Become A More Effective Manager

In the current economic environment, businesses are demanding more and more of their managers. Here are some tips to help you to become a more effective manager.

The best managers are those that step back and let their team do their job without standing over the shoulders. You can’t do everything yourself. Instead, assign each member of your team personal objectives and empower them to succeed. Give them the opportunity to make decisions; set up regular weekly or bi-weekly catch up meetings, then step back and let them get on with it.

One of the most common complaints from employees is that their managers simply don't talk to them. They communicate when they hand down projects or tasks, but they’re often unreachable day to day. A great manager will always be available when one of their team members has a question or concern, and they will always make an effort to reach out and ensure employees have everything they need to get the job done.

Stop and think before reacting. Act based upon sound principles, not emotion (which could be heated at the time). Avoid getting sucked into the emotion of the moment. Try to proactively manage difficult situations so that you address problems before they become bigger issues.

Try to understand things from the point of view of others. Listen more than you speak and try to avoid jumping to conclusions. Take notes – this helps you to listen actively. Note questions as you go along and keep them for the end of the meeting. You may find that your questions are answered by others as the meeting progresses.

Communication is key. Providing feedback helps your team to continually improve. Hold regular meetings with team members to assess projects and check-in with them. Seek mutual benefits in every interaction. Negotiate so that the result offers a win for both or all parties. Seek a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Win-win situations are mutually beneficial and satisfying.

Make time to sharpen your axe. Take care of yourself and consider your physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual needs. Making time to rest, recover and refresh will make you more effective and less stressed in the office.

4 simple & easy tips for Change Management!

In light of the recent Brexit decision, one thing is inevitable in business in the coming months and years and that is change.

Whichever way you decided to vote, the result of the referendum means that you and your business must be prepared to change and adapt to a new business environment.

Here are a few change management tips for your business:

Create a plan and set realistic goals

People tend to resist change so create a plan that outlines each step of the change process, the key stakeholders, the timeline and the deliverables. Ask different staff members from across the business to feed into this plan. Someone might have a great idea to contribute to the plan – sometimes all you need to do is ask.

Communicate

Communicate your vision clearly to your team. Identify what it is that you are trying to achieve through the change process. What is in it for your team? The best managers can explain this in a way that inspires the team to get involved and move forward with the plan.

Maintaining momentum

Your employees may agree with your vision initially, but they're likely to become frustrated or disillusioned along the way, especially if they don't see immediate progress. Find ways to keep the conversation going through short town hall meetings, staff surveys and casual conversation. Ask the team for their honest feedback regularly and be willing to listen. Be honest about what you don't know, and commit to updating employees when those details are finalised.

Get the team on board

Getting the senior management team on board is relatively easy. They should be able to see “what’s in it for them.” However to succeed in managing change in your business you need to get your middle management and your junior staff members on board too. Ask representatives from different groups across your business to get involved, share their views and take ownership of different aspects of the change process.

Remove The ‘Time Vampires’ & Multiply Productivity

I’ll admit it’s something I have struggled in the past to manage on an ongoing basis, but as the business owner it’s important to take complete control over the use of your time.

Much has been written on the effective use of time and how it affects productivity, but what I want to do is give you a few tips that have helped me and my team (and especially me, over the last year or so), so you too can apply them to your working day.

I believe I have at least doubled my productivity in the last year and most of this gain has been achieved by eliminating ‘Time Vampires’ from my daily routine.

There are a number of Time Vampires, ranging from staff, family, friends, your mobile phone, travel and your office phone. But by far the worst is EMAIL. For many people, EMAIL is the biggest, most destructive Time Vampire. It rules their day and massively reduces productivity.

Obviously email is a great business tool but for many it’s got out of hand. Think about it…

What do you do first thing in the morning, and last thing at night?

If you’re like most people, you turn your email on first thing and look at it last thing.

If that’s close to what you do with your email, then unfortunately EMAIL IS RULING YOU—NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

It’s not easy to change a habit like this, but if you want to take back control of your working day (and weekends) you have to figuratively speaking drive a stake through the heart of your email and make it your slave.

Here’s how to do it…

TIP #1: DON’T TURN EMAIL ON FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

You want to get your day off to the best possible start and in the most productive way. Therefore, you MUST NOT turn your email on first thing in the morning.

Instead, wait at least 2 to 3 hours.

This gives you quality time to work on the business in the best frame of mind. You don’t want to be reading and replying to emails. Worse still, a bad email can derail your entire day.

TIP #2: KEEP IT TURNED OFF

You should only open your email two or three times a day. Once you’ve done what you need to do with the emails, then CLOSE your email programme down.

DO NOT leave it on, even in the background. Emails popping in is a massive distraction and interrupts your work.

TIP #3: DON’T LOOK AT YOUR EMAIL LAST THING AT NIGHT

The temptation before going to bed is to look at your emails. Get out of this habit. Everything can be sorted the following day (remember, not first thing: do it 2 or 3 hours later!).

This takes real discipline and you can quickly revert back to old habits, but work on it and you’ll see a massive difference in your productivity!

Pushkar

☎ 020 89310165 | ☏ 07900537459 | ✉ info@apjaccountancy.com 

How To Market Your Business On Facebook And Twitter!

There are so many social media channels available that it’s hard to keep up, but it’s important to be familiar with each platform at your disposal. And as you want to create brand awareness, you can’t afford to ignore what makes each one unique.

If you’ve found an interesting article you want to share with your ‘fanbase’, what platform do you upload it to? Facebook? Twitter? You probably think it doesn’t matter where you upload it: as long as it’s online, people might see it.

But it does matter. Each channel is unique. It has different resources, and there are different types of people there. You want to post your content to a platform where it will be appreciated and users will engage with it. 

92% of business owners indicated that social media is important to their business, according to Forbes. In other words, getting it right can significantly impact your growth.

People use social media to learn new information, discover people and companies, and keep updated with news and share stories.

FACEBOOK

Facebook has a community culture.  People use it to connect with people they know. Many of us don’t accept invitations from people we don’t know. What this means to you is that you don’t want to just post information about your industry.

A recent study by Boston University found that people use Facebook to fulfil their need to belong and the need for self-presentation. People upload family pictures and share personal information on Facebook because they want to let people in on their lives. Private people tend to not update their Facebook profile regularly because they aren’t comfortable letting people in. 
  

1. Share Your Feelings, Values And Thoughts 

Facebook is a space to express your private life. People should get to know you - not your business - by what you post. That means avoid over-promoting your website and contact information. If you’re wondering why your page is receiving few ‘Likes’, it’s probably because you’re doing just that.  Provide insight into who you are by creative posts that have personality.

2. Track Your Audience

Understand who is following you and post content they would find appealing. You can’t be selfish in social media. After all, you are posting content for other people to engage with.

3. Post Pictures More Than Text

 There has been a move to becoming more visual, because people are more likely to read your post if there is an image accompanying it. This     is because when people scroll       their timeline , images are more               eye-catching than text.

4. Add  Links To Relevant  Content 

You have a lot of room to write your status. The huge bonus to this channel is that people can share and ‘like’ posts they find interesting, so you show up on their friends’ news feed.

TWITTER

Twitter is the easiest social media platform to grow because you can connect with other users directly. With every tweet you upload, the ultimate goal is for people to
retweet it, and then their followers to retweet, though that of course takes time and dedication.

The benefit of Twitter is  that you can easily connect with people from all around the world.

1. Make Conversation 

People love sharing their thoughts on Twitter and expect companies to have a social media presence. Don’t just put a tweet out there and expect people to ‘do something with it’. Ask questions to get a conversation rolling. You could even hold a regular Twitter chat where you answer questions.

2. Don’t Put Lengthy Tweets 

It sounds crazy that you only have 140 characters and I’m telling you to not use all of them. But the idea of Twitter is that you can receive information quickly by scrolling through your timeline. If users see a lengthy post, they’re likely to skip it, especially as most people scroll through quickly before work, at dinner and in the evenings.

3. Use Text More Than Images 

Contrary to Facebook, text performs better than images, according to quicksprout.com. In addition, I encourage you to write tweets that contain a link - specifically to your website.  Share interesting articles and news you think your followers will be interested in too, even if it isn’t something from your website.

4. Use Quotes

 You are an expert; you know what people want to know. Post motivational quotes to show that you are passionate about your industry.

5. Add A Call To Action

 The best way to get someone to do something is to tell them. Post a link to your website with text    saying ‘click here for more info’. Put things like ‘RT if you are looking for an Accountant’ to get people to engage with you.

6. Tag Suitable People

 If you decide to tweet a link to an article, why not try to find the writer on Twitter and mention them in your tweet?  The person may see this in their notifications and retweet, so their followers see your account.

It’s essential that you post for the right platform to sustain a strong social media presence.  Always think what your followers would want to read and see, to keep you focussed.

PJ

☎ 020 89310165

☏ 07900537459

✉ pushkar.joshi@apjaccountancy.com

How To Have A Social Media Presence Without Being Present?

Running a social media strategy as well as being a business owner will only lead to stress and sleepless nights.  But everyone is on social media, right? Even the Pope.

You need to strike the balance between informative and annoying. Studies show the optimal postings for the two most popular networking sites are:

Twitter: 3 posts, daily
Facebook: 5 posts, weekly

Doesn’t require a lot of effort, does it? But finding free time is any business owner’s challenge, so you need a method of having active accounts, without it taking hours and feeling like a chore. 

Welcome to scheduling. It’s a strange thought that people can tweet without actually being behind the screen at the time, but it’s a time-saving approach to social media marketing.

Having a consistent online presence is a necessary part of marketing, but you don’t want to be doing it every day.

So which schedule tool should you use?

TWITTER

1. Tweetdeck

https://web.tweetdeck.com/

For Tweetdeck newbies, this is your new best friend when it comes to developing your Twitter presence.

You don’t have to create an account; just sign in with your Twitter logins and you’re off - no email confirmation required. And it’s free! Music to everyone’s ears.

You can plan posts into the far future. Ideal for those who have a lot to say. A huge pro is that Tweetdeck’s layout looks similar to Twitter (probably because Twitter bought it in 2011).

At any time, you can log back in and amend scheduled tweets or delete them. This is a great idea if something you have scheduled is no longer accurate or relevant. You can keep track of when your posts are, too, if you log in often.

HOW TO USE IT

1. Visit https://web.tweetdeck.com

2. Sign in using your Twitter login details

3. Click ‘New Tweet’

- Select your account

- Type your tweet you want scheduling

- Click ‘Schedule Tweet’

- Select the relevant date and time

- Once you’ve proofread, click ‘Tweet at…’-

TIPS

- Don’t be confused by all the columns. The beauty of Tweetdeck is that you can see your direct messages, timeline, notifications and messages all on one screen. Delete all the columns apart from ‘Scheduled’ to tidy up your dashboard.

- Scroll to the right of the page, so you can just focus on the Scheduled column. Here you will see all the tweets you have planned for the future.

- If you have multiple accounts, you can add them all. You can even post the same content across all accounts easily, by selecting all the accounts.

- Don’t forget to add an image with your text, too. Just select the ‘Add Image’ option, before submitting the tweet.

- Once you become an expert, utilise all the columns by monitoring what your followers are retweeting and your notifications.

FACEBOOK

1. Facebook

www.facebook.com

Even avid social media users don’t know you can use Facebook to schedule posts and many are paying for services that do no different.

Using Facebook to schedule is free and you can prepare a post using the same process as posting normally. You can only automate on a page, not a personal account. Again, you can see your scheduled posts and amend or delete them at any time.

HOW TO USE IT

1. Sign into your Facebook page.

2. Type the post you want scheduling. Do not click ‘Post’.

3. Click on the clock symbol.

4. Select the date from the calendar and choose the time you want the post scheduling.

5. Click on ‘Schedule’ once you’re happy with your post.

TIPS

- With a 63,000 character limit, utilise this space with detailed posts.

- You can schedule up to 6 months ahead, so plan time-relevant posts, such as Christmas.

- Be consistent with your postings. Aim for at least 5 a week.

- Avoid newsworthy content, because for the date you’ve scheduled it, it will no longer be news.

- Select your times wisely. People are more likely to see your post at 7am, when they are waking up, than 9pm on a Friday night. Target locations will also play a part. 

It’s tempting to rush scheduling, but your followers will notice if you’ve just posted anything. Interesting posts about the industry, links to your service and entertaining posts will vary your content and make your account interesting.

Be wary of posting at the same time and day across your accounts, because you want to mix it up a bit.

Scheduling makes life easier, but don’t neglect your accounts. Regularly checking notifications and interacting with your followers will further improve your social media marketing.

We're on Social Media too :)
  

Contact us for all your Business Building & Accountancy needs!
☎ 020 89310165 | ☏ 07900537459 | ✉ info@apjaccountancy.com

Managing Your Time Effectively —Is The Route To Your Success

We’re almost approaching the end of 2014. What have you got done this year, and what will you get done during 2015?

I must confess, I used to be terrible at managing my time. And even now, whilst I manage my time fiercely, I still have to work at it. There’s no short cut. It takes real discipline to ruthlessly manage your time. However, what I do know is that there is a VERY high correlation between success and how well a business owner manages their time. Ultimately, the more you get done, the more successful you’ll be. Of course, you can be a busy fool. But the more time you give yourself to improve your business, your own development and the people around you—the more successful you’ll be.

But time is ALWAYS against you. Don’t you feel that the older you get, the quicker time passes? I’m not sure why this is, but each year seems to pass more quickly than the previous one. The days, weeks and months seem to roll into one, and before you know it 6 months have passed. You’re left wondering, ‘Where did thetime go?’

Now that’s okay as long as you plan your year out AND manage your time ruthlessly. However, most people spend more time planning their holidays than planning THEIR YEAR AHEAD. 

If you plan - you get more done, much more done. If you fail to plan and set goals, it’s surprising how little you’ll accomplish.

All the high achievers and successful people in this world identify planning and goal-setting as a major contributor to their success. 

Why? Because in addition to giving them a clear roadmap, it also helps them plan their daily/weekly/monthly schedules, and effective management of time enables them to get more work done in a week than most other people get done in a month.

Now, I’m not going to spend any time talking about goal-setting (I’ve covered this before), but what I’d like to talk about are a few proven tips and strategies I’ve learned along the way, which have made me “one of the most prolific ‘work machines’ on the planet” (not my own words!). I promise you, getting stuff done is a crucial skill you can learn—but one that will ensure you reach your goals and dreams quicker than you ever thought possible. But mark my words…

None of this is easy. You have to be selfish with your time. People around you will NOT like it (until you’ve ‘trained’ them in your new ways). You’ll find it easy to slip back into your bad habits, but you must fight, and fight hard, to stay the course. Of all the main attributes surrounding success, managing your time effectively, whilst not easy to do, is certainly one of the easiest to acquire and develop.  

It’s also something that isn’t often associated with growing a business, but effective

management of your time is a very potent weapon (and, conversely, poor management of time can be a real business growth inhibitor).

The good news is that you can significantly improve your output if you follow my simple ‘5 Key Time-Management Tips For High Performers’. 

So here are my key Time-Management Tips:

Planning: Plan each month and then each week and then each day based on your goals.

The key here is to establish what you need to do each month to accomplish your goals.

Then break these tasks down to weekly and then daily tasks.  You must always prioritise these ‘goal-orientated tasks’ before ‘general tasks’.

You’re probably thinking—this will take a lot of thought and time to plan out. You’re right. It does. That’s why so few people do it. That’s why so few people succeed in life.

Do not underestimate the power of carrying out this first step—it is the key to your success.

Work During Your High-Performance Times: You’ll get much more done in times when your body is alert and active.

For me, this time is 5.30am-1pm and 8pm-11pm (but you’ll know when you’re at your best).  The worst times are generally after eating! My performance drops significantly after lunch. So I do all my writing in the mornings and other less important work in the afternoons.

It’s during these high-performance times that you should carry out your ‘Goal-Orientated Tasks’.  This one step alone will improve your output significantly—so make sure you only allocate this time to the important tasks!

Use the less productive times for ‘general tasks’ and meetings.

Here’s why using your high-performance time is so important…

1. Since our minds are more active and fresh, we can get more done.

2. Concentrating on the task at hand is much easier.

3. Our creative juices are flowing when our minds are more active and alert.

Block Out Your High-Performance Times: Next, make sure you block out your high-performance times and under no circumstances let other things get in the way.

Again, this is key to your success. Treat your high-performance times as compulsory appointments (in other words, you can’t cancel them).

If you have a secretary or PA, make sure they understand these ‘appointments’ are never to be broken and replaced with anything else.

Resist All Distractions: During your high-performance times, turn off your mobile, take your office phone off the hook and don’t open your e-mail programme.

Even one interruption can set you back an extra 15-30 minutes, not including the time of the interruption.

This does take a high level of discipline. In the early days you’ll find the temptation of leaving your phone or e-mail programme on hard to resist, but I promise you, if you cave in, this will slash your effectiveness by at least 50%.

Once you force yourself to reduce your distractions to zero, you’ll find it very liberating!

For example, as I’m writing this newsletter, it’s 8.52am. My phone is turned off. My e-mail is turned off. I am NOT contactable by anyone (not even my wife, no matter how hard she tries! - although now ‘she gets it’ so doesn’t bother). 

Seriously, this one discipline will make a massive difference to how much work you get done. Not one in 100,000 people have the mindset to do this, so mastering it will put you on a productivity level way above 98% of people around the globe.

Tell Staff (and Family): You must explain to staff and family that, unless it’s an emergency, you are not to be disturbed during your high-performance times.

If your wife (or husband) is anything like mine, it will take time for them to realize you’re serious about this. Helen didn’t even think she used to interrupt me, so every time she did, I made a note of it. That did the trick!!   

By adhering to these 5 key time-management tips, I guarantee you’ll get so much more done. This translates to greater income and more success.

The important thing is to discipline yourself. If it was easy to do these things, everyone would be doing them. The fact is, most people lack real discipline. And getting a high volume of stuff done requires real discipline. You can do it if you put your mind to it. But you have to work hard at it!