Bringing Quality to Life

When Dave Brubeck wrote Take Five, Columbia Records were not impressed and initially blocked its release. The song went on to become the first million-selling 'jazz' record and stayed in the charts for 15 weeks, possibly the only hit in a 5/4 time signature. The prime number 5 has a long history of significance; described by Pythagoras as "the number of man" due to the human being having five main senses, five main organs and five digits on each arm and limb.

But the significance of five doesn't stop there. There are the Five Classical Elements, the Five Basic Directions of Orientation, the Five Life Stages, the Five Oceans, the Five Virtues, the Five Stages of Spiritual Growth, the Five Buddhist Precepts and Stages of Meditation and the Five vows of Jainism - even The Ten Commandments were said to be presented to Moses in two stones of five. The Bahai scriptures talk of the Five Prophets, there are the Five Books of the Old Testament and there are of five lines in the musical stave.

• So in keeping with tradition the number 5 can be used to cover the following aspects of a business:

The 5 components (of a business management system)
The 5 conversations (of a business manager)
The 5 characteristics (of a business)

• Let's look at these groups in turn.

The 5 key components of an integrated business management system:
QMS quality management system
FMS financial management system
CSR corporate social responsibility (profile)
ISMS information security management system
PMS performance management system

Building a QMS using the traditional principles of quality management ensures that the system is centred round the market it operates in and facilitates a culture of continual improvement. Once this is embedded, an organisation can apply for an ISO 9001 quality certificate should they want to.

Building an ISMS using the key principles of information security ensures that the system is designed to protect the organisation's "CIA" - the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information - and doing that engenders 'a culture of privacy'. Once this is embedded, an organisation can apply for an ISO 27001 certificate to add further steel to its tender process.

A robust FMS is imperative of course, but one that not only covers the fundamentals such as payroll and invoicing but that also facilitates accurate reporting, analysis and forecasting. Finance managers with a broader business understanding - i.e. quality and operations management - tend to have more of an impact in the organisation.

A PMS underpins the other components by incorporating a competency framework, productive appraisals, 360 degree feedback and 'a coaching style of leadership' amongst department heads. Social Responsibility doesn't need to be created or established for it already exists in the hearts of every member of staff looking for meaning in their jobs and for a way to make a positive contribution. This just needs to be realised and encouraged.

CSR (ISO 26000) covers ethical business practices, contributions to community projects, the reduction of environmental impacts (ISO 14001), the management of health and safety (BS OHSAS 18001), and other causes that organisation wants to sponsor or get involved in. The aim is to get each component to harmonise and become fully integrated for maximum efficiency and so that there can be mutual learning from each component.

The 5 characteristics of a business:
If you go to a football match there is always a supporter who, in spite of watching the game for 60 minutes will lose track and ask "what's the score?". Similarly, you can run a company for a few years and easily lose track of where you are and where it is you are trying to go. Many companies conduct a self-assessment or audit to 'put a stake in the ground' and gauge where they are in terms of both business and quality management. The SCORE self-assessment tool is divided into the following categories:

Service - this category looks at the overall level of service perceived by the customer through the various access channels - i.e. the business website, the company switchboard, the complaints department and the various social media platforms. These interfaces can often provide the customer with an instant perception of how an organisation conducts its business, even if it does not represent the full picture.

Communication - this is specifically about the quality of conversations across the organisation - i.e. the way internal meetings are conducted, the way messages are communicated to staff, building relationships with suppliers, understanding the customer to effectively determine their needs and keeping in touch with all relevant parties during the relevant life stages of a project or sale.

Output - this is the end product (or 'specific service') provided to the client this is what ultimately determines whether the customer's needs have been met - it could be a car, a bottle of wine, a book, a data report, property, technical repairs, a maintenance contract etc. Two critical procedures must be in place: verification (checking that the output meets the input - i.e. the initial request or specifications) and validation (checking that the output is fit for purpose - i.e. does what the customers wants it to do.

Recruitment & Retention - this is about accurately identifying the type of staff required and the competencies they should have; an effective screening process that gets the right people in the right positions is essential and then following up with an on-going learning and development programme that keeps motivation levels up can be a deal-breaker in terms of sustained performance. As inappropriate leadership can chip away at the loyalty of talented people, department heads need the right kind of training before their direct reports become examples of bad management stories they tell later in their career.

Environment - this is about the infrastructure of the organisation - i.e. the performance of tools & equipment, IT systems, software etc.; it is also about the daily working environment - i.e. safe and tidy work areas, appropriate temperature levels and orderly filing systems. Humans not happy in their environment rarely work to their potential.

The 5 conversations of a business manager:

• Customer (determining their needs and making sure their needs are met)
• Learning (coaching, training and mentoring staff)
• Auditing ('improvement conversations' that check on quality levels)
• Strategic (short and long term planning)
• Supplier (evaluating, selecting and monitoring)

When we talk about ISO and 'systems' we run the risk of alienating people and turning business and quality management into a world full of rules and documentation. But ISO has changed a lot since the last quarter of the twentieth century, is now lighter in documentation and has a new focus on effective communication. Management for me is a series of effective conversations and the more productive that each conversation is the more productive the organisation will be. These conversations form into the above groups.

Conversations with customers begin with an accurate determination of their needs and their expectations and then to ensure that they are kept informed throughout the process so that their initial needs and expectations are ultimately met and hopefully exceeded.

Conversations with suppliers should start with the intention of generating something that is 'mutually beneficial' (one of the core quality management principles). From the customer's point of view this should incorporate evaluation, selection and monitoring to ensure that the supplier delivers something that supports the requirements of the end client.

For the business to become 'a learning organisation' it needs to hold meaningful and Learning conversations with staff by choosing the appropriate intervention; training (the passing of specific skills), mentoring (guidance from an experienced colleague) or coaching (facilitation with a view to greater levels of empowerment and accountability).

The organisation can also learn through its internal (and external) auditing programmes and should view these audits as Improvement conversations. Auditors can become the organisation's best friends by not only uncovering serious issues but by helping to determine the root causes of problems so that their recurrence can be prevented.

Strategic conversations are the conversations that define an organisation. If meetings amongst top management are allowed to become perfunctory and superficial reviews of meaningless data, opportunities to have creative and enterprising discussions can be lost. Sometimes quality needs to be 'sold' again to employees.

In order to fully understand customer satisfaction, management can hold meaningful conversations about quality and ask employees what quality means to them; what brands they admire and how they want to feel as customers so that they can be inspired to deliver that same service back to the customers they serve.

This is how organisations can enhance quality through the energy of conversation and through fostering a culture of social responsibility can bring quality to life in more ways than one.

For more information visit http://www.TheEnergyofConversation.co.uk

Project Management Application - Technology That Can Benefit Your Business

For any company to operate efficiently and complete projects in a timely manner, it is necessary to have a project management application to organize projects and help increase productivity. Since the introduction of desktop computing for businesses, companies have been improving their workflow by using organizers that track processes involved in the completion of a project. Nowadays, these applications have become more popular and are simplified to help a company operate more productively. These applications are usually easily accessible through browser windows, online programs, and cloud based computing systems.

If you're looking for a way to improve overall communication and functionality of your business, you can do so by integrating specialized software into your company. There are a variety of applications for managing a project and it is important that you get the right project application that will provide all the benefits your company needs. In fact, the latest applications designed for project management provide greater functionality than ever before. These applications provide the ability to use things like RSS feeds, sharing and swapping of information.

Examples of these applications include Microsoft Project, Basecamp At-Task Projecturf, and ClientSpot and they are extremely beneficial in helping in the management process. Project plans which outline project tasks, task due dates, who is assigned each task and completed dates are reported in the Gannt charts and outlines formats. These applications assist the manager in ensuring that the project is moving toward completion, delegate task responsibilities and reporting project status when necessary. Before you decide you application to get, you'll need to first the nature and size of the project you are managing. Then select application that meets the requirements of that project. There is an application for each type and level of project management

You may want to consider a project management application that can be easily customized to your company's specifications. Also, you will want to include various types of information to the application's database so that employees can reach them via the search functions, and through the creation Gantt charts and graphs. It's also essential to have a good project management application that will continually backup and archive sensitive data. With the fast pace at which technology is moving, we can expect better and more efficient applications will be developed for project management. To find out more about what you can do with these types of applications, and the many ways your company can benefit by using them, it is a good idea to contact a vendor that deals with these types of software.

Learn more about your project management application from Phil. Phil is an expert in web based project management.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phil_E_Williams

How to Engage Employees in Any Economy

Prior to my life as a Leadership Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach, I was a corporate executive for a long time. During that tenure, one of the most interesting comments I heard about my leadership results was:

"I don't know what you're doing over there but your teams sure are happy. They work longer hours than anyone else and they are always having fun."

This was even more interesting a comment because I heard it during the depths of the recession when hiring and salaries were frozen, our staff numbers were thinned through attrition, and all the "extras" were a distant memory. Now, I knew that this observation was a bit of an exaggeration because my teams obviously weren't always happy. No one in corporate America is, especially during tough times.

I understood why this senior executive held this perception, though. He sat nearby my team for a year or so and, during that time, he saw spontaneous dance contests, singing in the halls, boisterous and frequent conversations over the cubicle walls, and lots of group screaming in front a hallway television screen during Monday Night Football (we never got out in time for people to watch at home! Heck, it was advertising).

Why this comment was most interesting, though, was because I never set out to have a "happy" team. Now, don't get me wrong, I was thrilled that they were happy, that they got along, that they occasionally danced in the halls. But that wasn't the goal.

My priority was their welfare, their growth, and their security and, in turn, the welfare, growth, and security of my company.

Sometimes that meant they didn't like me very much. Sometimes it meant that they weren't so happy that day... or week. If I knew that their thinking I was Attila the Hun occasionally was getting them through a challenge, then I was o.k. with that.

Ultimately, they climbed over that challenge, then another, then another. They knew they had earned the "stuff" to make them successful. They knew that they were valuable. That's why they were happy. That's why they sang in the halls.

As a leader, you need to care deeply about your people's welfare, their growth, and their security. They sense it. They know when you think they are valuable. They also sense it when you don't.

In this case, the chicken and the egg argument is obvious.

You can't create a happy team by throwing parties or having group lunches.

The appearance of happiness in the halls, and often times of that ever elusive engagement, comes from an employee who knows that their organization and their leader cares about their welfare, is interested in growing their careers and not just in getting the job done, and is empowering and equipping them to create their own security no matter what challenge is thrown at them.

For more information on employee engagement, please feel free to contact me at http://www.thecoryellgroup.com

The Top Components of Strategic Planning

If you already know what is strategic planning, then the next thing you'd have to be familiar with before learning the process of strategic planning is its key components.

Number one on the list is vision. This summarizes what the organization desires to be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be. It is a long-term view and focuses on the future. It should be one that should inspire and motivate the members of the organization.

Second is the mission statement. The mission statement is an predominant, endless statement of your purpose and goal. It also tells what your organization wants to accomplish and in what ways you plan to accomplish them. It's a pronouncement of the reason for your company's existence.

Next values are then specified. Values are the organization's basic beliefs about the way you would run the company or organization. It provides an idea to the management and staff on what behaviours is acceptable and what are not. Most of the time values is connected with the culture of the organization.

What follows is the setting of the goals, objectives and tasks. Goals are defined as a list of wide-range strategies and tactics that have to be done so that the company can reach its mission. Objectives on the other hand, are SMART (specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic and time bound) strategies or activities that are need to reach the company's goals and vision. Then, tasks are precise activities and actions members, employees have to carry out day by day. They, too, should be specific, measurable and time bound.

Then, there's the strategy. It is a blend of the results the company or organization want to achieve and the ways by which it is seeking to get there. Another name for strategy is roadmap because it tells the company what path to take so that the goal or vision can be achieved.

It is at this point that strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are pointed out. These four are simply represented by four letters - SWOT.

Also, there are the action items or plans. These are definite statements that point out the ways in which a goal will be accomplished. An example of which is stating that the company would have to use quality management software to evaluate quality of products or performance.

Second to the last is the scorecard. It is used to easily record the information of the key performance indicators and is also used to measure performance against the monthly targets.

Last but not the least is the financial assessment. Data gathered here are dependent on historical record and future predictions. This is used to plan and forecast the future, assisting you to have much better control over your organization's financial performance.

Strategic planning is important for any company that is poising itself for growth. As companies in various industries are working to provide their consumers with better, more targeted products and services, knowing how to work on quality management software which has become a rising imperative even for small businesses.

Map What Matters To People With Power

If you're going to deliver for someone, make it your priority to deliver up. That gives you breathing room to deliver for everyone else.

Figure out who holds power

You know where to start: your boss, plus your boss's boss and/or board of directors.

To determine the rest of your list, ask:

• Who above you in the organization will freak if you fail to deliver on commitments? This probably includes some of your boss' peers.

• Who, if they slacked off for a month, could destroy your ability to deliver? This includes most, perhaps all, of your directs.

• Who else must continue to cooperate for you to meet your significant commitments? Consider key customers, firms running important and hard-to-replace outsourced operations, and suppliers of critical components.

I call these people "powerholders"-the subset of your stakeholders who can make a real difference in your ability to deliver and reap rewards.

Map what you want from each other

Create a "Power Map." Make a spreadsheet, with a row for each powerholder or group of similar powerholders. Add these columns to your spreadsheet and drop in some bullet points. Or, if you're comfortable with mind-mapping or organization chart software, make an org chart and annotate it with this information:

On what bases are they formally rewarded: Sales? Variance from budget? Share price? How often: Quarterly? Annually? On what sets of data: Accounting data? CRM monthly reports? An industry report?

• What informal rewards are important to them: Industry visibility? Support for their "brand"-running a tight ship, being a great mentor, pulling off the impossible?

• What do they want from you/your role: No surprises? Achieving the quarterly sales target? New products to market faster than their peers' divisions?

• What do you want from them?

Catalog what you can do for (and to) each other

How could they help you get what you want? How could you help them get what they want?

Make sure to consider this question both from the capabilities you have today and from possibilities for the future. For example, your head of R&D wants external visibility as a leader in green materials. Later this year you'll be starting work on next generation, eco-savvy products. You could offer her the opportunity to become the public face of this initiative. In Influence Without Authority, Cohen and Bradford catalog ways you can build your power by helping others get what they want. Make a habit of noting what's important to the people you meet and identifying early and appropriate opportunities to use your resources to be of service.

If you're in a tough environment, you'd be wise also to keep an eye for the rough stuff. What could they do to you (especially below the radar) if they want to turn up the pressure on your group? Refrain from labeling people as "friendly" or "unfriendly" to you and your team; instead identify the current and potential flows of information, money, and support between your group and theirs.

Now, identify other stakeholders and their interests

When you can take a few more minutes, add the other groups of people who are interested in what you do and could help or hinder, but don't meet the power criteria above. Often these include:

• People who were passed over for your job

• Junior players who want to hitch to your star

• Diversity groups across the firm

• Customers (if your own customers are internal)

• Consultants who have worked with your group

• Who else is relevant for you?

Update your map as power shifts

Calendar a meeting with yourself at least quarterly to update your map. Consider the relationships between your powerholders and other stakeholders- who listens to whom. Determine your next actions to delight, satisfy, or minimize damage for your powerholders.

© 2012 Pam Fox Rollin

This excerpt by Pam Fox Rollin, courtesy of Editor Laura Lowell, is Rule 7 from "42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role" Second Edition. Pam Fox Rollin coaches executives to succeed in broader roles and guides senior teams to make the most of new talent. Pam is known as a dynamic speaker and valuable thought-partner to leaders navigating themselves and their organizations through complex change. You can get a free, no obligation excerpt for this book and others at the 42Rules book store.

Make Your Job Doable

Very few people thoughtfully manage the scope of their job. I suggest you do.

Reframe the criteria for success

There's no shortage of ways to view your job. At a minimum, there's what you think you're supposed to be doing, what your boss thinks, what your team thinks, and your by-now-buried job description. Chances are, these four views of your job are all different. Even worse, none of them may be doable.

You want to be evaluated on a short, relevant set of metrics. Refine your criteria to the critical three to five priorities, and then align expectations for what you will deliver.

While you'll find more flexibility in small and mid-sized companies, mid-level leaders in larger companies can sometimes alter formal company metrics. In any case, you can definitely use metrics to drive the off-P&L understanding of your function.

Organize your priorities

Let's start by considering what leaders do:

• Set direction (strategizing, planning)

• Engage and mobilize people (developing, communicating)

• Enable execution (hiring, budgeting, coordinating)

• Other stuff only you do

I offer the first three buckets with thanks to Sharon Richmond, now Director of Cisco's Change Leadership Center of Excellence, and my co-author on leadership research. Sharon developed this simple yet powerful model of what leaders do. The fourth bucket reflects the reality that many leaders have an "individual contributor" component to their job.

For each of these buckets, note the priority responsibilities of this job. Said an executive I interviewed: "You can only really care about three things at a time, maybe five." Note what you think you should be doing (how many hours per month you'd allocate to each, to maximize business results). Finally, leave yourself some time to participate, lead, or initiate cross-functional efforts that drive value to a broader P&L.

Then note other initiatives that take significant time, but either don't fall into these buckets or aren't priorities for you. "When you find an individual opportunity, hand it down with your mentoring," says Pat Arensdorf, CEO of Critical Diagnostics. "You can't do many of those yourself. Turn most over to your team."

Laying out your priorities in an organized way prepares you to have a conversation with your boss, coach, and others who can help you redesign your job and re-set expectations to line up with value for the business.

Deflect early requests to go off-mission

Especially in small companies or recession-decimated larger ones there tend to be too few bodies, which leads to many requests to take on extraneous tasks. While some of these "yanks" are non-negotiable, saying yes will derail you from bigger goals. Again from Pat Arensdorf: "You can be a hero by clearing the plate a bit but beware: you might be successful and this might become expected, and you may never get to what you were hired to do."

Another challenge arises for new leaders from underrepresented populations. "Finally! A Latina on a divisional exec team! Let's get her in the mentoring program." "Finally! Someone in product design with a materials engineering background. Let's pull him onto the green team." Etc. Totally understandable. And, if this is you, you're in for some tough but valuable conversations about when would be the right time for you to add which of these activities.

© 2012 Pam Fox Rollin

This excerpt by Pam Fox Rollin, courtesy of Editor Laura Lowell, is Rule 37 from "42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role" Second Edition. Pam Fox Rollin coaches executives to succeed in broader roles and guides senior teams to make the most of new talent. Pam is known as a dynamic speaker and valuable thought-partner to leaders navigating themselves and their organizations through complex change. You can get a free, no obligation excerpt for this book and others at the 42Rules book store.

Leadership Lessons From The BBC's George Entwistle

It's George Entwistle under the cosh from the House Of Commons Culture Select Commitee. The Director General is asked by Conservative MP Damian Collins, whether he is really just an Editor in Chief or The Director General?

It's a damning comment for it implies that Entwistle does not carry the bearing and presence of a man in full grasp of his leadership brief!

The Committee then goes on to compare the DG's leadership stance with that of News International's James Murdoch, who under inquisition from the culture committee, found constant refuge in the defence of 'Im sorry, I don't know'. Thus leading to the same charge of a 'wilful lack of curiosity' being levelled at both men.

One could also include G4S's CEO Nick Buckles in this category as well. Buckles exhibited a minimal grasp of the details of his companies Olympic recruitment strategy, and was made to look weak under pressure from the Home Affairs Select Committee.

All of which begs the question, as to why these leaders seem to lack one of the most vital of leadership qualities of all, which is curiosity. Did they ever have it? And if so where did it go? Or did they never have it in the first place, in which case what qualifies them to be leaders in this age of change?

Curiosity is vital for a leader. It comes from an open mind and genuine interest in both life and the organizations which they lead. Curiosity allows them to pick up on details, patterns and other behaviours which informs them about the current health of the organization.

And that curiosity for detail helps them instinctively pick up on mis-alignments that could lead the company off-track, or behave in a way that is contrary to the agreed core values.

The leader is the standard bearer of the organisations core values. It is from out of these values that they read the runes. Thats why it is vital for a leader to walk the floor; meet people; find out what is happening; whats new?

Sure there are meetings to attend to, challenges to handle and the future to strategize for. But surely one of the main functions of a leader is to maintain a daily curiosity on what is happening in the business?

Note: New thoughts, ideas and opportunities can just as easily turn up with a junior member of staff as they can with senior managers. Especially if you create a culture that encourages people at all levels to feel a part of the business.

When there is lots to do, and not much time to do it, a form of mental shutdown can occur. The leader, can easily become no more than a good general manager of stuff, rather than a champion of a new future. Thus being curious is not an aid to success, but more a hindrance, as they learn to manage on a 'needs to know' basis.

It's easy for habitual thinking to become the norm, as anything new simply adds to the mental workload. The leader can thus be highly capable in 'the known' and the familiar, but out of their depth when it comes to 'the unknown' and the not yet appeared.

To keep curiosity alive, the leader has to put aside time in their day, when they simply do nothing more than read the runes of the business. It may involve them just sitting alone in their office casting their mind out across the business to scan and sense. To get in touch with their gut feeling and instincts, which will pick up things which don't feel right.

Or they can get out and about, with a keen sense of curiosity, and talk to people in the business, to find out what they are up to. Howard Schultz, The CEO of Starbucks, religiously visits twenty five of his stores a week. Not to check up on staff, but because he is interested in what is happening in the coffee houses, where the essence of his business can be found.

As we enter times of change, leaders can't be expected to know everything. But by being curious, they can draw from others the vital nuggets of insights, that can create a bridge into the future.

You don't need to have all the answers. But it helps if you have a mindset that keeps you open minded to possibilities that exist outside of your habitual frames of reference. It's a leadership lesson George Entwistle will have learnt the hard way this week.

Martin Perry is a Leadership Coach. He helps leaders build confidence, self-assurance and calmness as they lead their people across the bridge of change.

Small Business Management

Running a small, start-up business has it share of ups and downs. When I launched my company nearly nine years ago, running my own small business has been both rewarding and challenging. It has enabled me to establish greater balance in my life as I have reduced the administrative burden that corporate America places on each of its employees and replaced it with more time spent on developing content for my clients.

Given the choice, running my own small business is the best option for me at this stage of my life. I can work out of my house, see my kid on a regular basis, focus my work effort on content, rather than administration, and yes golf a tad. That being said, I am asked continually by others "what is it like to be in business for yourself?" as they contemplate the leap from corporate to sole proprietorship.

While it is not for everyone, here are some of the points of consideration that one should mull over before making the jump to starting your own small business:

One Stop Shop: One of the benefits of being a small business owner is the autonomy of "calling the shots". You are the boss and clearly can steer your company as you see fit. Many think they relish this set-up but in reality, when it comes to being the self-motivator that is required to be successful - the "guy" to go to - lots fall short. Before you read any further, ask yourself if you are cut out to be the "go to guy". If not, you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration. Simply stay in the corporate world.

Develop A Business Plan: So, why is business planning so crucial? In a word, it provides "clarity". Investing time to develop a plan provides precise clarification of the company vision. In addition, it provides a mechanism to gauge the results of the business and provides the foundation for future growth plans. In the long haul, it enhances the company valuation through fiscal responsibility, which provides the story of opportunity to any future investor or employee. Business planning is one-part strategy and one-part tactics - but where the sausage actually gets made is in the execution. Execution comes in the hard work necessary to carry out a plan and the accountability for your activities by tracking them.

Understand Tax Burdens: Regardless of the political rhetoric surrounding the tax code and its impact on small business, the fact of the matter is that these entities are levied with a myriad of taxes. I am shocked by how many budding entrepreneurs fail to understand the taxes that small businesses pay. My company has essentially one of the easiest business operating models that a small business can have. I invoice a few clients per month; receive a few checks a month; pay a few bills a month; and have very little inventory and/or depreciation of capital assets. Despite that, my tax return was 84 pages last year. Filing as an S-Corp, my outlay on taxes is between 25% and 39% of federal taxes; North Carolina state income taxes ranging from 6.0% to 7.5%, social security and medicare (twice as a matter of fact for employer and employee) of 15.3%, so nearly 50% of all income goes to taxes and fees.

Replicate Yourself: Given the fact that you are a one stop shop, a small business owner needs to replicate themselves wherever possible. Tools such as social media and the acceptance of telecommuting through online collaboration have enabled small business owners to be in many places at one time. In order to be successful, small business owners need to tap these tools to maximize their exposure to potential clients as well as reaching customers outside of their immediate trade area. Prior to these tools being readily available, my business was limited to the state of Illinois (where my company was originally based). Since I have utilized these tools to replicate myself, I have had clients in thirteen different states.

Navigate Third-Party Challenges: A small business owner wears many hats and relies on third-party entities for key alliances. When Go Daddy had their website and email server outage in September, roughly 5.3 million small business websites and emails were knocked out. Small business owners rely on these support companies and at times, are held captive when issues arise. While my company does not conduct a lot of commerce via my website, many small operators lost online revenue due to the outage.

Be Wary Of Scams: Lastly, where there is a small business owner, there is a criminal waiting to prey on the unsuspecting operator. In fact, this past week, I received a letter from a group claiming to represent the State of Illinois. Having been in business nearly nine years, I am keenly aware of all of the annual expenditures that my company pays. As an Illinois corporation (operating in North Carolina), I received a letter stating that I needed to send in a $125 fee for my "Annual Minutes Records Form". I didn't recall ever doing this, and when I contacted my CPA, he shared the following press release with me:

In short, starting and running a small business may be the best decision you may ever make. Having the facts in advance of that decision are critical to ensure that you are positioned for success. Once you fully vet your decision-making for starting your small business, the rewards can be amazing...

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries. With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at http://www.graycatenterprises.com.

Management Consultant for Primary Market Research

Primary Research is a form of research where the data is collected directly from a respondent. Market research is done to understand an area in-depth. Understanding the marketing environment is a must. Market research helps in finding out how the market is. Being aware of what's going on in the market is called Market Intelligence. The areas that are considered a part of market intelligence are-

- Product Position- The position they have in the market favourable, unfavourable or neutral? Primary Research answers these question, so that the marketing efforts can be designed based on the position to brand, product or service.

- Market segmentation- Understanding the market segment is a must, the product or service needs to be positioned accurately in the dynamic market. Research finds out if the product should be marketed to seniors, working professionals or teenagers. This also helps in tailoring the message.

- Consumer Behaviour- Understanding a consumer's behaviour is a must, their personality, their attitude, motivation and other intrinsic factors. Primary Market research is one on one research.

Management consultants help with primary market research. As a type of research primary market research takes a lot of time, by hiring a management consultant they would be able to conduct an in-depth research which would provide conclusive and empirical results.

Primary market research has several steps, this steps need to be clearly defined at demarcated, the following are the six major steps-

- Defining the problem statement- The problem must be clearly stated i.e. what are you trying to find out or prove. An example could be finding out the sales forecast for a period of a month. The time and place needs to be clearly defined.

- Method of data collection- The method needs to be defined and followed spot on. Whether the method adopted is going to be a survey or an interview. If a survey is selected, is going to be a telephonic interview or an online survey. The method needs to be defined in the beginning, so that the questions can be devised.

- Sampling technique- Defining the sampling technique is a must, random, stratified, cluster or some other technique. A mix of techniques must be avoided, for primary market research the company must use stratified sampling. As a technique for data collection, stratified sampling the researcher divides the entire target population into different subgroups, then selects the final group or sample. This method is adopted when the population size is vast, complete enumeration cannot be possible when the sample size is large.

- Analysis of data- After the process of data collection, the data must be interpreted through statistics. The researcher must define the software they are using to interpret the data. The statistical measures they are going to use to prove the problem statement.

- Error checking: This step is very crucial, the researcher must check if the data is entered accurately, if a hypothesis is stated it needs to be proved or disproved at this stage. The data or evidence must be corroborated at this stage.

- Research Report Writing- All the chapters of the research must be combined, the charts, tables and other forms of pictorial representation must be written at this stage. The Interpretation of the research findings is finished at this stage.

Management consultants can conduct in-depth works of research. Market analysis in general takes time and primary market research is more tedious, companies must hire management consultants to carry on this task. The steps are many and each step takes a lot of time, the end result is that market research answers many questions that companies are asking.

MBA & Company is a company where business management consultant offers primary market research services for you projects.They have highly accomplished researchers who provide tailored market research services. For further details you can visit http://www.mbaandco.com.

Leadership Ultrasound: Listening To The Heartbeat Of Your Team

Does anyone really listen to the heartbeat of their team? If you do, what are you doing about it?

So many employees are frustrated because the feel they don't have a voice and when they do speak they feel like they are not being heard so why bother?

An ultrasound is usually not partnered with the word leadership, but it really give it a different perspective when you look at them together. An ultrasound is a cyclic sound pressure wave with a frequency greater than the upper limits of human hearing. So for a leader to hear the heartbeat of their team you must really focus and pay attention.

Leadership ultrasound is effectively listening and being able to hear the waves of issues, concerns, or problems on their team. Leaders must listen not only to what is being said but also what is not being said. It's one thing to listen with your ears but quite another to listen with your heart.

With so much going on in the world and the election is right around the corner there is so much noise it's easy to miss something. You can get caught up in action plans, goals, assessments, meetings, conference calls and lose touch with your teams pulse. Your team needs to know that you no only know what's going on but that you are actively involved in making things better.

An Obstetric ultrasound is a sonogram used to see the fetus and determine the sex of a baby. It does a few things,

1. Checks for movement.
2. Assess growth.
3. Check for abnormalities.

A leader should be able to hear below the surface of what's happening on the team just like a sonogram.

1. Check for Movement: Leaders must know the direction the team is moving so that you can redirect if necessary or push further ahead. Leaders must know the pulse of each member of the team to know if they are committed, compliant or just complainers. You need to know if your team is healthy or hurting and the movement of your team or lack of movement can help you determine this.

2. Assess growth: How do you measure the growth of your team? Results are usually the first recourse of measurement and they should be but what other methods are you using to measure your teams growth? Are you measuring morale, engagement, commitment or loyalty? These usually get overlooked since they are intangible results but they are very important measurements.

3. Check for abnormalities: No one thinks there is anything abnormal about their team. You must be aware of what is not right on your team or with specific employees. When you listen to the heartbeat of your team you know when there are abnormalities.

It might be time for you to conduct a leadership ultrasound to know exactly what the movement is on your team, how you are growing and if you have some abnormalities on your team.

It's time to INgage,

Becky A. Davis

You can start the process of INgaging your employees to help improve performance. We focus on leadership transformation. We have three free coaching calls that will teach you how to lay the foundation for long-term engagement. Visit the website at http://www.mvpwork.com.

Please sign up for our free tele-seminar by going to http://www.mvpwork.com and register now. You will learn the four style of motivation and the one that will get you the best results.

8 Time Management Techniques For Business Managers

Time management is the most essential area of managing. We would all be great leaders if we had endless quantities of time to organize work weeks, mentor as well as appraise staff, handle Head Office email messages along with aid our colleagues. The reality, nonetheless, is that all of us find ourselves with a lot more tasks and jobs and not nearly enough time. Never fear! We have eight time management tips that will help you conserve those valuable additional minutes.

1) Educate your employees - This really is an obvious but typically forgotten aspect of management. Instruction essentially equates to empowerment and typically the greater encouraged your staff actually are the more they're going to have the ability to do. The more your staff can do, the less impositions they will be placing on your time.

2) No reporting to workers! - Your personnel are there for you to assign to. Do not let them hand all issues over to you personally. If a customer problem arises don't instantly take it over and leave the member of staff standing idly by whilst you devote your priceless time to carrying out their work for them. Demand that they think of solutions on their own and allow them the freedom to implement said ideas.

3) Designate members of staff client grievances and concerns - If a consumer has got an issue that falls within the category of "typical course of business" don't be afraid to allocate it to an employee. You are paying them to cope with problems not send them in your direction.

4)Under no circumstances accept the phrase "we aren't paid for that " - This particular expression along with its sister saying "it's not in our contract " is the beginning of an epidemic which involves staff deciding just what they may be ready to do and what not. They are basically paid by you to accomplish anything and everything permitted by law. If they are not satisfied with this then they should look for alternative employment.

5) Give your staff zones of responsibility - Whether it's a retailer, diner or vehicle wash you might be running, give your employees certain sectors of responsibility. Virtually any area of responsibility that's not designated will in the end become the manager's burden. Each and every place you assign will reduce your time and energy invested in clearing up after them.

6) Don't constantly over rule your employees - All the above will not do the job until you enable them to make errors. Provided that they comprehend the consequences associated with a judgment they make (desirable or undesirable), they ought to be enabled to go forward with it.

7) Don't pay employees to cause you problems - You pay for problem solvers not problem creators. When, in the standard course of business, an error is produced, get the employee responsible to get it sorted out. If they are unable to comply then they may be in the wrong role.

8) Document everything - Regardless of whether you utilize a piece of paper or perhaps a stylish piece of computer software, preserve a record of current problems and whom they're assigned to. Obtain progress reports every single day from your staff and motivate them to get these kinds of issues fixed!

Follow these time management tips and keep in mind that one of the most critical elements of time management is definitely the way a boss interacts with his/her personnel. Don't permit their issues to develop into your own issues. Aid them and also advise them but remember who assigns tasks to whom and who produces requirements on whose time.

If you are interested in the 8 Time Management Techniques? check out our site at http://www.modernmanagementstyles.com

Can Adults Be Subjected To Bullying?

So, you got passed over again for a big promotion. Maybe, even it was a small promotion. Either way, you were undermined by a manager to pick someone they are personally tied to. Possibly, not even a current employee. Perhaps, a golf friend, or an old football buddy. Did you think of this as bullying? Being passed up over and over again, and never knowing why.

Face it, managers and supervisors need to know that as adults, we are not affected by the same type of bullying that younger generations are. I know in government and state agencies, it is given the term "politic". Often times, he who politics the hardest reaps the most benefits. The downfall is, all of the important jobs are taken by people due on popularity, not skill. So, much like the problems with bullying, it makes the other parties feel poorly about themselves. When someone is selected strictly based on education, and put in the position that certain specific skills should be prerequisites to do the job, the employee with the knowledge and skills, but not as much education, has just been bullied out of a job.

Do we as adults stand up to these bullies? Probably not, because we do not see it as such. It is time we stand up. The good ol' boy system never worked before, and has long faded with the creators. If your company or department has loyal, dependable, deserving employees trying to promote, then why hold back the production of the agency? Instead you risk losing valuable knowledge (because eventually they do leave), and get stuck with someone in an office who knows nothing about the job they were hired for. Any effective leader should automatically know it is better to promote morale, and show other employees the benefits of being loyal and hard-working. Not everyone is a natural leader, but if someone is placed in a leadership position, they should be guided into the right direction. Unfortunately, non-leaders are stuck following other non-leaders, and it creates havoc.

Any large successful corporation will tell you that maintaining a low turnover is the best way to be productive. You should keep the employees that are valuable and beneficial. Don't promote the trouble makers, or reassign them to cause trouble in another aspect of the company. Remove them, and put someone in a leadership position that can be a leader. Reading books won't in itself teach leadership skills. One must be shown how to lead. A natural leader knows how to lead his army into a war, and still,maintain all of their trust! Would your subordinates go to war for you? If you are in doubt, then reevaluate your leadership and maintain the good employees already available to you!

Victoria Greyson is author of Room One Thirty Eight and Time Lost. You may find information at http://www.victoriagreyson.com, for other topics.

Revenue Cycle Management and Services, Part 3

Without the correct information; whether an appointment time, place, patient demographic information, pre-op, procedure or insurance information you could actually lose revenue. I would consider this function critical to the overall success of your facilities revenue cycle.

Every hospital or physicians practice focus should be on the front end, so you don't have to pick up the pieces later for incorrect billing, appeals, self-pay collections, and bad debt just to name a few. Your organization loses a lot of money working accounts on the tail end when just a little more effort up front would resolve most of your revenue cycle issues.

All information obtained by central scheduling from any physician's office or referral source must be accurate and verified as such. You should create a hospital form if you don't already have one for all of your providers. I know they want to use their own but really when you think about it the information will be used in your facility or practice so it should make your process easier. I'm attaching a sample form:

Phone: Logo Fax:

PRE-AUTHORIZATION INFORMATION FORM

PRE-AUTHORIZATION EXPEDITED REQUEST

HEALTH PLAN/Payer __________________________ Pre-Auth Phone #_______________________________

Patient/Coverage Data
Date: ______________ Requestor's Name: _________________________ Phone #: ________________________
Fax #: _________________ Tax ID #: ___________________________ CMO #: ___________________________
PCP, Phone and ID #:___________________________________________________________________________

Requesting Specialist and ID #: ___________________________________________________________

Member ID #: _________________________________Proposed Date of Service: __________________________
Patient Name: ________________________________ DOB: _________Social Security #: ___________________
Patient Address: __________________________________ Patient Phone Number: _______________________
(Please provide a current copy of the patient's driver's license, front and back of the patient's insurance card(s) and demographic form, if available)
Provider Name/Physicians Name: _______________________________________________________________
Physicians Address: ___________________________________________________________________________
Inpat. ___ 23 Hr. Obs. ___ Outpat. ____ Surgery ___ Radiology ___ Wound Care ___ Sleep ___ PT/OT/ST ___

Clinical Data

Diagnosis: _______________________________________________________ ICD 9 Code(s) _______________
Procedure _____________________________________ Outpatient Procedure Code(s) (CPT4): ________________
Describe specialist services requested and number of visits authorized: ____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please submit clinical history (signs/symptoms, tests, previous treatment, and/or progress notes for ALL pre-authorization requests).
______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please describe, if applicable, any special circumstances which (which includes but is not limited to disability, acute condition or life-threatening illness) may require flexibility in the application of screening criteria: ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Pre-authorization number: _____________________ Number of Visits: _______________________
Referral number: _____________________________ Expiration Date: ________________________

You can place this on your website they can fax it or email it to you. Make it convenient for them.

Don't be afraid to use your information systems scheduling module if you have one. I've seen too many facilities and practices not use a piece of their information system because they didn't understand it or it seemed too cumbersome to use.

During the scheduling process you need to ensure the patient knows:

1. What the costs are for their service, procedure or test?
2. What they have to pay at the time of their service, procedure or test after you verify and pre-certify their insurance?
3. What they have to bring with them?
4. What are the requirements for my procedure, no water for 24 hours, no food, etc.?
5. How long their service, test or procedure will take?
6. Any other pertinent information, physician's instructions, special instructions, etc.?
7. Finally PRE-REGISTER the patient. It saves time for everyone when the patient arrives at your facility or practice.

During the scheduling process you need to ensure the physician or referral source knows:

1. Time and date of the service, procedure or test?
2. If any of the insurance or demographic information has changed for the patient?
3. Of course after the service, test or procedure, the results.

Referral, Notification and Pre-Certification

Most health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and point-of-service (POS) plans require a referral, notification and/or pre-certification from the patient's primary care physician (PCP) or specialty care physician (SPC) before they obtain services from a facility or practice. If they do not obtain the necessary approvals, the insurance plan may not provide coverage and the patient may be responsible for the full cost of these services. Therefore referrals, notifications and pre-certifications are vital to your revenue cycle and overall financial stability. Verify all patient insurance information prior to any service, test or procedure and notify the physician's office of any required referrals or pre-certifications that aren't already present at the time of scheduling.

It's up to you to get it right up-front!

If you would like any further information about this article, to receive a copy of the first 2, revenue cycle services, revenue cycle management or a copy of the form in this article please contact Lynn J. Cheramie III, Compass Health Systems, LLC at 1-800-597-1066.

Next Up: Revenue Cycle Management and Services, Part 4, Charge Capture.

Compass Health Systems was created by healthcare professionals for healthcare professionals. They provide outstanding AR Audits, Billing, Business Office Management, Charge Reviews, Coding, Collections, Extended Business Office Services, Financial Audits, HIM Management, IT Management, Interim Assistance, IT Services, Mentoring, Permanent Placement, Transcription and Revenue Cycle Services, Consulting and Management for physician's practices and hospitals. Call 706-286-7930 or visit http://www.compasshealthsystems.biz today!

Eight Strengths of Effective Organizations

One useful distinction to consider is between an effective organization and organizational effectiveness. There are a wide variety of ways in which to view organizational effectiveness and effective organizations can achieve effectiveness in several of these ways. We view each effective aspect of an organization as an organizational strength and identify eight strengths that can often be seen in highly effective organizations. Various permutations of these strengths are combined to synergistically create overall organization effectiveness.

1. Human Resources Development and Talent Management (Engagement)

Organizations that are effective recruit, develop, and utilize a workforce that is aligned with the organization's mission, vision and objectives. The organization builds and maintains a climate and culture that encourages performance, participation, meaningful work, and personal and organizational growth. They provide training and resources to promote these.

2. Information Systems and Decision-Support (Mindful)

Effective organizations determine what information is essential to its efforts and carefully determine how it will be collected, analyzed, and reported throughout the organization. Information is made useful, delivered efficiency and retained; it supports building knowledge and learning from experience. This knowledge is critical to decision-making and is used to support key organization processes and the organization's performance management system.

3. Leadership (High Standards)

In effective organizations leaders involve all employees in creating and sustaining organizational values, organizational vision, organizational direction, performance expectations, and customer focus. By incorporateing important values and clear expectations into the organization's management and leadership approach, a system that stimulates high performance standards is created. These standards include how the organization addresses its responsibilities to stakeholders and how it continuously learns and improves it processes.

4. Performance Results (Clarity)

Organizations where they have a clearly defined bottom line and every employee knows how they contribute to the success of the organization are generally highly effective. Employees are kept informed about the organization's progress toward its goals and objectives and how they are contributing to it.

5. Process Management (Coordination)

The effectiveness of organizations is systematically built by continually studying its processes in order to improve them. Process management areas that might be considered for improvement include such things as: Product or Service Development, Product or Service Delivery, Marketing, Procurement and so on. Various processes are linked and managed to ensure that they are mutually supportive and drive the execution of organizational goals.

6. Stakeholder Service (Responsiveness)

Highly effective organizations place great emphasis on customer, shareholder, and employee relations and make a variety of decisions about how to satisfy these stakeholders. They make concerted efforts to determine and meet or exceed stakeholders' expectations and respond speedily to the changing needs of stakeholders.

7. Strategic Planning (Alignment)

Effective organizations create and communicate a resilient strategic plan that helps to align the efforts of departments and individuals establish priorities and determine resources are allocated. Well defined goals and objectives assist management in assessing advancement of the organization's mission and progress toward its vision.

8. Structure (Agility)

An effective organization is structured so that it is able to do such things as: (a) respond quickly to environmental changes, (b) intelligently build and use the knowledge, skills and abilities of its employees (c) capably meet its mission, (d) establish decision-making at the most appropriate organization level, (e) support broad communication and information flow to enable employees to do a good job, and (f) connect work units so that they can support each other as their organizaitonal roles and relationships shift.

Employee engagement, mindful action, high performance standards, goal clarity, excellent coordination, responsive service, strategy alignment, and agile operations each contribute to the overall effectiveness of an organization. An organization's unique combination of strengths together enable it to effectively meet its particular challenges.

At Empowering Effectiveness, Frank Papotto enables clients to identify, develop, and implement action plans and strategies that lead to more effective organizations. He offers support for executives and managers to help in instigating and influencing the changes that improve OE.

Find additional information about how Empowering Effectiveness supports clients' solutions at http://empoweringeffectiveness.co.cc.

Steve Jobs' Infallible Way for Hiring the Best

We all know that a company's most valuable asset resides in its people. So when I had a chance to figure out how Steve Jobs made sure to attract the best, I thought it was important to stop and pay attention.

So, as I read through Steve's Jobs biography, for the second time, I try to discover and analyze all of the interesting concepts (sometimes hidden in the details) that, Managers or Leaders like you, could benefit from.

If you haven't read it, I'm sure that you won't be surprised to learn that Steve Job's had a huge Ego. That fact didn't stop him from recognizing the importance of the Apple employees. As a matter of fact, the first thing he did when he took back control of Apple in 1997, was to make sure to stop the good people from leaving. "You brought me here to fix this thing, and people are the key".

But the way he made sure to select the very best right from the beginning, was to check if the candidates had a PASSION for the product they would have to work on developing.

So during the interview, he would show them the product: "If their eyes lit up, if they went right for the mouse and started pointing and clicking, Steve would smile and hire them... He wanted them to say "Wow!""

Even more amazing, is this way of attracting the ones he really wanted to join the team by communicating HIS incredible passion for the project.

One of his good recruits said: "By sheer force of his personality, he changed my mind. Steve was so passionate about building this amazing device that WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD... Wow, I said, I don't see that kind of passion every day. So I signed up."

If you think of your own hiring process:

Are you just asking the standard questions during the interview of a candidate, or are you looking for passion when the person has to describe the outcome and impact of his or her responsibilities? Make sure to ask them to talk about how they think they could make a difference.

Are they excited about the opportunity?

Are their eyes lighting up?

Are they asking questions about the possibilities?

... and when you want to recruit this very special talented person:

Are you asking the most passionate person in your company, to assist you in demonstrating how, the offered opportunity to work with this specific team, is exciting and full of possibilities?

Can you imagine ways of improving your recruitment process, in order to attract the best, in your specific industry?

Simple Steps to Implement Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard management system makes it possible for business owners to clarify their strategic plans and vision in order to get the most out of the adopted strategy. Thus, an effective and timely implementation of this system is the basis for further development and advancement of any organization. This process should be organized as an individual project with regard to the needs and a current situation of a company.

The very process of BSC implementation can be subdivided into 5 steps, namely model creation, technical and organizational implementation, technical incorporation and BSC implementation itself. Some of these steps are generally undertaken simultaneously, which contributes to the efficacy and speed of the implementation process. Let us have a closer look at each of these phases below.

As soon as the company feels the need to implement Balanced Scorecard, managers and employees should search for the consensus between their personal vision of business functioning and the strategy that was previously defined and adopted. This is done during the model creation phase and the result of this process helps company owners undertake specific measures to design key performance indicators that are currently critical for their business.

During the second step known as the technical integration phase all the strategies, visions, measures, KPIs and critical success factors are incorporated into the integral and comprehensive system. This phase involves such steps as software installation, personnel coaching, scorecard creation, setting up business objectives, collecting relevant data and generating customized reports.

The next phase is referred to as the organizational implementation part. This is when the Balanced Scorecard system is integrated into the reporting and management processes of the company. Technical incorporation, in its turn, is the fourth stage of the BSC implementation process that is performed with the intention to minimize the effort required for the collection of the measurement data. At this stage the measurement system is completely integrated into the company's databases, operational IT systems as well as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. Steps that comprise this phase include identification of the source systems and related measures, database analysis and examination of the functional potential of operative systems, identification, collection, alteration and scheduling of data and implementation of the BSC system itself.

The final phase that is known as operation of the balanced scorecard system, is all about creating and developing metrics that will be further used to measure company's performance. This is when the organization gets the idea of what exactly drives it efficiency and success. The following tasks are essential here: updating of data being measured, analysis of the initial BSC results, reporting the outcomes and improvement of the current model.

The advantages of BSC implementation are mainly observed when it is integrated into the everyday business operations. Thus, this business management tool should be used consistently in the strategic planning of a company performance. The costs and efficacy of the measurement process depend upon the current performance of a company and its position in the markets, its most urgent problems, complexity of the procedure and number of people involved into it.

Does Your Business Have a Standard Operating Manual (SOP)? See the Benefits

Whether you just joined a company or running your own business, one question that may come to mind is "Does your business have a standard operating manual (SOP)?"

A standard operating procedures manual can help in streamlining business operations. A set of policies and procedures in easy-to-understand documented form allows employees immediately see how things work, and to follow them with ease. An SOP keeps everyone on the same page when it comes to complying with rules and following processes. Hence, the learning curve is lessened.

An SOP manual eliminates much of the guesswork on how to handle things. Hence, the new employee need not ask colleagues every little detail. Because he/she gets to read the procedures that need to be followed, hassles are avoided and precious time saved.

An online business operator whose business has expanded may also want to use a standard operating procedures manual for facilitating training. The manual is a very useful tool that lays down pertinent matters related to the organization in organized fashion. For the entrepreneur, an SOP manual listing essential tasks and procedures is one of the important elements for business take-off. Lack of organized written documentation of processes (that employees may continually retrieve and refer to) may signal an organization that's in disarray.

A standard operating procedures manual also improves employees' understanding on the correct way to carry out routine tasks and functions. In effect, a more cooperative team is created.

In the case of manufacturing firms, employee safety is ensured when processes are carried out in the prescribed manner. Complying with standardized rules also helps ensure product quality and it may translate to good customer service. New employees are equipped with know-how to undertake specific functions with maximum effectiveness, efficiency, and professionalism.

For service-oriented businesses like hotels and resorts, another question that pops to mind apart from `Does your business have a standard operating manual (SOP)?' is whether there's also a Service Quality Manual. The latter may include policies and procedures on just about everything from operating hours, facilities, reservations, to housekeeping and maintenance schedules, to checklist forms, among others.

In fine-tuning or writing a standard operating procedure manual, it's best to confer with senior managers and/or top officials and then outline the company objectives. The initial steps include data gathering - on equipment and devices, the people who do the job and their main responsibilities, the work flow, and so on. Departmental approvals must also be sought.

Online business consultants can assist in writing your company SOP. In fact, you can even get no-obligation quotes online.

Kim Beckers is a Certified Online Business Manager specializing in plugging the leaks in order to generate more profits quickly.

How to Not Suck As a Manager: 3 Questions in a Case for Common Courtesy

Some time ago I completed a research study which asked two questions, "What experience(s) have you had with a bad manager" and "What would you do differently if you were the manager?"

Many of the bad manager behaviors that were reported would not surprise anyone. However, one of the behaviors that was more commonly reported did surprise me. It surprised me a great deal. I always thought that common courtesy was as basic to managerial practice as assigning work. I was wrong. Too many experiences shared in the research suggest that there are too many managers out there who need to learn the value of common courtesy. So here let's make a case for why managers should display basic common courtesy while working with team members.

Who would you rather work for, someone you like and respect, or someone you don't know, or don't respect?

The answer to this should be obvious. People are people. We all have our natural inclinations. It is easier to feel helpful towards those who are are pleasant and agreeable, is it not? Of course it is. Now think about yourself as a manager concerning those you supervise. Who do you think your team members would work harder for, a manager who they don't like or respect, or one they like or respect? Again, the latter, of course. As a manager, you have a right to be ugly or rude, You're in charge. You can do or be whatever you want, right? But just because you can be mean, ugly, or inconsiderate, does this mean you should be?

If you're the type of manager who likes to throw the managerial weight around because you can, try an experiment. Try kindness. Try consideration. Try humane behavior. Say 'please' even though you don't have to. Say 'thank you' whenever the opportunity presents itself. Do all these things and see if there's a difference in individual behavior and an increase in team cohesion. There will be. Count on it.

Which manager is more likely to be a better decision maker, the one who knows more, or a manager who knows less?

Treating people in less polite ways naturally causes them to want to close up; not share, not help. When this happens in the workplace, employees will share only what information they have to. They will avoid sharing anything else. This is true even if that information might help you, the manager, do a better job for the team. In more extreme cases, team members may not only withhold information, but sometimes even misinform to cause problems. Is this helpful? Again, of course not.

Politeness breeds openness. Employees will share more when you care more. They will share more about themselves, about the work, about things you might want to know, about things you should know. Though you may not want to hear some of the information you get, you need to be glad to receive it. Because in the end, you would rather know, than not know. You might not think so, but you would. Why is this? Refer to the question opening this section: Which manager is more likely to be a better decision maker, the one who knows more, or a manager who knows less? If you figure, as most managers would, that the one with more information would be a better decision maker, then do what you can to foster information sharing among your team members. Be polite. Be courteous. Expect team members to be the same way towards one another as well and you will be fostering an environment where information is more openly shared. This will give you the edge when it comes to decision making and, as a result, lead to higher team productivity.

What matters most to employees?

What is important to many employees is that they have a sense that the work they are doing is being done for a person and an organization that cares about them. For team members, team leaders represent the organization. For this reason it's the team leaders who need to project this personal touch. That is, if they don't want to lose team member after team member. In an article entitled, Top 10 Reasons why People Leave Their Jobs, found on business knowhow.com, author Gregory Smith reports a portion of the results of his research as follows,

My retention survey confirmed the truth of the saying, "Employees don't quit their companies, they quit their bosses." Thirty-five percent of the respondents answered yes to the question, Was the attitude of your direct supervisor/manager the primary factor in your quitting a previous job?

People need to know that the service they give is being given to someone who appreciates their effort. This is as much the case in a home setting as it is at work. If employees believe the work they do doesn't matter to those they work for, they are likely to move on to a place where they feel their efforts do matter. Make sure team members know their work matters by telling them so. It's as simple as that.

It would seem like common sense, but as so many good managers know, common sense is all too often not common practice. If you want to be a better manager, take the time to show common courtesy towards those you oversee. If you are already by nature a courteous manager, that's great. Work to increase your interactions a bit more and help your team members do the same. If you know you could do better in this area, than decide now to begin making the change. As you work to ensure your team members know that you know you care about them as individuals, you'll find team members will be more satisfied, gratified, and more productive employees.

6 Habits of Highly Unsuccessful Sales Organizations

Whilst most CEOs are reading and learning about how to make their companies more successful, it is well worth a person's time to stop and take a moment to consider the habits of those companies that are not as successful so as you can avoid them.

The sales organization is a major contributor to the success record of a CEO. If you don't get the top line right then the bottom line can only stay positive for a short period in time and a failing bottom line affects profits and shareholder values.

With the daunting fact that some 78% of sales leaders fail to deliver, CEOs must ask "what are the constants that place sales leaders in that position?" Are they untrained, unmanaged or just plain unlucky? When you look more closely at the issues you can see it is actually that they have developed bad habits. There are many lessons to be learnt and warning signs to take heed of when you look inside the habits of those sales leaders that are just not delivering.

Through all the hundreds of reviews I have conducted over the years there are constants that appear that can alert you to problems ahead or maybe those problems have already arrived. If I break down to the raw facts of where the sales leaders have often failed, it can be defined as these habits. There are six key habits that hinder any sales leader's ability to deliver a successful sales strategy.

1. They have under estimated how much the market has changed around your company and your company is now playing catch-up.

2. They are measuring the wrong indicators and are not responding quickly enough to the market changes around them.

3. They have not set or did not set enough milestones along the way within their strategy.

4. They have not re-evaluated the strategy along the way.

5. There is a lack of urgency

6. There is a lack of follow-up

Let's look at these a little more closely.

Your Playing Catch-Up

Many companies are extremely busy doing business and not looking at the business. Once the sales strategy is set down, sales leaders breathe a sigh of relief and just start charging forward. If the plan was not deep enough or sufficient information gathered to develop the plan, then most of their strategy is based on subjective or anecdotal information on the market which leaves them exposed to surprise changes in competitors, customer demands and economies.

Measuring the Wrong Indicators

They are measuring revenue and margin as their indicators and very little else. This may sound unusual as they are both important measures but the problem is for most technical based sales companies is that the financial results are historical and you can't change history. The next challenge is technical based sales companies often have a sales pipeline extending some six plus months into the future. It is full of proposals already in play that have set the pricing and offers that need to be delivered if the proposal is successful. Those pipelines may well have written the script of failure. It is hard to turn around a business that has a long pipeline of the wrong business.

The Missing Milestones

Sales leaders look at milestones typically through revenue eyes rather than looking deeper into the business to ensure the right behaviours and practices are occurring that will contribute to the milestones. They are unsure of what month one, three, five, six etc will even look like. If they are introducing new products, opening new sales channels, then milestones become critical elements and must go well beyond the traditional revenue view.

Re-Evaluation is Lost Along the Way

Sales leaders are the best at selling themselves on their good plan or strategy. They are even better at selling those around them. Many sales leaders become so engrossed in their sales strategy and where they are heading; they don't stop and check to see what is really happening. They fail to shift from seller mode to analysis mode. In short term sales strategies this can be less of a problem, but in long term sales strategies surrounding new products and sales channels this becomes a major problem. They need to be re-evaluated regularly to ensure their effectiveness in the market and how you taking them to market are also the most effective.

Lack of Urgency

The larger the organization the more likely there is a lack of urgency. Sales leaders often ride on the wave of momentum that has been created by the longevity of the business. They have a feeling of comfort that the business will continue to flow and therefore their priority of time and action is waylaid to focus on the small items of the day to day rather than the mid-larger items that require more attention and time to complete.

Lack of Follow-up

Without a doubt this is one of the greatest decay points of any unsuccessful business. There is a feeling of assumption across the sales leaders that as they have asked for something to be done then it must have been done. It may well be that is their own personal work ethic but it is certainly not the ethic of those working around them. What is not follow-up upon is most likely not going to be completed.

These simple habits can have catastrophic impacts on companies over a sustained period of time. These habits are all what are refer to as 'slow burners'. Meaning they will not stand out major problems at the time but as evidence over time and in hindsight you will look back and see their presence caused the slow decline of the sales organization. Your company may already be in a state of decline without you really pinpointing the contributing factors.

You may have seen other habits that you would like to add to this and we would be interested in your comments.

If you are concerned over your sales organizations ability to deliver, then contact the writer to discuss your business and how we can review your strategy and its execution process and put in place the right disciplines to ensure your sales leader delivers.

Adele Crane, is the bestselling author of two titles, "Get Sales Focused" and "Building the Most Effective Sales Force In the World". A world renowned business consultant as Managing Director of Sales Focus International, Adele has over 20 years of experience specializing in cultural change and building high performance sales organizations. Adele's work in sales analysis and benchmarking is relied upon by CEOs in many countries for the delivery of their strategies and performance of their sales organizations. She mentors Sales managers deepening their skills sets and furthering their careers.

Keep up to date with Adele Crane's blogs:

CEO Business Blog at ( http://www.salesfocusintl.com ).

Sales Force Effectiveness Blog ( http://www.mastering-sales.com ).

Statement of Work: The Blueprint of Your Project

What is a Statement of Work

The Statement of Work is the blueprint of your project. Like any blueprint, the SOW, spells out some very specific information about the who, what, when, where, and how of your project.

Why the SOW is important:

As the blueprint of your project, the Statement Of Work lays out the project specifics. A well constructed SOW will point out the following information about the project in very specific and pointed terminology, so to avoid any confusion in regards to the project. Below are specific topics which should be included in your SOW.

•     Purpose: What is the purpose of the project. Why is the venture being undertaken.

•     Scope: What are the parameters of the project, in other words, what will be included in the project. Also, it's very important to specify what is not included in the project. The scope statement should be very specific, and very detailed, because the information will be the basis of project foundation, upon which all other project areas will use as a guide for planning.

•     Deliverables: Specify exactly what your project is supposed to deliver. If your project is supposed to deliver a widget made of high tempered stainless steel, quarter inch thick, one inch tall, covered by layer of twenty four carat gold, then specify this in the project deliverables section of the statement of work.

•     Quality: Specify project quality standards. Be very specific on this point.

•     Resources: This includes material and human resources needed for your project.

•     Cost and schedule: IMPORTANT, Do not skip or rush through this step. Improper cost and schedule estimates can destroy your project. Some great tools to help address the cost and schedule requirements is the PERT formula, Work Breakdown Structure, and a Gantt chart.

•     Success: Define exactly what constitutes project success.

•     Constraints: Define issues that will or could constrain the project. If weather is a constraint, then specify the weather as a constraint, such as during a construction project. If it's a limited budget, then specify the budget and why it's a constraint.

•     Assumptions: List project assumptions, such as a supply being delivered on time.

•     Risks: List risks that could affect your project. Hold a team meeting and gather input from team members, and make a contingency plan of action for each risk you view as a realistic threat to your project.

•     Budget: Provide the overall budget, which if desired can be broken into smaller parts containing a specific budget for each project phase. Breaking the budget into smaller pieces will give people a better picture of the amount of money they have for their part of the project

How to construct a Statement Of Work

When putting the project statement together, be sure to address the areas, with the acronym SMART in mind, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Trackable. There are a lot of free templates available via downloads, but at the end of the day, a Statement of Work can be constructed using Microsoft Word. There is no order of precedence by which the project statement is listed, but the manner listed above would be advised. The main point is to have the project specifics in your Statement of Work. Additionally, I would suggest distributing a copy of the statement to all team members, and project stakeholders to ensure everyone involved has the same information concerning project specifics.

What Is a Budget?

A budget could be defined as 'a quantified plan of action relating to a given period of time. For a budget to be useful it must be quantified. For example, it would not be particularly useful for the purposes of planning and control if a budget was set as follows:

'We going to spend as little as possible in running the printing department this year'; or

'We want to produce as many units as we can possibly sell this quarter'.

These are merely vague indicators of intended direction; they are not quantified plans.

They will not provide much assistance in management's task and controlling the organization.

These 'budgets' could perhaps be modified as follows:

'Budgeted revenue expenditure for the printing department this year is $ 80,000'; and 'budgeted production for the quarter is 5,700 units'.

The quantification of the budgets has provided:

a) A definite target for the purpose; and
b) A yardstick for control purposes.

The budget period

You may have noticed that in each of these 'budgets' the time period was different. The first budget was prepared for a year and the second budget was for a quarter. The time period for which a budget is prepared and used is called the budget period. It can be any length so suit management purposes but it is usually 1 year.

The length of time chosen for the type budget period will depend on many factors, including the nature of the organization and the type of expenditure being considered. Each budget period can be subdivided into control period, also of varying lengths, depending on the level of control which management wishes to exercise. The usual length of a control period is 1 month.

Strategic, budgetary and operational planning

It will be useful at this stage to distinguish in broad terms three different types of planning:

Strategic;
Budgetary;
Operational;

These three forms of planning are interrelated. The main distinction between them relates to their time span which may be short term, medium term or long term. The short term for one organization may be the medium or long term for another, depending on the type of activity in which it is involved.

Strategic planning

Strategic planning is concerned with preparing long-term action plans to attain the organization's objectives.

Strategic planning is also known as corporate planning or long-range planning.

Budgetary planning

Budgetary planning is concerned with preparing the short-to medium-term plans of the organization. It will be carried out within framework of the strategic plan. An organization's annual budget could be seen as an interim step towards achieving the long- term or strategic plan.

Operational planning

Operational planning refers to the short-time or day -to -day planning process. It is concerned with planning the utilization of resources and will be carried out within the framework set by the budgetary plan. Each state in the planning process can be seen as an interim step towards achieving the budget for the period.

Operational planning is also known as tactical planning.

Remember that the full benefit of any planning exercise is not realized unless the plan is also used for control purposes. Each of these types of planning should be accompanied by the appropriate control expertise covering the same time span.

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Importance of Records Management to Businesses

Document and records management is administered by present data protection laws so businesses should conform at all times. If not, they can encounter possible litigation or legal charges. Nowadays, there are records management companies that provide secured online document storage and digital media and offsite data storage as well. Records are important to the organized entities work operations. They help maintain the overall work flow throughout the business. However, they can also use up the company resources to an extent. Records management is also called as recorded information management, a systematic management principles implementation that administered the necessary recorded information and its use in the usual business operations. Transactional records should be stored properly because they can be use as a legal evidence for every transaction made. Record management systems should comprehensive, reliable, possess integrity, permanence and protest with governing laws. Permanence means that the records are unaltered or tamper or properly destroyed or delete. Integrity refers to the records that should never be removed, destroyed or altered without proper authorization.

Important business records that have become fixed should be moved from their main storage to platform storage. It is performed to assure long term protection by preserving the documents and records in their unchanging format. If they are needed, they can be easily searched, accessed and used. The common reason for the production of archiving facilities is data preservation as obliged by industry regulations and government laws as well as to maximize capacity of storage. The sensitive information and other archived records are kept in a highly secured facility storage equipped with natural disaster, fire and theft protection systems. There is also an instant documents retrieval and easy access. Online data storage has become very essential in securing businesses from unnecessary problems and risks. Online data storage companies can provide a complete automated data backup procedure that is accessible online with backups that are stored on a disk to quickly restore files. Backup of all complete data is protected to an offsite data capacity. This assures that regular backups are remotely and safely stored.

Document and records management system manages the volume, development, redundancy and creation of records. It can help you to reduce operational costs by installing active management and intellectual outsourcing decisions. It supports the improved productivity and efficiency of the business that includes historical records. And it also assures regulatory and legislative compliance and helps in litigation and other problem management concerns.

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IT Managers Need To Know About Financial Leverage

As an IT manager you are going to want to be able to show some leadership and be able to have intelligent conversations with the people who are running your company. More often than not, those people are either going to be working in the company's finance department or they are going to have a finance background. This all means that your management is going to be using big words like "leverage" that you're going to have to understand. Let's do something about that right now.

What Is "Leverage"?

If you've watched any movie in the past few years that dealt with a business or money, then undoubtedly you've heard the actors use the phrase "... he's highly leveraged... " This leads to the question: what are they talking about? In the world of business, financial leverage refers to the act of borrowing money so that you can acquire an asset. When somebody (or some company) is highly leveraged, then they've acquired an asset using more of someone else's money than their own.

You don't want to get this kind of leverage confused with another type: operating leverage. Operating leverage is talking about the extent to which a company's operating costs are fixed versus variable.

How Do Companies Use Leverage?

Borrowing money is a bad idea, right? Isn't this what all of our parents told us as we were growing up? Well, it turns out that when used correctly, leverage is a very powerful business tool that can help your IT dream team do more projects.

Let's say that your company wanted to implement an IT program that was going to cost $1,000,000. Your company contributes $200,000 and borrows $800,000 to fund the project. A year goes by after the project has been implemented and your company has generated an extra $2,000,000 in profits because of the project. Ignore the cost of borrowing the money and assume that the company repays the borrowed $800,000. This leaves the company with $1,800,000 in profits after they repay themselves for funding the project. Clearly using leverage really paid off in this situation.

What Does All Of This Mean For You?

Financial leverage is a technique that companies use in order to implement projects that they don't currently have enough funding to do by themselves. This is a powerful technique that comes with some risks.

Firms borrow money, leverage, and combine it with their own money to fund activities that they want to perform. Assuming that the value of the activity increases, then the firm can repay the borrowed funds and will emerge with more funds than they had when they began. If the activity decreases in value, then the firm will end up losing money.

Using leverage can allow a firm to perform more IT projects and to start them sooner than if they didn't. However, the use of leverage puts the entire firm at risk of not being able to repay its loans. IT managers need to understand how this powerful financing technique works and what they need to keep an eye on when it's being used.

Dr. Jim Anderson
http://www.blueelephantconsulting.com/

Your Source For Real World IT Management Skills™

Dr. Jim Anderson understands what it is like to both work in an IT department as an employee as well as a manager. Dr. Anderson is willing to share with you his 20+ years of experience in order to explain how to attract, motivate, and retain top IT staff.

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