When it comes to social media there is an ever-increasing number of online channels which can be used to quickly spread the word about your projects, products and services. But the wide range of choices available and the software available to manage social media can be daunting.

When it comes to managing your social media, consider what your business priorities are and what areas you need to focus on daily, weekly or monthly. Planning your social media activity is crucial!

We’ve made life a little easier with our updated downloadable free Social Media Schedule .PDF!

Daily

Daily social media tasks are crucial for maintaining your image and conversing with others. While it is not time effectively to always be on Twitter and Facebook you want to make sure you respond to any communication quickly.

• Twitter – Tweet and respond to tweets and retweets – Tools such as TweetDeck and HootSuite are great ways to manage Twitter and if there’s a topic you want to keep an eye on you can create a search column using the related hashtag.
• Google+ – respond to mentions and comments on your posts, scan the feed for interesting content to +1.
• Facebook – check your profile, pages and groups and respond as appropriate.
• LinkedIn – respond to private messages and posts/comments in your groups if you have any.
• Blogs – Respond to comments on your own blog posts – this opens up a dialogue between you and your users/followers, maximising opportunities for business relationships and reciprical marketing.
• Bookmarking - Scan what’s popular on bookmarking and recommendation sites such as Delicious, Stumbleupon and Digg and then add your own bookmarks accordingly.
• Analytics – Google Analytics is the main choice for clear and concise information and it now features real time reporting. This is great as you can monitor your traffic from social media channels during campaigns to find our what elements of your social media strategy are the most successful.

Weekly Read the rest of "Managing Social Media Networks"

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Posted by Heather Buckley in SEO Training, Social Media Training on October 21st, 2011 | 2 Comments »

When learning to manage your time, make sure that you allow yourself time to do things that make you happy. What do you enjoy doing? Don’t fall into the trap to ignoring your need to take time out occasionally. It may mean having a little less time to accomplish tasks that need to be done, however it can give you the energy and put you in a state of mind that can actually help to accomplish tasks more quickly in the long run.

Writing a list of goals will give you the idea that you are in control that in turn can help your confidence to accomplish these goals as you are already anticipating success when you start your plan of action. This will boost your self confidence

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on October 26th, 2007 | No Comments »

One of the main benefits of proper time management is that it allows you to get done what you need to on time and in an efficient manner. This in turn not only will make your life a lot easier but also, as one might expect, a lot less stressful. Stress is a common symptom amongst any group of working individuals, however this does not have to be the case, all that is needed is a mixture of proper time management and taking time out every once and a while to relax. However whilst it is the case that how you manage your time will have one of the greatest impacts on lowering your stress levels, here are some other useful tips on relieving stress that you might find helpful.

We also offer a practical Stress Management course.

Take a deep breath.

This one may sound old and clichéd but there is a good reason for this. You’d be surprised just how relaxing it can be, take several if you need to, and just shut your eyes and take long drawn out breaths until you feel yourself relaxing.

Get perspective.

It may seem as though what you are concerned about now is the most important thing in the world, but I can almost guarantee it is not. Try and realise that some things are out of your control and that there is a difference not completing a task and failure.

Be an optimist.

If your one of those people that always sees the worst in a situation then try it the other way round for a change. Many people tend to have a very negative outlook when it comes to something as important as work and don’t realise how damaging that this can be. It will not only make it a lot harder to enjoy your job but is will also affect people around you and the working atmosphere in general, which will only make things worse.

Organise office.

Your office, or working area, is where you will get the bulk of your work done and consequently where you will spend the most time. If then it is the case that you can’t even remember what colour your office floor is then it might well be time for some spring cleaning.

Stay on top.

Don’t allow your self to be overcome by the work, know what you can and can’t handle and stick to your limits. If you have stretched yourself too far and are working on too many things at once then prioritise which ones are of the greatest importance to you and focus on that. There is no point in doing a dozen jobs badly, instead try for quality not quantity.

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on April 17th, 2009 | No Comments »

image by Umberto Salvagnin

Trying to fit too much into a little time can be very stressful. Stress and lack of sleep are also bad for your health and can contribute towards heart disease and high blood pressure. Staying up late and getting up early can take it’s toll. Your may think that sleep seems to be a waste of time, that you have far more important things to accomplish.

For more time management tips come on one of our popular time managment training courses in Brighton, Sussex.

A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine in America shows just how good a midday siesta can be for you.

The study of Greek people shows that those who took a break from the stresses of their job by taking a nap showed a much lower risk of heart disease, they also had lower stress hormone levels.
Between one and three in the afternoon is the most effective time to nap when the body’s temperature has peaked and is dropping. How does this save time? If you nap for 15 minutes midday then your performance levels are considerably higher. You make less mistakes and can think more clearly. Naps should be for not longer then 45 mins. You do not have to lie down, just get comfortable, support your head and shut your eyes – you should not fall into a deep sleep. It can help to darken the room if possible. A power nap of 15 -20 minutes right before an important meeting or a test can dramatically improve your performance and concentration..

Other strategies for coping with stress are covered in our Stress Management training course.

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on November 16th, 2007 | No Comments »

Practice time management with your hoover

One of the biggest aspects of proper time management is organisation. This is not only in how you organise what you work on and when you do it but also how you work and where you do it.

You can improve your general time managment by attending one of our popular time management courses in Brighton, Sussex.

An office can be a very claustrophobic environment and it is easy to feel cramped or overwhelmed. If this is the case then it is pretty much a certainty that your work will be affected as a result. A clear office space that is clean and tidy will present you with a much nicer and more workable environment. Indeed you’d be surprised just how much the quality of someone’s work improves when they are in the correct mindset. With this in mind it is worth your while in not only tidying up but also decorating your room so it is a nicer environment to work in. Although beware of giving yourself too many distractions.

One of the biggest advantages to making your office more respectable is that it significantly improves your ability to find things. If you can somehow cut out the 15-20 minutes you spend everyday looking for that ever elusive stapler or other miscellaneous items you’d be surprised at the results.

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on April 22nd, 2009 | No Comments »

And don’t just take our word for it – here’s what the great and the good have to say about Time Management:

Samuel Smiles
“Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.”

William Penn
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”

Alan Lakein
“Time equals life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.”

William Shakespeare
“Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.”

Charles Richards
“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.”

Louis E. Boone
“I am definitely going to take a course on time management… just as soon as I can work it into my schedule.”

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on May 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

This free management resource provides advice and tips useful for managers who are new to their position, and will also provide a useful recap for existing managers.

These free resources are designed to complement our range of Management and Leadership Training courses in Brighton, Sussex.

Introduction to Management Awareness

Managers who know themselves well and who are aware of their emotions are in a better position to understand and empathise when managing others.

So an important step to being an effective manager is self-awareness. This means, amongst other things, knowing:

• Your strengths
• Your areas for development
• Your positive and negative qualities
• Your prejudices
• Your feelings
• What effect you have on others

Emotional intelligence

Emotional Intelligence, or EI as it is known, can be helpful in this area of interpersonal understanding as it involves thinking about yourself and others.

EI is said to be categorised into five aspects:

1. SELF-AWARENESS

If you’re aware of yourself and what makes you tick, you’ll be a more effective communicator and a better manager. Once you understand yourself and are open to self-development, you are in a better position to lead and guide others.

2. MANAGING EMOTIONS

Do you always know how you feel? For many of us our feelings are unclear and hidden as we have been taught to suppress emotions. Reversing this isn’t easy, but research shows that unless we’re first aware of our emotions we can’t gain control of them. You can increase your awareness of feelings simply by spending time thinking about them. The more you practice, the more conscious you will become.

3. MOTIVATING YOURSELF

Once you’re more aware of your emotions you can put them to good use to motivate yourself and keep yourself motivated regardless of the situation. You no longer have to react in an automatic way to outside stimuli; you can choose.

4. EMPATHY

Without empathy it is difficult to gain people’s trust, create rapport, influence people and develop their abilities.

Empathy is having a sensitivity to the feelings and concerns of others and seeing things from their point of view, rather than selfishly seeing things from your own perspective.

5. HANDLING RELATIONSHIPS

Once you have empathy with someone and can recognise their feelings of stress, anger, sadness, rejection and so on, you can manage emotions in others. Handling relationships means having a degree of social competence and using social skills.

How can we use this to be more effective managers?

Having the basic building blocks of EI means it is possible to control your emotions, create and maintain successful relationships and motivate yourself and others to achieve goals, all key aspects of management!

How can I find out what effect I have on people?

Feedback should be a two-way process. Now is your chance to ask for some for yourself! This takes courage but is worth it.

The more specific the feedback the more valuable it will be – this applies equally to praise as to criticism. You can help people be specific with their feedback by being specific with your questions:

Choose two or three people you trust in your organisation. They may be your staff, peers or manager. Identify two aspects of your management style that you want to receive feedback on. Be specific about what you ask for.

1. Record what each of them says
2. Analyse your emotional reaction to what they said
3. Make notes on what you can do and are prepared to do to change your behaviour

You need to be sure that if they are critical, you don’t get defensive. You will have to handle your feelings about the interchange if some of the comments are negative!

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Management Skills Training on April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

performance appraisals

Here is a definition of Performance Management:

“an integrated set of planning and review procedures which cascades down through the organisation to provide a link between each individual and the overall strategy of the organisation.”

Out of Performance Management has arisen the need for Performance Measurement.

Silicon Beach Training provide both Performance Appraisals training and Performance Management training courses in Brighton, Sussex. Private Appraisals and Performance Management courses can be arranged 01273 622272.

Why measure performance?

The main reasons for measuring performance can be summarised under three main headings:

ACCOUNTABILITY
CONTROL
DEVELOPMENT

An increasing emphasis on performance and on the achievement of results is leading to the adoption of performance management schemes by more and more organisations. These schemes may vary in their design and application but nearly all are based on the simple premise of reviewing an individual’s (or a team’s) performance against previously agreed targets. The traditional idea of an annual appraisal meeting where a form was completed and then forgotten until the next year is disappearing, as performance management is accepted as a key part of the manager’s responsibility in developing their staff.

Performance Appraisals

From the point of view of an organisation or a manager, performance appraisal provides an opportunity to assess the value of each individual’s performance over a period of time. It is a learning opportunity for both managers and the individual being appraised and to review:

• If performance was good (i.e. agreed objectives were met or exceeded), what made it good and how can these contributing factors be maintained?
• If performance was merely acceptable, what could the organisation, manager or individual do to improve in the coming appraisal period?
• If performance was below the agreed standard, what were the reasons?

The emphasis in well-designed performance management schemes is not to punish “below-par performance” but to help people to reach a better standard of performance in the future (or maintain an already high standard).

Schemes not designed and applied in this way rarely benefit individuals or the organisation. Performance cannot be appraised without the existence of an explicit standard. So the other major benefit to both organisations and their staff is that it forces discussion and agreement on an objective standard of performance which staff members are supposed to reach.

Conducting a Performance Management Meeting

10 Point Checklist

1. Set a clear agenda and objectives for the meeting and prepare thoroughly.
2. Use specific examples rather than generalities when describing performance, good or bad.
3. Listen!
4. Motivate – balance positive and negative feedback.
5. Focus on behaviour that can be changed rather than on more vague aspects of personality or attitude.
6. Discuss development needs and performance improvement.
7. Summarise to ensure clarity about what has been agreed.
8. Don’t avoid emotive issues if they important.
9. Set SMART objectives. SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound.
10. Be prepared to receive feedback on yourself as a manager.

For a practical and comprehensive look at this topic we have a 2 day Performance Management Course which can be customised around your own organisation’s performance management procedures and documentation. We can also arrange Appraisals Course to provide the interpersonal skills required to conduct performance reviews.

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Management Skills Training on April 15th, 2007 | No Comments »