Thursday 25 July 2013

Get smart with your time, get CLOCKWISE

- The average manager is interrupted every 8 minutes.

- On average,  professional employees spend 80% of their working day on things which have "little value" or "no value".

- The average professional spends less than 2 minutes per day in meaningful conversation with their spouse or significant other.  

In spite of the advances in technology and the improvements in time management awareness, (i.e. most of us now know to split the bigger tasks into smaller tasks, to prioritise, goal-set and do the undesirable stuff first) the fact remains, that for most of us, effective time management is as elusive as ever.

Given the global economic climate as well as a 24/7 hour culture, the question of how to develop people so that they produce more in terms of quantity and quality, is a critical success factor for organisations who wish to thrive, but is there a resource which sheds fresh insight on how to do it?

Using 5 great principles of time management, Clockwise will improve your habits and systems so you get more things done and so you get the important things done.

1) Time Planning: Develop systems which keep you on-track with your immediate and long term tasks.

2) Prioritising: Learn how to prioritise effectively.

3) Decisiveness: Overcome the habit of procrastination and nurture a decisive mind.

4) Delegation: Understand how to delegate wisely so you can offload tasks whilst developing others.

5) Boundaries: Know how to establish, communicate and adhere to personal boundaries.

When your resources are stretched, your diary is overloaded and the pressure for results is higher than ever, you can't physically make more time, but you can get Clockwise.

Available for free download on my linked profile and website (details below)

Thanks for reading

I help businesses become more profitable by developing their people: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk






Sunday 21 July 2013

Business Development Tip: Matchmaking a most important union



I recently worked with an organisation, who's sales and marketing teams function as separate and isolated units. Whilst the company team mission statement is all about collaborative working, joint aims and the normal jargon you tend to associate with mission statements, the reality is very different. The fact is that the marketing department is deeply possessive of their work, viewing the sales team as nothing more than glorified administrative assistants, whilst the sales teams views the marketing department with contempt and suspicion.

The result?

The delivery of a marketing strategy, which is totally out of synch with the delivery of the sales strategy.

So what?

The clients they serve receive a message one week from the salesperson they're dealing with, only to receive something entirely different from the marketing department the following week. At it's worst, it's irritating and confusing for the client. At it's best, by allowing marketing and sales to work separately, the organisation in question does not make the most of it's potential sales revenue.

The best scenario is that:  

1) Marketing departments recognise that they exist to serve the needs of the sales departments.

2) Both units need to work as one, without mutual contempt or suspicion and with the greatest of respect for each other's skills.

3) Because it's normally the salespeople who have direct contact with the prospects, they can offer invaluable insight to their marketing departments as to what would work best and how to create targeted and effective campaigns. For example, winning over a 'controller' buying personality requires a different approach from winning over a 'follower' buying personality and unless you have a sales team who can spot the difference and communicate that with marketing, you'll fail to deliver campaigns which are shaped to the unique needs of your buyers. 

Tip (for organisations large enough to have sales and marketing departments!):

Stop your sales and marketing departments from living the carefree, single life. Introduce them to one another and encourage them to get together. Get them to spend time with each other, to talk to each other, to trust and like each other ... and then step back and enjoy the incredible power of a happy union between sales and marketing.

Thanks for reading

I help businesses become more profitable by developing their people: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk