Author name: Jenny Nicole

Conflict managment
Employee Monitoring

Is Conflict at Workplace Really All that Bad?

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Traditional management practices will always tell you to avoid conflict at all costs. It is natural to think that all forms of conflict will be counterproductive. But if you take a step back and really think of how it is affecting your organization, you’ll realize that fighting can sometimes be beneficial. That is not to say of course that all forms of conflict are good. What we’re focusing on today is the “healthy conflicts” that make the overall group performance better. Here are some of the things you, as a manager, can instill in your staff: Fighting on Facts One way to keep conflict healthy is to promote a culture of information in your company. Interpersonal differences arise more when the fight is over opinion. This means that your employees are using limited data to arrive at a solution. Having an information culture would encourage them to focus on hard data rather than opinions. Eventually, the fight would be over facts rather than on personal opinions, and the conflict would become less personal and a lot logical. Your company will have hard-rooted data to make decisions by, improving overall performance. Evaluating a LOT of Alternatives Some people would think having few alternatives eliminates conflict. But that’s hardly the case. When there are 2 alternatives, for example, it is much easier to polarize the staff. The situation becomes an Us vs. Them type of thing rather than a constructive, thoughtful process. This is why you should encourage your staff to build as many alternatives as possible. When opinions are less polarized, your employees will take the best elements from each alternative and build you the best hybrid super solution. Working Toward Shared Goals It is good to have conflict in the company if everyone is working toward the same common shared goals. If the conflict is pulling the company in different directions, that’s where managers need to step in and get rid of the source. But as long as there are healthy discussions and ritualistic oppositions that help in identifying loopholes in the precedent system, you’re encouraging innovation and creativity in your team. Operational innovation creates amazing organizations. Keeping it Light It is nice to instill a sense of companywide humor in your workforce. Inviting a light hearted culture makes it easier for your staff to debate and make tougher decisions. You can keep things light through something as simple as jokes during meetings, or something more systematic like “bring your pet to work day” or organizing office prank contests. Companies that perform best have the most fun. Every Voice Matters When your employees feel like their voices are being heard in the company, they are more likely to bring in new ideas and point our shortfalls to help you. If they don’t feel like they are part of the organization, they are going to fall back into complacency, keeping group performance rather stagnant. Which is never good.

Pitfalls in a Manager’s Decision Making Process
Employee Monitoring, Tips

6 Common Pitfalls in a Manager’s Decision Making Process – Part 1

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A great deal of a manager’s time is spent in decision making, especially when it comes to employees. However, there are a few trains of thought hardwired into manager’s minds that can hinder objective—and sometimes the correct—decision making process. We’re going to talk about 6 of the most common pitfalls in decision making. Using Anchor Data A lot of managers will use existing data as the anchor upon which to make their decision. This is because the mind of the manager automatically provides more weight to the information that they have most recently received. For example, if you have learnt that sales went down by 35%, you might make efforts to improve it by 40%. In other words, your goals and decisions will always be anchored by existing data. Avoid this by looking at the problem at hand from the view of different data sets and perspectives. Sticking to What You Know Another pitfall—and this one is perhaps most common—is the manager’s preference to stick to the status quo. While this may seem like an amiable choice that eliminates costs and time associated with making changes, this is probably not the wisest thing to do in the long run. (Xanax bars) For example, a manager may continue to work with a low performing employee because they have been in the team for many years, and hiring a replacement will simply take time and resources. Thus, managers stick to what they know. Avoid this pitfall by evaluating alternatives as if they were your status quo and your status quo as if it were an alternative. Escalation of Commitment Yet another pitfall that often results in disasters in decision making is escalation of commitment. This means that even after a manager has realize that a prior decision made was wrong, they stick with it. Why? Because firstly, they don’t want to admit they were wrong. And secondly, because they have put in all this effort in making it, they want to stay with it till it becomes fruitful… which in many cases may be never. For example, firing the employee in the above example would mean that you are admitting to a wrongly made decision in the first place. Which makes you look bad. Avoid this pitfall by involving people who were not involved in the prior decision. They will have a degree of objectivity to bring to the table and point out problems you may not have noticed. We shall discuss the other three pitfalls in decision making in our next blog, so stay tuned!

helicopter parenting
Child Monitoring

Why Helicopter Parenting May Not be the Best Way to Raise a Kid

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This parenting concept really intrigues me. Because there is a certain degree of irony that comes with the term. Some parents are quick to call themselves helicopter parents, because it gives you the illusion that you’re always hovering over your child. But that’s hardly the truth. Helicopter parenting is used to describe a parent that hovers over a child, yes, but doesn’t stay too long. At this point, I’m sure there will be tones of debate about quality time versus quantity time. A helicopter parent always wants to keep their child in sight. However, if that proximity is truly meaningful is vastly dubious. Take working parents for example. A lot of XNSPY blog readers are very busy parents but somehow, all of you find the time to develop meaningful connections with your children. Conversely, a helicopter parent is someone who is always there physically, but perhaps not fully there emotionally. For a greater insight into the matter, take a look at the following inforgraphic by Yellow Brick: What I found interesting from these findings most of all was the last bit. Yes, we understand the concept, but we’ll need a bit of self-evaluation to figure out if we, ourselves, are engaging in this malpractice. You’re a helicopter parent if: You spoil your child too much You fight all their battles for them You’re overambitious with them You’re too cautious with them You have them follow specific dietary regimes You’re overly generous with praise Remember, there is a difference between loving your child and hovering over them. As always, find your stride and create your very own optimum level. Most of all, trust yourself to make the right decisions with your child.

Course to Digital Parenting
Child Monitoring, Social Media

Taking a Refresher Course to Digital Parenting

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Let’s face it; the glory of traditional parenting methods faded the day toddlers started to Tweet before they could talk. So anything you learnt in your old parenting class? It doesn’t work anymore. Unless they taught you about Facebook etiquette or spotting an online predator or where not to post a selfie, the old methods are as good as obsolete. Now that there are problems like “online reputation crisis” or “cyber-stalking” and “catfishing”, you’ve got to don your tech suit and become a digital parenting. How do you do that? Let’s break it down. Be Part of their Digital World You know how when you’re teaching your kid how to drive for the first time, you take the ride with them? Why should technology be any different? Huffington Post found that many parents rode bikes with their children for the first time, but none of them played Farmville or Minecraft with them ever. When you give your child their first computer or smartphone, you should practice using it together too, just like the car or the bike. It is very important to experience things together so you know firsthand what problems might arise. Practice Digital Detox Kids would gladly stay glued to their computer/tablet/smartphone screens all day if they had to. However, you as the parent know how much is too much. This is why you need to make sure your kids get their digital detox. In fact, this practice should be for the entire family. Set tech-free times and do something fun or creative as a family. Prepare dinner as a family, or sit on the living room floor together to play scrabble. Sure the internet is a great source of knowledge and entertainment, but your kids’ minds need other creative outlets to develop properly. Encourage an outdoor activity during their detox, too. Monitoring or Privacy? When does monitoring become an invasion of your kid’s privacy? Well, I suppose it is for you to decide. Just remember, your kid would always whine and protest when you monitor, no matter how reasonable your query is. At the same time, some parents give their child no breathing space at all. So here are a few dos and don’ts you could follow. DO go through their Facebook wall posts to see what they talk to their friends about DON’T start talking to all their friends on their wall at once—be the observer DO go through their friend lists to see how many you know of and how many are strangers DON’T report the strangers without any clear evidence of misconduct DO go through their internet history to see what pages they have been visiting DON’T expect your kids to always be honest about clearing their fish browsing data DO talk to them about online privacy and sharing too much personal information DON’T take internet oversharing lightly—talk to your kid about the dangers of cyber-stalking Most of all, once you’ve talked to your kids about internet safety, give them some room be responsible on their own before coming back for a recheck. Keep a Track of their Location Digital parents are nothing without their tools, and location tracking is one of them. This is how you can always know where your kids are even when you’re away from them. You can know if they’re staying in school after you’ve dropped them off and went to work. You can make sure they really are going to the friend’s house that they told you of. Most of all, you can use it to ensure their safety and know where to pick them up from in case they get in trouble. Talk to them About Cyber Dangers Sit your kids down every now and them and talk to them about online safety risks. Discuss how important it is for them to keep information like phone numbers, addresses, and credit card numbers to themselves. And if someone on the internet is trying to coax it out of them, they should inform you right away. Also, educate them on cyber-bullying. Tell them where it is appropriate for them to share personal photos and where it is not. Above all, make sure they feel comfortable enough to come to you when they’re in the midst of online trouble. Be the Digital Parent! Remember, putting parental controls on your kid’s computer or mobile device is your responsibility as the authority figure, not an invasion of their privacy. Don’t be the parent that doesn’t know what their kid does in front of their computer all the time. Be as much a part of their online lives as you are of their offline lives.  

Digital Detox on Your Kids
Child Monitoring, Social Media

How to Perform a Digital Detox on Your Kids

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Its 2014 and you know what that means? It means that we live in a time where our lives are plugged in. Think of your lives when you were your children’s age. Think of the things you used to do to spend free time. You’d remember collecting bugs in a mason jar. Pretending to be explorers on an adventure. Tell ghost stories in the dark with a flashlight. Do your kids do any of that? Probably not. Because they are plugged in all the time. Their mobile phones, their tablets, their laptops, their game consoles is how they play, study, learn things, spend free time. And while all of this is great, we’re making leaps in technology yadayadayada, this persistent need for tech is not good for the body, and it’s not good for the brain. So let us teach you how to perform a simple digital detox on your kids to keep them healthier. What is Digital Detox? Simply, plugging out. Logging off. Switching off all your little gadgets—laptops, phones and all—for a certain amount of time to restore your brain. Let me use that smartphone your kids love so much to make an analogy. You know how sometimes your phone heats up and stops working, so you switch it off for like half an hour? This is basically the same principal. Teaching your kids to love themselves as much as they love their smartphones. Plan a digital detox for at least 4-5 hours every day. Things You’ll Need For starters, your kids are going to need a lot of motivation. These devices have given us digital connectivity but they have hindered real life organicsymbiosis. Know that feeling of constant distraction when you’re trying to make conversation? Did someone Tweet me? Did I get a reply on my Facebook yet? Was that my phone buzzing? Should I check for notifications now? So your kids are going to need a lot of motivation to just plug out and stay away from it all. At least for a few hours of their day. What To Do When Unplugged? Constructive things outside the digital life. I’m not saying that kids don’t do constructive things on the internet. I’m saying that as children, they need to have a life outside of it to stay healthy. If you’ve got younger children, encourage them to play outside Use the detox time to get them to do something creative like crafts or gardening Read a book. A proper paperback, not an eBook It is a good idea to detox during study hours unless online research is required Use this time to polish up their skills or encourage them to learn something new It is also a good time to connect with family over dinner or a board game When your kids are plugged out, they’re going to feel like they suddenly have a lot of times on their hands. And that’s good! To have a healthy mind and body, they need a balanced life. Unplugging just lets them find time for themselves. Digital Detox Furthers Self-Discovery What your kids don’t realize is that all those hours they are wasting away on their computers doing meaningless things (collecting likes on a selfie for example), they could’ve been doing something constructive. Digital detox will help them with self-discovery. They’ll be better assimilated with their interests which could later on blossom into useful talents.  

SMS Mobile Spy
Child Monitoring, Mobile Phone Spy

How Parents Can Make Use of an Appropriate SMS Mobile Spy

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There’s now so much technology out there working toward closing the digital gap between parents and kids. Because kids are always way ahead in terms of their knowledge of devices, applications and new ways to communicate. Parents on the other hands are always playing catch up. This makes the parent’s job as the monitor and a mediator quite tough. How are they to know what their kid is getting up to on their fancy devices when they don’t even know how most of the stuff on them works? This is where XNSPY enters the picture. It is a SMS mobile spy for kids that allows the parents to read through all the messages that are sent and received on a kid’s phone. How SMS Monitoring Can Be Useful Every parent has their own little way of making sure their kid is being safe in the digital world. Some parents set curfews that place time boundaries on phone use. Others like to scroll through their child’s phone to look for warning signs or incidents to strike up a conversation. However, this approach can be a little misinforming. Kids are smart, and they’d be quick to hide away the mischievous stuff on their phones before you can come around to reading them physically. Moreover, there are now apps that can hide particular messages so that they are averted from the parent’s eyes. This app is usually hidden as a calculator or something inconsequential like that so parents wouldn’t even think to check it. And it is password protected, anyway. So to overcome such secretive behavior from kids, and also to ensure their safety, SMS spying app can be rather useful. How Does the SMS Spy App Work? XNSPY is downloaded onto the child’s phone. Once the installation is complete, the app icon is hidden from everywhere in the phone. This means that the kid doesn’t even know you’re monitoring them so they can keep on using their phone like they normally would. However, all their sent and received SMS are recording but the SMS monitoring app and are uploaded onto the XNSPY Control Panel. This CP can be accessed from any device. Because it is on the web, all you need is your login credentials, and there you have it. You can read all the SMS they get from their friends and those they send in return. You can mark certain words, contacts and their numbers on the Watchlist. Anytime a Watchlist word is used or a Watchlist contact is communicated with, you will receive an instant notification. This is bound to keep a parent on their finest monitoring skills. Remote Monitoring is the Way to Go A great thing about the SMS mobile spy is that it makes all the monitoring remote, so that action is not delayed. Parents can watch over their kids 24/7 and find remedies to problems as they occur instead of waiting for them to worsen. And the best part is that your kids can live their lives without feeling too controlled, and you can perform your duties at the same time. It is a win-win!

Black Friday Discount
Announcements

Have You Availed the XNSPY Black Friday Offer Yet? Upgrade Your Account at a Discount!

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Hey, did you hear about out amazing Black Friday offer? If you’ve just found out, don’t worry, you’ve still got time. The offer is still valid till Cyber Monday. You can get XNSPY will all its features and goodies for a 25% discount. Anyone can take advantage of this offer—all you need to do is visit our official website and click on buy now. Here’s a shortcut if you’re in a rush. If you’re new to XNSPY and are not sure what you’re going to get from this Black Friday, Cyber Monday offer, let me make it easier for you. Here is what will be in your XNSPY holiday discount package: A Remote Mobile Monitoring Solution XNSPY is basically an application that lets you monitor any Android and iOS smartphone or tablet in the world. If you’re a worried parent or a careful manager, you have probably felt the need to stay in the know as an authority figure. Many monitoring apps out there are either one-trick ponies (they have only one primary function), or they don’t work as efficiently as they advertise. XNSPY gives you a premium mobile monitoring experience, all of which is completely remote. This means you don’t need to have access to the target device after you have installed the app on it. For a parent or an employer, this means that they can carry on with their daily duties and watch over their children/employees at the same time. Plenty of Features to Swear By XNSPY has got a plethora of monitoring features. Each function is designed to watch over a specific area of the smartphone or tablet that parents or employers would be interested in monitoring. These include: Calls through call recording Locations through our GPS tracker Instant messages through our WhatsApp, Viber, Kik, Skype, Line and iMessage monitor Emails and Gmail Photos and Videos monitoring Calendar entries Live Screenshot taking And around 25 more Our state of the art technology helps you stay informed in an efficient and timely manner. Your Own XNSPY Control Panel Account With the Black Friday offer, you will also get access to your very own XNSPY Control Panel. This is the place where all the data that has been recorded by XNSPY from your target device will be uploaded. This means this is the console room where the bulk of the actual monitoring takes place. You can read through all the captured data on here. You can view all your devices, adjust settings to what suits you best, and set commands on how you would like the app to function. This is also what makes the monitoring experience remote. Updates and Upgrades Once you’re an XNSPY member, you will be informed of all the updates we’ve made to the app and if any upgrades are available. We are constantly working to make our application better for you. In fact, we often get suggestions on what should be added and what should be altered by our very own customers. You can be part of this innovative circle, too. The XNSPY Black Friday offer expires pretty soon, so you better hurry up and take advantage of it while you can. Happy Shopping!

Black Friday Discount
Announcements

XNSPY Black Friday Offer is Finally Here and It’s an Offer You Can’t Refuse!

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This is what we’ve been waiting to tell you all week: once again, the holiday spirit has taken us at XNSPY. And in that spirit of giving, we’re making a pretty decent offer to all our existing customers and all those wishing to join us: the XNSPY application, including all its products and services will be available at a 25% discount! This offer is valid starting Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Who Can Avail this Offer? Everyone can! Our existing users who want to upgrade to a version or a different subscription can now do so at 25% off. New users who want in on our premium mobile monitoring products and services can now also join the XNSPY family at 25% less the usual cost. The way we see it, if you can get a discount on the new television set or that Crockpot you’ve been lusting after, why can’t you get a Black Friday offer on your monitoring app? And to be honest, we take any chance we get to add more people into our digital responsibility circle. No Crowds, No Hassle What makes this the best Black Friday deal of all time? You don’t even have to step out of your living room. This means you get all the benefits of a holiday discount without all the Black Friday insanity. You won’t have to brace your way across a crowded Target where everyone is trying to out-shop the other. If you’ve ever wondered what a zombie apocalypse would look like—that would be it. Seriously, we’ve heard retailers are gearing up for Black Friday crowds like never before. So we’re giving you the luxury of staying right at home, away from the wild crowds and shop from right at home. This way, you can enjoy a great Thanksgiving weekend with your family and not miss out of any great offers. How to Get Your Discount? It’s quite simple. All you’ve got to do is visit our website. From there, click on the “Buy Now” button on the top navigation bar. These buttons are scattered all throughout the website, so they are hard to miss. When you come to the Buy Now page, you will be able to see a 25% discount tag. Simply pick the package and subscription you want and enter your details on the checkout. The 25% discount will automatically be deducted from your transaction. No discount code or anything like that is required. Simply make your purchase and you have availed the offer. You will receive an email confirming the transaction along with an instruction manual. Follow it to install the application and enjoy our services! Remember, this is a limited time offer, so move on while you can! You can avail your XNSPY Black Friday discount by clicking here.

Black Friday Discount
Events & Deals

A Very Happy Thanksgiving from the Folks at XNSPY

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It is the night of giving thanks. It just so happens that it comes with a tableful of food and a living room full of football enthusiasts. But hey, that’s tradition, and we’re not complaining. But while we’re basting that turkey and stirring the cranberry sauce, we thought this year we’d do something different. Instead of telling you what you should be talking to your kids about, we are going to tell you what we, the folks at XNSPY are thankful for. We’re Thankful for Our Team We’ve got an amazing team; that is for sure. When we first started out, we were just a group of people that loved to create and bring in new ideas. We wanted to empower people through technology. And I think in that time, we’ve stayed true to our roots. And we’ve come so far! In a short time, we’ve added plenty of new features such as Kik monitoring and Live Screenshots. Our think tanks are always buzzing, always trying to find out what it is that our customers need. Also, in a short time, we’ve gone global! XNSPY is available in four different languages now—English, German, Portuguese and Spanish. And none of this would have been possible if we didn’t have the most remarkable group of developers, designers and marketers. We are thankful for our team. We’re Thankful for the Blogger’s Community This blog has been a fantastic portal. It is taken a life of its own. It is a platform for parents to share their stories. It is a place for us to give you tips and keep you informed about the latest in tech. It is a place where we can solve your problems. It is a place where other blogs like us can share their ideas and create a community. It is a place where you have a voice. We never could have imagined this blog becoming so alive, but it has. And it is because of the amazing parents, caregivers, employers, small business owners, and other parenting and management blogs that have made up our blogger’s community. We are thankful to them. We’re Thankful for You But all our efforts would have been for naught if it weren’t for you guys. The vivacious parents, eager to learn more, never far in their thirst for knowledge on tech and the app market. The savvy entrepreneurs, looking for newer, exciting ways to manage their business, their operations and their employees. You’ve made XNSPY what it is today. It has become something that connects parents with their kids through their formative years as they discover themselves. And it is the personal assistant every entrepreneur needs to give them the assurance that managing employees doesn’t have to be so hard. We are thankful to every single one of you. Xnspy never backs away from new and exciting updates. For details of a fresh Press Release direct from the oven, let’s have a peak into the details. So while the turkey is ready to head to the table and you’ve revving for the Packer’s game, let us take a moment to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving from everyone at XNSPY!

Black Friday Discount
Tech, Tips

Countdown to XNSPY Black Friday—Fun 2015 Thanksgiving Hacks for Parents

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It’s almost time for Thanksgiving. And that means, like always, XNSPY has exciting news planned for you this Black Friday. So we are going to be counting the days with very festive blogs that will help you plan the best Thanksgiving ever. For 2015, here are some hacks that you’re going to find useful when planning your Thanksgiving. Make Sure You Stock in on Groceries So, this holiday seems to be all about the gluttony, doesn’t it? It requires a whole lot of cooking, and often times you find that you’ve forgotten one ingredient or the other. When you go out to get it at the last minute and find out it is out of stock. Please, plan ahead. Don’t be the last minute parent. Lucky for you, there are a lot of downloadable grocery lists for Thanksgiving that the good people of the internet have compiled for you. Take these with you at least a week ahead and stock up. Plan Your Cooking Thoroughly Another thing you’re going to want to do is plan out your cooking like you’re prepping for a big game. Take out a sketchpad if you must and lay out your operations. What would this be? For starters, you can make a lot of the side dishes ahead of time. Make your cranberry sauce, chop up your green beans, measure out your stuffing and store until needed. Finally, for the actual day, you’ll need a bigger game plan. The one we’ve linked you gives you a blow by blow of all the things you need to prep one week before and gives you the complete cooking times so you won’t be running in circles while your family awaits. Get Kids Involved With Cooking and Cleanup Gets your kids involved wherever you can. This site has a few kid friendly ideas for all ages so you know which activities are safe for your kids to get involved in and which are not. For example, you can get your kids to measure out the pumpkin pie dough for you. Similarly, they can help you in making the cranberry sauce, or mixing together the Turkey stuffing while you’re chopping up or basting. Plan Your Travels Ahead of Time If you plan to travel this Thanksgiving, make a road map. Make a checklist of the things you’ll need. For the way, make sure you’ve got snacks and enough activities to keep your kids entertained for the drive. While you’re at your destination, make sure your kid doesn’t stray far. We’ve got a child locator on our parental control app which will help you track your kids no matter where you are. We are so excited for you to find out about our Black Friday offer. And we cannot wait to get this holiday season started. Do you have any Thanksgiving hacks you swear by? Let us know in the comments below!

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