Posted by: LeighAnn Montieth, General Manager, New York Yoga

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is LeighAnn Montieth, General Manager of New York Yoga, a neighborhood Yoga studio with two locations in New York City.

New York Yoga is a neighborhood yoga studio that specializes in Vinyasa and Hot Yoga. It is also one of the first studios to offer On-Demand Yoga Internet videos, so that yogis can practice the discipline anytime, anywhere.

When I joined the studio staff five years ago, we were all using our personal email addresses and I didn’t think that was the best way to present the business. There was also the challenge of staff scheduling. Between the two studios, we have eight full-time employees and over 50 teachers who work as part-time independent contractors. For many, yoga is not their primary focus so when their schedules are split or busy, scheduling can be tricky. Having dozens of teachers calling us each week to ask what time they were teaching, or scheduling substitutes on a paper calendar, wasn’t a great use of our time, or theirs.

We needed one central place where all of our staff members and teachers could stay organized, and easily communicate. That’s when we decided to transition to Google Apps for Business for our team. Now, all of our email addresses are at newyorkyoga.com, which helps us better brand our business and makes everyone feel like part of the team. And we use Google Docs to track substitute and other employee requests, as well as membership log-ins.

Having all of our information in one location has been extremely beneficial. It helps me save time fielding multiple phone calls and spend more time focusing on our clients. Even if I’m on vacation or working from home, I’m able to quickly log in, make sure all classes have an assigned teacher, and also stay up-to-speed with our client-base in real time. The ability to be mobile and access information from anywhere is something we’ve never had before, and it makes my job a lot easier.

Google Apps has given us the communication and organizational tools we need to succeed and maintain a healthy level of zen.