Category: Tools and Information

Five Things The HR Department Won’t Tell You | Forbes

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I became an HR person in 1984, the same year the Cubs got to the postseason for the first time since 1945.

I did not apply for an HR job. My boss John moved me into HR from my old department, Order Processing. He said “This will be good for you, and for our company” and he was right.

I moved into my new office over a weekend. The culture shock was immediate. My office had a window in it, and blinds for privacy. I would look out my office window at the employees doing their jobs.

Supervisors made appointments to come and see me and talk about their employees, and I always wondered “How come my time is available to the managers much more than to the employees, who need more help and support?”
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How to Radically Improve Your Writing in Under 2 Minutes | Inc.com

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We’re already more than a week into January, but I’m still slowly working my way through all the “best of” year-end lists out there (there are so many of them!). Combing through all these recommendations may be time-consuming, but it’s worth the commitment, I’ve found, as sometimes you turn up an absolute gem you missed earlier in the year.

Take a post titled “The Two Minutes It Takes To Read This Will Improve Your Writing Forever” by marketer Josh Spector, for example. As short as it is useful, the piece is one of the most recommended posts of 2016, Medium informs me. It’s not hard to see why.

Spector offers five dead simple changes you can make to basically any piece of writing in a matter of seconds that will make it much more forceful and compelling. We’d all enjoy reading a bit more if more of writers followed his tips:

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Better Business Etiquette During Phone Calls | The Startup Magazine

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Whether you are on your mobile phone, at home, or at work, the following are 8 helpful telephone etiquette tips that everybody should always use.

  1. At the beginning of a call always identify yourself.

A) When you are at the office, always answer your phone by saying: “Good Morning/Hello, Accounting Department, Sandy Smith speaking.”

B) From your cell phone, either state your name or just say Hello. “Hello, Sandy Smith here.” Don’t answer your phone by saying something like “yes” or “yeah.”

C) Whenever you place a phone call, you should always say your name and the name of the individual you are calling to speak to. Example: “Hello this is Sandy Smith from ABC Incorporated. May I please speak with Mr. John Doe?”

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Changing Your Business Name? Don’t Put Your Credit at Risk | AllBusiness.com

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Changing your business name can be a lot of work, and, quite frankly, a hassle. But can it also put your business’s credit history at risk?

Kimberly Wilson is about to find out. In 2006, she started First Step Therapy, a counseling and training business, and grew it into multiple locations. A few years ago she took a hiatus from that business to earn her doctorate degree, and now she’s ready to relaunch her business. She has chosen a new name that reflects her new vision for the company. It will be called First Step International Consulting & Counseling Services and will offer training for individuals, businesses, and professionals.

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4 Mistakes That Ruin Business Meetings | Business News Daily

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Business meetings have a longstanding reputation for being unexciting, boring and a waste of time. Entertainment and stock photos characterize meetings with scenes of bored employees watching the clock, rolling their eyes and falling asleep while the presenter seems to drone on interminably.

Though the representations on TV and photos seem overdone, they’re true to life. According to a recent survey by enterprise intranet company Igloo Software, about half of all employees find meetings to be unproductive. More specifically, employees are annoyed with unnecessary meetings (76 percent), meetings going off-topic (59 percent) and people repeating one another (58 percent).

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  Why Businesses are Abandoning Travel and Turning to Video | Getentrepreneurial.com

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Reduced travel is one of the biggest benefits of video conferencing. Less travel to conferences means that businesses do not have to spend enormous amounts of time and money on travel. However, less travel is not the only advantage of using a video conferencing app to speak to your colleagues, clients and partners.

There are a number of benefits of speaking virtually to your coworkers, including increased productivity and efficiency, better communications, enhanced business opportunities and advantage over your competitors. Read on to learn more about the advantages of turning to video for your business needs.

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The Secrets To Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions | Fast Company 

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If you’re like the majority of Americans, you’re probably thinking about making a New Year’s resolution. From losing weight to getting organized, spending less/saving more, and enjoying life to the fullest (last year’s top four resolutions), we often make grand plans every January.

Unfortunately, just 8% of us will be successful, according to Statistic Brain. But your odds don’t have to be so disheartening. We’ve compiled the best advice that can put you in the 8% that make it happen. Good luck!

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Getting Off The Fence: Hobby vs. Business | marketingforhippies.com

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Is what you do a hobby or is it a business?

This is an important question to answer because most entrepreneurs I know are on the fence about it.

There’s no right or wrong answer to it. But I know a lot of people who say it’s one and do it like the other.

My friend Theo drives for UPS. He loves his job. It’s his meditation. He offers massage for free on the side as his gift to the community. It’s a hobby for him.

But I know a lot of people who are baffled by why their business isn’t growing and, when I look at it, it’s clear. They aren’t treating it like a business. They don’t invest in it. They don’t work on it as well as in it. They don’t make systems. They do everything on their own. They haven’t sorted out their niche. None of which would matter if it were a hobby.

If you treat it like a hobby, it will never grow like a business might (and, to be frank, even if you treat it like a business, there are no guarantees it will grow at all).

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How to Make 2017 a Great Year for Your Business | Duct Tape Marketing

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I’m afraid this isn’t going to be the typical end of the year wrap-up/prediction post.

Nothing wrong with those, I’ve done them in the past, but today I simply want to share what I hope.

I hope this for my own business, and I hope this for anyone struggling to make meaning, get unstuck, grow, change, reconnect, start, or stop.

So often we take stock at the end of the year and for a brief moment may even experience something like optimism for the upcoming year. But, then the same patterns sneak back in, and by the end of January, nothing seems much different.

For 2017 to be the year that you breakthrough or out the only thing you really need to change is your mind.

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How Entrepreneurs Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable | Entrepreneur

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You can’t be a successful entrepreneur if you’re afraid of being uncomfortable. Strange as that may sound, it’s a reality you’re going to have to face if you want to own and grow a business. Countless entrepreneurs, from Richard Branson to Mark Zuckerberg, have professed the importance of taking chances and pushing yourself past your “comfort zone,” but what does that actually mean? And how on earth are so many entrepreneurs able to tolerate immense mental discomfort and do things that scare, intimidate or otherwise cause them distress?

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