Other Added - Business

The Surefire Way To Getting A Pay Raise
If you are working for someone else, it is important to remember this fact: No one gives you a raise, you must earn it. You’ve got to prove you are worth the additional money you are asking for. And, you must do this in a professional, business-like, and diplomatic way. You do this by completing salary research and having the facts straight in terms of your worth and the additional value you bring to the table. This may mean that you are not ready to ask for a raise tomorrow. But, taking the extra time, preparation, and effort necessary to ensure that you are eligible for a raise is really the only way you are going to get one. Also, when asking for a raise, it is best to stick to business, rather than personal, reasons. It is not fair to your employer to ask for a raise “because Sally needs new braces” or “because you need to pay for Billy’s trip to Europe next summer.” Stick to the business facts of why you deserve the raise. Following is an effective three-step process to getting the raise you deserve.Step 1: Do your homeworkThe surest way to not get a raise is to throw out some arbitrary or random number to the decision maker. You’ll be better off to do some research on what the industry standard of pay is for your position. There are many salary calculators and web sites online such as the salary wizards at HotJobs.com, Monster.com, or Salary.com. Keep in mind, such calculators provide industry averages and may not be adjusted for the cost of living in your particular part of the country. The average salary for an accounting clerk in New York City, New York is going to be slightly higher tha

's name, the date and a description of the action taken.

Some issue processes require an approval step before further action can be taken. This approval should take the form of signing off on a proposal. While paper based signatures are acceptable, an automated system is better. Issue events in Issue Tracker can by used to sign off, since a user is required to log in to identify themselves, this is as good as a paper signature.

If there is documentation to support the action taken, like a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed system change, the supporting files are attached to the issue.

The process of finding a solution may help refine the issue description. This refinement should be reflected in updates to the issue description and title, as well as attaching further supporting files. It may also require that the issue be re-categorized.

If the next iteration is the responsibility of another person the issue is reassigned.

If the issue is resolved in this iteration, the status is updated to reflect the fact that the issue is inactive.

Notice that the action taken may involve reassigning the issue, changing status, refining the issue description, changing the category of the issue. All of these changes should be recorded in the central repository. Changing of status, category and severity are automatically logged for you in an automated system like Issue Tracker.

3.5 Ongoing Oversight

Consistent and continuous evaluation of issues by the issue manager and the team must take place to bring the issues to resolution. This can take place through a periodic review of all active issues in the central repository with the team and a separate review with the stakeholders.

Escalate issues as needed by re-assigning or by changing issue ownership.

Report and communicate progress on all issues to upper management and to the team, subscriptions can be used by upper management and the team to follow progress on individual issues. This reporting can be integrated into project status reporting.

Analyze issue progress and adapt actions. The central repository should be able to provide feedback on how efficiently the issues are proceeding from creation to resolution. If it is taking too long to resolve important issues, then the issue manager must find ways to improve the

What Good is a Tagline?
According to Wikipedia, the definition for the word tagline is: “a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product (like a film), or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product. Some taglines are successful enough to warrant inclusion in popular culture, often becoming snowclones.” I’m not going to get into what a ‘snowclone’ is in this article but I am going to talk about why your tagline is very important in showcasing your business.Some people refer to their tagline as a ‘slogan’ – either way, consider it as ‘eye’ candy for promoting your business. Lots of business owners believe that if they use words or phrases such as ‘best prices in town’; ‘fastest service’; or ‘improved product’ and the like that their company will stand out from the crowd. WRONG! Everyone truly believes that their business is the ‘best’ but you need to convince potential clients why indeed you are the ‘best’... and you need to do this in as few words as possible. This is why your tagline is one of the most important series of words you’ll ever write as it can either make or break your sales pitch. First, what do you believe in your heart that makes your business unique from your competitors? What added value will they gain from engaging your company? It should never focus on price as your competitor just might ‘undercut’ your rates if they’re business hungry (or unscrupulous and yes, there are companies out there that are!)Let’s take ice cream as an example. T

1. What is an Issue?

An issue is an incident, circumstance, problem or inquiry that affects or potentially affects the timely delivery of the project, product or service, it may also impact the quality of deliverables and the cost of production.

Some projects are ongoing and the definition of an issue is a little different. A help desk defines an issue as a request for help that requires a response. A service department keeps track of service requests as issues. A software maintenance group tracks reports of software bugs and enhancement requests as issues.

Because of the impact issues have on a project, product development or ongoing service, issue management is an important aspect in any management methodology. This issue management methodology promises to make the handling of issues a seamless part of your larger scoped methodologies rather than a process separate from them.

It is usually not hard for team members to identify issues, but it is still worth having a working definition of an issue. Remember that the more ambitious your project the more issues will arise.

Action item: The project team must be made aware of what issues are, provide some examples, and ask other team members to provide some examples.

2. Requirements

A central repository of issue information easily accessible to all team members, because it is good for team morale and productivity to know that their issues are being addressed. An automated central repository like Issue Tracker is desirable because it make the issue management and reporting much easier.

Action item: Choose a central repository for your issues.

An issue manager is the person chosen to oversee all issues. It can be the project manager, team leader or another person in a responsible leadership position. The issue manager is responsible for making sure that there is consistent, disciplined and continuous progress made on all issues. The issue manager is accountable to upper management for the progress made on all issues. The issue manager communicates issue progress to the team, upper management and all stakeholders.

Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so your project's success is maximized.

3. Steps

3.1 Discovery

Issues can arise at any time. When an issue is discovered it is recorded in the central repository.

It is important to allow issues to be recorded by a broad group of people including team members, upper management, users, customers, stakeholders, vendors and contractors. It is important because if there are barriers to reporting an issue then there is an increased chance that the issue will go unrecorded. You cannot address issues that you do not know about. It is not necessary that everyone has access to central repository, but the more you can allow the better.

Action item: Set up access to the central repository for those people that need it.

3.2 Recording

Training people to identify issues is often unnecessary, however getting people to record the issue in the central repository will take some training and encouragement. For example, a team member may mention an unrecorded issue to the project manager during a coffee break or other informal occasion, this team member needs some encouragement to record such issues in the central repository.

For all kinds of issues, prevention is better than correction. Also, issues tend to be less severe if they are addressed earlier rather than later. This means that every effort should be made to report issues as soon as they are discovered, instead of waiting for the issue to become "serious enough" before recording it. Do not be afraid of duplicating an issue or overlapping with existing issues, it is better than missing an issue.

A complete description of the cause of the issue should be recorded in the central repository. Resist the temptation to describe the issue in terms of a solution. Any implication of the issue should be recorded. Attach any supporting documentation, screenshots, report output, faxes, error messages and other media that describes the issue.

The person who is recording the issue can make a recommendation for a solution, if they have one. This person should also assign the issue if possible, even if it is only assigned to the issue manager for re-assignment.

When an issue is initially recorded it should be recorded in the central repository with a status code that reflects the fact that it is new issue and has not been reviewed. An attempt should also be made to categorize and rank the severity of the issue.

The date and who created the issue should be recorded in the central repository. This is done automatically for you in systems like Issue Tracker.

Many teams describe issues in terms of the desired solution, leaving others to deduce the actual issue. This is not best practice since it limits the scope of possible creative solutions. As an example a badly worded issue: "We need more people." There is no indication in this example of what the issue actually is, so finding alternative solutions is impossible. If the example issue had been worded as "The shipping department has swamped us with product, there is a possibility of spoilage if we cannot get the product delivered." With the issue worded this way perhaps the shipping department can become aware of how there actions are causing issues down the line and adapt their actions.

3.3 Initial Review

The initial review is a triage of new issues. It is usually performed by the issue manager or deputies who are familiar with the scope and priorities of the project. If the team is small the entire team can meet for the review. For each new issue the status, category and severity are reviewed and the issue assigned to someone for action and optionally an owner is identified as follows.

Sometimes the same person who records the issue may be doing the initial review, so these two steps can be fused into one in this situation.

3.3.1 Issue Status

A decision is made about the next state of the issue. (The previous state was "new".) The next status of the issue reflects the nature and timing of the action to address the issue. It is one of the following:

open: immediate action will be taken to address the issue

deferred: action will be deferred until some future time

referred: action will be taken by some other group, probably because the issue is beyond the current scope

cancelled: no action will be taken now or in the future

3.3.2 Categorize the issue

A first attempt at categorizing the issue was made when it was first recorded. But, now during the initial review the category can be refined.

The proper issue category is helpful when prioritizing the resources required to address issues. It is especially useful for reporting purposes.

Action item: Discuss with the team how best to categorize the issues you expect to get, and document the categories that will be used.

3.3.3 Rank the issue severity

The severity reflects the importance of getting the issue resolved. Obviously, you want to direct resources at the most important issues before the lesser ones.

Action item: Choose a small set of severity codes that have a clear ranking. For example: Trivial, Standard, Important, Critical. Some people prefer: Low, Medium, High, Very High.

3.3.4 Assignment

From the start, the next person to take action on the issue must be assigned to the issue and notified. Issue Tracker will automatically notify the person assigned to the issue via email.

If the issue description is incomplete, the issue can be assigned to the appropriate party to gather the information necessary to make the issue description clear.

Assign a person and not a group. Experience has shown that assigning issues to individuals leads to greater accountability than assigning issues to groups. An individual can be confronted about lack of progress, it is much harder to confront a group of people. A group can be represented by a group leader, so you can assign an issue to the group leader who will take action to reassign the issue to correct group member who will actually address the issue.

3.3.5 Ownership

It should be possible to decide which stakeholder is the owner of the issue. Having an issue owner is a way of recording who is accountable for the issue's resolution.

Owners must review the issues they own for progress to resolution. If the progress is not sufficient the issue manager should be told so that the situation can be remedied.

3.4 Taking Action

The process to address an issue iterates over the following sub-steps until the issue is resolved.

The person assigned to the issue, takes action to address the issue.

The person assigned to the issue, documents the action taken as an issue event in the central repository. An issue event has the person's name, the date and a description of the action taken.

Some issue processes require an approval step before further action can be taken. This approval should take the form of signing off on a proposal. While paper based signatures are acceptable, an automated system is better. Issue events in Issue Tracker can by used to sign off, since a user is required to log in to identify themselves, this is as good as a paper signature.

If there is documentation to support the action taken, like a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed system change, the supporting files are attached to the issue.

The process of finding a solution may help refine the issue description. This refinement should be reflected in updates to the issue description and title, as well as attaching further supporting files. It may also require that the issue be re-categorized.

If the next iteration is the responsibility of another person the issue is reassigned.

If the issue is resolved in this iteration, the status is updated to reflect the fact that the issue is inactive.

3.5 Ongoing Oversight

Escalate issues as needed by re-assigning or by changing issue ownership.

What Kind of Business Should I Start?
It’s not uncommon to reach your 30s, 40s or even 50s and still wonder, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Few people are fortunate enough to be certain of their destinies early on and the rest of us are forced to do some soul searching.The desire to own a business is becoming more common as workers grow more frustrated with the economy and working in corporate America. If you’re thinking about a business of your own but you’re not sure what to start, here are several exercise to spark some ideas.Start by Making Lists of Your Interests, Talents, and SkillsWrite down what you like and don’t like about your current job and jobs you’ve had in the past. Do you love writing business documents? Do you hate calculating numbers? By listing your likes and dislikes, you can see with more clarity where some of your interests lie and which tasks you want to avoid.The trick is to brainstorm business ideas and find one that you will be passionate about, one that will meet your desired standard of living and your lifestyle criteria. Someone who doesn’t like being chained to a desk should not choose a business that requires her to be stuck in an office all day.The good news is that as an entrepreneur, you get to make these decisions for yourself. Perhaps you are good with numbers and you’re thinking about becoming a mortgage broker, but you don’t want to be stuck in an office all day. If you are serving clients in your area, won’t you also be required to meet with them? Could you find a way to meet with them at their place of business or over lunch?This list should also help you identify

ogy represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so your project's success is maximized.

3. Steps

3.1 Discovery

Issues can arise at any time. When an issue is discovered it is recorded in the central repository.

Action item: Set up access to the central repository for those people that need it.

3.2 Recording

The date and who created the issue should be recorded in the central repository. This is done automatically for you in systems like Issue Tracker.

3.3 Initial Review

Sometimes the same person who records the issue may be doing the initial review, so these two steps can be fused into one in this situation.

3.3.1 Issue Status

open: immediate action will be taken to address the issue

deferred: action will be deferred until some future time

referred: action will be taken by some other group, probably because the issue is beyond the current scope

cancelled: no action will be taken now or in the future

3.3.2 Categorize the issue

A first attempt at categorizing the issue was made when it was first recorded. But, now during the initial review the category can be refined.

The proper issue category is helpful when prioritizing the resources required to address issues. It is especially useful for reporting purposes.

Action item: Discuss with the team how best to categorize the issues you expect to get, and document the categories that will be used.

3.3.3 Rank the issue severity

The severity reflects the importance of getting the issue resolved. Obviously, you want to direct resources at the most important issues before the lesser ones.

Action item: Choose a small set of severity codes that have a clear ranking. For example: Trivial, Standard, Important, Critical. Some people prefer: Low, Medium, High, Very High.

3.3.4 Assignment

From the start, the next person to take action on the issue must be assigned to the issue and notified. Issue Tracker will automatically notify the person assigned to the issue via email.

If the issue description is incomplete, the issue can be assigned to the appropriate party to gather the information necessary to make the issue description clear.

3.3.5 Ownership

It should be possible to decide which stakeholder is the owner of the issue. Having an issue owner is a way of recording who is accountable for the issue's resolution.

Owners must review the issues they own for progress to resolution. If the progress is not sufficient the issue manager should be told so that the situation can be remedied.

3.4 Taking Action

The process to address an issue iterates over the following sub-steps until the issue is resolved.

The person assigned to the issue, takes action to address the issue.

The person assigned to the issue, documents the action taken as an issue event in the central repository. An issue event has the person's name, the date and a description of the action taken.

Some issue processes require an approval step before further action can be taken. This approval should take the form of signing off on a proposal. While paper based signatures are acceptable, an automated system is better. Issue events in Issue Tracker can by used to sign off, since a user is required to log in to identify themselves, this is as good as a paper signature.

If there is documentation to support the action taken, like a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed system change, the supporting files are attached to the issue.

The process of finding a solution may help refine the issue description. This refinement should be reflected in updates to the issue description and title, as well as attaching further supporting files. It may also require that the issue be re-categorized.

If the next iteration is the responsibility of another person the issue is reassigned.

If the issue is resolved in this iteration, the status is updated to reflect the fact that the issue is inactive.

3.5 Ongoing Oversight

Escalate issues as needed by re-assigning or by changing issue ownership.

Realtor's Guide to Lead Management
You’ve done your homework, invested in software, worked hard and now you have what you were after…leads—and plenty of them. But now what? You are so busy showing properties, getting feedback, and going to closings. And as your day-to-day tasks as a realtor begin to overwhelm you, your leads just sit in your database. You try to make contact with the prospects here and there but nothing is done with consistency. You even spend money on marketing postcards, but there really isn’t much of a response. You feel hopeless.Don’t worry, you are not alone. Did you know it takes on average 7 contacts with a prospect before you make a sale? A lot of realtors never achieve that number. Why? To put it simply—lack of time.There are two ways to solve the problem of a nonexistent lead management system. One—come up with a detailed plan of contact or two—enlist a real estate virtual assistant to manage your database for you.If you go for the first option, you have to be specific and consistent. Say you have 100 leads in your database who fall into your niche. You should come up with a monthly plan of contact. Say month one you send a sales letter, month two you make a follow-up call, month three you send a postcard and month four you email an interesting real estate article. You continue doing something every month for one year. Guess who many of your leads will call when they decide to list? You would probably make the short list of agents. This is just one example of a system you could incorporate into your schedule. But there is still that dreaded time issue.If you really want to solve your l

gned to the issue manager for re-assignment.

The date and who created the issue should be recorded in the central repository. This is done automatically for you in systems like Issue Tracker.

3.3 Initial Review

Sometimes the same person who records the issue may be doing the initial review, so these two steps can be fused into one in this situation.

3.3.1 Issue Status

open: immediate action will be taken to address the issue

deferred: action will be deferred until some future time

referred: action will be taken by some other group, probably because the issue is beyond the current scope

cancelled: no action will be taken now or in the future

3.3.2 Categorize the issue

A first attempt at categorizing the issue was made when it was first recorded. But, now during the initial review the category can be refined.

The proper issue category is helpful when prioritizing the resources required to address issues. It is especially useful for reporting purposes.

Action item: Discuss with the team how best to categorize the issues you expect to get, and document the categories that will be used.

3.3.3 Rank the issue severity

The severity reflects the importance of getting the issue resolved. Obviously, you want to direct resources at the most important issues before the lesser ones.

Action item: Choose a small set of severity codes that have a clear ranking. For example: Trivial, Standard, Important, Critical. Some people prefer: Low, Medium, High, Very High.

3.3.4 Assignment

From the start, the next person to take action on the issue must be assigned to the issue and notified. Issue Tracker will automatically notify the person assigned to the issue via email.

If the issue description is incomplete, the issue can be assigned to the appropriate party to gather the information necessary to make the issue description clear.

3.3.5 Ownership

It should be possible to decide which stakeholder is the owner of the issue. Having an issue owner is a way of recording who is accountable for the issue's resolution.

Owners must review the issues they own for progress to resolution. If the progress is not sufficient the issue manager should be told so that the situation can be remedied.

3.4 Taking Action

The process to address an issue iterates over the following sub-steps until the issue is resolved.

The person assigned to the issue, takes action to address the issue.

The person assigned to the issue, documents the action taken as an issue event in the central repository. An issue event has the person's name, the date and a description of the action taken.

Some issue processes require an approval step before further action can be taken. This approval should take the form of signing off on a proposal. While paper based signatures are acceptable, an automated system is better. Issue events in Issue Tracker can by used to sign off, since a user is required to log in to identify themselves, this is as good as a paper signature.

If there is documentation to support the action taken, like a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed system change, the supporting files are attached to the issue.

The process of finding a solution may help refine the issue description. This refinement should be reflected in updates to the issue description and title, as well as attaching further supporting files. It may also require that the issue be re-categorized.

If the next iteration is the responsibility of another person the issue is reassigned.

If the issue is resolved in this iteration, the status is updated to reflect the fact that the issue is inactive.

3.5 Ongoing Oversight

Escalate issues as needed by re-assigning or by changing issue ownership.

Price and Branding a Symbiotic Relationship
Price does not count if you can offer great service or a trendy product. This statement is true most of the time. There are exceptions when the buying is not done on an emotional level. Using hype and excitement around a trend or fashion statement will normally allow you to charge a higher price, especially when the demand is high. Teens are primarily prone to this hype but so are adults when it comes to the latest technology. When new software comes out, the first people at the trough to try them out are the techies. A new tech product will normally command a higher price until the market is saturated. Anything new will be noticed, and if it is adopted, you are well on the way in developing a brand. As with anything, a price will be paid if there is quality, performance, and service backing it up. Nothing will take away from the brand if all of these elements are present. Before you begin with your branding, take some time to analyze what the market wants. If there is no market for your product or service, you will not likely have the opportunity to create a brand and get a return on your investment. There are many issues around branding: logo, color, shape, quality, consistency, marketability, popularity, and much more. The most important aspect is having a market and standing behind your product or service, in this next topic will give you some steps in creating a brand buzz.

rded. But, now during the initial review the category can be refined.

The proper issue category is helpful when prioritizing the resources required to address issues. It is especially useful for reporting purposes.

Action item: Discuss with the team how best to categorize the issues you expect to get, and document the categories that will be used.

3.3.3 Rank the issue severity

The severity reflects the importance of getting the issue resolved. Obviously, you want to direct resources at the most important issues before the lesser ones.

Action item: Choose a small set of severity codes that have a clear ranking. For example: Trivial, Standard, Important, Critical. Some people prefer: Low, Medium, High, Very High.

3.3.4 Assignment

From the start, the next person to take action on the issue must be assigned to the issue and notified. Issue Tracker will automatically notify the person assigned to the issue via email.

If the issue description is incomplete, the issue can be assigned to the appropriate party to gather the information necessary to make the issue description clear.

3.3.5 Ownership

It should be possible to decide which stakeholder is the owner of the issue. Having an issue owner is a way of recording who is accountable for the issue's resolution.

Owners must review the issues they own for progress to resolution. If the progress is not sufficient the issue manager should be told so that the situation can be remedied.

3.4 Taking Action

The process to address an issue iterates over the following sub-steps until the issue is resolved.

The person assigned to the issue, takes action to address the issue.

The person assigned to the issue, documents the action taken as an issue event in the central repository. An issue event has the person's name, the date and a description of the action taken.

Some issue processes require an approval step before further action can be taken. This approval should take the form of signing off on a proposal. While paper based signatures are acceptable, an automated system is better. Issue events in Issue Tracker can by used to sign off, since a user is required to log in to identify themselves, this is as good as a paper signature.

If there is documentation to support the action taken, like a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed system change, the supporting files are attached to the issue.

The process of finding a solution may help refine the issue description. This refinement should be reflected in updates to the issue description and title, as well as attaching further supporting files. It may also require that the issue be re-categorized.

If the next iteration is the responsibility of another person the issue is reassigned.

If the issue is resolved in this iteration, the status is updated to reflect the fact that the issue is inactive.

3.5 Ongoing Oversight

Escalate issues as needed by re-assigning or by changing issue ownership.

Franchisee Associations, what are they?
Franchisee associations are unions. In the modern business world if a group of employees want to form a union and the employer doesn’t want it then the employer has a right to close the company. I believe franchisors ought to be allowed to put in the contract that if any franchisees get together and form a franchise association to use as collective bargaining power against the franchisor, other than an association approved by the franchisor, then the franchisor should have the right to terminate the franchise contract with all franchisees in that region immediately and shut down further operations under that brand name in that area indefinitely. When a small group of franchisees in one area use such unnatural market forces as a weapon against a franchisor then the franchisor has less ability to service the rest of the system and therefore other franchisees in other parts of the country or world will not get fair and equitable time and energies of the franchisor, thus those other franchisees will be damaged.This will force those franchisees to start their own union (association) and demand for their rights. This will tear down the franchise system with infighting and the Federal Trade Commission should not condone such behavior as it damages franchisees who are without representation and are forced to join the association, thus they are forced to join a group that they did not know existed when they signed their franchise agreement. A group they may not agree with and a group, which may not have existed at the time they bought their franchise.As a two-term board of directors member of the AAFD Association

's name, the date and a description of the action taken.

If there is documentation to support the action taken, like a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed system change, the supporting files are attached to the issue.

If the next iteration is the responsibility of another person the issue is reassigned.

If the issue is resolved in this iteration, the status is updated to reflect the fact that the issue is inactive.

3.5 Ongoing Oversight

Escalate issues as needed by re-assigning or by changing issue ownership.

4. Finally

The following are a few further action items

Action item: Distribute copies of this issue management methodology to team members and stakeholders so that everyone knows how and why issues are managed.

Action item: Adapt and scale this issue management methodology to suit you project's scale and quirks.

Action item: Create your central repository, and get started today.

This issue management methodology has evolved over many years. It evolved from experience on projects with budgets from $500,000 to $50,000,000 which had a total number of issues ranging from a few hundred issues to many thousands. In half the cases the project team was physically dispersed in several countries.

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.otheradded.com/article/24440/otheradded-Issue-Management-Methodology-for-Tracking-Project-Issues.html">Issue Management Methodology for Tracking Project Issues</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.otheradded.com/article/24440/otheradded-Issue-Management-Methodology-for-Tracking-Project-Issues.html]Issue Management Methodology for Tracking Project Issues[/url]

The surgeon operates only one patient at a time. Similarly, a sick company needs to concentrate on its core competence.

Grant Funding is limited. Organizations worldwide are competing for funds from the same pool of resources. Therefore, it is crucial to be knowledgeable regarding the grant writing process. This article will teach novice grant writers and potential grant writers keys to effective grant writing.

Tags

Links

Other Added - Issue Management Methodology for Tracking Project Issues

Related Articles: