They’re everywhere. In waiting rooms, at business meetings, at networking events – the iPads are everywhere. The iPad has been “the” gadget to have and even more tablets are coming onto the scene offering different price points to tap a wider audience.

While the iPad is great for surfing the net from your couch while watching your favorite sitcom, the tablets are also finding a solid spot in the business world.

This article from Silicon.com reports that nine months after the iPad came on the scene, Apple found “80 percent of Fortune 100 companies had either deployed or were piloting the table device” with another 67 percent of CIOs planning to incorporate tables this year. Half of those CIOs are also planning to purchase tablets for their employees this year.

Tablets make sense for businesses. Compared to a laptop, they are less expensive but offer much of the same functionality. Compact and light, they’re great for business travelers. They also offer businesses a chance to become paperless – load documents, memos and reports on the tablet for easy reading and save on printing and paper costs while being kind to the environment.

Is your business using tablets or does it have plans to purchase iPads for employees? Let us know the benefits tablets offer your business.

Office Space

We spend a lot of time at work. We spend a lot of time talking about work, thinking about work and sometimes even figuring how to get out of work. That’s probably why the workplace plays such a prominent role in television and movies.

Each week, we can grab some one-liners from “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation” and “30 Rock” – all of which are set in the workplace. We laugh at the silliness but secretly recognize some of our co-workers. We’re glued to TV dramas that focus on a particular profession – police detectives, doctors and lawyers.

The silver screen is no exception. This year’s Oscar nominee “The Social Network” – while it starts in a dorm room – transfers to the workplace and has a healthy dose of drama and office politics. An article from the Chicago Tribune names “The Social Network” as one of the best workplace movies. Also on its list, the 1940 film “His Girl Friday,” “The Apartment” from 1960 and Kevin Smith’s 1994 film “Clerks.”

Other office-focused films that give us a chuckle are “Office Space,” (who hasn’t wanted to smash an uncooperative copier with a baseball bat?), the Dolly Parton classic “9 to 5” and “The Devil Wears Prada” with Meryl Streep as the completely overbearing magazine editor.

OK, so what’s on your list of the best office movies? What characters play out in your workplace every day?

A good brand is priceless in the business world. While it’s tricky to put a dollar amount on the value, all business owners and managers know the power of a brand. Think of companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonalds and Wal-Mart – those are recognized brands. Damage to your brand is devastating (think BP or any financial institution in the past two years) and it can take time to repair what’s been done.

Typically we think of brands involving logos, taglines and a color scheme, but now a company brand extends to social media as well, requiring you to monitor your brand online and develop your social media personality via Facebook, Twitter and more.

Here’s a great article from Inc. magazine on “The New Rules of Branding Your Business Online” that offers up excellent suggestions on bringing your brand into the social media world. Key tips include engaging your customers so they better understand your brand and develop brand loyalty.

Also, use social media to tell customers more about who you are; it’s easier to connect with a company you feel you know than one that’s simply a static website. Monitoring your brand via social media is important. People will be talking about you, so watch out for what they are saying and respond – whether it’s a positive or negative comment.

Let’s hear how you’re building your brand on social media.

It’s actually not that unusual these days to see people juggling two cell phones. They may have an iPhone for personal use and a BlackBerry for work.  Or maybe they have one Droid that pulls double duty for personal and work use. Either scenario raises some questions.

Does your company pay for your phone or maybe half your phone bill? If so, does that mean you are literally on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week? If your company owns the phone, it’s highly likely your boss will be tracking your movements.

A recent article from McClatchy Newspapers points out how office-issued phones blur work and personal lives. Companies can monitor every personal phone call from your child’s school and every text from your husband.  Some more extreme situations may results in firings and litigation.

“As mobile phones become commonplace work tools, the legal and practical boundaries around the devices are becoming a hot issue,” the article notes. “Companies are grappling with policies and a growing number of lawsuits by employers and employees are cropping up over concerns ranging from privacy and liability to expectations and etiquette.”

But in this era of constant communication and obscurity of a true “day off,” companies need to be realistic and understand personal calls pop up during the day and, at the same time, employees may be responding to work-related e-mails on their BlackBerry from their living room.

The bottom line is that companies need to be clear on their expectations. Have a policy, establish some ground rules and work with employees to manage expectations and whether you want employees on call at all hours or can they turn the phone off on weekends.

Do you have an office-issued cell phone? Does your company have a policy? Share your experiences with us.

For all the ways we have to communicate – e-mail, texting, instant messaging and cell phones – we can sometimes feel like no one in our workplace ever talks to each other. Communication is such an important part of any business, whether it’s communicating with customers, vendors or colleagues.

Here’s a great article on communication mistakes that crop up in virtually every office.  One of the common mishaps is simply not communicating at all. Workers rarely talk with their supervisors, believing they have nothing to say or that their ideas won’t make a difference. As this article points out, employers have to take the initiative to encourage employees to speak up and soliciting feedback.

Also important to keep in mind is the use – and often overuse – of e-mail. We’ve come to rely so heavily on electronic communication we have to keep in mind face-to-face conversations can result in more effective communication and fewer misunderstandings. Taking five minutes to walk down the hallway and explain what you need done can save headaches when a project isn’t executed the way you needed.

Do you find communication suffers at your workplace? What’s the cause and how do you overcome it?