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Creating An Office Space For Happy, Productive Employees

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Office Environment|Creating An Office Space For Happy, Productive EmployeesHaving happy, productive employees is one of the greatest assets your business can have. When your employees feel valued and comfortable in what they do, they can help some amazing results for your company.

Creating a happy and productive workforce involves many actions, with one of them being a workspace that’s fit for purpose. Look at ways you can transform your workplace and help create a positive working environment for your employees.

Be open

Many modern workplaces are embracing open plan office space. There are several advantages of open plan offices that can make them worth having, especially in creative and tech-based companies. Having an open plan office can break down barriers and help teams work closer together, which will help to develop a more positive workplace.

Focus on creativity and collaboration

Putting an emphasis on creative thinking and collaboration can help your teams work better together in order to achieve company goals. A workspace that has breakout areas and space for thinking can be a real asset to employees and helps them take a breather from their desks to recharge. There are several collaboration options for businesses to pursue that should be explored to see if you could enhance your teams’ ways of working.

Keep it clean and green

Having a clean and neat office space can make people feel more positive, while also making it easier to work. Hiring janitorial services will help to keep your office looking great, while also making sure issues and barriers to work are taken care of. Encouraging staff to clean up after themselves is also important, and there should be clear desk policies in place to help maintain an organized workplace.

Adopting green practices is another way you can bring more happiness to your workplace. By encouraging employees to recycle, consume less energy and think twice about their waste, you can help create a greener workplace that brings something positive to your community.

Remember to think about life outside the office

As well as making improvements to the inside of your office, you also need to give some thought to the outside. Helping your employees achieve a better work/life balance will help them to be more productive during the hours they are in the office and will help them feel happier in their jobs too. From flexible working to better home working facilities, you can show employees that you care about their wellbeing and make your company a great place to work.

The right office space will help transform things for your employees, helping to make your company one that people enjoy working in, and make others aspire to work for. You’ll not only benefit from a more upbeat workplace but will experience better retention rates too. Simple changes can help make a significant difference to the attitudes and effectiveness of your staff. Why not put a plan in place as to how you can transform your workplace and help develop happy, productive employees who achieve great things for your business?

Can You Start A Baking Business At Home?

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | start a home business

Many of us may think of baking as a relaxing and somewhat challenging past time to enjoy at the weekends. But many people have managed to turn this hobby into a real career, and they will work every day creating sweet treats and fun desserts for people all over the local area.

But how can you start a baking business from your own home? The biggest question you might have is how will you be successful without restaurant quality ovens and fridges – but you don’t need these things to start creating and selling your treats.

Today we are going to take a look at some of the ways you can create a baking business from your home and truly enjoy your career in 2021.

Learn the right skills

The first step to building a bakery business is to ensure you learn the right baking skills as well as decorating and styling. You can find many amazing tutorials online on YouTube or take a small course on SkillShare which will equip you for a successful baking venture. Once you have the right skills and experience you can set off and achieve your baking dreams.

Get creative

Creativity is the key to a successful baking business and now is the time to experiment with colours and flavours to make your creations unique from anything else out there. Add hazelnuts to your cookies, make biscoff cupcakes, and create unique cheesecakes with popular chocolate bar themes. Use your creativity to make fun pies and pastries and this will gain you a bake in your local area, and will also make people want to come to you for parties and events.

Sell at local markets

A simple way for you to sell your baking goods in your local area is to join a market and go there every week or once a month to showcase your creations. If you also have a Facebook page and a website you can advertise this with business cards and banners on your stall and once people start to taste your sweet treats and enjoy them, they will be more likely to come to you again when they have a craving.

Sell online

Selling online with My Business Venture can be a great way to build on your baking business and start to venture out into the world. You can hire delivery drivers or join a network like UberEats and have your treats delivered straight to your customers. You will get a lot more sales from this and you may even be able to fund a transition to a small store in your local town!

Offer bespoke creations

One way to gain more money from baking is to offer commissions for things such as weddings, birthdays, or other events. People can come to you and ask for coloured cupcakes or cakes and you can create something unique for them at a healthy price. This will be a great way to gain popularity in the baking field and become successful this year.

Context Is Decisive

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | Context Is DecisiveContext is decisive. My mother always said that to me… Not really…. I learned this in a Landmark seminar. It rocked my world, my understanding of the world and what gives the world meaning. The instructor, wags his index finger and asks; “what is this?” “A finger”, we say. “Ok, if we are talking about anatomy, it is a finger, but what if we are talking about numbers? What is it?” “One”, we said smugly. “Well then”, the instructor said, also smugly. “If we are talking about direction, what is it?” “Then, it is up.” “Wow”, he says “this” indicating his finger, “just changed three times. It changed from anatomy, finger, to number one, to direction up. All we did was change the background conversation.” I sat stunned. What just happened? Silence enveloped the room.

For this blog, context: is the background conversation that gives meaning to the forefront conversation. As demonstrated above, context is decisive. The context defines how things show up and how they occur. This definition has changed what I pay attention to from what is happening in the foreground to what is happening in the background. Context has deepened my ability to understand my world and the meaning that people give to the world.

Here is an example. In my lifetime and certainly in the lifetime of my grandmother, the career opportunities available to women have dramatically expanded. We will agree that now being a pilot, doctor, president, soldier, astronaut, policewoman, scientist is all available for women as valid and viable career choices. This was not always so. What happened? What shifted in the last eighty years? Women existed. For the most part these careers existed. Yet the reality that my grandmother dealt with when she graduated as a sole female medical doctor in NY in the 1930s and the career reality for my niece in 2015, when half her graduating class of physicians were women are in stark contrast.

What are the implications of this for my Granddaughter Sienna who is 7? What is possible for her and her girlfriends now in 2021? What has occurred and what has allowed for this shift? I would argue for that to happen the context around what it means to be a woman with a professional career has altered. For my grandmother being a doctor and a woman was a unique occurrence, unexpected and exceptional. For my niece it was normal. For my granddaughter it is a birthright, which many will achieve and certainly is not dependent on gender.

I would suggest that what happened on 911 shifted the context of airplane hijackings. Before that time, we had numerous and significant hijackings. A plane would be taken over by hijackers, land some place and then haggling over the hostages would ensue. Freedom usually happened, sometimes rescue, sometimes tragedy and death. However, there was a pattern to it, and everyone played their part. 911 changed the context of hijackings. It was dramatic. Crashing airplanes full of passengers into buildings became the background of air travel and influenced everything that happened in the foreground of air travel.

As that context shifted, the rate of change was tsunami like. Almost immediately TSA formed. Security at the airport altered. Lines to wait in, metal detector screenings, pat downs all became the norm. Doors to the cockpits practically overnight became fortified. For the pilots to use the bathroom became a ritual complete with food carts. We all accepted these changes and delays and there were few questions. Why? Because the context around air travel had shifted and impacted everything around air travel. Why? Because context is decisive.

Now we have two examples, let us look at others. What about police beating black, Latino, and people of color? What about the murder of George Floyd? Has that incident changed the context in which police being physical with people occurs? Do they occur differently because since George Floyd the context has shifted? I would say yes. Certainly, for many the context has shifted from one of police meeting out justice to a context of people being murdered only because of the color of their skin.

How about the Pandemic? It started in Wuhan China and spread from there. An illness appeared among us that prior to this had not existed. That is a fact. For me, this Covid –19 Pandemic occurred in basically two contexts. One was that it is a big deal and we had to take real actions, masks, lock downs, quarantines to prevent many deaths and the breakdown of our medical and hospital systems. This context made shutting down of the world economy and keeping everyone home for months a rational decision. This context supported saving lives by keeping people masked, separated.

The second context in which this occurred for many is that Covid 19 was no big deal. Sort of like the flu. With this context people would gut it out, muddle through and the people who die are the people who die. I see this where I live in rural Michigan. Covid is no big deal. Residents say, “Covid is certainly not here. Covid is no biggie.” Just ask the butcher Dave…he never wore a mask. We muddle through and we do not see what all the fuss is about.

The large Urban School Systems and the Catholic School Systems generated very different contexts from which to deal with the pandemic. The Catholic context was that they would make it work with protocols, cohorts, and targeted quarantines. The context of the Public Schools is that we cannot be safe and do this other than by remote learning. Again, given the context, the impact on children and their learning was enormous.

What is the point? Well, the context that something occurs in like Covid determines what you do. Context is decisive. Here is the kicker. You get to choose the context. Things are happening for sure to you and the context that they happen in is up to you. Creating and choosing the context that the world occurs in for you is a big deal because it will shape your experience of what is happening to you. Remember the beginning of this article…finger, to direction, to number…. One can have very different things occurring all by shifting the background conversation.

I have created a context in my life that everything that happens and occurs to me supports and furthers my …life. That is the background conversation that I bring to all that happens in my life from flat tires to a new project to a new relationship to a breakup with a girlfriend. No matter what is happening, how it is feeling my generated background conversation or context is that it all furthers, (enhances my life) and it all supports me. It is useful in that nothing blocks me, and it allows me to always be supported and be contributed to no matter what is happening. Now for the juicy part. You the reader, yes you, take this opportunity to look at what is the context that you are experiencing. What is your background conversation that is giving meaning to the foreground? Is this meaning something you inherited or are you creating it to empower and enable yourself in the face of whatever you are dealing with and whatever matters to you? How are you coming out of the Pandemic and what is the context from which you are creating this new world? Look and let me know what you see and what alterations to the context that you are making. This is important work because, as my mother always said, not really, CONTEXT IS DECISIVE.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bruce HodesBruce Hodes, President and Founder of CMI, is dedicated to helping companies grow. The focus of his work is developing work teams, business leaders and executives into powerful performers. Bruce has an MBA from Northwestern University and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work.

The 4 Best Ways To Save Money On Your Printing

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | The 4 Best Ways To Save Money On Your PrintingThere are a lot of ways to save money for your business but one that is often overlooked is printing. It seems like a given that your printing costs a certain amount of money that is more or less fixed. When looking to cut wasteful spending on expenses, printing is rarely considered.

Yet, there are a lot of ways to get your printing done in a much more economical way. Cutting these expenses down will go a long way toward keeping your company in the black. In this article, we will go over several ways to save money on your printing needs.

1 – Enterprise printing

Having specialized printers for your company can be quite expensive. They are expensive to buy and to maintain. For instance, if you have printing needs for perforated paper then it can be quite costly to buy the printer, the paper and have people specially trained to use them.

Instead, outsource your printing to a specialist enterprise printer. These companies have a full range of printers and paper so they can handle whatever your orders are. Their staff are properly trained and they keep the printers fully maintained at all times.

You will never have any printing downtime and you won’t be paying for printer repairs when they inevitably break down.

2 – Go monochrome

Colored ink is very costly. When you print papers that have colors that are not necessary to the document it costs far more money than you should be spending on ink. For instance, if the paper has headers in another color or there are logos on the document that will be copied.

These are items that have nothing to do with the purpose of the document and can be eliminated. Use a monochrome, or black and white printer, and it will save you money since black ink costs far more than colored.

3 – Go paperless

While no business can go 100% paperless, there are a lot of things that don’t need to be printed. If you go paperless then you are stripping down your printing needs to the bare essentials.

For instance, many documents can be scanned and then shared via the cloud. Even documents that need to be signed can be done electronically so there is no point in which they need to have a physical copy made.

One issue is that to be 100% paperless would require every employee to have a smartphone or tablet to be able to properly share documents at any time. However, there will still be some printing that needs to be done so you can just pay for those few documents.

4 – Use tracking software

One way to save on printing is to know how much you are doing. Install some tracking software that will register every print job from type of paper to how much ink is used. This way you can analyse the data at the end of the month and see where there are opportunities to save money.

Losing Sight of These Three Things Will Tank Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Losing Sight of These Three Things Will Tank Your BusinessIt is not just about sales. Take a good look around the company. Have you noticed that sales is not the only department? It isn’t even the biggest department. Truth be told, it isn’t where your biggest brains work. You don’t need an MBA to be a great salesperson. Too much education can actually be a liability in the sales department. Some of your best salespeople are the ones who partied too late, drank too much, and slept it off in their car. They stopped by the apartment just long enough to take a shower, change clothes, grab a burrito, and show up late for work. It isn’t glamorous. But that’s the stuff of sales.

Don’t worry about those guys. They’re going to get the job done because that’s what they do, with or without a hangover. Believe it or not, your company probably has bigger concerns than the miscreants on your sales team. It is often the case that great sales hide big problems in your organization. You can’t just look at how sales is doing to gage the health of your company. If you take your eyes off the following, you won’t have a company for very long:

Expenses

In the hierarchy of budgetary items, the telecom portion of the budget has moved from number 10 to number five. This is why telecom expense management is so important. According to the experts,

“…telecommunications spending is expected to grow even more in the coming years. TEM cannot stem the tide; however, it can help manage the costs, which can lead to controllable growth within the budget.”

It is a mistake to equate cutting costs with cutting services. You are going to have to use prodigious amounts of telecommunications. That is not going to change. But within that usage and the way your services are structured, you can find dozens of inefficiencies that are costing thousands of dollars that you don’t have to spend.

It is not just about telecom. The same is true for your power usage. Your impact on the grid is a reality that can be reduced with the right plan. You do not have to stop using electricity to power your lights. But you could build your offices and factories in such a way that they take in more natural light. Your small to medium-sized enterprise is most certainly has wasteful expenses. Keeping them under control is just as important as a good quarter of sales.

Logistics

If you are not careful, you can lose all your gains in sales to logistics. There is nothing more frustrating to a sales person than to win a new client only to lose them over the inefficiencies of another part of the company. Courier mistakes can cost you clients. The longer it takes your company to ship out an order, the longer a client has to change their mind. That happens a lot with those clients that were on the fence in the first place.

Clients will not be happy doing business with you a second time if they feel like they were taken for a ride with regard to shipping and handling fees. You have to compete with Amazon, a logistics company. They are so good at it, Amazon is delivering packages for their competitors. That is what your customers are comparing you to. Don’t make the mistake of taking logistics for granted because if you do, you will find yourself in a hole that even sales can’t get you out of.

Social Media

You don’t have the luxury of hating Facebook and Twitter. As a businessperson, you have to learn to love social media. And if you can’t quite bring yourself to do that, you at least need to learn to master it. Like it or not, your clients are on social media, and they are making decisions about whether or not to do business with you. If you are not the one telling your story to the world, others will step in and do it for you. No sales team can turn the tide of a story that has turned against you.

By all means, keep an eye on sales. But don’t blink with regard to expenses, logistics, and social media.