-
Working from home quite simply rocks - For employees and the business
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Monday April 8, 2013" Productivity and sharing of wisdom will be sacrificed if we allow our staff to work from home. We need everyone in the office, working together physically." ~ A Managing Partner, Public Accounting Firm, California Say what? Productivity and sharing wisdom will be lost if we allow our team to work from home? I would place my bet that right now if you are a firm that has allowed their team to work from home, you are saying “that is not true.” If you are a firm that is entrenched in working in a more traditional manner, you are saying “I think that is true.” Where do you go from here? How do you find the new reality for your future? Grow Your Own Wisdom : Read everything you can get your hands on about companies... -
Are you investing in your next generation?
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Sunday March 3, 2013From the Bridging the Gap blog. Time and time again, I hear firms talk about how they have enough young people to fill the impending leadership void when Baby Boomers start retiring in the coming years. I recently spoke at the Winning Is Everything Conference in Las Vegas to a room full of firm leaders. My topic was – Next Generation Leaders – What You Need to Know! And I shared with them some alarming statistics. Some numbers that I’d also like to share with you today. A storm is brewing Many have used the analogy of a storm brewing as 78 million Baby Boomers approach retirement age with only 50 million in Gen X as a pipeline for pipeline. Now we can all do the simple math and recognize there won’t be a... -
3 Tips for Handling Interruptions at Work
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Monday December 10, 2012From the Bridging the Gap blog. The privilege of teaching leadership skills to firm leaders allows me the opportunity to identify various issues that are frustrating and sometimes difficult to negotiate. One of the issues that have risen to the top of the list recently is the age old issue of “Interruptions.” The ability to protect focus time, sneak off and find quiet, or to simply rest is challenging in our busy world today and becomes particularly difficult in this age of mobile devices. What’s more, the noise level of society in general has been increasing steadily for decades. Try to schedule just 15 minutes on a regular basis to catch up on industry publications in your office and you will be inundated by email... -
IT Strategic Planning & Budgeting
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Monday November 19, 2012IT strategic planning and budget are crucial concepts for IT leaders to understand when communicating with partners. First, trust is critical to developing a plan and budget that leadership will back, thus ensuring success. It takes time to earn the trust of the executive committee members – it’s not something that happens overnight. Second, communicating the plan is just as important, if not more, than developing the plan itself. Clearly articulating the alignment between IT initiatives and the firm’s objectives is critical. With regards to budgeting, here are some tips for IT leaders: Don’t give too much detail – you are asking for budget approval from accountants. A far too common mistake is to provide line-item... -
Align IT Strategy with the Firm Vision
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Wednesday November 7, 2012From the Bridging the Gap blog . Keeping up with the changing landscape of technology is challenging and more so when you don’t have the proper IT governance structure in place. What exactly is IT governance and how should a firm go about it? Let’s start with the AICPA’s definition of IT Governance: A framework that ensures that technology decisions are made in support of the business goals and objectives. In other words, it ensures that you have alignment between the firm’s strategic vision and the technology initiatives that support the desired results. This concept seems simple but it is one that CPA firms have struggled with for years. So how do you create this alignment? Don’t Develop Plans in Silos Start by...
