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Testimonials
"Thank you so much for your lightning quick response. I really appreciate that. We love your program ... it has been a life saver in terms of our agency management. Again, thanks a bunch!"
Eric Vickrey
EyeSpeak
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"My Art Director was right - we absolutely love your product. Learning to use it was so easy and it makes billing a snap. Thank you for developing such a functional tool. It's definitely making us more money."
Allison DeFord
DeFord Designs
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"TimeFox is a lot more than a glorified timesheet. It is a useful management tool with all kinds of reporting functions. We are more informed as to what's actually happening in our company, and, as a result, we are more on top of our billing. It has been very good for our business."
Valerie Nathan
Trapeze Communications
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"It was the easiest program I have ever implemented, TimeFox made me a hero!"
Lori Storer
The Day Group
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FunctionFox
is committed to helping smaller creative companies improve their business. TimeFox, our web-based time and project-tracking tool, is designed to help smaller advertising, design, marketing and PR firms manage their business, and do more with their valuable time.
Are you a Micromanager or someone being micromanaged? This month we provide some insight about why managers do the things they do, and give you some tips to help you be the kind of empowered employee that doesn't need micromanaging. If you find yourself micromanaging your employees, it might be time you found a way to trust your staff and give them the kind of guidance they need to get their work done without your constant input. We've got some tips to help you let go and let your business thrive.
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Feature Article For Managers: Are You a Micromanager?
Feature Article For Employees: Micromanagement — Whose Fault is it Anyway?
Customer Profile: Atomic Crayon
TimeFox Tip
Advertising and Design News
FunctionFox Referral Program
Contact FunctionFox
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Are You a Micromanager?
- If you believe that in order to get the job done right you should do it yourself, you may be a micromanager.
- If you do the work you hired others to do, you may be a micromanager.
- If you consistently do routine tasks instead of letting others do them, you may be a micromanager.
- If you are too busy doing today's work to plan your future, you may be a micromanager.
- If every small purchase has to go through you, you may be a micromanager.
- If you never take a vacation, you may be a micromanager.
If any of these symptoms describe you, then you are probably a micromanager. It is also likely that your business...
More...
This article has been written and reprinted with permission from Judy Blaskowski and Laddie Blaskowski.
For more information, please visit their website at
http://www.businesstruths.com/.
If you have an article that you would like to share, please contact us toll-free at 1.866.369.8463 or email
info@functionfox.com.
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Micromanagement — Whose Fault is it Anyway?
Challenging managers come in all different shapes and sizes: those who pile on too much work and those who don't provide enough information, for example. But the bane of a highly capable employee's existence are supervisors who micromanage. For an experienced designer, it can be frustrating to work for someone who constantly looks over your shoulder.
However, there are two sides to every story: Before complaining about a micromanager, it's important to understand and appreciate the challenges of being a boss and to identify what sort of behavior might push your manager's micromanagement buttons. You may not be able to completely change his or her actions, but, with a little understanding, you can instill confidence and, ultimately, improve the situation. Following are some questions to consider to help you get started:
What is your manager's situation? If your manager is feeling pressure from the top, it may trickle down to you. Is it possible that your boss is under so much scrutiny that he or she feels that it's necessary to be involved in every detail to ensure projects remain on track and turn out well? Something as simple as regular status updates could be enough to ease his or her mind.
Do you "ask" for micromanagement? It's easy to blame a manager for overzealous supervising, but the truth is most bosses don't want to micromanage: They do it because they feel they have no choice. Do you meet your deadlines consistently? Just a few slip-ups could be enough to make your supervisor second-guess your abilities. Do you always turn in strong work? If your manager is unhappy with the quality of your pieces, have you had an honest conversation about how you can improve them? Consider taking a class or, if you're overloaded, working with your boss to delegate some of your responsibilities. Don't ignore your supervisor's feedback or assume he or she is too picky; in most cases, it's up to you to figure out how to deliver the level of work your boss desires.
Do you ask questions? Your boss may check in with you frequently simply because he or she expects you to have questions, especially with complicated campaigns or pitches. When taking on a new assignment, meet with your supervisor to clarify objectives and priorities. As the project evolves, consider checking in occasionally to make sure you're on the right track.
More...
This article has been reprinted with permission from HOWdesign.com and written by The Creative Group.
For more information, please visit their website at
www.creativegroup.com.
If you have an article that you would like to share, please contact us toll-free at 1.866.369.8463 or email
info@functionfox.com.
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Increasing productivity, profits is painless for Atomic Crayon
Atomic Crayon is a web design and consulting company that specializes in developing and re-structuring web sites for businesses. Comprised of top-notch design professionals and foosball enthusiasts, Atomic Crayon has worked on a prodigious array of websites for public, private and non-profit clientele over the past nine years. With dozens of clients in variant sizes, this growing company needed a way to track the time of multiple staff working concurrently on the same project. They also wanted to provide clients with a detailed monthly summary of the time spent on projects and improve their billing's clarity and accountability, both for themselves and their clients.
Prior to finding TimeFox, Atomic Crayon tried several other programs but they all had the same critical flaw: they didn't allow for more than one user to work on any single project at a time. When they signed up for TimeFox, they found a program that solved this problem and provided many other valuable benefits.
"TimeFox has solved our problem," says Dale Campbell, President of Atomic Crayon. "Multiple staff can bill simultaneously to one project, our bills are now clearer and the time we spend on projects has been simplified."
Implementing TimeFox was "exceptionally painless", according to Campbell, who reports it took under an hour to enter over 60 clients into the system. And maintaining TimeFox is equally easy.
More...
If you would like your company to be featured in a TimeFox newsletter,
on our website or in our promotional package,
please send your request to
info@functionfox.com.
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Keep an eye on who's doing what without leaving the timesheet page. Click on the underlined word "Week" (right above the client pull down list). You'll get a full summary of who has entered hours. Click on the hours beside each name to see exactly what everyone has been working on. Want to see what you've been up to yourself? Click on the underlined word "My Week" to see details of where your time has been spent.
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HOW Magazine - Call for Entries for its Perfect 10 Awards
Exceptional. Brilliant. Superb.
If you've recently created a printed design worthy of the above adjectives, then HOW has a competition worthy of your printed design: The HOW Perfect 10 Awards.
This competition celebrates the marriage of high production value and appropriate paper selection to good design.
The ten chosen winners will then be prominently featured in the December 2006 issue of HOW, the Business Annual.
If you haven't yet entered, you can still catch the deadline. Just make sure your submissions are postmarked by April 14, 2006.
For rules and an official entry form, visit the HOW website at
http://www.howdesign.com/competitions,
call (513) 531-2690 ext.1328 or email
HOW-competition@fwpubs.com
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If you refer someone to FunctionFox, and they purchase a TimeFox subscription,
we'll give you a month's subscription to TimeFox! Refer 12 new customers,
you'll get a whole year's subscription on us!
Don't miss this chance to pass the word and realize considerable savings!
Here's how: Ask the person you refer to enter your name/company under 'Referral (Client or Friend)'
when they sign up for a demo at
www.functionfox.com/demo
or tell a friend at
www.functionfox.com/referral_program.
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For a TimeFox Demo, go to:
www.functionfox.com/demo
To arrange a guided tour of TimeFox, please send your request to:
info@functionfox.com
To order a TimeFox subscription, go to:
www.functionfox.com/purchase
If you would like your company to be featured in a TimeFox
newsletter, on our website or in our promotional package,
please send your request to:
info@functionfox.com
You can opt out of the About Time Newsletter at:
www.functionfox.com/newsletter/no_thanks.asp
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