What Stops You From Being Productive?

<p><strong>What Stops You From Being Productive? </strong></p>
<p>Lots of things get in our way when we are trying to be productive. Most of these are easy to spot and tend to boil down to being distracted from our goals. We want to get something done, but the dog needs to go to the vet. The grocery shopping can&rsquo;t wait. The car needs an oil change. And we get tired, and then everything seems like too much to do, so we don&rsquo;t do anything and go watch television.</p>
<p>Not much can be done about the daily minutia of our lives. Those things exist and we have to come to terms with the fact that there will always be &ldquo;little things&rdquo; to distract us from the things that we want to do.</p>
<p>But there is hope. <strong>There&rsquo;s a little secret to being productive</strong>, and you don&rsquo;t need to buy a book to learn it. You don&rsquo;t need to attend a seminar and pay someone a bunch of money to uncover this secret.</p>
<p>The &ldquo;secret&rdquo; is that we actually do have enough time to get our tasks done. And we even have enough time left over to enjoy some relaxation. The secret is that we only <em>think</em> we don&rsquo;t have enough time to get stuff done because we don&rsquo;t actually <em>know</em> how much we need to do!</p>
<p>Most people keep their task list in their head. And here&rsquo;s our problem: our minds just aren&rsquo;t very good at keeping lists of things to do. We very quickly perceive that we have too many things to do, so we become discouraged.</p>
<p>The easiest way to get control over your own productivity is to <strong>start, and use, a simple to-do list</strong>. Keeping it simple is the key. Many people keep to-do lists that don&rsquo;t help them because they turn into clusters of sticky papers just as cluttered as the lists we try to keep in our minds. What good is a list that looks just as daunting as you already feel?</p>
<p>To keep a to-do list functional, you need to get rid of items when they are done. Don&rsquo;t just cross them out &ndash; that just adds clutter and adds to the perception that you have too much to deal with. If you are using paper, then re-write your to-do list every night, leaving out the things that are done, so you have a nice, clean list the next day to work from.</p>
<p>Once you get into the habit of keeping a clean to-do list, you&rsquo;ll find that it&rsquo;s not overwhelming to get your tasks done. The reason is simple: you&rsquo;ll be able to just look at your list to know what you need to do. Tackle each task, one at a time, and remove it when it&rsquo;s done. Before you know it, you&rsquo;ll be in control of your own productivity. And there&rsquo;s no substitute for the feeling of satisfaction earned by getting stuff done before the end of the day.</p>

What to Ask Before Agreeing to Attend a Meeting

Managers spend much of their time in meetings. But some junior staff use meetings to showcase themselves. Or they invite their boss to help with work that they should be doing. In either case, such meetings waste your time.

Here are five questions that you (or your assistant) must ask before agreeing to attend 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 provides a complete description of how the meeting will proceed.

2) What is the goal? Is the chair seeking an agreement, a solution, or a plan? Knowing the goal gives you head start on participating effectively. Be cautious of meetings that are held just "to talk about something," because this type of meeting seldom accomplishes anything.

3) What is my role? Make sure that your participation adds value to the meeting. Avoid meetings where you have a superficial role, such as to find out what’s happening. In that case, ask for the minutes. If you’re needed to work on only part of the agenda, ask if you can attend only that part of the meeting.

4) How should I prepare? Make sure that you know about any research, readings, or surveys required to participate. Ask about the expectations for the other participants because this could influence your preparation. Attend only if you can prepare adequately or suggest another time for the meeting.

5) What should I bring? Should you bring a laptop? Will you be asked to give a presentation? Should you bring reports, data, or other information? Make sure that you have enough time to obtain the tools and materials needed for effective participation.

These questions will help you look like a success when you attend meetings.

What to Do With an Mean Boss

Question: "How do I get my boss to treat others with respect in a meeting?"

Simple answer: "It depends."

You see, we always have three choices when confronted by a dilemma. We can:

1) Change the situation. In this case we could talk to the boss about how disrespect undermines a meeting's effectiveness. Of course, this depends upon the boss. If the boss is a mean, vindictive person who fired the last person who made a suggestion, attempting to change this boss could be a bad idea.

2) Change ourselfs. Here, we find ways to cope. For example, you could avoid meetings held by your boss or you could ignore the painful behavior. In this case, such an approach may seem cowardly, but people do this because survival may be more important than valor.

3) Leave. If the first two options are impossible, then the only remaining option is to find another job. Admittedly, the cost of leaving may be large. And so once again this choice depends upon what you can do, want to do, and will tolerate.

Complex answer: Every negative behavior reveals a flaw. That is, a boss who treats others with disrespect may be doing so for a variety of reasons, such as:

1) Awareness. Your boss may not know that respectful communication is possible. In this case your boss would benefit from personal coaching or a positive role model (both provided by his or her boss).

2) Skill. Your boss may not know how to communicate respectfully. This can be resolved by attending a workshop that shows how communicate effectively.

3) Choice. Here, the boss chooses to treat others with disrespect. This reveals a personal or ethical weakness that requires counseling to resolve. And such work can be effective only when the boss recognizes its importance and decides to undertake corrective action.

What You Need to Know About Patch Management Software

“What is Patch Management Software?”

Patch management software uses a system for scanning, management and applying of patches in a network environment in order to make it secure and free from vulnerabilities. Patch management software allows for the approval and denial of patches used on desktops, laptops, servers, and other mobile devices. It is software that detects weak and possibly susceptible infrastructures that may be present in software applications and varying operating systems that threaten the security of the network.

“Who is Patch Management Software for?”

Patch management software is for anyone who wants a secure network, easy management of changes and updates, and efficient network management. IT professionals in small businesses to large organizations are prime candidates for patch management software. The larger the organization, the more important it is to have patch management software.

“What are the main features of Patch Management Software?”

    * Patch approval or denial
    * Automatic and recurring scans
    * Policy based patch management
    * Complete automation for patch location, discovery, and deployment
    * Reliable and up-to-date patch databases
    * Complete rollback to pre-patch environment
    * Rapid, easy, & automated deployment
    * Flexible configurations
    * Multilingual consoles
    * Complete & comprehensive local/web-based reports and history
    * Multi-OS vulnerability scanning and patching
    * Cross platform product installation
    * Client-side aptitude

“Why should you use Patch Management Software?”
Here are 7 good reasons:

    * To ensure that the most appropriate software available is installed
    * To seal security ambiguities in systems that can be exploited by malicious attacks
    * To reduce system downtime and keep up with system changes, bugs and issues
    * To limit attacks that target known software vulnerabilities by hackers
    * To be the last line of defense and secure networks from security threats
    * To evaluate and choose the proper patches for each computing platform
    * To defend your IT infrastructure and keep up with ordinary maintenance

“What kind of financial investment can you expect to make for Patch Management Software?”
Here are a few guidelines to help you:

    * It’s usually on a volume system license basis. For example if you need have less than 100 systems on your network, it may cost you anywhere between $200 -$1000 for the license. On the other hand, if you have more than a 1000 systems on your network, it may cost you somewhere around $2500 – $5000 for the license.
    * There are companies that provide unlimited licensing, but that can cost $6000+. Generally companies provide yearly licenses. So when you are trying to figure your budget, make sure you calculate these figures in for a yearly basis.
    * Many times the licenses are by seats (which is still the number of computers on the network). The prices for seats can range from $150 - $300 for up to 5 seats or $3500 - $10,000 for 100 or more seats.
    * The most important thing to understand is that price varies by company and need. Be sure to ask a lot of questions and use the guidelines you find on this page before you make your final decision or make any financial investment.

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For more information on patch management software or other types of management software, visit Management Software Review (http://managementsoftwarereview.org). Your SOURCE for management software info.

When Are Background Checks A Good Idea?

Background checks can be used for a variety of purposes and are a good way to have confidence that someone with whom you are involved personally or professionally is disclosing all necessary information.  Employers often use background checks to get verification of previous employment, driving records and to ensure there is no criminal activity.  This is an important step in the hiring process especially in positions where employees may handle sensitive information or who may be working with the public or with children.  Having the security that background checks were made will not only allow the employer to feel better about their hiring decision but it may also reduce the liability of the company should something happen in the course of employment and the company is sued.

Background checks are not only for employers, though.  People will do background checks on other before getting into a personal relationship with them.  This is becoming even more common with the increasing popularity of online dating services.  Because the Internet lends a certain amount of anonymity to a person, the other party can get information and check their story by doing a background check.  This is a good safety precaution especially with the news stories of abductions and abuse at the hands of people they met online.  Knowing the person on the other end of the computer is telling the truth is not one hundred percent guaranteed that something bad might happen but it reduces the odds significantly.  A person can determine if they want to meet in real life after the back ground checks are complete.

Background checks can also be conducted for people who are trying to search for long lost friends or relatives.  Even if there is only a little bit of known information, you may be able to get previous addresses, employers and criminal history that will help track the other person down.  There are a number of back ground check services available.  They can be found in a local telephone directory or online.  Many employers who hire frequently subscribe to these services to do background checks on all prospective hires.   They will get a discounted rate for the number of checks that are done each month.

When Choosing Bookkeeping Programs

My organization recently decided to update its bookkeeping programs. Though it will probably improve efficiency in the long term, but presently, it puts me, as the office manager in an uncomfortable position.

Over the years, the firm have tried several bookkeeping programs, but finally settled on Quickbooks, which frankly speaking, I am very indifferent to, but have gotten so used to it in the last few years. We probably won't know the fellow that took the decision to adopt a new bookkeeping program; nevertheless it was a wrong decision.

There was nothing wrong in the existing bookkeeping program, and setting up a new one was created new problems, that has was never envisaged. First, everything had to be recorded to the new bookkeeping programs, and for this task, the boss hired a computer expert, who also happened to be his son.

The task involved writing a macro that will convert all of the files from the old bookkeeping programs into the new one, and unfortunately, the project failed- just like everything the boss and his family do, on top of this is the problem of lack of compatibility between the QuickBooks and the new bookkeeping programs, which was a kind of general public access thing that was obviously produced by Linux nerds in their spare time. Though it is very stable and well coded, it is just not a user friendly interface.

Of course I bore the brunt of the whole thing, so I had to learn how to operate this graphics free, all text interface, before entering the old bookkeeping program data. Of course the new program is more stable, and perhaps faster, but the point is it is boring and takes a longer period to learn.

Even now that I have a full grasp of it, I still prefer one of the bookkeeping programs where I can click on a few icons and not bother about keyboard shortcuts.

I resent this new program because I will have to use it all day, so I think I deserve something pleasant to work and interact with.

But it seems no one is interested in that, as long as it is free, fast, and occupies less hard disk space, then it will do just fine.

When Do You Need Dictation Equipment

Dictation equipment is a method to record ideas rather than writing them down. It is also used in business as it allows for quick and accurate recording of information. In addition, it is used when writing isn’t practical such as in medical services. There is a variety of dictation equipment on the market and it’s important to choose the correct one for your needs.

There are two main situations for dictation. The first is when note taking is too time consuming or difficult, such as when one is traveling. In these situations a recorder can easily record a necessary conversation.

The second situation is to shift the burden of typing from highly paid executives and professionals to lower salaried employees. Executives and professionals such as doctors dictate. Transcribers then transcribe the work to document form.

There are two types of Dictaphone equipment available – analog and digital. Analog is the older technology and it’s pretty straightforward. You can choose from either desk units or pocket recorders which have a built in microphone. Micro-cassettes are the standard recording device.

One very important feature to have is indexing. This lets the user add a tone at the start and end of a dictated message, which makes it easier for the transcriber to find the beginning and end of a document.

Voice activation is another feature to consider. With voice activation, when you speak the recording starts automatically. However, the first couple of words are usually distorted.

Digital dictation equipment is the new kid on the block, and it’s a great deal more complex than analogue equipment. It offers many different capabilities depending on what is needed.

Transcription equipment is used to convert messages that have been dictated to written documents. You should purchase equipment that lets the transcriber modify both the speed and volume of the dictation, as well as rewinding and forwarding.

The best machines have foot controls so the transcriber doesn’t have to stop typing to backup or adjust the tape. Also look for units where the buttons are placed so that the record button can’t accidentally be turned on; thereby erasing a dictated message.

Dictation equipment can range in price from under $80 to over $100,000. Yes that’s correct! Low end units can be purchased online at many sites that offer office equipment and, of course, you can also find them at local retail outlets.

Most users will be looking for a fairly basic Dictaphone but larger systems, like those $100,000 systems, are going to need support and installation. They will need to be purchased through specialized firms that can provide these services.

Dictation equipment is an important part of many business environments so give it the attention it deserves.

When It Pays To Use Incentive Programs

Non-cash incentive programs and fringe benefits can have a powerful influence on attitudes, which should in turn improve results. You can give employees the greatest incentive program, but by impairing a sense of ownership in the organization.

If you don’t know what kind of incentive programs to employ so as to motivate your people to work and increase productivity, here are some tips that you can use:

1. Sharing the shares.

Use share schemes as an incentive program to reward people for contributing to team success.

An employee who sees his or her efforts rewarded in company shares will, in theory, identify with the company, be committed to its success, and perform more effectively.

In reality, it may be hard to tell whether the company’s success is due to employees owning shares, or whether the success itself has led the company to issue shares. It is also difficult to know whether employees would have performed less effectively if no shares had changed hands.

Nevertheless, by giving people a stake in the company as an incentive program, you are making a highly positive statement about them, which encourages them to feel positive in return.

2. Gifts are not just for Christmas.

Surprise people with gifts they do not expect. Expected remuneration has less impact than the unexpected. Even generous pay rises are taken for granted after a while, as salary wishes increase accordingly.

Incentive programs like a far smaller “payment,” in the form of a gift, have an unequal worth in the eyes of the recipient. An employee could use a cash award to buy a gift, perhaps a weekend vacation, but that would provide less satisfaction than an incentive program in kind from the management as a reward for work well done.

Consider this, which incentive program is better: A company called for a special meeting for all of the employees that had achieved the sales quota for the month. In the meeting, the company announced that the incentive is a gift certificate. They went to the Accounting Department, as instructed, signed their name, and off they go.

Or: The company gave them a specialized mug embossed with the word “Congratulations,” plus a special card with a special message personally written by the manager.

Between the two incentive programs, the latter is more appreciative. Gift certificates could be a good incentive program but it is sometimes taxable, so they get only a fraction of what was written on it. Plus, the first incentive program is more rigid, lacks personalization and appreciation.

On the other hand, the second incentive program is far more favourable. A more specialized and personalized gift idea as incentive program can be more appreciated. It makes your employee feel that they are individually valued especially if it comes with a “thank you” note.

Best of all, presents are also a better incentive program and a cost-effective method of motivating staff when cash is short or when competition does not allow an increased pay.

3. Optimizing benefits.

Fringe benefits have become a much less effective incentive program financially in many countries because of tax charges, as mentioned earlier.

Good pension schemes, however, have become more attractive as an incentive program wherever state-funded provision falls. The same applies to medical insurance. The knowledge that the company cares for its people in sickness, health, and old age is a basic yet a powerful factor.

Other benefits, such as company cars, paternity leave, vacations, and help with children’s education and care as incentive programs can improve the quality of people’s lives. Electronic devices, from mobile phones to computers, directly benefit the company, but as an incentive program, the individual also gains personally from their availability.

Ultimately, loyal and happy employees tend to work harder, leading to increased overall productivity.

4. Bequeath status.

The modern company, with its flat structure, horizontal management, and open style, avoids status symbols that are divisive and counter-productive. Reserve parking places and separate dining rooms are rightly avoided.

However, important-sounding job titles are easy and economical forms of incentive program at the same time a better way of providing recognition and psychological satisfaction.

So, now you know that incentive programs don’t necessarily mean it has to be in the monetary form. Do remember that giving people incentive programs of any kind sends a very positive signal. As they say, it’s the thought that counts.

Who Needs Employee Motivation Anyway?

Knowing how to motivate those who work for you is something that everyone needs to learn if they want to be a success in any industry that they are in. The people that work for you and the ones that make your product and/or provide the services that you are selling so make sure that they enjoy what they do and they will do it that much better. Sounds pretty simple huh? Well, it is and you can learn these things in just a little bit of time. You would be surprised to see what a differenced these types of tips can make to your over all company performance.

By taking the time and energy to motivate your employees you will find that not only do they work better for you, they are happier as well. Proper motivation means teaching people about themselves and what they want to get out of their lives. Your motivation will teach them what their own personal goals are and how they can achieve or even exceed them with ease. This is a great service that you will be doing them and your company. You will find the money pouring in when you do these types of things and that is always a good way to run a business right?

No matter where you live you can find some great motivational workshops that are set up specifically with the employee in mind. These are group activities that you can get everyone who works for you into. They are usually quite fun and the employees will not ever have to pay for them. In essence they are getting free lessons on how to live more happy and healthy both physically and emotionally, it is perfect!

Talk to some other businesses in your area and see what kinds of motivational services they have used in the past and how much they cost. Take the time to search out the very best motivational speakers as these will give you the best course for your money. They can change everything, even the home lives of your employees. The more innovative the ideas that these motivators have the better they may work. Don’t let yourself be boxed in by expectations, think outside the box and let the imagination soar. Be willing to try new things with your employees and watch things get better and better in the workplace.

You may also want to get a couple of good books on the subject. Books are full of some great info that you can use each and everyday in the workplace. They are affordable and if you go to a used bookstore very cheap indeed. Don’t worry about money as these motivational workshops are well worth it in the long run. They will bring in more revenue and get your workers working much more efficiently and productively. Motivations truly is key to a successful business, just you wait and see.

Why Are Trophies And Plaques Important?

Almost every home in America has a showcase of the family’s achievements manifested in trophies and medals. Some people who glorify such achievements even create altar-like tables and cabinets for those medals and trophies which they or a member of their family has won either in an intellectual or a sporting match. There are also trophies garnered from beauty contests.

People will always put a premium on anyone’s achievement and the appreciation that goes with it can best be expressed by giving him a plaque or a medal. There are plaques and trophies that are made of gold but most are made of fiberglass, wood or any other not so expensive materials. But no matter what trophies and plaques are made of, they will always be special to those who receive them.

So why do people and organizations give out trophies and plaques? Trophies and plaques are the favorite gifts or tokens for athletes during sporting events. They are also widely used by educational institutions especially during commencement exercises.

However, plaques are the favorite tokens of small companies and even big corporations that want to recognize the achievements of their employees and staff. Plaques are also given to speakers and guest of honors during company or school affairs.

Giving a trophy or a plaque is an acknowledgement of the achievements of the receiver even these are given on account of a good performance in sales and marketing, debate, oration or a simple quiz bee. Some companies give out plaques of appreciation to their loyal clients who have helped them build the company’s reputation over the years. The plaque creates good public relations for the company because it shows their clients that they are valued by the company.

Companies or institutions planning to give out trophies during special occasions or milestones should consider the types of people who will be receiving the trophies. Generally there is no standard requirement on the size of the trophies but if it will be given for team activities then size should be a consideration. Trophies for individual star players should be unique no matter what the sizes are.

Yearly tournaments for bowling or basketball sometimes require roving trophies or trophies that are passed on from the present champions to next year’s champions. These kinds of trophies should be bigger and special since the awarding body will only need to have it made once every three or four years.

People who want to order trophies and plaques can do so by visiting specialty stores. If they want the job to be faster and more efficient they can look for companies who accept made to order trophies through the internet. There are various samples and these are shown on the company website so clients can just take their pick or they can send in their own designs and specifications.

Most companies give discounts for wholesale purchases so make sure you order all the trophies you need from one company. Developing a long term relationship with a company that manufactures trophies and plaques will also be more profitable for both the manufacturer and the client because they can already establish a rapport as to the quality of work required by the client.

Why Bosses Don't Get All the News

Not long ago, a friend who works in television complained that the industry has no interest in real business stories. And, I have to agree with him, since we don't see much on television that doesn't involve stock prices or some sort of scandal.

Well, with one exception, perhaps. The British Broadcasting Corporation and PBS in the USA aired a popular business show called "Back to the Floor."

Fast Company magazine first told us about the program, which sees CEOs leaving their corner offices for a stint on the front lines. And, as they work on the front lines, the cameras are rolling.

For many, if not all of the CEOs, the experience is a great eye-opener. And, according to the magazine, "Almost without exception, CEOs learn a lesson in communication. 'We find people at the heart of every organization who know exactly what's right and what's wrong with it,' says Thirkell [Robert Thirkell, the show's producer]. 'But between them and the bosses is a layer of people -- those whose careers depend on sanitizing that information. Bosses are always surprised at how much knowledge exists further down the ladder.' "

With that in mind, let's spend a minute or two thinking about the barriers to good upward communication. And, rather than blame middle management, which seems to be one of the themes of the article, we'll look at the structural issues.

First, upward communication calls for the collecting of information or data. For example, a supervisor might report on the efforts of five front-line staff, a manager then aggregates the data of five supervisors, and a vice-president pulls together all the information provided by five managers.

As the information aggregates this way, it loses most of its context and richness. By context and richness, I mean the anecdotal and personal knowledge that front-line workers gather and build from continuous interactions with customers or users. Obviously, most CEOs don't have time to read reports comprised of hundreds of anecdotes; they want summaries of the information.

Second, as information or data moves upward, it tends to be slotted into pre-existing categories. Employees on the front- lines know and understand the nuances of each customer story; it reflects, to a lesser or greater extent, the personal relationship between worker and customers. But, there's no place for nuance in weekly reports.

Third, upward communication normally deals with compliance, rather than competitive or operational intelligence. Managers use information moving up the hierarchy to determine how well their instructions have been followed. When they want competitive or operational information they use different means, such as bringing in consultants or commissioning studies.

It's always tempting to attribute communication failures to moral failures by managers, but if you really want to understand communication failures, you should start by looking for structural hurdles.

In summary, CEOs who spend time on the front lines will undoubtedly be in for many surprises. But, if they want to stay abreast of the action at the front lines, they'll need to address the structural nature of upward communication.

Why Bother With Distributed Leadership?

I'm an alumni of Boston University Graduate School of Business, so I receive the Alumni magazine Bostonia. To be honest, that doesn't mean I read it faithfully at all. But this issue was different. George Labovitz, a professor in organizational behavior at the school wrote an article recently on his research into the application of alignment to achieve extraordinary results in organizations.

He caught me with the first sentence: "More than thirty years of research has shown that aligned and integrated organizations outperform their nearest competitors in every major financial measure."

He admitted not many organizations do it, but those that utilize it well also realize a significant competitive advantage!

By definition: alignment is the optimal state in which strategy, people, customers, and key processes work in concert to propel growth and profits. When business leaders implement this kind of alignment, the whole organization enjoys greater customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, greater returns for investors. To do this, they de-emphasize hierarchy and distribute authority, information, knowledge, and customer data. As a result, every employee top to bottom, understands the strategy and goals of the business. Consequently, everyone knows how his/her work contributes to it.

There are many ways to measure alignment. But you can only achieve alignment across the board through distributed leadership. Implementing such strategies develops leadership in each unit of your operation and at different levels of your organization. You actually end up empowering employees to act and give them the knowledge about what must be done.

With this kind of clear vision and strong communication, you can allow your team to run with tasks and projects independent of your day-to day management, freeing you for higher level leadership tasks and responsibilities.

With this kind of clear vision and strong communication, you can allow your team to run with tasks and projects independent of your day-to day management, freeing you for higher level leadership tasks and responsibilities.

* Keep people connected - so they know what is at stake.

* Help people think holistically. You can't expect them to make good decisions if they can't see the big picture.

* Keep people connected to the company vision, mission and goals - raise the horizon of understanding so they are not limited to seeing only department or job specific goals.

* Reward and recognize people for working toward the main goal - not just department goals.

* How you bring this into the review process will drive it home for future behavior.

*Create opportunities for people to interact - they work better with people they know personally and can empathize with.

* Make the process iterative - taking action is not a one-time thing.

To answer the question I posed: Why bother? Is it worth it? I think so. These are the same tactics we all need to cultivate in business and organizations, to make the leap from good to great. Excellence is like the family silver, the more you use it and polish it up regularly, the better it looks.

Why Change Management Training is Essential for Your Company

Let’s face it: Your company or organization is likely to go through a major transformation at some point. Whether it is in a division, within a function, or across the entire organization, you as a leader will need the skills to facilitate the change and help your business continue to thrive efficiently.

Sometimes the reason for change is external; perhaps the change is pushing you. Other times, the reasons for change are internally generated; you are driving and moving the transformation. Either way, change is now the norm, and senior leaders need to be able to handle it with focus, commitment and energy.

Whether your company’s leaders have gone through some sort of formal leadership training or not, a change management program might be the way to make the changes happen as painlessly as possible. An executive leadership program can provide your company with leaders who are creative and driven. And as part of the training, or as a separate one, leaders can be trained to handle a cultural transformation.

A good change management program will be interactive, and tailored to suit your company’s needs and goals. Look for an executive coaching company who is willing to take all aspects of the change into consideration. Not only must one consider revenue; but also communication, performance, and accountability. It is likely that almost everyone and everything is going to be effected by the change and leaders need to think on a broad scale.

To learn more about change management training, visit <a href="http://www.maxcomminc.com/expertise_change-management.asp"> www.maxcomminc.com. </a>

Why Communicate When Nothing Happens?

Not long ago, after consultations with others in an association I represent, I made a partnership pitch to another organization with similar interests. If the idea had been accepted, it would have radically changed our organizations.

So, you can imagine my impatience when I didn't hear back from the person to whom I'd made the proposal. She had welcomed the idea, but a decision would be made by a council within her organization.

Given the importance of the decision to their organization, I didn't expect a quick response. But, I would have liked at least a phone call saying the council had accepted, rejected, or was still considering the idea.

Then, I had a "Eureka" or maybe I should call it a "Whoops" moment. I realized I hadn't reported back to the people in my organization either. That made me guilty of the same lapse of communication as the lady in the other organization. With that recognition, I made amends by sending out an email and followed up with a report at a meeting.

In taking an analytical view of this incident, I realized that nothing can be something when it comes to communication.

The idea that nothing can be something seems counter- intuitive. But, you may remember the famous Sherlock Holmes' observation about the dog that didn't bark (the fictitious detective solved a baffling case by noting what did not happen, rather than what did happen).

You can probably come up with several ideas about the importance of communicating, too, even though nothing has changed. That's especially true if you're the one who didn't hear from someone else.

First, you may have made plans that assume either a change or a continuation of the status quo. Perhaps you're holding off on holiday plans until the issue is resolved one way or the other.

Second, at least you know an anticipated decision or event hasn't yet occurred, and that you didn't miss something (for example, as I write this I'm waiting for a client to confirm some information and it would be nice to know that I haven't missed a callback or an emailed reply).

Third, if you've received an update telling you nothing has happened, you don't need to contact that person and ask if there have been any developments. Similarly, you can advise the people who look to you for information.

One other note: This might be a variation on what I call the Everybody Knows syndrome. That's a decision not to communicate, based on the assumption that others know what I know. For example, I might not tell anyone the office will be closed between Christmas Day and New Year's Day because I think everyone should know that, which is likely a bad assumption on my part.

In summary, if the issue is important, communicate frequently, even if nothing has happened. Something is nothing when you or others wait impatiently for news.

Why Discussion Fails to Produce Results in Meetings

Most people use discussion for their meetings. And it seldom works. Here’s why.

1) No structure

Discussion is like conversation in that it is a free-form dialogue without any direction. Each person responds to what the last person said. While this can produce entertaining party chatter, it seldom leads to agreements or decisions. In fact, in a meeting, discussion can even make things worse. For example, suppose you said:

"We need to talk about the budget."

And then someone says:

"Is that the one we approved last month?"

"And my department is doing fine."

"Oh yeah, what about the new computer that you just bought."

"Did you hear about the new operating system?"

"My dog had an operation last week."

And so on . . . .

This happens because discussion is a divergent process. Each idea elicits a response from someone else. It's like a conversation where no specific result is expected.

2) No equality

Discussion favors those who think quickly. It also favors those who are loud, expressive, intimidating, entertaining, and important. As a result the more aggressive participants do all of the talking while the more reflective ones watch.

This is bad for many reasons. First, aggressive speakers can easily stampede everyone else into accepting unworkable ideas. Next, the more thoughtful participants withdraw, which deprives everyone from hearing their ideas. Thus, a discussion is like an engine that runs without brakes on only half its cylinders.

3) No Achievement

As you might expect, discussion seldom leads to anything useful. True, the talkers will feel energized by what they said. And the others may feel amazed by what they heard. But nothing else happened. No decisions were made. No solutions were found.

Discussion is the least effective and least efficient process for a meeting.

So what works?

Group processes that include everyone and obtain results through consensus. Learn more about Effective Meetings at: http://www.squidoo.com/OneGreatMeeting/

Why Do You Need Business Management Consulting?

When business grows crossing the boundaries defined by limited internal resources, including your own and your executives’, it pays to engage the services of external business management consultants. Large business management consulting houses such as McKinsey and Company or PricewaterhouseCoopers, pride in their vast exposures to handling wide ranging business complexities under differing international conditions.

Businesses become complex as time passes by and handling them is a new challenge. Business houses of all types and sizes depend on external experts, management consultants, who analyze the situation on hand and optimize the possible, profitable way ahead. This may include ways to improve the firm’s structure, efficiency and returns.

When fast growing companies in the small sector find it difficult to manage various aspects like inventory control, expenses and legal matters, they have two options to choose from, in order that they tide over the situation into a smooth settlement.

· They recruit managers with proven expertise
· They hire the services of external business management consulting agencies

The latter option always gives the firms the cost benefit over recruiting managers, without the long term commitment. Normally, small businesses are served by small consulting firms which range in size from a single practitioner firm to a team of professionals.

Why Large Corporations Hire Business Consultants?

The spread and expanse of large, multi billion dollar corporations involves operations in complex situations besides being engaged in a variety of transactions. They may not find it worthwhile doing onetime operations and tasks themselves. Here is a snapshot of other circumstances when large corporations engage management consulting firms.

1. Market researching and site selection for their offshore expansion plans to help make decision on a new venture.

2. Explore the possibilities of merger and acquisition of a firm engaged in the same line of business or a related one. And help complete the legal, corporate as well as financial formalities till end.

3. Fund raising through either of the IPO, private placement of instruments of investment or loans and venture capitals including fulfilling statutory requirements

Vertical and Horizontal Expertise of Business Management Consulting Firms

Barring a few large consulting firms, most of them specialize in particular lines of businesses. You might have heard of Public Issue Management firms or firms specializing in Market Research and Finance Management and so on. Such consulting firms can be termed as vertically specialized in their fields. Where as companies like the ones mentioned above, McKinsey & Company are experts in multiple areas of business conducting right from financial auditing to offshore acquisitions and can be termed as firms with horizontal specialization.

Business Management Consulting Firms, by their virtue of experience of having handled various situations will have a practical approach to problem solving. This is another plus in favor of them.

Why Financial Statements Are Important: A Beginner's Guide

Accounting is considered to be one of those complicated yet necessary chores that keep people's financial affairs relatively clean. For the beginner who is just getting started, the process may not be the first obstacle. Often, it is understanding the special language used by accountants and those that work around them. In other words, one must wade through the jargon in order to understand what's going on. The first step in gaining understanding of accounting is to break concepts down to one fundamental point: financial statements.

Corporations are extremely fond of financial statements – after all, they are required to have them. Financial statements are, in a broader sense, just timely statements of the financial situation of an organization. They hold companies accountable for how money is earned and spent, down to the very last detail. Financial statements are often audited by external auditors to ensure that the company is handling records properly. This also confirms to third parties that the company is displaying a fair and balanced view of the organization's position. These are also called “cash flow statements”. Like most financial concepts, financial statements can be broken down into several smaller concepts. They are: balance sheets, cash flow statements, and profit and loss accounts.

Cash flow statements is another term for financial statements, but a little more specific. This statement shows exactly where the money goes – how it was made, where it was made, and most importantly, how was it spent. A business, after all, has many areas where money flows in and out: operating activities, investing activities, financing activities.

To clarify, operating activities are the daily internal business a company relies on to survive. This may include, but is not limited to: collecting money from customers, paying employees and vendors, interest and taxes, or even revenue from interest payouts. Investing activities are generally investments made by the company to fund purchases of equipment. Finally, financing activities are those that affect the flow of money directly, such as the sale of common stock or adjustments in long or short-term loans.

These calculations are then used to find the total increase (or decrease) in cash and investments. Fluctuations in operations, investing, or financing affect cash flow. This is called the “net change” in cash and marketable securities. From here, these calculations are checked against the balance sheet.

Wait, a balance sheet? Isn't that what we just did, balance?

No. A balance sheet sums up a company's assets, liabilities, and value at a certain point in time. Investors look to the balance sheet to determine a company's value based on what the company owns and what they owe to external sources. The amount of money invested by the shareholders affects company value in this way as well. The balance sheet follows a specific formula, where assets equal liabilities plus shareholder's equity. It is called a balance sheet because the two sides must balance out; after all, a company must pay for assets by either borrowing the money directly, or through shareholders. The balance sheet is clearly a great source of financial information on a company.

The last line of defense, the profit and loss account, shows the activities of a company during a period of time. This differs from the balance sheet in that a profit and loss account serves as a log of a company's activities over a period of time, while the balance sheet is just the financial position at a specific moment in time. Some value the profit and loss account over the balance sheet, as it marks a longer stretch of time than the balance sheet does.

Once broken down into parts, financial statements are not such a hard topic to handle, even for a beginner. Financial statements expose the practices of a company – while one does not get a specific blueprint of how a company makes or loses money, the end results are clearly displayed for people to see.

Why Flogging Dead Horses Stinks

Flogging a dead horse is a commonly used idiom here in the UK. If someone is trying to convince someone else to do or feel something without any hope of succeeding, we say they're flogging a dead horse. This is used when someone is trying to raise interest in an issue that no-one supports anymore; beating a dead horse will not make it do any more work. 1. Similarly, the tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that, "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount." Rather than seeing a situation for what it is far too many individuals, businesses, public service and government organisations prefer to live in denial rather than accept the wisdom of the Dakota Indians. Instead, it seems people just love to develop alternative strategies for flogging dead horses. Taken from various articles and blogs currently on the Internet here are just a few suggestions:

• The horse isn’t really dead, we just need a better whip
• It’s not the horse it’s the rider that’s at fault
• If you don’t get up you’re sacked, Silver!
• Commission a study of how other companies ride their dead horses
• Lower the horse’s productivity standards
• Reclassify the dead horse as ‘life challenged’
• Hire a top management consultancy to tell you that the horse is dead without telling you where to buy a new one or how much it might cost
• Improve pay, conditions and training to increase your dead horse’s performance
• Produce a report that highlights the fact that dead horses incur fewer costs
• Rewrite the expected performance requirements for all life challenged equines
• Promote the dead horse to boardroom level or put it out to pasture while paying it a huge golden hoof-shake – sorry, that’s just horse manure.

Strangely enough, those people who believe that the past is an accurate barometer of future events are the very same people who possess an alarming tendency towards flogging dead horses. If it worked yesterday and it works today then it’ll surely work tomorrow. It’s this sort of linear thinking that gets horses killed in the first place. These equine assassins tend to view the future as a predetermined event, waiting just over the horizon to happen. Of course, the truth is very different.

For one thing, while most people would accept that we share a common reality, such as general social norms of behaviour, essentially we all see the world slightly differently. My view of the world is coloured, filtered and distorted by my own personal experiences to a greater or lesser extent. For example, while a furniture manufacturer regards trees as a raw material and resource, the environmentalist treasures them as the “lungs of the planet” to be protected at all costs.  Each sees a valid aspect of a much bigger, more complex system at work in the world.

And so it’s easy to see how problems and misunderstandings can occur when one vision of the world clashes with another. This is bad enough when just confined to the realm of our personal relationships, but can be absolutely disastrous in terms of business, religion and politics. Taking the narrow or institutional view of the world rather than learning to appreciate the bigger picture always limits the options available, and blinds people to both hazards and solutions.

Not convinced? Still think it’s better to flog a dead horse than dismount? Okay, how about this for a bit of disastrous institutional thinking: 2. In September 1944, at the battle to capture the Arnhem bridge over the river Rhine (the last phase of operation Market-Garden), the British First Airborne Division landed with the wrong radio crystals. This technical oversight meant the Paras at Arnhem couldn't communicate with the outside world, or their relief column, XXX Corp, just a few miles away at Nijmegen. As anyone who has seen the movie “A Bridge Too Far” will know the Paras were isolated, heavily engaged in bitter fighting against superior numbers, had limited resources, and were surprised to find that many of them had been dropped in the wrong place to start with.

Lack of communication between the scattered elements of the First Airborne and XXX Corp proved critical in the battle’s decision. However, while the battle raged, members of the Dutch resistance in Arnhem routinely talked with their counterparts in Nijmegen. The civil telephone system remained intact. The Germans didn’t think to cut the telephone lines while the British paratroopers never thought to simply knock on someone’s door, ask if the telephones were working and make a call to Nijmegen.

To the rigid corporate mind of the British and German armies the battlefield had been defined outside the civilian infrastructure. The Dutch underground assumed the paratroopers were talking to each other and Nijmegan by radio, and so didn’t think to mention the telephone system was operational. At Nijmegan, Dutch intelligence about the unfolding disaster at Arnhem was largely ignored or discredited as unreliable, as no-one at XXX Corp realised the Dutch possessed an open channel of communication. Instead of ending the war by Christmas of 1944, the Allies suffered a humiliating defeat and the war went on until the following May – and all for the want of a horse-shoe nail.

The ability to deny what is glaringly obvious, and do nothing, or support a position against all evidence to the contrary is a common human failing. However, thankfully, learning organisations are springing up everywhere; challenging the status quo; adapting to rather than denying or avoiding critical situations and issues. 3. A learning organisation is one that learns and encourages learning among its people. It promotes a continual exchange of information between employees hence creating a more knowledgeable workforce. This produces a very flexible organisation where people will accept and adapt to new ideas and changes through a shared vision. Perhaps, eventually, we’ll all learn that when we discover we’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy really is to dismount.

Sources:
1. www.stuartbruce.biz 2. www.marketgarden.com 3. www.infed.org

Why High Risk Lead To High Gain?

There are many myths and facts about investing. Some pseudo facts are that, high return investments are risky and low risk investments are safe. The truth is, there isn’t any exact curve that’ll give risks as a function of return. Low return investments can be very risky too when fraud happens, for example.

However, the pseudo fact that risk correlates with return have some truth in it. You need to understand what causes it.

Money doesn’t make money. People make money. Someone else will have to work on that money so the money can produce more money. Let’s call those people workers. Workers here include CEOs, Entrepreneurs, all the way to blue collar workers. Those workers organize various resources, including your money and themselves to maximize their yield.

How much each worker gets depend on supply and demand. Currently, due to centuries of prosecution and genocide, people that are risk taking enough to be entrepreneurs, or love to learn enough to be CEOs are under represented in the gene pool.

The market values the rare. So entrepreneurs and CEOs tend to get paid way higher salary than blue collar workers, which are often investors. The commies, realizing that, switches side by supporting the interests of capital owners against workers’ interest by demanding lower CEOs salary.

Here, investors are those who just put their money and do nothing else for the business. If you invest in your business then you are both investors and workers. Your return as an investor is the amount of profit that the workers are willing to share you. For simplicity sake, let’s just say that the business is already established with constant revenue.

Say the business earns $100,000.00 a year. Now, the total assets of the business might only be worth $100,000.00. So in a sense, the workers in that business just get 100% ROI per year right? However, even though the total assets of the business are only $100,000.00, the business isn't worth $100,000.00. Any business that yields $100,000.00 per year must be worth $500,000.00 at least.

Here’s the catch. Why in the earth are workers willing to sell their businesses to you for a mere $100,000.00? Just like workers have market value, money’s salary has market value too. We call it interest rate. The workers know that it’s good enough for you to get 20% ROI per year.

Hence, he’s not going to sell the business to you for $100,000.00. He’s going to sell the business to you for $500,000.00. If you pay $100,000.00 he’ll only agree to give you 20% of his business. You see. In a sense, business ventures do not follow the pseudo fact mantra of “High risk high gain low risk low gain.” The risk and the gain depend on the skills of the entrepreneurs and not on those curves.

However, when offers come to potential investors, that mantra is used by workers to decide the ROI they feel the investor deserves. If the entrepreneurs realize that they their business is quite safe, he’ll simply give investors low ROI. And that’s how the low risk low gain high risk high gain mantra becomes a reality in the point of view of investors.

Exceptions to the Norm

If a woman works as a stripper, and gets paid, what’s her ROI? Given that she’s working on a job that absolutely needs no capital and she gets some money then the ROI is infinite right? I would disagree. You need to take into account her beauty, her boobs size, her sexiness, and her young age as assets too. We can think of the value of the assets as how much we’re willing to pay her as a slave. In that case, the ROI is not really infinite. I think it’s not much higher than typical ROI. You’ll see more of it when discussing ones’ worth.

Ones’ own business can be thought of as an investment. You can buy a product for $10,000 and sell it for $16,000 and get 60% return within a month for example. Is it risky? No. many people do it every month. However, in a sense, it’s not really an investment. If it is, we would have been a billionaire by just keeping on reinvesting. It’s business. It’s investment that we have to work for. In a sense, the real ROI is not really 60% per month because the business it self has a market value. Just to let you know that with some work, you can indeed get 60% return on some of your money.

However, you got to work on that money rather than just fire and forget. Hence, it’s not an investment. It’s more of a job like that of a stripper.

Savvy businessmen get huge return and do no work. In that sense, you simply need to recompute the real value of his business. So in a sense, that’s not investments either because he can’t simply enlarge his earning by infusing more money. The market value of his business is so huge. If you take into account the fair market value of his business as capital and profit as interest, you can get the ROI by dividing the profit with the fair market value. In that case, the ROI will usually drop to the standard amount again.

And then there are risks that’s inherent not in the investment but in you. For example, investing offshore tends to be less risky than investing in your own country. Why? Well, you’ll never know when the next time you bump into some frivolous lawsuits, or have some religious fanatic committing sweeping against your shops. The places where you live are the places you often end up fighting others. We’ll talk about it more when we talk about offshore investing.

Some investing is quite bad. Putting money in the bank can often yield so little return that the return is actually less than the inflation rate. That means you actually lost money every year. In a sense that’s risky too because you’re guaranteed to lose your money every year. How’s that for low risk low yield. However, people do put their money in the bank for the liquidity and to balance the risks on other investments.

Manipulating Yield and Risk

Risk and yield can be manipulated. For the same yield, investors can get less risk by diversifying his money. However, the process is cumbersome. Such processes turn investing into another business again. For the same risk, or for a very low risk, investor can increase yield by leveraging his money with borrowed money. This is usually done in real estate industry. Banks realized that land value are quite stable and hence are usually willing to lend money to land banking industry than most others.

Why Hiring a Virtual Assistant Makes Good Business Sense

The constant ringing of telephones and a somehow mountainous pile of paper work can slow down even the most organized start-up business or entrepreneurial venture. Yet for many, the cost of hiring a full-time Administrative Support Assistant is prohibitive and, for many people, simply impractical. Very few start-up businesses have the resources to pay employee related expenses such as vacation pay, health insurance, retirement benefits, etc. Ignoring the never-ending stack of paperwork could result in holding back your new business before it has even started.

 A possible solution could be to hire a Virtual Administrative Support Assistant. More and more people are turning to these highly skilled e-professionals for help.

 A Virtual Administrative Support Assistant (V.A.) is an experienced executive assistant who has their own business, with her/his own fax machines, computers, scanners and telephone lines, not to mention a wide array of popularly used software programs, resources and skill.

 She or he can do secretarial and clerical duties including but not limited to: basic record keeping, database and contact management, keeping your website sparkly and up-to-date, calling your clients and confirming appointments, not to mention the hundreds of other useful tasks that can be lifted from your fingers into able bodied hands. But perhaps most important of all, she can do these things with the highest professional ethics and skill without ever stepping into your office.

 The V.A. has materialized as a result of a corporate downsizing, economic feasibility and the lure and attractiveness of many e-workers and e-entrepreneurs that enjoy the freedom of working out of their own office space.

 As more and more people have become self employed, developments in telecommunications have allowed them the ability to accomplish a vast amount of work from an off-site location.

 Apart from taking on your administrative overload, the V.A. can help promote your corporate creed, philosophy and image to clients, lending a professional stability that may otherwise be lacking. If you have V.A.'s in several time zones, you can have true 24/7 support for your company.

 Support such as this is especially important in the growth phase of the company, when the business is trying to get off the ground, and bringing in new sales is vital, at a fraction of the conventional cost of a full time administrator.

 Should you think about hiring a V.A.? If you are an entrepreneur, are self-employed or do not have the resources to justify an office with a full-time Support Assistant... than yes, possibly you should! People who hire V.A.'s are often people who are consistently traveling, or who need to have someone maintaining their business concerns while they are away or who are otherwise occupied, i.e.: Stockbrokers, Real Estate Agents, Coaches, Consultants, Salespersons and Motivational Speakers all commonly utilize the power of Virtual Assistants.

 The number of new V.A.'s grows every day, largely due to the increased presence of trade organizations that aim to benchmark and solidify the V.A. field.

 Many V.A.'s have the ability to service clients worldwide, so if your company has a London, Chicago and Manila office, you can have high quality administrative support in all locations!

 So, it makes sense to consider out-sourcing much of your administrative overload to a Virtual Assistant.

Taryn Merrick, Owner
Merrick Management And Media Services
www.merrickmgt.com  /  taryn@merrickmgt.com

Why Incorporate Your Business?

Entrepreneurs embark on costly business ventures without first looking into the form of business that would be most suitable for them given their business experience and financial capability. Deciding on what legal form your venture is going to take will spell the difference when you experience difficulty in your business later on.

A businessman can choose from different business forms including sole or single proprietorship, partnership or a corporation. Each of these legal forms has their own advantages and disadvantages and a businessman should be well aware of their implications on his business venture.

Sole proprietorship is the easiest business venture to put up because you only have yourself to disagree with. This means you can go ahead with whatever plans you have and you can implement them anytime. It means that when your venture succeeds then you will reap all the financial rewards of your business. The sad fact is that this can also be a disadvantage since it can also mean that you will shoulder all the losses if the business fails.

A partnership will do well for business ventures that require more capital and more skills and expertise. You and your partner can concentrate on the different aspects of the business depending on your skills and talents. A partnership form of business means both you and your partner get to share your financial earnings and losses. However, there could be a problem if the business acquires debts because your creditors can run even after your personal money and not just after the capital infused into the business.

The most ideal, although complicated, type of doing business is the corporation. Incorporating your business would mean bringing in other people to the business. This would mean no decision can be reached without the agreement of the majority of the Board of Directors. The good thing about a corporation is the availability of vast financial resources for the business.

A corporation is a distinct legal entity from its incorporators and shareholders so that in case the business incurs debts, the share or stockholders will only answer for the debts depending on the shares they have in the corporation. This is called the theory of limited liability. The creditors will no longer have any right to seek payment from the personal finances of the stockholders.

A business can start as a sole proprietorship but the owner can chose to incorporate the business later as it grows. True, there are more documentation requirements for incorporating a business but the advantages of incorporating a business far outweigh the disadvantages.

Why Is It So Difficult To Collect Timesheets?

It’s an all too familiar story:  It’s Friday afternoon, and you need to finish your accounts and get those invoices out so you can stay in control of your cash flow.  You look over your staff timesheets and see that, as you predicted, many of your staff haven’t submitted them yet.  You chase them up, only to find out that one of your staff is at a meeting at a client site and cannot be contacted, and a couple more have already left for the weekend.  Then there are those that have to be told three times to do their timesheets.  How are you supposed to cope with this and still have time to run your business?

There are a number of methods to deal with this type of situation when it occurs.  There is always the possibility that you will find yourself in this situation even with the very best of planning, so you need to have some kind of coping strategy.  Here are a few coping mechanisms that you can use:

1 – Wait until next week to do your invoicing.  This method is probably the easiest solution to handle from an accounting point of view, and it means you can go home early too!  However, if you are currently struggling with cash flow this may not be an option.

2 – Send out your invoices today and add the missing timesheets to future invoices.  There are many reasons not to do this, as it can create difficulty with administration, and it can also confuse your clients.  However, if you are strapped for cash, it may be the best option.

That being said, the best way to handle these situations is to plan ahead so that they never occur.  Here are a number of proven methods that you can use to get those timesheets in more painlessly:

1 – Make timesheets due days (or weeks) before the it’s time to send out the invoices, and check to make sure you have received them well in advance of needing them to do the billing.  While this may sound obvious, you’d be surprised at how many businesses have difficulty achieving this.

2 – Delegate the task of collecting timesheets to a staff member you trust.  This will allow you to spend more time on what you are good at; running your business.

3 – Provide an incentive for staff to submit their timesheets by a certain time.  By far the most effective method of doing this is to “link” the collection of timesheets with the payroll.  Not the nicest way to go about it, but you’ll probably never see another late timesheet!

 4 – Automate the process as much as possible.  If you have a lot of traveling staff, make it possible for them to submit their timesheets via email.  You can also put systems in place to automatically email staff to request missing timesheets.


If you require a reasonable level of detail in your timesheets, you will generally benefit from implementing a time tracking software solution.  Staff can have a program that is installed on their computers and is easy to use, allowing them to enter timesheet information easily while they work.  Some time tracking packages will also automate the process of timesheet submission and will link directly to your accounting software, making life easier for everyone.

The key to the success of any time tracking system is for it to be an integrated part of the corporate culture.  Hence, staff should be informed that part of their job description includes the submission of timesheets by the deadlines.  If you can get staff to create their timesheets while they work and submit the daily, it will be easier for both staff and manager.

Timesheets are an important but much overlooked aspect of running a successful business.  With the right planning and systems in place, timesheet creation and collection can be painlessly integrated into the day-to-day operation of your organization.

Why it is Important to Enable End Users in Project Management Software

By: Lawrence Calmus

Choosing The Right Business Path

Technology advances at such a rapid rate that with each passing day it seems to only go faster. Business professionals strive to choose the best tools to efficiently manage and execute projects.   With technology moving so fast, there is no time to go down the wrong path. Once on a familiar path, one can continue with confidence.   The biggest fear is starting off on the wrong path.  There is a simple guideline for determining the correct path and it is this – empowering the end user. End users are their own experts, so the more ability you give them to control their tools the more they will feel comfortable with any given product.

The Current Situation

We live in a time of technology when access to tools has exceeded political boundaries. The Internet and the World Wide Web are part of a user-driven force that is affecting everything in society. Entertainment has become decentralized. We can download songs, which means we do not have to go to the concerts; we can download a movie, which means we do not have to go to the theater. We are in fact becoming a world of Do It Yourselfers who expect user-driven tools.  The last thing we want is for our tools to drive us.

Technology is always somewhere between the center point and the perimeter.
End users towards the perimeter have greater control over their tools and the systems they use, whereas end users towards the center have little or no input. They must follow the dictates of the tool’s designer.

Some History

In the past, when you wanted to place a call you gave the operator the number and the call was put through for you. Today we dial directly. We still purchase newspapers and read what the editor laid out for us. But now we can go to Digg.com and see what the readers think should be on the front page. Technology seems to be moving us away from the center and out towards the perimeter. Kodak built a business on developing film, whereas the digital camera allows us as many shots as we want followed by all the manipulation of the image cared for.

Design For The Perimeter

By its nature, technology is moving away from the center towards the perimeter. End users are empowered to not only do more things, but to have those things feed back into the system and affect end results.  The success of a new piece of technology or business is based on a wide number of factors, but empowering your users rather than trying to overpower them truly provides the best foundation.


Interneer Intellect: Project Management Software that empowers the end user.

In the realm of project management software, systems such as Interneer Intellect are built on this concept.  Interneer Intellect allows the administrative user to actually design the templates and workflows that project executers see.  The entire project management process is guided and designed by the project managers themselves, without hard coding.  This is a major breakthrough for project management software.

Most systems trap the end user into attempting to execute unique and often complicated projects with the limited functionality of pre-designed templates.  If the business then wants to change the program to reflect the types of projects they run the system must be programmed, costing unnecessary amounts of time and money.

Interneer Intellect empowers the end users to design, manage and execute every project in the most effective way possible.

This invaluable feature has convinced enterprises like Bose, Boeing, Verizon and Harman International to turn to this tool for their project management needs.

Why My Cat Won't Attend Meetings

It was part of her job - to attend meetings held without an agenda. Now, after attending a few, she refuses to attend. Here's why.

1) No one asks her to help.

Olivia always comes prepared to be part of the action. She puts on her best fur, fluffs up her whiskers, and sharpens her claws. But people treat her as if she's just a cute little pet. Sometimes they don't even notice her when she enters the room. As you might expect, she gets mad when people ignore her. So she takes a nap.

2) It's difficult to nap.

Usually, only a few people talk. But they use loud voices. While this seems to scare the other attendees into silence, it still makes it hard to sleep. She especially dislikes jokes because they cause an outburst of laughter, and that jolts her awake. Certainly, no one likes to be awakened by a loud noise.

3) They don't take breaks.

Olivia detests lengthy marathon meetings that go on and on without a break. She wonders if any of the people in these meetings were ever shown how to care for their basic comfort. When I suggested that she ask them to set up a litter box, Olivia curtly told me that she prefers a little privacy.

4) The attendees behave like mice.

Every cat knows that if you want to catch something, you have to watch it. But people in meetings have an attention span that would embarrass a mouse. They dart and dash about, nibbling on everything without focusing on anything. It makes her nervous to watch them.

5) They drop what they catch.

Cats know that once you catch something, you bring it home. After all, that's why you caught it. But people drop an idea and rush off to talk about something else. They don't even play with it. Olivia wonders if they know they caught something.

By the way, what are your meetings like?

You can meet Olivia at: http://www.stevekaye.com/staff-olivia.htm

Why Should I Use Electronic Signatures?

This is a rational question with rational answers, but not everyone has the time or the tenacity to sit down and read the Electronic Signatures In Global and National Commerce Act (“ESIGN”), Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (“UETA”) or the stacks of other regulations and guidance that make this technology not only legal, but also stress the vital importance of adopting electronic signature technologies.

Today the average American office worker consumes (12,000) pieces of paper a year, with an average annual printing expense per employee ranging from $600-$2000. Storing paper and retrieving stored paper is also quite costly. The U.S. government estimates that (1 Lbs) of paper costs ($19) a year to store and manage.  At that rate, assuming your business stores only 60% of the paper printed by your employees, your business is spending $1,500 annually per employee on paper storage alone.

There are obvious other costs associated with paper, for example the costs associated with faxing, shipping, receiving and time factors such as waiting for a job to finish printing or waiting on a package to arrive. In the end all businesses feel these costs, but most look at it as a fixed cost of doing business. In reality this is a variable cost of doing business based on old fashioned processes, and the United States government along with virtually every other developed country has passed legislation and regulations encouraging businesses to change the way they do business today, and take advantage of new legal and secure alternatives.

All businesses are looking for a competitive edge, and electronic signature technologies can and will play a vital role in helping businesses find and achieve this competitive edge. Look at the simple cost savings your business can achieve by eliminating some of the hard and soft costs mentioned above. (1) Gigabyte (“GB”) of hard drive space costs ($.50), and this (1) GB of storage will store (100,000) pages of single spaced text. This is the equivalent of ($19,000) of storage savings, ($11,000) of printing savings, and countless savings on time and miscellaneous expenses. Using electronic signature technologies will allow your business to send the previously printed materials securely and immediately to anyone anywhere in the world. Once they receive the file the recipient can legally electronically sign the file, which allows your business to act immediately, and never wait for a package to arrive from the client or prospect again.

This simple process will have wide ranging effects on your business, and the businesses you work with. Sales and production cycles will be shortened, employees will be more efficient, and complying with strict federal and state guidelines will become increasingly easier as your business processes move toward electronic communications and storage.

In the end the decision is not whether to move to an electronic format, but which format is right for your business. Some may feel that electronic signatures are too expensive or complex to implement into their business, but this is no longer the case. There are several pay-as-you-go services on the market today that will allow you to send files and capture secure and legal electronic signatures regardless of your budget. For larger corporations these pay-as-you-go services offer fast, affordable convenience, and in many cases these services offer better options and are easier to use than large and complex in-house solutions.

You can do a Google or Yahoo search to find a list of electronic signature service providers, and determine which one is right for you. There is also a helpful competition analysis put together by PrivaSign.com, which you can review at https://privasign.com/esign-competition-analysis.asp. Have fun and explore all of your options. The goal should be to become more efficient, and during this process your business will certainly save money, become more productive and save time.

Why Team Building Is Vital to Your Success

Great teamwork is one of the most important keys to your company’s success. The more harmoniously people work together, the better it is for your company. Teamwork is the way that things get done these days – and if you don’t have a cohesive team, you’re seriously handicapping your company out in the marketplace. According to Wikipedia, team building is necessary for success because it’s unnatural for people to come together in a new group and immediately begin to get along. Throughout history, building a team has been the function of shared experiences and history. When that experience and history is lacking, it’s difficult for a group to share a common vision and goal, or to function together in a way that promotes the best qualities of each team participant. In other words – to function as a team.

Getting your employees to stop thinking of each other as competitors and start working as a team isn’t quite as easy as it sounds, but it is vital if you want to be a powerful force in your business. Among the advantages of team building are the following:

1. Teams are more successful in implementing complex plans and strategies. Because you can split the work into responsibility areas, a team can tackle more complex projects more efficiently than a group of individuals.

2. Teams come up with more creative solutions because they can network and brainstorm. When team members bounce ideas off of each other, they arrive at solutions that none would have evolved alone. As teams continue to work together, many of them find that their individual work benefits from their new ability to see things from other perspectives.

3. Teams build commitment to ideas and plans because they have ownership of the idea. When a team is involved in a project from the start, they are more likely to be committed to the ideals it represents.

4. Teams are more enduring than reliance on individuals. If you have one person who is responsible for a project, the loss of that person can cripple the project. When you rely on a team, the loss of one individual may be difficult, but the work of the team will continue.

5. Team building activities motivate your employees to deliver their very best effort on behalf of the team.

Why Team Building Weekends Fail (And How to Make Yours Succeed)

Somewhere in the world this afternoon, a group of office mates are strapping on safety equipment and preparing to scale the side of a cliff together. In another city, another group of mates is engaged in a retreat designed to foster their sense of teamwork. Late at night in yet another town, six men who usually compete in the office are cooperating on building a robot. What do they all have in common?

The phrase is team building, and it has come to represent a way of doing business that takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of each member of a workgroup. The basic concept of team building weekends is to bring a group of coworkers together and, by subjecting them to various hardships, events and activities, cement them into a team that supports each other and works together toward a common goal.

The only problem with that scenario is that all too often, it doesn't work. Once the group is back at the office, they fall back into the old ways of working and the team building weekend is no more than a fond memory. The problem is not in the concept of team building, but in the notion that it can be accomplished in a weekend, no matter what that weekend entails. It's not that team building weekends are a bad idea - it's that they're expected to do a job that should be undertaken in your office, every workday of the year. The purpose of a team building event should be to introduce, reinforce and reward, not to single-handedly forge a group of coworkers into a team. If it's used to replace the work your company (or you as a manager) should be doing every day, then you're missing out on some important points - and the major benefits of dragging everyone out of the office for a weekend of exhilirating and challenging activities.

So how do you forge the bonds of a team if not by dipping them into the crucible of a team building weekend? In simple street terms, you can't just talk the talk - you have to walk the walk. If you want your staff to believe they're a team and function as a team, then you have to treat them as a team - and yourself as an important member of it.

- Communication is the key to building a team.
o- The single biggest mistake that 'management' makes is failure to communicate. Your company doesn't have to be an open book to all employees, but sharing goals and intentions gives employees a sense that they are a part of a larger team working toward a specific purpose.

- Build teamwork into the work flow.
o- In order to work as a team, people need to be treated as one. Start each project with a team conference to define and refine goals. Create a central 'lounge' area where team members are comfortable grabbing coffee in the morning - and taking a few moments to catch up on things together. Hold regular team meetings where team members can report progress and delays so that no one feels left out of the loop.

- Make recognition of achievement a priority.
o- Recognizing achievement is important to reinforcing the team feeling. It needn't be formal - in fact, informal and unexpected recognition can be very potent. A word in passing in the hallway, a moment taken to pass on praise from a client while having a cup of coffee, a casual 'great work on that proposal, guys' at the end of a meeting are all part of the teamwork frame.

- Make time to play as a team, too.
o- Whether the play is a softball team, a bowling league or a semi-annual weekend where the team members can really stretch their wings, teams work best when they have something in common besides their work. A trek up a snowy mountainside builds shared memories that help cement the bonds that have formed throughout the year.

Why Training Fails

Sometimes when I conduct my workshop on Effective Meetings, one of the participants will ask, "Where's my boss?"

And I say, "Your boss claimed to be an expert on holding effective meetings."

Then the person laughs. "My boss needs to attend your workshop more than anyone in our company. And without our manager's support, no one will use this."

This is bad because if no one uses the ideas presented in a workshop, the client will conclude that training doesn't work. And then the company might abandon all training.

Here are three important issues that determine the effectiveness of training.

1) People follow the leader. Any training program will be more successful if management supports it. This is why I always involve top executives in planning my workshops. I also ask them to attend. And I recommend follow-up sessions to review the material covered in the workshop. In fact, I only work with people who value and support learning.

Training has earned a bad reputation because many programs were just thrown over the fence at employees who were sent to be fixed. It's unlikely that any training program conducted under these conditions will accomplish much.

> Key Point: Gain management support before scheduling any training program.

2) Each of us has control over our area of responsibility. And each of us lives in the environment that we create.

The participant mentioned above can still conduct effective meetings, even if top management continues to hold bad meetings. In fact, someone who demonstrates sound leadership by holding effective meetings could end up replacing the boss who holds bad meetings.

There are two parts to every learning experience. The first part involves mastering new skills. The second (and critical) part involves choosing to use them.

> Key Point: You can be an effective leader even when others aren't.

3) Some people play make-believe. Many years ago I received an evening phone call from a colleague who wanted to know if I could recommend a good book on how to hold effective meetings. It seems this person was scrambling to find material for a workshop that was scheduled to start the next morning.

You will learn more from an expert, rather than from someone who is delivering a book report. In this case, I recommended either of the two books that I had written on how to hold effective meetings.

Many companies hire trainers who build training programs based on books that they read. And some entrepreneurs agree to speak on topics that are purely academic for them. The best trainers ARE the message, which means that they live and breathe and use what they teach. They can answer any questions, meet any needs, and help with any situations that the participants may bring up. They truly know their topic.

> Key Point: Hire a trainer who wrote the book instead of one who (you hope) read a book.

Any training program can succeed, if delivered to people who want to improve by an expert who can show them how.

Why Try Factoring?

When you engage in factoring or selling your accounts receivable, you're accepting less money for an asset than you might expect to get for it. But there are great reasons for factoring and here are 10 of them:

1. The ready cash you'll get by factoring will help your company to grow. If you have $2000 ready cash in the bank, but you've invoiced for $100,000 down the line this will lead to $75,000. Think about it: the ability to hire more necessary staff, buy needed equipment, and have stock on hand could make a real difference to your business.

2. Ready cash can help you pay your suppliers sooner, helping you negotiate discounts and have a larger credit line than you had before.

3. Factoring your current invoices gives you the capital to take on large, deadline-oriented contracts and orders that you'd otherwise have to pass up because of slow cash flow.

4. Those large accounts are worth money. Having cash on hand now allows you to offer longer payment terms to the new large accounts.

5. Out of marketing comes business. With ready cash you can get from factoring, you can buy billboards, newspaper and radio ads, and even have direct mail campaigns for those timely marketing campaigns.

6. If you've invoiced too much and now are finding yourself in a cash crunch, factoring will help you to meet your current expenses right away, reducing the chance of not being able to pay your bills. Nothing is worse for your company than not meeting payroll; you lose your best employees, and the ones who stay are probably going to be seeking other employment.

7. You can improve your balance sheet with working capital without incurring debt.

8. Pay off limited lines of credit, or lines of credit that are costing you too much in interest and fees.

9. Factoring out slow debts allows you to skip the unpleasantness of making payment collection calls; instead, the factoring company does this for you.

10. If you factor out part of your accounts receivable, the factoring company will give you a free analysis and comparison of what payment terms and credit amounts your customers really qualify for. This is invaluable information for conducting business in the future.

In addition to these ten great reasons to try factoring your accounts, there are a few reasons never to factor your accounts. If you're concerned about late and slow payments without a good reason such as; you've given a thirty-day due date to someone and they take forty days to pay, then factoring is not a good idea. Instead, you should change your business practices to give a shorter due date. If you think your customer won't pay, factoring their invoice out is dishonest, and will win you no points with a factoring company. Do you really want to ensure you have a bad reputation with people who trust you with a large amount of their capital?

If you're in a dispute with a customer and you decide factoring out your invoice is a way out, you're wrong. The customer could simply refuse to pay the factoring company and then sue you, or worse, tell everyone else what a horrible company you run. Face your disputes head on. If you are dissatisfied with the customer, don't do business with them again.

Factoring to sustain a non-profitable business without some hope of profitability in the future is a sure way to drive your self into bankruptcy. Instead, you should let your business die a dignified death. Factoring so that you can remove cash from your business is a bad idea, akin to taking out a dozen credit cards so you'll have money now. When you engage in factoring, you're essentially agreeing to a profit loss; you should only do this if you stand to make more money in the long run.

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 says, "I named my dog Budget because 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?

Everyone knows that misbehavior can ruin a meeting. It wastes everyone's time and squanders the opportunity to produce useful results.

Here are some possibilities.

1) They're uninformed

Many people do not know how to plan, conduct, or participate in a meeting. They think that gathering people in a conference room represents holding a meeting. They believe that planning is unnecessary because they expect everyone to arrive with a common agenda. They think that hosting a discussion actually leads to useful results. These well-meaning attempts at holding a meeting are so counterproductive that they can appear to be misbehavior. In addition, a bad meeting irritates others, causing them to retaliate with misbehavior.

Better: Show people how to plan and conduct meetings. Teach them how to use process tools that help people make methodical progress toward results. Schedule a workshop that shows people how to plan and lead meetings.

2) They're bored

Many meetings occur with a few people talking while the rest watch. When this happens, the quiet participants entertain themselves by daydreaming, starting side conversations, or working on other tasks (such as preparing lists of things to do once the meeting finally ends). People with extensive experience in bad meetings have learned how to feign credible interest while being mentally absent.

Better: Plan activities that involve everyone. Avoid relying on discussion for your meeting because it allows the more vocal attendees to dominate.

3) They're mad

People can be mad for many reasons, such as they feel trapped in an unplanned meeting or they disagree with the results being obtained. They could also feel mad if others are preventing them from participating.

People know that a meeting without an agenda will waste their time, and they resent this. For example, a man once told me that he and his friends would "sandbag" any meeting that was called without an agenda. They made inappropriate comments, introduced distracting considerations, and asked pointless questions. Of course, they acted with such professional sincerity that it seemed that they were being productive instead of disruptive.

Better: Always prepare an agenda. Always contact key participants before the meeting to explain their role and to check if they are prepared for the meeting.

4) They disagree

Meetings are an excellent activity to resolve disagreements. However, if people disagree with the issue, the process, or the results AND are unable to exert influence, they will rebel. This rebellion will appear as misbehavior in the meeting or (worse) sabotage after the meeting.

Better: Use process tools in the meeting that involve all of the participants. Always contact key participants before holding a meeting on a controversial issue. Use these conversations to listen to their views, explain the goals for the meeting, and promote your intent for a fair resolution. Make sure that you seek a "Both/And" result instead of an "Either/Or" result so that everyone gets what they need.

5) They misunderstand

Sometimes people misunderstand expectations. For example, an executive was surprised by the negative comments, ridicule, and hostility that occurred during his first staff meeting with a new group. After some investigation, he learned that his predecessor openly criticized and ridiculed people. Thus, this was the behavior that the staff had learned to emulate. The executive fixed this by a) stating new expectations, b) coaching key offenders, and c) setting an example of respectful conduct.

Better: Cultural management is a primary leadership responsibility. Demonstrate the type of behavior that you want for productive meetings and provide private corrective feedback to those who misbehave.

An effective meeting is a team activity conducted by a fair process that involves everyone. People respect this approach and will make positive contributions because they know that such a meeting represents a good use of their time.