Late last year, Celine shared some tips on avoiding conflicts within a teleworking team. Around the same time I came across UK-based “business psychology” consultants, Psycuity, a company that asserts that it can help design better teams through understanding the underlying psychology of individual team members. Could this type of understanding be useful in figuring out how distributed web workers could work together more effectively?

Using psychometric testing and a long pedigree in psychology, Psycuity has codified a lot of the personality types, compatibilities and behaviors we might ordinarily find difficult to measure. Using these measurements, we can make helping more informed decisions about our teams.

After completing a short online questionnaire — it took about 20 minutes — I was called by one of Psycuity’s cofounders, Ian Hudson, who talked me through my test results. Ian had no prior knowledge or understanding of my work or personality, but spent half an hour or so breaking down his analysis of my interpersonal style, thinking style, coping strategies, leadership qualities, influencing styles and where in teams I would best fit. Frankly, I was astonished at Ian’s insights, which he later provided to me as a printed report. They accurately reflected probably around 90-95 percent of my self-image.

Psychometric testing is by no means a new tool for those managing and recruiting personnel, but the Psycuity guys have managed to package and streamline the experience to require minimal input from the test subject, while still providing a rich and very detailed analysis of their capabilities and qualities.

Circling back to Celine’s original thoughts on avoiding conflicts within teams, I wonder if it’s possible to use a company such as Psycuity to predict how well a group of untethered workers will work together. There are some interesting questions to consider:

• Could Psycuity-style tests help prepare guidelines on how best to coalesce a diverse group of people into an effective team?
• How would this type of screening be applicable to assess the “fitness” of a coworking community?
• Can it only really work for people that work together in the same organization — or  would it also be useful for a group of collaborating freelancers.

Individually, I found a great deal of insight into my own behavior, but I’m curious to hear what others think. Can business psychology be used to enhance team spirit between disconnected, untethered, web workers?

Do leave your thoughts in the comments below — I’d love to hear everyone’s views on this.

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Here he talks about why he uses Paint.net and Plurk.

What’s Your Favorite Web App, Wagner James Au? from WebWorkerDaily on Vimeo.

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Go2Web20 recently got a major overhaul, which increases its usefulness immensely. It also adds considerably to the number of things that have the potential to distract me on any given day. That said, the productive potential of Go2Web20 is also significantly improved.

By default, you’re greeted with a grid view displaying 47 different web application logos. They seem to be arranged by how recently the’ve been added to the directory, since I can’t find any other logic governing their organization. Right away, I spoted PDFVue, an app I recently covered here on WWD.

Holding your mouse cursor over any app will bring up a brief description of just what that app’s all about. I appreciate the brevity, and all of the descriptions I’ve come across so far give me exactly the information I need for a broad, top-level search. Clicking on any app logo brings you to an expanded view for the web app in question.

The full entry gives you a longer description, a link to the app’s web site, mentions of the app on blogs via an RSS feed, a tweet stream if applicable, and a variety of links to let you share that app on Facebook, Friendfeed, etc. User comments and ratings are also supported.

You can also install a convenient browser search plugin that’s compatible with Firefox and IE, so that you don’t have to visit the actual site every time you want to find an app. Anyone can also suggest an app for inclusion using Go2Web20′s own convenient form, and there’s no cost for listing with the service.

This is a great resource for comparing and contrasting a variety of web apps quickly and intuitively, especially with the recent update. Even if you’re happy with your current web app load out, I’d recommend heading over to Go2Web20 and either adding services you use that are missing, or adding comments and reviews for ones that are there, since some community involvement will really help it blossom into a fully featured tool.

How do you find the perfect web apps for your needs?

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Photo by Patrick Fitzgerald

As I sit here working on blog posts, I can hear my next door neighbor, aka @crazyneighbor, carry on loudly through the wall of my home office. He seems to be alternating between mowing the lawn, making very loud whooping noises, and fixing his car. Needless to say, it can be pretty distracting.

When I worked in an off-site office, I had plenty of distractions, too. Usually in the form of one of these interesting characters: Mr. “I talk loudly on my phone in the cubicle next door,” Ms. “I love my speakerphone all of the time,” Mr. “Drop in and chat even when people are busy” or Ms. “I make very smelly food in the microwave.”

Becoming a web worker has a completely different set of distractions. Kids are an additional distraction for many of my friends, and while I’ve avoided that particular one, I have plenty of my own. Loud neighbors, a significant other who is also a web worker, household chores, Twitter and many other things pull me out of the zone and into a distracted state.

I have, however, a few ways of dealing with distractions and the reduced productivity that come with them.

Music can help drown out many noises. While I am a fan of really bad 80′s pop music, it can also be a distraction if I’m trying to do strategic consulting or writing, so I frequently turn to music in foreign languages. Since I can’t understand the lyrics, I find them less distracting. My favorites are Latin Jazz (Pancho Sanchez and Tito Puente are good choices) or Rammstein.

Embracing the chaos can also help. If I’m not going to be able to concentrate, it can be a great excuse to work on invoicing, entering expenses and other tedious tasks that have to be completed, but don’t require much concentration. It might also be a great time to get out of the house and grab a quick workout and hope that the distractions will be reduced when I return.

Relocating to another room on the other side often works, too — assuming you have multiple rooms where you can work. A local coffee shop, library, coworking space or other location might also be a good way to get away from the distractions.

What are your biggest distractions and how do you deal with them?

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Mathews is another big fan of Google Docs. Here’s how he uses it.

What’s Your Favorite Web App, Dave Mathews? from WebWorkerDaily on Vimeo.

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Now, I’m not a CPA, and the closest I’ve come to taking accounting is being a professor’s assistant in an online graduate program course. However, I must do something right as I’ve been on my own for over four years and my business tax payments remain on target. So here I’m going to share what I do, as it might work for you or give you ideas on how you can keep on top of your business finances.

I keep it simple by having just two tools in my accounting toolbox: QuickBooks and Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Substitute QuickBooks with your favorite accounting application to make this process work for you. I tend to pick up new software fast, but not so with QuickBooks. Regardless, it takes care of all of my invoicing, expensing and tax needs. But we won’t go into that. My way is just one way; check the comments on this post to see a bunch of great ways to handle your taxes.

There are two things you need to do:

• Track income and expenses.
• Pay quarterly taxes (otherwise known as 1040-ES).

Track Income and Expenses

How do you invoice customers and track payment? What about tracking things you buy for your business? Applications like QuickBooks make it easy to create reports to see your income and expenses by quarter, year, fiscal year or customized period.

Keep all of your receipts for expenses related to your business. Don’t worry about organizing them. Grab a cheap expandable folder and throw them in there. Write or label it, “Business receipts.” For electronic receipts, create a folder in your email account with the same name. Or if you’re an organized freak like me, scan your receipts and save them in a folder.

Remember that anything related to web working counts as an expense, including your home office space (but verify this with your accountant) and family printer, along with its toner or cartridge replacements. Any time you take the car to buy supplies or to attend an event where you meet with folks on business, track the car’s mileage. Tax law allows you to deduct a set amount for mileage (again, check with an accountant as this varies per year). Paying for parking at the event also counts. Magazines and books related to your profession make the cut as expenses. Add the cell phone, landline phone and any other communications services. Record all purchases in your accounting software on a regular basis so you can deduct the expenses when quarterly tax time rolls around.

Pay Quarterly Taxes

It definitely helps to have a good accountant you can go to, especially for advice on state laws. Or you can brave it and do the research yourself (but I’ll wish you luck decoding bureaucrat-speak). My family has relied on an accountant since before I went into business for myself. They can find deductions you might not think about. A good accountant is worth way more than what you pay them.

Unless you’re a full-time employee with a company that already does the deductions for you, you need to pay federal taxes (1040-ES) on a quarterly basis. EFTPS Online makes it very easy for American web workers to pay online or over the phone. The service costs nothing, stays open 24/7 and accepts payments in advance.

According to the IRS:

Estimated tax is the method used to pay tax on income that is not subject to withholding. This includes income from self-employment, interest, dividends, alimony, rent, gains from the sale of assets, prizes, and awards. You also may have to pay estimated tax if the amount of income tax being withheld from your salary, pension, or other income is not enough.

As a sole freelance web worker, I pay 1040-ES on a quarterly basis. The due dates for the quarterly payments are as follows, along with the periods they cover:

• April 15: Jan. 1 – March 31
• June 15: April 1 – May 31
• Sept. 15: June 1 – Aug. 31
• Jan. 15: Sept. 1 – Dec. 31 of the previous year

For those payment days falling on a weekend or holiday, the payment is due the following Monday.

EFTPS lets you set up an account with your taxpayer identification number, which is either your social security number (SSN) or employer identification number (EIN). You also provide your bank account information so you pay your taxes directly without writing a check. I’ve been doing this for years without problems.

So how do you know how much to pay? My method is simple, but it may not apply or work for you. For me, I base the amount owed on my household’s tax bracket. Here’s an example for someone who falls in the 20 percent bracket.

1. Figure out earnings for the quarter. From Jan. 1 – March 31, you bring in an income of $10,000.
2. Figure out the expenses for the same quarter: $500.
3. Take the income and subtract the expenses for the final number of $9500.
4. Multiply the final number by the bracket. Here it’s 9500 x .2 (20 percent) = $1900.

$1,900 is what Mr. Example owes for the quarter on April 15. I use this formula and it has yet to fail me. Your tax bracket may change, as it has for me. Just change the percent part of the formula as needed. The IRS web site also provides illustrated examples using its worksheet.

Take advantage of your accountant’s time and find out your tax bracket percentage and what deductions to consider for the next tax year. For example, if your family plans to take a summer trip (lucky you! May I come?), find a way to do business while on the trip so you can deduct parts of it.

How do you manage your taxes?

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Social Actions has created an open database of over 60,000 actions from more than 40 sites — including GlobalGiving, Change.org, DonorsChoose.org, Kiva.org, Idealist.org and VolunteerMatch.  Now it’s looking to get those actions out there on the web sites, blogs and social networks we visit every day, and that’s where you come in.

The Challenge is to create web applications and widgets that draw on Social Actions’ database and help people connect to actions on blogs, web sites and social networks — you can see some examples on the Social Actions site.  Apps and widgets entered to the contest will be voted on by the public, with 20 finalists being judged by an expert panel. Winners will share $10,000 in prize money. Submissions close April 3rd, so get your skates on!

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The problem with Zoho, until now, has been one of constant improvement. That may not seem like a problem at all, but when that improvement involves adding more and more features, but keeping the interface the same, it can get a little unruly. The new redesign tries to make sure Zoho doesn’t overwhelm you visually, which in turn makes it easier to work with.

The old Zoho Writer menu

While some liked the old UI, I found it too cluttered, because I normally like to edit in full screen, and like as little chrome as possible in my browsers. The changes to the top menu give you a bit more room, but more importantly, they group and hide a lot of commands so you aren’t left feeling crowded. The new “MenuTab” feature groups similar commands under general headings. You can access these commands either by clicking the tab, which changes the button set available on your toolbar (much like Microsoft’s “Ribbon” UI for Office) or by clicking the little arrow next to them, which opens a drop-down menu without changing your toolbar.

The new Zoho Writer 2.0 "MenuTab" interface

It makes sense, and it suits multiple tastes. You’ll be comfortable if you’re used to working with Office, or if you’re used to working with drop-down menus like you’ll find in a lot of web apps. Zoho plans to use MenuTab in all of its other applications in the future, too, so even if you don’t like it, plan on getting used to it!

I won’t go into detail about Zoho Writer, since we’ve covered it before. It’s not new, but I still love Zoho’s tabbed management of open documents. I much prefer it to Google’s opening of new browser tabs for each document, although that makes much more sense when you take into account Google Chrome’s handling of each tab as a separate process. And I still miss Google’s full-screen edit mode too much to make a permanent switch.

Still, if you’re a Zoho user, or if you tried it out before but didn’t like it because of the interface, Zoho Writer 2.0 gives you ample reason to take it out for a second spin.

Do you use Zoho Writer? What do you think of the new UI?

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