Setting Goals: How To Do It

By Anthony D Carter

Setting goals can be a different task for each individual concerned. It really depends on the persons present conditions, physical ability, and various other influences. There are key pointers that will help anyone succeed by determining whether their goals are indeed solid and achievable. It is so easy to set unrealistic goals which lead to failure and frustration. Listed here are tips which will help you to have a better experience with the whole process.

Be Very Specific

Be specific by writing down all of the details surrounding your goal. Here is an example: "By October of this year I have made over $1,000,000." Another would be, "I have a solid growing friendship with my Brother-in-Law within the next two months." Or "I am the division supervisor of my sales department by this time next year." You want to include names, dates, positions and the exact amounts of your goal. Your success hinges on the degree of specificity that you include when writing your goal down.

Make it Measurable

Your goal needs to be measurable. You need to have a goal that is easy to break down into manageable parts. If it is measurable then it is easier for you to determine your progress. By attempting to accomplish the separate parts you are more able to easily stay on track. You simply complete each phase and move on to the next. That way you are never stuck wondering if you are moving forward or standing still. A measurable goal gives you an added advantage.

Make it Time Bound

In order to achieve your goals set deadlines. Having deadlines protects you from the failure that results from procrastination. Keep very tight and specific time-lines when scheduling your goals. An example is, " I am spending an hour a day with my family beginning next Tuesday. You want to be sure to write down the exact date and time. When you put a deadline on the goal you give yourself added incentive to get it done and not put it off to a more convenient time. It is better to set a date for your goal. That way you will want to start working towards accomplishing it now. - 31963

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The Rules Of Creating Instant Success

By Annie Jennings

Who wants to find out how to be a great success in business? It's a matter of knowing the insider secrets of creating a powerful business model built around the needs of your client. Is it a secret? Perhaps to some but the principles are well known. The All Heart business model is a solid set of buisness principles that pay off over time.

The Rules Of The Game:

Rule #1: Pay attention to your clients and not your competitors as your clients will tell you what you need to do to be successful. If you are not offering the right products, your clients will go elsewhere. So, the question is, what does the client want? Well, first thing, is to realize how your client makes money and create services that help them make money. Don't spy on your competitors. You want to creating your own products and services so you can truly understand your market place. If you are too focused on what others are doing you may miss opportunities to create top notch products of your very own. Remember to trust yourself.

Most people prefer to work with the bigger name brands for the confidence factor. They believe that the name brand will deliver better, more reliable and consistent results for them. People have a tendency to choose to work with firms that fill us with confidence. Think about the image and branding the car companies have. Each brand carries an x factor, the branding factor, that gives people a feeling of wanting to work with or buy from the company or not. People have more confidence in companies they have heard of in the media or throughout their activities.

Rule #3: Everyone loves a guaranteed deliverable. Be the firm that offers products or services that deliver what you promised your client. Everyone wants to buy the better mouse trap. You make the connection between your services and your clients' success, you'll get lots of business. The fastest way to create a non-stop flow of new clients? Guarantee your outcomes. No one pays unless they get the deliverable. WOW, sounds risky right - exactly. But also ignites a tremendous drive to creativity where you immediately see the flaws in your plan, in the services you offer.

Rule #4: Be the best in the business: Only sell products or services with clearly defined set of deliverable and guarantee the outcome or you don't take any money from the client. Think about this: What if General Motors came out with a new business philosophy that goes something like this: If you buy a car from us, we guarantee your car will last 10 years or you get your MONEY BACK. That's right, full fee returned. What do you think would happen? All of the "break down glitches" would be defined, redesigned and protected. No cars break down, everyone is happy, GM takes over the market..... all because it was unafraid to make the promise of a deliverable with a guarantee. Hey, would you buy a car with the guarantee that is anything went wrong with the car you get a brand new one? Hello? Yes, I would. Because, guess what? That car would be perfect. No flaws, no errors, just perfection in motion. - 31963

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Teamwork And The Modern Day Organization

By Bart Icles

We might well be familiar with the benefits of working as a team but it can sometimes be surprising that not every one of us understand the real meaning of teamwork. In most cases, we think that this concept is only appreciated in athletic clubs. What many of us do not realize is that it is quite important for us to work in teams and for us to feel that we are part of a team, especially in the workplace. In fact, there are some of us who believe that the words team and group have the same meaning. It can be a lot of help to learn more about the difference between working as a group and working as a team.

If you are talking about groups, they are merely a collection of people that have something in common. On the other hand, teams are groups of people that are working together towards a common goal. This primarily involves having a sense of teamwork that will enable the different members of the team to identify and understand their strengths, weaknesses, abilities and skills. We all know that changes happen everyday, especially in the fields of finance, economics, and technology - it is best that we all start working as a team so we can get through the different challenges these changes pose.

It is true that is possible for a group of people to accomplish their tasks individually but there is really a significant difference between working as a group and working as a team. It is far easier to accomplish the different goals of the company or organization if teamwork is present. And this is why there is a significant number of companies that are starting to build and develop work teams. There are several ways to build and develop work teams, and one of the most popular ways is through team building activities.

Team building activities are quite common in a lot of organizations these days. These activities are meant to help employees understand the true meaning of teams, how teams are built, and how the different skills, abilities, and strengths of a team can be developed. This kind of activity can also help them identify their weaknesses as a team so they can take steps on how to bridge the gaps so they can function more effectively as they try to achieve a common goal.

It is quite important for modern day organizations to place value on teamwork. Employees who are able to work as a team give more value to the different tasks and responsibilities that are expected of them. And this makes way for better collaboration and innovation, helping them to increase their chances of achieving what needs to be achieved. - 31963

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Heed The Advice Given By Business Magnates

By Mark Walters

Though the big financial issues like Financial Times, Business Week, and the Economist are circulated in millions of copies, the publications of their writers rarely have the magical effect of the quotes made by the rich and famous in the world of business when it comes to business inspiration.

So, what is it that makes these quotes so appealing to the public? Several points have to be kept in mind when answering this question. First and foremost, the financial sayings of the rich and famous short and concise, and yet are packed with wisdom. You could say that it may require some knowledge in business and economics when it comes to grasping the ideas of business writers (three or four pages in length), while the quotes of the famous business-men and business-women are the gist and nothing else.

There is another reason why those making their first steps in business prefer to trust the big magnates more than business publications and those who write for them. The first have acquired their business knowledge from practice and have turned this knowledge into billions of dollars. The second acquired their knowledge from business textbooks and long lectures in dismal halls.

When asked change and innovation, Rupert Murdoch pointed out that it is no longer a case of big always beating small. As it stands, it is a case of the fast beating the slow. You could read hundreds of pages on the importance of innovation and change in the business world. Or, you can take Mr. Murdoch's simple words that growing a big business is not as important as growing one which is quick to adapt to changes in the market.

If you are an entrepreneur, you can use the clever thoughts of magnates and witty leaders just like they do - to motivate your employees. If your employees are not motivated enough, then you can motivate them by using quotes and sayings from famous business people. - 31963

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Why You Need The Right Business Strategy

By Jamie Xuereb

Your business strategy is vital for your personal and business life for many reasons. We will go through 11 different reasons why having the right business strategy is detrimental to your success.

The reasons why it is important have the right business strategy are:

1) If you don't choose the right business strategy you will not be motivated to wake up and go to work each day - this will affect your growth in the long run

2) Your business strategy can determine how much money you make from your business even though you might spend the same amount of time with different strategies - one will open up a bigger and more rewarding market which in the long run will be more beneficial to you

3) Your business strategy determines how quickly you meet financial targets - this will affect how quickly you meet your personal targets as well

4) A business which is underperforming can be turned around with a change in strategy - this shows how important this is to the core of your business

5) Your business strategy can leverage of your skill and hours put in to maximise your output and revenue thus increasing your efficiency

6) Some strategies will adapt and fit around your lifestyle while others will cause you to change yours around

7) Some strategies will be more suitable to your skill sets and also your business' resources - that way you can leverage your returns further

8) Your strategy can build a good aura of success in your business and empower your customers and employees

9) Your business strategy can open your business up to larger and more profitable markets where a bad strategy can limit your growth and earning potential

10) You can build a competitive advantage with a strong and sound business strategy

11) The best strategy will set you up for more success in the future with increases revenues and potential

There you have it. 11 ideal reasons why you should take note of choosing the right business strategy for your venture. Some readers might be stuck with a business with a bad strategy in place. Do not fret, you can always change it. This takes time and may mean a few months or even years of adjustments, but the payoff in the future can be tremendous. Also beware of changes in the market. For example the internet caused a lot of business to change how they did business. This affected their strategies and set others up for more future growth. - 31963

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Thinking of A Central Innovation Team?

By Dr. James Gardner

Central innovation teams are a model well adopted in many industries, from Pharmaceuticals, where research and development budgets tends to be held by large business units dedicated to the purpose, to Banking, where there are likely to be a few smaller New Product Development teams. Even in Government, there's increasing reliance on central innovation teams to drive efficiencies and cost savings.

Understanding the reason is not difficult. Central teams are simple to establish, and very easy to measure compared to alternatives which rely on an "innovation culture". It is easy to point to such teams and say "here is how we do innovation". These are teams which make executives feel good about their innovation efforts, because when you can nominate specific individuals and assign accountability, you know things are being done.

Now, in this model, the innovation team is the group that decides how and when to innovate. They ordinarily control an investment budget of some kind, and are accountable for making investments that drive forward the innovation agenda. If they are any good at all, they will sign up to some big return numbers that can justify the investments they're making.

There is, however, a problem with a central innovation team that does everything. The problem is that in order to get more innovation, you are forced to add more people. In other words, central innovation teams do not scale well.

Frankly, for most innovations, the difference in effort required to get an organisation to do something radical, versus the easier incremental kind of innovation, is not all that great. You still have to do the influencing, the management of politics, and of course, find the money in order to get things progressed.

Incremental innovation, though it tends to be relatively risk free, doesn't really make big returns on a case by case basis. This means that innovation teams have to do a lot of simultaneous innovation before they can make a sizeable difference. With a central team, the fact is that a single incremental innovation will likely not pay for the time of the innovators.

By contrast, radical innovation has much better returns, though the risk level is much, much higher. For innovation teams, this makes it seem sensible to spend their time on radical projects. The rationale is easy to justify: do incremental innovations and never break even ever, or at least have the chance to break even if you do radical.

What is really needed, though, is a balanced portfolio approach to innovation coupled with significant inputs from customers and employees. Participatory innovation, as this approach is known when supported by a central team, is usually the best approach to making innovation work in large organisations. - 31963

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Why An Effective Leadership Training Program Is Important

By Bart Icles

These days, different organizations thrive in stiff competition. This is why it is important for an organization to emerge as a leader in its industry. With this said, it is important that organizations have leaders who can effectively direct employees towards the achievement of organizational and performance goals. Through a successful leadership training program, it is quite possible for organizations to continuously train and develop not only its managers, but each and every leader that it has.

Along with this, companies must be able to understand what makes a leadership training program effective. More often than not, this will involve different factors that can significantly affect the success or failure of such a program. Companies must understand that such a program should not only be geared to develop the skills of the leaders who participate in it, but also those who show potential for leadership.

Among the most important elements that a leadership training program must give emphasis to is the quality of business leadership. Participants to this kind of program must be able to learn and understand essential and tried and tested skills and techniques that will help them become well respected and highly effective leaders in the organization, as well as in the entire business and industry. To turn this into reality, participants to such a program must be able to understand the truth behind the different mysteries surrounding leadership - including the popular concept that effective leaders are born and not made. Through having an understanding of leadership mysteries, they will be able to have a better and more updated concept of good leadership.

With the help of a training and development program for successful leadership, leaders and potential leaders can learn different skills and techniques that are essential to effectively and positively leading employees in modern work settings. These would include learning more about skills that are needed in persuading and influencing difficult people that can prove to be challenging to lead.

Through an effective leadership training program, leaders are able to learn how to develop consistent, concrete, and interesting goals that will serve as guides to what kind of future the organization will have. Leaders are able to learn effective communication skills needed to make employees clearly understand the vision of the organization, which in turn will help them better see the benefits of having employees who are giving their best in completing projects that have been initiated. So start taking steps to implement this kind of training and development program today. - 31963

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