Is there something, or more than one thing you can to do help assure you have a successful day? I think that your morning routineslead to success throughout the day. For those of you who aren’t “morning people” and your “morning” starts in the afternoon, consider these afternoon routines that can lead to success.
Get up early. If you normally get up at 6 am (or noon) get up an hour earlier. Set that time aside to work on your own personal projects or to get a work out in. Look at that hour as a gift you’re giving yourself.
Check the news in your industry. Read through trade journals, listen to podcasts, catch up on the ezines you subscribe to but rarely read. Staying on top of the trends in your niche will keep you competitive.
Strategize. Pull out your calendar — whether paper or virtual — and make notes of the calls you have to take or return, what one project you want to finish today, what three things you can do to move your business ever forward and help you attain higher success.
Organize. Use time blocking techniques to help you get more done. Set aside X number of hours (or minutes) to chip away at a big project. Set aside a couple of hours to tackle regular daily work chores. Writing down what you need to accomplish will hold you to task.
Check your work email after you’ve planned your day and have you’ve strategized. Don’t use the additional hour you’re giving yourself to plunge into email or social media. That hour should be electronic-free (unless you’re using your FitBit to track your steps during your morning workout!)
What routines do you have that help you get and keep focused and keep you moving toward success?
Are you a middle manager? Are you looking for a way to move up the corporate ladder? Middle managers face unique challenges as they are navigating the corporate environment of appeasing clients and bosses and cultivating the talent of the team they supervise. How can you thrive in your position? Here are some ideas that middle management individuals will want to consider:
You need to always have a “leadership mindset.” What this means is that you need to be forward thinking and lead your team through example rather than micromanagement. Increase your influence by focusing on the people, rather than the tasks you are charged with.
Cultivate your communication skills. The nature of your work means you are literally in the middle — between your staff and upper level management — and you need to foster communication between all parties. Ensuring open lines of communication lends itself to moving projects forward, asking for resources and delegating. Work on clear communication to minimize miscommunication.
Coach those on your staff to help them develop their talents. Sure, they may develop their talents to a level where they can move up the ranks, and that only shines a light on you if you worked with them to develop and grow into a new position. If your staff rarely moves up into newer, higher level positions, you may need to look at your management style to see if you’re perhaps not encouraging growth.
Middle management isn’t the easy path to navigate as you’re faced with finite resources in both personnel and resources, but it’s up to you to make the most of them and let your light shine. What have you done in your middle management position to grow?
Entrepreneurs know that there are ebbs and flows when it comes to business income and expenses. A way to play for those ebbs in cash flow is to have a plan in place for them — prior to the cash influx slow down. Here are my tips for financial planning for entrepreneurs:
Define goals. If you know your financial goals, you can set a course to meet them.
Know your current financial situation. If you’re unaware of your financial situation or your income and expenses you may either find yourself panicking when you don’t need to or you might overspend when you don’t have cash in the bank to cover your spending.
Build, and protect, wealth. When you’re in a financial upswing, set aside money to plan for that rainy day. Have a savings account for your business. Put money into your retirement account. Talk with a financial planner to assure your retirement goals will be met.
Speaking of retirement… plan for it. You will want to retire at some point and you need to decide what that point is and plan for it. What will you need to have in your bank account in order to survive and enjoy your Golden Years? Determine that and work with a financial planner to help you make that happen.
What’s your legacy? Do you want to leave money to your children or grandchildren? Do you plan to sell your business when you retire? What assets will you need to divest yourself of, and how?
Being a business owner is an ideal way to live life, just make your plans — early on in your business phase — for your eventual retirement. You’ve earned it!
There is no one size fits all for success in business or in life for that matter. There are, however, steps that you can take to help amp up the possibilities for success in both areas. I urge you to take a look at these tips and see if any of them might fit into your personal or professional life and use them if you find them helpful.
Don’t over-complicate things. If you make something difficult, chances are you won’t follow through — why would you? You could very well be taking a simple issue and making it harder than it has to be. Remember the acronym K.I.S.S.? Keep It Simple Silly (It’s actually Stupid, but I don’t like that word)
Write a daily to-do list. What gets written down, gets done. It’s that simple. Beware of making a to-do list that is overly long or overly complicated as its sheer size will lead you to procrastination. A thoughtfully planned to-do list will help you accomplish more than you imagined possible.
Do good. Yes, you’re in business to make a living, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do good and make your corner of the world a better place.
Open your mind to new possibilities. You may not want to say yes to every opportunity, but keeping your mind open will help you succeed in business and in life.
Move forward. Keeping a forward momentum will help you achieve more in life than will spinning your wheels. Even when things look bleak, move forward.
Another tip I have to offer is to ask for help. No one is an island and we just can’t do it all ourselves. Build a team for your business. Delegate those items at which you don’t excel so you can concentrate on your core competencies.
Attending a networking event is not a race to the finish line of “who has collected the most business cards.” Instead, networking and attending events should be about meeting potential clients, getting to know them, building a relationship that takes you beyond the initial meeting.
Networking is not a one-way street. It is something that should be mutually beneficial. A better way to look at networking is to approach it from a “what can I give back that will matter to the individuals I am meeting.” Here are some tips you can implement to be more of a giver at your next networking event:
Be inclusive. If you see someone standing off on the sidelines, invite him or her into your conversation or strike up a conversation between the two of you.
Be authentic. Business people are savvy and they will know if you’re showboating.
Introduce individuals you’ve met with others in the room with whom you believe they will have a connection.
Reach out after the event. If you have a solution to a problem that one of the attendees mentioned, reach out and offer your solution — no questions asked.
Volunteer your time. If the group you’re attending has an opportunity to be a volunteer, take it. Become invaluable.
Be social after the event. Connect with people on social media. Share their posts, comment on their blogs.
Do you find that networking events help you grow your business? What is your best-networking tip?
Whether you run a business with a virtual team or you have a brick and mortar location, communication is key to a healthy workplace environment. As an entrepreneur who has virtual staff, I am highly cognizant of the need for effective communication, especially as the team typically “talks” via email and instant messaging. Without the body language to go along with the words, there is no tone or frame of reference and this can make virtual communication a murky water to tread. I believe my team and I understand each other well enough to know that if there is miscommunication, we will stop the conversation, ask for clarification and hash it out.
Here are my tips for good workplace communication:
Assess and define the problem. Without understanding the root cause of the misunderstanding, it is difficult to address it and communicate more clearly.
Work with the individuals involved in the miscommunication to get to the underlying issue and resolve it. Your managers may take this role on with their own staff, but if it cannot be resolved, you as the business owner, will want to step in.
Don’t design a solution to resolve the problem until you thoroughly understand what caused it originally. You will also want to get everyone involved as a mandate from management to “communicate better” will not be effective.
Evaluate the success of the solution you’re attempting to implement. Give it a time frame of, say 60 days, reconvene and see whether it’s been effective.
If the solution you tried originally is not achieving the desired results, you will want to sit down with all parties involved, open up a dialogue and not leave the room until it’s addressed. There are times you will find when personalities simply don’t mesh and there may not be a “fix” to the communication issue other than to reassign individuals — it is a drastic, last step measure to be sure, but one that shouldn’t be completely ruled out.
