Your Wealth Guide

The nature of management is such that it requires the successful manager to do a lot of talking. You tell people what to do and you tell them what not to do. You let people know your expectations and you let people know when they’ve fallen short of those expectations. Your vocabulary must consist of harsh criticism, high praise, lenitive words and everything in between. A highly communicative creature the successful manager is.

Reach A Wider Audience

Then of course, there are the times when the manager is needed to speak to a group of people. It may be a specific team, a troublesome department, or even the entire staff of a large corporation. It would be ideal if all these people were in a relatively limited geographical area.

However, in a time of rapid globalization, company expansion is a key element of survival. As a result, most companies will probably have offices in various locations. Of course, telephones exist to contact specific individuals, but what happens when the manager wants to talk to a group? No, he doesn’t fly them all down to the boardroom at global headquarters. He leverages available technology to minimize communications costs and maximize communications effectiveness. Enter audio conferencing.

Simple and Powerful

Because of today’s technology, businesses have huge potential for market reach. It is precisely this mobility that is driving the tremendous growth of audio conferencing. It has never been easier to use audio conferencing. Anytime and anywhere in the world, whether it be mobile, VoIP, or land based networks, you can make a call.

The reason why it is so powerful is that it accomplishes business objectives without the need for a face-to-face meeting. Think about it for a moment. The manager reaps all the benefits of close communication and interaction minus the need for his physical presence. Audio conferencing reduces business costs and saves time. And time is money. That money translates into a cash flow better utilized to fund other high-level business priorities. It just makes good business sense to spend money wisely on what could potentially be a very large cost item on the balance sheet. Mobility is the order of the day and utilizing technology intelligently is necessary.

Audio conferencing is a tool no manager can do without. If your organization is looking for the most effective way to execute its meetings, audio conferencing is the way to go. It unleashes the productivity of your team by leveraging today’s vastly interconnected world to bring them closer together and become more effective.

The Profit Motive

There are indeed times that face to face meetings may be more appropriate. However, these instances are few and far between when compared to the regular interactions that a large, multinational organization must be involved in. For those times, audio conferencing offers cost-effectiveness and flexibility that cannot be matched.

At the end of the day, it is precisely this type of powerful tool which will drive your bottom line upward. Isn’t that what management is all about?



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Personnel management is based on careful handling of relationships among individuals at work and is the art of acquiring,developing and maintaining competent workforce so that the organisation derives maximum benefit in terms of performance and efficiency.From the definations quoted by various management experts in the past or present,the inference that we derive is that personnel mangement aims at attaining maximum efficiency and to yield maximum benefits to the organisation.

              An ideal relationship between the working groups,between the employer and employee,is an indispensable part of the personnel management.This branch of management touches all types of management and is one of the manjor constituent key in managerial action and success.As there is a need  for cooperation and coordial relationship amongst workers,effective management of employees or human resource in every organisation is a mammoth task .Thus,Personnel mangement is the nutt and bolt of every organisation.Therefore personnel management has to cater two difficult tasks that requires coordination and efficiency and that is workers and work.On the effective cooperation of workers entirely depends on the successful management of the organisation.However man as a factor of production,has peculiarities unlike the phsical factors which are subject to emotions,stress,desires and expectations.

               Today personnel management is attaining more and more importance not only because of the special nature of the human factor of production but also due to the rapid change in the management process and other technological advancements.It plays a very vital role in building a sound structure of any organisation.Therefore Personnel management is referred to as “All Pervasive” that is it is so dynamic in nature that it is continuous,is born with the organisation,moves on with the organisation and come to an end with the organisation,when the organisation itself get dissolved or is wound up.

               To sum up basically Personnel management has certain objectives and aim to fulfil:



Creating a congenial and healthy environment for employees or workers to function effectively.

To bring about organisational and human resource development through training,development programmes or even managerial succession planning.

Selection and placement of right number of people and ensuring proper allocation of duties and responsibilities upon them.

Creating better inter-personal relations,developing a sense of responsibilty and responsiveness amongst workers and employees.

Boosting the morale and sense of initiative amongst employees.

Adopting best techniques or concievable methods to bring best possible development of workers on work.

Cooperation between labour and capital  as well as labour and labour.



 

 

                To sum up Personnel management aims at achieving these major steps:



Analysing the plan for future action and expansion.

Estimating the quantitative and qualititative aspects of labour.

Assessing the requirement of existing manpower or human resource.

Formulating the plan for effective utilization of manpower,reducing under utilization or mis-utilization of manpower which is one of the most important resource.

Finalises the planning for recruitment,selection,promotion,transfer,training and development.

Organisational effectiveness and growth.



 

 

 



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Workflows exist in some form at every company, in every industry. Traditionally, the term has been used to describe transactional processes. Credit card information, for example, is submitted on a website. The information is then sent to banks for approval and to a billing system for invoicing, which results in a message being sent to the shipping system for delivery. These types of transaction workflows, primarily relaying data between systems based on a static set of rules, require very little human intervention. They are typically automated using business process management (BPM) software or custom coded applications.

Human-based workflows on the other hand are usually manually managed and tracked. Meetings, phone calls, paper trails, spreadsheets, emails and desktop applications are typically utilized by business professionals as a means to keep the flow of information orderly. In most cases, a lack of efficiency is unavoidable. Using many different tools and methods to track workflows simultaneously leads to chaos. Visibility of a project’s status, and more importantly, what is causing its hindrance becomes increasingly ambiguous.

Many human-based business workflows involve intellectual property or process innovations that give companies an edge over competitors. In a small vertical industry successfully managing workflows can make or break a company. Because of the diversity of workflows and the ways in which they are managed, it is difficult to find off-the-shelf project management software that is flexible enough to adapt to any company’s set of unique workflows and management style. For this reason, many companies feel trapped, worried that the only option is to develop a custom solution. Developing custom project management software, however, is a costly and lengthy process.

Only Interneer Intellect solves this problem, through catering to the human-based business workflow market. It enables the business user to capture workflows using simple drag-and-drop capabilities. It also incorporates many features that automate and streamline the business process: it is web-based, facilitating real-time collaboration; automatically creates databases; automates workflows; and allows easy reporting, document management and project tracking with multi-user support.

As project management technology evolves, the benefits of automating workflows to gain efficiency, visibility and cut costs becomes increasingly apparent. With the advent of tools like Interneer Intellect this can be accomplished rapidly, easily and inexpensively.



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“Shhuuut uuup!” said the sassy Gen Y to her astonished  manager.

 “Excuse me?” replied the shocked manager, a  Boomer.

This conversation took place recently in the boardroom at one of the  world’s largest oil and gas companies. It is a moment that crystallizes  the challenge of managing across generations in workplaces today – with  a young upstart Gen Y and her surprised Boomer manager on a potential  generational collision course.

This exchange offers a glimpse into a big problem facing workplaces  today - what could be the biggest white elephant to hit them in years -  the departure of so many ‘old’ and arrival of so many ‘different’  employees.

Generational Differences in the Workplace Today

This paper will outline how to deal with the very real challenge of  managing new generations in today’s workplaces. It will identify three  strategies to help older generation managers and leaders (Boomer and  Veteran) manage these ‘new’ employees (Generation X and Y) more  successfully. It will also challenge the widespread belief among  popular management gurus that there exists a significant ‘values’ gap  between the generations. This viewpoint is not only incorrect but  potentially damaging to successfully bridging the gap between  generations.

Specifically, it warns against the ‘values trap,’ whereby  individuals see a generation as so different from their own that  working together becomes almost untenable. It suggests that the  difference is not about values but about expectation and style. The new  generation has been taught to expect more and express differently than  the previous generations. This insight is critical to understanding how  best to manage the next generation.  

The Payoff for Getting it Right

Learning how to get it right will take a higher level of emotional intelligence than most managers’ exhibit today but the payoff will be immense, see also http://ihhp.com/what_is_eq.htm.  Managers able to adopt the three strategies advocated in this paper are  able to create the kind of relationship that not only retains the next  generation employees more effectively (critical as talent is becoming  more scarce), but also increases engagement in that employee. The specific payoff can  be measured by discretionary effort.

Employees who score in the top quartile of engagement give 25%  more discretionary effort (extra effort) than the average. Think about what 25%  more effort from your employees would look like in your organization.

Would customers receive more value? Do you think an employee who  gives 25% more effort would go the extra mile to make sure a customer  is taken care of? Would projects be completed on time and on budget and  more innovatively if the team gave 25% more effort? How about your  sales people? Is there a greater probability that your sales reps would  meet or exceed their plans if they gave 25% more effort? The answers  are obvious; the path to get there a little more complicated, if only  because of what is written in the popular press.

The Picture is Unclear

The problem starts  with a lack of clarity:  most of the current knowledge regarding  Generation X and Y is fraught with inconsistencies and contradictions.  While there are very real differences between the diverse generations,  which we will discuss in this paper, the truth is that there is as much  or more difference within a generation than is found between one.

For instance, research conducted by Paul Fairlie, Director of  Research at the Institute for Health and  Human Potential (http://ihhp.com/index.htm), found that there may be as many five different segments  that make up Generation X alone.  As such it is difficult to make a categorical statement about a group’s  values when they may be more stratified than previously thought. 

This is not to discount what so many are feeling today. There is  tension between the different generations, but then there has always  been. Up and coming generations have always been derided by those more  senior, who have gone on record as saying “this new crop of young  people is the worst in history.” Think James Dean in Rebel without a  Cause or the 1960s when a "generation gap" was first observed between  college age students and their parents. 

The difference now is that a whole lot more is riding on these  disparities. People are departing the workplace in unprecedented  numbers creating a seismic shift in workplaces, unparalleled in modern  times. Approximately 75 million employees will retire over the next  5-15 years.  The pressure this puts on organizations to find and retain top talent  is immense. This new ‘war for talent’ is shifting power away from the  group leaving (the Boomers) to the group arriving (the new Generations,  X and Y).

In other words, whether the older generation likes it or not, more  attention must be paid to the new generation in order to retain and  engage them. Focusing on a values clash is not the way to bridge this  gap.  The two standards most frequently cited in the popular press as  major differences between the younger and older generations are:



Generation X and Y are not  committed, not engaged;

Generation X and Y have an  entitlement mentality.



While these seem like very real differences on the surface, a closer  examination reveals something different. There are more expectation and  style differences than core value differences.  Moving away from values  (and an implication of bad intention): ‘they are just so different’ –  to expectation and style: ‘they do things differently,’ is the first  and critical step to effectively managing the gap between the  generations.

The  Formative Experiences of Each  Generation

Understanding differences between the generations is an important place  to start in this ‘Gordian knot’ (the famous unsolvable knot from  Alexander the Great’s time) of organizations. For each generation there  are particular ‘formative’ experiences that mold specific preferences,  expectations, beliefs and especially, style. Here is a brief  description of each the generations’ formative experiences and how they  have impacted their work and leadership styles.

The  Veteran Generation

The Veteran  Generation, born between 1922 and1945, were brought up in a more  challenging time with life experiences that included World War II and  the Great Depression.  The economic and political uncertainty that they experienced led them  to be hard working, financially conservative, and cautious.  Organizational loyalty is important to this generation, and they feel  seniority is important to advance in one’s career.  The impact on their style is that they don’t like change, are not very  risk tolerant and have a respect for authority and hard work.  This  tends to lead to a command and control style of leadership. This  generation set the rules in the workplace.

The  Boomers

The Boomers, born between 1946  and 1964, were brought up in an abundant, healthy post-war economy,  becoming one of the more egocentric of generations. They saw the world  as revolving around them – and, in large part, it did. Nuclear families  were the norm. More than anything, work, for the baby boomers, has been  a defining part of both their self worth and their evaluation of others.  One of the implications on their style is that they live to work.  Balance is a quaint idea but not really a possibility. As such, they  see the workday as at least 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  This is a significant  tension point between them and the newer generations, as they expect  others to have the same work ethic and work the same hours. The earlier  part of this generation followed the rules set by the veterans, the  later part, with their compounding sheer size, bent the rules.

Generation  X

The formative experiences  that influenced the X generation, born between 1965 and 1980, were that  they were the first generation to be ‘latchkey’ kids and they grew up  amidst divorce.  They were also brought up in the shadow of the influential boomer  generation. They witnessed their parents sacrifice greatly for the  ‘firm’ only to get summarily downsized. As a consequence, they  developed behaviors (not values) of independence, resilience and  adaptability more strongly than previous generations.  In opposition to the hard driving Boomers who live to work, they work  to live and view the world with a little cynicism and distrust.

Generation  Y

The Y generation, born  between 1981 and 2000, has been heralded as the next big generation, an  enormously powerful group that has the sheer numbers to transform every  life stage it enters.   They were brought up during the ‘empowerment years where everyone won  and no one lost (everyone got a medal). Raised by parents who nurtured  and structured their lives, they were drawn to their families for  safety and security. They were also encouraged to make their own  choices and taught to question authority. This group was also raised in  a consumer economy, and as such, expects to influence the terms and  conditions of their job. As a result, they expect employers to  accommodate their ‘consumer’ expectations in this regard.  This is the basis for the expecting more style that characterizes this  generation. They don’t necessarily see that they should get more, but  that all employees should get more from employers. And, having been  brought up with an ‘empowered’ parenting style, they are not afraid to  express it.

Generation Y (as well as X, to a lesser degree) is also the first to  grow up with computers and the Internet as a significant part of their  lives. Constant experience in the networked world has had a profound  impact on their style in approaching problem-solving situations. This  generation of worker is coming into the workforce with networking,  multipro­cessing, and global-minded skills that their elders never  could have imagined.

The advent of interactive media such as instant messaging, text  messaging, blogs, and especially multi player games have generated new  skills and styles of collaborating in these two generations that differ  from those previous. This ‘always on’ or ‘always connected’ mind-set is  at the heart of some of the friction that exists between the  generations and why the younger generation is challenged by the  rigidity of the eight to five workdays.

The (Real) Big  Disconnect

While there are different formative experiences that influence each  generation, the popular media and many generation gurus have taken  these differences between the generations too far in describing them as  a clash of values. Unfortunately, most of these observers have it wrong.

There is less difference and more  similarities than both sides appreciate.

After reviewing a study of 1,053 Americans in four generations, the  director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, Everett C.  Ladd, concluded:

"The results - some of the most powerful views I have encountered in  30 years of public-opinion research - show that even though young  people buy different CDs and clothes, they do not buy into a set of  values different from their elders."

The study compared fundamental beliefs and values across four  generations and found only minimal differences. This growing body of  independent research and expert opinion shows that concerns about a  generation gap have been overstated and points to flaws in the theory  behind this conclusion.  In fact, two of the pioneers of the early academic generational research admit:

"Triumphant in popular culture, the cohort generation has been confined  by experts to the shadow world of unproven hypothesis."

Another study of 1,200 US workers examining the rewards of work  associated with performance, retention, and satisfaction found a  surprising similarity in the generations: "There was no evidence that  Generations X or Y represent any special breeds, and any differences in  the attitudes of these groups from older groups can be explained by age  rather than special circumstances in the youthful experiences of each  group."  If you look into the engagement literature, again there appears to be  even less of a difference between the generations. Across generations,  between 82 and 86% of each group are similarly engaged in their work  and share the top three engagement drivers which are:



senior management interest in employee  well-being

skill improvement in the past three  years

reputation of the organization as a  good employer.



If there was one area where there seemed more of a potential values  difference, it was in salary versus challenging work. Research we  conducted at The Institute for Health and Human Potential found while  there was very little difference across generations in a number of  areas of ‘values,’ there did seem to be a difference between  generations on the relative importance of salary versus challenging  work.

In a worldwide survey of over 2,000  individuals,  we found the following ‘generational’ agreement (agree or strongly  agree) with the statement: “I value a challenging job over and above  salary.”

44% of Gen Y males;

48% of Gen Y females;

58% of Gen X males;

54% of Gen X females;

57% of Boomer males;

69% of Boomer females.

While there seems a values gap at first glance at this data, if you  look more closely at the numbers, you can make the argument that the  bigger difference in this data is less generational and more gender  specific (at least within the Boomer generation). Boomer males are more  closely aligned with Gen X males and females and Gen Y females than  they are with Boomer females. As you can see, broad judgments based on  a difference in values between the generations might make for good  copy.  They do not, however, make for good science.

Overall, these results do not mean that a problem is nonexistent  between the generations; it is just a different problem. ”What we have  here,” as the old saying goes, ”is a failure to communicate,” or as  George Bernard Shaw so eloquently put it, ”The single biggest problem  in communication is the illusion it has taken place.”

It is not a generation issue per se, but a human behavior issue.  Under the pressure of time and the need to drive results, we let  emotions become drivers of our behavior. When there are perceived  differences such as those with the generations, we become overly  judgmental and have trouble moving beyond impact to intention.

As a result, when a hiccup occurs in a relationship it is much easier  to jump to conclusions, make assumptions and create the disconnections  in the manager/direct report relationship. This gets exacerbated when  there is a ‘style’ or expectation difference between generations, and  it worsens when the popular message is that the new generation has such  a different set of values.

The fundamental question to consider is whether the new generations’  desire for the work environment differs so greatly from the older  generations.  Both the literature and anecdotal evidence do not support  a significant difference. Who wouldn’t want more flexible time, a  greater say in how the business is run or an expat assignment (working  abroad for a year or two to gain further skills in a different part of  the business) as soon as they could get it, as the Gen Xer’s want?  Or who doesn’t want to work with ‘positive people,’ be treated  ‘respectfully,’ be ‘challenged and learn new knowledge and skills,’ be  ‘paid well,’ and have more control over their environment—all wishes  that the new generations have for their workplaces. Does this list  differ significantly from previous generations

What seems clear is that the older generation is frustrated and the  younger generation is unclear of where they stand. In a survey we  conducted of 1700 individuals from around the world, we found that 63%  of Y males and 69% of Y females answered they disagreed or strongly  disagreed that “I know where I stand with my manager.” Similarly, 71%  of X males and 65% of X females disagreed or strongly disagreed to this  same question. Clarity is an antidote to anxiety and right now there is  very little clarity between the generations.

The  Way Forward

If there was no  stress, no need for results and no time pressure, this issue would  probably be dealt with in a more effective and skillful way. The truth,  of course, is that there is stress, the need for results and time  pressure. Factor in the biggest migration of workers out of the economy  ever, the evolving technology ‘disruption’ currently at work (where  some generations are jumping on it while others remain skeptical or  scared of it) and you have the perfect storm for a seemingly  generational divide. There are three ways to manage this divide that  make all the difference in the world.

1. Don’t Confuse Impact for Intent

Probably the area where a latchkey, empowered, consumer oriented,  technologically savvy younger generation’s style is causing most impact  is in the use of their voice in the workplace. Gen X or Y employees  express differently. They are not afraid to speak up for change in  their workplace. Here are three examples where a Gen X or Y’s behavior  can be misinterpreted:



Advocating for a more ‘fluid’ use of time in their  workday. They think, why not work from morning till noon, take off part  of the afternoon and then restart again at 5 p.m. and continue to  midnight? In their minds and in their ‘always on’ world, they see this  arrangement as perfectly legitimate as long as they get their work done  and meet customer expectations. For the Boomers, who are either afraid  of new technology or just simply do not understand it, the impact is  that the new generations do not seem as fully committed. After all, if  they are not ‘seen,’ they cannot be working.

The  first day on the job, the Gen Y sends an email to the CEO of the  organization with 5 suggestions on how to improve the company. This  seems helpful – why wouldn’t the CEO want an opinion on how to improve  things? The boomer manager sees that behaviour as presumptuous and rude.

The  Gen X requests an expat posting after just two years working in the  business. They think, if there is an opportunity to learn and grow, why  not me? The impact on the Boomer or Veteran is incredulousness. They  think, ”the gall of this newbie!” and see them as ‘entitled.’



Now, to be clear, there is a percentage of the new generation who do  have an entitlement mentality, are presumptuous, and who do come across  as if the world needs to cater to their every whim. The reality,  though, is that this is not a large percentage. They have the same  values as other generations; they just expect more and express  differently.  Driven by their formative experiences, they are simply  not afraid to expect more from their employers and they are certainly  not afraid to ask for more - and this catches the older generation off  guard.

Ironically, the biggest danger might be the impact that emotionally  unintelligent managers are having on the younger generations as a  result of their reactions and judgments. In a study of 2,100  individuals that we conducted, 34% of Gen Y males, 37% of Gen Y females  and 42% of Gen X males and females agreed or strongly agreed with the  statement. I don’t think my manger truly know he/she impacts me.. Given  the fact that employees leave managers and not organizations­,  emotionally unintelligent managers unable to deal with the frustration  that comes with managing the younger generation can be a recipe for  disaster.  Not only does this impacted group not want to give extra  effort, but they will be more likely to leave.

2. Don’t fall into the ‘Trap of Values’

Avoiding this trap cannot be overstated. Wars are fought on values.  Partisan politics begin with a difference in values. Bridging the  generation gap does not happen if it is fought on values, nor is there  research to prove that a significant difference exists in their values.  As Abraham Lincoln said, “I do not like that man. I must get to know  him better.” Getting to know the new generation – getting to their side  of the bridge to connect with their preferred style and expectations is  critical for successfully managing the next generation.

3. Start From Their Side of the Bridge

In order to connect with members of other generations, a bridge needs  to be constructed. This notion of building bridges is the basis of  IHHP’s Emotional Intelligence training program, see also  http://www.ihhp.com/upcoming_programs.htm#2-day.  This program focuses on giving tools to individuals and leaders to  perform better under pressure in order to manage differences between  generations more constructively. This, in turn, will drive results.

Most individuals understand the value of connecting to another  person’s perspective. However, most people do this by starting from  their own side of the bridge, explaining their perspective first in  their attempt at connecting to other individuals and generations. With  very good intention, and without knowing any better, they build the  bridge from their own side and assemble it toward the other person.  Unfortunately, this has limited success. 

The more effective way to connect to other generations is to start  from the other side of the bridge and build it backwards, step by step,  toward themselves. Entering into the conversation or situation,  thinking about what is going on for the other person, can make all the  difference in the world. What is their reality? Their expectation? What  might they be really asking for in their request? What emotion might be  driving their behaviour? What might be their true intention in this  situation? As opposed to jumping to a judgment based on a stereotype  and a style difference, moving to their side of the bridge and thinking  about their intention can transform the interaction. 

Over time, this approach builds a more robust ‘bridge’ or connection  that allows the relationship to withstand most events that occur under  stress. As a leader of a national grocery store chain (who was  interviewed for this paper) described, “The difference now is going  from having a discussion with the new generation about their reality to  actually having them at the table.” Having them at the table, getting  on their side of the bridge can help a leader see their true intention  which is, style and expectation aside, the same as their own; to do  great work, learn, grow and contribute.”

Summary

(Going back to the conversation that  started on page one…)

“What exactly did you mean by that?”  the Boomer asks.

“Mean by what?’ the Gen Y responds.

“Shuuuut uppp?” the Boomer asks,  emphasizing the Gen Y’s interesting pronunciation.

“Oh, you know, like wow, I never knew that! That’s amazing! I really  didn’t mean anything by it. Just having fun with you. Did I offend you?”

“Well, I really wasn’t exactly sure  what you meant.”

“I’m sorry, I got carried away. I think  I just got excited because I love the work and I really like working here.”

Controlling his emotional impulse to react to the obvious affront  was not easy for the Boomer. Suspending judgment to get more  information and move to the Gen Y’s side of the bridge was harder  still. The impact of managers who can manage their emotions in a moment  like this creates the opportunity for people with the same basic values  to move beyond style and expectation differences and function in a new,  more powerful way.

With the coming demographic shift, organizations with people who do  not confuse impact for intention, are trained to bridge the gap, and  who remain mindful of the values trap will be the organizations to win  the coming war for talent.  In this way, they will retain and engage  the next generation of employees.

employees.

 



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I often believe that women are undervalued in the workplace and that most women have the ability to become successful with their own home business. These days many more people are looking for an extra stream of income. The world wide recession is taking its toll on almost every working family in most of the countries around the world.

Starting your own home business can mean the difference between living a really successful lifestyle and just surviving by living on the bread line.

 

I have found that more men come to me looking for an extra stream of income than women. I have never really found out why this is, and it seems strange why more women never give the home business opportunity market a try. The women who do give the home business opportunity a go succeed as well as the men, with many women sometimes out performing men in the same identical home business opportunity. So come on ladies take a look at the possibilities for your future success.

 

I have no real answer to why more men than women come into this type of business opportunity, as women are just as capable as men when it comes to running a home business. I would go a step further and say that more women should give it a try because it can fit nicely around your family circumstances by working the hours you choose to work. Even if you have a part time or full time job this type of business can easily be done on a part time basis, leading to a full time income while part time hours from home.

 

Times are getting harder as this world wide recession deepens, with fuel costs, utility bills, food and commodities all spiralling upwards. With all this happening I believe now is the time to seek out an extra stream of income, before you leave it too late.

 

These opportunities are there for anyone who has the desire for more income and a better life, there are no barriers or excuses because almost anyone can be shown how to be successful with a home business opportunity. I would love to see more women coming into this business, and I believe that women have all the abilities needed to successfully manage their own home business with ease.

 

Here are my top two tips when choosing any home business opportunity.

 

Choose your sponsor with care they can make the difference between your success or failure in business.

Be sure that you have the backing of a team of experts as well as your sponsor.

If these two points are not firmly in place you could be on dodgy ground and your whole business be at risk before you even start.

 

Choose well and choose wisely, I wish you success and happiness in your life whatever you choose to do.

Robert Waugh. http://www.incomepool.com

 

 

 

 



Create Success!

A managed services provider is a company that manages services for another company. Basically, they are a company that takes care of outsourced services on a month-to-month basis, which is how they also receive their income. Many of these services are provided via the internet and cover such tasks as IT services, remote data backup, desktop and security monitoring, and technical assistance. It is also common for a managed services provider to also manage a company’s web hosting and maintenance of their websites.

However, managed hosting is perhaps the most common function of many managed services provider. The provider bills the business they are providing the services for a fixed amount on a monthly basis. They provide IT services that would otherwise be provided in-house by existing or additional staff. They backup any data that is on the website and any data offered by customers visiting the website to benefit the business in case the website crashes. The customer data also allows the business to stay in touch with their customers. The managed services provider also continuously monitors the website in order to prevent security breaches. That way if there is a security breach, the managed services provider can rectify the issue right then and there. The managed services provider is also there to provide any technical assistance to the business or the customer if any issues come about with the web hosting.

It is obvious that a managed services provider can do a wide range of things for the business that the business would need an entire IT staff to do. Additional tasks that they perform include managed remote access, network monitoring, network management, scanning for vulnerabilities, firewall management, securing the e-mail and messaging system, tracking incidents, and server management. These are a few amongst the many tasks that would be required by the company that the company is outsourcing when hiring a managed services provider.

Benefits to the business

A managed services provider takes many tasks off of the hands of the business. In fact, the different payment models that managed services providers make available to the businesses that they serve is usually cheaper than having to hire one or two full-time employees to take care of these tasks or having existing employees add these tasks to their work loads. There may be times in which issues come about and those employees must focus on the managed hosting while putting their other job responsibilities on the backburner. However, some managed hosting operations are so large that it takes a number of employees to manage the system and everything that comes with it. This avoids having to pay higher salaries, additional salaries, training costs, and prevents staff members from being overworked.

Another benefit is that a managed services provider focuses on the task at hand because their job is to manage services for the business so that the business can focus on customer satisfaction, monitor costs better, save money by not having to manage their managed hosting themselves, protect vital information, and focus on making the applications satisfactory for the customer. They have no additional tasks other than focusing on the success of their client’s managed hosting.

Overall benefits

So the overall benefits are quite obvious in terms of convenience and cost. What’s really important is that the managed services provider is not consumed with other tasks because their job is to ensure the business they provide services for remains running smoothly in terms of their managed hosting. Successful managed hosting means the business can be more profitable and the consumer’s view of their business will be one of trust and satisfaction.



Are You Looking For A Realistic $250K First Year Income Potential?

If you have an online store based on osCommerce with a lot of products in many categories, and you are spending more than few minutes everyday updating your products, then you may gain benefit from the Store Manager for osCommerce. It is cost-effective software to manage osCommerce-based online stores.

Store Manager for osCommerce is a multi-language software to manage your online store. You get:

- multiple osCommerce stores management

- products, categories, attributes, manufacturers and orders management

- quick and easy osCommerce products import/export including product attributes, manufacturers, taxes, categories, additional fields

- smart and easy pricing for many products at once

- easy product navigation, quick search, advanced filters

- quick product, order, customer search etc

- advanced reporting tools, including more then 20 reports out of the box

- and much more

You can manage osCommerce store much faster and more effectively - import / export products, change product quantities, availability, backup your store, automatically re-size your product images while uploading etc. Hundreds of additional features are included in Store Manager for osCommerce to simplify typical and more advanced tasks. For example, SmartPrice Feature makes price changes for multiple products very smart, quick and easy. Advanced Reporting Tools show most popular products, most profitable products, products viewed, products purchased, customer orders total etc. And you can even design your own reports by any criteria. All changes you made are applied to your store immediately, no synchronization, no delayed updates - it all live.

Store Manager for osCommerce also provides multiple stores management, you can manage many stores at once and quickly switch between your stores. And all this right from your desktop computer. To know more about the software, see the screenshots, check out online flash presentations, or if you are in a hurry, just download Store Manager for osCommerce and try.

oscommerce-manager.com

Maybe you’ve realized that the e-commerce system you’re using just doesn’t do things in the way you want them done. Without Store Manager for osCommerce adding and managing your products itself can be a chore. In fact, the default version of osCommerce really only offers a very rudimentary product template that many users feel the need to customize. And customisation is one of the most valuable aspects of osCommerce. That’s why the developer created the Store Manager for osCommerce that will help you to successfully manage your osCommerce-based online store.

Store Manager for osCommerce is very easy and intuitive software and can be effectively used by NON-IT professionals. Everything you need for your effective and easy work with products, customers, orders, pricing and other store data is there – is in the software.

Do you have a comment or question about this software or other osCommerce topics? Speak out in the Support Forum oscommerce-manager.com/forum



Serious Entrepreneurs ONLY Beyond This Point!

agement and effective leadership skills seminars, I often ask participants, based on their years of experience, to list their top do’s and don’ts for effectively managing people. After conducting workshops and keynotes all over the world for over 12 years, I’ve come up with ten timeless principles, or tips for managing people. Here are the top ten:

1. Set goals collaboratively with your employees. You’re more likely to have employees who are accepting of the solution because they were involved in the process.

2. Follow through. Always do what you say you’re going to do. Otherwise, your credibility is destroyed. As the saying goes, they remember your last act.

3. In managing people, be empathetic and compassionate when the situation calls for it. For example, when a good employee is experiencing personal problems. Remember, your employees are your most important asset. And, you are managing people.

4. Be honest, trustworthy, fair and respectful. In managing people, if you employees don’t perceive you as trustworthy, you’re less likely to have real influence over them.

5. Lead by example. Be a good role model. If you are honest, trustworthy, respectful, and hardworking, you’re training them to be the same.

“Effective leadership in managing people = getting along with others.”

6. Communicate clearly with your staff on a regular basis. The importance of good communication sounds so obvious, it’s as if it shouldn’t need to be mentioned! But over and over, I hear about managers who don’t communicate effectively.

7. Take care of important issues. Don’t procrastinate working on projects you don’t want to do. And promptly address performance issues with a difficult employee. Otherwise, these problems only get worse.

8. Have goals and objectives clearly defined in writing for accountability. Include dates, deadlines, and numbers so it’s very clear what’s expected. For example, if someone is in customer service they are to, “Respond to all customer inquiries and complaints within 12 hours of receiving them.This way, the employee clearly understands what’s expected of them and is less likely to say, “Well,that’s just your perception. You’re just picking on me.”

9. In managing people, be available. Be approachable.

10. Empower and motivate the team not just in terms of completing tasks, but also in terms of good communication and managing conflict.

Effective leadership when managing people correlates to successfully managing conflict. Learn to get along with others. It’s not just what you know, or who you know, but how well you get along with others.



Wealth Builders!

Nowadays, professionals are increasingly expected to have mastered the principles of project management in addition to their many other talents. Having basic project management skills, at least, is rapidly becoming a requirement for many professionals. In a fast paced working environment, it therefore seems logical to take advantage of available tools, such as Microsoft Project software, which can help to streamline project management activities.

Once a project has been initiated, the planning phase can begin. The next step is to execute the planned tasks and ensure that they are kept on schedule until the final completion date is reached. A successful Project Manager must successfully manage four basic aspects of a project: resources, time, money and scope. Let us briefly consider how Microsoft Project software is designed to assist in the management of these four elements.

Scope

The scope of a project refers to the fact that the project itself should be clearly defined from the very beginning. The project scope may need to be adjusted as variables change during the course of events. These changes will have a knock-on effect upon the resources, time scale and budget. Microsoft Project offers a project guide to assist in the setting up of a new project.

Resources

Project management involves the effective management of all resources needed for the project. These include personnel, equipment and all materials required for project completion. Microsoft Project allows the user to input all the necessary resources required for the project and assign resources to a particular task. It is also possible to review how efficiently resources are being used.

Time

Any project can be broken down into a list of tasks which need to be performed and approximation of how long each task will take. The principle difficulty is that many of these tasks will need to be performed simultaneously. Microsoft Project allows the user to design and manage Gantt charts, which are very useful for monitoring progress. A PERT analysis indicates the duration of particular tasks. Critical path analysis, which highlights those tasks that dictate the start date and finish date, can also be performed with Microsoft Office software.

Money

Completing projects within budget is a key aspect of project management. Expenses, contingency plans for unexpected costs and potential future profits all need to be considered. Microsoft Project allows you to create a budget for your project and subsequently calculate costs as the project progresses.

It is becoming increasingly important for individuals to have project management capabilities in their armamentarium of talents. Microsoft Project training courses can assist you and your employees or colleagues to fine tune your project management skills and potentially enhance your chances of success in the workplace.



Let us teach you how to be successful!

ROI Analysis for Full Cycle Web Based Practice Management Software Solution

Executive Summary

Within this document, you will see detailed financial analysis and real world scenarios that will demonstrate the exponential cost savings that can be achieved with a full cycle practice management software.

Full Cycle Practice Management Software will:

· More efficiently utilize your schedule by using Resource Scheduling

· Set-up scheduling rules based on your practice needs (by caregiver, room, equipment, procedure)

· Maintain Caregiver Profiles

· Maintain Payer Contract Fee Schedules

· Set-up billing rules specific to your claim forms and payer contract requirements

· Automatically track your collection efforts and all follow-up

· Complete revenue reporting for financial reporting to stakeholders

Traditional Practice Management Software

Managing a practice should not include adjusting your practice rules to fit your software. The software should adjust to fit your rules. We will look at various aspects of a practice management software.

Scheduling

With a typical manual appointment book system, your employees invest much time in maintaining the “book”. Appointment rules are not built in the appointment book. Instead, your appointments may be based on the person speaking with your patient. If you are no longer using the “book” but instead using an appointment book software system, your appointment scheduling software may not maintain all appointment rules. Both of these types of systems hinders your ability to successfully manage all employees time (appointment scheduler, caregiver, front desk personnel) and provide quality patient care.

Let’s take a look at a real world scenario. Patient A phones your office to schedule a follow-up to a wound care visit. Using “book scheduling” (either manual or software) your appointment scheduler must remember the rules for this type of visit. Unfortunately, Patient A is scheduled for a 15 minute appointment, but in reality the appointment includes time not only with the caregiver but also with a wound care personnel. Patient A’s appointment lasts 30 minutes. By the time Patient G is seen (assuming alphabetical patients) all appointments are 30-45 minutes behind schedule.

How much does this cost your practice? Let’s assume Patient G has time constraints and was assured at time of scheduling he would be out of the office within 45 minutes. Patient G is now 45 minutes past his schedule time, and hasn’t even seen the caregiver. Patient G may either leave your office (unseen) or complain loud enough in your waiting room for patients behind him to leave. If Patient G’s visit charge would have been $100, that revenue has just left your door. Let alone if other patients behind him leave as well.

If this is happens in your office, it does not happen only once. So, you must multiply that number by 3, 5, 10, times as often as this scenario happens within your practice.

Result – A single patient leaving your office due improper appointment scheduling 3 times a month can cost your practice $3600 ($300 x 12 = $3600) per year. This cost is in addition to the employee labor costs involved to maintain your book schedule.

If you feel these projections are not accurate, you are probably correct. The costs are probably higher. The average charge is probably higher than $100. And, the frequency can be realistically higher than 36 lost appointments per year.

Investing in Resource Scheduling Software

With Resource Scheduling, appointment, caregiver, equipment, modality rules will be set up for your practice. The system will manage the rules, and appointment slots will be provided based on these rules. Ongoing labor costs will be minimized, as your employees are not learning the rules for each appointment type. With PiMS you will receive unlimited rules capability, ability to define preferences, block scheduling, the ability to define multiple resources for an appointment, plus much more. With Resource Scheduling, your practice can efficiently schedule appointments based upon your practice rules, and reduce its financial loses while improving patient care.

A typical Resource Scheduling software costs, for single location practice, less than $1,000 to install. With the above scenario, you should experience a return on your investment within 3 months.

Lost Appointment Costs - $300 per month (3 patients @ $100 charge per patient)

Labor Costs – Let’s assume an average of 1 hour per patient @ $25 per hour (appointment scheduler, caregiver, front desk personnel)

Estimated Lost Appointment Cost Total - $375 per month

With this analysis, you can see how investing in a Resource Scheduling software will provide a quick return on investment for your practice.

Billing

Billing errors can cost your organization thousands of dollars. This section analyzes manual billing pitfalls, costs to your organization, and proven ways to recover lost revenue.

Most billing errors can be eliminated prior to the submission of your claim. Managing these errors with little labor (i.e. people) intervention increases your overall profit. Relying on simple billing/claims software and/or personnel to remember specific billing requirements will result in an increase of denials and delayed cash. Instead, invest in billing software that has the capability of building your specific billing rules into the system. The system should allow for multiple claim forms. Your users should be able to view claim forms online, and reformat the claim online if necessary. The system should have the ability to automatically submit clean claims to the Payer, without human intervention. And most importantly, the system should contain your Payer specific rules for billing.

For example, some Payers have different billing requirements for the same procedure code. Your system should have the ability to generate a claim specific to the applicable Payer.. If your system does not have the capability of managing these types of rules, you are relying on personnel to catch the requirement up front and edit the claim prior to submission. Or, the claim will be submitted to the Payer and then denied for missing information.

Let’s examine the cost of both processes (manual versus system built rules). If you are relying on a manual or simple billing/claims system, your process will typically be as follows. A claim is generated and reviewed by your office staff. The Payer requirement states the specific procedure code must be submitted with a letter of medical necessity. Your office staff must remember this requirement (in addition to the other multitudes of billing requirements Payers create). The charge is $500. The claim is mailed to the Payer without the LMN. Twenty days later a denial is received from the Payer, stating the claim is not eligible for payment due to missing information. At this point, your staff will either remember what the missing information is, or more than likely contact the Payer for explanation. Your staff will then retrieve the LMN and resubmit the claim to the Payer with the LMN attached.

How does this cost your organization? Let’s assume the initial charge is $500. Begin subtracting the personnel cost to review the claim up front, review the denial, contact the Payer, correct the claim, resubmit to the Payer, and then follow-up with the Payer regarding payment. On average, this would entail approximately 2 hours of personnel costs. Plus, the $500 receivable has been delayed at least thirty days, resulting in a lower margin to your organization.

Investing in billing software that allows you to build in Payer specific rules will increase your margin almost immediately.

Medical Billing Software

Investing in a Medical Billing software, will decrease your billing denials. Medical billing software should provide flexible billing cycles, the capability to build in rules for Payer specific billing requirements, flexible claim formatting, missing element tracking, online reformatting, and a multitude of other user friendly functions to assist your personnel in billing.

How will this benefit your organization? In the above example, your $500 profit is reduced by 8-10% for personnel costs. That is then reduced by another 5% due to the delay in collection of the receivable. Conservatively, your margin is reduced by 15%. Multiply that by the number of instances this is currently occurring in your practice. You can see how quickly your margin erodes, and cash flow is delayed.

The cost of a typical medical billing software is probably dependent on the size of your practice and number of concurrent users. For a small practice, the cost could be less than $2,500 to install. Taking the above example into our analysis, your return on investment would be seen very quickly.

In addition to the features mentioned above, the software should provide your organization with Revenue Management reporting, an on-line patient financial folder, automatic charge posting, and much more!

Collections

Healthcare practices that do not invest in efficient billing and collection processes may find themselves in a cash crisis without resources to meet financial obligations. Your collection practices must be communicated, and adhered to, by all individuals within your practice. From communicating the patient responsibility, collecting this responsibility at time of visit, and thorough follow through until the account is paid in full should be one of your organization goals throughout time.

Understanding where you are today, and deciding on your organization’s goal for the future should be the first step in developing your collection processes. So, first calculate your current days sales outstanding (the average time it takes to collect your receivables). To do this, divide your net sales by the number of days in the period (I recommend monthly to effectively manage your cash flow). For example, if your sales for month is $75,000, divide that by 30, which equals 2500.

Next, take the above number and divide it into your accounts receivable trade balance. For example, if you have $165,000 in total receivables, divide 2500 into that number, which equals 66 days. Therefore your days sales outstanding is 66 days. Once you calculate this number, you can effectively set reasonable goals and processes for your staff.

Payer collections will probably be the vast majority of your collection efforts. Therefore, it is imperative processes are in place that dictates your organization’s follow up procedures. Your practice management system is the key to successful and timely collections of your accounts receivable. Timely follow-up on outstanding claims, denied claims, claims paid incorrectly, and delayed claims is a must.

Review your Payer contracts. What are the terms of payment? Does your state have legislation that dictates payment guidelines? Build your collection processes around these guidelines. For example, if Payer A contract terms is 30 days, you should be following up with the payer on day 31. Then, you should follow-up every 10-14 days from that point, until the claim is paid in full. Let’s examine how not following these types of processes can cost your practice.

Assume your payer contracts all dictate 30 days payment of a clean claim. The first step you perform is to calculate your current days sales outstanding (i.e. DSO). Once you do the calculation, you find your average DSO is 66 days. In this example, you are financing your current expenses by services you performed 66 days ago. This is not an effective means for managing cash flow and becoming profitable. And, you are allowing your payer to delay payment for services you performed.

Ensure your Payers are abiding by the contract guidelines. You must be able to access their payment style and their ability to process your claims according to your contract. Once payer payment issues are discovered, they must be presented to Management, to assist in contract negotiations and improvements. How does this impact your practice?

If your payer contract stipulates 30 day payment upon receipt of a clean claim, and paid at 80% of billed charges, your staff must be able to determine if payment was made correctly. If the payer is paying your claims at 75% and you are writing off the remaining 5%, you are losing revenue.

Patient collections are an important part of your collection process as well. From the appointment each patient must understand his financial responsibility. That responsibility must be collected at time of service. If the amount is not collected, your collection processes must include how and when to collect any remaining patient responsibility.

Investing in a practice management system that will provide the tools to analyze your current state is crucial in the streamlining of your collection efforts. Your software should accommodate the multiple payer contract payment requirements, and the processes you have developed to collect any outstanding receivable. The more you can automate, the less likelihood of delayed collections. These processes must include both payer and patient collection efforts.

Collections Software

Your collection software should allow you to manage your collection process by user-defined guidelines. The software should provide user activities, worklists, and letters to guide your staff in the collection of your receivables.

Creating automatic collection letters is a must. The letters should be as specific or generic as you wish (from small balances to a more rapid letter sequence for higher balances). Your users should have access to unlimited worklists, with multiple assignments based on your criteria. Supervisors should be able to view employees worklist any time on-line. In addition, the software should provides productivity reports to help you analyze what your collectors are doing.

Another important aspect is the software should provide account financial responsibility by both third party and patient. This eliminates staff confusion and allows the staff to follow-up more efficiently with the third party and patient.

How can investing collection save you money? In the above example, if your payer contract stipulates a 30 day payment, and your average DSO is 66, your are financing your operations out by 2 months. Investing in a software that will provide you both tools and resources to define your current state and automate your collection process will decrease your DSO.

For a small practice, the cost could be less than $2,500 to install. Taking the above example into our analysis, your return on investment would be seen very quickly. Investing in PiMS Medical Collectoins will be paramount in increasing cash flow.

Revenue Reporting

In addition to scheduling, billing, and collections, your software must provide you the tools to accurately analyze your financial picture. These tools should be in the format of reports. These reports must have meaning to your organization. Understanding where your practice is today, and how you can improve will provide Management the necessary information to make important strategic decisions.

The software must provide a thorough selection of real time reports that will assist in you accurate financial analysis of your practice. With PiMS reporting, you will be able to view aging reports (by financial party), revenue reports, productivity reports, plus many more. These reports are real-time, online, and retrievable at your discretion.

Performing routine financial analysis will quickly provide to you not only the items mentioned above, but will also quickly provide you the return on investment you have seen.

In summary, investing in a full cycle practice management system will quickly provide effective processes, streamlining of the A/R process, decreasing labor costs, and most importantly increasing employee productivity and your organization’s profitability.



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