Feedback is essential: Feedback must be a interactive process. Having an open mind regarding other’s ideas is an important skill in managing people. Being approachable and receptive proves that other’s thoughts count, and they should appreciate yours. Frank discussion also boosts innovative ways of thinking, ways of accomplishing the mission of the team, and develops the company dynamic. By giving the staff some input, the project and its results becomes important to every team member.

To learn more, we recommend you surf to this superb site for staff development software info!

Communicating is important: Good communication is the key to dealing with individuals with skill. Maintaining an open door policy, listen attentively to other people, remember to welcome feedback , and permit all of your staff an equal voice. Inspire staff not just to speak with you, but to talk to each other. The exchange of ideas is important in the creative process, and in listening to each other, it is simple to spot any problems early, and measures may be implemented before matters get out of hand. Developing these skills will require time, all the same the dividends achieved far outbalance the effort. By promoting a good team dynamic and by listening to what your team has to offer, a flourishing business will be yours.

Instead of simply focusing on one “problem” you want to fix, what would happen if you could look at your life in a holistic manner? What changes would seem most important if you evaluated with an eye toward increasing balance and clarity. What successes would you celebrate? Would you find areas of your life that you are neglecting? Rather than simply focusing on getting up early to exercise or losing those 15 pounds, take this opportunity to think about the life you would like to have and take steps to begin to live into that life.

Start by looking at your life in terms of broad aspects or categories. Here are some examples: Physical Environment, Career, Money, Health, Relationships, Personal Growth, Fun and Recreation, Emotional Balance. These are aspects that contribute to your overall sense of well-being and also can influence your health both emotionally and physically. Feel free to add categories that seem most relevant to you.

Next, ask yourself, “What am I doing in each area that helps me live the life I want to live? You list might look like this:

Physical environment

Money

Relationships

Notice if some of your categories have only a few items while others have many things listed. This gives you some feedback on parts of yourself that you may be neglecting.

Now, look at these categories and ask, “What could I be doing to make my life the way I want it to be? What qualities of a full and meaningful life do you want to include in your list? These are things you aren’t doing yet, but that you value and want to work toward. For example:

Physical Environment

Money

Relationships

Try to add small changes as well as large ones, it will help you see success sooner and keep you motivated.

In starting with the big picture, you gain a vision of where you want your life to be and what steps you can take in order to make that happen. You now have some concrete feedback on what you can do to improve your life. As you begin to make changes, you will know that you are working toward your goal.

What if you really do want to lose 15 pounds or start a regular exercise program? Go back to your categories and add the steps needed to make those changes happen. For example:

Physical environment

Health

Fun & Recreation

You have just taken your goal of losing 15 lbs and made it concrete. You have actions that you can see and measure. And, you are working on your goal from a variety of perspectives, rather than just focusing on the number on the scale. By making small changes in a variety of areas, you will be more likely to achieve your goals. You will have the opportunity to celebrate your successes more often, and, know that you are working toward living the life you want to live.

© 2006 Cynthia McKenna LPC, NCC – All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Cynthia McKenna LPC, NCC is a therapist and life-coach who helps people transform their lives. Her goal is to help people have more joy and peace in their daily living. Cynthia works with individuals, couples, and groups in the Texas Hill Country. She also works with clients online and by phone. For more information or to make an appointment, visit Cynthia McKenna’s website http://cynthiamckennacounseling.com/

This increased flexibility has not been without problems, however. For every parent sitting in the bleachers enjoying a Little League game, there’s the possibility of another worker staying late to finish up the parent’s work. Flexible work schedules which don’t take into account the need to coordinate with on-site workers can lead to inefficiency and resentment from workers whose own responsibilities are made more difficult. And benefit packages which offer expensive family health care coverage and child-care subsidies while handling benefits for single workers on the cheap can end up making the single workers feeling overworked, undercompensated, and unappreciated.

A thoughtfully considered policy which takes into account the personal needs of all of a company’s workers, as these needs impact the work environment, can go a long way toward avoiding workplace conflict. Discussing each potential situation and its implications before it arises can help management clarify its own position on employee relations and shape policies which make all employees feel valued and justly treated.

For instance, what is your company practice on taking personal time during the course of a day? If the type of work allows, can a worker leave early occasionally for a personal commitment, or is the practice frowned upon? Does your company make a distinction between necessary events such as doctor’s appointments and other events?

If this practice is allowed, does a pattern exist where certain workers use this privilege on a regular basis while others cannot? If a worker leaves early, is it with the understanding that the individual’s responsibilities will be completed before he or she leaves, or will another worker pick up the slack? Do parents with family obligations get criticized for leaving early? Conversely, do they get to leave at the end of the day without question while others are expected to work overtime? Do workers without family responsibilities get to take the same advantage of this personal time policy, or is it restricted to workers with families?

If a worker ends up taking on extra work on a regular basis because of another worker’s personal obligations, does he or she get rewarded for the extra effort, or is it just expected? Does the worker have the right to say “no” to working overtime for another worker, or will it jeopardize his or her standing with the company?

Flexible work schedules can be a boon to parents trying to balance work and family responsibilities; but make sure, if you allow these arrangements, that they are available to all. A single worker may not have children to attend to, but may have responsibilities or personal goals, unknown to you, that he or she wants to pursue. While personal considerations can certainly be taken into account while deciding who gets to opt for a flexible schedule, if parents consistently succeed in making special work arrangements while those without family responsibilities do not, you may be guilty of discriminating against your solo employees. If you do allow flexible work schedules, make sure that workers have the opportunity to interface with each other so that the workplace functions smoothly.

Benefit packages are a hot topic right now, and with the increasing cost of providing benefits there is bound to be tremendous change in future years. Traditionally, though, companies have offered health insurance for both single and married employees, and have spent more on married employees and those with children than on single employees. Other benefits have included pensions which are inheritable for married employees but not for singles, child care benefits, and other family-friendly perquisites. In recent years the emphasis on family-oriented benefits has been called into question as unfair to single workers who may provide as much value to the company as married workers but who don’t receive the same value in benefits. Many companies have gone to a “cafeteria” package, where employees are allowed to choose from a menu of benefits; a head of household may opt for full health coverage for his or her family, for instance, while a single individual may choose individual health benefits plus membership in a health club. This cafeteria style allows a company to even out the dollar outlay for its workers and provide benefits in a way which is meaningful to each employee.

Extended leave, paid or unpaid, can make a big impact on a workforce. While most workers can adapt to someone being missing for a week or two, expecting people to take on additional job responsibilities over the period of six months or even a year can take its toll. Where a worker is expected to be gone for a long period of time, it’s smart to consider hiring a temp to cover the missing individual’s job.

Large organizations are for the most part covered by the Family Leave Act, but workers in smaller companies are not. If your company wants to allow extended leave, for what reasons will you allow this? Parental leave – both for pregnant women and for husbands who may opt to be the main caregiver – is the most common reason for requesting leave, but taking time off to care for a sick spouse or child, or for an elderly parent, are also common. While many workers won’t need parental leave, most face dealing with an elderly parent eventually.

You may want to extend the personal leave policy for other reasons – for instance, so a worker can pursue an advanced degree at a college. This policy, particularly if the worker’s studies are job-related, will probably accrue benefits for the company in the long run. Another reason for extended leave could be so the worker could participate in foreign travel. As long as the parameters are the same as for more traditional personal leave requests, providing this type of flexibility for a valued employee may help keep this employee on your staff for many years.

Presenting a thoughtful, carefully structured policy which shows consideration for all of your employees, whatever their personal status, will go a long way toward making your workers feel valued; and valued employees will be much more likely to adapt gracefully and with support and concern for fellow employees when personal situations arise. A supportive, cohesive work force which looks after all its members will be more productive, much happier, and more long-term than a group of people who feel they need to protect their own interests from coworkers whom they see as rivals for their company’s attention and concern.

Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics. She expresses her opinions periodically on her blog, http://beyondagendas.blogspot.com She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com

1. Are you making daily progress towards accomplishing your business vision?

2. Do you find that despite a strong desire to make your vision happen, obstacles always seems to pop up and slow you down?

3. Do you find that doubt is chipping away at your vision, keeping it from ever becoming a reality?

Thank you. Now let’s do something about it.

This lack of progression towards a desired accomplishment can rarely be blamed on someone else because it is you who must believe in it to make it happen. The root of the problem, often unseen and unnamed, comes from you, or more specifically, one part of you.

No matter the level of success, every entrepreneur and small business owner with whom I have worked has experienced barriers while making their business dream a reality- even if they’ve already made millions. The barrier to them or for them is ALWAYS some degree of concern, procrastination, uncertainty, disconnection, lack of passion… fear. Yes, I said it. Fear. The dreaded f-word.

Many of you may have immediately said, “I’ve worked through all of my fears.” You may even say that you don’t really feel fear any more. Or that you ignore fear’s little twinges, or that you’re good at feeling fear and doing “it” anyway. Frankly, you’re just really skilled at pretending the thoughts don’t exist. Don’t worry, it’s not you. It is just fear protecting its turf.

Concerned about how tricky these thoughts can be? Let’s see if fear is woven into your inner dialogue without you even knowing it. Let’s start with your vision.

• You have an idea for a new business you want to create, or an idea to expand the business you already have.

• You see it in your mind’s eye and it gives you a rush of energy just thinking about it.

• It starts to take shape when you tell a few people close to you your idea and share emotionally how it’s going to affect you. They feel it because you feel it.

• With great gusto you make a plan, on paper or in thought, and you look for people and information to help you accomplish it.

And then… things start to slow you down. Your path fills with some of following variations of entrepreneurial fears:

• You start putting off the tasks that you have defined; you procrastinate each time you schedule a task or have a call to make. A clear example of this variation of an entrepreneurial fear is the epidemic of ‘Shelf Help’: buying a book or information product to assist you in making your business dream real. The product sits on the shelf without you ever applying the information in which you decided to invest. This dimension of fear will keep you in a feeling of a growing black hole- it will always feed the following three variations.

Or

• Once the initial energy rush of telling people about your dream and the plans to make it real starts to fade, a different feeling starts to flood in. Every time you think about taking a step forward doubt and second-guessing pop up. A clear example of this variation of fear is that you start looking for more information or other tactics to try without ever applying the ones you’ve already identified. This dimension of fear will keep you in the chase- and will always hold your dream like a carrot in front of you.

Or

• Despite painting a very clear emotional picture of your business dream to yourself and others, the rest of the picture starts to become cloudy. You become unable to see your way through to making it happen, and become stuck in the feeling of the dream. You look for a guarantee to make reaching for the dream worth it. A clear example of this variation of fear is when you start saying “I don’t know”… or “I need some more validation,” “if I could just find someone who has done the very same thing.” You say these things… a lot. This dimension of fear ensures that you will never- know.

Or

• The buzz that you used to get from even thinking about your business dream is replaced with a feeling of hopelessness, and despite the power that once surged through your heart every time you thought about your dream, you now feel like victim. A clear example of this variation is when questioned about your progress you let yourself off the hook by saying, “it was a neat idea, but it’s really pointless to even try,” “I don’t have the resources,” etc. Even if you are never questioned, you say this to yourself. This dimension of fear is deadly. It leads to ‘dream atrophy’- it often causes people to stay in businesses or jobs they don’t love for their entire lives.

Do any of these seem familiar? Don’t worry. You are not alone. Everyone feels fear. Fear is a natural human reaction. Fear serves a function. It gets you out of the way of a speeding train or a growling bear. Don’t strive to stop fear, you can’t. Even if you are largely successful in the short-term, it will always come back in some other way and hit you harder because the stakes are bigger.

There is an easier and more dependable way to deal with fear so that you can prevent these destructive energy leaks from taking the wind out of you and your dream. To point you in the direction of assuring that your dream becomes a reality, here are four insights into what is really going on behind the scenes of when you’re in action:

• First you must realize that each and every thought comes from your brain. Yes, your brain alone. It has been put in the position of looking out for you since you were born. In fact, YOU gave it the job. It’s the same manufacturing plant that gave you the ideas that became your dream. Each limiting thought is the result of your brain capturing things you experience, then projecting them onto the perceived experiences on which you are to embark.

• You must also appreciate that your brain feeds you countless thoughts every day, even if they never enter your awareness or interrupt you in your daily tasks. They grow like unattended weeds in the fertile garden of your mind forming barriers of disbelief that prevent you from ever experiencing the fruits of your vision, sometimes from ever even ’seeing’ them.

• It may seem hard to comprehend but your brain has no emotional attachment to any of the thoughts it feeds you- none. It’s simply doing its job of looking out for you by providing you with the thoughts. Both the thoughts of your dream AND the limiting thoughts are simply that- thoughts. You then get to decide what to do with them. It only becomes complicated because these thoughts trigger emotional reactions.

• You need to develop the new skill of recognizing each and every one of the limiting thoughts, then create the habit of removing them before they take you down. Your ‘garden’ must be free of these ‘weeds’ so that you can actually plant the seeds of your business vision, which you can then tend as they grow. You can only create the business of your dreams if you have a fail-proof process for transforming fear and its variations into the fuel for growth.

Embrace these simple understandings so you can take command over your thoughts and their effects on your dream and your entire life. It is far more powerful to make decisions from choice, instead of by reacting. Don’t react…choose. Your dream will then become a reality faster than it is possible to imagine.

Author and Brand Visioneer, Kim Castle teaches entrepreneurs and small business owners how to tap into the full power of their business-the power behind the brand. Kim is the co-author of Why BrandU, the BrandU Bible and It’s a BrandU Day, the fear transformation process and Journal. To learn more about her step-by-step programs, receive her FREE report 15 Mistakes That Kill Business Success, or sign up for her e-zine Why You?!, visit http://www.whybrandu.com