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Business Management Information
Hows Your HUB?
Marketing gurus are always coming up with new lingo but oftentimes they are restating the old tried and true concepts in new terms. Marketing students from the 70's and 80's will be familiar with the acronym USP. USP stands for your "Unique Selling Position" and it should be the cornerstone of your marketing.
Are Your Marketing Pieces Up to Date?
The other day someone asked me for one of my informational brochures. As I was giving her the piece I stated that if I were printing these today it would be a little different. The piece was only about two months old and already the way I wanted to communicate things had changed slightly. Then I got to thinking. If I were to print informational brochures six months from now, they would probably be a little different too. Don't get me wrong. I am a big believer in consistency of marketing. However, in today's business environment especially as fast a pace as our business develops, things change...sometimes minutely and sometimes in a big way. What do you do?
On the Road to Assertiveness
Learning to be assertive takes time, courage and the ability to recognize the situation for what is really is.
Time Management and Team Development - The Yes and No of It
Sometimes.
Project Management, A Forgotten Perspective
Effective project managers know how to get the job done, and get it done right. Success comes not only from wise selection of the team members and utilization of the best project management software tools; effective managers know how to lead, and how to encourage project team members to do their best. This includes clearly setting and communicating project goals, providing proper training and/or equipment, as well as other necessary items and expertise. Effective project management also requires constant re-evaluation of your performance as the project leader. The most effective form of leadership is by example. If your team members see that you strive to live up to the high standards you require from the project team, they will inevitably be more productive.
Try It Out On Your Team First
Wow! You?re brilliant! You have a great idea. You?ve looked at it every possible way to find holes in your logic, fallacies in your assumptions. You know it will work and you can?t wait to turn your new brainstorm loose then reap the rewards of your genius. I know you?re excited but before you unleash your great idea, first try it out on those around you for analysis, discussion, improvements, and (gasp!) criticism.
Help for the Meeting-Weary Manager
Most of us have found ourselves working on a team at one time or another. That means we have been asked to attend, and even participate, in lots of meetings. Unfortunately, few of us found these meetings to be particularly effective. Many in fact are a complete waste of valuable time and resources.
Conference Calling Can Save Your Sales OrganizationTime and Money!
Conference calling can save you money. There is no doubt that in
the sales business, every second counts. Whether it be training,
sales meetings, or other needs, pulling your employees away from
the sales opportunities even for these important tasks, cuts down
on the time they can be making you money. If you take the first
step and try using conference calling, you may just find yourself
saving money and making money. Let?s point out some of the
features and benefits of using conference calling here:
Communication, Feedback, and Participation: Three Easy Tidbits For Smarter Business
On communication: One of the biggest strains on the communication process occurs when the sender or receiver is experiencing stress, anger, or frustration either at work or at home. When a situation is emotionally charged, it is difficult to express yourself clearly and maintain a positive communication relationship. How we communicate can be as important as what we say. Using ?I? statements is the most effective technique to counterbalancing an emotional dialogue. ?I? statements, help the receiver and the sender express their own feelings and represent their personal thoughts, rather than make an attempt to interpret for the other person such as ?I feel that...? or ?The way I see...?.
Help Your Employees Prepare for a Performance Appraisal
PREPARING EMPLOYEES FOR THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEWS: Remind employees to give some thought to the purpose of performance appraisal: it is a means to learn from the past, plan for the future, and improve effectiveness and work satisfaction. The performance appraisal discussion is an opportunity to motivate, recognize, and reward your employee. It is a time for you and your employee to share perceptions about the employee?s accomplishments during the performance period. It is meant to be a culmination of all previous communications made during the performance period.
Todays Employees and Their New Needs: What You Need to Know
Today?s employees are not only interested in security or in pay and fringe benefits. They are often placing increased value on being recognized and involved in reaching personal growth goals. As a supervisor you must be aware of these new values. Keeping your employees? interests and priorities will help you better motivate them to work well.
Improved Communication to Improve Results
Facilitating good communication can make the difference between a well oiled, effective team and disorganization and ambiguity. By following the tips below, you, the supervisor, can take steps toward improving communication with your employees:
Using an Appraisal to Benefit Your Organization
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS BENEFIT THE ORGANIZATION:
How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It
The reason jobs are often not done right and employees are fired is because of lack of skill. Right? Wrong! Poor communication and ineffective human relations are the major causes. Remember: Communication is a ?meeting of meanings.? It?s getting through to the other person what you mean in a way that they understand. In fact, you want them to do more than understand, you want them to act on the information in the correct way. Effective communication is talking and listening to create that understanding. The end result is to get things done in a way so that you, the organization, and the employee will all be satisfied.
The Changing Boss-Secretary Relationship
THE CHANGING BOSS-SECRETARY RELATIONSHIP: Imagine a partnership at work. One member is outlining the agenda for the annual stockholders? meeting, the other is managing the logistics. The last decade has brought many changes to the traditional boss/secretary relationship. We now see powers and responsibilities delegated to ?executive assistants? that only ten years ago would have been the sole province of the boss. And there has been a corresponding rise in the prestige and influence of those secretaries chosen to fill such positions. The fact is that fewer women are willing to be career secretaries.
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RELATED ARTICLES
Your Appraisal System Can Be Better ? Overcome These Nine Serious Failings
This article is directed at senior managers. As a senior colleague you have the authority to make tremendous improvements. You can have maximum effect in improving your existing appraisal system or starting one that contributes to profits or other targets.
Conference Calling Can Save Your Sales OrganizationTime and Money!
Conference calling can save you money. There is no doubt that in
the sales business, every second counts. Whether it be training,
sales meetings, or other needs, pulling your employees away from
the sales opportunities even for these important tasks, cuts down
on the time they can be making you money. If you take the first
step and try using conference calling, you may just find yourself
saving money and making money. Let's point out some of the
features and benefits of using conference calling here:
Invite Self-Managed Staff
"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." -Goethe
Innovation Management ? smart people dont necessarily produce great ideas
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
When Change Is In the Wind...Heads Up!
In these days of takeovers and mergers, of downsizings and lean management, chances are that you are going to be caught in a job upheaval at least once in your career. Probably more than once!
5 Steps to Continuous Process Improvement
Part One of Creating Well-Defined Processes Series
Magnificent Meetings - 5 Tips for Success
Your impact at meetings will determine in a big way how well you
do in your career. In other words you will rise as high as your
communication skills will let you. Ability and competence in your
position is expected - how well you get your point accross will
make the difference between your opinion being valued and your
input getting forgotten one more time.
Einstein - Definition of Insanity
Insanity in the Sign & Graphics Industry
Knowledge Management - Learning Whilst Doing - Facilitating an After Action Review
Introducing a learning culture into organisations can be difficult at times, particularly if the effort required it great and the benefits aren't quickly identifiable.
5 Interviewing Mistakes That Can Lead To Hiring The Wrong Person
Mistake #1: Going with the flow
Use Every Weapon You Have
One of the strongest weapons available allows business, non-profit and association managers to begin changing the behaviors of their key external audiences in ways that lead directly to achieving their primary operating objectives.
Driving of work trucks
Each time you or one of your work crews cruises down the road, people see the vehicle. It is logo'ed and that advertising is there to be noticed. If you cut some one off, believe me they will know who did it. They'll tell their friends and you'll be sorry. If you see a lady trying to pull out into bumper-to-bumper traffic, let her cut in. If you see a mom in her minivan with kids at a traffic signal, be courteous. Signal her with a pleasant hand motion to 'please go ahead of me.' Mouth the words also and as they pass salute her and wave at the kids or flash your head lights. You are such a nice guy or gal they'll think. With every one in such a hurry, it's refreshing to know the crews in your company vehicles still care. If you work in a big city with a population of 100,000 or more, your gesture will be remembered, recognized and appreciated even more. You see in a big city, you will be outside the norm. They will think you are from a far away city where people are still friendly.
Training and ROI (Return On Investment)
Statistics consistently reinforce that the biggest challenge in today's contact center environment is agent training. Turnover continues to be high; new hire costs are on the rise--$6500 per agent! At the same time, losing customers because of bad call experiences negatively impacts your bottom line. What can you do? How do you justify the training expenditure?
Encouraging Behavior That Gets Results
You're the boss, and you have every reason to feel good about your organization.
Effective Meetings by Phone - Part 1, How to Plan a Teleconference
Teleconferences can be a boon or a bust. On the positive side, they allow people at
different locations to attend meetings without having to travel. On the negative side,
they can degenerate into frustrating struggles with uncontrolled babble. This occurs
because people lack visual contact, which hinders effective communication and
provides opportunities to misbehave.
Keep Your Good Workers by Building Good Leaders
A recent report from the American Hospital Association's Commission on the Workforce asked healthcare workers key questions about the performance of their front line managers. The study concluded that an employee's decision to stay with or leave an organization is primarily based on his or her relationship with an immediate supervisor. No matter what industry or setting or company size, effective leaders:
Possess personal integrity.
Can easily adapt to change.
Work to build the talent of others.
Communicate well with their people.
Have the ability to build and lead a team.
Can analyze problems and create solutions.
Encourage a collaborative work environment.
Five Ways to Develop More Effective Front Line Managers:
Encourage and give managers time to attend leadership courses. Learning and growing is part of their job.
Develop an approach to hire and assess managers based on the above key competencies, not on old job descriptions.
Reward effective leadership on a regular basis whether it is through a "Manager of the Month" award or free movie tickets.
Get creative with training. Start peer coaching groups - managers with similar levels of authority meet once a month to discuss challenges in managing people, dealing with organizational politics, or other thorny issues.
Do short reviews every three to six months to catch performance problems before they blossom into big leadership headaches. When problems are identified, action plans should be put into place to rectify the issue before the next appraisal.
Partnering for Performance
"The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says, 'Go!' ? a leader says, 'Let's go!'" -E. M. Kelly
The Top Six Reasons to Buy Rather Than Build an Inventory Management Solution
Is building your own inventory management solution really your best bet?
Does Your Management Style Remind People Of Something They Read In Dilbert?
With thanks to Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian who does the "You might be a redneck series of jokes.
Terrible Meetings - Ten Ways to Spot Them!
Sometimes, better than giving advice about how to run things well, it can be useful to have a hit list to notice to help you identify when things are less than productive. Meetings can be hugely productive, especially if you keep a sharp eye out for these Ten things:-
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