Leadership Archives — MW Consulting, Inc.

Leadership

The Importance of Business Leaders Listening to Their Employees

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Learn to Listen

Most small business owners would agree that good communication is an essential part of being an effective leader. Yet sometimes they forget that good communication is multi-faceted, and the listening element often falls short. Time and again employee surveys indicate that they feel their managers do not listen enough. These surveys show that employees feel as though the leaders of their companies do not take their ideas seriously or hear them out on big concerns. Because of this, employee engagement, initiative, and motivation wane. All too often small business owners make decisions without seeking input from their employees. This can cause a riff in the team and company culture. Like any other business skills, the ability to listen is a talent – and one that is definitely worth the effort. The following reasons may help motivate you to start prioritizing listening in your leadership.

Engaging Employees Makes Companies Proactive

The communication in most businesses starts at the top and flows downward. But the most productive and successful companies engage with their employees at the start. This method ensures that leaders are more proactive and face issues head on rather than reacting to problems down the road. موقع الفورمولا

Listening to Employees Keeps them Motivated

Employees that feel heard are more likely to take initiative. Companies that encourage their employees to share their thoughts and opinions will reap the benefits of more engaged and motivated workers. Ultimately, your company’s bottom line will improve when you listen to your employees and genuinely encourage them to share what’s on their mind.

Less Turnover

Employees that feel heard are happier and therefore less likely to leave their job. Leaders that listen to their employees create a retention strategy for their top talent by increasing morale among employees. You will dramatically see your retention percentage improve when you actively create programs and incentives to engage employees with active listening.

Increased Profits

Employees that feel engaged and heard will be more excited about the work they are doing. They will be more engaged in the company’s bottom line and more willing to help the overall good of the company. لعبة بلاك جاك When employees feel as though they are heard, they are more motivated to help the business prosper.

Listen to employees

Make Listening to Your Employees a Priority

Just as you listen to clients that help grow your business, as the leader of your company you need to listen to your employees just as deeply. Starting with a positive mindset about your employees will make this much easier. Fight the urge to interject and truly listen to your employees. After all, you alone do not have all the answers. In a room full of employees, listening is imperative. You may just be surprised how creative, innovative, and knowledgeable your team can be.

Practice holding back, especially if you are an extrovert (as most leaders are) and give your employees more opportunity to exchange a dialogue with you. Some employees may be shy at first about sharing their thoughts, so be sure to allow them a bit more time. Be sure to carve out time for your employees and give them your undivided attention when they speak. Put your phone down and stop multitasking. Being a good leader means taking the time to listen and make your employees feel valued. Your tasks and calls can wait. And if you truly are too busy, then schedule a time when you can give them your full attention.

Respond, Do Not React

Not all of the ideas from your team will be good ones. Control your reactions if you disagree or if something is said that upsets you. Rather than jumping at a response, remain calm and thoroughly think through your response. Your employees will appreciate being heard on both the good and bad elements of the business. Of course, it’s always okay to simply agree to disagree and your employees will respect you for that. At least you took the time to listen.

Your employees are a major part of your small business. They do so much more than show up and get the work done. By encouraging them to speak up, you open the door to essential feedback for making improvements. By being a leader who listens, you maintain a happier work environment and keep your best people. امم اوروبا 2022 Listening is an art that leaders are constantly developing, but absolutely worth the endeavor.

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Tips for Improving Diversity in Company Culture

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Diversity in the workplace

Small businesses hoping to create employee engagement for a thriving business should embrace workplace diversity. Doing so encourages both innovation and creativity because it ensures everyone on the team brings mixed perspectives and experiences to the table from their own unique backgrounds. CEOs can actively cultivate workplace diversity by putting inclusion at the core of everything they do. From internal communication strategies and various employee engagement activities, a commitment to improving each and every connection will significantly help business flourish.

Understanding the Importance of Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the workplace includes the different viewpoints, education levels, unique abilities and experiences that stem from a variation in hiring people from different places with different backgrounds. This includes, but is not limited to gender diversity, language diversity, cultural diversity, religious diversity, and more. العاب قمار للايفون Diversity and inclusion mean hiring a mix of people who think differently, look differently, and act differently to work together within the organization. When done properly, you will immediately see the benefits from an inclusive company culture. Better decision making, faster problem solving, and an overall improvement in creativity are just a few of the results your company may experience. 

Diversity-focused initiatives such as the following can improve employee engagement and operational processes within your organization.

Educate Team Leaders and Managers on the Benefits of a Diverse Workplace

It has been said that people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their boss.  The relationship between employees and their team leaders is a complex one. If an employee is dissatisfied with their job, many times it is because of a disconnect they have with their manager. كم عدد القوارير في البولينج As the owner of a small business, it is imperative that you not assume your managers understand the importance of a diverse workplace. You can empower them by giving them the skills they need to evaluate, hire, and nurture a diverse team. Starting with sensitivity and cultural training is a good place to begin. By celebrating workplace diversity and by giving management the tools they need to succeed, the growth potential for your workplace is unlimited.

Develop Inclusive Workplace Policies

Taking a look at your current policies and practices will help you do a deep dive into a comprehensive evaluation of your organization. Although facilitating a diverse workplace may mean amending policies or creating completely new ones, you will reap the benefits in the long run. For example, tailoring job descriptions to reach broader audiences will increase your hiring pool. Implementing a wider range of hiring practices and attending varied job fairs will help develop a more diverse outreach program.  Other inclusive policies may include allowing employees to have a flexible schedule for appointments and taking care of their families, offering time for religious holidays that the company may not officially observe, providing on-site daycare, and non-gendered restrooms. Ideally, your small business is already an equal opportunity employer (EEO). If you are not approved by the Federal EEOC yet, be sure to meet the standards and then seek immediate approval.

Leadership Diversity

Provide Opportunities for Meaningful Employee Engagement

One way to create a positive company culture is to provide meaningful opportunities for employees to engage outside of work. For example, a day of volunteering or a company outing can forge deeper connections among employees and give back to the community.  This kind of activity is healthy for employees and creates opportunities for the company to gain exposure within the community.

Engage Employees with Mentorship Programs

To create a truly diverse workplace, ensure everyone in the company has an equal opportunity to advance.  Those with high potential should be allowed to engage in mentorship programs regardless of their sex, age, race, religion, or other factors. If a company-sponsored mentorship program is not possible for your company, consider the following ways to offer similar opportunities:

  • Contribute to employees’ continuing education with developmental opportunities. Having the most knowledgeable employees can keep them engaged, empowered, and make them even more productive. 
  • Give employees ample opportunities to connect to outside resource groups. This includes groups dedicated to women’s leadership and young professionals. ماتش اونلاين  
  • Develop a leadership team that reflects diversity by considering and promoting diverse candidates for these roles.

These are just a few great ways to promote inclusion and promote workplace diversity within your organization. By setting a good example from the top down, employees will take notice. Getting involved in diversity promotion and prioritizing diversity in the workplace means your company will attract the best and most distinct talent.

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Leadership Guide to the Post-Pandemic Workplace

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COVID-19 has dramatically changed life as we know it, including business leadership indefinitely. سكرل For that reason, smart leaders are revising their approach and implementing new strategies to adapt to the new work environment. For companies that have gone completely remote, at least for the time being, this goes beyond managing the challenges of a distributed team. The loss of a shared workplace has forced leaders to adjust in an effort to effectively navigate the growing needs of their staff while maintaining cohesion and harnessing in on company culture. Leaders and team members who may have struggled with communication pre-pandemic are now finding themselves struggling even more without in-person meetings. At a time when we are more isolated than ever before, business leaders in a post-pandemic world need to make alterations not only to management techniques, but in their mindset. The following are ways to adapt your leadership approach and what that looks like to your collective business team in the post-pandemic workplace. 

Refine Your Emotional Intelligence

Interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligence are needed to manage any team. With current employees facing daily challenges of simultaneously working and raising families in their same environment, it is more important than ever for leaders to practice emotional intelligence. By recognizing struggles employees face, and exercising flexibility and empathy towards them, you may notice more quality work. افلام سيارات Leaders who avoid micromanaging, and even share their own struggles such as helping a child with their schoolwork during work hours, will show team members that personal matters are important, particularly during the pandemic. Leaders who show a little vulnerability by revealing the impact the pandemic has had on their own family and well-being can make a positive impact on company culture.

Place a Greater Emphasis on Enabling Communication

With so many teams working away from each other and interacting less, strong leaders will prioritize and model excellent communication skills. Both during and post-pandemic, in order for leaders to be successful, they need to communicate more effectively for their teams to trust their guidance. COVID-19 has added a challenging layer to communication so instilling trust and keeping communication lines open is crucial. Because the remote workplace is mostly new to everyone, it is important to acknowledge where improvement is needed, listen to team needs, and communicate well. In some ways, remote work has put business leaders in less of a gatekeeper role and in more of a communication enabling position. Leaders who take the time for personal outreach, encourage one-on-one sessions, and promote direct reporting, will see an approach that resonates with their post-COVID teams.

Communication in Business Leadership

Include the Team in Company Decisions

Allow your employees to have a say in major company decisions and include them in what work arrangements will look like post-COVID. An employee survey can help ease new policies while discovering what will make team members most excited to come back to the office. For example, a three-month flex schedule and a scheduling system that allows for proper social distancing can help ease employee concerns and make the transition easier.

Make Sure Your Team Understands the “Why”

It is crucial that employees understand the company’s bigger goals and know why the work they do is important. When your team is clear on your priorities, they can see how their individual efforts are critical to the team as a whole.  Understanding the “why” can help keep remote employees more motivated and disciplined to the company’s objectives and mission.

Have an Open-Door Policy

A good team leader listens and empathizes with their employees. With an open-door policy, you invite your employees to turn to you for support during these unprecedented and challenging times. Leaders who listen to their employees’ concerns and take them seriously, make their employees feel valued. By practicing empathy, you help ease the uncertainties of the future. Business leaders know that things can change quickly, which is why practicing compassion, leaders can support their employees and calm their internal fears. betfinal com

Embrace an Ambiguous Future

There is no denying that remote work is here to stay. As everyone navigates the post-COVID workplace together, business leaders should be open to adapting to new changes, future uncertainties, and stay on top of what is happening next. The most successful leaders will be flexible and ready to make positive changes that will benefit both the company and their teams.

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Top Cyber Security Threats to Your Small Business

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When it comes to a successful small business, there are numerous factors to keep it running smoothly. العب اون لاين روليت From the right hires to customer satisfaction, marketing to overall business strategy and everything in between, as the CEO there is no doubt you have a lot on your plate. So it’s no surprise that cyber security threats may not be top of mind. In fact, cyber criminals are literally banking on that. معلومات عن سباق الخيل في السعودية Most small business owners use DropBox, Google Drive or even regular email to send passwords, important financial documents, contracts, and other confidential information. They do so believing their data is safe and being received by just one recipient. However, that is not always the case. Even files that are password protected are susceptible to landing in the wrong hands. Keep reading to learn the top cyber security threats to your small business so you can avoid costly and often irreversible risks to your company.

The Statistics are Startling

Small businesses arguably have the most to lose and have the hardest time coming back from a damaging cyber-attack.  A study performed by IBM revealed that businesses with under 500 employees typically lose an average of $2.5 million per attack. This type of breach can be absolutely devastating to your small businesses, which is why being aware that these types of threats are out there can help you stop them before they reach you.  After all, in the United States, a hack is performed every 39 seconds.

The Most Widespread and Damaging Attacks

Phishing Attacks are among the most widespread and biggest forms of cyber attacks on your small company. In fact, they account for nearly 90% of all breaches. As the biggest and most damaging, phishing accounts for 90% of all breaches and on average cause $12 billion in loses for small businesses each year. They typically happen when an attacker tricks the employee at the small business into thinking they are a trusted contact. Then, the attacker entices them into downloading a malicious file, clicking on a malicious link, or giving them access to confidential credentials or sensitive information. Even with the best security software, phishing attacks happen because they are getting more sophisticated every day. Criminals are difficult to combat because they are becoming more convincing than ever. Providing your employees with a strong email security system and offering security awareness training can help everyone spot and report phishing attacks.

Avoid Ransomware by Backing Up All Data

This extremely common cyber attack is exactly what it sounds like – and it impacts thousands of small businesses each year.  Ransomware is when a company’s information is compromised and cannot by accessed or used until a ransom is paid to the attacker. This leaves small business owners to face a tough choice. Do they risk losing all their data or do they pay the ransom fee? Either way, they risk losing incredible sums of money. Criminals know that small businesses are more likely to pay up because their important information is priceless. Attackers know the business needs to be up and running quickly. To protect yourself from this type of cyber threat be sure you have strong security protection on every business device. From phones and tablets to computers, you can stop ransomware attacks by effectively encrypting all data. In addition, regularly backup all data security in the cloud. This will help to mitigate against data loss. 

CEO training: Cyber Security

Ensure Stronger Passwords

It is hard to believe, but some people still use the same password for every account. This is a major threat facing small businesses and their employees. When weak passwords are used, they can be easily guessed, and accounts manipulated. Using the same password for multiple accounts means that data can become breached and compromised. According to a recent report, 19% of business professionals use passwords that can be easily guessed and/or shared passwords across numerous accounts. Ensure cyber safety by encouraging your employees to safely manage passwords with strong passwords that cannot be easily cracked. You may even consider using various procedures to ensure an added layer of protection.

Know Your Employees to Prevent Insider Attacks

Nobody wants to believe that current or former employees could pose a threat to their business, but it happens. In fact, insider threats are a major threat small businesses threat. Because these employees are on the “inside” they have access to critical data and can cause harmful threats through malice, greed, or carelessness. Research shows that 62% of employees report access to accounts they do not use. To prevent insider threats to your small business, build a strong company culture and ensure security awareness. تصفيات كوبا أمريكا 2022 When an employee is no longer with your company, immediately change passwords and cancel their access to all accounts.

It Can Happen to You

Many small business owners think that they are immune to cyber-attacks. They may think that their business is not at risk and are safe. But it only takes getting hacked one time to realize that data breaches can happen to any business. Ask yourself how much any of the above threats would cost your business? Or how much would identity theft personally cost you? Do not be the next victim. Keeping your company safe is easy and inexpensive. From affordable cloud services to encrypted file transfer software, you can end the top cyber security threats to your small business to keep your business, employees, and yourself safe. 

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How to become a thought leader

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Thought leaders are influential, experienced individuals in an industry, and many aspire to be thought leaders, although many fall short. Thought leaders often become known as thought leaders within their industry by clarifying their area of expertise, boosting industry presence, and building their own personal brand. After developing an established position within an industry, thought leaders are able to inspire and influence others while also offering unique guidance. Here are six ways to become a thought leader in your industry.

Understand your niche and love what you do

Before you become a thought leader, you need to figure out what you’re an expert in. This should be something you have experience with, something you are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about, and something where you have colleagues and peers. You must accept that you don’t know everything, and that’s OK. In order to be an effective thought leader, you aren’t required to know everything, but you must at least be specific about what it is you do know.

Great thought leaders understand their niche, and they know how to use the intersection of their niche interests and their audience’s interests in order to become a more influential leader. To further understand your niche, your message, and your brand, ask yourself: What do I love? What do my peers find interesting about me? What have I built my life and my career around? What am I passionate about? What fulfills me?

Get experience

You can’t just wake up one day and decide to be a thought leader. It takes hard work, dedication, and determination. It requires you to wake up every morning and be willing to put in 100% in order to get experience, create content, and share your message with others in order to become an established authority. Without gaining the experience necessary within your area of expertise  to establish yourself as an authority, becoming a thought leader in the minds of others can be very difficult.

Be yourself and create content using your own voice

While your expertise can help you and guide you on your way to becoming a thought leader, the rest is up to you. While creating content for your audience, remember to create content that speaks in your personal voice. Build a brand around yourself and others will be attracted to you as a genuine leader in their lives. People in any industry can spot a disengaged voice, ingenuine voice from a mile away. Yes, they will notice your self promotion. You have to drop the self promotion. Thought leadership content can build your brand, but that does not mean you should talk about yourself or your business all the time. Try to create content that informs, excites, or entertains your audience. Above all, be genuine. Your ability to project your own unique personality will set you apart from everyone else in your industry. 

Be Social

Choose the best social media platforms for sharing your content and ideas, and use them consistently to share your content, ideas, entertaining industry related tidbits, and more. Social media can be one of the best ways to appear more genuine, down to earth, just like everyone else, and allow your audience to feel connected to you, as though you are a close friend or peer within the industry. This can result in your audience sharing your content with others, strengthening your status and encouraging your growth as a thought leader. 

Having high engagement from your audience on your posts regularly is a great way to further establish your status as a thought leader, but make sure you are interacting with your audience, as well. If there’s anything you’ve learned thus far, you should definitely understand the importance of not making everything about you. Like and comment on others’ posts consistently. This will help to establish you as an active member of your community, once again allowing you to stay top-of-mind with those in your industry.

You should also interact with other thought leaders, peers, and influencers. By making thoughtful contributions on others’ pages, you will learn from them while boosting your engagement at the same time.

Be consistent

In order to become a thought leader, you need to be remembered. People need to remember you. It’s much more difficult to be remembered if your content and your voice only pop up once in a blue moon. Publishing content regularly is the key to being remembered and staying top-of-mind with your audience. Just providing a few strong pieces of content is not enough to establish yourself, you must continue to create and publish quality content in order to be memorable. Consistency is key with content creation for your brand as a thought leader.

Keep learning by listening to others

Continuing your education is crucial to your success and development as a thought leader. Listening to others is a great way to continue learning, as well as an amazing way to connect with others within your industry, creating a larger network of individuals who may consider you an influential leader within your area of expertise. 

Becoming a thought leader takes determination, hard work, and dedication, but it can be done. Just remember these few tips: Consistency is key, learn from others by listening to them, use your own voice when creating content, be genuine, be social, and get as much experience in your chosen area of expertise as possible. With those tips, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a thought leader!

 

The Business Owner’s Guide to Delegation

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As a small business owner, delegating some of your responsibilities and tasks probably doesn’t come very easily to you. Your business is like your child, it can be hard to let someone else be in charge of certain aspects. Delegating requires you to relinquish control of different areas of your business in order for you to devote more time to the business as a whole. 

Without delegation, business owners often spread themselves too thin while struggling to find balance and trying to do it all, which can be dangerous for the success of the business. Delegation is a critical skill for business owners to have, even though you may not find yourself willingly giving away control, because there’s no way someone else can do things for your business as well as you can, right?

With the right approach, mindset, and methods when it comes to delegation and division of labor, you can become a master of time management and allow all aspects of your business to flourish and prosper.

How To Accept The Fact That You Need To Delegate

Let go of the “I can do it all” Mindset

Just because you think you can do it all doesn’t mean you necessarily have to. Doing everything inevitably means you probably aren’t doing everything as well as you could be. By delegating, you are able to focus on fewer tasks, and devote more time and effort to those tasks, resulting in a higher level of productivity, quality, and less stress for you.

Typical Tasks Business Owners Delegate

We should start off by addressing the tasks most business owners usually choose to delegate. These tasks include:

Web Design and Maintenance

Unless you happen to be in the tech business or have extensive knowledge when it comes to web design, this is an area of expertise where it may be necessary to delegate tasks. Learning how to design and update a website regularly, on top of everything else you do to run a small business, can take up a lot of your time, time you could be spending elsewhere. 

Accounting and Bookkeeping 

This is one of the most common tasks business owners choose to delegate, as it requires specialized skill, attention to detail, and a good amount of time to upkeep. Outsourcing the accounting and bookkeeping of your business can be extremely helpful if you don’t feel comfortable managing the numbers of your business all on your own, or if you’re looking to avoid the headache of learning the ins and outs of business accounting.

Digital Marketing 

Similarly to web design, unless you are radically familiar with marketing online using email campaigns, social media, or similar methods, delegating the digital marketing aspect of your business can save you a great deal of time, and can definitely lead to an increase in profits in the long run. Think of delegating your digital marketing as an investment, rather than an expense! 

Customer Service

On top of everything else you have to do on a daily basis to keep business running smoothly, taking breaks in your busy work day to field customer questions and complaints can often feel like the last thing you have time for. Why don’t you let someone else handle it? Outsourcing your customer service can take a huge burden off of your shoulders and gives you one less thing to worry about during your workday.

Tech Support

Even if you’re quite tech savvy, you shouldn’t have to waste your time working to solve tech issues and troubleshoot tech problems when you likely have a million other business related things going on each day. As a business owner, you shouldn’t have to worry about fixing the wifi, refilling ink cartridges, or assisting with computer crash issues. Delegating to a tech service company or individual can save you time, as well as provide advice and guidance towards new technology that may be an asset to your business.

How to successfully delegate

Choose the right person and provide as much information up front as possible

When deciding to delegate, make sure you’re choosing the right person for the tasks you’d like to delegate. If you’re looking to delegate your digital marketing tasks, it likely wouldn’t make sense for you to hire a tech support company, unless they happened to also be skilled at digital marketing. To find quality companies, firms, and individuals to hire to take care of some of your small business needs, try to get references from other professionals or professional websites, such as the testimonials page of a potential company’s website.

After choosing the firm or individual that feels right for you and your needs, make sure you provide as much information up front as possible about the different tasks you need completed. Provide them with details, exactly what you’d like them to do on a day to day basis, what a completed project should look like, and deadline details. Giving explicit details will help the employee to be as efficient as possible, achieve a result you’re happy with, and will help your employee complete a job just as well as if you had done it yourself, which keeps you from feeling the need to micromanage.

Another smart delegation idea is to set up checkpoints to make sure that everything is on track and being completed the way you want it to. Checkpoints offer you and your employee a place to collaborate, regroup, make edits, and create the best final product possible, exceeding your goals and expectations.

There you have it. A quick business owner’s guide to delegation. Delegating can be one of the best things you can do for yourself and your business, as long as you remember to let go of your “I can do it all” mindset, delegate tasks you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself, choose the right person to delegate to, communicate often and avoid micromanaging! By delegating aspects of your business, you’re on the track to a more productive and profitable company.

 

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Top 10 Time Management Tips for Managers

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Running a small business is no walk in the park. Between taking care of clients, managing web presence, working with your employees, general administration tasks, and chasing leads, you tend to constantly have a lot on your plate. As a manager or small business owner, your day to day life and business responsibilities can get pretty hectic. Poor time management can make stressful situations more stressful, and lead to problems, mistakes, and no work-life balance. 

While there’s not a lot you can do in terms of reducing your workload and making yourself busy, managing your time well can make things run smoothly and help your responsibilities feel like less of a burden. By making sure your time is well managed, you will be able to be the most productive version of yourself and get much more done than before, leading to less of the “I need more hours in the day” internal dialogue throughout your work week.

Here are some of the best time management tips that will help to boost your productivity.

1- Avoid Multitasking

While multitasking– jumping from task to task- can seem like a good idea when you’re pressed for time, it can actually make completing tasks more difficult, reducing your overall productivity. Shifting between a number of different things all at once requires your brain to adjust quickly to new tasks, reducing focus levels and leading to careless mistakes you’ll just have to spend time correcting later on. 

Focusing on a single task for a shorter amount of time is a smarter method of time management than working on multiple tasks for long periods of time. Remember, trying to take care of a task while also checking and replying to emails every few minutes is still multitasking and is still taking away from your productivity! Save the emails until after you’ve finished your task.

2- Make a daily to do list and stick to it

You should begin each work day with a list of goals to be accomplished for the day and commit your day to accomplishing those goals only. Without a clear set of tasks at the beginning of the day, you can meander through your day, touching on multiple tasks, but never fully completing any. Making a bulleted list of things to get done or creating an hour by hour breakdown are great ways to keep your day structured and organized.

3- Use an online organizer to keep track of multiple clients, deadlines, and projects

Online project managers, which help you to keep track of multiple projects, deadlines, and clients, can help you to stay organized when you have a lot of moving parts. Getting bogged down and confused by all of the different things you need to accomplish for different clients can seriously inhibit your productivity. Online organizers like Asana and Monday can keep you organized so that you can better organize and manage your work week.

4- Experiment with different productivity methods

Humans are always searching for ways to become more productive, ways to get more done in a short 24 hour day. A popular productivity/ time management method is The Pomodoro Technique. Developed in the late 1980’s, The Pomodoro Technique consists of setting a timer for 25 minutes, working on a task with undivided attention for those 25 minutes, stopping and taking a 5 minute break when the timer rings. Then, you restart the process all over again. After you’ve had four consecutive 25 minute interval sessions, also known as pomodoros, you then take a longer 15 to 30 minute break. This technique allows you to maintain freshness of the mind and not become burnt out from staring at one project or task for hours on end.

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5- Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks

Anyone who’s skilled in time management delegates tasks. It’s one of the best ways to simply have more time. By handing off tasks and duties to someone else, you are able to make more time for yourself, your own tasks, or urgent tasks. While it can be hard to relinquish control, as long as you learn the right way to delegate, and avoid micromanaging, delegating tasks can be the ultimate time management tool.

6- Automate what you can

We live in such a technologically advanced world these days, there is almost nothing you can’t automate. From social media posts to email newsletters to web updates and more, you can automate just about every aspect of your business. Imagine how long it takes for you to go into social media, decide what to post to keep your account active, create a post, a caption, and a photo (depending on the platform). Now imagine how much time you’d save if you used a social media automation tool to post. This is just one example of an aspect of your business that can be automated for efficiency and better time management.

7-Identify and Eliminate Time Wasters

This goes hand in hand with automation and delegation. Identify what you take time out of your daily tasks to complete, identify things that are wasting your time. Perhaps it’s your social media management. Maybe it’s running tech support in the office because the wifi went out for the third time this week. Or maybe it takes you 30 minutes to refill the ink cartridges in the printer each week. Or how it takes you over a month to figure out the accounting and taxes for your business. Whatever it is that’s wasting your time, eliminate it! Outsource these jobs to other people, delegate tasks to your employees. You can improve your time management tremendously just by removing time wasting tasks from your to do list. 

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8- Learn to live by the 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule is one of the most helpful methods of time management. The method essentially states that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results. What does this mean in terms of time management? Let’s put it in terms of a to-do list. The rule suggests that two out of ten items on that to do list will turn out to be worth more than the other eight items put together. But where does the problem come in? Often, people will procrastinate on the top 20% of tasks, known as the important “vital few”, while wasting their time on the other 80%, or the “trivial many”. 

To fully harness the time management capabilities of the 80/20 rule, you will need to apply it to your everyday work life. To do this, each day, take a look at your to do list. Now ask yourself, if you could only accomplish one of the goals on that list today, which one goal would be the most important, most productive, make the most impact? Then continue to ask yourself that question after each task is crossed off of your to-do list. Get ready to see massive productivity results after starting this method.

9- Organize your workspace

A cluttered workspace can lead to a cluttered mind, which slows productivity and leads to procrastination, confusion, laziness and mistakes. Make sure all areas of your workspace are clean and organized to maximize productivity and improve your overall work experience.

10- Don’t procrastinate!

Procrastination is the polar opposite of productivity and quality time management. Procrastination is the enemy. Oftentimes, we find ourselves procrastinating because the thought of starting a task, especially a large one, or the first one on a large to do list, is too daunting for us to even want to begin. A way to combat this is to just dive right in. Don’t think, just start working. Sounds easier than it actually is, right? A fun method to get yourself to just jump right into a project is to count backwards from 5. Once you finish the countdown, you have to get up, or put down the phone, or stop doing whatever you were doing to procrastinate. This countdown method really works, so next time you find yourself procrastinating, give it a try.

Now that you’re equipped with the 10 best time management tips for business owners, you’re on your way to becoming a more productive, more organized, less stressed version of yourself! Try these tips, tricks, and techniques, get ready to watch your productivity soar like never before.

Why Your Small Business Needs a Consultant

by
Small Business Consultant

Have you ever found yourself wanting an outside eye to help out your company? Have you felt the need for someone with more specialized skills to assist in a certain area of your business? Do you need someone to help identify problems within your company? Do you just need more time to focus on the day to day tasks and would like to outsource some of your other work in order to supplement your business and your staff? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be in need of a small business consultant! 

What is a small business consultant?

Small business consultants are professionals who often specialize in a more niche aspect of business, such as an attorney skilled in business law, certified public accountants (CPAs) or even consulting firms which offer a variety of business-related services, like marketing, management, sales, or advertising. The more common types of consultants include strategy and management consultants, operations consultants, IT consultants, human resources consultants, and sales and marketing consultants.

 

The different types of small business consulting services

To discover which type of consultant may be right for you, dive into learning a bit more about different types of consultants and what they do.

Digital Strategy and Management Consultants can help with expanding your product offerings, widening your marketing footprint, developing a business plan, reorganizing your business for efficiency and cost savings, or even buyout another company. They can assist with your business’ social media, market research, online marketing, and website development.

Operations Consultants can help with increasing your process quality and efficiency. They may work with project management, develop new operation plans, helping to reduce steps or mistakes and increase your profit margins.

IT Consultants are one of the most popular types of consultants, with the rapidly changing pace of modern technology. Different things IT consultants can do include maintenance and support services, application development, application integration, to name a few. They can also assist in updating operating software, updating servers, upgrading internet providers, phones, and much more.

Human Resources Consultants are often used to work on employee needs. They can be helpful in recruiting, training, teaching, and improving employee retention. You may also use them as leadership and communication development specialists, and use them to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your staff..

Creative Consultants, PR and Media Consultants are becoming more popular with the expansion of media and digital marketing. The consulting practices and services may offer include graphic design, videography, photography, branding, promotions, campaigns, outreach, events, and communications.

Sales and Marketing Consultants create marketing strategies, launch advertising campaigns, build a high level cohesive brand, make sure you are generating good business, even initiate the sales process.

So, why would you need one of these types of consultants?

Why you may need a consultant

There are many reasons why a small business may need a consultant. You may want added expertise, a fresh set of eyes, a seasoned problem solver and idea generator, a trainer, an influx of new life into the business, or an objective standpoint on business matters.

A small business consultant can offer…

Added expertise and specialized skills

Perhaps the most common reason small business owners hire consultants is for business growth. They allow them to gain access to special skills they may not have among in-house employees. These skills can range from marketing to finance specialists to recruiters. Hiring consultants makes it easy for you to gain access to expertise and specialized skills on demand, whenever you may need.

Hiring consultants is a cost-effective way to supplement your staff, too. While small business management consulting rates are usually a bit higher than a full-time employee, the money saved by only hiring a consultant when their skills are needed, rather than full time, will be more cost effective in the long term.

A fresh set of eyes, an idea generator

When dealing with an issue or important decisions in your life, do you often turn to friends and family for advice? It can be useful to do this in a business, too! Because consultants have a track record of working with many different companies, they may have seen an issue that you may come across in your business, and often they will have a creative solution to problems or experience in handling something you might not have dealt with before. Consultants are seasoned problem solvers who are able to offer fresh, innovative ideas that clients may not have been able to come up with on their own.

A trainer or teacher

Consultants may help companies keep employees on top of new business trends or developments in their field, consultants may be hired to teach. Consultants can also be useful in training new staff when you don’t have the time to do so yourself. 

An influx of new life into the business

No one likes change, least of all corporate America. But change can be good, and often, change is necessary. Consultants can help usher change into an organization seamlessly, whether it be through staff leadership retreats, workshops, e-learning, training programs, new technology, or helping to teach a new business ideology or way of communication, consultants can provide those much needed new methods and ideas into your business, as well as your staff!

Image Source: Getty Images 

Consultants are a valuable resource for any small business, and the impact they can have on a company should not be underestimated. If your annual revenue has been the same or declining in the last 3 years, your business isn’t serving you, you need help managing your growth curve, or your team isn’t hitting goals month over month, you should consider hiring a business consultant.

We are here to help you navigate so schedule a call to discuss your specific business goals

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