Take care of business yourself
November 13, 2012 By
When you work for a big company, you get used to sending stuff off to different departments – sending expenses to the finance department, phoning the IT department for technical assistance, calling on the marketing department for help with events and conferences. However, if you move to starting your own business, you’ll soon realise that you have to wear several different hats during the course of the day.
Working for yourself, the buck falls to you on almost every front. Not only do you have to work on making sales or winning contracts, but you also have to take care of all the back office functions – at least until you’re successful enough to be able to hire employees or to outsource certain functions.
The good thing is that if there’s something you don’t know how to do, you can always find out how. The internet is a great source of information on how to do things. And most processes are relatively simple; they just seem complicated when you have never done them before.
For example, anyone can keep the books for a company; it’s just a question of keeping accurate records. You can do the donkey work in terms of filing receipts, expenses, income etc, and then pay an accountant to check them over and audit them for you.
Similarly, you can organise a money transfer whether it’s domestic or international, as these can be done online. So whether you need to pay invoices on a regular basis or have one off payments to make, you can do this from the comfort of your own desk once your business bank account is online. It’s also a good idea to set up a foreign exchange account for the times that you need to move money internationally.
Whatever function you need for your business, it’s possible to find a way of doing it yourself, and if not, you should buy in assistance on an ad hoc basis rather than taking on an employee. This will be the cheapest option and will save you the necessity of complying with regulation for employees such as sick pay and holiday pay.
A Textbook of Social Work
August 11, 2012 By
When Professionals Weep
March 27, 2012 By
Time Management Thoughts Part 1-Equal Distribution
October 26, 2011 By
No one has enough time, but everyone has all there is. This is the great paradox of time. Time is the one resource that is equally distributed to all
Time Management – the Imperative
Irreplaceable and irretrievable- time is the most critical of resources. The ability to organise and manage time is an imperative, for without it nothing els can be managed
Anticipation
Anticipatory action is generally more effective than remedial action. Assume that if anything can go wrong it will. (Murphy’s Law0
Planning
The great majority of problems arise from action without thought. Every hour spent in effective planning g saves three to four in execution and achieves better results. By failing to plan you are planning to fail. [Read more...]
Key Interpersonal Skills for Managers (Part 2)
September 30, 2011 By
Key Interpersonal Skills for Managers (Part 2)
Supporting Behaviours continued.
Supporting behaviours are the most vital interpersonal skills for managers as they are key to motivating staff and making them want to work hard for themselves and the organisation. These so-called “soft skills” are some of the very hardest to develop for some managers involving, as they do, a large measure of self control and anger management for some! Some staff will bait managers and openly seek confrontation, but creating an environment where such behaviour has no place is the managerial challenge.
- Recognising Contribution – This skill is about making sure that staff are given positive feedback and appropriate praise for work well done. It also means that ideas and developments initiated by a particular member of staff are also attributed appropriately. Some managers will take personal credit for their staff’s own work. Teamwork is fine, but individual effort towards a team goal needs recognising.
- Managing Disrespect – This means managing disrespect and put-downs between staff and workgroups as well as open conflict and disrespect with managers. A culture of zero tolerance for bullying and unpleasant confrontation, or underhand sneakiness or “getting away with murder” makes a superior and supportive place to work.
- Removing Obstacles – Staff will often get thwarted in what they are expected to do because of problems with resources, or other staff, or even relationships with the manager. It is the manager’s responsibility to not only listen so that he or she is aware of obstacles getting in the way of effective working