“It Don’t Matter To Me!”

     That song title should be your answer (aside from the ungrammatical “don’t”) to any question about who’s to blame for this economy. All that matters in the end is what you are doing about it for your own business or professional practice.

     Whether you’re a doctor, a retailer, a small-size manufacturer, a distributor, agent, or service provider, it’s time to take a hard look at how you are dealing with your current spending plans. This, for example, is NOT the time to fold up the sales and customer service training rug and store it in the basement. Besides the fact that basement-stored rugs attract mold and mildew, there are better solutions.

     Check in with your local community college or adult education program for an inexpensive training option. Or, do it yourself! Or round-up a team of masters or doctoral students from a nearby university to put a program together for you.

     Many internship programs across the country award academic credits for firsthand real-life experiences. A combination of business and education or psychology majors should be able to package a good motivational training program for your business. Some training is better than no training!

     Just be sure you present such a program in the right light and discourage over-the-top expectations. Help your people to see such an occasion as an opportunity to foster idea exchanges and teamwork, instead of setting up training quality judgements. Point out that what they will get from any program is what they end up putting into it.

     Speaking of motivation, remember that small frequent rewards (like family entertainment arrangements and lunch invitations) are more meaningful in the overall scheme of things than high-priced permanent rewards (like salary/benefit increases).

     Look at ways to promote your business without having to bite the media advertising bullet that will undoubtedly break a tooth if not your wallet. www.BizBrag.com is a terrific free site to register with and post free news releases and newsy photos — every day if you like!

     People are selling everything under the sun on Twitter these days. Also for free. You need tenacious endurance to make Twitter work for you, but it will if you will. Didn’t tenacious endurance get you to where you are anyway? 

     Are you asking people in your family to help you with certain tasks that will help free up your time so you can be more focused on sales, for example? Maybe retired Uncle Harvey wouldn’t mind at all coming in a few times a week to do some light cleaning (in exchange for some sports tickets or a couple of dinners out) to help offset custodial service fees?

     Cover the tax-deductible cost of some business books for your college student son, daughter, neice, nephew, or cousin in exchange for some office, fieldwork or factory floor interns? Combine expenses with neighboring businesses? Shared transportation and shipping costs, even direct mail postage, advertising, clerical and website maintenance sharing are possible.

     Think it out. Tough it out. But stay focused in the process, and stimulate your OWN budget!    

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      . . . I’m open to your input anytime: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in the subject line) or comment below. Thank you for visiting. Good night and God bless you! halalpiar  # # # 

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Winners Hug. Winners Smile.<)

OK, Mr. or Ms. Resilience, you’re an entrepreneur and business owner. You work hard long hours and you’re tough as nails. You deal with stuff every day that friends and family can’t even begin to imagine. They can’t figure out why you don’t quit at 5pm, and why you need to “work through” weekend gatherings. They think you’re nuts, but they admire your dedication. Sound familiar? Go Get A Hug!

     As in the “take time to smell the flowers” advice, go get a hug! Too many people go through days without hugs and the withdrawal takes its toll; it chips away at the inner layers of authenticity. One of the world’s greatest family therapists, teacher/author Virginia Satir, always urged people to give and get 12 hugs a day! It was, she said, the only way to grow as a human being. Hugs motivate, she said.

     Many other emotional management experts in business and organizational development say the only way to be truly successful in business is to grow as a human being, to develop your personal authenticity and keep a sense of balance in your life. Everyone has a different way of dealing with and conquering these challenges. Giving and getting hugs is universally reassuring and effective.

     What does your hug scorecard look like for today? Yesterday? Was your last hug one you initiated, one that was delivered to you, or a spontaneous event? Was it a real one or one of those token little brush of cheeks and or shoulders? Chest contact? Forced smiles? “So nice to see you again, dear.”

     Ah, yes, and the bear hugs that come along every once in awhile from some well-intrentioned oaf who never took Hugs 101 in school and sees the occasion as time to lift you off the ground, sometimes so quickly you can’t get your hands out of your pockets!

     Well, let’s agree to limit the hug thing to family and friends. Besides, these days, you might get arrested hugging a co-worker or student or patient or client.

     So what’s the next best thing you can practice in work-settings that will help move you along the path to authenticity? Why pats on the back of course! Who among us doesn’t enjoy getting a backpat for a job well done, or well attempted, or for any small deed that rises above the daily clutter? That’s it? hugs and backpats?

     Well, no, actually, as long as you keep yourself in that genuiness frame of mind, there’s “Please” and “Thank you” and “I love you” [Also: I <3 U] and “I appreciate you” …and the most important motivator of all is the simplest. It’s called a smile. ;<) Pass it on as many times a day as you can possibly get your brain to think of it. Smiles work wonders! 

     It’s so easy to lose sight of these important messages that you need to give out often and freely, when you’re caught up in rushing toward a deadline, or fretting over a lost sale, or staring at a mountain of bills.

     But you know what? You have to keep the hugs and backpats and smiles and thanks you’s and all the rest of your fine engaging qualities out there on the table… through the worst of times as well as through the best… to make more of the worst become best. It’s contagious. It’s a choice. It’s your choice!

Good Night and God Bless You!  halalpiar     

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No, you don’t need to move

  your business    

to the Caribbean!

(aaaah, but it might be nice to try for awhile, eh?)

Here’s a 6-Point Approach to creating a more positive climate for your business that comes partly from The Management Analysis Center and partly from my firsthand experience. it works:

1.  BUILD KNOWLEDGE. Know the capabilities of your staff as well as their weaknesses. With the understanding that Heraclitus the Greek philosopher said over 2500 years ago that “the only thing that’s permanent is change,” and that Thoreau once said “all we ever have is limited knowledge,” use what you know to determine (or update) the fundamental goals of your business.

GOAL CRITERIA REMINDER: A goal must have all four of the following criteria, or it is merely a “wishlist,” and not a goal. It must be 1) Realistic, 2) Specific, 3) Flexible, and 4) Have a deadline or due date.

2.  DEVELOP A SHARED VISION OF YOUR BUSINESS GOALS. Let employees participate in the process. Tell them the problems. Listen to their ideas. Take notes. Encourage others to take notes.

3.  DETERMINE WHAT SPECIFIC CHANGES SHOULD BE MADE. Should changes be made in job descriptions or physical layout to improve working conditions?

4.  SET THE EXAMPLE. As an owner/operator or manager, you are a role model whether you like it or not. People pay attention to everything you say and do. You will not be fostering teamwork if you rule by threats and intimidation. Praise in public; criticize in private. Act, talk, and think consistent with the goals you establish.

5.  REASSESS YOUR OWN FUNCTION to make it consistent with the changes you are making. If, for example, you want to establish better communications, you may need to establish a more open door policy, listen more, and listen more attentively! To get more good work from people, seek out and reward the things people do right, and try to overlook those they do wrong. (Remember that small, frequent, one-time-expense rewards motivate best and cost less than permanent ongoing pay raises with accompanying tax and benefit increases)

6.  DEVELOP NEW METHODS AND SYSTEMS for enhancing a more positive climate, such as instituting weekly status review meetings (with set time periods, a clear agenda circulated ahead of time and follow-up report focused only on decisions made and who will do what by when) to evaluate progress, or a reward system for improved performance.

In an optimum positive climate, people know exactly what it is that is expected of them and where they fit in. Everyone shares the same goals. They know how they can be effective and what kinds of behavior will be rewarded.    halalpiar

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