Other Added - Business

To Follow-up or Not to Follow-up
IntroductionIn government offices, with Insurance companies, in relations of Customer/Client and Service Provider and even in corporate world, at times we follow-up with the concerned person to know and to ensure if our work has been done or not. I personally don’t like this act of follow-ups; I don’t encourage such activities and I don’t appreciate that. I feel that by following-up you are insulting the other person. If someone need to follow-up with me or if someone follow-up with me, I feel insulted. So, what is the solution? Whether we should follow-up? Who should follow-up? In this write-up, I will be sharing few examples and will try to find a solution.Let’s understandWe are social animals and we cannot do all the things on our own. I cannot issue a license for myself. I cannot sell a movie ticket to myself. If I am not a pilot, I cannot fly my plane. I cannot fill my petrol tank. I cannot approve my own loan. In case of operation, I cannot operate myself. I cannot issue an insurance policy to myself. I cannot take my own interview and hire myself. Can I? We do follow-ups when part of our work is done by another person. We do follow-ups when we delegate some of our work. We need to follow-up when our performance, our growth, our success, our career, even our routine life is partly dependable on the work of some other person (s).I am of the opinion that if someone is following-up with you, then all or any of the following is a reason for that:1) You are lazy.2) You are not a good planner.3) You are not aware of the importance and value of time.4) You are poor in Time Management5) You are not aware of your own limits.6) You have a habit of procrastinating.7) You don’t know how to prioritize your work.8) You have made a wrong commitment.

, leadership skills, and future growth potential within the Company. The team will formulate and present the strategic document to the President/CEO and the Board of Directors. It is critical that all employees are empowered and encouraged to communicate their ideas and issues with any member of the strategy team. This process ensures accountability and ownership of the strategy at every level in the organization.

Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)

The Vision for the Future (End Game) in business is simply defining what winning the game in your business is really about. What does winning mean. Just exactly what do you want your company to be when it grows up? Ask yourself the following questions from the perspective of looking five to seven years into the future.

1. What markets should your company be serving five years from now?
2. What products should you be distributing?
3. Who are your primary competitors?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your competitors’ strengths?
6. How has your marketing strategy changed?
7. What are your core competencies?
8. What is the size of your revenue stream?
9. How is your revenue stream segmented?
10. Do you have a Human Resource Development plan?

The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.

Step Three --- Preparation

Running a s

Paper Shredder Maintenance
Paper shredder maintenance is recommended for the proper functioning of paper shredder machines. Paper shredders are electromechanical equipments used to destroy paper documents. Paper shredders have a normal life span of a few years. Adequate maintenance will help you obtain maximum efficiency along with an increase in life time.Paper shredder maintenance need be a routine process. The maintenance procedure must be practiced according to the instructions mentioned in the user manual. Regular maintenance procedure includes the unplugging of the machine, cleaning and oiling on all the parts, removing dust, checking the movement of the blades, inspection of electrical parts, tune ups and replacement of impaired parts if necessary. This whole process will help to ensure optimum running of the machine and minimize disturbances such as unexpected sounds, delay etc.Paper shredder maintenance must be done only with the recommended tools and oils mentioned in the instruction manual. Shredder oils are lubricants that ensure proper movement of the parts. They also clear any residue in the cutters. The frequency of oiling must be decided on the basis of the shred size and volume of use. Oiling can be done directly with a sprayer or an automatic lubricating device integrated to the machine. Oiling will help the shredder run smoother and faster without any build ups in between the parts of the machine. It also maintains electrical parts such as motor, gears, and bearings from much strain and wear outs.The maintenance process differs with model. The maintenance requirement of crosscut shredders is grater than strip cut machines. Some models require special attention in certain parts. The cutting head of the machine must be regularly cleaned in crosscut shredders to avoid lodging of paper and paper clips, which may dama

Let’s start by talking about strategic focus. Leadership models and new business models are key ingredients to success in the 21st century. The successful 21st century business model is built around servant style leadership with a focus on strategic thinking by harnessing the creativity and innovation of the employees. The vehicle to accomplish this is the strategic planning process Strategy serves as the organization compass and roadmap to future success. Strategic thinking must be clear and communicated effectively throughout the organization. It is not something you can leverage with technology. It isn’t something you will find in the latest business manual. It is embedded in the minds of your management team and most of your employees. It is your employees who are on the front line and know what is really going on with your customers and your markets. It requires effective leadership to release the power of the employees in building a strategic roadmap to the future.

Defining objectives and developing initiatives and action plans to meet those objectives is the basis of strategic planning. However, it all starts with an end game, a “Vision for the Future.”

Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.

Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides a Roadmap on “How to get there from Here.”.” The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, and when and how to do it.

The scope of the strategy development process for any company is dependent upon individual business needs. The strategic planning process is a time and resource-consuming endeavor that involves many people in the organization. This process includes both tactical and strategic application. The DIY process assumes that you have a good handle on both your internal and external environment. If you don’t you may want to consider hiring a consultant to do an internal assessment and survey your customers and vendors to analyze your external environment.

Hiring a consulting firm can cost as little as $10,000 for a simple two day facilitation to upwards of $100,000 for comprehensive involvement by the consulting firm during the entire process.

So, if you are not inclined to hire an outside consultant, you may want to follow this ten step process for DIY (Do It Yourself) Strategic Planning. Although it isn’t possible to describe in great detail the entire process in an article (it would require 50 pages) the following is an overview of the process.

The Ten Step Process

Let’s identify the steps first and then we’ll discuss each one in a little more detail . I cannot emphasize enough that the true value of a strategic plan is not in the document itself. It is in the process of creating it, involving many of your employees from the bottom up. This empowers them to be more effective and better-informed leaders, managers and decision makers.

1. Select the strategy team and send a company wide communication
2. Create a Vision for the Future (End Game)
3. Preparation -----Secure an off site location for the kick off meeting which includes training the team on the strategic planning process. Purchase a strategic planning template, download one from the web or e-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for a generic sample.
4. Complete a SWOT analysis. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats)
5. Identify the critical core initiatives that are necessary to support the vision for the future and to achieve its objectives
6. Develop strategic implementation plans (SIPs) that support the identified critical core initiatives
7. Prioritize the CCI’s and SIP’s based on the biggest impact on the bottom line in the shortest period of time. Modify and complete the document template to fit your company strategy
8. Develop an accountability process based on a structured monthly strategic review
9. Develop a presentation of the strategy for approval by the CEO, owners or Board of Directors.
10. Develop a Roll Out Strategy to explain the strategic plan to the entire company

Step One --------- Selection and Communication

It all starts with communication. The very first piece of information should be the announcement to all employees that the company is embarking on a planning process for the future. This memo should be sent from the President asking for everyone’s support. (A sample memo is available from rick@ceostrategist.com) The memo will likely announce who the strategy team members are and ask for everyone to congratulate them and provide input at every opportunity. CAUTION: Make sure that you have talked to any employee in advance that was not picked for the strategy team that may feel that they should have been.

Once the team is announced and the process starts make sure you continue to keep employees aware of the progress and solicit their input. A minimum of a monthly memo should be issued. The strategic planning process can take from 6 weeks to 12 weeks so it is important to keep everyone informed without releasing too much detail.

The strategy team should include a senior accountant, and should consist of between seven and ten members. Team selection should be based on competence, integrity, work ethic, leadership skills, and future growth potential within the Company. The team will formulate and present the strategic document to the President/CEO and the Board of Directors. It is critical that all employees are empowered and encouraged to communicate their ideas and issues with any member of the strategy team. This process ensures accountability and ownership of the strategy at every level in the organization.

Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)

The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.

Step Three --- Preparation

Running a st

Be A Failure At Managing Meetings - Read This And Make Sure You Do The Opposite
Become the Manager Who is a Failure at Managing MeetingsMeetings have become an inevitable part of doing business for almost every department owner. There are meetings with clients, meetings with employees and meetings with peers or associates. Almost everyone has suffered through too many meetings that take up too much time and accomplish too little. In fact, you may find that you yourself have now become numb to the fact that your meetings aren’t as good as they could be. And everywhere you look, it seems as if somebody has another idea about how to fix your meetings, and make them more focused, more productive, and – dare I say it? More fun! So what can you do about it? Relax and keep reading, because you’re about to find the information that can help you maintain the status quo – a list of tips and ideas for meeting planning – the wrong way!1. Schedule your meetings at bad times - (for example, how about setting up a “must attend” meeting late on Friday afternoon?).2. Make sure your meetings all start late and run overtime - (and whenever possible, scheduling meetings when someone is up against a deadline, or on a tight schedule).3. Maintain a consistent lack of focus on what topics will be covered – (don’t use an agenda).4. Ensure there is a poor level of rapport in the group – (people don’t talk to each other, or they complain, or engage in other unsuitable behaviour).5. Don’t arrive at a decision - (find new ways to keep covering the same ground, or continue asking for input rather than creating a plan of action.)6. Choose a poor location and environment for your meetings - (for example, trying to fit 15 people into a closet-sized room that doesn’t have windows or a proper ventilation system.)7. Schedule meetings to go over routine topics -

hanging environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.

Hiring a consulting firm can cost as little as $10,000 for a simple two day facilitation to upwards of $100,000 for comprehensive involvement by the consulting firm during the entire process.

The Ten Step Process

Step One --------- Selection and Communication

Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)

The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.

Step Three --- Preparation

Running a s

How Over Regulations Hurts the Little Guy
We have all heard horrendous stories of how over regulation crushes small business people who compete with the big dogs in various markets. It seems as if the government regulators are merely there to crush the little guy sometimes so that the big boys with lobbyist budgets can get the government to intervene via some Congressmen, Councilman, Senator, Corrupt Judge or County Supervisor.Well here is a story that is truly outrageous indeed; a total abuse of the system, but the Sierra Club. You see, I met someone recently who owned a mine in just North of Albuquerque in the hills about Santa Fe, New Mexico. Get this, he had a ten-mile road and the Sierra Club was made because he owned a mine.He never mined anything just loved the landscape and was able to use his retirement money and got the property for a song. He was planning on building his dream home there in fact. So the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit stating that the rules and regulations said that he had to water the dirt road. He lived outside of Midland, TX a state away, but told me of this story in Starbucks Coffee shop in Santa Fe.Turns out the cost to water the road once a day for a year was astronomical due to water shortages in New Mexico, costs and remoteness for the water truck, 5 loads to water the road. So he paved it, but the Sierra Club pressed the lawsuit so now he waters a paved road in the middle of the biggest drought in the history of New Mexico? Now that helps the environment? Dah? True Story, one of thousands and so I hope this article will propel thought in 2007.

possible to describe in great detail the entire process in an article (it would require 50 pages) the following is an overview of the process.

The Ten Step Process

Step One --------- Selection and Communication

Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)

The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.

Step Three --- Preparation

Running a s

Case Study: People Care and Client Care at SmithBucklin Corporation
Founded in 1949, Chicago-based SmithBucklin Corporation is the world’s largest association management and professional services company. In fact, Chairman and CEO Henry S. Givray – who worked for the organization from 1983 to 1996 and returned again in 2002 as chief executive – says that the their nearest competitor is only one-fifth their size. However, Givray notes, “I don’t believe size necessarily translates to greatness in a company. But if you do things right, in our type of service, size really yields tremendous benefits to client organizations.”SmithBucklin, with a staff of nearly 700, serves over 200 associations, professional societies, technology user groups, government agencies and other entities. For more than 80 of them, the company fully manages their core, day-to-day operations. In this role, the outside entity’s staff is employed by SmithBucklin, including a chief staff officer who answers to the entity’s board of directors. The company provides its other client organizations with function- or project-specific services, such as conference and event management services, marketing and communications, government relations and technology and web management.In addition to having a fairly large staff for a midsize business, SmithBucklin has multiple locations: A majority of its employees work in its Chicago and Washington, DC offices. The company also has a staff of 15 in St. Louis that assists a single client, and another staff of four in Durham, NC that also assists a single client. Yet, while it is geographically diverse, SmithBucklin stays connected through large and small group meetings, e-mail, and several internal publications. “It’s not about a corporate office and having satellite offices,” Givray says. “We’re one company – we just happen to live in different places.”The organization’s

Develop an accountability process based on a structured monthly strategic review
9. Develop a presentation of the strategy for approval by the CEO, owners or Board of Directors.
10. Develop a Roll Out Strategy to explain the strategic plan to the entire company

Step One --------- Selection and Communication

Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)

The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.

Step Three --- Preparation

Running a s

The Cold Facts of Starting Your Own Small Business
Do you have the right stuff to make it work? Ask yourself these five questions before making that leap from steady paycheck to entrepreneurial uncertainty:1. Are you a self-starter?You must have the self-discipline to plan, set goals, not procrastinate and stay focused.2. What are your expectations?Do you think you’ll work less and have less stress and more money? Think again.3. What are your financial goals?Be prepared to work more for less money, at least in the beginning. Set up your retirement plan in the beginning and stick to it. Forget vacations and be sure to keep your health insurance going….now there is no one but you to take care of these things.4. Can you plan and organize?You’ll be making countless decisions each day. Can you make a workplace for yourself that is free from distractions, where you can think, plan and communicate?To be a success, you must combine your fantastic ideas and business tools with solid planning and organization.Success is never guaranteed and the variables and factors can sometimes be out of your control. But if you ask yourself honestly, before taking the plunge: Do I have what it takes to run a business? The answer should tell you if the “American Dream” is right for you.95% of small businesses fail within the first five years? Why?Here are a few reasons why:1. Mistaking a business for a hobby.Just because you “love” to cook doesn’t mean you should/could start a restaurant.2. Poor planning.Have you researched all aspects of start-up costs and on-going expenses? Do you know what your monthly nut is going to be and do you have enough capital to carry you through for several years? Do you realize the sheer number of hours you’ll be working? Do you have the managemen

Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)

The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.

Step Three --- Preparation

Running a strategic planning process is not just designing a template and having the team members fill in the gaps. On the contrary, it means carefully coaching the management team through a thinking process. Often, the actual strategic plan is even less important than the development and growth of the team members participating in the process. The strategy team should be trained on the process you intend to follow in developing the strategic plan. Once that is competed the CEO/President should present the vision of the future with copies for everyone and then excuse himself from the meeting to allow the strategy team to tear the end game apart and put it back together. The President will have explained that they have the right and the obligation to challenge the end game if they do not agree with any part of it. However, any challenge to any portion must be accompanied by alternative recommendations. The concept is to finalize a “Vision for the Future” that everyone owns.

Step Four---- The SWOT analysis

The team will conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to identify critical constraints and potential opportunities for growth.

Step Five --- Developing the Critical Core Initiatives from the Vision for the Future

Critical core initiatives are over arching initiatives that are found within the Vision for the Future. An example may be defined as a human resource initiative for becoming employer of choice. There are many independent action steps (Strategic Implementation Plans – SIPs) that will be required to accomplish the Critical Core Initiative (CCI). They may include training, education, leadership development, compensation and benefits etc.

Identifying the CCI’s first is necessary to move on to the next step which is creating SIPs for each CCI.

Step Six--- Prioritize the CCI’s and identify individual SIPs for each CCI

A Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) is a set of tasks that supports a Critical Core Initiative and therefore creates fundamental change in the way you do things. SIP work deals with long-term improvement and change, balancing concern for today with concern for the future and is a fundamental task of managerial decision-making. Work against SIPs deals with improving things for tomorrow.

Each Critical Core Initiative is supported by a set of SIPs that contain a sequenced set of tasks, schedules, and named responsible individuals. The creation of SIPs indicates that the chosen area is one that provides a high payoff in terms of innovation and managed change.

Step Seven --- Assign sections of the strategy template to be completed by different team members

Developing the strategy document from team homework assignments completed over the previous weeks is a matter of following the template that has been modified to meet your specific company needs.

Step Eight --- The accountability process

The key managerial tool to ensure steady, consistent progress on SIP tasks is the formal Operational Review Meeting (ORM). This is the foundation to insure that the strategic plan is successful. The ORM is held monthly. The purpose of the ORM is to:
• Clearly understand the status of your key initiatives.
• Keep executive focus on strategic, rather than just urgent, issues.
• Facilitate communication and support throughout the executive team and the company.
• Formulate emergency responses to company-wide threats or opportunities.
• Leverage all appropriate company resources while maintaining proper accountability for performance.

The ORM should be attended by members of the Strategy Team, executive management and other senior managers. It will follow a formal agenda and discussions will be driven by two objective measurements: performance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and progress of SIP task completion. SIP and action item owners will be held accountable for achieving the desired results by the due date indicated on the plan. The entire team will be held accountable for meeting SIP goals.

Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval

The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.

Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process

After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.

Strategy Development Overview

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If you are serious about YOUR business then read every single word on this page. You see today I'm covering a subject that sends 80% of businesses to an early grave!

The fear of change oftens creeps into our mind during our career especially when considering changing jobs. Even if you’re not changing careers and are simply pursuing a better job in your industry, there are ways to ensure you don’t get paralyzed by fear.

Every type of business must concentrate on good customer service and the small-business person knows that whatever line of work they are in that if they do not give good customer service then perhaps the competition will. For those businesses giving customer service is paramount,

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