Biz Talk - Project :: Technology :: Business

The current state of the economy makes it very difficult to inspire employees to perform at their peak levels. They worry about losing their jobs, and this fear diverts their attention from producing at the levels needed to succeed.

In order to promote productivity, you need to help your employees figure out what to focus on and what actions to take. My experiences have taught me that there are four areas of emotion that help people move from disabling fear to empowering action. These feelings include a sense of:

*  Control

*  Optimism

*  Purpose

*  Engagement

Here are tips for helping employees move from anxiety to COPE feelings.

1. Control

One of the reasons that the current situation is so frightening to so many people is because it feels as if our economic well-being is out of our control. People don’t like to be out of control. As a manager, a critical job is to help your staff cope with the uncertainty they face by helping them see where they can regain some control over their futures.

Although the economic problems are worrying, there is no real point in worrying about something we cannot control. By getting your employees to focus on customer

service and productivity, you can allow them to regain a sense of control.

You, as a leader, may have to give up some of your control so that your employees can feel properly engaged with the decisions that affect their lives. A manager that tries to force their opinions on a staff will create nothing but suspicion and antipathy from their staff. It is very important that you encourage them to involve themselves in the areas of the company where they can have a positive impact.

2. Optimism

Leadership examples from throughout history demonstrate the power of optimism in rallying troops, reinventing and reinvigorating failing companies, and transforming entire nations.

To get the best out of your employees, you need them to be in a positive mindset, and it’s your job as a leader to inspire them. Research has shown that positive emotions like hope and optimism encourage creativity and innovation among your workforce, and these are exactly the qualities you need to build to cope with the downturn as best you can. If your employees approach problems with a “can-do” attitude, they are much more likely to find the solutions that your business needs.

3. Purpose

When people are working on the tactical details of day-to-day operations it’s easy to become myopic and stressed about the short-term. Find ways to keep your staff reminded of the reasons and purpose for their work and the organization they work for. Even hearing a simple reminder that their work matters will invigorate them to up their performance level and take action.

Jim Owens, Senior Vice President for North America operations of H.B. Fuller, stresses that the leader’s job is to put a positive path forward and to be clear about what targets people, and the organization as a whole, need to hit. He says, “Don’t leave it up to people to translate and fill in the gaps on their own.”

4. Engagement

The final element of the COPE model is engagement. An employee who is engaged will pay attention to what is happening to the company as a whole and will want to be involved in seeing it succeed in the future. In addition, they firmly believe their role is key to helping the company to succeed over the long haul.

Engagement means actively involving your employees in looking for solutions. When there is a problem in the company, give your staff the chance to participate in the brain-storming and problem solving sessions. This will give them a greater sense of control, but will also bring all team members together and provide a larger pool of possible solutions for your organization! 

Denver–based Sashco Sealants recently invited employees to submit cost-savings suggestions. The dozens of suggestions they received were shared in weekly “huddles” with representatives from each function and unit. Each team was encouraged to implement the ideas and then report back on results. Significant savings within the company have already been achieved.

In summary, by following the COPE model, you can use positive, proactive leadership to get the best out of your employees, and to create a great workplace environment that breeds innovation, focus and productivity.

Wendy”>http://www.WendyMack.com”>Wendy Mack is a professional advisor, trainer, and author with a focus in leading

and communicating change. Contact Wendy at, or Download her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at

href=”http://www.WendyMack.com”>www.WendyMack.com>.

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Asset tracking is a vital aspect of any asset management function. Assets must be managed both financially and physically. To do that requires knowledge of exactly where all your assets are, even if they are fixed. Many companies rely on a conventional spreadsheet approach to try to keep track of all their various assets, but that can prove problematic without the use of fixed asset software applicable and compliant with international regulations.

That’s especially important with IT asset tracking. IT equipment can often change during its operational lifetime. Components may be switched, replaced or upgraded. Software is always being installed, uninstalled or upgraded. Many of these changes are internal and therefore invisible and cannot be tracked even with the use of an asset tracking system to control bar code-tagged assets. The fact that many IT systems are so desirable and useful can also contribute to their tendency to “disappear”.

Central to any asset tracking software system should be a powerful, centralised database which provides controlled access for all parties that require it, thus preventing discrepancies that may otherwise arise between departments. This system should also have the capacity to include information about those invisible software assets sitting on your IT network – how many programs and whether they are licenced or not? A single audit should have the capacity to cover multiple locations and thousands of assets. It should also be fully compatible with inventory management systems, so that hand-held scanning devices typically employed to read barcode labels can integrate with both accounting and tracking modules to provide an accurate, validated, and consistently current database. This will enable users to comply fully and confidently with auditor requirements relating to accurately accounting for and tracking their asset base.

The features of the best fixed asset accounting software should include the use of portable scanners or more durable PDAs to input information and update the status of items on-site and in real time, including data such as make, model or serial number. Assets and inventory items can then be flagged as transferred, disposed of or missing.

Once the audit data has been uploaded into the asset or inventory register, users are able to run a report displaying not only the details of, but also the suggested actions (disposable, relocation, upgrade etc) for each of the assets located in the audit. In doing so, users are alerted to any discrepancies in the asset’s status or location prior to updating them on the fixed asset/inventory register.

If any further analysis is required, the asset tracking software can be used to produce a range of additional reports to provide a comprehensive account of all the changes that have been made to the registers. Reports can be sorted and sequenced to suit the individual organisation and can be viewed in a range of different mediums, including spreadsheets and MS Word documents.

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Setting up your own website may be simple if you’ve made inquiries and already know what steps to take. The design of your website, which is essentially important, can also, simply be created using tools such as SiteGrinder. SiteGrinder 2 can aid you in maintaining and updating your website. You may be questioning the need to set up your own website and how it would benefit you and your business. Here are a few answers to that question:
• You can use technology to your business’ improvement – More people these days are using additional hours online than in front of the TV. While considering using an item , they turn to the search engines first for reviews and other helpful information. It would increase sale if information about the product and services you offer would be made readily available on the internet for existing and potential customers to see.
• It is a reasonable way to market your business – The Internet is a great way to spread the word about the products and services that your business offers. Advertising about your site on several websites would be a lot cheaper than other traditional forms of advertising such as print, TV, and radio. Investing on promoting your website is a sound business decision if you do the marketing desirable.
• It makes customer merge easier – More than a few companies pay large amount of cash on customer correspondence through mail and toll-free numbers but websites can also offer ways for your customers to contact you. There are quite a lot of technique of going concerning this. Some business bloggers include guestbooks in their websites, some have a blog-style comment section where comments can be made known, some integrate a contact form on a page, and some invest in installing a web-based chat system for direct customer support. You’ll be surprised to find out that most of the interaction methods above can be put up on your website for free.
• Share updates, changes, and promotions immediately in no time – Posting updates on the internet such as sales, in-store promotions, games, and other changes make it easier for your existing and potential customers to hold on among adjustments. More people will know about it and will be able to respond to it better because they don’t have to pay a visit your store to see your poster or announcement. Finding updates on the website will urge customers to visit your store when you have something new to offer them.
• It’s a great way show potential customers what your company is made of – You only get to make a first impression once, and largely time-honored businesses already know that your website can be a great way to make a good first impression. Most trustworthy businesses put up their identifiable websites. A suitably planned design says a lot about the morals of your company. It’s always a good idea to make sure that your company has a good, clean design and content that is both enlightening plus advanced.
These are certain factors that a business website can add to your company. If you invest some time and the right quality of effort, you’ll see how this could positively influence your business.

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A professional acquaintance shared the expression “CAVE Dwellers” with me. CAVE means “Colleagues Against Virtually Everything.” Of course, CAVE Dwellers do not include those who rationally and respectfully oppose a particular change.

Viewing Compliance as Opportunity

The smart response to government regulations is to go beyond the norms everyone else follows.

Of course, it’s helpful if an organization can anticipate and shape the rules. This is why consumer participation is necessary, so leaders may stay abreast of customers’ issues and environmental impact.

Leaders, managers and their staffs must have the requisite skills to work with customers, activist groups, lobbyists and other companies (including rivals) to explore and develop creative solutions.

Making Value Chains Sustainable

Pay attention to, and foresee, the redesign of operations so you can use less energy and water, produce fewer emissions and generate less waste.

Your value-chain oversight should ensure that suppliers and retailers also make their operations eco-friendly. There are groundbreaking opportunities to develop sustainable sources of raw materials and components, increasing the use of clean energy sources (wind, solar) and finding new uses for returned products.

Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian politician and writer, forcefully characterized the intensity of negative reactions to possible change and the challenge of effecting substantive change when he said: “There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiators have the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new one.”

Green Thinking

Green is not merely a cost center, but a profitable path to growth. People at all corporate levels must focus on the following keys:

• Understand what climate change means for business (which is very different from everyone agreeing on the science).
• See the long-term constraints in natural resources and nonrenewable energy.
• View the business in the context of the full value chain, from suppliers to customers and beyond.

Some of these areas touch on people’s belief systems, so leaders must send a strong message. Throwing some basic information about the environment into internal training modules isn’t enough. Top executives must make strong statements about the harsh realities, current and future constraints and challenges, and the organization’s commitment to action.

(4) Fails to see the macro level of programme management

Steps three to five of the AKBAR model are about knowledge of how to change, ability to implement change and reinforcement - making change stick, and these all relate to one of the biggest issues re implementing change - which boils down to: translating vision and strategy into actionable steps.

The traditional project approach referred to by the AKBAR model - sees it as a set of tasks which if executed successfully get a result. In other words the typical process led approach which has failed so consistently and so spectacularly over the last 20 years.

There is an important distinction between the micro level and the macro level perspectives of change management - and which the AKBAR fails to recognise.

At the macro level the root cause of this is lack of clarity and lack of communication about the people aspects of how to manage change - and even more fundamentally - the lack of a language and contextual framework to articulate and manage the necessary processes of change that will work for people. At this level, a major part of the solution to this lies in employing a programme management approach to change, and this is because it is holistic and takes far more account of the many dimensions overlooked by the narrow scope of a project management led approach

Resource Author Francisco R. Higueras
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Encontrar un Trabajo – Empleo es fácil si sabe dónde buscar

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Cheap web hosting( website hosting ) is now the most effective way of promoting and influencing people all around the globe. There is evidence showing that an online ad is clicked about hundreds of thousands of times every day. Cause we all know that in nowadays, the internet is so widely used that people all around the world can use it conveniently given that they have time. As a consequence,you need not anxious about having your advertisements shown on a specific time slot or place to appeal more attention as web hosting will make sure the attention you command.

Right now, you may be thinking of promoting your business by various means, such as fliers, billboards, radio and maybe even via television. All these methods are good but they are costly and are unable to grasp attention as much as web hosting can. In addition to being the most influential method,web hosting is cheaper than others as well. Above all that, web hosting( website hosting ) is one of the only methods that allow you to make drastic changes instantly. For instance,you cannot select a commercial advertisement any time you like. Nor can you change a painted billboard as and when you fancy.

Before you go rushing off to start your very own web hosting( website hosting ) page, you should know the basics on web hosting. The first question that everyone asks is “How do I find a web hosting page?Simple and convenient search engines ,for example ,Google or Yahoo search can help you find your very own web page in just less than a second like any other things you seek for on the internet. However,what is it that you should watch out for when you are selecting your web hosting page? Let me share with you the major things you should inspect when seeking for your web hosting page.

First and foremost ,you are supposed to make sure that your site make you have accesss to upload your own customized web pages. Several sites only permit you to use their preset pages that are limited in several aspects. Do not let this fool you into thinking that it is a benefit as things seems easier because in time to come you will only realize that your web page is not in your control. There is another thing that need to be take into consideration,that is to make sure that the web page make you have the right to have a look at your overall statistics. It means that you can know for sure the amount of people who have visited your web page etc. Finally, make sure that your site allows you to get your very own domain name. If it does not and only authorizes sub domain names, your web hosting page will not be recognized by the Search Engine Optimizer (SEO).

So now, you are all set to begin your very own web hosting page. I can make sure that by just inventing your own web hosting page,you will see your business improve in a remarkable way which you have never imagined before. Many say nothing good comes cheap but this is not so for cheap web hosting. There is evidence show that cheap web hosting will not only help to take your busines to a higher level but also far more high level.

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Senior level support of an initiative is always a key goal of any group manager or project director, in order to ensure success of a project.However, in over 10 years of work with change managers, convincing senior management to approve a proposal continues to be a main source of frustration among group managers. 

To try to better understand what senior management needs to support a project, I asked a number of vice presidents and executive vice presidents from both the private and public sector for their advice.I learned there are two things often ignored by team leaders in their presentations.Using these techniques, the chances of gaining the support of senior management will increase substantially. 

Expecting Immediate Support

According to several executives I interviewed, team leaders and function heads often mistakenly conclude that one brilliant pitch is enough to gain agreement and buy-in.Unfortunately it is more often the case that executive support is created gradually over time. 

One government agency executive I spoke with mentioned that it has taken three to four years to build enough support to gain an increase in congressional funding.  He used the example to illustrate the fact that managers need to take a more strategic and long-term perspective.  He suggested that managers looking for support should:

1.State clearly the ways that the entire organization will benefit from your plan.

2.   Explore your case with peers from other groups/units.  Look for ways to align priorities across multiple teams.

3.   Preview your case with executives and stakeholders.Listen to their ideas and advice.  Make changes. 

4.Wait to present your proposal until after you have built a strong case and obtained initial support for your ideas.

 Failing to Be Strategic

This is a crucial point when it comes to gaining support.In most companies, senior management have developed a vision for the years to come and have developed strategic goals to get there.Support for your proposal will be more likely if you can show how it fits in with those strategic goals. Doing this successfully means being able to read between the lines and understand what is important without waiting to be told what to do. 

What does it mean to be strategic?  In my experience, executives want their directors to:

1.   Understand the organization’s overall priorities.

2.   Proactively suggest how their team can help the organization achieve its goals.

As Scott Eblin writes in “The Next Level”, you need to spend time with your senior executives up front to ensure that you understand what success means to them.However, at this point it is unlikely that they will provide you with specific goals and constraints that you can input into your project.The goal will be to listen for key objectives, as well as company wide restraints, barriers and obstacles.  Absorb what you hear.  Discuss it with your managers.  Then come back to your executive with specific plans about what your group or function will do and how you will do it.Always be flexible and willing to make adjustments based on feedback you hear from the executive team. 

Executive support for a project you feel strongly about may seem as though it is out of your reach, but if you are patient you will be able to build a case that senior management will understand.The objective is to always keep in mind the overall goals of the organization and communicate clearly how your project will help to achieve those goals.  Before you know it, your project could become a key factor in the success of the entire company!    

Wendy Mack is a professional advisor, trainer, and author with a focus in leading and communicating change. Contact Wendy at, or Download her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at www.WendyMack.com

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If you have experienced the following scenario, you are not alone.With only a few minutes to present to senior management, you must communicate a proposed project on behalf of your team.You labor until you perfect the delivery, only to see that the executives were unmoved by your proposal.What caused the unenthusiastic response? 

In my work with change leaders over the past decade, I’ve seen some great examples of what works when it comes to gaining executive support.I have also seen more than one attempt flop.I went straight to the source and asked leaders in both public and private industry what they wanted to see from their mid level managers when hearing presentations. 

The executives agreed that when mid-level leaders attempt to make a case for funding or other support, they often provide far too much information.A lot of proposals they hear fail because the executives don’t have time or interest to digest every nuance of the proposed project.  Most executives don’t want or need to know each and every task your team is working on.  They don’t want to have to weigh in on every decision. 

The following are three best practices for making a case to the senior leadership team.

1.Use visual aids such as PowerPoint to give a summary of your main goals and objectives.

A PowerPoint deck is a great briefing tool because it requires you to summarize your points into brief bullets.  Keep your points at a high level and mentally prepare stories, anecdotes, and illustrations to bring depth to the words on the page.The goal will be to stay on any one Power Point screen no more than three minutes during your presentation.Yes, have the information to back up your main points, but use it only if you are asked a specific question about that issue.  

2.Organize your main objectives and goals into relevant groups.

I recently saw one team leader list every activity his team planned to work on in 2009 in his pitch to executives.While he had hoped to strengthen his case with a lot of details, it really just irritated the executives instead.One senior manager even spoke up and told the presenter that they had no interested in hearing what activities the team intended to undertake.  They just wanted to know the priorities. 

I find it helpful to group goals or activities into categories.  For example, you might say that in 2009, your team will focus on cutting costs, streamlining processes, and developing bench strength.  You could then list examples of goals in each of the three categories.Using this approach will help senior management to focus on how the proposals you suggest for your team will impact the entire company, and allow them to decide if these are the areas that they want to stress in the coming year.   

3.Briefly describe what you need from senior management to press forward. 

Too many presentations to executive teams are informational in tone.  The team or project leader provides an update and asks for any questions.Their hope with this approach is that the executive team will be so impressed that they offer funding and support to the project without being asked, which is rarely the case. 

Instead, conclude your pitch with a slide that summarizes specifically what you need.Maybe it is a specific amount of money earmarked in the budget, or a critical decision by senior management, or even more company resources dedicated to your project.True, there is always the possibility that what you ask for will be denied, it is a much better situation to understand right away if what you need to be successful is a possibility.

In the 1990’s a team of external consultants worked with General Electric to develop a change acceleration process.  The team came up with a four-step formula for effective elevator speeches:

*    Our project or initiative is about  . . .

* It is very important to the company because . . . . .

* What this means for senior management is . . . . . . .

* Here is what we need from you. . . . .

Use this approach both in one-on-one conversations with stakeholders and in your formal pitches and presentations.And, as you become more proficient at answering those four key questions, your ability to get your proposals approve will increase.

By keeping your pitches to senior management short and crisp you will be able to focus on strategy, not tasks.. Being very specific and clear about what you need will help senior management to know right away what you are proposing, what you would like from them to help you succeed, and, most important, how it will positively impact the entire organization. 

Wendy Mack is a professional advisor, trainer, and author with a focus in leading

and communicating change. Contact Wendy at, or Download her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at http://www.WendyMack.com

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You may have heard of SAP software. It’s a software system used by a major percentage of medium sized and very large corporations all over the world. The purpose of the platform is to ‘wire’ the entire business together and allow hundreds and often thousands of employees to store, share and view knowledge about the physical and financial activities of the firm. Large organisations are managed by smart individuals who understand the strategic value of this type of software, such as how it can give them an appreciation of why issues are happening inside their enterprise or where there might be opportunity for improvements.

This type of software application is commonly known as ERP. It is very complicated, very costly and can take months and often years to deploy. A deployment of ERP software is a major capital expenditure but this doesn’t prevent substantial organisations purchasing these packages.

Until this year software like this was not available or affordable for tiny firms. As a result tiny organisations have not been aware of the immense benefits that ERP systems can deliver. Small organisations have been wrongly convinced by aggressive software suppliers like Sage Software and Intuit that small business accounting software is the answer. These packages most often have no functionality to permit their users to join together the entire firm or perform common tasks such as customer relationship management.

The rise of Web based CRM software from software manufacturers like Salesforce.com is a good example of the small business accounting software companies misleading or misunderstanding the small business community.

It is for this reason that small business ERP vendors similar to Salesorder.com have begun to make great progress in the market. They provide saas which includes all of the key functionality a small company needs at an affordable price. What is even more fascinating is these platforms are a cinch to operate and can be rolled out in a short amount of time.

At last ERP applications are no longer the privilege of large vendors.

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While businesses are struggling to survive in a turbulent economy, it is very easy to avoid communicating with employees. This avoidance can affect overall company performance for a number of reasons. If not addressed, employee anxiety reduces productivity and may ultimately impact the bottom line via stress-related illness, absenteeism, and decreased employee engagement and loyalty.

Here are five tips for communicating effectively in turbulent times.

#1: The C-Level Needs to be Seen

As a general rule, senior leader visibility and accessibility need to increase in proportion to the number of “unknowns” in an organization. Instead of waiting to hold town hall meetings until all of the details have been worked out, communicate frequently when options are being weighed and decisions are being made.

#2: Eliminate the Strain of Silence

Unfortunately, many presidents and CEOs are reluctant to hold town hall meetings or webinars in times of uncertainty.They know they will have little solid to say because even they aren’t certain what the impact of a situation will have on the company or what the right response should be? The temptation may be to hold off on communicating until you know more.

Unfortunately, silence only leads to rumors. When their worries and the office gossip is not addressed, the rumor mills work even faster and employees begin to doubt the sincerity of their company. It is critical for senior management to talk openly and honestly about the state of affairs in order to curb unfounded rumors and to keep their employee’s trust.

#3: Acknowledge the Anxiety

When you don’t have the answers, communicate possibilities and probabilities. TJ and Sandar Larkin, communication experts, indicate that employees lost trust in senior management not because they are hearing about difficult situations from them, but because they are hearing little or nothing at all.

Organizational transitions expert William Bridges agrees. Bridges has discovered that staff members typically prefer to hear that there is no news at all, but they will be the first to be told when there is. 

#4: Convey Realistic Optimism

When Lehman Brothers announced bankruptcy last fall, employees throughout the financial industry started to panic. The Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va., responded with a letter from its president. The letter reminded employees that the credit union operated very conservatively, and had never participated in the types of lending practices that got Lehman Brothers in trouble. At the same time, the president explained that the credit union was not immune to the crisis.

This blend of realistic optimism is something that leaders should strive for. Employees don’t want the truth to be sugar-coated. Robert Holland, a communications expert, suggests management to convey a message such as: I understand every employee has been impacted by the financial crisis in a special way. These are anxious and confusing times for everyone, but let me share with you what our company is doing to make it through.

#5: Reach out to Remote Employees

In times like these, it would be easy for employees in remote and field offices to feel out of the loop and fearful.One Denver director of a West Coast company in the midst of a large restructure has implemented a system for delivering information to remote employees which consists of:

1.conduct a short phone meeting first thing each week with all staff in order to communicate any new information that has happened since the prior week.

2.A more formal all-hands call midway through the week in order to share rumors or gossip people may have heard and to set folks straight as to the facts.

3.An end of week email to all staff summarizing what has transpired over the week with respect to the reorganization.

The beauty of such a plan comes from its consistency and openness. Staff members feel comfortable voicing their concerns and trust they are fully in the loop as to what is proceeding.There is a lot of laughter over some of the rumors that surface, which really boosts morale.The final result is a team that feels connected and supported, regardless of their location. 

Whatever the format, it is critical for senior leaders to acknowledge the anxiety and engage employees in two-way communication. Good leaders recognize that when anxiety is running high, employee communication is not optional, it’s imperative.

Wendy Mack is a professional advisor, trainer, and author with a focus in leading and communicating change. Download her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at www.WendyMack.com 

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Running a company efficiently is about organisation, focus and process as a massive 55% of businesses fail in their first five years of existence. The commentators offer shallow explanations as to why this happens. I continuosly observe three key reasons why this tragedy happens so often and to so many individuals with different experience, qualifications and skill.

The primary reason is insufficient market understanding.

No foresight. For example People dream up the idea, build the product and then sit back and wait for the market to flock and buy. In this connected age there is no excuse for lack of investigation prior to spending any time and cash on designing a product until you have solid confirmed there is a market.

The number two reason is lack of comprehension of fundamental facts about business.

The majority of people starting a business know their trade, how to offer a service or make a product, but know very little about running a company.  Being able to read and track the numbers in the P&L or the balance sheet is a vital. The basic knowledge of accounting is not very often imparted well by the business books, online resources and experts in the know such as accountants and bookkeepers. Companies such as Sage software and Intuit aggressively fool business managers with their messaging that their systems are the cure for all ills.

Sage software and other vendors as usual are underserving small businesses.

Until recently ERP software solutions and packages were only affordable by larger enterprises who had deduced that the back and front office systems need to be wired together to give a comprehensive picture of the business. One technology business NetSuite had the vision to see the gap in the market and began selling its small business ERP software. NetSuite competitors have since emerged.

The final reason businesses fail is because of lack of process and procedures that provide the essential behaviours and consistency a business must have to work efficiently.

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