Better Business in 21 Days

Posted by Super Job For You | Posted in Business, SEO, Sales | Posted on 15-04-2009

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Day One: Make sure your organization has tests and yardsticks to measure performance. Are you measuring the most important things or just things you have always measured?

Day Two: Free up your most capable people to take advantage of new opportunities. Make a list of your most capable people and make a list of your new opportunities. Pair them up to maximize productivity.

Day Three: Adopt this mantra; if we did not do this already, would we go into it now?

Day Four: Assign every employee to write a short work plan that includes their focus, desired results and deadline. Meet with every manager in the next week to review their plans and have each manager meet with each employee to review individual plans face to face.

Day Five: Decide if your organization is delivering the results it should be. If not, revisit your organization’s mission statement.

Day Six: Ask yourself “Am I a leader who treats all my employees as my helpers?” List three ways your organization could be more profitable and efficient if every employee was encouraged to assume more responsibility.

Day Seven: What results are you being paid to achieve as the leader? List five tasks that you could eliminate to be more productive.

Day Eight: When a decision or change is being made, set aside ten minutes to make a complete list of everyone who needs to be informed. And another ten minutes for all of those that will be affected.

Day Nine: Ask every person in management to answer the question “What should my contribution be to the organization?” Give them a day to answer the question. Follow this up at a staff meeting to be held the next afternoon.

Day Ten: Talk to three customers. Ask them how they see your organization, what they think of it, what kind of company they believe it is and what they want from it. Use this feedback to fine tune the mission statement.

Day Eleven: Perform a management audit. Use the criteria of whether or not your managers have made good people decisions; whether or not they have had any innovative ideas; and, whether or not any of their goals were achieved on time.

Day Twelve: Ask yourself how your organization can be more like Amazon.com by becoming benefiting from ecommerce. Web Site Marketing

Day Thirteen: Make a list of every employee. Next to each one, mark if these individuals are committed to getting results while on the payroll, or just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck.

Day Fourteen: Does your organization value learning? Who attends training classes inside and outside of the company and who doesn’t participate at all?

Day Fifteen: Gather all of your managers and create a list of the top ten reasons why your organization is an attractive place to work. Start using this in your recruitment advertising and place it on your web site.

Day Sixteen: Ask every manager to answer two questions, “What do I get paid for?” and “What should I get paid for?”

Day Seventeen: What are the ten things your business does superbly well?

Day Eighteen: Take a look at your organizational chart. Will it fulfill the needs of your organization in the next 12 months? What needs to change?

Day Nineteen: Is your organization an inventor or an imitator? What are three things the company could do to become more innovative? What companies do you admire that you could imitate?

Day Twenty: Create a Key Indicator report. On a single page, list organizational opportunities, sales, revenues, profits and volume, both goals and actual performance. Use this to run management team meetings and in all one on one meetings with managers.

Day Twenty One: Go back through this list and complete what was not finished.

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Business Improvement List

Posted by Super Job For You | Posted in Business | Posted on 30-08-2008

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In his bestselling book, “Good to Great,” author Jim Collins mentions a simple and effective tool called the “Stop Doing List”. In this article, I would like to provide a practical way for you to get started on your own “Stop Doing List” to business people interested in ending bad business practices.

Lose the Baggage

Most everyone has friends, coworkers and even family members who aren’t going anywhere in life or in business. They aren’t accomplishing anything except for getting older, one day at a time. Perhaps these people are satisfied to be in their comfort zones, but you are not, as you hunger and desire for getting more out of life.

Start limiting the time, effort and energy you expend upon these people. I have come to the realization that people either help you or they hinder you, and if you are a person who is going somewhere, you need to be around people with whom you are like minded.

Have you ever thought about the individuals with whom you spend time and whether they are going anywhere? Answer that question and you have started creating the list of people you don’t need to be investing in.

Toss Your Junk

One of my brothers has a simple philosophy that if he has not used something in the last six months, the chances are that he doesn’t need it, so he tosses it. That strategy keeps things from piling up, even if you are a junk collector.

Some people are pack rats whose desks are covered with paper, drawers are filled with junk, and bookcases are stuffed with unread magazines, books and periodicals.

To be effective and efficient, your work area must be clean and tidy. It is a direct reflection on you, your employees and your business. When was the last time you set aside some time to clean up your office?

This doesn’t only mean your desk and work area, it refers to the entire workplace, including walls, ceilings, closets, floors, windows, doors, storage areas, computer files, filing cabinets, meeting rooms, and so forth.

Lose the Losers

Some clients are just not worth having, and you know who they are. More than likely, you can recite a list of them from memory and you probably spend too much time talking about them. They demand the highest quality, the lowest prices, the best possible service and, even when you do provide it, complain anyways.

They are unrealistic and unprofitable. To move ahead and become more profitable, you must proactively eliminate clients not worth keeping.

Use whatever tools you choose to determine who these clients are, but don’t delay. When will you do something about your problem customers? There is nothing like doing this today to make yourself and your organization feel better in a hurry.

Stop Chasing the Wind

When should you give up on a prospect? If you are like most people, you will continue to contact a buyer until you somehow come to the realization that they aren’t interested in doing business with you.

Your prospects aren’t bad people, but more often than not, the delays mean that they just can’t make a decision or they don’t want to level with you.

Very few people want to be the bearers of bad news, and this includes your prospects. As a result, most salespeople waste time on endless voice messages, e-mails, and visits, hoping that they might somehow gain the prospect’s business.

Give your prospects enough time to do what they need to do to make a decision. Until that time, stay in touch with them, providing them with the assistance and knowledge to make an informed choice.

Once you reach that point, tell them to call you when they make a decision. You will be able to stop badgering them about making a decision they have probably already made—the decision that leaves you on the outside looking in.

Stop Eating Poorly

One way to lose weight, be healthier and set an example to those around you is to stop eating fast food at lunch. By making the decision to eat healthier, you will start feeling better not only in the afternoon, but all day long. Bring a brown bag to lunch and eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water.

Stop Doing What You Don’t Like

Too many people wake up each morning and dread going to work. Perhaps they are working in an industry that does not interest them, or they don’t enjoy the people with whom they work. Maybe the fire has gone out. If this is a description of you, then you need to consider finding another line of work.

Life is so short and fleeting that we need to wake up and look forward to what we are doing with our lives. We need to have a passion for what we are doing. We need to have a sense of purpose, fulfillment and accomplishment for some greater good besides getting a paycheck. To help you with your passion go to the library and pick up the book, “What Color is My Parachute”.

Whatever you do, stop doing what you don’t like. I am sure you have made everyone miserable around you.

Stop Making Promises

Gerald Ford was an honest man who practically “happened” into the presidency in the summer of 1974.

As he ran for reelection in 1976, he stated that he would “Never promise more than I can deliver; and to deliver more than I promise.” We could all learn a lot from this simple statement that addressed the issue of honesty within the government.

Are you honest with your clients? Far too many people promise to return telephone calls and write letters when they know that (for whatever reason) it is not something they really intend to do. Business owners must follow through on the promises they make. The world will be a better place for it, and so will business.

You can begin to improve your business and your life by taking a few minutes to create your own “Stop Doing List.”

Share your stop doing list with a few people who will hold you accountable, or by posting it on a wall so that everyone who comes into your office can see it.

Cast Parts

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