by Help Desk | Dec 2, 2019 | Articles
Want to become a successful entrepreneur? Here are some habits that can help you fulfil your dream.
- To become a successful entrepreneur, you have to be an early riser. Successful people wake up early (between 4am-5am daily), to do things that set their day off to a positive start.
- Successful people utilize every hour of the day. They are always in work mode, even during weekends and holidays.
- Successful entrepreneurs understand that to be successful, one needs to maintain a healthy body and mind. A daily workout is a priority for them even if it’s just for few minutes.
- They keep record of goals they wish to attend daily and irrespective of obstacles they never loss focus of those goals.
- Successful people are good managers of their money. They avoid frivolous ways of spending money but rather invest their money where it will yield profit.
- Most successful entrepreneurs are highly emotionally intelligent. They are aware of their emotions thus can remain calm and positive, to think of remedies when face with obstacles in their businesses.
- They do not procrastinate. They make sure they attend to the day’s task, irrespective of how they feel.
- They know when an opportunity comes up and act fast. Successful entrepreneurs strike while the iron is hot!
- Successful people follow a strict routine. They are disciplined and focused.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.’’- Walt Disney –
Do have a great day!
Source: Moorhouse Groups“10 daily habits of successful entrepreneurs” January 19, 2018.
by Help Desk | Nov 1, 2019 | Articles
“Whatever your definition of success is, you have to keep in mind that you can only be successful if you have the right attitude and way of thinking” – Jason Williams –
Attitude is a psychological state of the mind. It ultimately determines how a person behaves. Attitude and behaviour are directly related because a good attitude results in positive behaviour while bad attitude in most cases, portrays bad behaviour. Can your attitude really affect your productivity at work? Well, yes it does!
Negative attitude towards work doesn’t just put your colleagues in a bad mood; it could as well affect how an office functions for a day. Bad attitudes has been linked to poor customer service engagement, reduced quality of work, unwillingness to work as a team, nonchalant attitude towards work and having depressive feelings.
On the other hand, positivity can be contagious. When a workplace has people with positive attitudes, there is this feeling that anything can be accomplished and a host of other positive outcomes materialize such as: – increased productivity, improved customer service, willingness to share ideas and ability to collaborate and work as a team.
No doubt we all have bad and good days. However it is important we maintain positive attitudes as it could seriously affect the operations of our business/organization.
Source: Lisa McQuerrey “How do negative and positive attitudes affect the workplace?” Updated February 04, 2019.
by Help Desk | Oct 2, 2019 | Articles
Excessive cell phone use at work can interfere with productivity. We all love the convenience of a cell phone, however fixing continuously on a cell phone can distract you from doing your job and may annoy your boss/co-workers. If your organization has no rules forbidding cell phone use at work, here are some useful rules to follow:-
- Limit your use of cell phones for personal issues at work. Occasionally check your phone to ensure you don’t miss critical calls/messages.
- Should you chat with your friend or family members, please save those casual conversations for break time. Attend to only important calls/messages while at work.
- Silence your cell phone or set your phone on vibrate mode, that way your co-workers won’t be distracted by your incoming calls.
- Although making personal calls during break is fine, find a private place to do so especially if you are discussing personal issues.
- As an essential rule of cell phone etiquette, calls shouldn’t be made in the rest room. Whether at work or elsewhere, do not make calls in the restroom! it is rude to both the recipient of your call and anyone using the rest room as well.
- Don’t use your cell phone at meetings unless it is for something related to the meeting. Posting your status on social media, chatting and playing game is a clear signal to your boss that you are nonchalant towards the meeting.
- Keep your voice down while answering calls. Talking at the top of your voice can be very annoying to those around you.
Source: Dawn Rosenberg McKay ‘’Rules for using cell phones at work.”
by Help Desk | Aug 31, 2019 | Articles
Time management is simply the ability to make the best use of your time. Its purpose is to enable you do better jobs in less time. An unknown author said “Money I can only gain or lose. But time I can only lose. So, I must spend it carefully”.
Benefits of time management affect both the business and the employees. Employees with well managed working hours tend to be happier and more productive resulting into high turnover for the organization.
Ability to manage your time effectively makes you more organized, makes you more punctual and disciplined, reduces your stress /anxiety level, and makes you well able to prioritize task.
FEW TIPS ON HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR TIME
- At the start of each day make a plan of what you want to achieve and how you intend to do it.
- Keep a note of your daily activities and try to identify the time of the day that you are likely to be more productive.
- Have a fixed set time for responding to mails, chats etc.
- Manage your workload; don’t accept more work than you can comfortably do.
- Schedule your tasks according to priority
- Prioritise tasks based on their importance.
Failing to manage your time effectively can have some very undesirable consequences such as: missed deadlines, inefficient work flow, poor work quality, higher stress level etc.
“If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got” -Lee Lacocca
SOURCE: Prachi Junega, “Time management “reviewed by management study guide(MSG)content team.
by Help Desk | Aug 1, 2019 | Articles
Entrepreneurial Skills
Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching and running a new business while entrepreneurs are those who start and build successful businesses. True entrepreneurs are distinguished by certain qualities do you have the mind-set that’s typical of successful entrepreneurs? We all know the business world of today is competitive, thus as an entrepreneur who plans to succeed; it is mandatory you possess the needed skills required to give your business an edge over its competitors.
The key qualities needed by a business starter involve traits such as being creative, ability to keep going in the face of hardship and possession of good social skills needed to build great teams. It is essential that anyone interested in starting a business and those handling major job roles related to developing businesses should learn the specific skills that underpin the key qualities needed by entrepreneurs. While there is no one “right” set of characteristics for being a successful entrepreneur, certain traits and practical skills could help one succeed.
The question is what skills do you need to build a great business? To become a successful entrepreneur you might need to consider developing more strength in the following skills:-
- PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS (you need to re-examine your personal characteristics, belief and values)
- OPTIMISM: – Are you optimistic or pessimistic in nature? To be able to get through tough times as an entrepreneur, you have to be optimistic.
- VISION: – Successful entrepreneurs must have a clear vision and should be able to communicate that vision to team members and work with them to make the vision a reality.
- RISK TOLERANCE: – Be willing and ready to take risks and make decisions.
- PERSEVERANCE: – True entrepreneurs never think of quitting, they keep persisting until they get their desired results.
- RESILIENCE: Are you resilient? Can you easily pull yourself together and strategize when things don’t go as planned?
- INTERPERSONAL SKILLS (develop on the skills that enable you build good and lasting relationships)
- LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION: – You must be able to lead and motivate others to follow you and deliver your vision.
- COMMUNICATION SKILLS: – You should be able to clearly articulate your ideas and visions, to investors, potential clients, team mates etc.
- PERSONAL RELATIONS: – As an entrepreneur you should be able to lead and work effectively with your team mates.
- LISTENING SKILLS: – Make sure you are skilled at active/ empathetic listening.
- NEGOTIATON: – Not only do you need to negotiate keen prices, you also need to be able to resolve differences between people in a positive, mutually beneficial way.
- ETHICS: – Do you deal with people based on respect, fairness, and truthfulness? You may find it hard to build a happy committed team, if you deal with staff, customers or business partners in a shabby way.
- CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS (this enables you develop new ideas and make good decisions.)
- CREATIVE THINKING: – You need to be able to think deeply and come up with creative ideas as an aspiring entrepreneur.
- RECOGNIZING OPPORTUNITIES: – Successful entrepreneurs are good at ceasing the moment, they recognize opportunities when they present themselves and take advantage.
- PROBLEM SOLVING: – You should be able to come up with sound solutions to the problems you are facing.
- PRACTICAL SKILLS (this is needed to produce quality goods and services.)
- GOAL SETTING: – You need to be able to set goals, create a plan to achieve them and then carry out the plan.
- PLANNING AND ORGANIZING: – Entrepreneurs need the skills necessary to achieve set goals.
- DECISION MAKING: – How good are you at making decisions? Are you confident in the decisions you make?
- BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE: Do you have a good general knowledge of the main functional areas of a business (sales, marketing, finance, and operations), and are you able to operate or manage others in these areas with a reasonable degree of competence?
Running a business is not meant for everyone; however you can succeed without some of the listed skills above but remember the more entrepreneurial skills you lack, they more likely you are to fail as a business owner.
Source: – Alison Doyle “Mind tools management training and leadership training” updated November 25, 2018
by Help Desk | Jul 3, 2019 | Articles
Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way. The value of teamwork is regularly seen in sports, to be honest, teams don’t work without teamwork. Many employers consider teamwork very important among staff, but the fact remains that a lot of workforces suffer from poor communication, lack of trust, power struggle etc. all of which erode the chances of teamwork in the workplace.
According to mother Teresa of blessed memory “None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful”
If nurturing a healthy team culture is important to your workplace, here are some tips to consider:-
- Establish team rules to keep team members on the same page.
- Learn to celebrate your success as a team to build close relationship and boost happiness.
- Consider every team member’s idea valuable.
- Clarity of purpose is mandatory for all team members.
- Get feedbacks from all team members.
- Establish effective communication.
- Encourage listening and brainstorming among team members.
- Ensure quick resolution of conflicts.
- Leadership team should lead by showing good teamwork examples.
BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK AT THE WORKPLACE
- IT BOOSTS PRODUCTIVITY
With more hands on deck, productivity increases as tasks are completed faster and more efficiently.
- PROMOTES BONDING AMONG STAFF
Strong relationships among team members enable them communicate more freely, resulting into less conflicts among colleagues.
- IMPROVES QUALITY OF SERVICE RENDERED
A Team with strong work ethics and team spirit work well together. When there is unity among team members, there is high tendency to provide improved services that meet the needs of their customers.
- IT ENCOURAGES INNOVATION
Teams are better able to produce more creative and innovative ideas, than someone working alone.
- PROVIDES SUPPORT NETWORK
Working as a team helps you rely on each other for support, encouragement and guidance; especially during difficult and challenging times.
- CAREER ADVANCEMENT
Being part of a team exposes you to other team member’s skills. It also provides you with a prospect of building your professional network plus it could lead you to better opportunities along your career path.
- IT ALLOWS FLEXIBILITY
Having good relationship with your colleagues promotes collaboration, which allows flexible work schedule as cross-trained team members can easily cover for each other’s absence.
- IT PROMOTES CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Clashes with colleagues once in a while are expected but constant disagreements at the workplace could have great effect on productivity. Thus team members working towards a common goal learn to resolve conflicts timely on their own, for the sake of the project, their team and the organization at large.
Teamwork is a core skill required by everyone in the workplace; it should be encouraged by all means among team members. Just like Helen Keller said “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”.
Sources: 12 easy ways to improve workplace teamwork by Hannah Price
10 benefits of teamwork in the workplace by Chris Leitch
