Business articles
Showing page 49 of 79 - There are 2359 Business articles
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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."After the laughter subsides, you wonder why anyone would make such a silly remark in your meeting.And this leads to a larger question: Why would anyone misbehave in a meeting? Taken to the extreme, misbehavior c...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. The agenda for an effective meeting will provide a complete description of how the meeting will proceed.2) What is the goal? Is the chair seeking an agreement, a ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.Focus Groups - Focus groups take co...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.As the men sought to understand whether they had a defective landing-gear light or a defective landing gear -- the...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. Technological developments, financial constraints, expanding markets, restructure and mergers, new philosophies and government legislation are all putting pressure on organizations to change. Yet the proce...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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 who can be a cross-over factor in the initial stages. It is doing it right, creating process and systems and insuring efficiency. A manager manages both the process and re...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. It is a chance for each party to outline expectations, hopes and fears and is a superb opportunity for both the ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.The actual process itself should hold no secrets. There are simply a number of steps to be considered within the Performance Management proces...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. This refresher course is, of course, necess...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. These drain labor, money and energy from the business.Two-thirds of products or services sold incur more costs to produce than they are sold for. These are a drain on profits. These losers can be reduced by either increasing prices, reducing direct costs incurred in produc...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. (2) Strong Belief. (3) Action.(1) Audience needs: The first step in putting together a Leadership Talk is to understand the needs of your audience. As I explained in Part Two, they cannot be ordered to be your cause leaders. Their commitment is one of free choic...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.In Part Two, I will show you the purpose of the Leadership Talk. You won't be able to give a Leadership Talk effectively on a consistent basis if you misunderstand its purpose....
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.It's in the interaction of those speaking encounters, multiplied daily, month in and month out, year in and year out, that you become a successful leader or not.If those encounters are...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. Also, you may have been promoted "out of the blue" and as such have not taken part in any "succession planning" that would have prepared you for the management role.If...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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 a...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.Every operations manual is different so yours should be tailore...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. The cost of gifting shou...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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 vehic...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. You should shoot for 50-60...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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 Inf...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. These sections are:I. General InformationII. IngredientsIII. Physical DataIV. Fire and Explosion Hazard DataV. Health Hazard InformationVI. Reactivity DataVII. Spill, Leak and Disposal Procedures VIII. Special Handling InformationIX. User's Respo...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. And a teleconference brings special challenges because people attend them in the privacy of their office without being able to see or be seen by the other participants.Use these techniques to hold a more effective meeting by phone.1) Be...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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.Here's how to set up an...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. As you begin defining your problem, these success metrics help set clear expectations about what will be different when you finish. At the end of the project,...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. They're often wrong, which can lead to a lot of wasted effort and even cause a problem-solving project to fail entirely. It's very easy to take a strongly stated assertion as true, especially if it's the boss who makes it. Remind everyone involved to be skeptical and...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. The timing couldn't be worse. You've now got a vacancy to fill, and you need to do it...well, yesterday. Is there any ray of hope?There is. But first, le...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. But if we don't think twice, calculating ROI can sabotage our sale.Lots has been written about various ROI methods -- return on assets, net present value, months to break even -- and I'm not knocking any of them he...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. I mean, how many new ideas, novel ideas and divergent thinking is going to come from an all male, white board!Employees tell us that when you bring together a team that represents different perspectives and different experiences, ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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. The emperor went out in public wearing nothing but his underwear because he didn't want to appear stupid since they had told him only the wisest people could see the fine fabrics.When the emperor went out in p...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 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 ...