Automation can make jobs easier for IT managers and staff, especially automation of simple, repetitive processes, but in some cases automation may not be worth the investment and effort, industry experts say. Michael Perrault, national director of network and cloud security at Insight Enterprises, recommends identifying process bottlenecks, determining where automation would provide the greatest advantage, then focusing on those processes first.

Spatial computing driven by augmented reality has the potential to simplify tasks and diagnose problems more easily in industrial settings, John Tomizuka writes. "Combined with industrial internet of things (IIoT) data, 5G networks with powerful edge-computing capabilities, and the incorporation of sensors into legacy equipment, organizations will be poised for a massive leap forward in understanding a wide range of complex, manual work," he writes.

Build customer review collection directly into the user experience to gather feedback and use it to develop a digital community where customers can discuss common issues and industry trends, writes Gina Carr. Reviews can act as a catalyst to build a library of business-to-business user-generated content, Carr writes, advising marketers to interact with customers on social and use reviews for content such as case studies or video testimonials.

High volume sales organizations sometimes resort to manipulating and deceiving customers, but they could just as easily be putting effort into finding value-based ways of working with customers, writes David Brock. With a proper focus on engagement, sales organizations can get the same number of responses with a fraction of the outreach, Brock writes.

Employers should ask job applicants if they've received a COVID-19 vaccination only if employees are asked the same question, attorneys say. Meanwhile, even with employees, such inquiries should be limited to vaccination status and avoid other health questions that could violate federal law.

People can avoid overloading themselves by replying to requests with questions, conditional agreements and by declining but offering alternatives, writes Scott Eblin. "It's way better to do that than to commit yourself to something that you really don't have the bandwidth to follow through on," he writes.

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