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Top Apps to Have When Traveling for Business

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In contemporary times, time is of the essence. Advancements in technology have led to increased company projections, growth and the enhancement of capitalist ideals.

The internet has also contributed to the advancement of the global village phenomenon, flying from one place to another for a couple of business meetings is now the norm. At times, one-on-one meetups are quite important because one can learn so much more from them about their fellow business partners.

Before setting up meetings in far-away lands, one should ensure that they have a couple of handy apps at the ready. Gadgetgestures.com covers topics like these to help ensure that one is able to achieve maximum productivity. These apps are made to ensure that the meeting proceeds unencumbered since one is able to keep track of progress back at work without having to be present. We’ve listed a couple of the top apps we believe every businessman needs up their sleeve.

Asana

Asana helps ensure that irrespective of one’s location in the world, they are able to keep tabs on what’s happening in their work circle and communicate with others back at the office. The Asana app enables easy communication, deadline progress monitoring, and the management of tasks to employees. Thus, if one’s business entails team management, output goals definition and a number of deadlines, Asana is the go-to app.

Twitter

The #hashtag feature on Twitter helps ensure that the top trending topics in the world are associated with a specific topic. As a business and thought leader, one should ensure that they stay in tune with the happening in the cyberspace world.

Through Twitter, one can also check out their team’s social media statistics over a given period and look at possible ways to boost engagement. To do this, all one needs is a stable internet connection.

Google Drive

Google drive allows the mass collaboration of various teams from anywhere on the globe. One can share documents, track team input and adjust their calendars to keep track of what’s incoming and find out the natures of the team’s discussion.

Concur

Concur is an amazing travel/expense manager that has the potential to dethrone all business-oriented apps from whichever throne they sit on. The app has fantastic expense management tools, features to automatically export expense reports and the ability to sync to the office in order to facilitate necessary approvals.

One of the tools on Concur is TripIt which helps make itinerary planning is a breeze and that all reservation numbers are easily stored up in one place for ease of access. To create a master itinerary, all one needs to do is forward the confirmation emails and the app will get hard at work to create everything one needs.

Circleback

This app is perfect because it helps maintain contact records, consolidate them and ensure they remain accurate and up-to-date. In addition to all contacts feature, the app has impressive business card scanning and email signature capturing provisions.

Ways to Identify Issues in your Business Process

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StrategyDriven Business Performance Assessment ArticleEffective processes are how businesses develop and grow. Without these, it makes it difficult for you to make improvements and in turn make your business more successful. Managing processes and identifying what is and isn’t working quite right can be a time-consuming process depending on the methods used, but a necessary one. We have listed some ways in which you can identify bottlenecks within your business process effectively and how to use this information to make improvements.

Create Solid Business Goals

In order to overcome any issues in terms of business process or business in general – you should make sure that you have clear identified goals. In order to do this, it’s a good idea to have a meeting with the management team in your company and discuss what these should be. Your business goals should be able to be summarized on a one-page document. Normally businesses use SMART objectives. This stands for:

  • Specific – clear idea of what you want to achieve
  • Measurable – the goal should be measured, to help you identify whether or not you have achieved it
  • Achievable – make sure you have the cash and the level of resources needed to complete it
  • Relevant – it needs to be related to the goals you want to achieve. For example, increasing your profit margins, increasing your workforce, or pushing your brand out there
  • Timely – there should be a realistic timescale as to when you want to achieve your goal by

Once these clear objectives are set, it will allow you to evaluate your processes properly.

Use Kanban Boards

Have you ever heard of Kanban before? You may want to read this definition of Kanban by Kanbanize, for more in-depth information, but essentially you can outline your process on Kanban board cards which gives you a visual workflow process. Here you can see all the different stages of the specific process you are tracking. Within that, you can add limits to specific users too. This means that you can keep your key members of staff being torn away from their work and being distracted with other tasks by setting limits to the number of cards they have. This means that they can really focus on the elements of the business you need them to. By making sure you have every stage of your process outlined on your Kanban boards at a granular level, you will be able to spot any bottlenecks easily. It’s simple, if there is more going into one section than going out, that needs to be resolved. By pinpointing the exact area, this allows you to implement new improvements to this very specific area of the process.

Staff Appraisals

Staff appraisals are a great way to identify issues with your business process. In a busy working day – it can be difficult to find the time to speak to individual employees about their role and responsibilities in the company. By undertaking regular staff appraisals – this gives you time dedicated to that employee, to find out about their individual experience in the workplace and where they fit. Here you will be able to uncover areas that they may feel that they need further development – so you can make sure that they are trained effectively in order to undertake their tasks either internally or externally. You will also find out if there are any specific interests or skills that aren’t being used within the business currently that could be of use to you. It can also be difficult from a management level to be fully aware of everything that goes on in the day to day running of the company depending on its size or scale. Appraisals allows for feedback from the employees, where they can let you know if there’s anything they think that would improve processes moving forward that you may not have thought of.

Don’t just Resolve Problems – Look for Opportunities

Resolving issues within processes is all well and good, but it’s important that you also look for opportunities along the way. Identifying these key points could actually trigger a much bigger change within your business for better outcomes. Areas where you could be looking and creating new opportunities for include: better customer service, improved collaboration and communication between team members and improving the relationship between management and other team members. Developing upon these opportunities will improve the overall success of your business.

Keep Measuring and Refining

There is always room for improvement. Just because you have resolved a specific issue which has your process working better in that instance, it doesn’t mean that will always be the case. It’s important that you keep on top of processes on a regular basis. As your business grows things will change, so it’s essential that you keep monitoring and reviewing your processes to ensure they are still effective as they once were and fix as you go. That’s why something like Kanban boards can be incredibly useful. They are easy to modify when changes are made and allow for continuous evaluation. They are great tools to use to be in-keeping with business growth.

Have a Contingency Plan

When evaluating and resolving processes you also need to think about what happens if things aren’t running as they normally would. For example – will things still run as smoothly if someone is on holiday for 2 weeks, or if they have maternity/paternity leave scheduled in? These are common things that companies can forget when creating and evaluating processes. As well as identifying problems and resolving them, you also need to be on the lookout for potential problems that may not have arisen yet but could do. That way you are taking preventative measures and have everything covered no matter who is on holiday. We firmly believe in the phrase “failing to prepare, is preparing to fail”.

Review your Goals and Objectives

As your business grows and evolves, your goals will change. If not already in place, it’s always recommended that you have regular review meetings to not only evaluate whether t hey have been met or not – but whether these should be changed to either be more realistic – or to coincide with business growth. It could be that you have decided to introduce a brand-new product or service, or that you have new departments to think of, or it could be that you want to eliminate a part of your business all-together. Whatever the change may be, it’s important that you review your goals and objectives as these come along and implement the appropriate processes.

Hopefully now you have some more information as to how you can identify problems in processes within your business, and some useful tools that will allow you to do this. Make sure you have clear goals, have your processes outlined clearly on Kanban boards or similar software, speak to your staff – and of course look out for problems that could arise, not only ones that are currently occurring. Just like with anything, there is always room for improvement when it comes to running your business.

6 Common Leadership Mistakes in Business

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article

Running a business requires a certain skill set. Whether you are a CEO of a major corporation or a manager at a store, you need to have leadership skills, and you need to know how to use them. Even if you have these skills, you might find that you fall prey to common mistakes that leaders in business environments often make. If you want to be an effective leader, it is important that you be aware of common pitfalls and avoid small mistakes that can undermine your authority. The following are six examples of errors that can derail you.

In addition to avoiding common mistakes, focus on fostering the qualities that make leaders effective. Work on fostering trust and loyalty in the workplace between yourself and your employees. Prioritize transparency and accountability at all levels of your staff. These ideals—in addition to awareness of the following common missteps—will make your leadership endeavors much more successful.

Trying to Be a Friend

It’s a common debate whether an employee can truly be friends with their boss. When you come to work and enjoy the company of your staff, that might seem like a friendship, but the power imbalance created by your role as a leader makes it a little bit more complicated. Regardless of whether bosses and staff can be friends, this should never be your motive when you come into work. Do not approach your employees as potential friends and social buddies. Approach them as your professional colleagues and collaborators. This can help you avoid any emotional complication and blurred boundaries.

Playing Favorites

Playing favorites is yet another dangerous endeavor that too many leaders mistakenly engage in at work. Of course, it is only natural that you will have a better relationship with those employees who exhibit better performance and are productive employees. To make a professional preference known, however, only serves to demoralize the rest of your employees. If you want your whole team to succeed, make it known that you value them all equally. Do not give any preferential treatment to a single staff member. Doing so will only cause strife and frustration throughout the workplace.

Lacking a Major Strategy

The day-to-day minutia of running a business can be overwhelming, and it may feel as though putting out little fires prevents you from focusing on any major strategy. If you do not center your efforts strategically, though, you cannot expect to get much accomplished. It is vital that you develop a specific approach to your leadership responsibilities and maintain that focus throughout your work. This is the approach that professionals such as Don Gayhardt have built successful businesses with. Rather than getting caught up in little issues, focus on the big picture with a professional strategy.

Lack of Direction

It is important to be very clear with your employees regarding what is expected of them and how they should complete their job. If you develop a definitive strategy for your work but do not impart this strategy to your staff, it is essentially useless. As a leader, you should always be directing and leading the rest of your company to ensure everybody is on the same page and working towards the same goals. To this end, schedule daily or weekly meetings to establish goals for all staff members. This eliminates ambiguity regarding responsibility and ensures everybody is treated equally.

Setting Unclear Standards

Professionals such as Don Gayhardt have excelled in business for more reasons that one. Perhaps the biggest catalyst, though, is a set of consistent leadership principles that guide business actions and decisions. One of the most important leadership principles is the responsibility you have to maintain clear standards for your employees. There should be no ambiguity when it comes to what you expect from your staff and how they should be performing in the workplace. If there are questions, you should always make yourself available to answer them and provide professional clarity to your employees.

Delegating Too Much or Too Little

Delegating is one of the most basic tasks leaders must engage in. You cannot possibly do everything you are responsible for, and that is why you have a team of capable professionals to help and report back to you. Too many business leaders, though, make the mistake of either delegating too much or too little—and these are equally problematic offenses. If you put off all of your responsibilities on staff, they will notice and become resentful. On the other hand, if you hesitate to share responsibilities, you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work.

No leader is perfect, but there are some essential principles you can follow to become better. More importantly, you can avoid common mistakes and pitfalls to ensure that you are not sabotaging yourself with simple errors. Familiarizing yourself with the aforementioned six common mistakes is a good place to start in your pursuit of effective leadership techniques.

Great Ways To Improve Your Work Environment

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Being a business owner, whether it is a small company or a larger one, is one of the most challenging activities, which is one of the reasons why not everyone can launch a business and make it work long-term. Entrepreneurs have a lot of commitments and daily responsibilities to take care of; besides having the necessary knowledge and skills to start a business, one has to be truly organized and know how to establish relationships with workers. As no one likes working in a disorganized environment, it is important to make changes to the workplace. It is a well-known fact the productivity of the employees is often linked to the environment where they have to perform their tasks.

Optimizing that space and making it look and feel as comfortable and welcoming as possible should be the main priority for business owners. Making a small investment is worth it in this case because your workforce will appreciate your effort and your company will benefit a lot from that. Contrary to popular belief, improving the work environment does not always involve spending large amounts of money. With the help of some simple yet effective tips, business owners can improve the mood, drive, and performance of their workers.

Hire Great Team Members

In order to be able to make a business work, it is essential to hire the best professionals out there. The hiring process is the first step to creating a great work environment. Generally, professional people have a positive attitude and know how to handle difficult situations. If you already have a team of workers, you might want to take some time and assess their work performance. Don’t be afraid to let go of those who are not good enough for your company. You want to avoid hiring toxic workers at all costs as they will easily transform the general atmosphere from a normal one to a negative one, which will decrease the productivity of your workforce. Let poisonous employees go no matter how hard it is for you.

Improve Communication

Working as a team leads to success. As a business owner, you need to be careful when communicating with your team members as your message can be misunderstood. A simple way of motivating workers to become better is by making them feel valued and giving them positive feedback. Your employees need to understand that their work is very valuable and it contributes to the success of your business. Moreover, they need to be able to establish connections between them and know how to communicate effectively. Improving communication is simple if you keep your employee’s feedback in mind. Ask them how they feel about this aspect and think of ways of showing gratitude for their work.

Create a Comfortable Office

One of the most important aspects that provide great results is the office where your employees perform their work. You need to make sure that little aspects such as lighting and office furniture are comfortable enough for your workforce. Working in a clean, organized office can have great effects on the team members and their relationships with both you and each other. For example, you need to allow employees to work in a comfortable place, whether it is a certain area of the office or a standing desk. If the furniture of your office is considered “bad” or “uncomfortable” by the workers, they will be less productive. A virtual office is a great option in this case because they are a lot cheaper and provide all kinds of facilities.

Add a Nice Smell

According to academic studies, there is a close relationship between certain scents and memories. They found that certain scents can have a positive impact on people. Although different people can react in different ways to certain smells, there are subtle scents that add to the overall atmosphere. Therefore, if you’re working with traditional office space, you can add a few flowers and plants to each corner of the office. For a fresh and clean atmosphere, you can count on air fresheners. However, opening windows or burning a scented candle has a great effect as well. A cheap bouquet of fresh cut flowers works wonders in any office. It does not only elevate the aesthetics of the place, but it also provides a fresh smell.

Schedule Breaks

Breaks are an important part of the workday. Most workers tend to stare at their screen for a long period of time without taking any breaks for their eyes. You should encourage your employees to take regular eye breaks each time they get a chance. Even a few moments of looking away can make a big difference for the health of their eyes. At the same time, it is just as important to step away from what you are doing. When you step away from your work and focus on your surroundings, you come back with a fresh pair of eyes and mind. You can create a relaxing room where workers can play games, chat or listen to music while they are on their lunch break. Make sure breaks take place often in so that you can prevent burnout.

Water and Snacks

Work days are long and tiring, and people need to stay hydrated all through the day. Nonetheless, water is a pain to drink for some. A great way of motivating people to drink water while they work is by adding a bottle next to their desk. Water improves brain functioning, prevents headaches and makes you feel fresh. As plain water is boring for some, it might be a good idea to provide workers with either flavored water or lemon and fresh mint so that they can prepare lemonade. Moreover, taking a few short snack breaks is just as important when it comes to improving the work environment and the general atmosphere. Workers are encouraged to disconnect from work, communicate with one another and leave their chairs for a few minutes.

No matter where you work, you need to make an effort to create a comfortable space. These tips might come in handy whether you are a business owner or a simple worker. They can be easily customized to your needs as there is no strict recipe for success.

How a Website Can Drive Your Business Forward

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There are many advantages to having an online presence for your business, even if you don’t plan to sell products online. Today, having a business website is as important as having a telephone number for customers to reach you on, if not more so. Research indicates that 6/10 consumers expect brands to have some form of online content, whether those companies operate on a local or global scale.

If you don’t already have a business site, now’s the time to step into the online world and start growing your brand. Here are five ways a website could drive your business forward and help secure its future.

Your Business Will Show Up In Search Engines

Many business owners swear they get along just fine without a website or social media presence; perhaps you know one yourself. While their claims may be true, imagine how much better those companies could be doing if they took the time to invest in a website. Now that we collect data on what consumers search for (as well as where, when and how they spend their time and money online) we can tailor online content to ensure it shows up in search engine results. Therefore, having a website will improve visibility and drive more sales to your bottom line. For advice on improving your website ranking, read this Forbes article.

You Will Benefit From the ROBO Effect

You may or may not have heard of the ROBO effect, but the concept is pretty simple. ROBO stands for “research online, buy online,” and it stems from the fact that 81% of 18-34 year-olds follow this consumer trend. Think about the times you’ve needed to buy something specific. More often than not, you would have used a search engine and found your way to an online shopping cart. It’s easy, convenient, and the fastest way to assess all your price options. Do you want to miss out on the 42% of global consumers who shop this way? Of course not, which is why you need a website.

SEO Can Boost Your Rankings

With so much competition out there, you will only remain visible online if you use some search engine optimization tactics. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a way of making sure your business shows up in Google’s indexes by creating optimized content, building relevant links and setting yourself up as a market leader in your niche. It is possible to learn the basics of SEO on your own, but few business owners have the time and resources to do this. Most will use a third-party company to stay on top of their SEO, website and other Internet profiles. Companies like Data Design Systems will work with your business to create an eye-catching, smart website design with optimized pages and content to ensure you stay relevant. For more information, visit datadesignsystems.com.

Email Opt-Ins Will Grow Your Client Base

Even if you don’t own a website or social media profile, you probably still use email for your business. Having an opt-in button on your site allows you to collect email addresses from clients, industry contacts and prospective customers so you can keep them updated on your latest deals and promotions. You can even automate the process to cut down on manual tasks. The best way to collect email addresses using your website is to create an incentive for people to sign up – perhaps money off one of your products or a gift or trial of your services? An email list could end up being one of your business’s strongest sales tools, so don’t miss out.

Your Business Can Operate 24/7

Your website is essentially a storefront for your business that is always open; this means customers can research and buy products while you’re sleeping, creating plenty of passive income opportunities. What’s more, customers will always have a way to contact you, no matter the time of day. Studies show that the rise of globalization and millennial culture means that businesses need to operate 24/7 to stay competitive. Recent research indicates that three-quarters of consumers worldwide expect their queries to be dealt with on the same day, while half expect a reply in as little as one hour. As a business, you must respond to these changing demands if you want to survive in your market.

Conclusion

Rather than seeing the need for a website as another pressure on your business, you should seize the opportunity to grow your company’s online presence and tap into the millennial market. Having a well-designed, user-friendly website will give your business credibility, making it easier for consumers to find you, shop with you and spread the word about your offering.

The question is not whether you should create a website for your business, it’s when to make that all-important step toward your company’s future.