Tag: business development

TIPS FOR BEING A BETTER MANAGER

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TIPS FOR BEING A BETTER MANAGER.

 No matter how big or small a business is, good managers will always make a business better. What traits make a highly effective manager? Experience being a given, here are a few points to consider:

Decisiveness

Effective managers are known to make decisions quickly and are slow to change those decisions. This is often seen as being stubborn or resistant to change, but a manager that changes his or her decisions frequently is seen as indecisive, confusing and loses respect as a team leader. Often, those who change decisions often rely too heavily on impressing others with their title and position instead of understanding what’s in front of them. Well informed, quick decision making is a signature of highly effective managers.

Planning

Good managers make definite plans and know how to execute them. Leading by guesswork without definite plans can be seen as disorganised. For the most part, effective managers take the time to think things through, weigh up all the options and then come up with viable ways to address positive and negative risks that may arise. Essentially, they plan their work and work their plan.

Empathy

Good managers empathise with their team members. It’s easy for some managers to dismiss the personal issues of team members, but truly effective managers realise that paying attention to staff as well as their work is essential to having a productive team. Not only does it make the employee feel like they matter, it is also good business. A boss that sympathises with and provides resources to his/her team is a part of the holistic business approach that is good for team morale as well as the firm itself.

Knowing the Detail

Good managers understand the detail but focus their efforts on the big picture. They delegate tasks to the team and trust those team members to deliver. A good manager will always impart an understanding of the overall plan to the team and then give each person a part to play in delivering the plan.

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5 BEST PRACTICES’ FOR USING EMAIL

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Email is part of day to day business life in most businesses. Here are a few tips to help you regain control of your inbox.

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When you receive an email that looks like it’s going to be complicated to reply to, visit/telephone the person who sent it, and ask what they want you to do. Discussing things in person can eliminate those email chains that go on and on. People can often hide behind email but in person, you can make your point and, if necessary, demand a straight answer.

Send good emails

We all get junk emails on a regular basis. If you send good quality emails you will tend to receive quality emails back. Try to be straight with people and don’t hide behind elusive language. Tackle problems head on and in a polite manner. This will make it more difficult for people to respond in a rude or annoying way.

Avoid “reply all”

This just clutters up people’s inboxes unnecessarily. They will also reply all back to you and clutter up your inbox. Only reply to those to whom it is necessary to reply.

Lengthy emails

If you receive a lengthy email and you are too busy to deal with it, reply to or call the sender. Try something along the lines of “Thanks for this.  I’m short on time.  Very quickly, what is it you would like me to do?”

Agreements    

Very often we send emails in order to get things agreed in writing. If you need this, perhaps try having a conversation with the person. Establish the way forward, agree verbally then when you get back to your desk send an email to confirm what has been agreed along the lines of, “As discussed today, we have confirmed our agreement to….” Don’t forget to file this email – it can be useful if the decision is ever challenged.

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS

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EFFECTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS.

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No matter what type of business you run, you need to network in order to build your business. Effective networking involves a lot more than simply handing out business cards.  Here are a few tips to help your business development meetings produce the business relationships that you want:

Sort your contacts

Try to get a copy of the attendee list prior to the event. Cross check the list against your contacts and targets to identify individuals.  Aim to meet each one and to get a follow up meeting in the diary.

Prepare

Prepare an agenda. You’ll want to find out what their goals are for their business, what special skills they have, and what they’re especially proud of (both business-wise and personally). What organisations do they belong to that may be a good fit for your business networking?

Post meeting

If your contact is unlikely to turn into a prospect, mark them off your list of potential business development leads (but keep them as a business contact). As you go through this process, you’ll find your goals and interests match better with some people than others. This means that your meetings are producing the results you’re looking for. For those that have similar goals and interests, you should schedule times in the future to continue to build on what you’ve learned. For those that may not closely match your goals, stay in touch more generally through email marketing, etc.

Stay in touch

There is no bigger failing for your networking activities than to let those that you’ve met fall by the wayside. Never forget that while they may not be an ideal match for you now, their businesses and lives will have changes that you may be able to complement. They’ll also meet others that may be a better fit for you and will remember you when someone looks for your services and products.