Management Articles & News
Group Decision Making : Are the Decisions Really Made by the Group?
GROUP DECISION-MAKING: Many managers feel they are well-versed in areas of group effort, such as problem-solving, goal-setting, and action planning. Frequently, however, the implementation of such techniques never seem to get beyond the initial stage. Often, this is because managers can not quite seem to understand that brainstorming or group decision-making requires comprehensive utilization of various processes. Managers may unknowingly find themselves perpetuating problems instead of ...
Pricing Strategy for Retail Flower Shops
When you create your profit and loss statement to assess the health of your business, you will see:
Managing Dickheads
“We are so different and individualistic that we can’t work together.” Subroto Bag chi, a senior executive in wipro technologies and Indian Technology MNC, said to his chairman in a straight talk. But Premji, the chairman, simple reply to the statement was, “That’s because we should work together.”
Your Company Without Training Any Questions?
Okay, be honest! Are you guilty of sticking in a few boring videos and calling it training? Do you send in your department heads to deliver a few, rushed, canned presentations and call it orientation? Are you then surprised when your new employees don't live up to your expectations, and your employee turnover numbers keep rising? What if you took the time and money that you spend on employee recruitment and put it into employee training? Would it make a ...
Generous Donor Refused (how qualified business slipped away)
Generous Donor Refused Picture this. You are a fund development director for a respectable school at a well-known state university. Someone calls and says they wish to donate $25,000 for a special scholarship fund in honor of her deceased brother, an alumnus of the school. What would you say? If you think like we do, you’d say, “So sorry about your brother. Thank you for selecting us. When can we get your check!” In this case, the fund development director ...
Tales From the Corporate Frontlines:Going International and Learning about Cultural Diversity
Going International and Learning about Cultural Diversity This article relates to the Diversity in the Workplace Competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency explores whether your organization provides understanding and supports interaction among diverse population groups while respecting individuals' personal values and ideas. Research shows that by fostering a climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic, an organization can create ...
The How To's of Firing Incompetent Employees
CATEGORIES OF OFFENSES: Most organizations have two categories of offenses in their policies. One category is for flagrant actions which are cause for immediate termination. Cited as examples of such offenses were theft of company property, gross negligence, and being intoxicated on the job. The second category comprises all other offenses for which some prior notification to the employee is required. In these cases, there is a slow but steady accrual of chronic problems or offenses, no ...
Budgets!
Budgets! There I've said it. For some the most hated and feared word in business. But it doesn't have to be that way. As a matter of fact, a well thought out and constructed budget can be the small business owners best friend. After all, a budget is just a laid out plan to produce profits and profits is what we are all after.
The Better People Fallacy
It’s easy enough to convince your own staff that better people will prevail, even against the odds. It’s what they want to hear. And surely in a marketing war quality is a factor as well as quantity.
Have You Fixed the Broken Window?
Left alone it doesn't take long for a building with a single broken window to rapidly become a building with many broken windows. Fixing problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into larger problems.
The Better Product fallacy
Another fallacy ingrained in the minds of most marketing managers is the belief that the better product will win the marketing battle.
Supervisor Employee Relations: Tips For Managers
Supervisor-employee relations are a critical part of a work place atmosphere and promoting productivity and cohesiveness. The following tips address these issues:
How to Coach Your Emplyees and Increase Motivation
It is easy to spot the difference between a work team that is “motivated” and one that just goes through the motions. The motivated team produces at or above the level expected by top management, has only occasional absences or tardiness, and low employee turnover. The second group has trouble meeting its goals, greater absenteeism, and higher turnover. In addition, members of the latter work team may be more apt to argue with one another or to band together against their supervisor. Can a ...
How Your Feelings and Those of Your Employees Can Make The Difference
How we feel is really more important than what we know. This is because how we feel plays a bigger role in our behavior than knowing what we should or should not do. For instance, we “know” smoking is bad for us. We see research that tell us auto accident injuries and deaths can be greatly reduced by using seat belts. We “know” that brushing our teeth after each meal fights tooth decay. Despite these facts that we “know", many of us smoke, don’t use seat belts, and fail to brush after ...
Improved Communication to Improve Results
Facilitating good communication can make the difference between a well oiled, effective team and disorganization and ambiguity. By following the tips below, you, the supervisor, can take steps toward improving communication with your employees:
Small Business Marketing: Overtaking Your Competitors
Few businesses keep tabs on competitors, yet such knowledge can give you a distinctive competitive edge. Building a file on them, looking at everything from the customer’s viewpoint and asking suppliers and employees what they know about them can be worthwhile. Keeping a jump ahead of the competition means knowing precisely what they are up to. Here are some tips to help you stay one, if not several, leaps ahead.
The Idol Makers
The end of the television season in May included the usual array of cliffhangers on shows like “Alias,” the departure of Noah Wylie from “ER” and the finale of the highly-rated “Everybody Loves Raymond” after 210 episodes. On the last day of “Sweeps,” more than 29 million people tuned in to see the crowning of the fourth “American Idol.”
Appraisal Interviews: What To Say & How To Say It
STEPS TOWARDS A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW: Don’t say: “You just don’t seem to care about doing a good job.” “You seem to be more interested in scoring points against Charlie than in working with him.” “You’re too defensive.” Do: Stick to behavior. say, “Here’s what I saw,” or, “Here’s what I heard you say.” Here is some advice for supervisors that will contribute to a successful appraisal interview. 1. Stick to goals. Measure performance against previously discussed and agreed ...
How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It
The reason jobs are often not done right and employees are fired is because of lack of skill. Right? Wrong! Poor communication and ineffective human relations are the major causes. Remember: Communication is a “meeting of meanings.” It’s getting through to the other person what you mean in a way that they understand. In fact, you want them to do more than understand, you want them to act on the information in the correct way. Effective communication is talking and listening to create that ...
Important Communication Tips For Managers
The following tips will help you communicate more effectively with your employees: 1. Let employees know that having feelings is okay. Feelings are facts and need to be dealt with. 2. Praise in public, criticize in private. Nothing improves a person’s behavior better than well-timed, sincere, and justified praise. Nothing builds resentment faster than being yelled at in front of others. 3. Listen to employees and accept suggestions. It’s easier to give advice than to ...
How Many Salespaople Should I Hire?
One of the most asked questions I get is how many sales people does it take to get the revenue numbers needed. Personally, I believe in large sales forces because in highly competitive situations the largest army wins. That doesn't mean, however, that you can go out and hire 100 sales people if all you can possibly sell this year is a million dollars if everything goes right. So how do you decide how large a staff you need?
The Changing Boss Secretary Relationship
THE CHANGING BOSS-SECRETARY RELATIONSHIP: Imagine a partnership at work. One member is outlining the agenda for the annual stockholders’ meeting, the other is managing the logistics. The last decade has brought many changes to the traditional boss/secretary relationship. We now see powers and responsibilities delegated to “executive assistants” that only ten years ago would have been the sole province of the boss. And there has been a corresponding rise in the prestige and influence of those ...
Inspirational Power ( Part 1 )
The Fundamentals of Strategic Marketing, Some Key Traits for Greater Effectiveness Probably, the greatest challenge to marketing management in the next five Years will be to change quick and fast enough, in order to keep pace with new technologies, new markets and new corporate values According to the definition of the AMA, “Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer ...
Performance Management Made Easy
Performance Management is a process that both employer and employee often fear! Why is this so! There is much misinformation about the performance management process and performance appraisals in management circles today. We often think that best practice demands that we must performance appraise ‘no matter what’. This is not true. Best practice can involve many other mechanisms that ensure employee compliance and monitoring. The performance process can be propagated by ...
Dissenion Down On The Cubicle Farm
How content and satisfied are American employees? Not very! According to Corinne Maier, a psychotherapist and author of “Bonjour Laziness,” corporate cubicle inhabitants are anything but tranquil and joyous. These natives are truly restless. This French writer quotes a Gallup study of employed American professionals showing that: 1. Some 17% claim to be "actively disengaged" in their jobs, close possibly to acts of sabatoge, some rather subtle. 2. And ...
Try It Out On Your Team First
Wow! You’re brilliant! You have a great idea. You’ve looked at it every possible way to find holes in your logic, fallacies in your assumptions. You know it will work and you can’t wait to turn your new brainstorm loose then reap the rewards of your genius. I know you’re excited but before you unleash your great idea, first try it out on those around you for analysis, discussion, improvements, and (gasp!) criticism.
Are Your Marketing Pieces Up to Date?
The other day someone asked me for one of my informational brochures. As I was giving her the piece I stated that if I were printing these today it would be a little different. The piece was only about two months old and already the way I wanted to communicate things had changed slightly. Then I got to thinking. If I were to print informational brochures six months from now, they would probably be a little different too. Don't get me wrong. I am a big believer in consistency of ...
How to Manage Your Most Valuable Assets People?
People management and leadership has become a major topic of conversation in today’s market place and have assumed mythical qualities. Managing you people is not that difficult if you are willing to invest one thing in their development; YOU.
How's Your HUB?
Marketing gurus are always coming up with new lingo but oftentimes they are restating the old tried and true concepts in new terms. Marketing students from the 70's and 80's will be familiar with the acronym USP. USP stands for your "Unique Selling Position" and it should be the cornerstone of your marketing.
Help Your Employees Prepare for a Performance Appraisal
PREPARING EMPLOYEES FOR THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEWS: Remind employees to give some thought to the purpose of performance appraisal: it is a means to learn from the past, plan for the future, and improve effectiveness and work satisfaction. The performance appraisal discussion is an opportunity to motivate, recognize, and reward your employee. It is a time for you and your employee to share perceptions about the employee’s accomplishments during the performance period. It is meant to ...