How to Create a Front Office that Everyone will Love

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | OfficeThe reception of the office is one place that the management should never ignore. It should be a combination of form and function. The reception area must be able to create a positive first impression and make guests satisfied when they leave. How is this possible? Keep on reading the rest of this post as we briefly tackle some of the best ways to create the best front office.

Use a Digital Receptionist

These days, you no longer need to employ a human receptionist to be at the front desk. To cut down the costs, consider using a digital receptionist in the front office. This makes visitor registration more innovative, which can be completed through a tablet or a computer instead of manually logging in with a pen and a paper. The digital receptionist will also capture the photo and signature of the guests.

If you are looking for the best check in apps for business, take a look at Greetly and see how this digital receptionist can revolutionize the front office.

Choose the Right Furniture

When choosing furniture to be used in the front office, make sure that you go beyond the aesthetics. While it is undeniable that style is important, you should also emphasize ergonomics. Make sure that it will promote the highest level of comfort to the guests so that they won’t mind the time they have to spend waiting.

Offer a Branded Experience

In one article from Forbes, the author reiterates that brand identity is not enough. The business needs to offer a total brand experience. While this can be done in many ways, one of the best would be in the front office. From the moment a visitor steps in, the front office should already be reflective of the personality that the business would want to establish. A good way to do this is to choose colors and designs that are associated with the company.

Provide Refreshments

The management does not need to spend a fortune to provide refreshments in the front office. Water, coffee, and tea will be great to have. A jar of candies, chocolates, and cookies will also be good. This way, visitors will have something to fill their stomach while they wait. It does not need to be anything too heavy!

Create Reports

Front office management can be improved through analytics. If the office has a digital receptionist, it will have the data that can be analyzed to perform an analysis of visitor data. It can help in the identification of trends and areas for improvement. To add, there should also be a system in place to ask visitors for feedback when they leave. It will make it easier for the management to determine what can be done to be better.

Take note of the things that have been mentioned above to create a great front office, making sure that your guests will feel welcomed once they step in and will be highly satisfied with the experience when they leave.

Silo Mentality: The Bane of Most Teams

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | TeamworkOne of the biggest frustrations expressed by business leaders of teams is the ‘silo mentality.’ This mentality allows people to work in separate silos or independent units with only cursory regard for other units or team members. It is characterized by a “just let me do my job and get results” attitude, with little recognition for the power of working synergistically and collaboratively to obtain superior overall results. A team of silos does not engender a positive working atmosphere. By default, everyone ends up being in it for their own skin. This atmosphere occasionally becomes toxic. Fundamentally, silo mentality precludes the building of a High Performance Team.

Many leaders blame themselves for not getting their teams more engaged. Take heart! The default behavior of team members will by nature be siloed, until you do the work. Teams don’t become strong, cohesive units without effort; it takes perseverance, with a clear stated intention to become a true team.

How do move teams from a collection of individuals, to a true team? The first thing is to measure the team or understand its “Team Quotient” or “TQ”. We created this concept of TQ, which diagnoses the team’s strengths and development opportunities and arrive at a collective score. Once the team knows its Team Quotient, it can then align around specific remedies. The very act of measuring and aligning puts team consciousness in motion.

Next the team needs a clear direction, vision or mission. We are not talking about the company vision, rather the team vision here. The company vision is often too broad to be compelling for the team at hand. On the other hand the team vision will galvanize the team into action and pull it towards its goals. The vision should be something that can only be realized through the efforts of the entire team. It should be specific, tangible, and then broken down into meaningful goals.

To move from silo mentality to high performance, the team needs a payoff. This is why, fun, challenge and celebration are so important. A Swiss client and I were heavily into some feedback exercises during a TQ-team offsite when I sensed it was time for a break. Upon returning to the conference room, I suggested to the team that we should have some fun. Most readily agreed, however Heinz, one of the leaders, raised his hand and promptly admonished, “Fun? How can we have fun? This is business!” It was inconceivable to him that a leadership team could have fun together. Yet it is this very enjoyment of working and being together which provides the juice to move to high performance.

One reason why teams stay siloed is that there is no reward or recognition for showing up as a team. One of the most powerful tools in your team arsenal is recognition. When team members recognize each other during meetings, the atmosphere begins to shift. People feel more willing to contribute and show up; the attention is sometimes all it takes. I often coach my clients to instead of just reacting to what others say, acknowledge or recognize the points they have made. This may be expressed in simple remarks such as: “interesting point…”, “what Mary said makes me think of….”, “on your idea of…”. When simple, frequent recognition becomes a habit, the entire mood of the team shifts. Team meetings become interesting and rewarding.

It’s easy to get away with silo mentality because team members do not naturally collaborate. It takes effort, energy and time. A few years back, I coached a national pharmaceutical team with distinct geographies. The leader created meaningful projects requiring both geographic and functional representation. Leaders who create collaborative activities, projects etc., and build in collaboration as a part of the team experience and requirements, find that the silo mentality starts to fade. The success of those projects could only be realized through collaboration. Once team members collaborate, they feel proud of their collective work, wanting to talk about it and be recognized for it. The very act of collaboration moves team members out of their silos.

Ultimately, to shift out of silos, you’ll want to create a compelling team identity. Strong Identity is a by-product of being able to relate to and feel good about the team, what it stands for, and the success it creates, as well as the relationships and camaraderie experienced by its members. Essentially, teams need something to be proud of and strive towards. This creates a palpable ‘buzz’ about the team. Everyone wants to be part of a winning team with the sense of Identity that ensues. Identity is strengthened by observing rituals to keep the momentum. Rituals can be included in regular meetings such as reflections on team behaviors, recognition, celebration, icebreakers, or other activities for example team lunches, drinks, trips, outings etc. Effectively anything that moves the team forward with a sense of identity can be a useful ritual.

Remember, your goal is to move people from a collection of individuals to a High Performance Team. Work on the following to get there: measure your Team Quotient, determine your vision, build in fun and celebration, engage in recognition, create projects requiring collaboration, and build identity. If you spend just six months focusing your team on these areas, your silos will gradually dissolve and transform into a new team consciousness.

Remember, leaders are only as good as the teams they build.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Douglas R. Gerber | Author of Team QuotientDouglas R. Gerber is Founder and CEO of Focus One, a consulting firm that helps leaders create High Performance Teams. Throughout his 23 years as a corporate executive, Douglas developed a reputation for building successful teams. He has personally worked with leaders from over 70 companies to develop their own winning Teams. Drawing from his own extensive background and 10 years of research, Douglas innovated the concept of “Team Quotient” (TQ). He is a thought leader in the area of team transformation and author of Team Quotient: How to Build High Performance Leadership Teams that Win Every Time.

The former Vice President of PepsiCo Greater China, Douglas is an IAF (International Association of Facilitators) Certified Professional Facilitator, and an ICF (International Coach Federation) Professional Certified Coach. To learn more about Douglas, visit: https://www.douglasgerber.com/

Simple SEO Strategies for Growing Your Business

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There is definitely no doubt about the fact that every business needs a thought-out SEO strategy, so the only question about it is whether you are willing to spend time or money on it? Speaking from personal experience, the latter option usually proves itself more beneficial than the first one, mostly due to the fact that not all of us are marketing gurus.

On the other hand, even if you are a marketing genius – and especially if you are, you already know that SEO can be quite time-consuming, which makes hiring someone to handle it for you all the more compelling!

However, whether you choose to take up SEO on yourself or you decide to a white label digital marketing agency to do it for you, you should still learn more about some of these simple SEO strategies that will help you grow your business!

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | SEO | Search Engine Optimization
 
That is why we prepared some tips regarding the whole process of search engine optimization, both what to and what not to do in order to grow your business!

Your vision of SEO

The first important thing regarding SEO is how you see it. What this means is that thinking of SEO as a tactic is a mistake most beginners tend to make, because the truth is quite different. SEO is actually more of a strategy that you have to plan out long before you take it up. So, it will take a lot more than just a few weeks to get your business to the top of Google.

Additionally, a lot of people tend to think that SEO is essentially a combination of titles and meta descriptions. Whatsmore, you have to understand that SEO “trends” tend to change from one year to another.

A few years back, search engine optimization was almost synonymous to keywords. Had you asked an SEO expert to give you some tips on the subject in 2014, they would have probably told you that your keyword density is something that will either make you or break you. However, as of 2018, this trend has changed.

Startups such as Yelp and Airbnb made sure to understand that these changes occur all the time, and to have a concrete strategy to drive their traffic through search and this is what brought their success about!

Now, lots of people tend to think that they can take up this task on their own. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to be an expert on the subject in order to create a good SEO strategy, but merely doing some reading and trying to implement what you read into the strategy just isn’t going to cut it.

Knowing what your audience wants is of extreme importance!

At the end of the day, your audience is the most important variable in this equation. This is why you have to get to know your target audience and walk a mile in their shoes. What is it that they need? How will your product/service help them further on? Is there something that your competition can offer them that you can’t?

As you already know, 71 percent of consumers tend to discover new products/services through a search engine, and this search influences about 75 percent of total purchases.

Now, although keywords are not as important as they used to be, they still play a part in the whole process that is SEO. You will still have to do a proper keyword research that will help you in creating valuable content that your audience will appreciate, and that will encourage them to become one of your consumers!

Focus on your links’ quality, not quantity!

A few years back, Google’s algorithm was quite favorable of sites with lots of links, and it wasn’t all that important whether those links were valid and actually useful, content-wise. However, times have changed! Links are still as important as the used to be, but the focus has shifted from their quantity to their quality. The only thing you can do now regarding your links is to look for those that will be engaging and valuable to your audience!

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | SEO | Search Engine Optimization
 
Other things that you have to focus on as well are – your website’s structure (get it as organized and informative as you can!), your social media platforms, and mobile users! All three are of extreme importance for growing your business and are something you cannot succeed without.

Using these simple strategies, you can take your business from being one of the countless startups to becoming a household name, you just have to play your cards right! However, if you would rather play it safe and hire a great digital marketing agency to do this (and more!) for you, visit White Light Digital Marketing for more information!

Outsourcing Might Be The Answer You’ve Been Looking For

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Outsourcing | Entrepreneurship
 
One of the biggest challenges of running a business is simply the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that you need to. There are hundreds of businesses that had huge amounts of potential but fell apart simply because they took on too much and weren’t able to handle the workload or the pressure. There can sometimes be a sense of pride connected to how much of your business you are dealing with personally, but you should never let that get in the way of your success. So what is the answer? Since you can make the days any longer then there’s only one solution: share the workload. And the very best way to do that is through outsourcing. Outsourcing is simply hiring a professional in a particular field to handle a certain aspect of your business for you. That way you can focus your energy on more specific places, and you don’t end up feeling like you’re spread too thin. There are plenty of different areas of your business that you can outsource to other people, but here are some of the most common that you might want to consider.

Your IT

Let’s face it, we live in an intensely digital age and if your business isn’t able to reflect that then you’ve got a pretty major problem on your hands. Connecting to a company that can offer managed IT services for your business can help you make sure that you’re always right on the cutting edge of all modern digital developments. Otherwise, you run the risk of falling behind the competition entirely.

Your branding

It might sound kind of shallow but the truth is that without great branding, your business is never going to succeed. Customers will be drawn by what they see when they first look at your business and if your branding is ugly and amateurish, then they’re going to assume that your business simply isn’t worth dealing with. You need to make sure that you’re working with someone who can really make the most of your branding and help you connect with as many customers as possible.

Your finances

Despite how important they are to your business, not everyone is going to be an expert with numbers and figures. If that’s the case then hiring an accountant is going to save you a great deal of time and hassle. Not only that but you can be sure that your finances are always in order no matter what, that way you’re protected from any nasty surprises down the road. Not only that but your attention is now free to focus on the kinds of things that are really important to you.

The truth is that there are too many different parts of your business that would benefit from outsourcing to count. You need to think about the things that are really important to your business and make sure that you’re putting them in the hands of the people who can really make the most of them.

Enhance Leadership Qualities Of Managers At Work

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | Leadership QualitiesAt the managerial position, leadership qualities are extremely essential because managers are in charge of building and leading a good team. Managing a team and making them work towards a common goal, comes with a lot of challenges and these challenges require good leadership skills to overcome.

While some people are born with great leadership skills, they still need training on how to showcase and execute these skills. So, it becomes very important to have regular training for managers at work, to keep their leadership skills fresh and growing. Workplace is a dynamic space, so it’s important that managers are given regular training to enhance their leadership qualities from time to time.

Here are some activities which can be conducted to enhance leadership qualities at work.

1. Resistance Dealing Workshops

Companies should organise workshops by professionals who can throw light on how to tackle resistance at workplace, whether it’s from clients or team members. Managers should be trained how to keep their calm and handle conversations that might be uncomfortable and resistive in nature.

2. Team Building Activities

There are plenty of team building games and activities that can help managers enhance their leadership skills. Organisations should conduct regular corporate events and activities that will get the entire team together for some fun games and activities, which will not only help build a good team, but also help leaders play their role better.

3. Recognition and Appreciation

How should leaders decide which employee deserves recognition and appreciation? Managers should be trained on how to recognise and reward talent and appreciate their employees for their hard work. Managers should be asked to give recognition and rewards to an employee at regular intervals, so that they can understand their team better and push them to do better, hence playing the role of motivating leaders.

4. Creativity Workshops

This is a great exercise for teams and their leaders. Creativity always makes way for better ideas at work. Everybody needs a push to get their creativity flowing. Conducting workshops, games and activities that would stimulate creativity can help leaders and their teams in enhancing their creativity and increasing their work productivity.

5. Sharing Tips

The best way to get new tips on effective leadership is to hear it straight from other leaders. Conduct a forum where leaders of different teams get together and share their leadership experiences. They can share instances of tough leadership challenges and decisions. This would give insight and helpful tips to other managers of the same organisation on how to deal with similar situations.

6. Coaching

There are many coaches who are experts in leadership building. Bringing in a leadership coach for some one-on-one lessons in leadership can give managers some great teachings about leadership. This will also give managers the chance to discuss specific instances of leadership with their coaches and enhance their skills.

7. Dreams Of The Leaders

Leaders spend most of their professional lives making the dreams of their employees come true, forgetting that they have dreams too, buried under the pile of emails. Companies should encourage leaders to dream of their growth too. This would boost their confidence, motivate them to do better and grow. Companies should hold events where they discuss and motivate the leaders of the organisation to dream big and work towards their personal and professional future.

Conclusion

It’s important to motivate team members to work together and work better, similarly it’s important to motivate team leaders to lead better and lead more. Leaders need to grow as well to build better and lead bigger teams. This is extremely important for companies that want their leaders to progress and grow in their company. Investing in leadership skills of managers will ensure better teams which will ultimately lead to better work productivity.