Business Management Information

Learn to Assert Yourself


Pinpoint your own blocks to assertiveness: fear of disapproval, need to please others, fear of being too masculine or feminine, or the dread of making mistakes.

Giving a Good Appraisal Interview


Although this performance discussion is an opportunity for you to discuss your employee?s work during a given period of time, it is also, and importantly, a time for you and your employee to check perceptions and reach mutual understandings and agreements about the purposes and priorities of their jobs. This discussion can positively influence your mutual working relationship. For the performance appraisal process to fulfill its purposes, both of you need to actively participate. If you find that your ideas about the job are different from those of your employee, you should not be reluctant to encourage your employee to explain their perceptions. In preparing your employees to participate fully and productively, have them consider their job and their performance in terms of the following questions. Have them plan to provide feedback about what is going well and what could be done differently that would be beneficial for them and their job.

Implementing Change


There are different reactions that individuals experience during time of change. Understanding the emotions of an individual may better help them get through the period of unexpected change. A possible reaction is anger towards person(s) responsible for or involved in the change. One may return to old habits, the familiar comfortable way of doing things, avoiding reality and denying the change. Thinking becomes rigid and new ideas, methods, structures, etc., are perceived as threatening so one withdraws from the situation.

The Dripping Faucet in Every Organization


Each day millions of workers spend 8 hours or more at their respective jobs with many contributing to the dripping faucet within every organization. This faucet much like the leaking kitchen or bathroom faucet?s steadily waste drops of a previous resource ? water ? every minute of every day until fixed. Yet, the dripping faucet is considered a minor annoyance until the drips become steadier. During this time, thousands of gallons of water are wasted costing the owner probably more money than it took to correct the problem.

Effective Meetings: Why Most Meetings are a Waste of Time


Whether your company holds one meeting a week or dozens of meetings a day it is essential that this time is used efficiently and effectively. Most meetings are less effective than they could be not because they are poorly managed, but because meeting managers spend all of their time focusing on the one or two hours when people will be gathered around the conference table or video screen. Smart meeting managers know that it is the actions you take during the three days immediately before the meeting which are much more important than the meeting itself.

Delegating Responsibility


Too many managers waste both time and energy performing tasks an employee could perform just as well, thereby lowering productivity while raising operating costs. The answer to the problem is easy?delegation. However, many managers still limit their own effectiveness, create imbalances in the organization, waste their department?s time and energies, and fail to develop their subordinates by either ignoring or mismanaging the techniques of delegation.

Delegation Obstructions


OBSTRUCTIONS: 1. Staff deficiencies. Lack of confidence in employees quite understandably leads to a reluctance to delegate. When deficiencies exist, action must be taken to restructure jobs and/or retrain, reassign, or as a last resort terminate employees. 2. Management deficiencies. Intimidation or lack of organization on the manager?s part makes effective delegation impossible. In such a case, it is the manager?s responsibility to seek training in the delegation process via seminars, self-help courses, and the like.

Deciding What to Delegate


DECIDING WHAT TO DELEGATE: Once the benefits of delegation are established and obstacles removed, the next step in the delegation process is to decide what work can and should be delegated. In general, work to be delegated should adhere to the following guidelines: ? It can be handled adequately down the line. ? All necessary information for decision making is also available down the line. ? The work involves operational detail rather than planning or organization. ? The task does not require skills unique to the manager or position. ? An individual other than the manager has, or can have, direct control over the task.

Delegate Tasks to the Right Person


SELECTING THE RIGHT PERSON: To whom should tasks be delegated? Selecting the right subordinate to do the work is an evaluative process, and managers must be able to identify individuals both capable and willing to handle responsibility.

How to Delegate Effectively


ACCOUNTABILITY: Delegation is not complete unless subordinates are held accountable for their work. They should be accountable to only one person?usually their immediate manager?and must understand what criteria will be used in judging their performance. They must also understand that unless the job is done successfully, they will be replaced. Though ultimate accountability cannot be transferred and does rest with the manager, managers must be willing to support the actions and decisions of those in whom they have placed their trust. They must stand behind the results?whether good or bad.

How to Overcome Your Fear of Firing


OVERCOMING FEAR OF FIRING ?It was obvious that this employee could not relate well to clients. But I could not bring myself to fire him.? and while I wavered, things only got worse for everyone in the department.? Having to fire someone is one of the most difficult actions any manager or executive may have to take. It is an action that many manager?s find endless excuses to avoid, as did the executive quoted above. Yet, in certain cases it is unavoidable. Firing is a managerial art that many otherwise successful supervisor?s neglect to develop.

Human Resources: The Misidentified Subject


Interest in the field of human resources has exploded in recent years due to the promises it offers for a better understanding of human beings at work. The term is now as ubiquitous as it has once been obscure. It is taught in schools and universities; it has turned into one of the main functions of a corporation in addition to marketing, finance, and accounting. Yet despite this trend, there are still many challenges facing the field. It seems like the subject of HR is talking the talk but not walking the walk. It is true that it is easy to talk about how we should treat employees and how to reward them in order to create an incentive for greater performance, but how do we tackle the most common problem of job dissatisfaction?

Muggers in Our Midst - When Rumour and Gossip Pay You a Visit


?I heard it on the grapevine? the old song goes. But the grapevine has the potential to cause your business strife, misunderstanding and ruin! In effect the rumour mill and gossip are dangers you cannot ford to ignore. People who indulge in these behaviours are like muggers ? they leave you feeling you have been robbed!

My Companys Leadership Sucks!


Maybe it's the season or just a more buoyant job market; but lately I'm sure involved in a lot more discussions about leadership.

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. They weren't always sure what role to be in and they felt that all this role-switching was draining them and was decreasing their credibility and effectiveness.

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