Merchant Services Account

Can a Merchant Services Account really help your company to grow? Dozens of satisfied business owners claim it can, and they eagerly support this type of service for use with many kinds of companies and enterprises. Basically, a merchant account will allow you to collect credit card payments from your customers in a variety of ways. You’ve probably heard all about these from other company owners in your area, but if not, here is a basic rundown of what to expect.

Getting …

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Merchant Services Account

Can a Merchant Services Account really help your company to grow? Dozens of satisfied business owners claim it can, and they eagerly support this type of service for use with many kinds of companies and enterprises. Basically, a merchant account will allow you to collect credit card payments from your customers in a variety of ways. You’ve probably heard all about these from other company owners in your area, but if not, here is a basic rundown of what to expect.

Getting approved for a Merchant Services Account means that your company will be able to accept credit card payments. You can collect these in several interesting ways, depending on the nature of your business and your clientele. If you operate a retail shop or a restaurant, for example, you can set up a credit card processor onsite in the checkout area to receive payments from your customers. On the other hand, if you deliver home-baked goodies to customers at lunchtime in their business offices, you can take along a wireless unit to collect payments while making the delivery. All transactions can be concluded at the point of purchase, leaving your time free to do more valuable things than collect back checks or send out monthly statements.

A Merchant Services Account can help you set up a digital credit card payment program. For example, you can arrange for customers to call a toll-free number, listen to a menu of choices before pressing the telephone keypad number that corresponds with their reason for calling, and shop for products that are described briefly on the phone in a pre-recorded message. If they purchase anything, they can pay for it promptly with a credit card by punching in the requisite account numbers. Your customers will love the ease with which they can call your company, shop without coming into the store, and make payments without the exact amount of cash.

Opening a Merchant Services Account also can equip you with additional technology, like a pager, a wireless phone, or a debit and e-check processor. You can reduce the amount of help you will need from employees by relying more on technology to help you run your business. One of the most expansive credit card payment options is to set up a Website that represents your company’s business. You can promote the latest products or sales, list prices, include links to related sites, and let customers make purchases that they can pay with a credit card right at the site that operates in real time. Your lender will coordinate the payment-processing program so that the amount paid by your customer will be deposited directly in your company’s bank account.

There is no need to keep on doing business the old fashioned way when you can easily upgrade to an e-commerce structure. Costs are manageable, and benefits are noticeable in short order. Ask your banker, a colleague, or an Internet Website for details about how you can apply for benefits that will help your company become all it can be with a Merchant Services Account.

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Many Kinds Of Banks – Many Kinds Of Accounts

Sometimes looking into opening an account or accounts in banks can be confusing. There are so many types of banks and bank accounts! Which banks are right for you to open anaccount in? Which types of accounts do you need to open? Below are some simple explanations of several types of banks and the accounts you can open. One will surely be right for you!

There are many kinds of banks:

1. Savings Banks – these banks can also be called “Thrifts”, and are businesses that ar…

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Sometimes looking into opening an account or accounts in banks can be confusing. There are so many types of banks and bank accounts! Which banks are right for you to open anaccount in? Which types of accounts do you need to open? Below are some simple explanations of several types of banks and the accounts you can open. One will surely be right for you!

There are many kinds of banks:

1. Savings Banks – these banks can also be called “Thrifts”, and are businesses that are for-profit. Savings Banks take deposits of money, invest that money, and pay the depositor interest out of the money made from those investments. Some Savings Banks give credit to depositors.

2. Credit Unions – these banks are non-profit financial institutions. A Credit Union is owned and controlled by those doing business there. Membership is needed to get into a Credit Union, normally determined by where the person works, their location, or possibly where the go to church.

3. Commercial Banks – these banks used to only deal with businesses, but have extended their services to individuals. Commercial banks offer individuals most of the same services as other types of banks.

4. Savings & Loans – these banks usually provide savings accounts. Money deposited into these banks is then loaned out to local residents in the community, normally for home loans.

5. Investment Banks – these banks do just what the name says…they invest. Investment Banks buy and sell stocks and bonds and give investment advice to its clients. These banks do not accept deposits, make loans, and are not insured by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Company).

There are many kinds of accounts:

1. Savings account – this type of account is probably the most basic account offered by banks. You deposit money into a savings account and earn interest on that deposit based on the APR, or Annual Percentage Rate.

2. Checking account – this type of account allows for depositing, withdrawal, and the writing of ‘checks’ to pay bills and for purchases. Many banks now offer ATM or debit cards along with the standard checkbook when you open a checking account.

3. Certificate of Deposit – this type of account, also known as a CD, is for deposit only. You don’t touch the money deposited in a CD for an agreed upon amount of time, ranging from 6 months to several years, and you will earn a guaranteed amount of interest. If you do withdraw the money before the agreed upon date, many banks will charge you a fee.

4. Money Market account – this type of account is similar to a savings account. The interest rate of a money market account is higher than the traditional savings account, but the minimum balance is typically $10,000 or more!

These are the basic kinds of banks and accounts available. Look around, and shop around, for a bank that is right for you.

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Management Basics. Enjoy the Perks !!

A “Carreer” in managementoffers many benefits.
What is not commonly understood is that most of the basic concepts of management are actually basic simple common sense .
And tha t most of the management types you will work with are idiots.
Learn the basics of management and you will stead fast
Put in your time in and Enjoy the Perks .

Keywords:
management , promotion , adancement , career

“Management” is an umbrella that covers a host of activities: leadership, working through others, planning, organizing, communicating, controlling, and making decisions, to name a few. How can you grasp all of these things? Fortunately, you don’t have to.

The basis of effective management tactics activity is to keep control of a situation without enough information, assets, or power to justify that control. That, as it happens, is also the essence of management.

In some ways management needs no introduction. Most of us do it one way or another every day—in families, social groups, clubs, and businesses. Management is universal; it exists whenever two or more people try to do something together. You may not notice this, however, because only mismanagement makes headlines. Planes arrive late, companies go bankrupt, orders are lost, and the Pentagon pays defense contractors several hundred dollars for parts that cost a few bucks Wal-Mart because management has somehow failed.

People become managers by several routes. Those who work for family-owned firms inherit the job. Others may have worked their way up the organization or married the boss’s son or daughter. Be especially suspicious of people who declare that they’re “born managers,” however. They can be identified by their total ignorance of management and their supreme confidence that their every decision is right. But how can you masquerade as a real manager? Very easily, as it often turns out. Few managers really take the time to clarify or analyze their objectives, actions, and motives for what they do. If you, on the other hand, spend even a fragment of your work day thinking about what you’re actually doing, you can rise above the rest of the pack. Especially if you maintain steady eye contact, dress neatly, and act sincere. In the words of George Burns, “Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”

MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Managers perform many activities. It’s important for you to understand what each one involves so you can set goals, assign tasks, and delegate the authority to get them done right.

The major areas of a business include purchasing, production, sales, and finance. Service and retail businesses, which make no tangible product, still have a core of similar areas (minus production) that are vital to success. In fact, lots of people—especially those who sell insurance-now call services “products” to make them sound less vague and intangible. Bluffers have to understand the role of several key management activities that will help them deal with the major areas of a business successfully.

Decision Making

One of the problems with being a manager is that you have to make decisions from time to time. This can be very troublesome, because decisions can blow up in your face. But do you really have to decide? Sometimes not. If you want to sidestep a decision without looking indecisive, you can often fall back on philosophical quotations such as “Sometimes the best decision is no decision” and “If it works, don’t fix it.”

In any event, don’t be intimidated into making a decision until you’ve analyzed the problem thoroughly.
Most panic decisions deal with symptoms of the problem and overlook the problem itself. If your car has a flat tire tomorrow morning, you could pump it up, but a block or two down the road it’ll probably be flat again. You mistakenly treated the symptom (lack of air), when the actual problem (a hole) went unsolved. Adroit bluffers also tend to let subordinates participate in making decisions. Go down to where the problem is and ask your workers, “What do you think is wrong?” Often, after they’ve recovered from the shock of being treated like people instead of robots, they’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong because they knew it all along. It’s just that you’re the first boss who ever bothered to ask. Follow up the previous question with “What do you think we should do about it?” This may produce several solutions that are worth their weight in gold. The end result is that you’ve shifted the burden of defining problems and solving them from yourself to everybody in your work group. And, if the decision backfires, it’ll be more comforting to be able to stand up and say, “Well, we thought.. .” than to have to take all the blame yourself.

Delegating

You should be quick to delegate authority for routine decisions to subordinates. Delegation makes you look very professional. It also saves you time because you have to wrestle with only unusual, off-the-wall problems.

And how should you deal with those? Maybe the best thing to do is fall back on the suggestion offered a moment ago: call your subordinates together and have them propose what you should do. Emphasize, of course, that you’re not relinquishing your authority. You’re merely being a democratic leader who believes in lots of employee involvement. It won’t hurt to point out that the Japanese make decisions by consensus and participation, and you’re simply adopting a tried-and-true technique. It’s tough for anybody to dispute the success of the Japanese in the automobile industries these days especially in comparison to the former market leaders – the big 3 American car companies especially General Motors (GM) .

Communicating

It’s been argued that communication is one of the most valuable tricks of the management trade. Getting a simple message across the way you intended can be harder than it seems. People define words differently, have conflicting sets of priorities, and harbor hidden agendas that conspire to make communicating difficult.
One good rule of thumb is to follow the KISS technique-Keep It Simple, Stupid. Another guideline is to reject meaningless jargon. Because people write and speak to impress as well as to inform, they sometimes feel compelled to make memos and reports sound “businesslike” or profound. The result can be a pompous, indecipherable mess. If you believe you’re the target of a verbal snow job from subordinates, assert yourself by sending back a memo or report to be rewritten. This puts people on notice that you’re a no-nonsense, hard-headed manager who tells it like it is and expects others to do the same.

Accounting

Accounting is a fairly simple process. It’s mostly a blend of basic math and common sense. The information, however, is often susceptible to manipulation and several interpretations. You can take the advice of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, who said, “Success depends on knowing what not to believe in accounting.”

The term “creative accounting” is a euphemism for doctoring the books to make a company look better than it is, while “conservative accounting” makes a company look mediocre or worse. Most corporations prefer to look like heroes to stockholders and bag ladies to the IRS.

As an effective manager you may encounter a mass of incomprehensible figures can cover their confusion with such phrases as: Do you really believe this bottom line is realistic? Have you checked for a recent FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) ruling on this? How much could this change between now and the end of the quarter? And Are you sure overhead has been allocated properly? Perhaps the best comment of all, however, is “You’ll have to simplify this so the board of directors will understand it.” That probably means that you’ll be able to understand it too.

It’s important to consider the impact of the notes at the end of accounting reports, because these can reveal situations or conditions that figures tend to hide. For example, one company discreetly admitted that it was so strapped for cash that it had borrowed on the cash surrender value of its president’s life insurance policy. Another’s report celebrated a rise in its stock price, but the cause was the death of its founder and president

He was an autocratic octogenarian well past his prime, and investors apparently believed the business was better off without him. Notes may reveal what the figures conceal. Catchy slogan, isn’t it?

Decision making , delegating , communicating as well as a simper understanding of basic accounting concepts that hold you steadfast in the turmoil of the management quagmire especially when you realize that most of your peers are incompetent .
In most cases they were promoted either for personal or family reasons or as a reward for some behavior or achievement that has little to do with the task at hand

All in all the selection process may have been totally at odds with the long term health and profitability of the firm or organization

A management career offers many benefits , Most of your collegues in the field are idiots .Enjoy the ” perks” of management

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Monsters in Meetings – Part 4, Quiet Participants

Quiet participants often have excellent ideas that can contribute to an effective meeting. Here’s how to help them open up. (This is the fourth of a seven part article on Managing Monsters in Meetings.)

Keywords:
effective meetings, bad meetings, business meeting, monsters in meetings, problem participants, facilitation, steve kaye, facilitator, leadership, one great meeting

Sometimes you have people who appear to be spectators in a meeting.

There are many reasons why someone would decline to participate. For example, the person may feel reluctant to speak out, may disagree with the approach endorsed by others in the meeting, or may be tired.

And yet, your job is to put the participants to work.

In fact, an effective meeting depends upon fair and equitable participation from everyone. Here’s how to make it easier for quiet participants to contribute.

Approach 1: Encourage participation

When you notice a quiet participant, ask for contributions by looking at the person and saying:

“How do you feel about that, Chris?”

“What results do you expect from this, Pat?”

“Chris, how will this affect you?”

Sometimes a quiet participant will test the environment with a tentative reply or a minor, safe point. Respond positively and with encouragement to any response that you receive. Then probe further to explore for more ideas.

Sometimes you can encourage quiet participants to contribute by making direct eye contact, pausing, and letting your expression say, “What do you think?”

Approach 2: Change the process

Use sequential participation (a round robin) to collect ideas. This provides quiet participants with opportunities to speak. Introduce this process by saying,

“We want to hear from everyone, so let’s use a round robin. Who wants to start?”

Use these techniques to involve all of the participants.

This is the fourth of a seven part article on Managing Monsters in Meetings.

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Restaurant Training – This Is Show Business

In today’s increasingly competitive hospitality industry, owners and managers are constantly seeking the answer to an important question- How do you recruit, retain, and motivate staff who are responsible for creating a “magical” experience which exceeds your guest’s expectations?
Some answers may be found by looking to successful companies that are consistently achieving these goals.

William Shakespeare wrote, ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely pl…

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waiter training, restaurant training

In today’s increasingly competitive hospitality industry, owners and managers are constantly seeking the answer to an important question- How do you recruit, retain, and motivate staff who are responsible for creating a “magical” experience which exceeds your guest’s expectations?
Some answers may be found by looking to successful companies that are consistently achieving these goals.

William Shakespeare wrote, ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’. One company that has exemplified that quote is the Walt Disney World Co. based in Orlando, Florida.

Disney is recognised as one company which creates such “magical”experiences. The Disney challenge is to ensure that all of the 36,000 staff are playing a role in a show which exceeds all expectations.

The Disney approach to people management has helped gain them the reputation of providing a leading benchmark for quality and service in America.

Disney does not just “hire” people for jobs, they “cast” performers for a “role” in the show. The emphasis is in finding ‘people oriented’ cast members who are willing to adapt to the high standards established, and not necessarily on the skills an applicant may have.

Their ‘casting process’ introduces each applicant to the culture of the company, and the important role which they will play in the future success. This way there are no surprises, and it is this approach which helps to maintain turnover at approximately 20%.

Success on the “Restaurant Stage” requires the development and choreography of many different aspects, such as a great cast, script, support and direction.

Quality ‘Casting’ or recruitment, is critical to everything else in the production.

As an owner or manager, you are more director and choreographer of a performance. Your front of house staff, are the actors, and your customers are the audience for whom they must perform.

The supporting crew is responsible for ensuring the script and show is executed as planned. As director, you have to prepare your cast to recognize guest cues, deliver their lines and improvise when it will add to the enjoyment of the performance.

Think of a typical theatre performance- the audience files in, the curtain goes up, the actors make their entrances and speak their lines. If each and every cast member, not to mention the writer, director, stagehands, customers, makeup artists, and lighting technicians, have prepared themselves and the theatre well, the audience enjoys the show and tells others about it.

However, despite the proven talents of individual members of the cast or the presence of an award-winning director or the skills of the backstage crew, the whole thing can be a magnificent flop if just one person fails to do a job on which everyone else depends.

Filling out your service cast with people who can star in their roles is the key to success. But casting for a restaurant show is far more involved and difficult than hiring just anybody to answer a phone, or take orders and deliver food.

The next article, ‘The casting call’ is about how to attract the right cast members. For previous articles please visit the Archives section on our website.

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Recognition! What’s In A Name?

Cameron Timpson is CEO of a medium-sized electronic assembly operation. He makes a point of making a weekly recognition award to the best assembler on the factory floor. “Today,” he shouts to the gathering crowd “it is Lavinia Argot’s turn” and he turns to her to present her prize. Her mouth is smiling but her eyes are not. “My name’s Davina Urquhart” she whispers. Cameron smiles and tells her not to worry about it.

The ability to connect with people at a personal level is…

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employee, recognition, employee recognition, motivation, employee motivation, rewards, staff rewards

Cameron Timpson is CEO of a medium-sized electronic assembly operation. He makes a point of making a weekly recognition award to the best assembler on the factory floor. “Today,” he shouts to the gathering crowd “it is Lavinia Argot’s turn” and he turns to her to present her prize. Her mouth is smiling but her eyes are not. “My name’s Davina Urquhart” she whispers. Cameron smiles and tells her not to worry about it.

The ability to connect with people at a personal level is such an important skill that all supervisors, managers, vice-presidents, directors and CEOs should possess it. Even the most trivial oversight can have a massively de-motivating effect on employees.

Recognition is not only some sort of formalized award ceremony; it is not contained only in a pay-check; it is part of the fabric of interpersonal relationships within the entire organization.

Personal details

In his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” the best selling author Dale Carnegie tells us that a person’s name is the sweetest word they will ever hear in any language. Remembering someone’s name, especially if you meet them infrequently, sends a message that they are important to you. Forgetting names or getting them wrong sends completely the opposite message.

But surely there is a point beyond which it is impossible to remember every name in the organization. Well, the simple answer is “No”. Your brain has a capacity in bits of 10 followed by 8741 zeros. A Gigabyte is 10 followed by 8 zeros (1,000,000,000) bits. So, compared with the average computer hard drive your memory capacity is enormous and there is no physical reason why anyone cannot learn 300 or a thousand names, given time. The only barrier to a manager learning the names of everyone in the organization is whether they think it is important enough.

Add to this list of names, details of where people live, their wives names, how many children they have and their interests outside work and you have a highly valuable motivation database at your disposal.

Projects

When there is no senior management attention paid to projects they can often drag along and suffer from under-funding, understaffing or both and they may end up producing poor results. There is a fine line to be drawn between “breathing down their necks” and being motivational but that is the true skill of being a thoughtful leader.

Project teams need the same sort of collective recognition that an individual desires. As part of the team, each member can benefit from words of praise aimed at the whole project. In these circumstances, it can actually be more destructive to heap recognition on one particular team member when they may have achieved their success through collaboration with their colleagues.

Of course, Davina (or is it Lavinia?) was pleased that she had been recognized for her hard work by the CEO but his lack of attention to the small detail of her name took the shine off just a little.

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Quick Tip – Effective Meetings Earn a Profit

Most people hold meetings that lose money for their company. Here’s how to find out if your next meeting will earn a profit.

Keywords:
effective meetings, bad meetings, business meeting, facilitation, steve kaye, facilitator, leadership, one great meeting

Most people treat meetings as a free resource that can be used to deal with any issue. As a result, huge amounts of time and money are wasted on trivia.

A meeting is a business activity (not a social event) and should be designed to earn a profit. Here’s how.

Once you’ve prepared the goals for your meetings, use the following analysis to plan the agenda.

1) Calculate the cost of the meeting by multiplying the number of participants (N), their labor rate (R), and the length of the meeting (t). Then add all other expenses (E), including travel, materials, refreshments, room rental, and other expenses.

Cost = N * R * t + E

2) Estimate the value of the results expected from the meeting.

For some issues this step will be easy. Resolving a manufacturing inefficiency, for example, could save thousands of dollars. Or developing an effective strategic plan could earn millions.

This step becomes difficult for less tangible results, such as exchanging information in staff meetings or making some policy decisions. In those cases, estimate the value by comparing outcomes with their potential costs. For example, does it make sense to spend ten thousand dollars on exchanging information in a staff meeting or is five hundred dollars more appropriate?

3) Determine the return on your investment (ROI) by comparing value versus cost.

ROI = Value – Cost

If this analysis predicts a loss, either revise the meeting’s scope or cancel it. After all, a meeting, like any project, must earn a profit.

In addition, a profitable meeting will be an effective meeting.

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Outdoor Team Building Activities

Outdoor team building activities strengthen your company’s communication skills and cooperative working abilities while reducing stress. Some examples include treasure hunts, sporting events, games, wilderness adventures, and more.

Keywords:
team building, team building activities

Outdoor team building activities are one enjoyable way to strengthen your company’s communication skills and cooperative working abilities, while reducing stress and taking a well-deserved break from the office. There are lots of structured activities to choose from that are both recreational and targeted towards building these essentials for successful working relationships.

Outdoor activities can take a wide variety of forms including treasure hunts, sporting events, simple games, wilderness adventures, and much more. These activities are designed to encourage critical thinking and problem solving skills, foster good communication and group interaction, and demonstrate each individual’s ability to contribute to the greater whole. In addition to the benefits you will receive as a team learning to work together toward common goals, getting out for some fresh air and exercise will almost certainly be well received.

Although certain types of outdoor activities will be more challenging than others, team building exercises tend to be designed to ensure a safe, rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone. Activities provided by professional consultants are generally customized to suit your particular organization, and are usually flexible enough to even be moved indoors in case of bad weather. Take some time to evaluate what kinds of activities might be best enjoyed by your team, or give them a selection to choose from in order to maximize their participation in their team building experience.

The advantages of team building activities are many, and the benefits are intended to last beyond the day, to improve morale and teamwork when you return to the office as well. Getting to know one another in a different environment and enjoying some humorous and successful experiences together helps relieve tensions, builds mutual appreciation and understanding, and helps team members feel like part of a unified whole.

Team building activities can be used at any stage of an organization’s development, from providing icebreakers for new recruits, helping a new division get to know one another, or providing some much needed revitalization for your seasoned people who could use a morale boost. Your team may enjoy the experience so much that they decide to make a habit of it, and organize bowling nights, a softball team, or get a group membership at a fitness center. The possibilities are wide open.

Professional consultants who specialize in corporate organization and team building can provide many valuable and fun activities to improve your company’s productivity or enhance a specific team’s performance. Begin by browsing some of the services that are advertised online to get an idea of the many ways you can approach teambuilding. There is definitely something for everyone, and the gains are immeasurable. Make an investment in your people, and enjoy a work environment that is both more harmonious and productive.

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Managing Information To Support Strategic Planning

Relevant and accurate information is an essential foundation stone of successful strategic planning. In this article we look at the need for leaders to implement and manage an effective process which gathers data and information that supports and enhances the strategic decision making activity.

Keywords:
distance learning,strategy,management,business,courses,HND,HNC,Project,diploma,foundation,DMS,CMS,studies,degree, postgraduate,certificate,

Establishing An Information Management Policy, by: acknowledging the importance of information to the strategic planning process and to the operational performance of the organisation; implementing an information management policy that will ensure a continuous flow of appropriate information to all levels of the organisation; allocating responsibility for the maintenance and improvement of the policy to an executive level manager; allocating level-specific responsibilities for the maintenance of the information flow.

Implementing an information management policy that is robust and rigorous is essential, not only at the strategic, corporate levels, but operationally as well. In the case of strategic planning, the quality of the information gathered, the channels used to distribute that information laterally and vertically throughout the organisation, and the interpretation of the information gathered, is vital. Without a sound foundation, the policy and its procedures, the information that is fed into the strategic planning process will be flawed, in parts at least. This will, inevitably, be damaging to the chances of the chosen strategies being successful.

Identify Information Needs, by: discussing information needs with the strategic planning team; using scenario building techniques to identify potentially differing information needs; identifying information needs of partners and key stakeholders who will be involved in the planning process; forecasting information needs for the strategic planning process; forecasting post-implementation information needs; reviewing existing information, channels and flows and identifying gaps and inadequacies; drawing up a list of information needs. This is another crucial early stage in the use of information in the strategic planning process. The leader(s) and other members of the planning team must be clear about their information needs. Whilst at this stage it is not possible to identify all the specific details, it is essential to draw up a list of categories of information that will lead to sufficient information being gathered. For example, one of the categories will be information on forecast changes in the external environment, another will be information on current and predicted competitor behaviour, another may be information on potential manpower resources, and so on. For public sector organisations one of the categories will be predicted government actions, such as in the setting of financial targets or other performance indicators. The role of the planning team is to ensure that their needs are understood and satisfied.

Establish Effective Gathering Methods, by: evaluating methods of information gathering currently used in the organisation; evaluating methods of information gathering not currently used in the organisation; selecting an appropriate range of methods for use in the strategic planning process; selecting individuals and teams to carry out the information gathering activities; providing training, financial and physical resources, to support the information gathering activity; implementing a monitoring and control procedure to ensure the process continues to be productive. There is a range of well established methods used internally by organisations, and well established commercial companies, that will provide the required information. In both cases, the methods used in gathering information must be appropriate and effective, in terms of being cost-effective and in terms of the quality of information gathered. In addition, particularly in the case of the commercial providers, the methods should be ethically sound. Whilst information gathered through unethical methods may not directly damage the strategic planning process, damage may well be caused to the reputation of the receiving organisation, and this may well then damage the chances of the strategies being successful. Obtain Required Information, by: obtaining primary and secondary objective information from internal sources and external providers; obtaining subjective information from analytical techniques such as PEST and SWOT analysis; obtaining subjective information from Competitor Analysis techniques.

Validating Information Obtained, by: vetting the quality of all sources and providers of information; testing the validity of information received; replacing unsafe information or at least acknowledging the weaknesses in it and highlighting this when it is used in the planning process. It is critical that the information used in the strategic planning process is valid. Plans based, even in part, on inaccurate, invalid, or in any way inappropriate, information, are inherently flawed and will almost certainly fail in part or totally. Internal sources of information, and the process of gathering that information, must be rigorously checked on a regular basis. External providers of information, such as commercial companies that carry out surveys or other information gathering activities, must be treated in the same way as other suppliers, in that they must be vetted for appropriate expertise and experience, for their operational quality levels, for financial standing, as well as for their ability to understand and interpret the needs of the purchasing organisation. Regarding the analytical techniques used, there are a huge range of tools and techniques that can be used to analyse information. The techniques mentioned above are named because they are common ones, familiar to most senior managers. There are many other proven methods, and these should be evaluated and used where appropriate. It is however, important to be aware that the quality of the output, the findings, from these analytical techniques are dependent on the skills of those using them and the interpretation, the conclusions, made by the analysers, and then by the end users.

Apply Outcomes To Strategic Planning Process, by: interpreting and applying the findings to the deliberations and decision making activity; regularly reviewing the validity of information and interpretations used, during the process; refreshing the information and interpretations as necessary. Using the information in the decision making activity, in building up the strategic plan, must be seen as a continuous process and one that must be monitored and controlled. If, for example, information is gathered and interpreted at the start of the planning process, and is only applied at a later stage (some annual strategic planning processes can last for many months) then the validity, the currency, of that information and its interpretation, must be challenged and if necessary discarded and replaced.

Review Effectiveness Of Process, by: carrying out regular audits on the effectiveness of the methods, tools and techniques, used in the information gathering process; carrying out regular audits on the relevance, accuracy, and value of information used in the planning process; regularly reviewing the value of the information inputs as part of the strategic planning review sessions; taking corrective action where necessary. The whole information gathering process must be reviewed on a regular basis. Ideally this should be an agenda item on all the scheduled strategic level team meetings. An additional review should take place before each distinct strategic planning process starts. In addition, the Information Management Policy itself must be reviewed and refreshed annually. To rely on outdated, inappropriate, invalid, information gathering processes would be highly damaging to the chances of future success.

Establish Future Information Needs, by: implementing a continuous development approach to information gathering, whereby the information needs of the organisation, at strategic and operational levels are continuously assessed and action instigated to satisfy those needs. In today’s fast changing world of business the strategic planning process is one that is repeated at least annually, often more frequently to the point where for many organisations it is now a continuous process. Satisfying future information needs cannot be carried out as a discrete pre-planning activity. Information gathering must be continuous, and therefore future information needs must be identified on a regular basis, and these needs must then be satisfied by the information gatherers. In this way the planners have access to the necessary information as and when they need it.

In High quality information is critical to the success of the strategic plans of any organisation. All other factors can be in place, but if the information is flawed in any way, then success is much less likely. If success is achieved it may well be at a high cost. High quality information must be acknowledged as one of the organisation’s top priorities. Adopting a continuous development and improvement approach to the information gathering and interpretation process is essential. A complimentary approach that should be implemented in parallel with this is that of Knowledge Management. This relatively new approach is in response to the recognition of the increasing importance of identifying and gathering the internally generated information and the accumulated knowledge held within the organisation, and making effective use of these. The leader(s) of the strategic planning activity should combine the established principles of continuous development and improvement with the techniques of knowledge management, and build this into the strategies of the organisation. In this way the organisation is generating a continuous flow of high quality information, and making the most effective use of that information to support its chosen strategies.

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Planning a Team Building Day of Fun

Planning a team building day revitalizes your group’s energy and enthusiasm and leads to improved communication and problem solving skills.

Keywords:
team building, team building day

Planning a team building day of fun is a great way to revitalize your group’s energy and enthusiasm, as well as improve communication and problem solving skills. There are many ideas for fun ways to increase your team’s cohesiveness and establish better working relationships.

Team building activities span the breadth of the imagination, from cooking to sports, wilderness survival type adventures, music and dance, and a wide variety of other games and group exercises. For the best results, try to choose something in a subject area that is likely to be enjoyed by everyone in your group. However, if picking a common interest is too much of a challenge, most team building activities can be adapted to suit your needs, and are designed to provide lighthearted entertainment, rather than overly daunting challenges.

Find an activity that will require everyone’s participation and interaction, but without putting too much pressure on individual performance. The idea is to foster cooperative teamwork, not competition, and each person’s contribution needs to be recognized as a valuable part of the combined effort.

There are a number of reasons to consider bringing in an expert from outside your organization to lead these team building activities. It will put everyone on equal ground, and the consultant you choose should be experienced at putting people at ease, a necessity if the day is to be a success. They should also be able to help maintain a focus on the ultimate objective of the day, which is to both have fun and improve your ability to function as a team.

A fun day of team building can serve many purposes, including:
- an icebreaker for a new team, to quickly establish comfortable and effective work relationships
- a break from boredom and routine for a group that could use some new energy
- a non-threatening way to address interpersonal conflicts or other barriers to productivity
- a treat for a job well done
- a way to facilitate a smooth transition during a time of restructuring
- preparation for a big project that will require enhanced teamwork
- creating a more cohesive team out of talented people who just are not functioning effectively as a group

If any of the above applies to your team, don’t hesitate to investigate your options to kick start productivity and renew enthusiasm in your workplace. Team building is a worthy investment in your organization’s present and future, and can help overcome difficulties of the past. Many great services and products are available to help you and your group get back on track and has fun at the same time. Take the initiative to improve workplace morale and productivity, the results will speak for themselves.

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