Tag Archives: managing

Building Your ‘A’ Team – Part Two

business planning, business strategy, , , , , , , ,

team

“Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it.” ~Brian Tracy

Why is building the best team important?

It’s important because I know that you have a big vision for your business, and to get there, you can’t do it on your own.  You and your business need the best resources you can muster and develop.  And you want to do it in a way that the business becomes less dependent on you to do it all and worry about everything.

To use a sporting analogy, you are building a team and you are selecting the best players for each position on the field.  And not only do you want them to be the best in their positions, you want them to work as a team with each other. Continue reading →

One-on-One Employee Meetings: 10 Questions

business planning, business strategy, , , , , ,

meetings

Solid strategic plans, strong work relationships, high morale and improved performance are all by-products of good questions. Particularly good questions asked in your 1 on 1 meetings with your direct reports.

Remember these meetings are where you as a manager get to help your staff member ‘be the best they can be.’ This is not a forum for you to talk and tell. It is for you to lead and listen.

This potent communication tool can help you discover important information about your business, your staff, yourself, your customers—and create insights that otherwise might have remained hidden. Continue reading →

Uncovering Your Disadvantage Dollar – Part Two

business planning, business strategy, , , , ,

disadvantage dollar

Finding the disadvantage dollar in your business.

Continuing on from last week discussing your disadvantage dollar. A refresher on what that is… It’s the money your business is missing out on through all sorts of channels and avenues. Sometimes it’s things that are costing your business money.

Last week, I shared an example of a business that was having problems with staff time and approach to work. This week, I’ll talk about a business that was missing quotes (resulting in missed business), and one which had mistakes made too often that were causing stress or overtime on the part of the owner and causing him/her to miss out on things like valuable family time. Continue reading →

Uncovering Your Disadvantage Dollar – Part One

business planning, business strategy, , , , , ,

disadvantage dollar

Do you need to uncover the disadvantage dollar in your business?

Most business owners are not aware of the places their businesses are ‘leaking’ money. Sometimes real, sometimes in other forms such as lost or missed opportunities, inefficient use of time and other resources and ongoing frustrations that seem constant.

More often than not, these frustrations are dismissed with a shrug as ‘just a part of running a business’. Until the day you decide to measure what it is actually costing you.  Better sooner rather than later.

The good news is that once you look into these you can generally uncover the cause, and the higher the cost to you or the business, the sooner you want to address it.

In almost every case of when a business is leaking money, it will be because of a missing system. Continue reading →