12th January 2012 / Posted in: Business efficiency, Operational management, Planning and preparation, Priorities, Productivity, Time management
On 10th January I gave a 10 minute presentation, at the Chichester College Business Breakfast Club, on what gets in the way of working productively. Judging by the number of e-mails, texts and tweets I received the subject and presentation were spot on. The slide presentation is on Slideshare and the following are the key points from the presentation:
If you work with other people the business will be more successful if everyone recognises that time is their most important commodity and knows how to manage it effectively.
Click here to go to the slides
0 comments | Add comment >
3rd January 2012 / Posted in: Business efficiency, Management, Planning and preparation, Priorities, Time management, Top tips
When we're busy we often don't allocate enough time to prepare for meetings with our clients or follow up after the meeting. Every meeting, or significant telephone conversation, presents an opportunity to sow seeds which may develop and grow the business with that particular client.
These three tips may help you make the most of these opportunities:
► Send a summary of what was discussed and agreed within 48 hours of the meeting. If you don’t already send minutes or action plans Minutes.io is a useful tool. A summary is useful ground work for future meeting agendas.
► Take time to reflect on the meeting and whether any additional information, or clarification, is needed to progress any work
► Plan the actions required by the client remembering to schedule time in your diary. As well as making sure actions don’t get overlooked, scheduling helps keep track of the time actually spent on each client/project
0 comments | Add comment >
21st April 2011 / Posted in: Business efficiency, Operational management, Planning and preparation, Priorities, Productivity, Staff engagement, Time management
In the days when I was young, and an employee, the prospect of 4 bank holidays in less than a fortnight was a dream. Now that I run my own business and advise others about running theirs I feel very differently. The prospect of a reduction in trading days in April and May, the distractions caused by Easter, the Royal Wedding and the recent sunshine, and staff wanting to take an extended Easter break will be bad news for many businesses.
Don’t take the defeatist approach assuming that business will be bad, but turn the situation around to limit the damage or even make it work in your favour. The most valuable commodities to your business are probably your staff and time so focus on making the most of what you do have during the next few weeks. Refocus everyone’s energies and priorities on what delivers your strategy and drives revenue into the business. It may even give you an advantage over your competitors. Finally, don’t forget to communicate these plans clearly with your staff, explaining why you are putting them in place and getting their feedback. Good two way communication and a few treats in the office will motivate your staff, keep them focused and make them feel appreciated.
'What gets measured, gets done. And what gets recognised gets done again, and even better.' Robert Crawford, Director, Institute of Customer Service
0 comments | Add comment >
25th March 2011 / Posted in: Blogging, Communication strategy, Marketing strategy, Social networking, Social networking policy, Strategy, Time management, Tweeting, Twitter
An invitation from Sussex Enterprise to present a case study about my blogging experiences at their “Blogging 4 Business” breakfast networking event was proof that my blogging is working.
I gave this presentation on 15th March 2011 following Richard Smith of the Internet Consultancy (www.theinternetconsultancy.com) presenting “A handful of fundamentally important things you need to know about blogging for business” and James McLeod of Narvi Digital Media (www.narvi.co.uk) presenting “Your blog, how to get started.”
I work in the B2B sector as a business consultant advising business directors on making their strategy reality through:
It involves getting inside a business, so building trust is an integral part of winning client business. When I reflect on where my clients come from, and the collaborative opportunities in which I have become involved, none have come from cold calling.
They’ve all come from:
In essence all my business opportunities have arisen from people getting to know me as an individual - either face to face, or through the personality (my brand) that I have developed through social networking. Consequently my marketing strategy focuses on putting myself in front of people - physically and through what I write.
Blogging is just one of the tools I use to deliver my marketing strategy and I try to blog every couple of weeks. The other tools I use include:
If networking is something you do to grow your business - whether it’s face to face or social - it’s important to remember that the golden rule - give before you take! Help someone else first. If you don’t comment on their blog - don’t be surprised when they don’t comment on yours.
All these activities also drive traffic to my website - and the reason I want traffic is that my website is where you find the detailed information about my business skills and experience. It underpins “the real me” which I present through my networking activity.
I have to admit that my first foray into blogging was my husband’s idea. His career has been in corporate and financial PR so I reckoned he knew a thing or two about communications. He suggested I interview CEO’s of SMEs about their business experiences and publish the interviews on my website as “lessons learned” For anyone familiar with McKinsey Quarterly you’ve spotted where this idea came from. At this point I should add my husband works with FTSE 100’s .... and I don’t.
The first was an interview with an outgoing CEO and incoming CEO - both of whom had worked together and would continue to do so after the changeover. It was a very interesting interview. It took many hours of work from preparation before the interview to publishing but I achieved it in less than 4 weeks. This first blog was 2433 words and when I saw very little traffic to my website my husband was very supportive and said I just needed to do more interviews. So I did. The most recent was a staggering 5482 words. The first part of the interview took place in April 2010 and I finally published it in October 2010. Again, a fascinating process, hours and hours of work but the results were the same. Checking Google Analytics was depressing - the Lessons Learned hadn’t driven traffic to my website.
Before I set up another lessons learned interview I decided to take stock, look at what I was doing and try something else. I was aiming at a different market from my husband so I decided to make use of the contacts I’d made through networking - many of whom blogged. I read their blogs, I asked lots of questions and the turning point was an invitation to a social networking event organised and hosted by a451 (www.a451.co.uk).
There were two speakers at the event who used social networking in contrasting ways - Francoise Murat an interior and architectural garden designer (www.francoisemurat.com) who had grown her business using social networking and Dr Tony Mobbs from IBM who talked about how social networking enabled collaboration and learning within IBM.
After hearing what other people did, reading other blogs and listening to Francoise I decided that “lessons learned” was not right for me and what I needed to do was write short, punchy and relevant blogs as the market to which I’m appealing hasn’t the time, or inclination, to read 5,000 words. My brand is me - not what my husband thinks it should be, so it’s essential that this comes across in everything I do and write. One of the phrases I use to describe branding is “your brand is like the words in a stick of rock - the same all the way through.”
I used Wordpress to blog, which had been embedded in my website by my designer, and to speed up Tweeting I took a step outside my comfort zone. I needed something to link Wordpress to Twitter so asked and read about plug ins then downloaded one that linked the two so my blogs would be tweeted automatically. I also published my blogs on LinkedIn and circulated to relevant LinkedIn groups. As the tweeting of a blog is a moment in time I’ve learned to circulate more than once - but not to the extent my followers think I’m milking it!
Read more on Blogging 4 Business >
0 comments | Add comment >
23rd February 2011 / Posted in: General, Human Resources, Management, Operational management, Productivity, Time management
I’ve always been a firm believer that it’s good to take a break as doing something completely different is invigorating and I work far more effectively as a result. It’s why I like going abroad for the weekend as the different language and culture gives you the feeling you’ve been away for ages.
At work it isn’t realistic to do something as different at lunch time but some fresh air (or different air) and a change of scene is something we all need. However when I’m really busy and it’s pouring with rain, I too am guilty of taking lunch at my keyboard then at the end of the day I’m drained and not always pleased with my achievements. The reality is I know I’s have found time if I’d had to cope with unplanned interruptions.
In December I came across a blog, on the Harvard Business Review website, by Tony Schwarz entitled “Six ways to refuel your energy every day” and it really struck a chord. Although I’m not a big reader of business books I immediately ordered a copy of his book “The way we’re working isn’t working” and started followed him on Twitter. I’m a real advocate of what he says and regularly dip into the book to remind myself of how to work really effectively.
Last week he tweeted about “Take back your lunch” – a movement across America which encourages workers to take a collective lunch break every Wednesday. It’s a great idea which I think is worth sharing so I hope that today, and at least every Wednesday, you take a proper break at lunch time.
0 comments | Add comment >
Next Page > | Page 1 of 3 pages 1 2 3 >