We've all heard the saying, "There's no 'I' in Team.team building has been a goal of the workplace for many years because of the numerous benefits it brings. Team building is a great way to have fun and energize coworkers, build and strengthen coworker and employer relationships, and improve productivity in the workforce. With all these great benefits, it's easy to see why developing collaboration in the office is usually one of the top five business priorities of an employer! Being part of a great team sounds like fun - but what actually makes a team productive and worthwhile? Good teams share some common traits: -Members depend on each other -Each member believes that his or her opinion is important -Every person has a role -A safe environment exists that allows members to feel comfortable sharing ideas -Members can move past setbacks and overcome challenges together -An ability to effectively cooperate with each other to problem solve Fortunately, establishing great teamwork in the workplace is not an impossible task. There are many activities and games that specialize in building cooperation and mutual dependence, such as icebreakers and scavenger hunts. In fact, many businesses provide these team building services to other businesses. If you believe that your workplace could use a little group TLC, consider discussing further with your supervisor or even colleagues. Conduct some research on team building activities and locate service providers. Identify the personality of your workplace and decide which activity would best suit its needs. While you're seeking ways to team build as a group, also think of actions that you as an individual can take to promote collaboration. For example, offer assistance with a task that a coworker appears to be struggling with, or at the next group meeting, ask for the opinion of a colleague who is normally quiet. Make an effort to practice open and honest communication with your coworkers. There are many opportunities available to demonstrate your commitment to working as a team.Team building offers many benefits in the workplace that empower employees to create a work environment to which people want to belong; however, don't let all the hard work overshadow the most important thing - team work is also about having fun!
if you want a good job fast, then you've probably heard that it's only the best professionals who land the good jobs faster. Now, most of us would love to be professionals to land a job opportunity as soon as possible. Keeping all of this in mind, there are 5 essential management skills that can help you in your career path. The Five Essential Management Skills for Career Survival First, you have to ask yourself whether it's merely a job you're looking for or a career. There is a world of a difference between the two, so start by differentiating them from each other. Start by observing your job now. If it is something that does not interest you or motivate you and you have no scope for learning more or growing within the organization, then it's probably just a routine job - the wrong one! However, if it's something that interests you and enables you to learn every step of the way, then this is probably the right career for you. Here are five skills that you must have to survive in your career:
1. Learn to manage your job -
If you know your job pretty well and excel at it, then things will flow smoothly. Strive to be the best at your job; otherwise, all your efforts will go to waste. If you aren't the best at your job, then you're not doing it well and you can scrap those plans for moving up the ladder. Remember that success entirely depends on the way you manage your job and the results you give.
2. Find ways to manage your boss -
Start by coming up with solutions to your bosses problems. Look at your boss as a third party - a client and not just your boss. Learn how to deal with good bosses as well as the bad ones.
3. Learn to manage your time -
Time is precious, so make use of each and every minute. Interruptions are commonplace, so learn to deal with them. With patience and perseverance, everything will work out. There are three things you need to get sorted out in time management and they are - (1) prioritizing, (2) developing and using a to-do list, and (3) learning how to maximize your time.
4. Learn to manage relationships-
Just like skills and good performance will take you a lrn to manage relationshipsong way in your career, similarly, building rapport and managing relationships can also lead to success. The more you get along with the others who work alongside you, and the more you make them feel like they're important, the more will they respond to you. Arguing will get you nowhere in life.
5. Discipline yourself -
Your habits, your self-development and your feelings should be disciplined, and if they are not already, then learn to discipline them. Habits should be controlled. Your actions are generally governed by your habits, so it is important to develop good habits, especially in these three areas - speaking, thinking and doing. Self-development can only be good for you, so concentrate on this area. Emotions like anger, and emotions need to be controlled In addition to these, bad attitudes need to be reversed, and you should also always maintain high standards for yourself. However, before you get started on all of this, always concentrate on working hard and being the best at your job. Only then can you concentrate on moving forward in your career
It's no surprise to business leaders that solving problems is a huge part of business success. Some business leaders thrive on managing problems, others don't. But what makes some leaders so much more successful at it than others? Is it the techniques they adopt, the advisors they hire, or maybe the staff they deploy? In reality it's a combination of all these factors, with a heavy emphasis on focus. The ability to focus on problems for what they are - nothing more, nothing less - just issues that require objective and realistic thinking and action to be solved. Here are ten tips for solving problems that many business leaders use regularly:
1. BELIEVE THAT- "The problem is the process, not the people" - 85% of service, quality, and productivity problems are directly related to the design and management of a business process. Problem solvers know this and look to change the process before asking individuals to change or improve.
2. LISTEN - to the people who work for you, with you, and even against you. Successful problem solvers know there are multiple perspectives to issues and problems. They endeavor to listen and understand them all and then take the best and leave the rest.
3. EMPLOY THE 80 / 20 RULE - This rule is as true for solving problems as it is for making sales, i.e. "20% of your sales efforts produce 80% of your sales." The busy business leader is always asking "what's really important here, and where should I be spending my time to solve this problem?"
4. USE DATA - Business leaders are keenly aware of the power of opinions and anecdotal information. They stay clear of such, and endeavor to support every suggestion or recommendation with the best quantitative data available. They know that good decisions are based on good information.
5. GENERATE IDEAS THROUGH OTHERS - Business leaders revel in getting the best out of the people they work with. They know that great ideas can come from those who actually perform your work as well as vendors and trusted advisors. Problem solvers are always looking for multiple solutions to problems and opportunities.
6. UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMERS - enough said!
7. PLAN and
8. EXECUTE- These two go hand-in-hand, particularly so for complex problems. Solving problems requires good discipline coupled with good methodology. Although not rocket science, solving complex problems does require a certain amount of management science, which is simply the deployment of a common sense problem solving sequence - e.g. 1-define the problem, 2- analyze the problem, 3-develop alternatives, 4- select and plan a solution, 5- implement the solution, 6-evaluate and adjust. Of course there are times when problem solving requires making a decision based on your gut instincts. And when that's the case by all means do so. But don't fool yourself either - when possible, use an objective problem solving process.
9. FOCUS ON RESULTS - Successful problem solvers quickly distinguish symptoms from problems and don't get hung up on opinions vs. facts or style vs. substance. They search for root causes to problems and drive for comprehensive results that will solve problems both short and long term.
10. UNDERSTAND CHANGE - Successful business leaders understand that in order to solve most problems, someone, somewhere, somehow - has to change - maybe a little, maybe a lot - but change. The implications of this simple fact are significant since you know that change, for most people, is difficult. Therefore executing a solution will require helping people get through the change - and you must be prepared to provide that help.
repare for these top interview questions. Use the interview answer guidelines to make sure that your interview responses are in line with what the interviewer is looking for.
Why do you want this job ?
Basically the interviewer is asking "Why are you here?" The purpose of this interview question is to make sure that you are looking for the same job that the employer is trying to fill. It is exploring your passion for this business and this work. Why are you interested in this type of work? Provide examples of specific aspects of the work that interest and excite you. Convince the interviewer that you are looking for exactly the type of work that this position is offering. Rephrase in an enthusiastic and positive way the things you have learned about the job from the interviewer, the recruiter or the job posting and your background research. Highlight how your skills and abilities fit in with these job requirements. Ask yourself before the interview "Why do I want to get this job?" and prepare to convince the interviewer of your motivation and passion. Simply repeating your resume details is not convincing. Prepare a compelling job interview answer that leaves the interviewer in no doubt about your enthusiasm for this specific job and company.
Tell me about yourself
The interviewer is trying to find out if you will fit in with the rest of the team and the company. This job interview question also explores what motivates you and whether it is consistent with the position and company. Again avoid just repeating what you have written on your resume. What makes you uniquely qualified to do this job? Try to describe yourself objectively focusing on your key skills and abilities that will be of value in this job. Describe your character as it relates to the inherent job requirements. If you are not sure of what behaviors are required in the position you can use general work-related adjectives such as diligent, persevering, hard working, enthusiastic. Always keep in mind that your response to top interview questions like this should highlight how your skills, abilities, knowledge and character relate to the job and company profile.
What are your strengths?
One of the most common top interview questions! Describe three or four strengths that highlight why you are the right candidate for the job. Avoid over-used terms and generalizations such as "peoples-person" but rather be specific about your strength and provide hard evidence of it. For example you could state that your strengths are your interpersonal skills and your ability to persuade people. Back this up by describing how these strengths have translated into strong sales or winning customers over. Describe how these strengths could be put to good use in the position you are interviewing for.
What are your weaknesses?
With this interview question the interviewer is evaluating your self awareness and insight rather than your actual weaknesses. Acknowledging a weakness is seen as a sign of maturity and wisdom. Refer to a valid and sincere weakness but turn it into a positive by describing it as an area for development. In your answer detail the steps you have taken to try and improve. Focus on how you have some limitations just like everyone else but you are aware of these and work constantly to improve on them to become a better and more effective employee.
Where do you want to be in five years?
The interviewer is looking for a match of expectations between your hopes and goals and what the job and company can offer you. Referring to goals and aspirations unrelated to the work you are applying for demonstrates a lack of interest in the current position and sends up red flags for the interviewer. It is best to avoid mentioning specific job titles and specific time frames. Refer in a general way to what you enjoy, the strengths you have that you would like to develop, what you hope to learn from your work experience, realistic challenges and opportunities you expect in your chosen career field. Align your goals and successes with the company's goals and successes.
Why should I hire you?
With this top interview question the interviewer is looking at your objective assessment of your suitability for the position. Link up your work experience to the requirements of this job. Describe the immediate relevance of your past experience. Provide examples of your transferable skills. Refer back to your strengths and how they will benefit the position and the company. Focus on your key skills and expand on how you will use them in this position. Offer a couple of examples to explain why you are so enthusiastic about the job, the work and the company. Think of the most convincing example you can give to prove your suitability. Is there something extra you offer in addition to the basic job requirements? Be specific and make it relevant to all you know about the job and company.
Have you any questions for me?
Yes, this is a key interview question! Fail to prepare for and answer this properly and you will eliminate any chance of success. Have a prepared list of good, insightful questions to ask in the interview. Let your questions demonstrate your research and knowledge of the company, the job and the industry. What do you want to know about the position? Basically these are the areas you need to explore. What does the job actually involve? What is required of a successful employee in this position? Are these the people and management I will be happy working with? Will I flourish in this organization?
Prepare for these top interview questions and be confident that you will stand out as the right candidate for the job.
Use these job interview tips to be well prepared for job interview success!
1-Directions, Map, Contacts
Prepare the day before to make sure you get to your interview on time. Find out exactly where you have to go and who you must ask for once you are there. Get good directions, look on the map and make sure you know the best route. Work out how long it will take you, allow for traffic and parking time. Have the full name and position of the person you will be seeing and a contact number in case you need to call. Put all this information into an interview folder to take with you.
2- Conduct Background Research
You have time to search for company information on the internet. Find out relevant details about the employer and use these prepare your interview answers and questions. Having background information on the company helps to set you apart as a prepared and informed job candidate.
3- Prepare your Portfolio
Another job interview tip is to get all your documentation together the day before. Make a couple of copies of your resume and a list of your references including name, position and contact numbers. Include copies of any written references you want to give the interviewer. You may want to include work samples that are relevant to the position. Include details of the research that you have conducted on the company. Let the interviewer see that you have done your homework! Put all these into a neat, simple portfolio to give to the interviewer. Have a notebook and pen ready to jot down details during the interview.
4- Review your Resume
Go through your resume the day before to re-familiarize yourself with the information the interviewer has about you. Be aware of any red flags such as gaps in employment or reasons for leaving previous employers that you will need to address during the interview. Highlight these and prepare answers to any questions that may arise.
5-Practice your Answers and Questions
A couple of days before the interview you will have prepared answers to common job interview questions such as "What are your strengths?", "Why are you the right candidate for this job?", "Tell me about yourself?" Go through these answers and practice saying them out loud. You also should have prepared at least five good questions to ask the interviewer about the job, the company and the management, such as, "Please describe the company's management style and the sort of employee who fits in well with it?" Go through these questions, feel confident about asking them, and include them in your interview folder.
6-Dress for Success
Find out the expected dress code for the job interview. You can call the company and speak to Human Resources or even Reception. It is usually advisable to dress more formally for the interview than the actual position requires- this shows respect for the interview process.Chosoe the appropriate clothes the day before and make sure they are clean and pressed. Shoes should be polished. Decide on any accessories you want to wear. Lay your interview clothes out ready for the next day. This saves rushing around just before the interview and getting into a spin!
Six simple job interview tips that you can do the day before your big job interview. Make the difference between feeling prepared, confident and in control or anxious and flustered about the interview.
Gaining control over your finances is of paramount importance when the future is a little uncertain. There are many ways to combat this challenge and of course there can be unique aspects to each person’s situation. As experts in change management, we have years of experience helping people come to terms with a job loss and the financial strains that can come with this experience. Below we have listed the most important steps to assisting you cushion yourself thus allowing you take the necessary steps to securing your future.
Though this article deals with the financial aspects of a job loss, I would like to say that the first step in a job loss situation is to:
· Not take it personally. The job loss has nothing to do with you. The job is redundant you are not. The decision to make redundancies was more than likely done in a boardroom thousands of miles away by people who have never met you and due to market conditions that have nothing to do with you.
· See this time as an opportunity for positive change and a chance to develop a challenging and rewarding career for the future.
Taking this as a given, it is important that if such a time arises, or has arisen, that you are able to sustain yourself during that period when you are not working so that you can concentrate on your job search and not worry about bills and expenses.
Step 1: Stay calm. Running around tearing your hair out will not help you in any shape of form. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, losing a job takes a lot out of a person and if you have not given yourself time to get over it, you will find it more difficult to get re-hired. So, allow yourself the time to come to terms with the change. Remember, concentrating your energy on solving this new job search challenge is far more productive than wasting energy on worrying about the cash side. So focus on the right things.
Step 2: Plan ahead. It is not everyone who gets advanced warning that their job is being made redundant so be prepared for this. Make sure that you have saved enough to get your by for at least three months should the worst happen. This may sound ridiculous, however having enough for several month means that you will not have to take the first job that comes along. It also gives you some free time to collect and recharge yourself.
Step 3: Know what your company will be giving you. You may be eligible for a redundancy payout. Ask HR and see what the company can provide for you. Also, look into social welfare payments and ask your local office what payments or allowances you can avail of.
Step 4: Add up all the essential bills, rent, utilities, food etc. Know exactly what you need to cover your basic costs. This will allow you to easily budget for the monthly essentials.
Step 5: Prioritise your bills. Some bills are paid monthly, other have a longer line of credit. Use this to your advantage. If the rent is due this week but the phone bill does not need to be paid until next month do not waste your money on the phone bill now. However do remember that the phone bill does need to be paid at some point.
Step 6: Cut out all other expenses. Examples of ways to do this are:
· Walk rather than take the bus/car
· Use Skype to Skype rather than your mobile phone
· Re-look at where you are doing your grocery shopping
· Substitute your shopping items to for the generic brand (its all the same produce in a different package)
· Invite your friends to your house rather than meet them in a café, or bar
Be strict with your spending and watch out for those impulsive buys that can really add up.
Step 7: Keep a diary of all your expenses for a month. Write down everything that you spend and what it was for. When you review this list you will see where you have been wasting your money. This is where you find the few extra shillings to put aside.
Step 8: Be very careful when using credit, especially credit cards. They are very expensive to run with extreme high interest rate and having a bad line of credit may hurt you down the line when you need a loan for something else. However if you really need a loan, shop around with the banks and credit unions to get the best deal on repayments. Also, while asking about loans, ask your bank manager if you can put current expenses on hold. Sometimes you can freezeor extend the time of an existing loan to decrease monthly payments.
Step 9: If things are getting tight and there is no new job in site then take a temporary role. It makes no difference what the job is. Just make sure that you leave enough time in the day to continue your job search.
Step 10: If all of that is not working well for you then consider explaining your situation to your family. They may have some ideas on how you can cut your costs further or come up with a favourable, repayable, finance plan to get you by for the short term.
Experiencing a job loss can be unnerving. But such situations can be effectively solved by carefully devising a plan on how to get past the unemployment period. Remember that you are not the only one who is going through this. The majority of people come out of it unscathed and ready to do battle again, as will you.
If you have just suffered a job loss and you are having difficulty dealing with it please seek help. There is plenty available and you should never face a situation like this alone.
To be effective in business, you have to communicate well. To be a good manager, you have to communicate exceptionally well.
Here we look at basic communication dynamics, learning skills to improve your communication, using effective communication to improve and promote interpersonal relationships, creating an effective communication strategy.
We could write a book about the importance of communication key skills, but for now you can content yourself with some essentials for becoming a more effective communicator.
Communication Core Skills - The Essentials
Communication is Individual
We're Not All The Same
When you look at communication, presentation skills are not all there is to it. Far from it. Everyone communicates differently and sees the world differently. The greatest skill you can have in order to instantly and significantly improve you communications skills is to understand the other person's point view and how they see the world. Then you can adjust your own communication to take that into account.
Change Yourself to Change Others
Alongside this has to be the knowledge that the only person you can be sure of changing in any communication is you. Therefore, the most effective way to be in charge of what happens in any communication dynamic is changing what you do. When you can do this you are well on the way to promoting better relationships.
You are the Only One of You
There's never one right way to communicate. Authentic effective communication always happens when we reply on those things we know to be true about or for ourselves. Remember your personal style probably says more for you that all the words you use can.
What's Already Working?
Most people tend to look at what's wrong with themselves and other people rather than focusing on what already works. Remember, something (more than one thing, of course) has to be working well for you to have got this far already!
How Communication Happens
Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication
Interpersonal skills. Everything communicates. Remember! If you aren't clear about what you mean and what your intention is, the other person (or people) could easily (and sometimes deliberately), misinterpret what you mean.
What you do matters as much as what you say. It's now accepted that the words account for only 7-11% of a communication. Your behaviour will 'read' unconsciously to other people and you can certainly be more in charge of the reading matter!
Language is one of the most powerful reflections of how we think and feel about ourselves and others. You need to be aware of the padding, justifications and excuses you use and whether they are appropriate. You can make a big impact simply by changing some of your language and developing your verbal skills, This way you can significantly improve your communication skills.
Communication Cycle
There is a neat communication cycle we've come across that can help you understand how to make communication work better. It means that you can take responsibility for every stage on the Communication Cycle:
Spoken - Heard - Understood - Agreed To - Acted On - Implemented.
Be aware of where you or others tend to fall off the cycle.
What can get in the way of Effective Communication
Here are some Common Barriers to Effective Communication.
We all make Too Many Assumptions
Be aware of the assumptions you make, especially making something up and then acting as though what you made up was true. Notice if you alter your behaviour with certain people because of the assumptions you make about them. Also be aware of the assumptions you think other people make about you.
Assumptions aren't necessarily 'bad'. Sometimes it's important to let people keep their assumptions (or some of them at least!) about you.
One effective way to deal with assumptions is to say to the other person, 'I've assumed such and such. 'Is that true?' or 'I'm making an assumption here about... Do you agree?'
Good communication in the workplace is often sabotaged by too many unconfirmed assumptions.
Patterns/Reverting to Type
We are pattern-making beings, which is good. However, sometimes we get so used to behaving and responding in certain ways that it's hard to see that there's any other way of doing things. When the pressure is on or we are under stress, even our best intentions may go out the window as we revert to type.
Habits, patterns, routine ways of thinking and behaving are difficult to change. Noticing your patterns at least gets you aware of them! One way to practise this is to see how many communication habits and patterns have crept into your workplace. Try not to judge them. You can always decide if you want to change them or not.
Needing to Be Right
This is one area we all know about - the need to be right and in turn for the other person to be wrong. One skill that does need practise is to let go of needing to be right. Think of it as presenting information or a point of view rather than having to bludgeon someone else with your arguments.
If you want to promote effective relationships, this is one of the greatest communication key skills you can have is to be able to change what you want from a communication. You may have started out wanting the other person to agree with you, but by giving that up you can change your want to letting them know you understand their point of view.
Conflict Resolution
Conflict
One of the purposes of conflict is to arrive at a resolution, so if you avoid conflict, the problem usually (though not always) gets worse. The earlier you can identify that there is a problem and intervene, the better it will be. Good communication skills require you to be able to resolve conflict.
Agreement
Find something (anything will do) in the other person's argument which you can genuinely agree with. This is a great way to take the wind out of someone's sails and ensure you don't get drawn into an insoluble argument. People usually won't listen until they feel heard.
Bridge Building
Really listen to what the other person is saying - they usually give a lot of information without realising it. Building bridges by making an offer can help enormously, as can changing what you want.
'I' not 'You'
Use 'I' statements, not 'You' statements to avoid blaming. This also means that you take responsibility for how you feel, rather than making the other person responsible for making things all right for you.
Improving Communication Skills
Be a Good Influence
Attitude
You can change the direction of a communication if you change your attitude. There is no one attitude that's the 'right' one to have, though being direct and clear certainly helps.
Effective Listening and Responding
You can have tremendous influence on a communication as the listener and the responder. When we get little or no response from the listener, we often project our assumptions onto them about what they are thinking (and usually we assume they aren't thinking good things about us!).
Be Positive
Use affirmation and encouragement to get the best out of people. Notice when others do things well (even if it's part of their daily routine). This shows you're being attentive; most people respond well when they know that others are aware of what they do.
Quite simply, the workplace can be a far better place to be if you consciously sprinkle your communication with positive feedback.
The Importance of Basic Communication Skills
What's most important is that you don't leave the business of communication to chance. Raise your awareness, develop your skills and you'll be a role model for effective communication.
People form impressions within the first few minutes of seeing or meeting someone. So the first impression you make as a presenter should be as strong as possible.
Start with your choice of attire. How you dress is no substitute for the substance and delivery of your presentation. Still, it goes a long way toward supporting a well-prepared presentation. Your best guide: always dress for the audience and the event. More to the point, dress a small cut above your audience. So, for example, if your audience is wearing slacks and a shirt, you could add a sport coat.
Dress appropriately. Business and social dress are not the same, so avoid attire that's overly formal or overly casual. If your appearance draws attention to itself, it'll draw attention away from you and what you're saying. You don't want your listeners to be distracted by your clothing, hairstyle, accessories, or any other aspect of your personal appearance. So save the sheer, tight, transparent, flashy, slick, or super stylish looks for the social life. When you're addressing a group of colleagues, every aspect of your appearance should be directing their eyes to your face, and not anywhere else.
"You don't want your listeners to be distracted by your...appearance."
So what's right and what's wrong? There's no one set of rules for every occasion. Sometimes, you can be guided by your organization's dress code. Some companies have written dress codes that are very rigid and specific. Other dress codes may be unwritten, vague, and/or flexible. In the end, you need to match your appearance to multiple aspects of your daily work, including your company's culture, but also that of an event or a client and to your role on any given day. If you work in IT, and occasionally need to crawl under desks, you probably shouldn't be wearing a fancy suit (or short skirt for that matter). On the other hand, if you have a meeting with the board of directors, you may need to wear a suit in an otherwise casual environment. Yet again, at some companies, anyone seen in a suit is probably interviewing for a job.
If you are wearing a suit... First, a suit should fit. You should be able to move, even gesture, in a suit. You should be able to walk (no narrow skirts or tight pants). Make sure the sleeves are the right length, and that the suit is not too big or small as a result of dieting, binging, or the fact that you haven't worn it since prior to your adolescent growth spurt. If it has been that long since you've worn it, make sure it also isn't faded, threadbare, or hopelessly out of date. What you wear should help you to both look and feel comfortable. If your suit prevents you from breathing, get it fixed or replace it.
Color Use color to drive eyes toward your face. This means that the brightest elements of your attire should be nearest your face. For suits, it's easy—a dark suit with a lighter shirt or blouse and bright tie or scarf all works to drive the eye upward. On the other hand, light hosiery and shoes tend to draw the eye downward. The same concepts apply to more casual attire, but casual also means more latitude so double check in the mirror that the whole look drives the eyes to the face, ideally to your eyes.
"The brightest elements of your attire should be nearest your face."
Accessories. The same principles apply to accessories. To the extent that you wear them, they should not distract. Avoid jewelry that is louder than you are (nothing huge, flashy, dangling, jangling, or otherwise noisy). Avoid ties that have golfers or modern art on them. Avoid scarves that drape to the floor. Don't stuff your pockets with any more items than you absolutely need, and don't have pens, pencils, or any other items poking out of your shirt or jacket pockets. Do make sure your shoes are polished and not scuffed. Your briefcase or purse also should fit the image you're trying to project—typically leather, well-maintained, and of a certain quality (but not covered with logos, and please don't display it on the tabletop—it belongs on the floor or at your side, never in anyone's face). And, if you can help it, don't take your briefcase or purse up to a lectern.
Grooming. Starting at the top, make sure your hair is neatly cut and the color natural looking. Keep your hair out of your eyes and off your face. You should not have to fuss with your hair. Men, please trim those nose (and ear!) hairs and any facial hair. These days, you may even want to eliminate a unibrow (a single continuous eyebrow that extends over both eyes). Women, make-up should look fairly natural and appropriate to the circumstance (save the dramatic eye shadow and thick eye liner for another day).
A final note. It bears repeating: your audience can form its first impression of you before you speak a single word. It follows that how you look helps determine your credibility, for better or worse.
Do you feel the need to be more organized and/or more productive? Do you spend your day in a frenzy of activity and then wonder why you haven't accomplished much?
With good time management skills you are in control of your time and your life, of your stress and energy levels. You make progress at work. You are able to maintain balance between your work, personal, and family lives. You have enough flexibility to respond to surprises or new opportunities.
Time management skills are especially important for small business people, who often find themselves performing many different jobs during the course of a single day. These time management tips will help you increase your productivity and stay cool and collected
1) Realize that time management is a myth.
No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.
2) Find out where you're wasting time.
Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time-bandits? Do you spend too much time 'Net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls?
3) Create time management goals.
Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters. For one week, for example, set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls while you're working.
4) Implement a time management plan.
Think of this as an extension of time management tip # 3. The objective is to change your behaviors over time to achieve whatever general goal you've set for yourself, such as increasing your productivity or decreasing your stress. So you need to not only set your specific goals, but track them over time to see whether or not you're accomplishing them.
5) Use time management tools.
Whether it's a Day-Timer or a software program, the first step to physically managing your time is to know where it's going now and planning how you're going to spend your time in the future. A software program such as Outlook, for instance, lets you schedule events easily and can be set to remind you of events in advance, making your time management easier.
6) Prioritize ruthlessly.
You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your performance benchmark. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish? For more on daily planning and prioritizing daily tasks
7) Learn to delegate and/or outsource.
No matter how small your business is, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load.
8) Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible.
While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time.
9) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks.
For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this task and stick to it.
10) Be sure your systems are organized.
Are you wasting a lot of time looking for files on your computer? Take the time to organize a file management system. Is your filing system slowing you down? Redo it, so it's organized to the point that you can quickly lay your hands on what you need
11) Don't waste time waiting.
From client meetings to dentist appointments, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But you don't need to just sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Always take something to do with you, such as a report you need to read, a checkbook that needs to be balanced, or just a blank pad of paper that you can use to plan your next marketing campaign. Technology makes it easy to work wherever you are; your PDA and/or cell phone will help you stay connected.
You CAN be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish - once you've come to grips with the time management myth and taken control of your time.
