By MJ Plaster
We’ve hammered at the theme of disruption on this blog, but we’ve avoided going full-tilt crazy—until now. Today’s your lucky day because, in the spirit of the holidays, we’re spreading around crazy—crazy ideas that paid off big time.
Helping Your Employees Be More Productive
As an employer or a manager, it is your job to make sure that your employees are doing their job. Furthermore, it is your job to make sure that they are working to their highest potential. Let’s take a look at some ways that you can figure out if your people aren’t working their hardest and how to help them get more done.
How Do You Know That There Is a Productivity Issue?
There are many ways that you can determine if there is a productivity issue in the workplace. First, you may notice that some employees are able to get more done during the day than others or that they have accomplished more in previous months or years. Second, you may notice that orders aren’t getting fulfilled or that items aren’t being delivered to clients on time. Finally, you may notice that workers seem listless or otherwise not engaged in their work, which could indicate that they are burned out or overwhelmed. Continue reading
Insane Business Advice That Sounds Interesting—Part Two
By MJ Plaster
In Part One, we looked at age-old business and why it doesn’t always (if ever) apply. Be sure to read it before you feast your eyes on the “Gawker version” of what passes for today’s business advice.
Insane Business Advice That Sounds Interesting—Part One
By MJ Plaster
In our crazy world where up is down and down is up, big risks can net monstrous results—but not always to the up side. It’s easy to confuse novel with insane and disruptive with destructive. I was tipped off to an article a few weeks ago that led to several nights of burning the midnight oil to bring you this menu of insane business advice. By the end of this article, you will look at everything through the risk vs. reward lens and make decisions based on facts, not stale clichés.
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5 Ways You Can Start Saving More Money Today
No matter how much money you make, there can be times when you wish that you had more money in the bank or were able to save more for retirement. The good news is that there are many easy steps that you can take to save money today. Let’s take a look at some of the specific actions that can reduce your expenses right now.
Get Rid of Anything That You Don’t Use
If you find that you only watch television on Sundays when your favorite football team is playing or only watch the nightly news, you may not need the digital cable package. Replacing the $150 a month cable bundle with an antenna can save thousands of dollars a year without compromising your quality of life. Getting rid of your smartphone for a prepaid standard phone is another great way to save hundreds or thousands a year without altering your lifestyle. Continue reading
5 Areas Where Businesses Typically Spend Too Much
Small business owners are the backbone of the United States. They started with a vision, worked harder than they ever have before to make it happen, and they should be taking pride in their drive and determination. Unfortunately, a staggering number of small businesses fail and, with them, the dreams of their owners.
Most small business failures are due to money management mistakes. Understanding some fairly simple ways that small businesses waste money can help entrepreneurs avoid these pitfalls and increase the likelihood of their own success. Continue reading
Does the Big 40 Mean “You’re Fired”?
According to Bloomberg TV, the median age of the U.S. worker is 42. In the established tech industries, the median age is around 31 and, in tech startup companies, it drops to around 22.
Many of us who have passed our 40th birthday feel it was a watershed moment when we came into our own. We will tell you, “At 20, we knew it all; at 30, we realized we didn’t; and, at 40, we had gained enough maturity to know that the more we thought we knew, the more we had to learn.” Yet today, 40 can signal the approaching end of a career. What’s wrong with this picture?
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5 Things Football Can Teach You About Running An Office
They say that sports have a lot of life lessons to offer. There is a lot of truth to that. This is particularly true for team sports like football. Football is the biggest of the team sports as far as the number of players that are needed to form a team.
With so many components to manage in a football team, football coaches are a lot like office managers. They have to find a way to mesh many individuals together to form a cohesive team that gets things done. With that in mind, here are five lessons football can teach you about running an office. Continue reading
Five Personal Finance Lessons To Pass On To Your Kids
Most parents know that they should talk to their child about drugs and alcohol, and many adults are willing to sit down and have a conversation about the birds and the bees. However, when it comes to money, many parents are lacking. About twenty percent of parents have never really spoken with their kids about the importance of managing finances. Continue reading
How to Regain Your Team’s Mojo
By MJ Plaster
Remember the pizzazz your team had when it first began to come together and click? It was electrifying, like Fourth of July fireworks set to the 1812 Overture. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but just like all relationships, teams go through stages. What started out with a bang is bound to go stale unless you reinvigorate it from time to time. Team players who lose their mojo are detrimental to your business, so let’s look at symptoms of complacency followed by prescriptions for regaining the spark.