Management Information
Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Have SMART Goals
The first step in planning an agenda is to identify the goals for the meeting. Properly done, goals have five S M A R T characteristics.
Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Begin With Goals
Goals are critically important for the success of a meeting. You must know what you want so you can ask for it.
Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Earn a Profit
Most people treat meetings as a free resource that can be used to deal with any issue. As a result, huge amounts of time and money are wasted on trivia.
The Walmart Cult
The CultBecoming a part of the Cult, consists of being recruited a member of the cult, as a person that can be relied on to assume responsibilities and accomplish all or almost all things requested.Depending upon the position you hold and the person that you are attached to the most, any position can be engaging and can be so different from any other experience that you have had prior to Walmart in almost any retail sector that you feel you are being chosen for great things.
Encouraging Behavior That Gets Results
You're the boss, and you have every reason to feel good about your organization.You've built a great team.
Executive Performance -- Whos to Blame for Incompetent Managers?
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the question: Who's to blame for inept managers?The answer, of course, is the superiors who hire or promote them -- but not because they intentionally select or retain poor performers. Every leader knows that his or her own success depends on putting the right people in the right positions.
Miracle Max On Market Breakthroughs
Successful enterprise building requires seven elements. These are:1.
Rethinking Workplace Security: How the Rules Have Changed
The workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Very early in mankind's history perils emanated from the place and type of work they performed.
Collaboration: 3 Keys to Keeping Your Documents from Getting Lost in the Shuffle
Often, collaborating documents in a team or in a business can feel like a complex sports play gone wrong. The ball gets passed off to the wrong person, dropped, or even lost.
Cultural Differences: Making it Work Virtually
Working virtually adds a whole new dimension to the phrase "cultural differences". It immediately becomes apparent how different people around the world work, live and network.
The Fairness of Office Politics... Integrity and Political Motivation!
I hear many complaints daily about the "unfairness" of politics in corporate America. Employees say that their managers "lie" or issue "personal attacks" against them.
Creating A Vision - Bringing Your Dreams Into Reality
Do you have some goals you want to achieve or dreams you want to fulfill? A useful tool in reaching the outcomes you desire is the creation of a vision, which can be short or long-term. I recommend writing down specifics to add clarity and focus.
Focus On the Prize
People talk to me about making personal and professional changes in their life. I hear comments about how hard they think it will be, concerns about their ability to be successful, pressure on themselves to produce results, etc.
Allan Kempert Discovers That Truly All You Gotta Do Is Ask
A year or so ago, I met Allan Kempert. Allan was the Quality Assurance Supervisor for a metal stamping company in Ontario, and just completed Norman Bodek's book, The Idea Generator, Quick and Easy Kaizen.
Bye-Bye Boring Meetings! Make Yours Remarkable!
It's the middle of the night. You've woken up with a brilliant idea on how to improve the way your business product is delivered to your customers.
Lead to Succeed: The Seven Essential Steps to Work Leader Success
In my book "You're In Charge?What Now?" I use a mnemonic to describe the seven essential steps to work leader success. The mnemonic is "L.
Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth
The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity of financial reporting in corporate America are clear evidence that something was awry. It is the responsibility of corporate boards, managements, public accounting firms and regulatory agencies to put confidence back into the financial statements issued by our society's most significant entities.
Is Your Business Ethical?
Ethics - in a profession or trade - is that branch of philosophy which studies the principles of right and wrong in human conduct.Is your business ethical?What I mean is "Does your business do the right thing when faced with that decision?" It's a simple question, which many businesses struggle with.
Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.
Comparing Corporate and Personal goal attainment programs that have developed over thousands of years with those of modern day legends such as Covey - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"In the 1990s Stephen Covey's name became famous through the publication of the "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". As many know the "7 habits" are not a group of new concepts but age-old approaches to success represented in a way that can be clearly applied to modern day personal and corporate development.
Year 2010: Permanent Employees No Longer Required
Jack Welch joined a conference that was held in Duke Fuquay Business School where he was invited to promote his new book called "Winning". He told audience about how culture is important in a company.
Preparation: Your Companys Best Defense in Case of Catastrophe
You've hung out your shingle and are ready for business. But what if something unforeseen were to occur? Is your business truly ready for all that being in business entails? It only takes one catastrophic event to adversely impact a once thriving business.
Change Behaviors, Change Performance
Every organization is looking for the holy grail of performance enhancement, that one thing that, if it were changed even slightly, would push the productivity of a company way beyond the current level.Over the years there have been many solutions offered to the performance conundrum, from process improvement and process re-engineering to rightsizing and quality initiatives.
Why Would Anyone Do That in My Meeting?
Imagine that you open a meeting by saying, "We need to talk about the budget."And someone responds with, "I named my dog Budget because everyone tells me he's too big.
What to Ask When You're Invited to a Meeting
1) Where is the agenda? A meeting without an agenda is like a journey without a map; it will always waste your time. Once you have the agenda, make sure that it consists of more than a list of words because this is almost useless.
Using Employee Opinions Effectively When Designing HR Programs
Using Employee Opinions Effectively When Designing HR ProgramsEmployee opinion is one of the most powerful resources available to human resource professionals. But what are the best methods for harnessing those opinions?Conversation - Welcoming feedback via informal conversation is the first step towards utilizing the viewpoints of employees.
Leading Bad Actors To Be Good Performers
A successful leader told me, "The biggest challenge I've had in my career is dealing with bad actors. Brent, do you have tips on how to do it?"First, before we can deal with "bad actors", we must define the term bad actors.
The 20/60/20 Rule Of Leadership. Dont Go Solving The Wrong Problems
Several decades ago, a passenger jet approached a Florida airport with the pilot and co-pilot struggling to fix what they thought was a malfunctioning landing gear. The landing-gear light was on, signaling that the gear was deployed; but both men did not hear it actually deploy.
Change Management
"It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change". -Charles DarwinThe world today is changing faster than ever before.
Designing Your Healthy Administration - A Management Overview
Management or Leadership?Simply stated, management ensures that things get done, in accordance with accepted policies, based on the reality of a situation. It involves deciding the how, and the when and often the who.
The Power of the Contract in Performance Management
An essential step in managing the performance of salespeople is that of establishing a sound and agreed contract between manager and the salesperson. A contract in this context is simply an agreement between the manager and the salesperson as to how best they are going to work together.
Uncovering the Secrets to Effective Performance Management
In many ways there are no secrets to implementing effective performance management. Performance Management is a process and a process which if implemented effectively should ensure that both employees and managers remain both productive and motivated.
Avoiding The Sheep Dip
It is a sad fact that many employees are still being subjected to the age old training ritual of "sheep dipping". This is a process by which employees are "refreshed", "cleansed" and "re-invigorated" by ensuring they attend set training courses or, perhaps, are placed on the ubiquitous "refresher" course.
2 Steps For Increasing Company Profits or Performing Business Turnarounds
1. Eliminate wasteEliminate reports, habits, products, duplicate input, and processes that waste time and money.
Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk Part 3
To develop and deliver a great Leadership Talk, you must understand that every Talk has three important parts. (1) Audience Needs.
Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk: Part 2
In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how it is a much more effective leadership tool than presentations or speeches.I also described two fundamental premises that the Leadership Talk is based on.
Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk: Part 1
Leaders speak 15 to 20 times daily. You speak at meetings, you speak across their desks, you speak on the phone, you speak in e-mails, you speak at lunch, beside the water cooler, and on elevators, etc.
10 Steps Towards A Stress-Free Introduction Into Management
Becoming a manager for the first time can be an unnerving and sometimes stressful experience. In many cases, organisations expect you to immediately jump into the role and begin to perform as if you have been there for years.
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:-No AgendaWhen there is no agenda, there is no opportunity to prepare, no framework for the meeting and no purpose.
How to Create an Operations Manual
An operations manual can act as a tool for training employees and empowers them to your business running smoothly when you are out of the office. Though it may seem like a lot of work, the effort put into your operations manual can save you money that could otherwise be wasted on mishandled procedures and employee training time.
Gift Giving for Business a Major Headache
Corporate gifting is a big headache for most business owners; how much to spend, who to spend the money on, where to get the gifts, what to get and how to gauge the effect of that giving in terms of benefits for the company are all important questions. When a company decides to give gifts it needs to be planned out as part of doing business, not just a last minute impulse.
Preventative Maintenance of Company Delivery Vehicles
If you have company delivery vehicles at your small or medium sized business you should have a preventative maintenance schedule and procedures for employees who are drivers of these vehicles. When discussing preventative maintenance over the years with business owners the first thing which comes to mind is 'Oil change' and usually the business owner who is on the hook for the loans on these vehicles is more than aware of that fact.
Small Business Checking Accounts
ACCOUNTING AND BILLINGCHECK BOOKSWe recommend that you maintain a business checking account in addition to a small business credit card merchant account so that you can take credit cards from purchasers. This way you will know exactly how much is going into your merchant account and how much of your volume percentage is being done through credit card usage.
Hiring a Book Keeping Service
Whether you choose to do your own books and accounting or hire those services out there are a few things you should know first.A good book keeping service will normally charge you around $200 -500 per month while you are still somewhat small and you can receive: Profit and Loss Statements; Balance Sheets; Bill Paying Services; Checking Account Reconciliation; Journal Reconciliation; Tax Information Preparation; Tax Return Filing; Etc.
Cheat Sheet; Understanding The MSDS and Your Obligations In The Workplace To Employees
MSDS SHEETSMSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheets. MSDS sheets contain nine sections.
Effective Meetings by Phone - Part 2, How to Hold a Teleconference
Even a well-planned teleconference can go poorly. Some people treat any meeting as a casual social activity instead of as a serious business project.
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.
Problem-Solving Success Tip: Measure
Measure.The first key question to answer in starting a problem-solving project is, "How will you know when the problem is solved?" Answer this question in measurable terms before you start trying to solve the problem.
Problem-Solving Success Tip: Test Your Assumptions About Everything
Test your assumptions about everything.Assumptions have a way of creeping into all parts of a problem-solving project.
Hiring Great People And How to Be One Yourself: Five Secrets
Bad news.Your senior vice-president, your marketing director or your accounting department head has decided to retire, move to Okinawa or start his own business--and you're left staring, horrified, at a polite letter of resignation.
Think Twice Before Selling ROI
When we're selling to business people, our value proposition has to show a good return. Solid, credible Return On Investment (ROI) calculations are supposed to prove this for us.
Innovation Management - Diversity Can Make All The Difference
Companies are welcoming a diverse range of employees (The Sunday Times, April 10 2005). Doh!It is incredible that this concept is getting coverage in 2005.
CRM ...The Emperors New Clothes
The story of the emperor's new clothes is a fairy tale about men who fooled the emperor into believing that they had made him a beautiful suit of clothes. In fact they had not made anything.
Innovation Management - IBM Opens Lid On Its Treasure Chest
IBM, which registered 3248 patents last year, has decided that sharing technology can sometimes be more profitable than jealously guarding its property rights on patents, copyrights and trade secrets (Herald Tribune, April 11 2005).International Business Machines have come to the above conclusion 205 years after the invention of electric light - thus clearly illustrating that even the 19th largest company in the world (fortune.
Making Your Workers Your Partners
There is an inherent conflict between owners and managers of companies. The former want, for instance, to minimize costs - the latter to draw huge salaries as long as they are in power (who knows what will transpire tomorrow).
The Inferno of the Finance Director
Sometimes, I harbour a suspicion that Dante was a Financial Director. His famous work, "The Inferno", is such an accurate description of the job that it cannot be otherwise.
Dividing The Loot
It is when the going gets better, that the going gets tough. This enigmatic sentence bears explanation: when a firm is in dire straits, in the throes of a crisis, or is a loss maker - conflicts between the shareholders (partners) are rare.
10 Fool Proof Ways To Intensify Your Profits
1. Create benefit intensifiers for your list of ad copy benefits.
Unravelling the Data Mining Mystery - The Key to Dramatically Higher Profits
Data mining is the art of extracting nuggets of gold from a set of seeminngly meaningless and random data. For the web, this data can be in the form of your server hit log, a database of visitors to your website or customers that have actually purchased from your web site at one time or another.
Managing Motivation
"Without the chance to meaningfully participate in steering one's own destiny, without the opportunity to gain the sincere respect of one's own peers, without an honest stake in making the community more successful through one's own work and ideas, employability can quickly decay into generic training programs or bogus choices..
10 Ways To Maintain Profits In A Slow Economy
1. Sell more back end products to your existing customer base.