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A Leadership Screw Driver: The 90 Day Improvement Plan By Brent Filson
I was talking with first-line supervisors in a utility company about how to deal with poor performing employees."You've gotta put the screws to him!" suggested one supervisor to his colleague who was having trouble managing one particular poor performer."I've put so many screws to him he's dead weight!" the supervisor replied.We all knew what "putting the screws to him" meant -- using rewards and punishments to force change in behavior.The trouble is, rewards and punishments are the least effe…

Why Your Projects Are Not Being Completed By Ryan Leibowitz
Here are 5 common reasons why your projects are going over schedule, over budget, and generally under expectations of quality. 1. Overextending on your resources: Or simply doing more than what your resources whether it be in finances, human capital, strategic partnerships, time, etc. 2. Micromanaging: Instead of looking over the shoulders of your team mates, focus more on the overall strategy alignment and faciliate intra/extra departmental communications. 3. Lack of strategic vision, featu…

Punctuality in Business: What it Says About You By Alicia Smith
"Nothing inspires confidence in a business man sooner than punctuality, nor is there any habit which sooner saps his reputation than that of being always behind time." (W. Mathews)Being tardy can be a serious marketing blunder for today’s business owner. From being late to meetings with a colleague or client, to not delivering your product or service on time, tardiness speaks volumes about who you are and how you do business. If you want customers to choose to do business with you, you must…

Qualities of a Great Manager
In the call center environment we are often only as successful as the people we hire. While our front line employees are critical to our business, choosing the right managers powerfully impact your success. So what makes a good manager? Ask 100 people and you might get 100 different answers. While the behaviors that make a great manager may be open to interpretation, there are some competencies and corresponding questions, which stand the test of time. I think the face of business has entered a…

Motivation-One Size Does Not Fit All
One Size Does Not Fit All 'I'm not someone who is motivated by money', said an attorney who was in one of my workshops. His comment was his reason for not doing the marketing he knew he needed to be doing. It is hard to gear up to do something when you can't visualize a compelling reason to do it. His point was that he just didn't get around to doing things he knew he 'should' do but really didn't want to do. Still his practice wasn't growing so the issue is how does he motivate himself? Some pe…

3 Steps You Can Use Developing Leaders In Your Industry By Stephen Fairley
With the economy bordering on a recession, every company is looking for ways to increase revenues while decreasing costs. Some companies believe one of the easiest ways to do this is to cut their employee training budget. However, businesses interested in long-term viability recognize that to be successful they must continually develop their people, especially their leaders.According to recent research by the American Society of Training and Development companies with regular employee training…

Three Deadly Sins in Family Business By Bill Lee
I spend a lot of time consulting with family members in family-owned businesses. I grew up in a family business so much of my experience is firsthand. My father was the youngest son among eight children and became the managing partner of a business his father and two uncles founded in 1894.Just as there are unique problems in publicly-held firms, there are challenges that are just as unique in family-owned and operated businesses. All companies have strengths, but the secret to both profita…

Stop Going to Meetings - 10 Questions to Ask Before Attending a Meeting - Get More Productive By Neen James
We get invited to attend so many "meetings" but do we need to attend them all? Use these 10 questions to assess if you should attend that next meeting invitation.What is the agenda of the meeting? Don’t attend a meeting without a clear agenda otherwise you are wasting time. Don’t ever schedule a meeting unless you make it clear to your attendees what the purpose, timeframe and outcomes of the meeting will be.Who is attending the meeting? Ask the question to ensure the meeting set at the right…

Hiring Mistakes: Find and Fix Them Fast! By Stephen Steckly
Let’s assume you’ve completed your hiring process, your new employee is on the job, and training is underway.Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a tool you could use that would let you know for certain whether each new employee was a hiring mistake or a hiring success? Well, there is such a tool and I’m going to share it with you right now.It’s called the Success Predictor Tool and it consists of a checklist that you will review at 45 days and 85 days of employment.The Success Predictor Too…

Employee Motivation Made Easy! By Willis Brown
I am often asked my secret to motivating employees. With over 20 years experience supervising and managing employees, I have found there is only one real key. That key is you must care about people. It comes so natural to me to ask an employee about his or her family, hobbies, problems, or recent accomplishments that I may be aware of. I’m sorry but this is something you can’t train people to do. You can, however, promote an atmosphere that encourages this type of employer to employee relatio…

Improve Profitable "ROE" with Retention
'R.O.E.: Return On Employee --A measure of corporate business performance as determined by the gross revenue achieved per staff employee.'by Phil McCutchenMarketing Manager, VCG, Inc.As the definition above points out, ROE (Return On Employee) focuses on your staff, the people who generate the revenue that makes your operation profitable. For any business with above-average employee turnover, ROE is a critical component of success that is too often neglected by management. For the purposes of th…

Create a Positive, Upbeat, "Can-Do" Workforce and Dazzle the Customer with Your Caring!
Given the choice of dealing with a positive, upbeat employee with a 'can-do' attitude or dealing with a disgruntled, distracted, uninterested one, which would you choose? No contest. Customers always want the best experience possible; they want it to be easy and pleasant to do business with your company. Enter the real challenge of 'Relationship Management,' the relationships. Until all of our business is done electronically, and much of it might be, managers, in addition to making sure the work…

Executive Coaching An Overview By Dominick Borzomati
Today the growing pressures of competition continuously fuel the demand for more effective business leaders. It is their responsibility to set the tone and style for the organization, for effecting cultural shifts to meet changing values and expectations. To accomplish this, leaders must themselves change and be prepared to continue to change.There is a common assumption that those who reach board level no longer need personal development; in fact this is seldom the case. Unfortunately, perso…

The Caveman Effect - The evolution of inventing High Performance Teams
Does a team's influence affect an individual's personal competence? The answer is an obvious 'Yes', so the real question is how to make that influence one that improves performance instead of deteriorates it. If you wish to influence the dynamics behind superior team performance, you need to understand the psychology that drives human reaction. In the beginning... The caveman needed to survive. Man found safety in groups. It was not a matter of preference, it was a matter of necessity. If you …

Employee Orientation: Get New Hires Off To a Great Start By Marcia Zidle
The good news is that a new hire orientation program offers an opportunity to build a lasting impression of the new company. The bad news is that that is going to happen whether you plan it or not. So why not get new hires off to a great start? Here are seven ways.Celebrate the new hire’s arrival. How come when an employee leaves, there’s a party, but when she arrives, there is nothing to mark the occasion? Welcome new employees on day one and make them feel part of the team.Give the perso…

How to Fire an Employee By Christoph Puetz
One of the most difficult tasks you will face as a business owner will be firing employees. Employees who consistently break the rules, do not perform the functions of their job, or cause difficulties for your business can be a strain on the work environment, your cash flow, and even disrupt your business from thriving and performing as expected. This tutorial will give you steps and hints about firing employees or associates.Document, Document, DocumentThe first step in preparing when letting…

Exploding Six Sigma Myths By Peter Peterka
Six Sigma doesn't improve the customer experience. It may seem that Six Sigma turns the focus away from the customer because it is driven by data. In so many companies, quality improvement is driven by the latest customer complaint, or some manager's latest issue. This may seem like you are being responsive to the customers, but such an ad hoc and scatter-shot approach is inefficient and ultimately doomed to failure. The question you need to ask is what data is presented to the organization in…

Five Strategies for Profitable Services Growth By Lisa Nirell
In today’s era of Professional and IT Services competition and consolidation, some small to medium-sized companies are proudly delivering 20%-50% annual growth.Unfortunately, the vast majority of firms have experienced two consecutive years of fee erosion, commoditization, client defection, and company identity crises. We set out to discover where the growth opportunities exist in today’s economy, and to share our findings.The StudyOur ten-month study uncovered the major gaps between the top …

The 5 Obsessions of a Passionate Employee By Mike Nacke
A recent report entitled “How Google Grows…and Grows…and Grows” stated that the 650 people that work at Google are the most passionate bunch of geeks in the high tech industry. Google was also recently called the fastest growing company in history. To mimic their growth and success, passion must be injected into every level of your organization. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to hire passionate people.Passion is an easy thing to spot once you know where to look. By understandin…

INSTANTLY UNCOVER YOUR CORPORATE CULTURE
Best Definition of 'Corporate Culture'If you ask 10 people to define 'organizational culture,' you will get 11 different answers!Fortunately, from my consulting and writing on leadership and organizational change, I created my definition of organizational culture:'Corporate culture is how every employee knows she or he must act - even if no one is watching.'Knowing your company's culture proves crucial for multiple reasons, including: + Only organizational changes that fit into your company's …

Poor Employee Performance: How to Deal By Andrew E. Schwartz
KEEP WRITTEN RECORDS: “Document !Document! Document!” Keep a record of periodic performance reviews, incidents of unsatisfactory performance, conferences where warnings are administered or terminations are announced. Issue warnings and terminations in writing as well as verbally. When dealing with a particularly unstable or vindictive employee, request that the employee sign a written summary of a warning or termination conference to attest to the fact that the summary is accurate (not that th…

Make a Difference - Sweat the Small Stuff First By Martin Haworth
My background is in retail management - yes, running stores, from tiny ones you couldn't swing the proverbial cat around in, to huge three floor jobs. Yet there are some guiding principles which, like Giuliani did for New York, that make a difference on a smaller scale. Guiding principles which make a huge, possibly unseen difference to your customers and no less so to your employees.I'd like to suggest that, on the basis of 20% of the focus gives you 80% of the return, acting in just two area…

How Your Feelings and Those of Your Employees Can Make The Difference By Andrew E. Schwartz
How we feel is really more important than what we know. This is because how we feel plays a bigger role in our behavior than knowing what we should or should not do. For instance, we “know” smoking is bad for us. We see research that tell us auto accident injuries and deaths can be greatly reduced by using seat belts. We “know” that brushing our teeth after each meal fights tooth decay. Despite these facts that we “know", many of us smoke, don’t use seat belts, and fail to brush after eating. …

Do You Need a Personal Assistant? By Lorraine Pirihi
It’s great to be multi-skilled…be able to type your own correspondence, do your bookkeeping, answer all phone calls, prepare your PowerPoint presentations, organise your own travel, seminars, pick up and send your mail, pack orders, do your own marketing, do all the photocopying, ring your clients and prospects. However it may not leave you with enough time to focus on what really matters.When you first start out in business, you will no doubt do most things yourself, yet to continue trying to…

Measure for Measure By Ed Newman
Can you imagine playing hockey without a goal? Basketball without hoops and nets? Football without a goal line? Golfing without holes or greens?There may be leagues where it doesn’t matter whether anyone is keeping score, but not the big leagues. Champions of the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, the Masters can only be determined when there is someone keeping score.In hockey, keeping score means counting the number of times the puck gets into the net. In golf, keeping score means counting th…

1. Putting into Place Project Management Processes for SMEs (Small/Medium Businesses)
To many SME managers, the majority of project management literature can seem overwhelming, complex or downright inapplicable to their business environments. However, fast moving SMEs inevitably at some point of their development face the challenge of putting into place project management processes in order to handle their growth and/or improve the products or services that they provide. Oftentimes the major added value of SMEs is their agility and ability to quickly bring to market products or …

2. What Does Your Staff REALLY Want? Part 2
The 2005 'Best Places to Work' program study showed that, contrary to popular opinion, employee satisfaction didn't depend on salary. The most given answer as to what makes a company a great place to work is employee empowerment. And what constitutes employee empowerment? I believe it comes down to a few basic principles, the second of which is the corporate culture. CREATE A CULTURE In the book 'Guts!: Companies That Blow the Doors Off Business As Usual,' authors Kevin and Vickie Freibe…

3. Catch Your Staff Doing Something Right By Joan Schramm
A long time ago, I learned something about being a manager that has proven to be one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever heard.You can’t manage people from inside your office. You have to be out and about, talking to your staff and co-workers, and seeing and hearing what’s going on out there. It’s called “Management By Walking Around”, or MBWA.Technology has been a huge asset to the workplace, but it’s also made us a little lazy and disconnected. How many times do you e-mail someone in the …

4. The Best Way to Keep Track of Meetings By Bette Daoust, Ph.D.
How should you keep track of meetings?Have you ever wanted to run away from a meeting? I worked for one of the top five companies in the US and they seemed to hold meetings to plan meetings. It absolutely drove me around the bend! I would try and multi-task like all the other participants and secretly hoped they would not call on me for any information. In the long run, I did not get any value out of these meetings and my work was being ignored. I had to keep track of the meetings and place ac…

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