Management Information
Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For Effective Use
What IS assertive communication? Assertive communication is the ability to express positive and negative ideas and feelings in an open, honest and direct way. It recognises our rights whilst still respecting the rights of others.
Minimising Conflict With Effective Communication
Did you know there are 5 types of communication that lead to conflict? Let's look at them..
The Seven Essentials of Business Communication
There are seven essential elements to successful business communication:StructureClarityConsistencyMediumRelevancyPrimacy/RecencyPsychological Rule of 7 - If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.So let's look at each in turn.
Building Bridges of Communication
Building a 'bridge of understanding' between parties is fundamental if your business communication is to succeed. If you are a consultant to a client, or a salesperson attempting a closer relationship with your customer, here are five techniques that help achieve just that.
Best Practices Plan: Dissemination of a Great Idea
Good news spreads quicklyNews of the invention of the wheel must have traveled in every direction as quickly as horse or camel could run. Those who learned of its advantages over the litter and the sledge adopted it right away.
Time-Wasting Problems - One Question to Move You Forward
In any organisation, progress is frequently impaired by the time taken up to resolve problems that occur again and again - usually with people's performance (or not!). At a macro level, there could just seem to be 'lots of problems', which is a symptom in itself.
3 Simple Things the Best Managers Do - And You Can Too!
If it's so simple, why don't managers all over the globe get this right, every time? Well, because it's so simple, it seems too easy, so busy managers squeeze a lot more in, time after time. And that makes things much more complex - just the way a manager should be.
5 Questions Great Managers Ask (and they arent hard!)
However hard we try, we seem to make life more difficult for ourselves; more challenging; more complex. Yet it needn't be so.
Budgets that Damage - The Downsides of Making the Numbers
In my organisational career, I had budgets from the age of 22 to 47. I lived and breathed them and many times, budgets, the gospel that they were, caused havoc, albeit within the corporate retailer framework that I worked.
When Politics Prevent Innovation - Or? Still Fighting Battles and Losing Wars
The objective is to beat the competition and make money. Everything a business organization does should be focused on that simple objective, with interpretation through various Vision and Mission Statements.
Management - Mary Poppins Style!
Mary Poppins describes a style of management which has for too long been hidden in many businesses and organisations.Think about it.
Future Business Success - What Does Good Look Like?
When you know you need to shift up a gear, in any area of your business (or your life for that matter), it's really important to have a vivid representation of what you are seeking.Some call these "Goals", others "Visions" and yet more describe it as a "Mission".
Prioritise Your Day - Keep Focus - Win!
Whether you run your own business or manage a team, there are times when things don't go to plan. Like:-Your key people don't show up.
Resolving Needs - What Your Employees Wish For!
For your people, they want to do a great job - no, really, despite your experiences, they do. And what might seem to 'the management' the important things, just don't stack in the day-to-day reality of the workplace.
Top Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service
Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting most right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition. These Top Ten Tips for Customer Service will get you well on the way.
Agendas Make Meetings Productive
Having an agenda template that works well for you, week in, week out, creates a consistency which gets your people bought into the process. Delivering an efficiency and effectiveness which makes the most of the valuable time you have together.
Solve Problems Permanently - Ask WHY
As Albert Einstein said:-"The significant problems we face today, cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."Problems don't go away unless you get to the cause - the source of them.
Performance Management - By Assuming Nothing
Unhappy as Jenny undoubtedly was, she held on very tightly to her job. After all, she had worked her way up over the years to the supervisory role she was in - and she wasn't going to let go.
Customer Focus - Just 5 SimpleThings You Need to Think About
You can boil down the difference between successful businesses and the rest in how they work with their customers, in just five areas.So, what does this mean?What They WantSelling what your customers really want is just critical.
Why Saying Well Done Works
Encouraged by the recognition, Sarah Lewsiton went home from work that day, full of self-belief and wonder that she had made the leap at last.In her last job, she had always felt that she was unsuitable, in fact below par, for the place.
Ten Top Ways for Managers to Motivate Their People
So to help start the ball rolling, here are ten top ways to get your people motivated. Ten small steps for you to start with.
Einstein, The Universe, And Leadership
Every since serving a hitch in the military, I have been nagged by the question that's been hanging around leadership since time immemorial: How can some leaders persuade people to believe in them and follow them and other leaders can't? But it wasn't the military that provided me with a framework to answer that question. It was Albert Einstein and his quest for the unified field theory of the universe.
Turn Your Speech Into A Leadership Talk
My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for the past two decades teaches me that most leaders are screwing up their careers.On a daily basis, these leaders are getting the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways.
The 5 Things Great Managers Sense about their People, Every Day
Using all of your senses, to help you test how your people are feeling in your business, is a learned skill. Once you start to use it, your abilities to notice become refined and you have a background sensor working for you, day after day.
5 Creative Evolutionary Leadership Niche Strategies!
I have a short story to share with you about an importantskill many leaders need to develop, use and perfect.Life is a journey.
Be a Leader - The Importance of Going Home Early!
How you run your business is, of course your business. A little focus from your end will dictate the way your people act and behave.
Employee Success! - 7 Ways Feedback Works
By sharing how well you are doing and how well your expectations are met, your people get to understand better. So, frequent, realistic, objective feedback is not seen as criticism, more a way of each in your team helping each other get better, building on the success you already have.
How to Coach Your Employees - 5 Simple Steps Anyone Can Do!
Want to get more from your people, but you don't know how? Are you up for a small challenge and prepared to do things a little differently? If so, we have five changes to your style that you will find easy to incorporate into the way you work and your people will love you for it; you will have more time and your business will flourish.Think about it - is that not worth just the little effort required?Stop Fixing ThingsNext time someone comes to you with a problem in your business, STOP, before you give the solution and try the next step.
Planning For Growth
Are you planning your business or are you planning your growth? If you are like many high-performing business people, you have an annual ritual to set your plans for the coming twelve months. Some people do it in December, others at weird, miscellaneous times of the year, but most -- me included -- tend to do it the beginning part of the New Year.
Procrastination and JDI!
In a management role procrastination can seriously hold back progress and demotivate individuals and teams who, full of innovation and drive to move forward, get frustrated and confused when action is held up.There are a number of steps that will help the procrastinating manager.
Why I always Keep my Promises
Integrity is very important to me, and I try hard to 'do unto others as I would wish them do unto me'. It hasn't always worked that way for me though.
How To Learn Great Management from Our Kids
Learning comes from many places. And one of the most wondrous opportunities is right in front of us.
Building Shareholder Value Through Your People
Increasing shareholder value is the most important driver for organisations in the modern business world. Shareholder value is built through growing profit and building confidence in the organisation, which moves share prices upwards.
How to Make a Difference Every Day
Every day, everyone can make the world a better place. It's simple; it's quick and it is free.
Are You Prepared for a Disaster?
Yesterday I look at my calendar and saw that my newsletter was on my calendar for today. I wondered what I would write about.
Middle Managers Behaving Badly - How To Stop This Damaging Your Results
More and more I hear and read about a looming crisis of leadership at the middle management level and the inevitable resulting increase in, poor performance, accidents and production mistakes and hence declining profits.I'm afraid to say these observations are not just rumours.
Nine Vital Lessons For Avoiding Training Fads That Waste Time, Money and Enthusiasm
Unfortunately, at least two thirds of much of the training and development effort undertaken by organisations to develop their people is wasted.This is such as shame isn't it? Waste of money is bad enough but even more serious is the waste of human energy and enthusiasm.
Avoid Outsourcing Pitfalls in the Injection Molds and Stamping Dies Markets
When looking to outsource overseas for Plastic Injection Molds or Stamping Dies there are many things to consider.Usually price is the first thing to be looked at, that's probably why you're looking overseas for a new mold or die source-to save money.
People Literacy
Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why one management approach that works beautifully with one employee is ineffective with another. That's because what we think would be motivating isn't always motivating to someone else.
Hiring Productive Employees: A Checklist for Assessing Their Appeal
The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on whether or not they get hired. Their characteristics also indicate the level of their productivity.
Setting a Pitiful Example: Twenty-six Warnings to Heed *
TO: All Parents [and Employers and Managers]From: Your Child and/or EmployeeDate: The present timeRe: Don't Spoil me; Teach Me1. Don't spoil me.
Take Your Firm to the Next Level
So you did such a good job in 2003 at bringing in new clients to your firm that you're swamped with business, your firm is large and growing, and all parts of your marketing system are in place and running smoothly? Congratulations - you're off to a great start for 2004!If you can confidently answer "yes!" to the following metrics, then you're ready to take your practice to the next level (and if your answer is "no," get back to basics at http://www.turningpointemarketing.
Turbo-Charge Your Rollout with ERM
Employees are the often-neglected stakeholders in the success or failure of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) initiative. But employees don't always resist new ways of doing business.
One Simple Idea to Grow Your Business
Perhaps the most common theme I've heard in working with business owners or managers is that they rarely have time to plan for the future. They are so busy with day to day tasks and responsibilities, just getting through their weekly "To Do" list or fighting fires consumes all their time and energy, and then some.
5 Management Decision Making Lessons from a Long Shot. A Heartening Belmont Victory
Like many, I watched the 134th Belmont Stakes hoping to see the first Triple Crown in 24 years. Instead, I saw the 70-1 long shot, Sarava, appear from nowhere to win.
Managing Yo-Yo Style
Does being managed by others smack more of "Survivor" than Stephen Covey for you? Could there BE any more management styles out there-have you gotten to experience all of them yet? And what kind of manager are you-or should you try to be?If you're reading this, you're probably familiar with too many types of management and leadership styles-more flavors than months, for the most part. On the leadership, not so much.
4 Steps to Success In Life, Business, The Universe And Everything
Everyone wants to succeed in life. And no one starts a business of any sort, on-line or off-line, wanting to fail.
Transform Any Business into a Go-Getting Power House by Working SMART
Probably as well known as SWOT, SMART turns goals, objectives and tasks into concrete deliverables. If there is one key to turning busy, ineffectual organisations into models of streamlined efficiency then this is it.
Think Before You Talk
What you say to other people can make or break you and it can happen without you even knowing about it. That old saying "loose lips sink ships" is oh so true in business.
The Gift of Gratitude
Gratitude might seem like a soft or even an obvious subject to you. Perhaps you would rather read about a leadership lesson or a marketing approach or even a motivational technique.
Five Ways to Influence Change in Others
Because of my work as a consultant, trainer and coach I deal with change and people's reactions to it all the time. When a Client decides to work with us, they are recognizing that some sort of change is needed.
Better Manager Skills - How to Learn
When you first take over a department, expectations are usually high but operations are sometimes in disarray. The staff is disorganized, goals aren't being met, and hours are spent on unproductive tasks.
Management Procedures Usability - How to Improve
Are your people consistently following your procedures? Each year, organizations lose thousands of dollars through common mistakes and lapses in usability. But what does that mean for business owners and executives?Ask yourself: ? Are your required actions described thoroughly and accurately, or are the details left open to interpretation?? Is your content consistent and complete, or are your writers leaving gaps no one has noticed?? Are revisions controlled, or are different people using different versions?? Are your procedures compliant with regulations? Are you sure?? Are all documents written to produce clear, measurable results?If you're unsure about any of the answers to these questions, there is good news: you can make your procedures clear and complete without combing through all of them yourself line by line.
Well-Defined Processes - How to Create
Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process Approach of Plan-Do-Check-Act.Real Tools for Real Business ProcessIn MBA courses, students come across a lot of buzzwords and the theories behind them.
Quality Standards with ISO 9001
Standardizing Quality SystemsThe ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was established in 1947 to develop international standards for everything from electronics to management systems. Having over 13,000 standards currently in place, ISO has created the auditing and certification process known as ISO 9001.
Process and Procedures Investments - How to Get Money Back
In September 2004, President Bush signed the $146 billion tax cut bill restoring the recently expired business Research & Experimentation Tax Credit. The 18-month renewal of the research and experimentation tax credit, which expired June 30 2004, was the most expensive item with an expected $7.
Sarbanes Oxley 404 Compliance - How Nov. 15, 2004 Deadline Affects You
Fast Relief for Sarbanes Oxley Section 404 ComplianceSection 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires management to confirm the effectiveness of their IT and financial controls in an "internal control report", which is contained within the annual report (10-K) issued to the public. But what exactly is an internal control report, and why is it important to you?The Section 404 Internal Control ReportFirst, the internal control report must affirm management's responsibility for controls and procedure, and second, it must contain an assessment of the effectiveness of the internal controls and procedures for financial reporting.
Nonprofit Performance: Outcome Measurement Can Be A Good Thing
Does the idea of program evaluation make your stomach churn? If so, you're not alone. Many nonprofit professionals and volunteers view program evaluation with fear.
How to Attract and Retain the Right People
If you're one of the many executives struggling with finding and keeping the right people to propel your business forward, you'll find these insights helpful.If you're frustrated by trying to motivate people, work instead to develop a company where people are self-motivated - where they do things because they want to.
Leadership Skills Means Turnover is Not a Problem
"Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like that, they obviously haven't worked in the real world and certainly have never had to run a company.