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Corporate offices: How to make them fit for purpose for clients

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Corporate Office|Corporate offices: How to make them fit for purpose for clientsAs we all know, offices come in all shapes and sizes. There are some huge companies that still operate in very basic facilities (or none at all) – and have absolutely no plans of adding anymore glamour to them, despite of their huge revenues.

However, there are also some much smaller companies who have invested heavily in their office space. This isn’t necessarily because they just feel the need to work out of snazzy offices, but it’s quite often related to clients. In other words, if they are regularly inviting clients for meetings, they need an office that is fit for purpose. And, fit to impress them above the competition.

So, how can you achieve this without breaking the bank? Today’s article will now investigate some of the ways you can achieve this.

Show off with digital signage

Once upon a time, companies may have left leaflets and other paper evidence of their achievements in the reception area. Suffice to say, technology has taken this over.

Now, bigger things are almost expected by clients. Digital signage solutions from Cenareo certainly falls into this category and if you can show off your business in the most visual form as soon as a client walks into reception, you’ll have done wonders for their first impressions.

Try not to lead them through the main office space

Admittedly, this next point might be somewhat out of your control. However, if your office space allows, try and have separate areas for meeting clients and the space in which the main bulk of your work occurs.

It can be really awkward for clients to tiptoe through the main office space, with all eyes seemingly on them. Not only that, but this is something that also tends to showcase all of the bad parts of your office. Whether its papers strewn all over the desks, or just general clutter, day-to-day working environments aren’t going to do your image any favors.

Provide them a working area

This will differ between industries, but there can be occasions where clients need to work from your offices.
What’s the worst thing that can happen to them in this regard? Being perched on the end of a desk, like a spare part.

As such, have a designated area for clients to work from. Ideally it will be enclosed, and offer them all of the facilities they would have as if they were working from their usual environment.

Sometimes, it’s just offering convenience

We appreciate that budgets are small, and not everyone is going to be able to afford new desk areas, or digital signage. For those of you who fall into this category, don’t discount the power of convenience. From a client’s perspective, there’s nothing worse than not having access to the regular Wi-Fi, or not being offered a hot drink on arrival. These are tiny tips, that won’t cost you much, but can make the world of difference to a client who is visiting.

6 Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Work Performance

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Improve Work Performance|6 Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Work PerformanceHow productive is your business?

A common way to measure organizational productivity is to look at your bottom line. If revenues are growing year over year, you can conclude that your company is productive.

However, that’s a simplistic way of measuring productivity. You need to evaluate the rate of output per unit. In this context, a unit is an employee.

Are your employees putting out more quality work within a defined timeframe? Is it taking them longer to complete a task that should be taking a few minutes?

If yes, you need to know how to improve work performance. Continue reading for more insight.

1. Find Out Why Performance Is Low

To fix something that’s broken, you must start by finding out the broken part, right?

Similarly, to improve the performance of your employees, you need to begin by establishing why they aren’t performing to your company’s expectations. Once you have this information, it’s easy to implement effective performance improvement measures.

So, how do you gather this information?

If yours is a medium-sized or large organization with several employees, it can be difficult to pinpoint the problem, right?

In this case, what you need to do is to run a survey. Issue questionnaires that enable employees to provide anonymous feedback on the challenges they’re facing. You can also ask them to provide suggestions on what the organization can do to improve their productivity.

2. Assess the Workload Per Employee

Sometimes productivity suffers not becomes an employee is incompetent, but because they simply have too much work to do within a short time.

This is why you need to evaluate the workload of each of your employees and determine whether it’s within their capabilities. If it’s too much for them to handle, an obvious solution is to reduce it.

Another option is to hire more employees and split the workload among them. Of course, a larger team is be suited to complete the work faster and improve the overall productivity of your company.

3. Create Organizational Policies That Boost Employee Productivity

Did you know your organizational policies could be harming your employees’ productivity levels?

For example, let’s say your company doesn’t prohibit employees from using social media during work hours. This isn’t a bad thing, especially if your organizational culture is “fun and hippy.”

However, this policy could be doing more harm than good. Social media is a major distractor for anyone, so if your employees are working while chatting with their friends on social media, their productivity will certainly take a hit.

The gist of this is you need to develop organization policies that boost employee productivity. Banning or minimizing access to things that distract your employees is a good place to start.

You can also allow them to take frequent breaks. Studies show a strong correlation between more breaks and improved productivity.

4. Ensure Office Environment Promotes Productivity

Ever walked into an office that looked so cluttered you wondered how anybody gets anything done? You definitely wouldn’t fancy working there.

Now that you’re an employer, it’s your responsibility to provide an office environment that promotes employee wellness and boosts productivity.

There’s a lot you can do to create an office space your employees will love.

To start with, there should be plenty of natural light. This means windows should be large and exposed to sunlight.

According to neuroscience research, people who work in an office that receives 173 percent more exposure to sunlight enjoy at least 46 more minutes of sleep every night. A well-rested employee will come to work energized and ready to crush the day’s goals.

Ergonomic workstations also play an important role in improving employee productivity. Other office design ideas to implement include creating collaboration spaces and bringing in office plants.

Tweaking office design might not look like a fast and easy way to improve work performance, but it is. All you need to do is hire an office designer to implement these changes.

5. Provide Efficient Work Tools and Equipment

Do you use a legacy computer in your office? Certainly not.

Therefore, you have no reason to let your workers use legacy or outdated tools and systems to do their work. These will only slow them down, no matter how hard they try to get things done faster.

If your company still has old computers and other pieces of office devices that look like they belong in a museum, you ought to invest in more advanced and efficient technology.

While at it, be sure to automate as many functions as you can. With a good enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, automating business functions with an aim to improve productivity is now an easy job. Try it!

6. Train Your Employees

You can provide your employees with the latest tools and equipment and base them in fancy offices, but if they don’t have the right occupation skills, their work performance will suffer.

To solve this problem, train your employees regularly.

A mistake some employers make is assuming that just because they hired qualified employees, they don’t need to invest in additional training programs. Don’t make this mistake.

As technology changes, so do your employees’ roles and responsibilities. They need to continually update their skills and knowledge in order to remain competitive.

Take the initiative and enroll them in occupational training programs.

Improve Work Performance the Easy Way

As an employer, no one cares about the performance of your company more than you do. And to achieve higher organizational productivity, your employees need to step up. With this guide on how to improve work performance, you now have the information you need to implement changes that will yield fast, positive results.

Stay tuned to our blog for business and workplace tips and insights.

Why It’s Important To Install Security Alarms for Companies

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Security Alarms|Why It's Important To Install Security Alarms for CompaniesManaging a company is an arduous task. From prospecting, working with clients, to leading financial aspects of the business, it seems like the challenges are never-ending.

As a business owner, you must ensure that you are doing everything right for the company to run smoothly. The problem is that most business owners become too engulfed by the issues of the company that they forget to work on another equally-important element – the security of the company.

A security system like security alarms is something that every company should have not only to prevent robberies and thefts but also to save money and time. Of course, the last thing you would want is for your company to end up in jeopardy.

Installation of security alarms is already a widespread practice among homeowners, and it would also be a profitable investment for businesses.

If you still have doubts about reaching out to an alarm monitoring company and unsure if it is going to be beneficial to your business, take a look at the following reasons why it is essential to install security alarms for companies.

It Protects Your Company Building From Fire.

Security alarms are not only all about preventing illegal intrusions and theft. This system can also be an added layer of protection against fire. Modern security alarms now have early warning features to alert business owners about potential fire outbreaks.

A dedicated team of professionals monitors the security system to ensure that the right people in the company will immediately know about sources of heat and smoke. Heat and smoke detectors have become a popular element of a fire prevention technique.

A security alarm system will also notify the authorities so that they can respond to a building fire in no time. Prompt response from the authorities is essential since time is the most significant factor in any emergency. Immediate action from the monitoring team, the company, and the authorities could identify the difference between the safety of the company employees and the destruction of the building.

StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Security Alarms|Why It's Important To Install Security Alarms for CompaniesIt Receives Real-Time Updates About The Company Security Situation.

Due to the continuous development of technology, business security has never been more affordable, sensitive, and specific. Modern security alarms can now send updates to business owners through their mobile phones, enabling them to keep an eye on the security situation of their business at the comfort of their homes.

Real-time updates also mean peace of mind for business owners, even if they are away on a trip for a business meeting or extended vacations.

A multifaceted security alarm system now has complex coding systems and varying access levels, enabling business owners to secure private business information. These features take away the worry about external or internal burglary from the business owner. It’s because they are working with experts to ensure extra protection and safety of their company.

It Keeps Your Valuable Company Assets Safe.

Investing in a security alarm system for a few hundred dollars will save you lots of money in the long run. A security system deters thieves from breaking into your company building just by the thought that you have a security alarm in place.

Having security guards is not enough since thieves have become more sophisticated these days in terms of their methods for breaking into a building, and they can get past the guards quickly. Not to mention the fact that thieves have also improved their weaponry and can take down a small security force, like a piece of cake.

With a security alarm installed in your company, the relevant authorities get notified, and police can immediately help out in neutralizing the thieves. This is why company owners, as well as those who maintain commercial buildings for rent as their business, should get a security alarm system installed as soon as possible.

It Prevents Unethical Employees From Stealing Company Cash.

Have you ever wondered why your company is suffering despite hitting your target sales each month? If so, then you can assume that an internal burglary is happening in your business, and someone from your employees is the culprit.

You can prevent this kind of scenario in your company with the help of a security alarm. The security system enables you to monitor the behavior and activities of your employees. It makes sure that they are not taking out money from the company illegally.

It Lets You Focus More On Running Your Business.

While the security of your company is essential, you cannot afford to spend all your time worrying about it and forget about the other things that matter in your business.

Having a security alarm system installed in your company building gives you the peace of mind knowing that your business is protected and safe. This way, you can focus more on what you do best – running, and growing your business.

Conclusion

A security alarm system is a necessity for companies nowadays, and there is no doubt about it. It is one of the best decisions a business owner can make in the face of a rising rate of crimes related to robbery and burglary. A security alarm is one of the security priorities for the growth of your business.

Environmental Impact

Though the above steps are useful in moving towards an eco-friendly future, it’s important that you always consider the environmental impact of any work that you carry out. For example, if you were planning on constructing more commercial buildings – your focus should not only be on obtaining land but instead should focus on obtaining the right kind of land. For example, you may need to carry out ecological surveys ahead of time if the construction of your next commercial property could interfere with animals or wildlife. This is due to the fact that many animals, such as bats, are classified as a protected species – meaning certain steps must be taken ahead of time to maximize their safety.

Therefore, it is within your best interest to work with companies that provide bat surveys for professional ecologists, as this means they can perform routine surveys to figure out whether any bats are living in the area in which you intend to build upon. Working with these companies means that you can continue with your construction without damaging animal life – thus clearly demonstrating your commitment to a greener planet.

To Drive Digital Transformation, Focus on People

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StrategyDriven Change Management Article | To Drive Digital Transformation, Focus on PeopleBusinesses from top global firms to main street staples are looking into a future driven by new technology capabilities. Since this transformation is different from any of the dramatic changes leaders have faced over the past century, it requires a different response.

Today’s changes are not unusual in scope or pace. Consider, for instance, the changes in the last several decades: the invention and rapid propagation routine affordable air flight, the explosion of trade and globalization, and the invention of computing, networks and the Internet. New financial innovations enabled both historic global economic growth and cascading global financial failures. These revolutionary developments required equally revolutionary changes, including more truly global firms, whole new industries, new ways of organizing enterprises (think first GM and then GE), new ways of working (email, virtual global teams), and more.

Today’s digital revolution brings three new components: ubiquitous networks that connect people, devices, and systems instantly and globally; the data that these networks collect and the ability to store that data cost-effectively; and processing power and techniques that enable us to analyze and act on the available data. These new capabilities connect to the work we’ve done over the past several decades inside our enterprises to automate processes with tools — such as accounting systems, supply chain, call center, and such. We need to understand the possibilities and threats posed and act on the new potentials to deliver value to customers in a profitable way. That requires a new way of thinking about people and leadership.

The nature of large-scale digital is, I believe, something new in human endeavor. Humans have been able to organize large numbers of people into a common mission and execute amazing things, from conquering armies to astonishing constructions project like the pyramids. Digital is something quite different: it How do we get hundreds or thousands of people to come up with thousands of ideas and decisions with little physical manifestation (software), and align all into a single solution that runs and meets valuable needs? The hierarchical and process-driven methods of the past won’t work well.

But there’s a model of leadership that will. To build great invisible structures out of thousands of ideas that work together and deliver value in the real world, in a fast-paced, highly competitive environment where the tools, people, and problems are all new and at enormous scale, we need leadership that delivers three imperatives:

  • Rigor In dealing with the uncertainties driving agile adaptive process control, there are many crucial decisions to be made. Rigor means clearly defining each decision, gathering and considering facts, thoroughly considering options, and making clear decisions. Without rigor, alignment has to be command-driven. And efficiency in pursuit of decision reached without rigor is just doing the wrong things more quickly.
  • Alignment Teams must work in a way that gets the best input from all members, and gains understanding and commitment around common goals, schedules, methods, and decisions/directions of all kinds. In this new process of invisibly codifying ideas, perhaps dozens or more team members make many decisions every day that are difficult, if not impossible to control. How do we get everyone’s head in the game, draw out the best in each team member, and gain strong alignment on the way ahead?
  • Efficiency People’s time is a valuable commodity not to be wasted. From creating a meeting agenda to establishing a standard format for decision documents to holding in-person meetings instead of meetings by phone, there are proven techniques to drive efficiency that can be learned and adopted. Above all, driving the use of these techniques depends on the stance of leadership. Leadership should make it clear that they are offended by wasting time, as it’s also wasting energy, resources and brain space.

We need this kind of leadership from top to bottom on in our enterprises: on each team, in each role, at every level; whether organized around project or products, agile scrum or lean start-up; whether teams are fully co-located or spread out globally; whether focused on apps, apis, or IoT.  We need it whether we are transforming, adding to, or combining a digitized environment. Improving our leadership may require a long haul for your organization, or it may just mean a continuation and intensification of current practices. In either case, consider these three focus areas:

  • Frameworks Frameworks are the mechanisms through which a leader facilitates a team to accomplish rigor, alignment, and efficiency. In this context frameworks include physical space (e.g., agile studios), tools (communication such as Slack or Jira, etc.), organizational structure (such decentralizing and aligning technology to business areas more effectively), and governance. Frameworks also include cultural practices such as Toyota’s A3 problem-solving approach and Amazon’s six-page memos. Cultural insistence on extraordinarily well-prepared and conducted meetings is another valuable framework.
  • Leader Behavior Leaders must reinforce the focus on rigor, alignment, and efficiency. Don’t accept poorly planned and conducted meetings. Reject proposals that do not include options and supporting facts. Help teams form, adjust, and get and share needed information. Clear paths by establishing relationships with leaders of business areas or partners on which your teams depend. Fight waste and inefficiency in all incarnations. Don’t cripple your teams by over-standardizing! And be involved with your teams, available to make decisions when they need your help.
  • Training Leadership can be taught, though it’s not easy or cheap. Many leadership skills required for digital success are similar to those taught to meeting facilitators. Our leaders need to be able to solicit ideas effectively, examine them in team context, and gain agreement on next steps in a way that persists when the meeting ends. Beyond these “soft” skills, we need to encourage what Toyota calls “Towering Technical Competence”: certainly in the technical areas of data, networks, development processes and such, but also in customer understanding, testing, process engineering, and partner negotiations.  Don’t rely on just centralized training — managers must be deeply involved in the development of their team members and hold them accountable to demonstrate ongoing mastery.

I recently heard a senior leader ask when the digital transformation they were undertaking would be done — as if there’s a finite point of completion. But this isn’t a rigid set of specific transformational steps. It’s an unrelenting focus on developing the best leaders at every level of your enterprise. The results will be amazing, rewarding, and fun.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Michael K. LevineMichael K. Levine is an expert on lean and agile software development and information technology. He’s worked at the US Commerce Department, First Bank System, and Norwest Banks; was CTO of a real estate software firm; and led Wells Fargo servicing technology through the default crisis. In 2011 he joined US Bank to deploy a new branch banking system; then was technology lead at US Bank Home Mortgage, where he now leads all consumer lending and business banking technology. His latest book is People Over Process: Leadership for Agility (Productivity Press, September 30, 2019). He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Learn more at TheTalesofAgility.com

Garage-Industry: Manufacturing Your Own Products From Start To Finish

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Garage-Industry: Manufacturing Your Own Products From Start To Finish

A lot of modern business have turned their focus away from factories overseas, opting to make their products closer to home. Of course, this is a great selling point for a business. And, it’s one that a lot of businesses use to get customers interested in their goods. Tactics like this can often offset the extra costs of manufacturing at home. Especially if you can do it from your garage. This makes most of the operation free, as you’re already having to pay most of the bills. And, it gives you a way to keep your work at home. This is a great benefit to a lot of business owners.

The very first step to taking a product to market is the design. A product needs to be immortalised on paper before it can be made. This is a hard process, and it might require a little bit of help. To make it easier, you can try and enlist the help of a product design. But, with some hard work and sound advice, you shouldn’t have many issues doing it on your own. Of course, there’s a lot to this stage. So, it’s important to take your time.

Concepts
Photo courtesy of Jordanhill School D&T Dept via flickr

Most people can’t draw very well at all. But, this doesn’t mean that you can’t sketch your ideas on paper. Trying to draw something will help you to visualise it much more clearly. It will also help you to notice issues with your design before you start making it. These drawing don’t need to be detailed. They just need to give you a visual representation of your future product. Of course, if you intend on showing these to companies, they should be done professionally. But, that’s easy to have handled if you use a drawing service.

Once you have a rough idea of what needs to be made, you can start making a digital model of it. Once again, this is a skilled field. So, it can be hard to do it by yourself. Thankfully, companies like Autodesk have some easy-to-use 3D modeling software, that can export machine-readable files. You can use this software for free. But, you won’t get amazing results. The best way to design a product is using professional software. This means that you may have to do some learning or have someone do the job for you. In some cases, though, free software could be fine.

Engine
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Some people also find that they benefit from making physical models of products. This is something that everyone can do. You have loads of options when it comes to the materials that you use for this. Cardboard is usually chosen by people on a budget, as it’s something most people already have. But, foam is much better. Hard, closed-cell foam is a great material for making models. It’s easy to cut and shape, without having to use tools. It enables you to create a realistic model of your product.

Once you know what the product will look like, you need to do some research. The way that you make a product will have a big impact on the item itself. And, so will the material. Using the wrong methods and parts, it’s easy to create poor products that people won’t want. This makes it incredibly important that you try to make sure know about all of the options.

The materials that you use will be the difference between a product looking and feeling great, and something that is somewhat disappointing. In recent years, plastic has lost a lot of it’s popularity. In the past, it was used because it was easy to work and abundant. But, nowadays, it is associated with cheapness. So, for most products, metal is a good material. Glass is also very good, as it makes a product feel premium. Ultimately, you should be using materials that suit the purpose of your product. For example, you wouldn’t want to make a luxury watch out of a polymer. But, you also wouldn’t want to make a rugged phone out of gold. These are some obvious examples, but you will find that the same applies to your own products.

Different materials will require different machines to be worked. This means that you need to find out which machines are best for the materials you choose. There have been loads of advancements in the ways that materials are worked with. This has had a huge impact on the amount of choice that designers have. In a lot of cases, you want to look for a balance between speed and accuracy. You need your machines to work fast so that you can keep up business. But, you don’t want them to be producing low-quality results because of speed. The machines that you use will have to be bought. So, you need to consider processes that could work for other products, too. Otherwise, you could find that you need more tools as your business grows.

The most important part of the research phase is prototyping. As you choose materials and methods, you need to be testing them. For each material that poses a good option, you should make a prototype. And, if you can, you should make prototypes using as many different processes as possible. This will give you a chance to test each choice before you make the ultimate decision. Sometimes, where one material is good for one product, it could look or feel bad as another one. Making sure that you’re able to test this will ensure that you end up with the best possible quality product.

The prototyping phase should give you a good idea of what you’re going to be using. So, now it’s time to get the ball rolling. But, you still have plenty to think about. First, you’re going to need to get your hands on the machines to do the job. This will involve doing a lot of research, to find the tools that have the best price. At this point, it might be worth asking what your prototyping companies are using. This will give you a chance to make the products exactly the same as the prototype. You also need to think about other tools, as well. Most products need some sort of finishing. This will vary from product to product. For things that are made out of metal, you may need a painting or powder-coating booth. Or, for plastic, you may need a buffing wheel. All of these tools can be found online, and you can get items from Reliant Finishing Systems to get you started.

At this point, you will also need to find suppliers for your materials. Don’t buy these from places that sell to retail customers. Instead, you need to look into wholesale and trade. These sorts of companies only sell to businesses. So, their prices reflect the amount of materials that you will be buying. This will make things much cheaper. Always do a ton of research here. It’s easy to save a little bit on each order, which will mount up to a lot in the future. Just like with your tools, you can ask your prototyping company if they can tell you where they get things from. They may even be able to help you get some money off!

Once you’ve got your machines and materials, you’re almost ready to get started. You just need to make sure that you’re not going to be breaking any laws. Working from home like this may present different rules than other businesses have to follow. If you have a mortgage, you may have to tell the lender what you’re doing. Or, if you lease the property, you may need to tell the owner. And, of course, insurance will be altered by this activity. If you have insurance that protects the building, the risk will be increased for a business. So, if you make these changes without changing your policy, you may not be covered.

Having a business run from your garage is a great way to save some money. Most people have the space to build a small factory, and they don’t even know it. But, it gives you access to your home when you’re working. It allows you to spend less time working, and more time with family. Ultimately, for most people, working like this is the best option. But, of course, you have to make sure that it’s right for you. If you put in all of this time and money, you’ll feel bad if it goes wrong. So, you need to be realistic and make sure that you’re confident in your ability to work from home. It presents certain challenges. But, once they’re overcome, living at work can be a great benefit and a pleasure.

Hopefully, this will inspire you to start designing and making your own products. This isn’t going to be cheap. But, any money that you spend at this point can be considered an investment into your business. And, most businesses can’t start without investment. In future, when you’re making money, this work and time won’t feel like anything at all.