Gartner, Forrester and other industry heavies say the most important thing to CIOs right now is efficiency. Doing more with less, doing more with the same — just doing more. They’re not thinking too deeply about the cloud or any non-critical projects. Just efficiency, plain and simple.

When scaled across an entire company, misprinted print jobs cost a corporation dearly.

Sure, big picture savings are great. But the best way to approach recession survival is by starting small. Although an extra printout or two may seem minuscule, when scaled across an entire company, misprinted print jobs cost a corporation dearly.

In the spirit of frugality, here are two PC Helps tips published by IT World that promise printing efficiency.

1. How to Master Excel Spreadsheet Printing
2. How to Create a New Print Style in Outlook

Enjoy, and print responsibly. Got any efficiency tips? Send them our way.

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If there’s one idea that characterized 2009, it is “doing more with less.” If I had access to LexisNexis, I’d tell you just how many times it’s been used in print, but, alas, I don’t. Let’s go with it anyway.

The recession has forced managers and the C-suite to scrutinize budgets, choose which projects to embrace and which to scrap, and decide how many employees to sack. It has left a bad taste in many mouths.

“Doing more with less”: trimming the fat; getting back to basics; losing the bells and whistles; re-featuring; making tolerable tradeoffs; dialing down; innovating; repurposing.

Here are some variations of “doing more with less”: trimming the fat; getting back to basics; losing the bells and whistles; re-featuring; making tolerable tradeoffs; dialing down; innovating; repurposing.

Usually, I consider buzzwords and catchphrases as an affront, or a ruse to get me to think I matter as a worker. Then I remembered a column I read on Washingtonpost.com earlier in the year, “Eating Down the Fridge,” written by Kim O’Donnel, who happens to be a good friend of a good friend.

The column is O’Donnel’s challenge to her readers to skip trips to the grocery store for a week, and instead use what’s already in the fridge and pantry. It’s an experiment in doing more with less. (O’Donnel’s effort was inspired by fellow foodie Steven Shaw, co-founder of the web site eGullet.org, who endured his own no-shopping-for-a-week challenge.)

After re-reading it, the idea of getting back to basics in business offends me less, and almost seems noble. Read more…

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