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Too much work?
Managers often have the heaviest workload in the department, especially when their management responsibilities are as well as another job role. Because the demands of being a manager can ebb and flow, it’s especially important for managers to be aware of how they manage their time.
In particular, those who’ve recently been promoted to management may find themselves struggling with their new responsibilities on top of their old job. Promoting internally is a tricky business – so we’ve written a separate blog post especially on the subject of tips for promoting from within your organisation!
Of everyone in the organisation, it’s most likely that a manager finds themselves with shifting priorities and unexpected demands through the working day – dealing with issues from the team can mean other work is left to pile up.
Here are our Top Ten Time Management Tips for Managers:
1. Plan – take time to make time
Time spent planning is not time wasted at the expense of doing. A bit of time spent in understanding what needs to be done, and planning how to achieve it, will have a massive return on investment. Training and coaching staff can seem like an interruption to other work, but will pay off in the long run.
Try not to plan for every moment of your day; leave time for dealing with unexpected tasts and for adapting to interruptions and changing priorities. Read the rest of "10 Time Management Tips for Managers"
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Posted by Andy Trainer in Management Skills Training, Time Management Training on May 11th, 2012 | No Comments »
I really enjoyed watching The Fixer last Tuesday on BBC2. With her usual style and panache Alex Polizzi advises a failing family car repair garage, Guidebridge MOT in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester.
Honestly (some would say brutally) she administers her hard truths about customer service, organisation and marketing.
When the fleet inspector arrives (fleet work is the name for servicing done for companies with many vehicles to service), he tells her that he likes to find the s**t in people! This is apparently an acronym for:
- Sincerity
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Trust
With usual sharp wit Alex responds “so you want me to help them get their s**t together.”
Customer service has never been more important in my opinion. The family were under the impression that their customer service was good. They then demonstrated otherwise by keeping customers waiting without any explanation of when their vehicles would be ready. Not only that, but customers were made to wait in an area that in her own words “one would want to slit your wrists in”.
In the training business, there are times when clients need answers to questions that only trainers can respond to, so sometimes although we prefer to give all clients immediate responses to their questions we may need to wait for a response ourselves. It is important at all times to keep the customer informed of progress. A polite email or phone call is all it takes to explain any delays so the customer knows exactly when they can expect what they are looking for. It is imperative to keep communication going, nobody likes to be ignored.
A lack of marketing seems to be a common theme in the series. Alex suggests to the garage that they revisit an old idea “Women at the Wheel” where women were invited to a free session enabling them to learn to change a tyre, fill their oil and water etc. Everybody loves a freebie, and if it encourages potential clients to revisit you, even better.
Once customers receive a great or free deal, you have built a relationship with a potential paying client – you now have their trust and have gone a long way towards sorting your s**t out! These potential clients are much more likely to come back, and loyalty is what you are looking for especially in the service industry.
The highlight of the programme for me was when Alex turned up to the “woman at the wheel” event dressed in leathers.
Alex Polizzi in Leathers
I loved the look on the daughter’s face when she emerged from her car! Read the rest of "Leathered Alex Polizzi Helps Businesses Get Their S**t Together"
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Posted by Heather Buckley in Leadership Training, Management Skills Training on February 24th, 2012 | No Comments »
Many people would think you were mad if you decided to start a business in 2012. All we hear is doom and gloom from the papers about the lack of investment and lack of opportunities. However, there are always opportunities for those willing to branch out and many businesses actually thrive in a recession. If you are looking to start your own venture then one of the best investments you can make is in training. There a number of essential courses for new managers and business owners including Management Skills for New Managers Training and Leadership Training. If you are looking for a more specific skill then we do have a wide range of business skills training course.
Starting a business can be like entering a maze unless you have the right tools.
It is also important to ensure that all of your staff are trained to the same level. Boosting the skills of your employees is one of the most beneficial investments a business owner can make. One of our most popular courses for new or expanding businesses is Social Media training. This will allow you and your employees to build a strong brand identity and solid customer relationship – the key to a successful business.
In this guest post the author guides prospective start ups through 4 steps to starting a successful small business…
Setting up and running a business can be rewarding on both a personal and a professional level, but before leaping in with both feet, budding entrepreneurs should follow the basic steps needed to get their enterprise off to a good start.
Start with a solid business plan
Take the time to sit down and write out a detailed business plan that should include projected costings and expected income. Far from being a useless formality, the process of writing a comprehensive plan will help you to clarify key issues, such as how you will produce your product, how you will find potential customers, and how you will market your product to those customers.
A business plan can also help you to avoid costly mistakes because it will help you to rule out strategies that are not likely to suit your particular mode of business. This is much better than trying a “hit or miss” approach to manufacture and marketing. Unfortunately, those types of efforts almost always miss more than they hit. Read the rest of "4 Tips for Starting a Small Business"
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Posted by Guest Author in Business Analysis & Systems Development, Business Analysis Training, Leadership Training, Management Skills Training on March 9th, 2012 | No Comments »
“Never feel bad for being assertive, speaking your mind, and putting your foot down. What you think is anger, others see as a good solid display of self-esteem. ” – Alison James
This guest post from our Assertiveness & Confidence Building trainer Sofie explains how assertiveness leads to improved self-confidence. The full 2-day workshop covers techniques for confidence building and boosting self esteem.
Positive communication
It is important to note that being assertive is not about being aggressive.
Assertiveness is a form of positive communication that can be learnt and applied to all areas of your life. It is the skill of knowing and defending your rights but at the same time understanding that others have rights too.
When someone is asserting themselves their primary focus should be on reaching a joint solution, which meets the needs of both people involved. In other words ‘I’m OK and you’re OK’. It is not about getting angry or making someone bow to your demands. This type of aggressive communication is manipulative and threatening and not at all considerate of other people. Equally other non-assertive ways to communicate include passive and passive-aggressive behaviours. Read the rest of "How Being Assertive Leads to Greater Self-Confidence"
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Posted by Guest Author in Assertiveness Training, Management Skills Training on February 10th, 2012 | 1 Comment »
A happy workplace is a productive workplace, but in every business, large and small, but especially small, there will be the inevitable conflicts caused by a team of individuals working in close proximity to one another. The source of the conflicts might be petty arguments that are either professional or personal in nature, but petty arguments can quickly escalate into full blown feuds.
Feuds, which if left unresolved will damage the productivity of your business and cause it to haemorrhage money at an alarming rate.
As Spiderman knows, with power comes responsibility. As a manager it is your job to handle conflicts in your business and not just let them fester. However, with the right Management Training, you’ll be confident when handling arguments. Conflict Management Training is a specialised private course that gives you the right tools, techniques and theories to handle conflict and shows you how to use them in practical situations.
The following five tips are an essential guide in reaching an amicable resolution to any conflict which might rear its ugly head in the workplace:
What’s The Problem?
First things first, in this day and age you can’t just solve the problem by banging your employees’ heads together and ignoring the root problem which caused the conflict in the first place. It is essential that all parties involved know exactly what the issue causing the conflict is. Allow everyone to express their opinions, perspectives and thoughts and make sure everyone agrees that there’s a problem. Once the nature of the problem is established you can best identify how the problem can be resolved. Read the rest of "5 Tips to Overcome Work Place Conflicts in a Small Business"
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Posted by Guest Author in Leadership Training, Management Skills Training on January 27th, 2012 | No Comments »
This week the government unveiled details of a number of proposals to shake up employment laws.
The changes are in response to the Beecroft report, released in October, which claimed that unfair dismissal rules are having a major impact on British businesses and sought to remove employee rights.
David Cameron backed the report but it met strong opposition from Lib Dems, Labour and Unions. However, Vince Cable has now announced that from April 2012 the period within which employees are not entitled to claim unfair dismissal will extend from 1 to 2 years.
He also revealed a set of proposals and reforms for consideration that will further reduce the number of unfair dismissals.
Why Are Employment Law Changes Necessary?
The number of employment tribunals has risen by 40% in the past three years, and are costing businesses a vast amount of money. By introducing these reforms, the government believes businesses will save £40 million a year.
These reforms are backed by businesses who claim that they have no power to fire employees who are under performing or ‘coasting’ as the report puts it. Small businesses are especially in fear of tribunals as they can be very costly. This has led to a reluctance to take on new staff as SMEs (small and medium enterprises) can’t then justify sacking them if they don’t work out.
However, there is opposition from Labour and Unions who believe this amounts to stripping away employee rights, will not decrease the number of tribunals and will lead to a ‘hire and fire‘ culture.
Giving more power to SMEs could lead to more managers taking the autocratic business approach made famous by Steve Jobs and Alan Sugar, and they’ve done pretty well in business.
So what is the government proposing to do to employment law and how will it affect businesses and employees? Read the rest of "How Employment Law Changes Will Affect Businesses"
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Posted by Craig Charley in Human Resources Training, Management Skills Training on November 25th, 2011 | No Comments »
Management Training: Performance Management
One of the most daunting tasks for any manager, and especially a newly appointed manager (who often manage people who were formerly at the same level), is dealing with poor performance. However – not dealing with poor performance will, in the long run, give a manager much bigger problems to overcome.
We cover Performance Management in detail on our Management Training and Leadership Training programmes, as well as on our Appraisals Training Course. All of these courses run on a public basis in Brighton, Sussex.
This article provides some practical advice for managers on how to prepare for, conduct, and follow up a meeting to tackle poor performance
Preparing to raise the issue
1. Define and clarify the problem
- What is the basis of your concern, and is this justified? Is the problem serious enough to warrant action? Can you, and should you, live with it or is the behaviour or performance unacceptable?
- What, precisely, is the gap between the person’s behaviour/performance and what is required?
- ‘Attitude problems’ must be redefined clearly and specifically in terms of the observable behaviour manifested by the person concerned and its effects. Performance problems need to be quantified or described with reference to agreed and clearly defined standards and guidelines.
- What change do you want to result from the discussion? You cannot raise an issue without having a clear picture of the new behaviour or revised level of performance you expect from the member of staff.
- What facts/evidence do you have? Are you happy about the information you have, and about its source? If you need more information, from where can you get it? What records or other sources of data exist? Is there anyone else to whom you need to speak?
Read the rest of "Management Training Tips: How to Address Poor Performance"
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Posted by Andy Trainer in Management Skills Training on April 21st, 2011 | 2 Comments »
performance appraisals training
Regular staff appraisals are important even if you only have one employee.
They should not be intimidating or need to be formal, but they should be clear and well planned. You should aim to schedule performance appraisals at lease every six months.
Silicon Beach Training provide regular Performance Appraisals Training courses in Brighton, Sussex. Other HR Training courses include Train the Trainer courses, PRINCE2 Training, ITIL Training and MSP Training.
Performance appraisals should make your employees aware of how well you think they are doing. It is an opportunity to tell them if you are pleased with their performance and use the opportunity to encourage and reward. It is also an opportunity to raise issues if you are not satisfied with their performance. The aim is to to help them understand where there is room for improvement and it is important to suggest how they might accomplish this improvement.
Be Specific
Don’t make sweeping statements like “You need to get your act together.” Chances are that they don’t know they are under performing or what they should be doing differently.
Allow your employees to air their own opinions.
A appraisal should provide an opportunity for your employee to discuss their future within your business or organisation, and they should be made comfortable to raise any issues that might concern them. This allows them to vent any frustrations they might be feeling. This may be the only opportunity for them to have you listen sincerely and objectively to what they say.
Remember it is a two way process.
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Posted by Heather Buckley in Human Resources Training, Management Skills Training on December 21st, 2010 | 2 Comments »
