The number of fun team building activities you can utilize to improve productivity at work are limited only by the imagination. From more simple and traditional games and sport-related activities, to more elaborate adventures drawing inspiration from popular reality tv shows, there are many ways to have fun while learning to work together as a team.
Creative and critical thinking, trust-building, problem solving, conflict resolution, and more are involved in many of these activities that give you and your team a chance to get to know and appreciate one another better as people outside of your typical environment, and help strengthen and revitalize work relationships. Some popular ideas include scavenger hunts, music and rhythm exercises, and other physical activities or games that require people to interact, work together, and have fun. Even a team cooking activity can provide a valuable team building experience. Many approaches to team building incorporate humor as an essential component to helping people lighten up, relax, and explore their potential as a group working together.
Some of the essentials to building an effective team include:
- helping each individual feel like a valuable member of the team with a unique purpose to fulfill that contributes to a common goal.
- encouraging open, non-threatening communication
- overcoming any barriers to group cohesiveness
- providing safe ways to manage conflict
- facilitating group interaction
Whether you have a new group of people who need to quickly get to know one another in order to form effective working relationships; renew an atmosphere of enthusiasm in a work environment that has grown stale or unproductive; or tackle some difficult issues such as the need for restructuring, or work on interpersonal conflict, there are many fun and helpful activities that can help accomplish these goals.
Depending on the size of your organization, the seriousness of the issues you need to address, and your current leadership capabilities, you may want to bring in a professional consultant, or order products you can implement on your own. Try browsing some of the latest ideas in fun team building activities online to get inspired and start considering the best approach for your team. Although the right solution will depend on the particulars of your situation, most team building activities are designed to suit a wide variety of groups, and can generally be adjusted to accommodate your needs.
Enjoy getting your group together for some enjoyable time outside of the office, and bring new vitality and cohesiveness to your organization. This investment in your people will have innumerable rewards in improving job satisfaction, reducing employee turnover and the associated expenses, and creating a better work environment for everyone. Why not take advantage of some proven strategies to creating a more effective team, and have a little fun while you're at it?
Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
Labels:
Management
The Three Levels Of Work -- And How You Can Increase Your Income With Very Little Effort
If you listen carefully, you'll hear people talking about ways they can make more money. Their strategies will be different depending on the kind of work they do.
I was in a convenience store when I heard the clerk tell another employee how he was putting in lots of overtime. It was long hours of work, but he was eagerly doing it to get a little extra cash on payday.
Another day I was waiting in the lobby of a big corporation. I heard several executives discuss how much they were earning in their new positions. Obviously these were salaried jobs that were paying a lot of money for the right education, skills, and experience.
Then last weekend I spent some time at the lake. There were several people gathered around an expensive boat. They were talking about money, but none ever mentioned a job. Their talk was all about investments, how much their property was appreciating, and how well their far-flung businesses were doing.
It was clear these men and women didn't work a job for a living. They were obviously earning a fabulous income simply making their money work. They could afford to practically live at the lake while their investments, businesses, and properties were earning an income for them.
In essence, these wealthy individuals were profiting from the work of others. If you've ever seen an economics report on TV or read one in the paper, you know that is the basic principle of our Western business system, a tradition that has created trillions of dollars in wealth worldwide
What I've experienced and observed are what I call THE THREE LEVELS OF WORK:
* You can work a job and get paid by the hour. The longer you work, the more you get paid.
* You can work a job -- usually salaried -- that pays you a lot of money for what you know or can do. The more you study, the more years you put in on the job, the more you earn.
* Finally, you can profit from the work of others. Many business owners and wealthy individuals fall into this category. They actually get paid MUCH MORE money to WORK VERY LITTLE.
You don't need millions to earn income in this third category. Many home-based businesses now use the power of the Internet to let you earn big RESIDUAL INCOME from your kitchen table.
Passive, residual income is when you earn a commission on the sales other people in your organization make. These days the powerful reach of the Internet and simple online automation can make this dream a realty for just about anyone.
I was in a convenience store when I heard the clerk tell another employee how he was putting in lots of overtime. It was long hours of work, but he was eagerly doing it to get a little extra cash on payday.
Another day I was waiting in the lobby of a big corporation. I heard several executives discuss how much they were earning in their new positions. Obviously these were salaried jobs that were paying a lot of money for the right education, skills, and experience.
Then last weekend I spent some time at the lake. There were several people gathered around an expensive boat. They were talking about money, but none ever mentioned a job. Their talk was all about investments, how much their property was appreciating, and how well their far-flung businesses were doing.
It was clear these men and women didn't work a job for a living. They were obviously earning a fabulous income simply making their money work. They could afford to practically live at the lake while their investments, businesses, and properties were earning an income for them.
In essence, these wealthy individuals were profiting from the work of others. If you've ever seen an economics report on TV or read one in the paper, you know that is the basic principle of our Western business system, a tradition that has created trillions of dollars in wealth worldwide
What I've experienced and observed are what I call THE THREE LEVELS OF WORK:
* You can work a job and get paid by the hour. The longer you work, the more you get paid.
* You can work a job -- usually salaried -- that pays you a lot of money for what you know or can do. The more you study, the more years you put in on the job, the more you earn.
* Finally, you can profit from the work of others. Many business owners and wealthy individuals fall into this category. They actually get paid MUCH MORE money to WORK VERY LITTLE.
You don't need millions to earn income in this third category. Many home-based businesses now use the power of the Internet to let you earn big RESIDUAL INCOME from your kitchen table.
Passive, residual income is when you earn a commission on the sales other people in your organization make. These days the powerful reach of the Internet and simple online automation can make this dream a realty for just about anyone.
Labels:
Management
D.I.S.C profiling in the recruitment-selection process
The fact is that the DISC method of behavioural profiling is one of the most widely used worldwide.
Why?
One reason is that it may be used effectively by middle management. You do not need to employ the services of a psychologist to interpret the results.
The system does that automatically.
True the outputs will vary dependant upon which particular DISC system you use. But then so would the interpretation from one psychologist to another.
However the great value of a DISC report is that it does give the interviewer a track to run on, gives them a base from which their understanding of the interviewee may accurately be developed.
It is a fact that it is unlikley that the majority of folks in middle management who are involved in the recruitment process have had much in the way of interview process training.
The majority of interviews conducted in the hiring of sales personnel in particular are likley carried out by untrained or poorly trained individuals.
They may well be high calibre but if they have had no training then it is likely that they will experience a high fall out rate of their recruits.
The main problem is that such people never stop recruiting, never switch from attract mode to investigative mode. They are usually being pushed from on high to fill the vacancies left by past selection failures.
The interviewee has shown an interest in the position, that is why they are there. What the interviewer should be doing from the start is deselecting, is looking for reasons why the recruit would fail.
Instead they buy at face value the package the interviewee is selling. They do not dig deeper they do not ask the killer questions.
Why?
Because first of all they are desperate to get this person on board and because frankly they do not know how.
OK, so how can a DISC profile help?
The first thing to be clear on is that all people charged with the responsibility of delivering the report to the interviewee MUST HAVE TRAINING.
Not just a one day training course. (they are almost worthless, no matter the quality of the course content), they should have continous training, role playing workshops and be assessed as competent by an in house expert.
The in house expert should have attended an full blown train the trainer course and they themselves been accredited and shown to be competent.
Any management tool is apotential commercial time bomb unless appropriate training has been delivered.
Why is it that some companies will buy management tools but then baulk at the expense of training their people to be effective in their use?
Do you use DISC in your organisation?
Do you conduct recruitment interviews?
Are you responsible for delivering the report to the interviewee?
Are you competent to do so?
If you are in any way unsure then bring the matter to the attention of the appropriate company official
Why?
One reason is that it may be used effectively by middle management. You do not need to employ the services of a psychologist to interpret the results.
The system does that automatically.
True the outputs will vary dependant upon which particular DISC system you use. But then so would the interpretation from one psychologist to another.
However the great value of a DISC report is that it does give the interviewer a track to run on, gives them a base from which their understanding of the interviewee may accurately be developed.
It is a fact that it is unlikley that the majority of folks in middle management who are involved in the recruitment process have had much in the way of interview process training.
The majority of interviews conducted in the hiring of sales personnel in particular are likley carried out by untrained or poorly trained individuals.
They may well be high calibre but if they have had no training then it is likely that they will experience a high fall out rate of their recruits.
The main problem is that such people never stop recruiting, never switch from attract mode to investigative mode. They are usually being pushed from on high to fill the vacancies left by past selection failures.
The interviewee has shown an interest in the position, that is why they are there. What the interviewer should be doing from the start is deselecting, is looking for reasons why the recruit would fail.
Instead they buy at face value the package the interviewee is selling. They do not dig deeper they do not ask the killer questions.
Why?
Because first of all they are desperate to get this person on board and because frankly they do not know how.
OK, so how can a DISC profile help?
The first thing to be clear on is that all people charged with the responsibility of delivering the report to the interviewee MUST HAVE TRAINING.
Not just a one day training course. (they are almost worthless, no matter the quality of the course content), they should have continous training, role playing workshops and be assessed as competent by an in house expert.
The in house expert should have attended an full blown train the trainer course and they themselves been accredited and shown to be competent.
Any management tool is apotential commercial time bomb unless appropriate training has been delivered.
Why is it that some companies will buy management tools but then baulk at the expense of training their people to be effective in their use?
Do you use DISC in your organisation?
Do you conduct recruitment interviews?
Are you responsible for delivering the report to the interviewee?
Are you competent to do so?
If you are in any way unsure then bring the matter to the attention of the appropriate company official
Labels:
Management
5 Reasons Why Recordkeeping Is So Important
When you decided to start your business, was your first priority concerned with setting up your filing system for recording your expenses? I seriously doubt it. This simple task (yes it is simple) is usually the item that is the last thing on the new business owner's mind. The more "important" issues of what product to sell, how am I going to advertise, how much money is it going to cost me, and how much money can I make are the first questions we consider when going into business.
The task of recordkeeping is usually procrastinated until the very last minute, when it is required. It is time to file your tax return, or time to go to the bank to get a loan for the business and the banker wants to see some financial records for the business. This can be a very daunting and cumbersome task if you have to dig through receipts and expenses for the whole year! No wonder we hate keeping records. That's no fun!
Well, guess what? If you aren't keeping good, timely, and up-to-date records monthly, you don't need to be in business. That's right. I said it. Here are the top five reasons why I truly believe this statement.
1. Lost tax deductions = Lost Money If you are throwing your receipts in a shoebox each month and not keeping an organized record of your income and expenses, I can bet you money that you are losing out on some major tax deductions. A smart businessperson keeps track of her income (cash in) and expenses (cash out) monthly, sometimes even weekly. You do not need a fancy accounting software package to do this. You don't even need a computer! Simply keep a journal monthly and log in all of your receipts and invoices, and there you have it.
2. High CPA/Tax Preparer Fees = Lost Money I can speak from personal experience, that if you bring in that shoebox of receipts for the year and expect your tax preparer to record and properly deduct your business expenses on your tax return, you are sadly mistaken. Tax season is the busiest time of year for these professionals. If you expect them to do your bookkeeping and recordkeeping as well, expect to pay for it. They don't have the time, or the desire to make sure that every receipt is accounted for. As a businessperson, it is your responsibility to make sure they are given the right totals and you can trace it right back to your tax return.
3. Too much time spent looking for receipts The time you spend looking for a past receipt for a particular purchase for whatever reason, you can be utilizing this time in advertising your business or producing your product. These are important money generating activities that you are sacrificing due to your lack of recordkeeping.
4. No financial statements Every business owner should review at least the profit and loss statement (income statement) for their business MONTHLY. This important piece of paper tells you if you are making money or losing money. How can you possibly run your business and make a profit if you are not analyzing your sales and expenses continuously? A good recordkeeping system will allow you to have this information at your fingertips.
5. No need for expensive accounting software If you are just starting your business, or are a small business owner, you more than likely do not need software to prepare your books. A simple journal that is kept monthly of your income and expenses is all you need. At a glance, you will know how your business performed for that particular month.
As a business owner, you need to realize the importance of a good recordkeeping system. This should also be a task that the business owner performs for at least three to six months before delegating the job to someone else. You will be able to run your business more effectively, determine possible cycles in the business year, and know where your money is going. Your business will be much more successful if you keep a simple recordkeeping system.
The task of recordkeeping is usually procrastinated until the very last minute, when it is required. It is time to file your tax return, or time to go to the bank to get a loan for the business and the banker wants to see some financial records for the business. This can be a very daunting and cumbersome task if you have to dig through receipts and expenses for the whole year! No wonder we hate keeping records. That's no fun!
Well, guess what? If you aren't keeping good, timely, and up-to-date records monthly, you don't need to be in business. That's right. I said it. Here are the top five reasons why I truly believe this statement.
1. Lost tax deductions = Lost Money If you are throwing your receipts in a shoebox each month and not keeping an organized record of your income and expenses, I can bet you money that you are losing out on some major tax deductions. A smart businessperson keeps track of her income (cash in) and expenses (cash out) monthly, sometimes even weekly. You do not need a fancy accounting software package to do this. You don't even need a computer! Simply keep a journal monthly and log in all of your receipts and invoices, and there you have it.
2. High CPA/Tax Preparer Fees = Lost Money I can speak from personal experience, that if you bring in that shoebox of receipts for the year and expect your tax preparer to record and properly deduct your business expenses on your tax return, you are sadly mistaken. Tax season is the busiest time of year for these professionals. If you expect them to do your bookkeeping and recordkeeping as well, expect to pay for it. They don't have the time, or the desire to make sure that every receipt is accounted for. As a businessperson, it is your responsibility to make sure they are given the right totals and you can trace it right back to your tax return.
3. Too much time spent looking for receipts The time you spend looking for a past receipt for a particular purchase for whatever reason, you can be utilizing this time in advertising your business or producing your product. These are important money generating activities that you are sacrificing due to your lack of recordkeeping.
4. No financial statements Every business owner should review at least the profit and loss statement (income statement) for their business MONTHLY. This important piece of paper tells you if you are making money or losing money. How can you possibly run your business and make a profit if you are not analyzing your sales and expenses continuously? A good recordkeeping system will allow you to have this information at your fingertips.
5. No need for expensive accounting software If you are just starting your business, or are a small business owner, you more than likely do not need software to prepare your books. A simple journal that is kept monthly of your income and expenses is all you need. At a glance, you will know how your business performed for that particular month.
As a business owner, you need to realize the importance of a good recordkeeping system. This should also be a task that the business owner performs for at least three to six months before delegating the job to someone else. You will be able to run your business more effectively, determine possible cycles in the business year, and know where your money is going. Your business will be much more successful if you keep a simple recordkeeping system.
Labels:
Management
Summer Sales Doldrums - What To Do
Last week I talked about how to take a vacation when you're the leader of the band. This week I want to talk about summer sales. Many sales people and just as many business owners bemoan their annual summer sales slump. Their numbers are down and they just can't understand it.
It's as if their whole business is paralyzed because sales dry up or customers are on vacation. In my experience, that's hogwash. When you take that attitude, you are selling yourself a bill of goods not worth the paper it's printed on.
There is no need to punish ourselves about this (perceived?) seasonal drop in sales, or slower pace of sales. Instead, it's important to realize the natural cycles people and businesses go through.
In sales for 15 years, I found July and August were totally different than the rest of the year. Peoples' heads are somewhere else - they don't want to be sold anything.
That said, there are a number of things those of us on the vendor side can do to offset this tendency.
1. These seasonal sales slumps are an opportunity to do aggressive marketing - which can range from:
- developing promotional copy ( web, direct mail,newspaper/magazine advertising)
- writing articles for a publication
- pounding the pavement for speaking engagements - small and large, near and far
- researching new niches - use the "extra" time to identify new markets
- visiting potential strategic alliances - build your marketing channels
2. Remember, that a week off always precedes an off week. Don't beat yourself up about it. You need the time off too.
3. Use this situation most wisely by allocating time during this season to seriously work on both your vision and your 3 year plan. From those two pieces, you can continue on to developing new strategies, promotions, products, services, and offerings.
My attitude is that these summer doldrums create the opportunity to build a new level of momentum in your business. That momentum can set you up for a strong and busy fall schedule.
So if sales and business activity are lighter or quieter right now, take advantage of the time that is freed up to lift your sights to the long term vision you have for your business. Spend some time on the pieces that will get you there.
It's as if their whole business is paralyzed because sales dry up or customers are on vacation. In my experience, that's hogwash. When you take that attitude, you are selling yourself a bill of goods not worth the paper it's printed on.
There is no need to punish ourselves about this (perceived?) seasonal drop in sales, or slower pace of sales. Instead, it's important to realize the natural cycles people and businesses go through.
In sales for 15 years, I found July and August were totally different than the rest of the year. Peoples' heads are somewhere else - they don't want to be sold anything.
That said, there are a number of things those of us on the vendor side can do to offset this tendency.
1. These seasonal sales slumps are an opportunity to do aggressive marketing - which can range from:
- developing promotional copy ( web, direct mail,newspaper/magazine advertising)
- writing articles for a publication
- pounding the pavement for speaking engagements - small and large, near and far
- researching new niches - use the "extra" time to identify new markets
- visiting potential strategic alliances - build your marketing channels
2. Remember, that a week off always precedes an off week. Don't beat yourself up about it. You need the time off too.
3. Use this situation most wisely by allocating time during this season to seriously work on both your vision and your 3 year plan. From those two pieces, you can continue on to developing new strategies, promotions, products, services, and offerings.
My attitude is that these summer doldrums create the opportunity to build a new level of momentum in your business. That momentum can set you up for a strong and busy fall schedule.
So if sales and business activity are lighter or quieter right now, take advantage of the time that is freed up to lift your sights to the long term vision you have for your business. Spend some time on the pieces that will get you there.
Labels:
Management
To Coach, or Not to Coach?
To coach, or not to coach: that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of occasional "time lost,"
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles...
Think you don't have time to coach? Think again.
It's easy, almost comforting, to say there simply isn't enough time in the day to coach and do everything else-reports, admin tasks, hiring, and, of course, selling. From a sales manager's perspective, coaching is a burden, especially given the pressures to produce.
But, consider the premise that proper coaching is, in fact, not "time lost," but time saved. That an hour helping prepare a salesperson is time better spent than fighting the "sea of troubles" generated from unprepared, ineffective sales activity.
The answer lies in targeted coaching.
Think about it. Few, if any, fields of human endeavor succeed on mere reaction. Success requires preparation, focus and disciplined execution-especially when time is limited. There is no question that sales managers have one of the hardest jobs in any organization. But it is also true that sales managers are the key to success in both changing behavior and achieving positive results in the field.
Huthwaite challenges you to find an hour a week to do a pre-call plan or some other coaching exercise with one of your salespeople. Monitor individual progress and measure whether there is a positive net gain. The benefits realized will be far greater than the business outcomes alone. You will also save hours that otherwise would have been expended objection handling, exception making or playing the super closer. The more proactive you are, the more discretionary time you have to invest in other priorities. How does the old saying go-an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Or a stitch in time saves nine? Trite perhaps, but true.
To coach, or not to coach: that is the question. The answer is up to you.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of occasional "time lost,"
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles...
Think you don't have time to coach? Think again.
It's easy, almost comforting, to say there simply isn't enough time in the day to coach and do everything else-reports, admin tasks, hiring, and, of course, selling. From a sales manager's perspective, coaching is a burden, especially given the pressures to produce.
But, consider the premise that proper coaching is, in fact, not "time lost," but time saved. That an hour helping prepare a salesperson is time better spent than fighting the "sea of troubles" generated from unprepared, ineffective sales activity.
The answer lies in targeted coaching.
Think about it. Few, if any, fields of human endeavor succeed on mere reaction. Success requires preparation, focus and disciplined execution-especially when time is limited. There is no question that sales managers have one of the hardest jobs in any organization. But it is also true that sales managers are the key to success in both changing behavior and achieving positive results in the field.
Huthwaite challenges you to find an hour a week to do a pre-call plan or some other coaching exercise with one of your salespeople. Monitor individual progress and measure whether there is a positive net gain. The benefits realized will be far greater than the business outcomes alone. You will also save hours that otherwise would have been expended objection handling, exception making or playing the super closer. The more proactive you are, the more discretionary time you have to invest in other priorities. How does the old saying go-an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Or a stitch in time saves nine? Trite perhaps, but true.
To coach, or not to coach: that is the question. The answer is up to you.
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