Are Your Marketing Pieces Up to Date? (13 Jun 2006) Our businesses are constantly changing and so are the ways we present ourselves. Keep on top of these important marketing concepts and avoid last minute hassles.
Are Your Meetings Smart? (13 Jun 2006) Don't let time wasting meetings rob you of your productivity. You can do something about it -- now.
Argue Your Way To Business Success (13 Jun 2006) "Jack" (not his real name) is a vice president of a publicly traded company. Recently, Jack's stress and anxiety levels have been high enough to impact both his working and his personal lives. (I'm using an alias because he's concerned about his story becoming public … for good reason!)
Assertive Communication - 6 Tips For Effective Use (13 Jun 2006) Assertiveness is a useful communication tool. It's application is contextual and it's not appropriate to be assertive in all situations. Remember, your sudden use of assertiveness may be perceived as an act of aggression by others. There's also no guarantee of success, even when you use assertive communication styles appropriately. Here's some useful guidelines to ensure your successful use of an assertive communication style.
Assessing Managers for International Competence (13 Jun 2006) How do you select staff for international assignments? It's an important question because, no matter how effective and successful your employees may be at home, they cannot be guaranteed the same performance in a different culture—unless, that is, they can demonstrate some key competencies.
Auditing Improves Effective Planning (13 Jun 2006) The audit process is a valuable step for improvement. Auditor training will teach managers and executives how to improve the effectiveness of their management system, which is essential for ISO 9001 certification.
Avoiding The Sheep Dip (13 Jun 2006) Still sending your employees on training courses with little thought other than 'ticking that box'? Well, think carefully, it could be costing you thousands!
Balance Your Managerial Life (13 Jun 2006) We have only one life, but we live in three overlapping worlds—our business world,
our family world, and our other social world. Imagine bringing your spouse and kids
to a meeting with seven of your salespersonnel. Sitting off to your left, Miss Wright
asks the question on the minds of all her fellow sales colleagues, "Why did you bring
your family to our meeting today? Will they be playing any sort of role in our
discussion?" You simply respond, "No, they're just here so I can tend to their needs."
Balancing Power in Outsource Contract Agreements (13 Jun 2006) Balancing power between the contracting parties in an outsource agreement can be difficult. The concept of 'annexing' is proposed as a principle where both parties to the outsource contract become equally reliant upon the other. This concept ensures that a long term outsource contract will produce the best conditions for all parties involved.
Bar Charts Brought to Life: Index of Interactive Information for HTML and PDF (13 Jun 2006) Whether one is an unknown entrepreneur or Donald Trump, an elementary school teacher or a university president, a 6th grader researching other countries or a government leader visiting them, each person in any capacity has at least one thing in common: information.
Basic Management Skills - Relationships (13 Jun 2006) Recent studies have shown that industrial supervisors are working at less than 60 % of their potential. Basic management skills training is guaranteed to change all this and at such little cost.
Being a Great Boss (13 Jun 2006) Are you a great boss or one that employees love to hate. Being an effective leader doesn't really take a lot of effort.
Benefits of Virtual Assistance (13 Jun 2006) A virtual assistant is an individual who provides business services to other professionals. As a business owner, you can save time, money, and energy by hiring a virtual assistant. Best of all, you'll have more time to do what you do best - running a business!
Best Practices Plan: Dissemination of a Great Idea (13 Jun 2006) Developing a best practice is only the beginning. It has to be validated, communicated, and implemented for it to create positive change in your company. Here's how the process works and a few pitfalls to avoid.
Best Workplaces (13 Jun 2006) The Best Workplaces report (Financial Times, April 28, 2005) notes many factors in common with Managing Creativity and Innovation.
Better Management Performance - The Easy 3-Step Way (13 Jun 2006) Managers make three mistakes when they try to run businesses. They do too much, they don't trust their people and they don't have enough skills. Here we explore an easy 3-step process to get your business back on track and get a life.
Better Manager Skills - How to Learn (13 Jun 2006) When you first take over a department, expectations are usually high but operations are sometimes in disarray. The staff is disorganized, goals aren't being met, and hours are spent on unproductive tasks. Just when you think the company would never get on track, the CFO recommends that you learn more about something called operations assessment.