Time Saving Techniques To Boost Your Productivity

The proverbial quote the early bird catches the worm is, more than ever, a significant guiding principle in modern day business management. Starting early or being ahead of the pack increases your chances for succeeding and the sooner you start, the sooner you will achieve success. Clearly this goes hand in hand with utilizing time saving techniques to help you achieve rapid results without compromising your productivity. There are many systems available that are specifically devised to save time... Read more »

Executive Leaders, Are You Coaching Your Human Capital?

Recruit and retain - this is the first key element in your methodology. It’s important to consider both aspects, not just recruiting (which most focus on) or just on retaining, but to think of the combination as a “package.” It is essential to all organizations to not only recruit the best talent, but also retain it. One of the crucial strategies involved in effective talent management is to define competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) the organization needs to get the... Read more »

The Value of Using Checklists to Manage Your Business

Historically, checklists were simple to-do lists that served as reminders; attend the sales conference, fax or mail the contract to a customer, or distribute an employee memo. Even today, most dictionaries define a checklist as a document that serves as a reminder for a series of tasks to be completed. However, checklists have now evolved to important business management tools that do much more. In addition to listing action items, checklists are effective business processes that enable organizations... Read more »

5 Common Mistakes In Hiring

Do you know the biggest mistakes employers make in hiring? One of the biggest challenges we find is that sales professionals and business owners think they can find somebody who is both people-oriented and great on follow-through and detailed work. The five common mistakes employers make in hiring are: -I need a body right now. The manager hires out of desperation and it is common when the manager finds himself overwhelmed. Maybe somebody just quit or the manager received a number of leads and does... Read more »

Scavenger Hunting — Chicago as a Corporate Playground

Corporate life is often compared to a big game. It’s a game of wits, dedication and of course the use of all of your assets put together, in a fine well-oiled machine. Often, corporate execs and staff feel that to consolidate team leadership and ownership of responsibilities, an exercise of minds between workers in a new environment in a team building element is called for. Scavenger hunting is being used for such an occasion as this type of event has proven pretty interesting for a number... Read more »

How To Get Your Business Tasks Completed With Less Effort And Excellent Results

Getting your most important tasks completed is not always the easiest thing to do. You may even be putting off important tasks for the unexpected issues that pop up in front of you during the day. It’s hard to stay on track, especially on demanding days. You may have more tasks for the next day and feel guilty because you didn’t complete all your work today. Then you start the next day with a sense of being overwhelmed rather than starting the day fresh and energetic. Janice likes to... Read more »

Solving the Ten Most Common Generation Y Workforce Challenges

We are at a very important time in history. Over the next five years, approximately 62 million Baby Boomers, who have helped form our business world for the last 20 years will be retiring. As they exit out of the workforce approximately 40 million Gen X, born between 1965 and 1977, and 72 million Generation Y, born after 1977 will fill their shoes. In this day and age, our businesses cannot thrive without young talent. And, if our businesses are not thriving, the economy will become more and... Read more »

Constructing Effective Work Groups

The value of work groups to accomplish complex projects achieve company goals is now widely accepted. Few would argue that teams are the best way to approach both short and long term projects. But who should make up these teams to maximize their effectiveness? Putting together a winning team is like orchestrating a piece of music and it doesn’t happen by chance. It requires a great deal of information, careful thought, and sound resource management. The first step in constructing a productive... Read more »

Delegation with Confidence: Five Essential Steps

The old maxims “if you want something done right, do it yourself,” don’t address the busy manager with assignments and deadlines facing them everyday. Many managers find themselves limited simply by the hours in a day to meet the many demands confronting them. Giving up control and authority is a challenge that many managers fear more than working twelve hours a day six days a week. But the effective manager is one who understands their limitations and has confidence in both... Read more »

An Introduction to Leasing and Asset Finance

Confused by the types of finance available to your business? Want to expand your operations but don’t have the liquid capital available to invest in things like equipment? If so a leasing agreement could be right for your business. How does it work? Essentially all leasing agreements work on the principle of renting an asset from a third party, usually a financial institution, for a fixed period. This type of contract is typically referred to as a lease. Leasing plays a big part in the property... Read more »