Project management is among a top skill to master in any business; especially one wanting to grow.
Why?
Because without project management, business owners will unnecessarily run into common issues:
On Systems for Continuous Business Improvement
I remember the pain of losing my first sale.
I’d spent nearly $1500 on flights and hotels, taken two days out for travel, and spent another two days preparing for what I thought was going to be a slamdunk meeting.
As it turns out, if you want to slam dunk, you have to clear a path to the basket before you jump.
The funny thing was, my meeting went exceptionally well. I had my talking points, I answered all their questions, I was friendly, funny, and otherwise firing on all cylinders.
But in sales, that’s not always enough...
How to Know the Right Skills (and Perfect Time) to Hire
The thought of burning cash on a new employee who can't keep up with the work and is making life worse for everyone around them is a real threat.
On the flip side are small business owners who need to hire but won't pull the trigger. They stand frozen by uncertainty. They don't know who to hire, and can't justify hiring to grow their business. So they don't act. Their businesses are suffering from overwork and stagnant growth.
What these unfortunate small business owners don’t have is a method to sort through the confusion, making it clear when to bring on a new employee, and what skills they should have.
This is the method I’m going to show you today. And if you’re not sure it’s needed, consider this:
How to Build Exceptional and Lasting Winning Teams
Imagine a team that is struggling to perform.
Team members are frustrated and reluctant to help each other. They have differing opinions on what is important. When there is conflict and disagreement, team members engage in back-channel politics. Individuals on the team prioritize their personal accomplishments and recognition over anything else.
Now imagine a team that is firing on all cylinders.
In this team, members have their eye on a specific goal. They trust each other to make important decisions and to do things the right way. When conflict arises, team members voice their opinions without resorting to destructive behaviors. Individuals on the team will make personal sacrifices if it helps the team advance toward its goal.
A team like this is poised for success, and will be persistent in pursuing excellence, even as challenges arise. This team’s star players would sacrifice their own personal statistics to play within a system that the team believes will lead them to a championship.
In this post, we’ll provide a time-tested method for building successful teams from scratch.
How to Prepare for (and Not Worry) When Your Best Employee Quits
Losing critical employees can be a huge source of concern for any business owner. Whether your star employees quit or simply go on vacation, business continuity is a must. This article reviews a simple method for maintaining your best employees’ expertise even if someone leaves your company.
In addition to removing “single points of failure” in your organization, this process can be used to onboard new hires and create a transition plan for employees moving from one set of responsibilities to another.
Your employees can feel free to go on vacation while, at the same time, be in a position to delegate their complex work to promising employees and receive different perspectives on new creative ways to solve problems.
The Entrepreneurs Guide to New Year's Resolutions
I'm going to do something that scares the hell out of me. I'm going to share something very personal. Something that took me hours of reflection to create. Something I hesitate to share with friends and family. I'm going to share my new year’s resolution.
To be clear, you shouldn't care about my new year’s resolution. Sure, it's deeply personal so may be interesting in much the same way secrets and rumors are interesting. But beyond that, it's not the resolution that's important; it's the process by which this resolution is created that will affect your year for the better.
Every successful entrepreneur I know is out there working hard, working long, and trying to work smart. They are thinking and creating and building. They are searching for a meaningful solution to their customer’s problems and purpose in their lives. Every entrepreneur I know has goals, lists, objectives, and to-do’s. But not many have created a yearly resolution for their business. Not one like this at least.
The new year’s resolution I'm recommending isn't your typical one. It's less of a goal and more of a statement... a guide of sorts. A word or two to live by. Something that, if you get it right, will change yourself and your business for the better in the coming 365 days.
Effective Feedback Made Simple
Feedback is one of the most helpful and important things we all need to learn, grow, and improve. Furthermore, delivering skillful feedback can serve you well in all aspects of life. And yet in working with businesses and coaching clients, I hear time and time again how uncomfortable people are with the idea of giving feedback. I see the negative consequences of organizations and teams who avoid feedback – conflict, frustration, and stagnation.
If giving great feedback is an important skill for business leadership and performance, what is it that makes people so apprehensive about it? Let’s break it down and then look at some simple strategies for delivering effective feedback.