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How to Make the Best of it - Take Your Weather with You
I once worked in a place where there were three lines of words, placed just before employees went from backshop to front of shop. These said:-Smile!Remember - you represent your CompanyDelight your customers.

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How to Create a Positive Work Atmosphere
Positive versus Negative WorkplacesWe have all worked in places where we grew to dread getting up in the morning, and a few of us have had the pleasure of working for a boss who makes us feel like we can do anything. Let's take a look at the differences between a positive and a negative work environment.

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Think Before You Talk
What you say to other people can make or break you and it can happen without you even knowing about it. That old saying "loose lips sink ships" is oh so true in business.

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Christmas and Business Gifts for Your Clients and Employees!
Tis' the season for business and corporate gift-giving! If you believe in the law of reciprocity, and if your business is the least bit successful you must; you know that giving back is not only the right thing to do, but it's very smart business as well. Let's look at some of the benefits and mechanics of Christmas and holiday gift-giving.

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Are You Managing to Lead?
For many people, the terms "manager" and "leader" are synonymous.  In the business world, they are often used interchangeably, i.

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Finding Proactive Solutions: A Key to Demonstrating Your Management Fitness
In my book Talking Points: 25 Tips for Clear, Credible Communication, Tip #17 states: "Managers and professionals in positions of responsibility got there by finding solutions to problems. They didn't rely on someone else to come up with the remedy.

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Do You Hear That?
I read a report in the Toronto Star stated that 70% of workplace errors happen because of communication breakdown and that many of them directly relate to a lack of listening skills.The challenge is most people filter out sounds, noises and people talking as much as they filter out most of the things their eyes see.

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Managers' Biggest Blunders
Nobody's perfect, including the boss. Managers, we polled recently, acknowledged making a number of mistakes, from not recognizing staff accomplishments to inadequate communication to poor hiring decisions.

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Managing People - No One Shows You What To Do
Imagine the following scenario - you pay a visit to your doctor one day and in the course of the conversation he or she lets it slip that they have no formal medical qualification. However, everything's okay because they've been involved in the "doctoring" business for years, had lots of experience and have read several books on the subject; I bet you'd be out of there like a shot.

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You Cant Afford the Luxury of Disengaged Employees
In today's business environment with increases in staff reductions and rapidly changing roles and responsibilities, it is crucial that all of your team members be fully engaged in the tasks at hand. According to a Gallup survey, 350 billion dollars are lost each year in American companies due to disengaged employees.

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When Being A Facilitator DOESNT Help
I talked with a group of internal consultants last week - they felt they had to wear too many hats in their work. They had to be consultants, facilitators, coaches and trainers - sometimes in the same one-hour session.

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Focus and Shoot
One of my earliest childhood memories is watching Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) win his third Most Outstanding Player award while leading UCLA to its third straight NCAA title in 1969. Of course, March Madness? is now ingrained in our sports psyche.

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Change Management
"It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change". -Charles DarwinThe world today is changing faster than ever before.

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How To Write Commercial Collections Letters
It is sometimes valuable to bring the sales manager into this step of the collection process. Information concerning the delinquency can often be obtained from the sales department.

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Use Noncompete Agreements To Protect Your Business
Q: One of my former employees has launched an online business very similar to mine and is contacting my clients and trying to steal their business from me. Do I have any legal recourse against him? -- Brad J.

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Cheat Sheet; Understanding The MSDS and Your Obligations In The Workplace To Employees
MSDS SHEETSMSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheets. MSDS sheets contain nine sections.

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Biometrics and "Return On Investment"
At this time of tight budgets, the mantra of business is "Return On Investment!" With few exceptions, expenditures are measured against the bottom line. Outlays for capital expenses are strictly evaluated in terms of profitability and the total cost of ownership.

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Rapport - How to Build it with Your Team
I've often heard managers say - "My door is always open, come and talk to me anytime."You have to accept the fact that your team won't always do that.

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Spotlight on Productivity: How to Overcome E-Mail Overload
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by e-mail? Have you ever spent more of your day wading through your e-mail than managing your work? Are you looking for ways to spend less time creating, managing and answering messages? Discover how to overcome e-mail overload and be more productive by writing more effective e-mail messages and reducing the volume of e-mail.Write Effective E-Mail MessagesStart improving your e-mail effectiveness by creating and formatting easy to follow content, and by using pre-written responses.

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Once Upon a Conflict
Once upon a time there lived an innocent, hardworking manager. One day he dared to wander from the safety of his open-concept office to speak out at a team meeting.

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