and well being and supporting families in need.”

In today’s world it seems like more and more people are moving away from desktop computers and trading them in for laptops and the increasingly popular tablet devices. The benefits to tablets are endless but one common answer is mobility. Having a tablet means you can work from anywhere: the metro, home, in-flight, on vacation—you get the idea. But with people increasing the amount of time they work away from their desk, it’s important to make sure that the tools we are using are equipped with the right tools—in other words, Apps!

So what are the best apps for businesses? I’m recommending five categories of apps that everyone should have on their tablet. Take a look:

Is your law firm stuck in practices of the past – sending mailing pieces to clients via snail mail, utilizing costly courier services to receive documents, and putting your firm’s integrity at risk by emailing confidential files? If so, you may benefit greatly by managing your clients’ information in the cloud.
You may be wondering what it means to be “in the cloud.” Cloud computing offers your firm all of the same benefits as traditional legal services do, with the convenience of being able to send or receive your files from virtually anywhere. It also offers you piece of mind knowing that the confidential case information you are storing is locked away safe online in a password-protected portal.

You may be wondering ‘What is workshifting’? I first wrote about the topic a few months ago when we (as ShareFilers) were still new to the idea. It’s simply using the web to work from anywhere, anytime, from any device. It’s a pretty cool concept, introduced to us by Citrix. Some employees here at ShareFile are already workshifting a few days per week. According to Workshifting.com, the number of U.S. telecommuters ranges from between 2.8 million people (consider home their primary place of work, not including the self-employed) and 44.4 million (includes anyone works at home at least once a year). Before you and your employees take on the idea of workshifting, first make sure you have the right hardware and software.