Related Articles

Corporate Governance for Business Owners
It is clear that good Corporate Governance is in the best interests of shareholders of public companies, but how can it benefit shareholders of private companies and other business owners?Will a good system of corporate governance increase the bottom line?One of the elements of a good system of corporate governance is ensuring that the role, and the boards' expectations, of management are understood.SeparationSeparation of the board and management is often lacking when it comes to small medium sized enterprises.

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Squeezing the Blood Out of that Old Turnip
I suspect all of you out there have someone that you rely on for insight and perspective - that wise old mentor that seems to have an unlimited depth of experience to draw from in helping you navigate life's little challenges. You know, those little parables and anecdotal tales that always relate perfectly that very problem you're trying to solve.

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Future Business Success - What Does Good Look Like?
When you know you need to shift up a gear, in any area of your business (or your life for that matter), it's really important to have a vivid representation of what you are seeking.Some call these "Goals", others "Visions" and yet more describe it as a "Mission".

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Saying One Thing, Doing Another...
This week I was asked to speak at an internal conference for a bank. The subject was how to build a great customer experience.

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Beyond Management Coaching: When Things Are Getting Out of Control
Leaders and Managers often ask us, 'What do you do when you have tried to coach and counsel an employee about a performance concern, and the employee has not responded?Unfortunately, we see far too many cases where the leader hasn't, in good faith, tried to coach the employee or to put the leader's concerns into words. Often, leaders look for a quick fix alternative to what is perceived as a difficult and painful confrontation.

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Solving the Problem Solving Problem
The meeting started like a hundred others before. There were five people sitting around the conference table, like they always did, trying to solve a problem that had popped up in the last few weeks.

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What to Do When Trust is Low
Trust is essential. You can't run a business without it.

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Appraisal Systems - Not Living Up to Their Objectives
Almost, if not all organisations have them, they've been around for a very long time and some organisations swear by them, however on the whole the average appraisal system fails to live up to the expectations of the organisation and often they can cause more trouble than they are worth."So, minister, here we are at the end of your government and the record doesn't look to good, crime is up, hospital care down, the economy still shaky and poor public services.

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10 Ways To Work Through A Business Slowdown
In running any kind of business, it's inevitable that sometimes business will slow down. This might occur due to an upcoming holiday, seasonal variations, or uncontrollable circumstances.

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CEOs Are Great, Top CEOs Are Greater
People in leading positions are often in a dilemma: on one hand they are supposed to give great performances, make the right decisions and so forth; on the other hand, they have to fill the role of a very confident and self-assured manager. This may be considered a dilemma because CEOs are expected to be almost supernatural, and asking for assistance in what is supposed to be their core competence (leadership!) simply does not fit the picture, no matter how necessary it may be.

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The Dark Side of Help Desk SLAs
You just signed a Help Desk Service Level Agreement (SLA) and now think things will get easier. However, you may soon be falling into one of these traps:1) COVERING THE TRUTH WITH METRICSIn some companies, those under the radar of SLA compliance may resort to doing the minimum instead of really solving the problem.

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When Code Freeze Turns To Code Slush
Time To Market (TTM) is a vital concept that every executive understands. Releasing a product to market before your competition gives you a significant first-mover advantage.

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Innovation Management - does the idea fit with the firm?
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation.

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Business Innovation - Value versus Quality
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

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Overcoming Perfectionism
Perfectionism can get in the way of building or marketing a successful business. It can prevent us from moving ahead quickly or from taking advantage of business opportunities.

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5 Ways of Increasing Business Profits
The economy may finally be turning around and showing signs of a rebound. Interest rates have begun to rise and the stock market is recovering from the lows it experienced in the last couple of years.

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25 Super-Practical Steps to Build Your Business!
For the past several weeks, we have focused on some wonderful but (to my way of thinking) rather fancy ideas about life. I wrote about motivation (I don't believe in it).

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Successful Business Decision Making
Some people make decisions without any difficulty, while others struggle. Are you having trouble making a decision? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the choices you have, and aren't sure how to pick just one? No matter how big or small those decisions might be, I can teach you how to strategically:-- Define your decision and come up with alternatives-- Determine what criteria you'll need to help you make the decision-- Make the decision"If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.

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Outsourced Learning: Are You Ready for Learning BPO?
As the business world enters a period of hyper-competitiveness, every business process will be subjected to examination and possible restructuring. We have already seen outsourcing and offshoring used to an extent what nobody would have dreamed of a few years ago.

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Understanding Every Aspect of Your Organization
GET TO KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION: If you don't understand an aspect of the organization or a procedure within it, ask. If you still don't understand, ask again.

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