|
|
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
Mediocre employees are the most frustrating because they’re the ones who aren’t bad enough to reprimand, but they’re far from
being superstars either. What are some tips for motivating the mediocre?
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Try it and let me know what you think.
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
In past articles, I mentioned the importance of quantifying your performance to the company’s bottom line. This prompted the following question from a reader:
What about employees in positions with less tangible monetary outcomes — what should they be communicating? For instance, someone who performs general office duties or works to build the company’s brand awareness.
Everything can be measured. All you need to do is design and keep the right metrics. Create a customer (the people that you service) survey at the start of your performance cycle. Then keep the proper metrics to illustrate your performance or improvement against those criteria. For instance, if you perform general office duties – you can note how many daily calls come in, how many dropped calls, how many Questions you answer and screen, how many calls your fielded on your own without troubling others, how many times your work have been returned to you with mistakes, how much time your new Q&A document saved the company, how taking the initiative and placing your Q&A document on your company website increased customer satisfaction and reduced first line help and support calls, how your new automated filing process saved the team time, etc. Time can always be converted to money saved or spent. People get paid a salary per hour – with those equations; you can easily calculate the money you saved the company.
For company branding awareness, incorporate customer and branding surveys at the start of your performance year. You can then create performance metrics based on those success criteria. Every quarter, you can conduct comparable surveys to illustrate your affect on the branding campaign. You can also keep track of your website page hits, time between client exposure (client hits) and client purchase, and your lead to sales conversion rate. The faster the client finds your product, learns about it and purchases – the better for the company. These are the meaningful metrics to collect and make your performance tangible and measurable.
The key is to find the right metric to track to make your performance measurements. If you cannot figure these metrics out, then meet with your mentor or business coach for ideas.
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Video of the previous interview:
I have helped people on a per project basis. For example: mapping out the pros and cons of two job offers; revamping their resume to attract more corporate interest; managing their boss; and narrowing the direction of their next steps. I have reasonable rates for per project consulting. No long contracts and discounts for continued enrollment.
If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory career and time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info You’ll be surprised how one conversation can change your life.
I recently received the following question:
How do companies prevent remote workers from feeling “left out”?
Incentives, such as bringing in lunch to headquarters staff and allowing casual attire in the office after employees meet certain goals, do nothing for those who work from home. What techniques improve or solve this issue?
I’m not a fan of handing off the responsibility of our own career and growth to someone else.
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Try it and let me know what you think.
To experience the entire SSWUG TV career management series, <<click here>>
If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or GET SIGNED UP to my weekly professional tips newsletter.
The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1) Time management
2) Career maintenance
3) Business networking
4) Work life balance strategies
If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
Try this and tell me what you discover…..
Should I Give Discounts?IT Professional Development Series By Laura Lee Rose |
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. Steve Wynkoop and I talk a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG TV. One recent question popped up last week, regarding providing discounts for start-up companies and nonprofits.
A student asked:
I have been approached by non-profits as well as other small start-up companies to give them a discount on my products and services. Should I give them a discount?
I am not a big fan of devaluing your worth. Your time and effort is very valuable. And a non-profit or small business is not that different from any other business. They are still in the business to generate money. Non-profits may not focus on making a profit but they still have to budget for working expenses, they still pay their employees, still generate income (through sponsors and donations). Your service becomes a necessary expense for their company.
Having said that — I do see value in trade or bartering. For instance, you can give a discount in trade for advertisement in their newsletters, websites, and programs. If they provide a service that you can take advantage of – you can discount in trade for XX hours of their service. If their client base matches your target market, you may have other opportunities for additional promotional opportunities. For instance, you can arrange to become their sole vendor to their clients in your chosen product or service.
Example: Restaurant may want you to create a website for them. They are just starting out and are asking for a discount on your webdesign service. You have your own bills to pay and you want to attract clients that really value your time and expertise. You want to attract clients that are willing to pay you what you are really worth. On the other hand, you would like to see these people succeed. You can offer them a discount in exchange for:
1) A mention in their menu
2) A mention on their website (Website designed by: signature)
3) XX number of complimentary meals
If they want you on a retainer to maintain their website – you can include XX number of comp meals a month in addition to your discount price.
One warning: Do not accept barter for something that is not of value to you. That’s comparable to giving your services away for free. Make sure you continue to feel that your worth is being appreciated, by investigating alternative solutions that better meet your goals and success.
For example: A business and success coach asks you to redesign and develop her new website at a discounted rate. You don’t really need her coaching services and don’t see a fit at first. But instead of dismissing it right away or giving the discount for free – you investigate a little more. Asking the important who, what, where, when and how – about her business; you discover that her client base is other entrepreneurs in various fields. Her primary focus is providing training to other start-ups and new business owners. With this information, you design a barter, vendor and affiliation program with the following goals:
1) Be the exclusive web-design vendor for her training classes, training DVDs, and promotions trade shows.
2) Be prominently displayed and recommended on her website
3) Be recommended to her clients as their website designer as they get started on their new business
4) Be one of her speakers at her various trade shows, seminars and retreats
5) Become an integral part of her support team and staff when guiding her clients through the deployment of their brand and websites.
If the above was not the case, it is recommended that you direct the life coach to someone else that could make use of her services. This way, you will get the advantage of providing referrals and assistance to others (which puts you in good standing with both businesses).
In my IT Professional Development Toolkit, I go into the: who, what, where, when and how to accomplish all of the above. I also have a transferrable skill worksheet. For more information about the toolkit, please contact
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
There are several ways to fall behind in a project. Most times we can rebound from them But these three mistakes are very hard to recover from. Please keep an eye out for them:
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Try it and let me know what you think.
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
Take this scenario:
2nd scenario:
3rd scenario:
This email dance happens quite often between busy people. Even though email seems a quick way to communicate – it’s often not the most efficient way of communicating and completing tasks. Email often takes people days to accomplish the same thing that a phone call could accomplish it in 5 minutes. Just because email seems convenient, it’s not always a productive way of communication. Before you send an email, consider the following:
1) Have you included everything that the receiver (not you, but the audience of your email) needs to accomplish your request.
Sending a quick one-liner: “We should meet something this week” is not providing all the necessary information for your audience to accomplish your request.
Leaving a voice mail: “Call me” is not providing all the necessary information for your audience to accomplish your request.
2) Have you emphasized the proper importance by your method of communication.
If someone is calling you because you failed to respond to their email – you need to match their level of urgency. Do not disrespect them by quickly emailing a one-line excuse like “I am very busy. Can we do this next week.” Take the hit in person. Call or even drop by their office (if you are located in the same place), to apologize for the mix-up. People don’t normally loose their reputation on a mistake. They loose their reputation on how they react or respond to their mistakes. If you go out of your way to take responsibility for your actions and go beyond expectations on making amends – you actually will improve your professional reputation.
3) Combining communication methods is often the most efficient way to accomplish a task between team members.
Combining email and phone calls is a good combination to accomplish tasks.
Combining phone calls (with an email summary of what occurred on the phone) and face-to-face meetings (with email summary of the meeting minutes) is a good combination when possible.
Combining email, phone calls, face-to-face meetings is a great combination when possible.
Bottom line: Combining communication methods and providing enough information in your communication saves time.
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Try it and let me know what you think.
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
What special steps do job hunters need to take if a company is contracting?
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
Try it and let me know what you think.
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com