Most of us would like to be better communicators. As leaders, co-workers, team members and in all of the other roles we play both professionally and personally, we know that communication is a major key to success. When we are frustrated or stymied by something, often better communication would have improved it. Consider the new executive or manager who walks into their first meeting. Every movement is watched. Where they sit is analyzed. What they say is discussed later. Did they make declara More..

Got A Meeting Planned? Ask This Question

Meetings - they are a fact of our business lives. And while the number of meetings and the amount of time you spend in them may vary based on your job title, it is hard to argue that they are a significant part of business life today. Anything that consumes a major chunk of our time is ripe for analysis and is likely a great source of productivity improvement. And meetings are no exception. Even a casual conversation about business life will soon get to the frustrations and challenges people e More..

Employee Motivation - Access Their Unique Talents

Your people are invaluable to you. They are the lifeblood of your business or organisation. And yet, in many situations, managers take little time to truly find out what makes each of their people special. Makes them unique. But why would this be important to know? When people bring their special blend of skills to your workplace, it's important to know about it. And not just because you might be able to get more out of them. When you know what turns your people on, they work happier and contr More..

Group Discussion Guidelines

DISCUSSION METHODS: There are two basic types of discussion methods; the conference method and the workshop method. The conference method involves meetings of staff members, usually from the same organization, and is convened to pass on information, communicate management policies or decisions, or to solve organizational problems. These meetings are usually held for only one or two days, and generally consist of large discussion groups. The workshop method, on the other hand, is usually utilized More..

Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: Team Dynamics and Communication

This article relates to the Team Dynamics competency, which evaluates interpersonal communication, cooperation, and productivity between members of a single team, group, or department within your organization. In today's marketplace, in order for organizations to operate efficiently, it is essential that they understand how to create and utilize effective work teams at all levels of the organization. When well managed, teams improve productivity, innovation, and the likelihood of success. Ineffe More..

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Creating a Culture of Empowerment

This article relates to the Culture & Climate competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. AlphaMeasure defines climate as the effect an organization has on the employees, while culture refers more to the acceptable behaviors, attitudes, and habits of the organization as a whole. Some relevant topics include employee values, attitudes, and morale throughout your organization. Knowing and understanding workplace culture and climate leads to a better understanding of what f More..

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Best Incentives are Free

This article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of how the performance of one team was affected when the powerful motivator of daily praise and recognition disappeared. This competency also explores what type of behavior is appreciated and rewarded within your organization. Studies show that employees who receive regular recognition and praise are more likely to increase their individual productivity levels, increase eng More..

Doing More With Less

This is a bottom-line environment. Decreasing the downtime of revenue producing employees is a major concern. Efficiency, effectiveness, productivity gains, lowering expenses and increasing ROI are words we are all hearing more of these days. Yet "Sales and Marketing Management" magazine says that less than half of today's sales forces have ever sold during the type of economic market we are currently facing. Investment Aside from the obvious investment in training, sales professionals are pr More..

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Problems with Group Decision Making

DECISION BY AUTHORITY RULE: Many groups start out with-or quickly set up a power structure that makes it clear that the chairman (or someone else in authority) will make the ultimate decision. The group can generate ideas and hold free discussion, but at any time the chairman can say that, having heard the discussion, he or she has decided upon a given plan. Whether or not this method is effective depends a great deal upon whether the chairman is a sufficiently good listener to have culled the r More..

How to Approach Group Decision Making

GROUP DECISION MAKING -- IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM: Tell specifically what the problem is and how you experience it. Cite specific examples. --"Own" the problem as yours and solicit the help of others in solving it rather than implying that it's someone else's problem that they ought to solve. Keep in mind that if it were someone else's problem, they would be bringing it up for discussion. --In the identification phase of problem-solving, avoid references to solutions. This can trigger disagreement t More..

Characteristics/Attributes of a Lean Operation

Fundamentals in Place ? There is a designated place for everything and everything is in its place. No time is wasted while looking for things. The organization looks clean and everyone is required, encouraged and motivated to keeping it organized. ? The distance traveled by operator(s) and/or a specific part is less than the perimeter of the facility. ? There are on-going reports easily assessable to everyone that provides timely feedback for individuals and groups. ? Quality is achieved by More..

Never Punish Yourself or Others for Failures

If you want to find success in various ramifications, be it in business or personal relationship, don't punish yourself or others for mistakes, or blunders, or failures, instead encourage yourself. Kim Woo-Choong, founder and chairman of Daewoo, said, "One of my employee went to a casino and lost $10, 000 of the company's money which would certainly get him fired by a normal manager. I didn't fire him, but paid the money back to the company myself and gave him a second chance." "Why didn't you More..

Is Chess Good for Management?

The game of chess has been applauded and taught in business school as a game that gingers creative intelligence. Chess is a game involving kings, queens, bishops, knights, castles, and pawns like a real life. The pawns (also called soldiers) advance first, lead or supported by officers all to fight and protect the king. It is like fighting a real war similar indeed to fighting or capturing business competitors, employees, or customers. The only difference is that at the end it is only a game. More..

3 Reasons Why CRM Strategies Fail

Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most effective tools for improving customer relationships and therefore increasing revenue, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. Unfortunately, some CRM strategies fail. This leaves CRM vendors and their customers baffled, but there a few common reasons why a CRM strategy will fail. 1. Too much focus on the CRM vendor and technology. Some companies get too caught up in having the best possible CRM strategy out there. Some companies More..

Quick Tips On Bringing Out The Best In People

Want to bring out the best in people? Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice. First, assume that they are already the best, which will cause them to rise to the occasion and makes them feel good in the process. Remember, most people have a huge reservoir of talents and intelligence that they have not tapped into yet, and you can help both of you by allowing them to dis More..

Sharing the Reins: 10 Reasons To Sell Your Company To Your Employees

In 1987 I sold my business, South Mountain Company, to my employees (and myself). My sole proprietorship became an employee-owned cooperative corporation. It was a hinge point in the history of the company. Ownership has become available to all employees, enabling people to own and guide their workplace. The responsibility, the power, and the profits all belong to the group of owners. Shared ownership and control is our method at South Mountain. "Every employee, an owner" is our intention. More More..

Attract and Retain Positively Great Employees - An Action Plan for Employee Training

Everyday a business owner, CEO, or manager somewhere is complaining about the lack of good employees. On the same day, in a break room, employees are complaining about the lack of good jobs. Thinking that they can alleviate the problem with finding good employees, many employers have opted for lengthy applications and endless interviewing. In the process, the employee-to-be becomes frustrated before even starting the first day of work. The employer has spent a bit of money and the orientation pr More..

Lean Principles in Action

Abstract The electrical products industry is one characterized by fierce competition, declining margins, and legislative regulations, all that have forced the majority of electrical product manufacturers to rethink their business models. This article describes a successful story from a leading electrical products manufacturer and its journey towards lean, which to date, has saved the company over $65 Million in hard ?dollar savings. Background Tefen has worked closely with one of the world's More..

Inventory Management 101

Inventory management may seem complicated to some, but if one truly thinks about what the words "inventory management" mean, it is a simple concept. Inventory is basically a list of goods and materials that are held by a business and are available in stock. Inventory management is the process of keeping track of inventory, and having the delicate balance of supply and demand firmly mastered. When having inventory, a company does not ever want to have too much of a product, nor does it want to ha More..

Collections Management

How long does it take your customers, clients or patients to pay you for the products or services you have provided? Have you developed a consistent collection management program? Your answer to the above questions is a leading indicator as to how well you collection management is. Sending an invoice doesn't always result in payment. Successful collection management s a matter of making your payment terms crystal clear and separating collection management from new business functions, in other More..

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Industry Analysis Section of Your business plan

Writing a Business Plan for your next entrepreneurial endeavor is crucial. You will need sufficient capital and a guide to keep you on track. One important part of any business plan is to size up the Industry and attempt to figure out your pecking order and specialty niches for your best chances of profitability. Having written more business plans than I care to admit and having read hundreds of others, it always amazed me how easy it was to attempt to "wing it" when it came to the Industry Anal More..

Management Team Section of Business Plans

Writing an award winning business plan is a great skill, but rather than winning any awards you need to get funded. In order to be funded the bank, venture capital firm or even family members need to be sure they will either be paid back or receive their required return on investment. To succeed in business you need a quality management team one, which can move you thru the rough waters of start-up and control the ship as you sail away from the competition. Here are some pointers for your Manag More..

Juggling Demands in an Organization

JUGGLING DEMANDS: All leaders constantly juggle a multifarious array of demands from those of their organization, employees, and themselves. Good leaders, never drop one demand at the expense of another equally important requirement. They give each demand its fair share, while balancing the organizational goals with their employees' needs, while still fulfilling their own personal/professional purposes. Successful leaders meet both these business and personal needs through their staff. They lear More..

Understanding Every Aspect of Your Organization

GET TO KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION: If you don't understand an aspect of the organization or a procedure within it, ask. If you still don't understand, ask again. Question until you are sure you understand the topic. It's easy to feel your questions aren't sophisticated enough, especially when you work with people who have been doing what they do for years. Start with basic questions like "What does our organization do?" "How does our organization do it?" "Who needs our product?" "Who does what with More..

Setting Direction Within an Organization

FINDING DIRECTION: An organization can't succeed without direction. Direction means having clear goals and guidelines; set goals and guidelines for staff to follow. When staff direction is needed, you must provide effective procedures for everyone to follow. Have guidelines and goals firmly set to keep the gray areas to the absolute minimum. It's up to you, to keep the departmental goals and that sense of direction so that it is not allowed to be buried beneath the workload. UNDERSTANDING AN OR More..

Teamwork Training: Learning to Build a Successful Team

Teamwork is a process that can be experienced outdoors and well as in the workplace. A lesson learned in one environment can be applied equally well in another. Teamwork: We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Us, a book by Dr. Steven Stowell and Matt Starcevich, describes actual teams that have participated in a variety of outdoor teamwork training programs. These programs have been as long as five days and as short as one. Each account has been chosen as illustrative of one of the phases all teams More..

Assessing Managers for International Competence

How do you select staff for international assignments? It's an important question because, no matter how effective and successful your employees may be at home, they cannot be guaranteed the same performance in a different culture-unless, that is, they can demonstrate some key competencies. But beware, these may be quite different from the competencies they need to succeed in their own environment. To begin with they need to be receptive to the host culture. This will mean that when they face n More..

Big Company Intelligence on a Small Company Budget

Information is the lifeblood of the economy. That's especially true for businesses, because the ability to identify current customers and locate new prospects makes the difference between boom and bust. So how do successful companies do it? Through targeted market research, which usually means arcane computer systems, large staffs, and six-figure budgets. That situation is ripe for change, according to the CEO of Catenate, LLC, Wendy Cobrda. "Solutions that used to sell for $100,000 plus are no More..

Dealing with Marginal Performers: The Therapeutic Approach

--PREPARATION: The purpose of the therapeutic approach is to spark an employee toward improved performance through counseling. The manager's goal is to help the employee recognize the existence of a problem, accept the need for change, and formulate his or her own program for improvement. The manager should critically assess his or her own attitudes and opinions. It is important to try to eliminate all personal bias and prejudice or at least be aware of any such emotions no matter how little eff More..

Competencies for HR Professionals in Knowledge-based Industry with Reference to IT, ITES-BPOs

Introduction "High performing HR function affects bottom line nearly 10%"- A survey Competencies have become integral part of HR field. In the last 25+ years, the competency approach has emerged from being a specialized and narrow application to being a leading method for diagnosing, framing and improving most aspects of Human Resource Management. Changes to business practice have forced HR professionals to adjust their role and the contributions they make as well as to obtain new skills and c More..

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

Today's successful organizations are the ones which carry on open and honest communications with their employees. If employees know and understand the mission, they will help communicate it to customers. Here are some employee communication methods and the pros and cons of each. As in marketing communications, a multi-media approach will be most effective when delivering honest and open communication. Meetings and Discussion Groups Pros - Effective. Allow immediate response and feedback. Allo More..

The Punitive Approach to Marginal Performers

MANAGING A MARGINAL PERFORMER: Often a marginal performer, even after therapeutic counseling, may not understand that his or her work is seen as substandard. The manager will have to ask the employee directly how the performance could be improved. If the manager still meets with resistance or avoidance, as a last resort he or she will have to give suggestions. THE PUNITIVE APPROACH: If the unsatisfactory performer refuses to commit to a self-proposed improvement program, or belligerently denies More..

Counseling Interviews for the Marginal Employee

ACTIVE LISTENING: The most frequent cause of failure in therapeutic counseling interviews is the interviewer's tendency to talk too much. Numerous studies have shown that in counseling interviews the average manager will talk as much as 85 percent of the time. For a counseling interview to serve its purpose of drawing out responses from the employee, the interviewer must be an effective listener, not a talker. The manager must know how to ask questions which force the employee to speak about his More..

Make Change Easy - Get Involved!

There are wild variances in how much involvement organisations are brave enough to offer their people in change. From those organisations where they just 'tell' (sometimes by text message even!), to the most enlightened extreme, where they enable wholesale contribution to the change process. Such organisations actually create the time and space to involve as many people as possible, in the issues surrounding the need for change. This organism of change, where the organisation fully respects (a More..

Make Change Easy - Get Involved!

THE MARGINAL PERFORMER: Every manager must, from time to time, deal with a marginal performer - an employee whose work, for the most part, is satisfactory, but who regularly fails in some specific area or areas to maintain a satisfactory level of performance. The work of the marginal performer can be classified as substandard in some cases but not so poor as to warrant immediate termination. FIVE DEADLY SINS FOUND IN REPRIMANDING EMPLOYEES: 1. Lacking a complete understanding of the rules and/o More..

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