The benefits of flexible working

Flexible Working Benefits

Over the past few months I’ve been limited in the amount of time I spend working, so I’ve been working flexibly. It’s something you can do too – especially if you’re running your own business.  You don’t need to stick to a strict 9-5 if it doesn’t suit you or your lifestyle. While it helps…

Read More

Yes, No or Maybe

yes, no or maybe

When you say Yes – do you actually mean it? Quite often someone will say they’ll do something when actually they won’t. It’s not through malice, it’s usually because they haven’t thought ahead. When they say “I’ll call you later/this afternoon/tomorrow” – actually they already have plans for ‘later’ or they’re not going to be…

Read More

Webinar recording: Tips to improve your business

Here is the recording from a recent Town Hall webinar I gave for the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. Time Management teleconference. A few of the topics discussed – Core Values, Money Management, Time Management, offering value and managing your clients and business. If you’d like the Core Values worksheet mentioned on the call or…

Read More

Have you got a business plan?

How to create a good business plan

Yes?  No? Not one of those 20+ page documents you put together when you first started your business or went to the bank to ask for funding – but something that is a working document about how you run your business. When I asked that question to a room of 200 business owners recently, only…

Read More

How to say ‘no’ to your boss

How to Say No to your boss

I had another discussion today where the person was asking about how they handled a boss who is overloading them with work. Yes, you’re there to do a job and your boss – director, manager, team leader is the person who organises and manages your workload. That doesn’t mean you have to accept everything they…

Read More

How to manage your meetings

Effective Meetings

Meetings can take up a huge chunk of your working day, your week and your month. Manage your meetings and you’ll be managing your time better. You don’t have to attend every meeting you get invited to and you need to make sure you value the ones that you do. Are you the best person…

Read More

Are you running a business or is it running you?

Problems with running a business

I had a call recently from someone who is running their own business but working long hours, giving up their evenings and weekends and putting a lot of time into it but not getting the results they want – namely, they’re finding it hard to earn any money. Mums (and Dads) want a business that…

Read More

Women In Business

Working women and women in business

While much of the business world is still male dominated, it is changing, slowly.  Women have been in the workplace for less time than men and still earn less – even for doing the same job. I’ve seen the rapidly expanding growth of women’s business networks, where women get together to support other like-minded women.…

Read More

Out of the Office

Useful Out of Office emails

When I send out my monthly newsletter, it’s interesting to see the variety of ‘Out of Office’ messages that come back. Some are more helpful than others. They vary from the simple “I’m out of the office until (date)”, to the more informative or more specific. – If you need to contact me urgently here’s…

Read More

Get Productive: Writing effective emails

book a time to chat

Email is intended as a quick and efficient way of communicating – consider the following email etiquette guidelines when writing your emails to make them more effective. Be concise and to the point, don’t waffle on for pages and pages.  Keep it to 2-3 screens of information – or put the information in an attachment.…

Read More