Training/Professional Development
- How to Make Budget Cuts at Work
- Excellence in Customer Service
- Gathering Feedback on Training
- Selecting a Mentor
- Strategies to Improve Memorization
- Office Spring Cleaning
- Presenting to Upper Management
- How to Improve as an Assistant
- Aligning Priorities with Goals
- Criticizing a Colleague with Class
How to Make Budget Cuts at Work
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Cutting operational expenses to solve deficit issues and prevent staff lay offs requires a careful examination of the larger categories of spending.
Consider some of these cost saving ideas to help trim expenses.
Reduce Phone Expenses
Phone expenses, including cell phone and long distance expenses, can be reduced by shopping around for a better plan. If you have ten or more employees that expense cell plan charges and you are not on a corporate plan, consult local providers. Have an estimate of your current monthly and yearly spending patterns in mind when negotiating a new plan.
Reduce Travel (Flights, Hotel and Car Rental) Expenses
If travel expenses are a large part of your operational budget, there may be ways to trim expenses before having to ban traveling all together. To reduce travel expenses, negotiate a contract with a travel agent by committing to using them exclusively to book travel in exchange for discounts. Another alternative is to sign up for a corporate plan at a hotel chain or car rental chain and using them exclusively or if a plan is already in place, research a plan at a hotel chain that is one or one half of a star rating lower.
Reduce Office Supply Costs
Companies such as Corporate Express will give significant discounts for companies with multiple branch offices that spend a certain dollar amount annually. Alternatively, buy commonly used supplies in bulk if you have storage available.
Reduce Advertising Costs
Trim advertising budgets by placing display classified ads instead of regular display ads or inserting black and white ads in place of full color ads. Other options are to reduce the number of ad placements, reduce the size of regular placements, and look for niche print advertising options. Analyze the results of advertising over the past year and determine the most effective vehicles and eliminate the vehicles that did not produce impressive results.
Related Article: Reducing Training Costs
Reduce Phone Expenses
Phone expenses, including cell phone and long distance expenses, can be reduced by shopping around for a better plan. If you have ten or more employees that expense cell plan charges and you are not on a corporate plan, consult local providers. Have an estimate of your current monthly and yearly spending patterns in mind when negotiating a new plan.
Reduce Travel (Flights, Hotel and Car Rental) Expenses
If travel expenses are a large part of your operational budget, there may be ways to trim expenses before having to ban traveling all together. To reduce travel expenses, negotiate a contract with a travel agent by committing to using them exclusively to book travel in exchange for discounts. Another alternative is to sign up for a corporate plan at a hotel chain or car rental chain and using them exclusively or if a plan is already in place, research a plan at a hotel chain that is one or one half of a star rating lower.
Reduce Office Supply Costs
Companies such as Corporate Express will give significant discounts for companies with multiple branch offices that spend a certain dollar amount annually. Alternatively, buy commonly used supplies in bulk if you have storage available.
Reduce Advertising Costs
Trim advertising budgets by placing display classified ads instead of regular display ads or inserting black and white ads in place of full color ads. Other options are to reduce the number of ad placements, reduce the size of regular placements, and look for niche print advertising options. Analyze the results of advertising over the past year and determine the most effective vehicles and eliminate the vehicles that did not produce impressive results.
Related Article: Reducing Training Costs
Excellence in Customer Service
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
The principles of exceptional customer service involve careful attention to a customer’s needs and wants. Improve your customer or client relations with these tips.
Improving customer service requires attention to details. Pay attention to promptness of service, how you treat your customers, your product knowledge, and how you listen to customer’s requests.
Promptness
Promptness
- Answer a customer inquiry line by the 3rd ring
- Reduce order processing times to 24 hours or less
- Treat a customer the way you want to be treated
- Treat all customers equally – new prospects, repeat clients, online, in-person etc.
- Develop relationships with your customers so that they feel special
- Use positive language – compliments, highlight strengths, frame everything in a positive light
- Make things easy for the customer as much as possible
- When a mistake is made – apologize, fix it happily, quickly and liberally and resolve to not have this happen again
- Don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth advertising. Bad service is talked about as much as good service.
- Know the differences between product lines and models
- Understand what has been improved upon or changes with the new model
- Be able to speak to the benefits of the product – specifically, how it saves time, money or energy, solves problems or brings pleasure
- Offer the customer the least expensive option that meets their basic needs and then let them know clearly what a higher price can offer them
- Be a detective searching for clues as to what the customer wants
- Don’t waste a customer’s time focusing on what you want, not what they want
- If you show them a product or service and you get a negative reaction, ask questions and listen carefully as to why they did not like the suggestion
Gathering Feedback on Training
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Using both quantitative and qualitative techniques to gather feedback on training provides statistics for the stakeholders and detailed comments for the trainer.
Evaluation of training whether it be before (needs assessments and audience polling for training design), during (evaluating learning of key concepts) or after the training (feedback on delivery methods and other aspects of the training experience), can be obtained using qualitative and/or quantitative methods.
Quantitative
Quantitative methods involve gathering information that can be tabulated in the form of statistics. A common quantitative method is surveying using a rating scale. Here statements are rated along a three or five point scale. Three or five points are needed to ensure that the data you collect is meaningful and meets research protocols i.e. you need to have end extremes and a neutral middle rating to give participants enough options to choose accurately.
Examples of three point scales and five point scales:
3 point scale: good, average, poor; 5 point scale: excellent, good, average, below average, poor
3 point scale: agree, neutral, disagree; 5 point scale: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree
Other examples of qualitative measurements are: multiple choice questions, true or false statements or yes or no questions. The advantage of using quantitative measurements is that you can provide statistics to stakeholders e.g. 89% percent of participants strongly agreed that the material covered will help them improve their productivity.
Qualitative
Whereas quantitative research is closed, qualitative research involves asking open-ended questions to gather thoughts, opinions and suggestions. This level of detail can help the trainer understand exactly why certain elements need improvement and if suggestions are made, how they can be improved.
Some examples of open-ended questions are:
Quantitative
Quantitative methods involve gathering information that can be tabulated in the form of statistics. A common quantitative method is surveying using a rating scale. Here statements are rated along a three or five point scale. Three or five points are needed to ensure that the data you collect is meaningful and meets research protocols i.e. you need to have end extremes and a neutral middle rating to give participants enough options to choose accurately.
Examples of three point scales and five point scales:
3 point scale: good, average, poor; 5 point scale: excellent, good, average, below average, poor
3 point scale: agree, neutral, disagree; 5 point scale: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree
Other examples of qualitative measurements are: multiple choice questions, true or false statements or yes or no questions. The advantage of using quantitative measurements is that you can provide statistics to stakeholders e.g. 89% percent of participants strongly agreed that the material covered will help them improve their productivity.
Qualitative
Whereas quantitative research is closed, qualitative research involves asking open-ended questions to gather thoughts, opinions and suggestions. This level of detail can help the trainer understand exactly why certain elements need improvement and if suggestions are made, how they can be improved.
Some examples of open-ended questions are:
- What exercise or activity did you enjoy the most? Why?
- What would you like to receive additional training on?
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Selecting a mentor requires some careful consideration of what you hope to achieve from the relationship. Consider these questions when interviewing a potential mentor.
To choose the interview questions to ask a potential mentor, first determine what you want to gain from the guidance. Once you know your intentions, choose interview questions from the list below.
Move into a More Senior Role
Move into a More Senior Role
- How long have you been in a leadership role?
- What is the largest team that you have lead?
- What are some of the challenges you have faced as a leader?
- How would you describe your leadership style?
- How long have you worked in this industry?
- Have you worked in other industries? If yes, how did you make the transition?
- Can you review my resume and let me know areas I can highlight to be more attractive to hiring managers in this industry?
- Are you a member of any professional associations that you’d suggest I join?
- Are you aware of any networking opportunities coming up?
- What strategies do you use to work with difficult people?
- Can you give me an example of a difficult situation you’ve been in with a colleague and how you resolved it? What did you learn from the experience?
- How do you deliver bad news to your team?
- What have you found works in [insert specific situation]?
- How did you learn to [insert skill]?
- How many years have you [used this skill]?
- Have you completed training on [insert skill]? If yes, where did you take your training?
- Do you love your job?
- What keeps you motivated?
- What discourages you?
Strategies to Improve Memorization
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Do you have a great deal of information that you need to remember? Here are some strategies to help improve your ability to memorize information.
To memorize a large amount of information, try one or more of the following strategies.
Break Information into Chunks
To retain a large amount of information, break it into smaller sections. Can you break the information into three or five groups? Can you find common themes that can be used to group the information? If it is a large text or book, break your studying into chapters or sets of pages and colour coding each chunk to aid retention.
Flash Cards
Create flash cards if you need to remember definitions of terms or concepts. Recipe cards are handy as they can be bought in a rainbow of colours and can be hole-punched (use a single ring to keep them bound) and are portable. Write a term or short phrase on the blank side of the card, and use the back to elaborate with details. To make the cards quickly, photocopy information to glue onto the back of the card.
To memorize the information, test yourself by looking at term or phrase to see if you know the information on the reverse of the card. If you get it right, put it in the “right” pile. If you get it wrong, put it in the “wrong” pile. Go through your stack of flash cards and then pick up the “wrong” pile and work through it again. Your goal is to get all the cards in the “right” pile.
Summary Sheets
Summarize the information using:
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Break Information into Chunks
To retain a large amount of information, break it into smaller sections. Can you break the information into three or five groups? Can you find common themes that can be used to group the information? If it is a large text or book, break your studying into chapters or sets of pages and colour coding each chunk to aid retention.
Flash Cards
Create flash cards if you need to remember definitions of terms or concepts. Recipe cards are handy as they can be bought in a rainbow of colours and can be hole-punched (use a single ring to keep them bound) and are portable. Write a term or short phrase on the blank side of the card, and use the back to elaborate with details. To make the cards quickly, photocopy information to glue onto the back of the card.
To memorize the information, test yourself by looking at term or phrase to see if you know the information on the reverse of the card. If you get it right, put it in the “right” pile. If you get it wrong, put it in the “wrong” pile. Go through your stack of flash cards and then pick up the “wrong” pile and work through it again. Your goal is to get all the cards in the “right” pile.
Summary Sheets
Summarize the information using:
- flow charts to demonstrate a process
- tables comparing similarities and differences
- bullet points of important notes
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Spring is a great time to do a thorough clean of your office or workspace. The freshly organized space will increase productivity and efficiency.
A radical spring cleaning of your office space is a great idea if you’ve found that over time the clutter has taken over and the furniture and equipment needs to be rearranged for a better work flow.
Start by packing the most important items that will return to the office after cleaning. Purge old files, out-of-date reading materials and office supplies that are not used. Wipe out drawers, desk tops, shelves and filing cabinet exteriors. If possible, put a new coat of paint to unify mismatched office furniture.
Once all the furniture and office supplies have been removed, clean windows and wash down the walls and window sills. Have carpets cleaned or wash hardwood floors. If possible, give the walls a fresh coat of paint in a trendy color that unifies the decorative scheme.
Create a floor plan that will allow a better work flow. If the office felt cluttered before, reduce the amount of furniture to create more of an open space. Put office supplies back grouping like supplies together. Rearrange files so the ones that are used daily are in the desk filing drawer and files used less frequently are in a filing cabinet.
Other tips to update the work space:
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Start by packing the most important items that will return to the office after cleaning. Purge old files, out-of-date reading materials and office supplies that are not used. Wipe out drawers, desk tops, shelves and filing cabinet exteriors. If possible, put a new coat of paint to unify mismatched office furniture.
Once all the furniture and office supplies have been removed, clean windows and wash down the walls and window sills. Have carpets cleaned or wash hardwood floors. If possible, give the walls a fresh coat of paint in a trendy color that unifies the decorative scheme.
Create a floor plan that will allow a better work flow. If the office felt cluttered before, reduce the amount of furniture to create more of an open space. Put office supplies back grouping like supplies together. Rearrange files so the ones that are used daily are in the desk filing drawer and files used less frequently are in a filing cabinet.
Other tips to update the work space:
- Purchase new matching desk accessories – business card holder, pencil cup, letter tray, stapler and organizer for paper clips and sticky notes.
- Replace an older monitor with a flat screen monitor
- Replace a wired key board and mouse with a wireless model
- Replace dated art with contemporary photos or prints
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Presenting to Upper Management
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Present to busy executives by keeping presentations concise and relevant to their areas of concern. Engage executives by seeking their input.
Executives are busy people. When presenting to them, consider that they need the information in small chunks that show relevance to their areas of concern. Consider the audience.
If the CFO is present, relate the information presented back to the bottom line. In other words consider how the information presented will cut expenses or generate revenue. If the CEO is present, show a link between the information presented to one or more top corporate goals you know they are passionate about. If the CIO is present, make sure that the presentation is technically flawless and that technical implications have been considered in any proposals.
If using a PowerPoint presentation, use the rule of 5 - use no more than 5 bullet points per slide and 5 words per bullet. This will prevent slides that are text heavy and miss delivering key points. If more detailed information is necessary, then provide a take-away document for the executives to review after the presentation.
Avoid the temptation to present without audience interaction for more than 6 minutes. Engage the executives by asking for their input, suggestions and answers to questions that will aid in the delivery of the information. The more they feel that they are part of the suggestion and decision making process the better.
Another important tip is never to present just the problems. Present problems with viable, well researched solutions and be prepared to answer any questions about your solution and how you arrived at it.
If you have comments or suggestions on this blog entry, please start a discussion
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
If the CFO is present, relate the information presented back to the bottom line. In other words consider how the information presented will cut expenses or generate revenue. If the CEO is present, show a link between the information presented to one or more top corporate goals you know they are passionate about. If the CIO is present, make sure that the presentation is technically flawless and that technical implications have been considered in any proposals.
If using a PowerPoint presentation, use the rule of 5 - use no more than 5 bullet points per slide and 5 words per bullet. This will prevent slides that are text heavy and miss delivering key points. If more detailed information is necessary, then provide a take-away document for the executives to review after the presentation.
Avoid the temptation to present without audience interaction for more than 6 minutes. Engage the executives by asking for their input, suggestions and answers to questions that will aid in the delivery of the information. The more they feel that they are part of the suggestion and decision making process the better.
Another important tip is never to present just the problems. Present problems with viable, well researched solutions and be prepared to answer any questions about your solution and how you arrived at it.
If you have comments or suggestions on this blog entry, please start a discussion
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
How to Improve as an Assistant
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Don’t just be a good assistant, be a great one! Learn how to become the best assistant a boss has ever hired. You can gain job security as an in demand great assistant.
The difference between a good assistant and a great one is that the great assistant takes their job one step further than the good assistant. Compare your work ethic with the comparison below to determine areas of improvement.
Good Assistant
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Good Assistant
- Learns from mistakes
- Never makes the same mistake twice
- Provides information in a concise way
- Organizes information in order of priority
- Makes sure all requests are completed by deadline
- Anticipates requests and completes them without prompting
- Uses powers of perception to think ahead
- Works well with their supervisor
- Works well with everyone in the company
- Loyal to their supervisor
- Resources supplies quickly and easily
- Anticipates supply needs and shows initiative when maintaining a well stocked supply room
- Conscious of all expenditures
- Creative budgeter - looks for ways to cut costs including reducing, reusing and recycling
- Manages their schedule well
- In addition to managing their time, looks for ways to help their supervisor be more efficient and simple
- Prioritizes tasks based on requested deadlines
- Prioritizes and reprioritise with ease and shows a real alignment with the priorities of their supervisor
- The tone of all communication is highly professional
- Navigates corporate political waters with grace and charm
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Aligning Priorities with Goals
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Is your team working to achieve corporate goals or dedicating time and energy in the wrong places? Determine your team’s priorities by scheduling a priorities session.
To prepare for the priorities session, start by creating a handout that clearly articulates the corporate goals. Also prepare notes on what priorities you feel, as the team leader, should be your team’s priorities to help achieve these corporate goals.
To start the session, ask your team to brainstorm a list of their current priorities. If you manage a large team, break them into small groups or pairs and then ask each group to report back. Create a master list on a flip chart. Once the master list of priorities is established, ask each individual, group or pair to identify the top three priorities that they spend the most time on during a typical work week.
Record the votes for the priorities on the master list by writing a 1, 2 or 3 beside the priority as each group or individual reports their top 3 priorities.
Now circulate the corporate goals and discuss how the priorities are or aren’t aligning with the corporate goals. If there is a misalignment, discuss strategies for creating more alignment and reinforce what you want the top priorities to be. If there are issues around why they are not the top priorities, determine solutions and task someone to implement the solution.
Using this technque you will build team alignment with corporate goals.
If you have comments or suggestions on this blog entry, please start a discussion
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
To start the session, ask your team to brainstorm a list of their current priorities. If you manage a large team, break them into small groups or pairs and then ask each group to report back. Create a master list on a flip chart. Once the master list of priorities is established, ask each individual, group or pair to identify the top three priorities that they spend the most time on during a typical work week.
Record the votes for the priorities on the master list by writing a 1, 2 or 3 beside the priority as each group or individual reports their top 3 priorities.
Now circulate the corporate goals and discuss how the priorities are or aren’t aligning with the corporate goals. If there is a misalignment, discuss strategies for creating more alignment and reinforce what you want the top priorities to be. If there are issues around why they are not the top priorities, determine solutions and task someone to implement the solution.
Using this technque you will build team alignment with corporate goals.
If you have comments or suggestions on this blog entry, please start a discussion
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Criticizing a Colleague with Class
Posted by
Joni Rose
Joni Rose
Do your criticisms put your workmates on the defensive? Do you stir up bad feelings with your approach? Learn to communicate criticism as constructive feedback.
Ask first
If you communicate by asking if they would be receptive to constructive criticism, you give them the opportunity to prepare themselves. Remember, they may be oblivious to the problem and you may have had much more time to process the information you are about to deliver.
Talk about positives too
An emphasis only on the negative will make the delivery of the feedback hard to hear. Couch the negatives with what you appreciate about their work and contribution to the team’s effort.
Convey how this problem impacts you and your work
Telling someone how they should do their job removes their power. Empower your colleagues by describing the problem as to how it impacts your work and leave determining the solution and its implementation up to them. If they take pride in their work, they will welcome the sensitively delivered feedback and see it as an opportunity to develop and grow.
Remember your role
If the problem you want to bring up has nothing to do with your ability to do your work and is ethically and legally sound, leave it unsaid unless they openly ask and encourage you to share your impressions. It is their supervisor’s job to manage their performance so your only concern should be your performance.
If you have comments or suggestions on this blog entry, please start a discussion
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
If you communicate by asking if they would be receptive to constructive criticism, you give them the opportunity to prepare themselves. Remember, they may be oblivious to the problem and you may have had much more time to process the information you are about to deliver.
Talk about positives too
An emphasis only on the negative will make the delivery of the feedback hard to hear. Couch the negatives with what you appreciate about their work and contribution to the team’s effort.
Convey how this problem impacts you and your work
Telling someone how they should do their job removes their power. Empower your colleagues by describing the problem as to how it impacts your work and leave determining the solution and its implementation up to them. If they take pride in their work, they will welcome the sensitively delivered feedback and see it as an opportunity to develop and grow.
Remember your role
If the problem you want to bring up has nothing to do with your ability to do your work and is ethically and legally sound, leave it unsaid unless they openly ask and encourage you to share your impressions. It is their supervisor’s job to manage their performance so your only concern should be your performance.
If you have comments or suggestions on this blog entry, please start a discussion
Copyright © 2008 Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
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