June
7
2010
We at Advice for Business Managers have decided that we envy the schedule our children follow. We’re taking the summer off. Maybe we’ll all go back to school and get jobs as teachers.
But then, we’ve seen teacher salaries, seeing as how our tax dollars pay for them, which makes them public knowledge. We’ve seen our own paychecks as business managers, and we’re pretty sure we made the right choice.
See you in September. Work on your golf swing, hit the beach, and catch a few fish between now and then. That’s what we’ll be doing.
June
4
2010
First of all, we once again would like to remind you that we are not tax professionals, just a couple writers who have been business managers for a long time and have a lot to say on the topic. We are in no way liable for any stupidity on your part, and we highly recommend you enlist the services of a tax professional, whom you can sue with our blessing instead of us should the IRS come after your ass for any reason. But we do have a little experience in the ways of tax law, and if you’re a small business owner, you might be interested in the tax implications of your choice to incorporate or not to incorporate.
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June
3
2010
The Internal Revenue Service is always out to get its share of your income, naturally. That’s how we pay for roads and parks and the ever-popular politicians whom we select to tell us what to do. But the IRS tries its best to only tax you on the net money you actually walk home with, after you spend all the money it supposedly takes to make money. Deductions are great things, but you have to be careful about treading on the hobby laws.
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June
2
2010
When it comes to dealing with difficult employees, the hardest is that guy who really wants to please you, but just can’t seem to succeed at the task. If every one of your employees was a rock star performer OR a total dud, your job would be easy as hell. You would just fire the duds and give your rock stars raises. But most of your employees fall somewhere in between, and that is why performance management is such a tricky animal.
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June
1
2010
In the world of business management, you pretty much always have deadlines. Sometimes the deadlines are critical. Sometimes they’re arbitrary dates pulled out of the ass of your boss, just to give you something to shoot for. Sometimes you miss them. Sometimes you get fired over it. Sometimes, the project or task in question is so completely forgotten about, that you find the copy of the email or the red-penned document or the whatever-it-is at the bottom of your inbox pile three years later, still unaddressed, and the project or task, along with its obviously arbitrary deadline, ends up in the circular file.
May
28
2010
No, not you. Us. Happy Memorial Day weekend, and we’ll see you on Tuesday.
May
27
2010
Project management is a simple concept and can be incredibly useful. It’s just business lingo for planning and completing projects and meeting deadlines, and although Microsoft Project is great tool, project management doesn’t necessarily have to involve any software at all. In a nutshell, project management is the art of balancing budget, time, and specifications.
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May
26
2010
This just in! Yahoo! reports that resignations are exceeding layoffs for the first time since 2008. Managers, take heed. You may think you’re the biggest boy on the block, and that the ongoing job market slump means your employees will never have the guts to leave. But the latest statistics show otherwise, and if you have a succession plan in place, you had better make sure it includes several alternatives. If you have no alternatives, or if you would rather avoid the cost of recruiting and training replacement employees, then it’s time to focus on employee retention.
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May
25
2010
You can’t drive for excellence among your employees if you don’t drive for excellence yourself. You do want excellence from your employees, because when your employees look good, you look good. But guess what? You should want that excellence for yourself anyway, not just because it sets a good example for your employees. Drive for excellence yields success in the form of promotions, sense of accomplishment, and all-around popularity, both in the office and at home. And who doesn’t want all-around popularity?
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May
24
2010
Performance management can be such a tricky animal. At times, it feels like nothing you can say or do will get your employees to meet your expectations. You think that if you read one more of Rob’s email rants with the “Copy All” option selected, plus your boss and your boss’s boss added to the list for good measure, you might just repeatedly bang your head against your computer screen. Or throw your computer screen out the window. Or throw the employee out the window.
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May
21
2010
Small business start-ups are a bitch. There’s just no better way to describe it. You have the idea, you have the passion, you have the plan, and you may even have the money. Then you have the wait.
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May
20
2010
Yes, it’s illegal to discriminate against employee religion (or potential employee religion.) According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it’s illegal to treat someone differently because of his or her religion; to base employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promoting, laying off, or assigning work; or to harass an employee on the basis of his or her religion. The law also requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employee religious practices and beliefs, but that’s where the law gets hairy.
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May
19
2010
Now that you know how to manage your manager, and hopefully all the other members of your management team, you can work toward goal alignment for your company, your division or site, and your department. It starts from the top, so we recommend you go to the highest level member of upper or executive management whom you know personally. Establish a meeting to discuss long-term vision setting and strategic planning.
May
18
2010
Maybe you grew up in a military household, or you actually served in the military. Perhaps you were just raised to respect authority. But if you think you’re supposed to bow to every whim and fancy of your manager, you’re as mistaken as the direct reports who feel they should bow to you. On the other hand, you shouldn’t ignore or adamantly disagree with your manager, because pissing off your boss is not how you get your way. Managing your manager takes finesse, and it involves a collaborative attitude.
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May
17
2010
As business managers, it’s all too easy for us to get sucked into the daily grind. The reason we have jobs at all is because our employers provide products or services that customers are willing to buy. Producing that product or service is the number one priority for our companies, and marketing it to customers falls in line at a close second place.. But our companies will never achieve growth if we maintain the status quo. Keeping up with the daily grind just isn’t enough. Good business managers use vision setting to lead departments, and thus, companies, to greater business success.
May
14
2010
As managers in the business world, we are experienced risk managers. Every decision we make involves risk management. Should Sally work on Project A or Project B first? Well, which has the highest risk associated with missing its deadline? When the normal modes of transportation break down, should you call a courier service, use Fed Ex, or get in the car and drive it there yourself? That may depend on the risk involved with exceeding your transportation budget, the Department of Transportation laws surrounding transport of the cargo in question, and the consequences of failing to make the delivery on time.
How can you cut cost for your company? This question may be a tad more intimidating, because changes in your foundation, in the way you do business every day, can have significant impact, and sometimes the risk is hard to quantify.
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May
13
2010
Budgets are tight. Heads have been cut. Couple those facts and you have less people to do the work, and less money with which to do it to boot. It really puts a cramp in your style as a manager. Executive management expects you to cut costs by maximizing efficiency, but you can barely get the everyday work done, let alone assign a task force to brainstorm and implement cost cutting strategies.
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May
12
2010
Many small business owners are so busy wearing twenty hats, managing customers, and brainstorming new ways to grow the business, that they forget about employee performance management. In fact, small business owners often forget, or don’t have the time or resources, to hire the right person for the job in the first place. Small business could be much more successful if employee skills and ideas were maximized in pursuit of business growth.
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May
11
2010
When you really get down to it, what is business management all about? It’s not about employee development, coaching, performance management, team facilitation, or any of those things they cram down your throat in leadership class. Those are all side effects of the true purpose of business management, which is making sure the work gets done. And if your employees aren’t getting their work done, it becomes a performance management problem, and it’s on you.
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May
10
2010
Volunteer management is a unique animal in the world of business management. Whether you’re a manager in a non-profit organization or you just sweet-talked your friends into helping you paint your new small business office space, your volunteers require a special kind of care and feeding.
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