business Archives

The Dos and Don’ts of Networking

December 16, 2009/in Practices for Professionals/by Thom Singer

Do treat everyone you meet with respect.
Do ask questions of other people about their business.
Do try to meet 3-5 new people at every event.
Do carry business cards wherever you go.
Do follow up when you meet people you want to get to know better.
Don’t talk too much about yourself or your products or services the first time you meet someone (don’t sell).
Don’t stand or sit with people from your own company.
Don’t arrive late or leave early.
Don’t think meeting someone one time makes them part of your network.
Don’t talk about religion, politics, or the economy with those you just met.

About the Author

Thom Singer is the author of six books on the power of business relationships and networking, including: Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships (New Year Publishing, 2007), The ABC’s of Networking (New Year Publishing, 2007), Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women (New Year Publishing, 2008), and Batteries Not Included: 66 Tips to Energize Your Career (New Year Publishing, 2009). He also writes the Some Assembly Required Blog and is the creator of the free online Networking Quotient Quiz (www.nqquiz.com). Singer has over 18 years of sales, marketing, public relations, business development and networking experience in the business community, having worked for several Fortune 500 Companies and AM LAW 100 law firms. He regularly speaks at corporate seminars around the country teaching professionals the importance of cultivating business relationships to further their careers. Singer also leads training sessions as “The Conference Networking Catalyst” at large multi-day seminars focused on helping people make lasting connections with those they meet at the event. For more information about Thom Singer, visit http://www.thomsinger.com.

Top 5 Networking Tips if Your Company is Going Through Layoffs

December 9, 2009/in Practices for Professionals/by Thom Singer

Stay positive. Regardless of if you get laid off or stay in your job, your attitude will have an impact on your future. Try to look for the positive and find ways to cheer up others who might be having a tough time with the changes.
Start networking early. If you wait until you get the pink slip you will have missed the opportunities to forge strong relationships. If you only network when you need something (like a new job), then people will see you are one sided in your networking. Show up and try to help others with their goals before you need their help.
Do not say bad things about your company. If your company is experiencing tough times, do not be gossiping inside or outside the business about what is happening. People are always cautious about those who gossip and spread bad news. They worry about what you say about them when they are not in the room, and this will not lead them to help you later if you are in search of a new job. Who would want to hire someone who tells stories all over town about their last employer?
Be visible inside the company and around town. Out of sight is out of mind. Hiding in your cubicle and thinking that by being invisible will help you keep your job might backfire. Doing good work and completing your projects is very important in tough times, but do not rationalize that that is all you have to do to stay employed.
Make sure you have your resume and LinkedIn profile up to date. Do not wait until you are laid off to update these critical job seeking tools. Make sure that you have everything up to date so that you can immediately use them if you are suddenly laid off.

About the Author

Thom Singer is the author of six books on the power of business relationships and networking, including: Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships (New Year Publishing, 2007), The ABC’s of Networking (New Year Publishing, 2007), Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women (New Year Publishing, 2008), and Batteries Not Included: 66 Tips to Energize Your Career (New Year Publishing, 2009). He also writes the Some Assembly Required Blog and is the creator of the free online Networking Quotient Quiz (www.nqquiz.com). Singer has over 18 years of sales, marketing, public relations, business development and networking experience in the business community, having worked for several Fortune 500 Companies and AM LAW 100 law firms. He regularly speaks at corporate seminars around the country teaching professionals the importance of cultivating business relationships to further their careers. Singer also leads training sessions as “The Conference Networking Catalyst” at large multi-day seminars focused on helping people make lasting connections with those they meet at the event. For more information about Thom Singer, visit http://www.thomsinger.com.

Tactical Execution Best Practice 4 – Eliminate Redundant Work

December 8, 2009/in Premium, Tactical Execution/by StrategyDriven

Whether in an economic recession or boom, resources are always limited and redundant work always an unnecessary resource expenditure. Yet no matter how hard leaders try to eliminate redundant work, these practices seem to reappear; often the result of well intentioned actions to correct a performance deficiency or misguided adherence to a legacy practice. Therefore, all leaders from the C-suite to the shop floor must relentlessly wage an ongoing war against unnecessary duplicate work.

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New Century Leaders

December 4, 2009/in Management & Leadership/by Bruce Piasecki

What kind of new world leaders should we expect?

Here is one magnifying and surprising solution. I believe we need to teach future business leaders that in our carbon and capital constrained world it is now mission critical to refine all the tools of business to compete on price, quality and social needs. Masters of business administration must also become masters of social needs – from avian and swine flu to energy and environmental matters. I believe this boils down to training to compete for resources and the best minds, while teaching some cultural restraint and leadership skills.

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About the Author

Bruce Piasecki is the President and Founder of the AHC Group Inc. (www.AHCGroup.com), which since 1981 has provided general management consulting and leadership benchmarking workshops for a range of corporate affiliates and clients. His latest book is The Surprising Solution: Creating Possibility in a Swift and Severe World. To read Bruce’s complete biography, click here.

Business Performance Assessment Program Best Practice 7 – Be Prepared from the Start

November 17, 2009/in Business Performance Assessment Program, Premium/by StrategyDriven

Business performance assessments aggregate huge amounts of data in order to provide a very few high value insights. (See Figure 1: Data Refinement and Consolidation Model below) As an assessment progresses, evaluators often feel increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of data they must sift through, organize, and analyze. Time seems to slip away and pressure to find the key insights mounts; making the objective appear to be that of finding a needle in a haystack with only a moment’s notice. To be successful requires thoughtful, deliberate preparation.