Any business with more than one employee, and more than one resource to share, will benefit from some sort of scheduling method. Although not much is wrong with old fashioned pen and paper, it is definitely easier to schedule resources from anywhere in the world, and have the information available from any other computer as well.

If you have a projector, a meeting room, or even a car that needs to be shared, you can use Google Calendar to schedule every particular resource.
Basically, each resource will be given its own calendar and shared with all interested parties.

To set this up, first you need a Google Account (this is the same as your Gmail account). Then, you need to make sure the Calendar you are creating will be set to
“Auto-accept invitations”.

How to set to Auto-accept

1. Create a calendar in Google calendar dedicate to your resource, for example ‘meeting room 1′
2. On the left of the screen there is a calendar list, select ‘meeting room 1′ calendar and then select ‘calendar settings’
3. Select the ‘calendar details’ tab
4. Enable “Auto-accept invitations” by selecting “Auto-accept invitations that do not conflict.”
5. Click “Save.”

How to Share your Resource Calendar

1. Click on the down-arrow next to the calendar you created and select “Share this calendar.”
2. The calendar is shared by email, so enter the email addresses of the users that will be sharing access to meeting room 1.
3. Select the level of shared permission. This has to be set to “see all event details” or higher.
4. Last step: click “save”

This doesn’t only work on the business front, but also at home. Imagine, if you have two kids who have to share a car. Avoid or eliminate the constant conflict between the two by having a car-schedule, where each one can reserve a time slot to use this resource.

If you are already syncing your Google Calendar with either iCal, or your Blackberry, you will always have access to the most up to date resource schedule.

Managing a large project, or scheduling multiple projects, can be more challenging than it needs to be with a traditional calendar. When you are in a meeting, being able to quickly map out a time frame within which a project needs to be completed, and perhaps delegate who will tackle it, can really move things forward.

Although not a substitute for your regular calendar system, Compact Calendar provides you with a spreadsheet that can easily be printed out and used as a global overview. Time is shown in ‘blocks’. You can easily block off a period for a particular project, and add notes in the side-lines.

The major advantage of Compact Cal is that time is shown horizontally, and ‘distance’ on the calendar equals time directly. Traditional calendars show time divided into months, or weeks, which makes it more difficult to have a clear overview of time on a continuous basis. When dealing with projects that span multiple months, this can be a great tool to doodle out progress and time lines.

You can download a Canadian version of CompactCal, or the US version directly. For other international versions, see the official Compact Cal website.

Your business isn’t a schoolyard, so scheduling regular breaks and forcing employees to be physically active is not a solution. However, WorkRave automatically shows regular alerts that tell you to take micro-breaks. During these micro-breaks you can move around, or do a few exercises that pop up on the screen. These are designed to prevent, and treat, repetitive stress injuries often caused by computer use.

Downsides to WorkRave

WorkRave does not work on Mac computers, but it does have a separate Linux and Windows version.

Benefits of WorkRave

Although breaks are regularly scheduled to show up on your screen, you have the possibility of ‘postponing’ a break if you happen to be on a role or hit a creative moment. However, the program does keep track of the total amount of ‘break time’ you’ve taken, and holds you to your target for the day. Continuously postponing breaks therefore doesn’t mean they are getting skipped altogether!

How WorkRave Helps Your Business

Fast-paced environments and productivity goals can help employees forget to take short breaks during the day. Instead of getting up and walking around a few minutes, people tend to stay glued to their computer screens. Depending on the set-up of your business, this behavior might unintentionally be encouraged.

Without regular breaks, employee morale starts to suffer. Aside from this relatively ‘fixable’ problem, repetitive strain disorders can develop, such as carpel tunnel.
Employees in pain don’t tend to be productive employees, and cost businesses millions of dollars a year. Aside from the obvious price tag attached to job-related injuries, it’s a great idea to foster a healthy work environment, and WorkRave will effortlessly help you achieve just this.

Have you had employees with repetitive strain injuries? How is your work environment set up to prevent this from happening, and to encourage a healthy balance of work and break-time?