Posts Tagged ‘productivity’
The three pillars of a sustainable business
When you search for images of an ancient Greek temple, most of what you see will have at least a foundation and columns remaining. This image springs to mind when I think of a sustainable business. The foundation is the mission. The columns are the business pillars of happy employees, loyal clients, and business goals. …
Read MoreThe one question that will transform your performance reviews
You can throw company happy hours, host team dinners, buy pinball machines and eliminate job titles all you want. But once you put an employee in a performance review, there is a strict hierarchy of who reports to whom. And that hierarchy is what makes it challenging to get good feedback: the employee knows you…
Read MoreWhy scaling is better than growth for your business
Growing your business means adding parts. More clients, more employees, more desks, more anything. Scaling your business means that your revenue increases, but your resources stay about the same. More clients, but without more of everything else. Why scaling is better than growing If doubling your client numbers means doubling the resources you need to…
Read MoreThe Glue Your Business Needs Every Day
What has to happen in your business? When people think of business functions, they tend to list marketing, sales, finance, human resources, maybe production as well. However you make your list, there is one fundamental business function that ties all the rest together; the glue that makes it work, if you will. Management. Collaborate more…
Read MoreWho are you hiring?
You have described the problem you are solving and used that to decide what role you need to hire. Let’s now transition to “who” you have to hire. And yes, I did say transition. It’s a journey, not a step. Hiring for impact Answer one question before making further decisions: Which roles have the biggest…
Read MoreHumans vs. Machines: Who Wins?
In the eternal struggle between humans and machines, I have come to trust the opinion of chess champion Gary Kasparov. Not least because his opinion has changed over time and as he examined results. His conclusion is: machines are better than humans at some things. Humans are better than machines at some things. And nobody…
Read MoreWrite job roles, not job titles
What has to happen in your business? This is an easy one. Sales, marketing, human resources, finance, and let’s add legal and customer service. To begin with, anyway. Here’s the catch: imagine you hire a new marketing employee. And you tell this person to “do marketing”. What are they doing all day? Is it what…
Read MoreWhy and how to check in with your employees
The number one secret to having happy customers is having happy employees. No matter what else you have in place, if your employees don’t like what they do, customers will notice, and they won’t like working with you. When you are thinking about how to gather customer feedback, remember that employee feedback should be part…
Read MoreDo you know when a job is done?
A job isn’t done until it’s done. But when is it done? In your business, how do you know that the right things are happening, at the right time, and with the right outcome? Too often, people answer these questions saying “when the task is complete”. That might answer the first question, but it does…
Read MoreStart New Habits Today
Goals, Success, and Growth don’t come about with plans alone: they require good habits. Habits — or behaviors — that produce the right results. But habits, we all know, are hard to break. This means they are also hard to form: for every new habit we must break an old one. Here are a few…
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