Management by Yelling - Intimidation Doesn't Work as well as Empowerment

Management by Yelling - Intimidation Doesn't Work as well as Empowerment
An informal survey of whether empowerment works better than
intimidation showed 79% of the respondents favored
empowerment. This is no surprise; professionals respond
best to cordial and controlled interpersonal relationships
in the workplace. It makes for an agreeable work
environment. Remarkably, empowerment even in the face of
failure can be a powerful positive motivator. Attrition can
be cut in half as a minimum, and you keep your talent in
place instead of losing it to the competition.

There is a need sometimes for firm and frank discussion
especially when personal safety is the issue. There should
be no question about conforming to safety rules around the
plant. But, in general intimidation produces numerous
counterproductive outcomes:

- It breeds resentment and sabotage; yelling can be taken
as a personal affront to character and persona, and
resentment can build to destructive motivations.

- It is an out-of-control reaction to something that can be
dismissed with grace and corrective encouragement for
future improved actions.

- It affects productivity and shuts down enthusiasm. A
period of time will be taken up with licking of wounds and
negative talk among co-workers.

- It may precipitate charges of harassment, union
organizing, stress, sick days, etc.

In addition, it can be a powerful demotivator, destroying
personal ambitions of promotion in the organization. There
is not much to recommend in the way of intimidation.

Planning and Deadlines - Empowerment works best in a
planned, controlled environment. One method that has proven
well over time is by using Microsoft Project. There are
several options, but the Gantt Chart, which was originally
used effectively during times of military conflict, makes
sense in the industrial and commercial setting, too. Tasks
are listed in a tabular form, and there is an associated
timeline with optional name tags. Daily or weekly follow up
makes the chart jump off the screen, and other related
parties will be privy to it in an office computer network
environment. Your team will see it, and your boss will see
how it goes as often as he/she wants to view it. It could
be a simple sequential chart or an interactive chart
showing important time sensitive and sequence interactions.
As often as you update it, the timeline will progress with
accomplished tasks being highlighted.

Planning generally flows from the top down, and the
employee can run his own project schedule from the cues
received from the boss's master plan. Or the employee can
add or expand on the master plan.

Wally Adamchik, the author of No Yelling, claims that
treating people with respect and developing relationships
based on trust goes a long way towards effective
management. One marine senior officer even claims that "You
have to love your people to a fault."

----------------------------------------------------
For more management and leadership articles, please visit
http://www.CrassCaptain.com . Find Christine Casey-Cooper's
new book, entitled The Crass Captain's Guide to
Organizational Dysfunction, on Amazon soon.

Everything You Wanted To Know About The GARMIN GPS NUVI 350

Everything You Wanted To Know About The GARMIN GPS NUVI 350
Ever found yourself lost trying to maneuver your way
through downtown Ontario without a clue where you were? Or
maybe you have taken one too many road trips that has
landed you in an unknown destination... sure it's fun to
not know your destination occasionally, but most of the
time we are all in a hurry ' whether it is to be at a
meeting, picking up the kids or trying to make a personal
engagement with friends - maybe it's time to check out a
new navigation system available to make your life a little
easier.

One new product on the market destined to save you a lot of
time and money navigating the streets alone is the GARMIN
GPS NUVI 350. The NUVI 350 is not only an extremely stylish
and slim lined navigation system it also has the ability to
be an MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer,
clock with world time zone capabilities, currency
converter, measurement converter, calculator and of course
an anti theft device to deter anyone who might be
interested in stealing this attractive addition to your car!

The NUVI 350 can be bought and used just about anywhere due
to the preloaded City Navigator® NT street maps.
Depending on your location for travel it is possible to
insert a micro SD/SD data card with the designated country
map to find your way happily out of any spot of bother you
might find yourself in.

Some features of this hot little product include a 2.8"
wide x 2.1" high screen with the total product size being
3.87" wide x 2.91" high. The screen features a nice QVGA
color antiglare TFT with white backlight and also responds
nicely to touch screen commands. The battery is a
rechargeable lithium ion with 8 hours of life and can be
continuously charged through the use of the vehicle power
cable included in the NUVI 350 package. Further features
include voice prompts, spoken street names, the options of
either 2D or 3D map views, auto re route (fast off route
options and recalculations for ETA), route setup (allowing
you to achieve faster times, shorter distances and off road
options), and route avoidance (if you are wanting to avoid
tolls or freeways). Custom points of interest (POIs) is
another strong feature which will alert you to when
important town information is approaching such as safety
cameras or school zones, ATMs, restaurants, and hotels.

Like all good technology these days the NUVI 350 is not
just a navigation system and comes with additional
accessories to boost your already highly efficient system
including data cards, traffic receivers, accessory kits,
adapters, antennas, cases and covers, memory, cables and
mounts. Of all the accessories my favorite are the data
cards which serve as travel and language guides. As the
world seems to be getting smaller with regard to ease of
travel, it seems a necessary option for technology to be
able to be utilized in any part of the world. The SD data
cards, relevant for the country you are traveling, can
provide you with current travel information ' sites to
visit, shops to wander through, and restaurants to eat in.
The data is provided by Fodors who are one of the leading
trip planning and information companies available. The
language guides are equally as important as you visit new
countries. The information is provided by Oxford
University Press and contains comprehensive word and phrase
banks and bilingual dictionaries! Global Positioning
Systems (GPS) rely on a variety of satellites to assist you
in figuring out where you are at any given time.

The one major benefit of buying an in-car GPS is so that
you don't end up wasting time and money finding a location
that should have ideally taken you perhaps only 20 minutes.
The technology now available for these systems is getting
better and better and the GARMIN GPS NUVI 350 is no
exception, it is sitting comfortably in the market at the
top of the range.

The GARMIN GPS NUVI 350 is also very competitively priced
with the product having an average cost of $348.00 in the
Canadian market. Although you will be able to find the
NUVI 350 within most Canadian electronic stores the best
way to quickly find this product and compare prices without
visiting every shop in Canada is online.

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If you are wanting to find out more about the GARMIN GPS
NUVI 350 please visit http://www.deal-eh.ca .

Plan For Success

Plan For Success
As a solopreneur there is always an endless list of
projects that we want to work on or need to complete in
order to grow our business. If we don't plan properly and
build in time to work on these projects we can very quickly
become overwhelmed, and in the end we don't complete
anything.

This first quarter I've launched two products, revamped my
website, hosted a teleclass series, and launched a new
service, all of which have been achieved without
sacrificing client work, and without staying up until the
wee small hours of the morning!

So, how do I achieve all of this, and still manage to have
some free time?

Quite simply, I plan! And today, I'd like to share with
you my top five tips for planning for success!

1. Create a Project Planner. I have my own one-of-a-kind
List Building and Marketing Workbook that I use to plan
which projects I am going to work on and when. This
spreadsheet is at the heart of my business; I keep it handy
so that I can refer to it often, and I update it on a
regular basis.

It sets the scene for projects that I want and need to
complete for the year, although I don't necessarily plan
out the whole year in advance! I plan by quarters. That
makes it much easier and more achievable than trying to
plan out the whole year, although I may add projects to my
planner well in advance!

2. Create a Timeline For Your Projects. Are there some
projects that you can't complete or begin work on until
you've completed a previous one? For example, one of my
projects this year is to set up and run an affiliate
program for my products; however there is really little
point in me working on the affiliate program until I have
some products to sell! So first I need to create and
launch the products, then work on the affiliate program.
So when planning for this, I know that I can add affiliate
program set up for at least six months ahead.

3. Set Aside The Time To Work On Your Business. I have one
day a week that I set aside for business development and
marketing activities, such as developing info products,
writing my newsletter, submitting articles, or some other
activity on my List Building and Marketing Workbook. On
this day I don't do any client work (if a client has an
urgent project then I may have to rethink) but as a general
rule this is the day and time I have set aside to work on
my business.

4. Plan The Time For Client Work. Set aside specific
days/time each week that you are available to work on your
client and income generating activities so that they do not
get overlooked. Put this time down in your calendar so
that you will stick to it.

5. Do Not Allow Yourself To Get Distracted. The truth is
I only have a very limited amount of time during which I
can work with my clients and work on my business. The time
I do have I protect it closely and really focus on what it
is I need to do, whether that's client work or working on
my business. During this time I won't let myself get
distracted by going off and reading emails, becoming
involved in discussion groups, or even running personal
errands.

By really focusing and making the best possible use of the
limited time you have available, you can can achieve A LOT!
I know I do!

----------------------------------------------------
Online Business Manager & Virtual Assistant, Tracey Lawton,
teaches professional speakers, coaches, and authors how to
operate an efficient, organized, and profitable business.
Learn how to create an efficient and organized office in 7
EASY steps, and receive free how-to articles at
http://www.OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com

Call center Hiring And Staffing

Call center Hiring And Staffing
Call centre business has a reputation of being one of the
industries that has high hiring and firing turnover and
likewise, the mindset of the people available in industry
is nurtured on the same philosophy. They are not much
concerned about frequent switching like other careers where
it goes against you. Finding and retaining right people for
the call centre is a well known dilemma, as there are
certain shortcoming which are attached with this particular
business, so, all the measures can only contribute in
reducing them and that's the maximum achievable when it
comes to call centre hiring and Call Center training.

Retention is highly recommended, go an extra mile to retain
an agent who is a part of your call centre, he has
pre-qualified, has got-on with the things and you are also
able to evaluate his abilities. Make a correct judgment
about the skills of the person and offer all that which the
person expects by way of any of your company intelligencia.
Changing people is a never ending story for call centers;
the need of the hour is to change minds of the same people.
Recognize their needs and address them instead of
preferring aggressive hiring and firing. You have already
invested in their training, up gradation and grooming.

If for one reason or another, you are to hire call centre
agents, make it a real task for yourself. Do a lot of
homework about the interviews and selection strategy.
Conduct an in-house meeting with Managers and supervisors
to evolve an efficient and effective evaluation procedure
that can end-up in picking right people for the job. Look
for the accent first of all, that's the biggest
selling-point. Your second priority should be the
evaluation of overall personality, find-out the sense of
responsibility with the body language and the way of
responding to questions. Put some of stupid questions
across and detect the patience of the person, if he keeps
his nerves cool and come up with respectable reply, go for
this person. He/she will sustain.

Through cross questioning, bring-out the internal roadmap
of the person about his pursuits of career. Get an idea
about his endeavors and expectations. Ask him about any
ideal call centers' pre-exquisites, this way he will give
you his picture about the call centre he wants to join and
what things will satisfy him in the long run. Never trash
the interview assessment, make it most important document
in the lifecycle of that particular agent.

Regardless of the facts elaborated in the article, time 7
again, the only short-cut to get good call centre agents is
the experience. Nothing else can do it for you as good as
this. So behave maturely, improve communication, enhance
flexibility in overall decorum, and facilitate your agents
to maximum extent, so that they can be at peace of mind to
make effective sales or to offer quality customer service.
Time has changed for the employee and employer, now both
have to understand each other to fall into long-term
relationship, so care for your agents and get care in turn
and it works.

----------------------------------------------------
Get all the HR information and tools you need for hiring
the right team for your call center at
http://www.steptocallcenter.com

How to Start a Solar Energy Business (cost effectively)

How to Start a Solar Energy Business (cost effectively)
The renting of a solar energy system for your home is a
new, attractive twist to the idea of switching to renewable
energy. With the adoption of a leasing or rental model for
residential solar electric systems, an average homeowner
can now go green at home as well as build a part-time,
solar energy business. The following article outlines the
step by step requirements needed to start your own solar
energy business.

Step 1: Understanding the Solar Energy Business

Environmental entrepreneurs are charged with connecting
with homeowners, educating them related to their
alternative energy options, and providing them with the
option to rent a solar electric system. By starting a solar
energy business, a person becomes a solar energy
consultant, making it possible for homeowners to adopt
solar (PV) technology in a simple, investment-free way. No
other solar rental program makes it so easy.

This type of renewable energy business entails no up-front
fees to get involved but there are time investments related
to educating yourself and in turn educating the American
homeowner about residential solar electric systems. The
rental of solar equipment is just getting started with much
adoption and growth expected. Solar energy is now cost
competitive with the utility prices and homeowners no
longer have to make an upfront investment to switch to
solar power. They can simply rent a system and perhaps
build a solar energy business on the side.

To start a solar energy business, a person does not need to
be a college graduate or a seasoned sales executive. All
that is needed is the desire to make a difference and share
the belief with others that solar power will make that
difference.

Step 2: Structuring of Your Solar Business

As a solar energy consultant, you are trained and supported
by an experienced sales manager. The sales manager will
support you in your initial days of solar energy industry
education, sales cycle management, and how to effectively
use the free sales tools. As you progress and begin to
desire more responsibility, you can become a sales manager
yourself by beginning to build your own marketing team.

Step 3: Registering and Completing the Solar Energy Training

Registering by entering your information and signing up
online is just the first step to working towards managing
your own solar energy business. Training is the second
required step in the process. This small business
opportunity demands detailed knowledge of the solar energy
industry.

You do not need to become an electrician or solar energy
system installer but you should work to understand the
difference between fossil fuels and renewable fuels, to
understand how the electricity grid works, and to
understand how residential solar energy works. You must be
properly trained in solar energy topics and related
technology so that you have the confidence to pass on this
knowledge.

Training tools are available to assist you with the
required testing. Training tools, testing, and ongoing
support is all free. It is also important to continually
build your knowledge of the renewable energy industry. This
solar energy business requires no investment on your part
but it does stress training and the use of training tools
because accurate knowledge breaks down barriers.

Step 4: Receiving Solar Energy Business Support

This solar energy business is centered upon ongoing support
and growth. It is necessary for solar energy consultants to
process solar system sales or referrals. There are free
sales cycle management (CRM) tools included with this
business opportunity. The sales aids make it very simple to
complete the processing and help homeowners to rental a
solar energy system.

These tools are provided to help build your solar energy
business: One-on-one training from your sales manager,
raining resources, books, brochures, internal and external
corporate websites, help desk and knowledge base (both
support and training), and much more.

The solar energy business explained here has a great
mission. Its grassroots goal is to spread the use of clean,
renewable solar electric power as simply and as rapidly as
possible. This opportunity has eliminated as many obstacles
as possible to both the rental of solar electric systems
for home owners as well as to entrepreneurs wishing to
start a solar energy business.

The overall job of a solar energy consultant is to become
ambassadors for positive change in the World of renewable
solar energy. Solar energy is vital to the U.S. economy,
energy security, and the environment. There is a simple
choice to do the right thing. By helping America to rethink
solar electric power, you can start your own solar energy
business in a very cost effective way.

----------------------------------------------------
At Solargies, our mission is to spread the use of renewable
energies as simply as possible. We provide U.S. homeowners
the option to rent a solar electric system. We also offer
entrepreneurs a no cost method to build their own solar
energy business. To learn more about our grassroots
movement, visit us at http://www.Solargies.com

You are Wrong, Dead Wrong!

You are Wrong, Dead Wrong!
Congratulations to those of you brave enough to open this
article. Some of my readers would have instantly deleted
anything that hinted at them being anything less than
perfect, certainly 'wrong.'

Take a moment to asses your initial reaction to this title.
Were you intrigued, curious, or perhaps agitated? Your
reaction speaks volumes about your leadership style.

Every great leader has a strong competitive streak that
helps them stay ahead of their game. However, when this
streak interferes with learning, it quickly brings them
down. We learn from both what we do right and where we
err. If you avoid this valuable tool of learning from your
mistakes, you're in for a rough ride as a leader, partner,
and friend.

Face it, sometimes you are purely off base; you've missed
the cue. Yes, even you are dead wrong. So, what does your
reaction says about you?

Denial—you are not in touch with the reality of the
situation and of those whom you lead. If you are told
there is a 'situation' a true leader takes it seriously,
pulling in the necessary resources to get to the bottom of
the problem.

Agitation—you have a strong ego that impedes your
seeing the bigger picture. Take a breath, widen your view
and ask questions. There is more to the story. Those all
around, below, and above you have valuable insight. Listen
intently and get help for that ego.

Blame—by now you know that this is not a leadership
style, but rather the behavior of a victim to look at the
problem rather than the solution. Look no farther than in
the mirror to correct the situation.

Premature Apology—you lead with a reactionary
impulse. This weakens your stance and how others view you.
Wait until you have the appropriate data to fully
understand the scenario. Sincerity, a comprehensive
understanding of the problem and plan of action are keys
here.

Caution/Intrigue/Curiosity—you lead with your mind,
combined with your heart and wisdom gained through
experience. You are eager to assess the damage, put all
the pieces together (not the people, but rather the
activities that could have taken place) and then to form a
plan of action

In this latter scenario, you immediately take steps learn
more in order to:

1) not make the same mistake again, and, 2) discover what
you missed the first time around.

You can then build and incorporate a plan of action and
move forward. Otherwise, you're stuck in denial, the
blame-game, apologizing for things you don't understand.

Purposely ask someone to challenge you this week to assess
your reaction. Have them say the words to you: "You're
wrong, dead wrong." Notice if one of the above thought
patterns occurs to you. Then notice your visceral response:

Physical sensation (gut reaction, goose bumps, tightened
chest) Emotional surge (sad, angry, hurt) Intuitive hit (I
believe him, I doubt what she is saying, I missed the
financial piece) How does it feel to be wrong, brave, and
perfect? Have a wonderful week exploring 'you!' Enjoy your
process!

----------------------------------------------------
For the sake of keeping your career fresh and on track,
would you like to enjoy a weekly shot-in-the-arm from
Master Certified Coach Ann Golden Eglé? You can sign
up for her free weekly ezine, The Success Thought of the
Week, at http://www.gvsuccesscoaching.com .

Marketing Follow Up Strategy

Marketing Follow Up Strategy
As small business owners, we worry about contacting people
too much - but no one tells us how much is too much! Many
of us think that a follow-up strategy is to email or call
someone a week or two after the initial contact and then
maybe touch base occasionally over the next few months.

If this is your follow-up strategy - whether with a new
prospect or a long-time customer - then you've got to
formalize it more and put it on auto-pilot. I've seen the
statistic that around 80% of sales are lost because no one
followed up. Is this you?

Marketing is all about fostering a relationship with people
and one of the key ways to do this is by having consistent
and relevant follow-up as part of your marketing strategy.
Remember, you're not following up to pester someone to
purchase - you are keeping the lines of communication open
and providing important information that can help the
prospect or customer.

Below are 13 ways for you to make sure that ongoing
follow-up is a part of your marketing strategy:

1) When someone requests information give it to them
immediately.

2) When someone asks a question respond within 24 -48 hours.

3) When someone makes the first contact (i.e. downloads
your free give-away), follow up with emails every few days
providing helpful information, highlighting specific ideas,
or providing some tips.

4) When you have a time-limited special on a service or
product, make sure to remind your prospects frequently.
People always buy on the last day, so send a friendly
reminder email that today's the last day to get the
discount.

5) Call or send an email to a customer who has just
purchased something from your website. Say "thank you" and
ask them if they need any questions answered or anything
clarified.

6) If you're offering a tele-seminar, give enough advance
notice and send reminder emails providing the pertinent
details.

7) If someone has made an appointment, do a reminder phone
call or email a day before the scheduled time.

8) If someone sends in a contact via your website form,
make sure you get back to them within 48 hours.

9) If you've made a good contact at a seminar or networking
event, send them an email or better yet, a handwritten
note, expressing your desire to keep in touch. Then mark a
date in your calendar in one month to follow up with a
phone call or email.

10) Send "thank you's" promptly to people - i.e. they've
given you a referral, a great piece of information,
someone's name as a possible Joint Venture partner, etc.

11) Have a system in place that captures people's names and
contact information so that you can keep in touch.

12) Keep track of clients' birthdays, business anniversary
dates, when you started working together, and send cards
(via mail or email) to mark these milestones.

13) Send out a weekly or bi-weekly ezine or newsletter to
all your prospects and customers.

If you incorporate a consistent follow-up strategy into
your marketing activities, it will allow people to know,
like and trust you; give them information that they can
use; exhibit the value and results you can provide, and of
course, see your sales climb!

----------------------------------------------------
Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, delivers
simple, innovative and powerful marketing strategies to
help business owners find and keep their most profitable
clients. To learn more about how she can help you take
your business to the next level, and to sign up for her
FREE special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at
http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com

Listen to Your Employees - You May Have Something to Learn

Listen to Your Employees - You May Have Something to Learn
When an employee approaches you with a need to communicate
at whatever level, set aside your work for the moment, and
give the speaker your undivided attention. The way you
listen to your employees has a major impact on their morale
and work performance.

Do not interrupt the talker at mid sentence; it's a sign
you're not listening. Allow some pause before jumping in.
Smile and lean forward. It's a sign that you are fully
engaged in listening. Ask questions, even though you
understand what's being discussed. Questions tell the
person that you are listening. Paraphrasing indicates that
you are listening and trying to fully understand the topic.
Questioning also aids retention of the conversation. It has
been said that 50% of the conversation is retained
immediately afterwards. Two weeks later the figure drops to
25%.

Motivation - Most employees have a genuine interest in the
well being of the company. The main motivators are
advancement, type of work, and a company to be proud of. It
has been found that pay, benefits, and working conditions
take a back seat. Listening to your employees is a large
motivator. [Other important motivators are rewards on
performance, accessibility to the boss, and knowing what is
over the horizon.]

Employees want to know that they are contributing to
company success and their suggestions can make a
difference. When they sense that they are ignored or put
down, they can develop a resentment, which impacts their
care for the good of the company. Explain that you are
grateful for their effort and interested in their ideas,
but you may not adopt them without further study.

You will be amazed at the quality of ideas and increase in
productivity when you give your employees respect and
recognition for their dedication and willingness to
contribute.

Not just face to face - Communications can take many forms,
such as larger meetings, phone calls, memos,
teleconferences, or video calls, and personal letters.
Acknowledging these communications assures the employee
that you have listened, you consider new ideas valuable,
and you will give attention to questions in the future.
Providing new communications tools empowers employees to be
more productive and provide excellent service to customers.
Listening to employees is a form of feedback, and the
manager needs to learn the response to his actions.
Feedback from sales people will telegraph what the customer
is saying and what their needs are.

Working closely with employees, sharing information about
the company's goals and listening to feedback and
suggestions will help you to develop a cohesive team that
is committed to achieving company goals. Listening and
sharing goes a long way in assuring success in the
organization.

----------------------------------------------------
For more management and leadership articles, please visit
http://www.CrassCaptain.com . Find Christine Casey-Cooper's
new book, entitled The Crass Captain's Guide to
Organizational Dysfunction, on Amazon soon.