The Management Blog
Tips & advice to help you improve your performance
The only constant in business is change. I’m sure you’ve heard that statement many times.
And one of the main reasons why organisations stagnate and fall is because of the lack of understanding about this simple philosophy.
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A great leader needs to have certain traits to be successful.
One of the most important ones is the ability to be assertive.
There is no official handbook you receive once you make it to a managerial position.
If you haven’t gone to business school or taken management courses, you may feel the struggle that many leaders face when trying to manage their teams.
Do you ever feel like your workplace has a revolving door of employees?
Do you consistently place job adverts and feel like you can’t hold on to your staff long enough to get them past the trial period?
Nobody likes to receive negative feedback, and this can be especially crushing when it happens at work.
If your boss has just given you a negative performance review, you may feel shocked, hurt, angry or confused.
If you have managed to grow your business from a startup, you have gone further than most businesses.
While having a novel idea can be exciting, not many people have the skills, drive and experience necessary to actually run a company. Learn More
We’re going to continue our study of body language by taking a close look at the eyes. The eyes play a huge role in an individual’s ability to express himself. They send several different non-verbal cues and if you know how to read the eyes you’ll be better able to anticipate the needs of your employees and clients alike. Learn More
Matthew Campling, a prominent psychotherapist, once completed a case study after which he created what is now known as Campling’s Age/Work Arc Theory (or CAWA). The theory was developed after Campling asked a simple question – can a job in today’s work environment be held for life or will you have to move on as your career goals change? Learn More
As a manager you’ll find that conducting performance evaluations is one of the most difficult parts of your job. What you mightnot always realise, though, is that someone-somewhere- is preparing to evaluate your performance as a manager as well.
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Here’s a brief time management exercise to get your juices flowing as you prepare to wrap up your week and enjoy the weekend.
Imagine you are preparing to open your own business (selling whatever you wish) in a local shopping mall. Despite having no business experience or contacts in the field, you do have a very strong business plan. Before you can get started you’re going to have to meet with several people. These include:
Your job today is to determine in what order you need to meet these people. Remember, if you meet with one person without having met with another one first you may have to have a second meeting. Set your schedule in a way that will minimize duplicating your efforts.
Let me know what you come up with!
Thanks again,
Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Training | Image courtesy of Big Stock Photo
Times are definitely changing. As the economy shifts corporations are finding it necessary to either downsize or reevaluate their structures. In other cases the situation may be a bit more simplistic – maybe you need to upsize or move into a larger office. In the end, the reality is that no matter how “hush-hush” you try to keep your organisations sensitive information, something always gets leaked. When information gets leaked, rumours begin and as these pieces of misinformation spread people begin to get nervous. Learn More
What do you see when you lookat your current customer service team? Do you see a highly functioning group of individuals capable of keeping your clients happy or do you see – well – something else.
I’ve spent years working with customer service representatives as well as HR managers and salesmen. We train IT helpdesk staff on how to hone their own customer service skills; we teach customer service representatives the proper steps for dealing with complaints, and we even provide customer service trainers with their own training courses.
What I’ve found, after years of watching these people in their different roles, is that there are really three core factors that make up a great customer service team. They are:
Do the members of your current customer service team exhibit these qualities and skills? Are they polite and productive at the same time? Do your customers love working with them?
You should have answers to all of these questions. If not, you need to take a closer look at your team!
Thanks again,
Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director