Oct
16

Goal Setting, the Real Work continued

Goal Setting, the Real Work continued Problem four: The common difficulty with goal setting is that although you need to focus on the positive (some say in ratio of four to one) often there is little attention paid to assessment of obstacles and the strategies to overcome them. What we need to do is spend… Continue reading »

Oct
11

Goal Setting is Just The Start of the Real Work

Recently I have been involved in a visioning process and it reminded of the most common problem that occurs in organizations as they attempt to match their reality with their desires. Hours can be spent setting a vision, supporting it with a mission and checking it for validity against our values. Usually everyone will enthusiastically… Continue reading »

Sep
14

Why Saying NO is So Important

I have recently been engaged in building and promoting a website for a local Rotary Club. To raise funds for the club it was decided to “monetize” the site by offering advertising space to local businesses in the area. The club is located in a small to medium country town with most businesses reportedly “doing… Continue reading »

Sep
07

Career Success and the Need for a Sense of Urgency

I recently built a small website for a private customer which represented about three days work over a week or so. The customer (also a friend) had mentioned he wanted a website quite a few months earlier however after a few follow-ups he told he had put the project on hold. From our conversations I… Continue reading »

Jun
14

Michael Treacy – Business Growth Through Innovation

‘The challenge for growth is not in the market place limitations it’s in the management team.’ Michael Treacy The Growth Problems Strategy Problem – where are the opportunities? Innovation Problem – generating new initiatives. Discipline Problem – creating self sustaining system of insights, actions and learning. Growth through Innovation Part 1 Summary of the “how… Continue reading »

Jun
06

How as a salesperson you can find hot sales leads part 2

Research and define your target geographic market. Depending on the size of area you are able to service you may find some locations more fruitful than others. I once trained bank mangers to cold call to look for prospects. Almost to a man they wanted to travel miles to “industrial areas” often over an hours… Continue reading »

Apr
13

Delegation: 20 Rules, a Quick Checklist

Delegation Rule 1 Only do it if you want to develop your staff not to just dump work. Delegation Rule 2 Trust them first, train & test for competence before you delegate, Delegation Rule 3 Clearly define the tasks that must be done and limits of authority attached. Delegation Rule 4 Explain what’s in it… Continue reading »

Mar
30

Empowerment: The Development of an Empowered Workforce

The concept of staff empowerment is often spoken about and even claimed as policy by many organizations. It seems from experience and much I have read that the methods and requirements for implementation of successful staff empowerment programs are often badly misunderstood and/or mismanaged. I found this five stage model some time ago however cannot… Continue reading »

Feb
23

Managing Meetings

First major meeting issue – is the meeting really necessary? Ingrained “meeting rituals” have existed in every organization I have ever worked for. Many meetings through habit or even plain bad practice become nothing more than “disguised working” or even ritualized “social events”. Often, if we think clearly about it, desired work outcomes from both… Continue reading »

Feb
06

Are You Leading or Just Managing?

Being a leader-manager can be an “iffy” proposition. Four “ifs” to begin with. If you are controlling your work group, rarely leave your department, constantly micro manage all processes to check what the staff are up to, constantly defining what a ‘good’ job looks like, stipulating standards, insisting on a rigorous regime of task methodology… Continue reading »

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