September 2023

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 feb 2024

Nonprofits with their resource crunch have to make sure efficiency remains the key in all aspects of their work. Nonprofit finance teams have to fulfil their reporting duties under tight budget and time. Technology can come to their rescue when the right and cost effective solution is implemented. Grant Gevers, Senior Consultant for Nonprofits at Sage UKI Ltd., shares insights at Third Sector Summit from Sage's 'Fast Close. Faster Insights' report, and explains how cloud-based automation is reshaping financial operations. There are benefits to shortening month-end close cycle - Quicker preparation and dissemination of key financial reports; Improved managerial decision making; Eliminate bottlenecks and highlight inefficiencies leading to enhanced finance operational efficiency. According to the research by Sage, the average nonprofit takes around seven working days to close its books while nonprofits who are using automation are closing on average 1.5 days earlier than those who are not automating key processes, such as journal entry, bank reconciliation, or reviewing transactions. Three benficial steps of automation to finance teams - (1) Reduce the complexity of chart of accounts. (2) Complete reporting without exporting to Excel. (3) Month-end tools and collaboration. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SAGE REPORT: Automating the financial close helps save 24 days a year; 40% of respondents say that the time saved is used to analyse data and find insights and trends and also to invest in training and development; 82% of finance leaders said that they are saving on headcount costs through using automation. Read on...

Third Sector: How automation is helping nonprofit finance teams make a bigger impact
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 feb 2024

Clear and specific sales goals and objectives are important for success of retail businesss and assists to measure sales performance, sales team member accountability, visualize targets and motivate the team. Sales goals include - Annual goals (Specify overall sales revenue target for a year); Quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals (More achievable short-term goals to accomplish and stay motivated); Individual goals (Provide sense of ownership and accountability to individual team members); Team goals (Boosts employee engagement and assesses team capabilities. Encourages teamwork and competitive spirit); Activity goals (Actions team members should take to achieve targets such as virtual customer interaction initiation, post-purchase email campaigns, customer engagement on social media etc); Stretch goals (Goals that go beyond initial goals and taking more challenges. Need incentives and rewards to motivate team); Waterfall goals (Allows to build upon goals over time incrementally and gradually. Ensures quality and avoids team burnout); Sequence goals (Prioritize goals according to value). Before setting sales goals it is important to have historial sales data, systems needed to achieve goals, consumer and market trends, sales promotions and events throughout the year etc. Then following strategies can be applied - Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) sales goals; Analyze sales cycle; Identify a coolective goal; Use data to set goals; Calculae break-even point; Avoid confusing sales goals and objectives with metrics. Following are 11 real-life sales goals objectives - Increase your monthly, quarterly, or annual sales revenue; Increase average order value (AOV); Increase customer lifetime value (CLTV); Decrease customer churn; Reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC); Reduce sales cycle time; Boost conversion rate; Increase lead generation; Improve gross profit margins; Increase sales per channel (and test new channels); Reduce abandoned cart rate. Once the goals are set, teams should work hard to achieve them - Communicate with sales associates; Offer mentorship and suppor; Provide the highest of level of customer service possible; Ensure your staff are knowledgeable about the products you sell; Use gamification and rewards to motivate sales staff ; Leverage consumer psychology and behavior; Regularly track and analyze sales goals; Put your SMART sales goals into action. Read on...

Shopify: 11 Retail Sales Goals Examples & How to Achieve Them (2024)
Author: Alexis Damen

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 26 feb 2024

As the internet and websites expand, so does their environmental impact. According to Web Neutral Project website (webneutralproject.com) - Internet accounts for about 10% of global electricity consumption; Internet produces about 2% of global CO2 emissions annually (equivalent to aviation industry); Average web page produces 1.76 grams CO2 per page view; Data centers alone consume an estimated 200 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy. To tackle internet and website pollution it is essential to design sustainable web solutions and reduce web bloat. Gerry McGovern, founder and CEO of Customer Carewords, interviews Vitaly Friedman (web design expert and co-founder of Smashing Magazine) on the issue of this environment waste and sustainable web design. Mr. Friedman says, 'Sometimes if you see developers or designers thinking about accessibility, thinking about design from the perspective of usability, inclusive design, cleanliness, weight, then you have exceptional results, but that is in itself exceptional and rare. Most of the time we just look at the tools in front of us and we build and we design using the tools without thinking about sustainability, often not thinking about performance and sometimes, and this is still quite common, not even thinking about accessibility. So, we just produce visual output and we put it on a server someplace and that kind of works.' Mr. Friedman suggests the need for more conversations around web's environmental impact and sustainable web design, and rethink digital design to work towards sustanability. Read on...

CMSWire: Sustainable Website Design for a Better Environment
Author: Gerry McGovern

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 21 feb 2024

Healthcare sector challenges such as workforce shortages, financial pressures, health disparities, environmental challenges etc are forcing healthcare organizations to find innovative ways to deliver health services effectively and sustain their operations. Following are the healthcare trends for 2024 - (1) AI-powered workflow automation and optimization: Generative AI in healthcare will boost automation. Bain & Company survey showed that healthcare leaders see the biggest short-term opportunities of generative AI in reducing administrative burden on staff and enhancing operational efficiencies. Applications would include automated documentation and summarization of patient visits - enabling physicians to focus on higher-value tasks. (2) Virtual collaboration addressing staff and expertise shortages: In addition to mitigating staff and expert shortages, virtual collaboration trend will improve access to care in remote and rural areas. Examples include radiology operations command centers, virtual collaboration in ultrasound, Tele-intensive (or tele-ICU) programs, mentoring and guiding by experts etc. (3) Integrated diagnostics supporting multi-disciplinary collaboration: Bringing diagnostic data together that is collected from various sources such as imaging to digital pathology and genomics, will help physicians to deliver precise diagnosis and customize treatment to patients. Moreover, integrated diagnostics will enable different healthcare specialists to exchange patient data more easily, helping them work together more efficiently and effectively. (4) Improved interoperability for better monitoring and care coordination: Healthcare leaders in the Philips Future Health Index 2023 report identified interoperability as one of the top four success factors for providing new ways of delivering care that integrate in-person and virtual care across settings. Healthcare technology providers would require an open ecosystem approach. New interoperability capabilities can bring together disparate medical devices and systems into one interface to create a comprehensive overview of a patient's condition. Visual patient avatar is a recent innovation in this regard. (5) Early risk detection and intervention based on predictive analytics: The Philips Future Health Index 2023 report showed how 39% of healthcare leaders plan to invest in AI to predict outcomes, up from 30% in 2021. Predictive analytics, by deriving operational and clinical insights from real-time and historical data can help healthcare providers improve efficiencies and act preemptively. Predictive analytics is utilized to forecast and manage patient flow, manage medical equipment hardware parts maintenance or replacement, early detection of patient health risks based on vital signs and other patient data, keep a caring eye on patients at home, through remote monitoring etc. (6) Using technology to tackle health disparities: There is need for more equitable and sustainable healthcare. Partnerships aimed at advancing health equity will be key to leveraging technology innovations. (7) Smart technology that helps establish - and maintain - healthy routines: Wearable, customizable technologies such as smart-watches, sophiticated smart health devices etc with continue to help individuals pursue healthier behaviors and lifestyles. Smart technolgoies can assist to maintain better oral health, to monitor children's growth and development etc. (8) Addressing healthcare IT's environmental impact: Even though research indicates that the resource savings unlocked by IT outweigh the increase in footprint caused by the deployment of that technology, but to continue realizing these savings, the healthcare industry needs to focus on building sustainable digital infrastructure, including carbon-free cloud solutions, using circular hardware, and developing sustainable software. (9) Green procurement transforming the healthcare supply landscape: The adoption of sustainable procurement criteria will be necessary strategies for health systems and governments hoping to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss while safeguarding human health and advancing health equity. (10) Teaming up to reduce healthcare's impact on the planet: Healthcare systems will actively adopt strategies to reduce their environmental footprint. There will be increasing trend towards the adoption of 'natural capital accounting' to support better decision-making around resource use management, and more companies committing to science-based targets for nature. Read on...

PHILIPS News: 10 healthcare technology trends for 2024
Author: NA