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Shirley Lee - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Shirley Fine Lee is a author/consultant/facilitator who helps organizations increase employee, communications, and system capacity to produce results. Her book, "R.A!R.A! A Meeting Wizard's Approach" is a must-have guide that demonstrates effective meeting planning and management. Shirley designs and facilitates a variety of team building, problem solving, and productivity improvement events. Her programs include managing time, facilitating meetings, project management simplified, workspace or group organization, the problem solving process, and team-building. More information on ... [More]
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- Dancing With Time - Cha-Cha-Cha!
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Have you ever found yourself trying to run faster than time because you have so much to do? Wouldn't you rather be dancing in tune with time instead of racing with it? Think of time management as little steps you need to take with each project and you will find that not only do you get more done, you actually feel better doing it. This article highlights four key steps to managing your time in a way that makes you feel good about doing it.
- Giving a Business Client a Gift Basket From the Company
[Shopping-and-Product-Reviews:Gifts] Finding a great gift idea for a client in appreciation of their business that is also unique is not always easy. Consider gift baskets that can be purchased or designing a custom basket for holiday giving or just to say thanks.
- Three Ideas For Team Recognition Gifts Or Gift Baskets
[Shopping-and-Product-Reviews:Gifts] Decide if it should it be a gift to the whole team or something given to each member of the team. Whether the gift will be part of a recognition program being planned or as a way of remembering a holiday season, determine if the gift should have practical, unique, or fun characteristics, or some combination of those.
- Ten Book Options to Use For Business Gifts
[Shopping-and-Product-Reviews:Gifts] Ever find a business book that is referred to again and again or that others say they re-read or continually use as a resource? So why not consider giving the business gift that keeps giving in the form of a good book?
- Ten Outlook Features to Save Time, Reduce Stress, Or Promote Peace of Mind
[Business:Productivity] Looking for ways to save time so more goals can be reached the time? Is trying to do more in the same amount of time causing stress or worry? For Outlook users, this stress and worry can be reduced by understanding and using organization features.
- Ten Ideas to Encourage Individual Involvement in Interactive Meetings
[Business:Management] Team Leaders find meetings where all team members share ideas while participating in decision making and problem solving yields better results. 10 ideas are presented that a leader may choose from in order to increase individual participation and involvement.
- Ten Ways to Increase Group Participation in Team Meetings
[Business:Team-Building] Leaders find meetings where team members openly communicate and participate in problem solving get better results than those where people only listen. In meetings requiring high participation, 10 ways are presented that a leader can choose from in order to increase participation and involvement.
- Organize Email System For Better Time Management
[Communications] Too many business professionals waste valuable time constantly checking their emails. Sending emails may also take more of time than is necessary too. Practice email organization and time management to save time when working with email.
- Organize Personal Web Browsing For Better Time Usage
[Self-Improvement:Organizing] What can be done to save time on the web? Having a choice of options to help save time running internet searches and finding website addresses may help to save time in the future.
- The Power of Positive Reinforcement
[Business:Management] As a business manager, how can one apply and monitor positive reinforcement? Understand that everyone enjoys being acknowledged when they do good work as a typical human response. Consider the positives rather than only mentioning when employee may be performing badly.
- A Little More Than the Average User Knows About MS Office Toolbars
[Computers-and-Technology:Software] Microsoft Office application users can benefit from knowing more that how to use a toolbar icon. Understanding how toolbars work can make using Excel, Word, and PowerPoint much easier.
- Get Emails Out Faster Using Group Names As Addresses
[Business:Productivity] Ever wished to send a single email to multiple people without having to enter all those email addresses? Speed up the email sending process using group names in your email tool.
- Planning Meetings With the MeetingWizard Online Tool
[Business:Productivity] Planning a meeting on a date where everyone can attend is time-consuming. It can be a hassle of multiple phone calls or emails back and forth. An easier way to plan a meeting is available with the on-line tool called MeetingWizard.
- Eleven Time Management Things to Do Or Not
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] People often misunderstand time management. They think it is a way to do everything they want to get done. Time management is really about doing the right things at the right time. Presented are 11 things to consider when managing time.
- The 3R's in Forming Teams
[Business:Team-Building] Before forming any type of work team, organizations should consider what the team will need to be successful. Consider the three R's of team rules and the member roles and responsibilities for each team before forming them.
- Designing a Process For Customer Service Issue Escalation
[Business:Customer-Service] Most companies have some sort of customer service. However, the companies that are good at customer service do more than just offer it. They have a process for escalating customer issues to prevent their losing the customer. Then they train their customer service staff in that process, as well as how to best serve the customer within company policy and manage to keep them happy too. Consider documenting a customer service escalation process and training towards using it. At a minimum the process should include the following levels of escalation.
- Ten Ways to Offer Better Customer Service
[Business:Customer-Service] Customers not only want excellent service, they expect it. Companies can lose customers over bad customer service. And they could retain customers who feel treated respectfully. How well customer service works depends greatly on the attitude and training of employees, even those not in the service areas. Suggested are 10 ideas for improving customer service skills and attitudes.
- Measuring Meeting Costs With Meeting Miser
[Business:Management] Looking for an easy-to-use tool to help monitor the time and dollars spent in meetings? If the answer is yes, then trying the free internet-based tool from Payscale called Meeting Miser may mean the end of the search. Meeting Miser will calculate the cost of a meeting based on the location of the meeting, the job category of the meeting attendees, and the start and end time entered by the user.
- Twelve Steps of Goal Setting As an Annual Business Strategic Process
[Business:Management] The goal setting process provides a strategic direction for a business and works as a guideline for improved performance and use of resources. Goals also serve to increase passion, energy, and motivation in members of the business, including human resources at every level. Use the twelve steps of goal setting for an annual process with checks and balances during the year to begin a new and better future for the business.
- Questions to Ask When Goal Setting
[Business:Management] Goal setting is a worthwhile business process if done correctly. To develop the best goals, leaders need to work with their teams to agree upon goals that are achievable and challenging. Asking questions during the goal setting process can result in better goals. Consider the following questions during the goal setting process.
- The Four C's of Team Goal Setting
[Business:Team-Building] Clear goals with measurable standards are a great way to improve team performance. A simple way to help determine what team goals should be is to utilize the 4 C's of goal setting.
- What Are SMART Goals?
[Business:Team-Building] During the goal and objective setting process, use the acronym SMART to develop a working plan. SMART goals are a way to decide what to do and how to do it in a way that can easily be tracked.
- Planning Corporate Events Using the 5 W's
[Business] Many organizations plan events yearly or for special occasions, such as anniversaries or for holidays. These events may be highly successful or they could turn out as a flop when it comes to meeting the goal for holding the event. Event success can often be determined by appropriate planning and decision making.
- Best Time to Hold Business Meetings is When?
[Business] Is there a best time of day to hold a business meeting? Which is better - morning, lunch, or afternoon meetings? Pros and cons of typical meeting times and lengths are presented.
- Resolving Absenteeism in Team Or Project Meetings
[Business:Team-Building] Irritation and reduced morale can be caused by members who miss meetings. Ideas on ways to prevent different causes of team or project problem related to member non-attendance at meetings are presented.
- The 5 P's of Team Design and Development For Managers
[Business:Team-Building] Teams are a good tool for business improvement and managers recognize the benefits teams may bring. When designing teams and determining development, managers will consider what it takes to make a functional team using the 5 P's of purpose, participation, placement, process, and plan.
- Preventing Meeting Participants From Coming Late Or Leaving During Meetings
[Business] Irritation in meetings may be caused by disruptions of members who come late to meetings or miss part of the meeting. Four ideas for preventing the problems that tardiness and leaving during meetings may cause in meetings are presented.
- Eight Considerations For Three Types of Teams
[Business:Team-Building] There are three common types of business teams used in high performance organizations. Although different experts may call the teams by various names, the teams are either obvious work groups, for temporary projects, or pertain to a process that is cross-functional. Although the team-building and training criteria for all types of team may be somewhat similar in some ways, the scope of the team work will be vastly different.
- Leading From a Different Cup
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Knowing leadership styles is necessary to adapt to different business situations. Styles used in different situations are presented using caffeine levels to compare to energy levels of leaders and their employees. Hot and cold leaders are shown with the times when each style is best used.
- A Dozen Time Management Do's & Don'ts
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Time management is not so much discipline as it is recognizing what you should or should not let interfere with accomplishing your desired goals. There are many things that can get in the way of having a good plan for managing your time, just as there are excellent ideas to help with management. Presented below are six time management don'ts along with their corresponding do in order to be better at managing time.
- Difference Between Self-Managed and Self-Directed Teams
[Business:Team-Building] Companies use teams to help improve quality, work processes, or customer service. Leaders need to understand what sort of team they want to use, self-managed or self-directed. Characteristics are offered to consider when selecting which team to implement.
- Five Basic Time Management Tips For the to Do List
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] When looking for ideas to accomplish more with time allotted, use an enhanced list of all the tasks to do. Presented are 5 time management tips for using the basic to do list to get things done.
- Tips For Saving Time and Space With Files
[Self-Improvement:Organizing] Organization experts estimate that between sixty to eighty percent of items that are filed are never looked at again. Does this mean that people are filing too much? How does one decide what to file and what to keep in order to save time and space?
- Give Your Teams the Gift of Productivity
[Business:Team-Building] Does finding the right gift to say thank you to team members have to be hard? Individuals who need help finding the right gift to say thank you to employee, vendor, or customer team members will find the easiest solution for a diverse group of people is often a business book. Finding the right gift book may increase team and individual productivity.
- Project Celebrations and Team Recognition Are Important
[Business:Team-Building] Working on projects is often hard work requiring many hours of dedication. This is why it is important to recognize team contributions to making any project a success. This may be done with the team at a celebration ceremony or with individual members being rewarded for each of their contributions.
- Five Simple Time Management Tips For to Do Lists
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] If looking for ways to accomplish more with your time, keep a list of all the tasks you need to do. Presented are 5 time management tips for using to do lists to get things done.
- Leadership Style in a Coffee Cup
[Business:Management] There are many models and studies on leadership style. Three possible styles using gourmet coffee variations and caffeine levels to portray leadership traits and levels of control are presented. Many leaders will adapt to work situations by taping into different styles.
- Planning Self-Managed Team Member Rotation
[Business:Team-Building] Team members will take more responsibility for their different roles as they move from a developing team to a self-managed work team. Options for rotating roles within a team using a rotation gird or a sequential list are presented.
- Power Totes For Team Roles and Rotation
[Business:Team-Building] Many teams will think about how to orient new team members before they come onboard. However, few will come up with a plan for how to transition members who are switching roles within the team until someone leaves their role or the team. Often this is based on the assumption that everyone knows each other's jobs and the tasks that are required in each role within the team.
- Is This Meeting Really Necessary? Five Indicators When a Meeting Should Not Be Held
[Business:Management] Is anything to be gained by holding that regular business or team meeting? Five indicators are presented to determine when a planned meeting should not be held because it would not be worth the cost.
- Common Types of Participative Meetings
[Business:Management] Participative meetings have everyone contributing to the purpose of the meeting. Definitions, common uses, and tools for different participative meeting types including decision-making, list generation, problem solving, project planning, and strategic planning.
- Ten Ways Teams Can Motivate Team Building and Performance
[Business:Team-Building] Offers 10 ways to motivate team members to have better attitudes and be more productive. The most effective methods encourage increased recognition and open communication on the part of the team members.
- Ten Ways Leadership Can Motivate Team Building and Performance
[Business:Team-Building] Offers 10 low-budget ways to motivate teams to have better attitudes and be more productive. The most effective methods encourage increased recognition and open communication on the part of the team leadership.
- Four Things a Meeting Facilitator Or Leader Needs to Do
[Business:Management] Meeting facilitation skills are important in business. Leaders and others who are good at facilitating or leading meetings conduct very effective meetings. To build meeting success, leaders and facilitators need to know four things to do for an effective meeting.
- Ten Ideas to Reward Teams and Members
[Business:Team-Building] Where businesses are using teams, rewards may be needed to motivate them. Ten simple and easy to implement ideas are presented for rewards which recognize and motivate team members in their team-building and work contribution.
- How to Prevent Repetition From Dominating Meeting Time
[Business:Management] How many meetings have you been to where you felt like saying something or the eye rolling of other meeting attendees means they seem to be thinking "please shut up so we can continue" to someone else at a meeting who wouldn't let go of some topic they brought up. You didn't want to be rude so you and just let them ramble, didn't you? Of course you have because you did not know what to do and how to do it in a way that would not be offensive.
- The Three P's of Reward and Recognition
[Business:Management] Motivation of business team members may be tied to the type of rewards and recognition given. Rewards should be personal, proportional, and pleasurable. Recognition should be precise, principled, and prompt.
- Ten Points on Poor Podium Use by Presenters
[Business:Presentation] Understanding the benefits and pitfalls of using a podium when presenting can be helpful to improve a presenter's capabilities. 10 points for presenters to consider before their next presentation are enhanced with tips and alternatives.
- Project Manager Considerations When Building a Project Team
[Business:Team-Building] As a Project Manager, your team may already have already been assigned before you build a project plan. If this is so, it will allow better estimations of resource budget and the team can participate in designing the project schedule. Alternatively, the team may not be approved and build until the implementation phase begins, which means a preliminary plan has been developed.
- Five Characteristics of a Great Team
[Business:Team-Building] Teams are popular in many business organizations. The best teams will display 5 characteristics that have to do with their roles, attitudes, behaviors, and both group and individual work processes. Knowing the 5 characteristics may help teams and organization measure success.
- Building Rapport With Co-Workers
[Business:Workplace-Communication] Since relationships are important in the business world, start with rapport among co-workers. Rapport is built with open communication, positive attitude, and exploration. Suggestions for relationships include personal and professional.
- Professional PowerPoint Presentations With the Rules of Six and More
[Business:Presentation] PowerPoint is used e in business and other presentation venues, so rules need to be understood for slide design. The Rules of Six for design and presentation time are standards. Suggested tips for animation, graphics, and presentation are offered.
- The Five Stages of Team Development
[Business:Team-Building] Experts in team development agree that teams will go through five different stages. Evidence of the 5 stages is presented along with leadership responsibilities during each stage.
- 5 W's and an H For Meeting Invitations
[Business:Workplace-Communication] To improve meetings, start with pre-planning to make sure the meeting is the best possible. Key to this is inviting the right people in the correct way. The best meeting invitations will provide attendees with the answers to their questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how related to the meeting.
- Three Phases of Value-Added Meetings
[Business:Management] Successful business meetings use an agenda that follows 3 phases of a meeting. For a meeting to be valuable, it needs to have a defined opening, ending, and step-by-step topics to accomplish its primary purpose.
- The Three V's Of Communication Plus One
[Business:Workplace-Communication] Making sure the message is received in any communication is vital. To insure the message is received, use of the three V's of communication (visual, verbal, vocal) is emphasized along with the Value of the message to audience.
- The 3T Rule For Meeting Agendas
[Business:Management] Business meetings can be a greater success if agendas and used. The 3 T rule of Time, Topic, and Talker for meeting agendas increase group effectiveness.
- Dressing For Success In Business Interviews
[Business:Careers-Employment] Is dress still important to companies and why should an interviewee consider it key as well? A few suggestions on how the interviewee can look serious and professional during the interview process are offered so they may be considered above others who might dress inappropriately.
- Staff Meeting Alternatives
[Business:Management] Meetings are important for getting group work done. However, meetings cost the organization time and dollars. Meeting time that is spent for reporting work progress can be accomplished in other ways in order to reduce costs. Six alternatives for staff meetings are examined.
- Six Requirements of Effective Team Membership
[Business:Team-Building] Organizations building effective teams must understand requirements for membership. Provided are 6 member requirements management and selected individuals should know when choosing team membership.
- When to Say No Thanks to a Meeting Invitation
[Business] With all the meetings people are invited to attend, everyone must understand which ones to personally attend, send a substitute to, or decline as not relevant. This is done by checking the invitees on the invitation and asking questions of the meeting organizer.
- Improved Time Management Includes Setting Three Priorities
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Organizations and individuals wanting to improve their time management practices can do so by setting priorities that relate to their goals. No more than 3 priority levels of high, medium, and low are recommended.
- Why Use the 3W Rule for Action Items?
[Business:Management] Team and project meetings can be more successful it actions are assigned. The 3 W rule for action items of what, who, and when can aid success.
- Eleven Responsibilities of Great Team Leaders and Sponsoring Managers
[Business:Management] Organizations looking to build teams that are effective and provide the desired results need guidelines. Providing 11 leadership responsibilities management should consider when implementing teams.
- Five Time Saving Tips Using the Computer for Information Management
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Computer spreadsheets, word processing applications, databases, and email tools can be used effectively to save time. Article gives 5 tips for using the computer to reduce repetitive tasks and information searches.
- Six Easy Ways to Help the Office Become Paperless
[Self-Improvement:Organizing] Is your office going green? Is becoming paperless one of your organization's cost-saving goals? Do you want ideas to help people you manage or assist to reduce waste, reuse items, or recycle?
- Three Steps to Becoming a Better Listener
[Business:Workplace-Communication] Good communication is. Listening skills are vital to communication, which is important both personally and professionally. Three steps to active listening and detailed how-to are presented.
- Five Time Management Tips for Planning Your Day
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Managing time is not that hard. Presenting 5 simple tips and ideas are presented for planning a day in order to achieve better time management and get important items done.
- Evaluate Team Performance and Determine Training Needs
[Business:Team-Building] Organizations struggle with ways to measure their teams and whether training may be required. A periodic team evaluation can measure success and show what training is needed.
- Whatever Happened to Weekly Progress Reports?
[Business:Management] Some business departments have eliminated the weekly progress report in favor of team, staff, or status meetings. While other managers are claiming too much time is spent in meetings and their employees should return to the written tools that proved successful for business communication in the past. There are pros and cons to both choices.
- How Can We Get Off This Rabbit Trail?
[Business:Management] Meetings often get off track when attendees go off on unrelated subjects called rabbit trails. When someone gets on a rabbit trail, they can easily be refocused to the meeting topic using simple meeting management techniques.
- Be Remembered With Gift of Improvement
[Business:Productivity] When looking for that business gift for employees or customers, is finding the right gift that can be useful for each person easy? If it is difficult for you as a leader to find a gift, then consider the easiest solution for a diverse group of people is often a team or self improvement book with a business application. Finding the right gift book may increase employee productivity and customer's appreciation of your services.
- Reduce Popular Business Communication Tool Use?
[Business:Workplace-Communication] Managers are looking for ways to reduce both meetings and emails in their companies. Is reduction the answer? Review data on communication tools of email and meetings to determine if tips are needed to better utilize the tools properly for business.
- Minding Meeting Manners - Do's & Don'ts
[Business] Meetings are the most popular group communication tool in business. Some individuals need tips to know how to best take advantage of this communication forum. Provided are thirteen Do's and Don'ts related to achieving more professional meetings.
- Encouraging Email Etiquette - Do's and Don'ts
[Communications] Email communications are popular and people need tips to know how to best utilize the tool. Provided are thirteen Do's and Don'ts related to achieving more professional emails.
- Bosses Need Gift Of Better Meeting Leadership
[Business:Management] Studies show millions of meetings are held each day in the United States and that thousands of dollars are spent per meeting hour where the meetings include multiple executives as attendees. Are all these meetings a business investment or a waste of time? Sadly many of those same studies indicate the managers attending the meetings felt up to half their time investment was wasted. If meetings are important enough to hold, then why don't the bosses of the organization insist they be better lead?
- Delivering Presentations
[Business:Presentation] The four P's of presentation steps can help with creating and delivering presentations. The four P's are - Plan, Prepare, Practice, and Perform. Plan and Prepare are the presentation creation steps.
- Creating Presentations
[Business:Presentation] The four P's of presentation steps can help with creating and delivering presentations. The four P's are - Plan, Prepare, Practice, and Perform. Plan and Prepare are the presentation creation steps.
- Set Goal For Exercise Time
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] If you want to exercise but you find you do not have time to do it, then consider one individual's journey using short exercise spurts working her way up to larger segments of time. A few tips for managing time and starting an exercise program that may help you feel in-shape and energetic are offered by the now exercising individual.
- Are You At Your Peak?
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Do you know if you are an early bird or a night owl, or perhaps something in between? This article provides a simple test to help you determine which you are in order to find your peak performance time. It is important to know what time of day you are typically at your most alert and therefore at your best for doing important activities.
- Everyone Hates Filing - Yet - Everyone Wants An Organized Office - Right?
[Self-Improvement:Organizing] Quick tips to help with setting-up a home or business filing system that is easy for anyone to maintain. Tips are provided on: where and how to store files, setting-up a filing system, sharing the system with others, and maintaining the system over time.
- Turn Meetings into Pep Rallies of Productivity
[Business:Management] Everyone has to attend or lead meetings at some time, but not all meetings are created equal. How many people dread going to any meeting verses a particular meeting? How many people feel the attended meeting was a waste of time? Does anyone think the meetings are really producing the desired results? How can meetings be made more effective and productive? This article will provide information on how to improve a meeting using an approach containing 4 keys to success.
- Planning for Successful Productivity During Your Career?
[Business:Management] Looking for skills to help increase career opportunities or enhance current position? Then consider the importance of time, meeting, and project management skills and how gaining better control in these areas can lead you where you want to go in the business world. It may be easy to see these skills will help in current job, but how can you be sure they will apply to future opportunities?
- Are Meetings Producing a Loss or a Gain?
[Business:Productivity] Almost everyday people in organizations have to attend meetings. Has anyone at the organizations looked at those meetings to determine if they are productive? Does anyone in the organization know if the meetings were beneficial enough to be worth the investment? This article will provide information on how to verify the worth a meeting has to the organization.
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