Perhaps your organization has considered participating in a tech buyers consortium. Maybe you already do.

So you probably paid several thousand dollars for a one-time initiation fee, which varied depending on how much volume your company brings to the table and how much you expect to get from the group. But the potential’s there to capitalize on discounts and pricing structures usually reserved for huge companies.

When it comes to IT purchases, be aware: At times, the usual rules don’t apply.

You’ll have to take some extra considerations in mind:

1. Know when it’s better to go it alone. Maybe your company has always relied on a specific brand of PC. What happens when the consortium agrees another brand is best? That may not be a problem. But if there’s a mission-critical reason your company requires a Dell, then you may need to break with the pack.
2. Be careful with certain types of purchases, like software licenses. This can be another sticky spot because different companies will have different start dates for the licenses. This isn’t a knockout factor. Just make sure the initial request for proposal includes staggered end date.

As reported previously, experts correctly predicted that problems on Wall Street would delay the SEC from unveiling a roadmap for the switch.

With the SEC published timeline, a better picture of how everything should take shape is now in place.

For example, the 20 largest U.S. companies per industry (according to market capitalization) will be allowed to start transitioning their financial statements after Dec. 15, 2009.

In addition: Smaller accelerated filers start adhering to IFRS guidelines on or after Dec. 15, 2015; non-accelerated filers move to IFRS on or after Dec. 15, 2016.

The SEC’s roadmap should serve as a wake-up call for those especially unprepared. For most companies, the switch will likely affect many departments, especially the IT sector.

That depends on who you talk to about the sophisticated scheduling software that’s currently out there.

A number of vendors (Infor, CyberShift) offer scheduling software that combines factors like sales data, traffic and openings to help employers utilize the perfect number of workers, the right skill sets and the cheapest possible labor costs when creating a schedule.

Proponents rave that employers benefit directly through increased productivity and even higher worker morale (many programs let people give preferences or pick shifts).

Example: The scheduling program Infor can analyze inputs like wage-and-hour rules, employee certifications and performance. Employers can then give out scores for customer service and schedule the top performers during the peak service times.

So who’s using these programs? A Gartner and Retail Info Systems News study of retail execs this year found:

• 16% of respondents had up-to-date scheduling software in place
• 15% planned to begin implementing the technology this year, and
• 10% were in the process of putting something in place.

But not everyone is drinking the Kool-Aid.

Because these programs can often allow employers to measure profitability in such a narrow view and alter schedules so frequently, critics feel employees’ personal lives will be disrupted. Critics believe this could result in the exact opposite of what the programs are intended to create — low morale, bad service and even turnover.

If your company has a guaranteed loss program, you probably want to take another look to ensure your claims are being coded correctly.

That’s the advice of experts at ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.

If your claims are miscoded, it could be costing you a bundle.

Say, for example, a medical-only claim is being treated as a lost-time claim. You’re probably overpaying since in some states medical-only claims are just discounted 70%. And every miscoded claim inflates your insurance rating. In certain industries, it may even keep your company from getting certain jobs.

So how do you ensure you’re not opening your wallet wider than you have to?

Time for a review of those worksheets. Check with your broker to see if your experience modification affects the cost of your workers’ comp insurance. (If they won’t do this, find someone who will.)

Lean teams are a great strategy: You harness the knowledge your employees already have to come up with new ways to streamline and cut costs.

Getting folks to be forthcoming with ideas isn’t always easy, though. Yes, you could throw it open to everyone or you could nominate your best thinkers. Or you could do what this company did:

It decided to get the best quality ideas, it would have to increase the real — and perceived — value of the program.

So the company opened positions on the lean team and then had employees apply for them, just like they would for another job or a promotion.

Right away that sparked interest — people wanted to be a part of something that was so important to the company and was good for career advancement.

The company was able to pick the best folks for the job. And it paid off not only in new ways to save time and money, but also a more motivated workforce.

So you have recycling bins all over the office. Maybe employees even copy on both sides of the page for all “non-official” reports. Smart moves, for sure.

But you’re probably still spending too much on paper.

Forget the “go green” movement — from a purely cost-cutting stance it’s smart to reduce the amount of paper your company uses in a given day.

These three strategies have saved your peers as much as 50% off their paper expenses:

1. Seek out hidden costs. Check the restrooms and the break room — disposable hand towels add up fast. By specifying recycled materials, you stand to save around 10%.
2. Go mid-grade in Marketing. This switch for brochures, pamphlets, etc., can make a huge difference in how much you pay. Insider tip: Use varnishes for a much cheaper price with fancy-shmancy effects.
3. Present the numbers. Odds are few employees think about — or even have an idea — how much that 8×11 sheet or paper towel costs your organization. Why not put that out there? A few strategically-placed reality checks (near the wastepaper basket, over the paper towel receptacle) may make people think twice before they take more than they need. You’ll appeal to both the environmentally-minded and the cost-conscious members of your workforce.

An effective, engaging presentation is a powerful way to get a point across or garner enthusiasm for a project. Many of the best presentations share several common techniques. So even if you don’t have the most charismatic personality, you can still land a memorable presentation by following these tried and true tactics:

Keep it simple. Most audiences have short, selective attention spans (think 4 year old here) when it comes to presentations, so avoid making anything too complex — or too long.
Hint: An effective presentation can be summed up in 10 words or less. If you can’t do that, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

Passion and enthusiasm work. If the presenter shows genuine enthusiasm and passion, more often than not it’ll carry over to the audience.
Hint: Try to avoid being too serious and avoid using these:

• filler words (uh, um, ah, etc.)
• buzzwords (optimized, synergy), and
• weak words (maybe, sorta, kinda).

Captivating storytelling. Use these techniques to create a smooth, flowing storyline that people will remember long after your presentation is through:

• Rule of three: People remember things in groups of three, so try to incorporate triplets as often as possible.
• Personal touch: Any time you can include a personal anecdote it creates an emotional connection with the crowd.
• Visual cues work: But the key is keeping it original — avoid bullets, number lists — and not overdoing it.

A few weeks back, we asked you to sound off on the grammar mistakes you see all the time. The response was overwhelming.

Here are five more errors that irk you and your peers the most:

“Irregardless” — this arguable non-word is being not only spoken but written in workplaces everywhere. If you check some dictionaries, you will find the word there, but even the definition makes it clear to use “regardless” instead.

“Orientated” — another non-word that’s creeped into the place of the real word: “oriented.”

“Loose vs. lose” — The opposite of win is never “loose,” though you’d never know by the way it appears everywhere.

“To you and I” — Many people think that using I is the proper grammar (and sounds more impressive). Not the case: “Send the report to Mel and me” is actually correct.

“To, two, and too” — There are clear definitions for each of these, but they’re often interchanged. The clear-cut usages:

• Two: the number
• Too: also
• To: everything else

They’re a dying breed: companies that pay all health insurance costs. Almost no one can afford to do that anymore.

So exactly how much should you ask employees to pony up?

Compare your current premiums and co-pays with these recent benchmarks to ensure your organization’s staying competitive:

Is your company asking folks to shoulder less of the financial burden for health care than the average? That’s information worth sharing with the rest of your workforce.

With study after study suggesting benefits are becoming as important as salaries these days, even a little edge here can go a long way in terms of both recruiting and retention.

In 2006, MA Gov. (at the time) Mitt Romney signed a universal healthcare law into place.

Many feel this state’s healthcare plan should give a fairly accurate representation of how Obama’s plan will pan out, albeit on a much smaller scale.

But where’s the evidence? The prospective Obama plan — like the MA plan — takes a laissez-faire stance on the current employer-based healthcare system, while promising to provide individuals with access to less-costly insurance in the group market. And, like MA, employers who don’t offer health insurance will be penalized under the Obama plan.

While the goal — reducing the number of uninsured Americans — is certainly noble, it will likely be costly for employers.

Take MA, facing a penalty of $295 per employee, many companies who didn’t offer heath benefits instead opted to start including them — even though it was more expensive.

We’ll keep you posted on the details of Obama’s healthcare plan and what it means for businesses. In the meantime, now is a good time to do some research on reigning in the rising cost of heath insurance.