6 Ways to Keep Your Team on Task Without Micromanaging

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6 Ways to Keep Your Team on Task Without Micromanaging

According to a study of U.S. workers, over 80% of employees admit to keeping their phones close by while working. While technology offers several benefits, it can be incredibly distracting. If you’re managing a team, you’ve probably seen firsthand just how often employees grab their phones while in the office. 

Whether they’re scrolling through social media or texting friends, smartphones are just one distraction that keeps team members from effectively performing tasks. How can you fight tech and other distractions and help your team stay productive in today’s often virtual environment? Read on for tips on how to keep your team on task without becoming Big Brother: 

1. Hire the Conscientious

You’ll have fewer problems keeping your team on track if you hire the right kind of people in the first place. During the interview process, focus on candidates’ traits as much as their skills and credentials. Look to hire individuals who are self-starters and able to focus their attention on the objectives at hand.   

Ask candidates to describe a time they had to take the initiative to see that a project or task was completed. Seek out those who have operated successfully in unsupervised work environments. When you hire people who have demonstrated the ability to work productively when no one’s watching, you’ll create a company culture of accountability.

2. Make Sure You’re Communicating Effectively 

If your team is struggling to stay on task, consider how well you’re communicating information. Ask yourself, “Am I making my priorities clear?” In today’s hybrid environment, it’s easier than ever for wires to get crossed and information to get lost. Even if you think you’re communicating effectively, your objectives might not be reaching everyone.  

Instead of sticking to what you’ve always done, experiment with other forms of communication. For example, integrate more video calls, schedule one-on-ones, and hold brief team standups. You might also want to consider reaching out to your employees and asking what forms of communication they prefer so you can make sure you’re getting your points across through the best means possible.  

3. Provide Regular Feedback 

Believe it or not, employees like feedback. In fact, according to a study by Officevibe, 82% of employees value both positive and negative feedback. On some level, they know that hearing both the good and the bad about their performance will help them improve it. 

If you’re not already providing your team with regular feedback, there’s no better time to start. One way to do so is with the aforementioned one-on-ones. In these meetings, you can bring up specific issues that are causing your employees to get off task. 

If, for example, you notice an employee spends a lot of time posting funny memes on the team Slack channel, point it out. You could ask them to confine the just-for-fun posts to Fridays, thus encouraging more on-task behavior during the week while not squelching team camaraderie altogether. 

4. Praise Good Work

According to HubSpot data, almost 70% of employees say they’d work harder if they felt more appreciated. In addition to providing feedback on performance, make sure you’re also recognizing good work.

When an employee completes a task successfully and in a timely manner, thank them. You don’t have to do anything huge, but acknowledge the hard work and dedication they’re putting in. For your employees to succeed — and want to keep succeeding — they need to feel appreciated. Whether that means sending a short email, featuring them in a social media post, or giving them a public shout-out at a team meeting, a little gesture of recognition goes a long way.

5. Integrate Remote Work Tools

Keeping your team on task may seem particularly challenging in a remote work environment. Fortunately, there are several project management tools that are ideal for remote workers. No longer do you need to rely on emails and phone calls to manage project tasks. Instead, you can integrate a project management system to help your virtual employees collaborate. 

Tools like Asana, Monday, and Basecamp let teams create projects, assign tasks, and track deadlines. If a task is overdue, the system will let the assignee — and the whole team — know it. There will be no need for you to ride herd on your team when the software does the task monitoring for you. 

6. Prioritize Work/Life Balance 

It’s all well and good to want your team to stay on task. To keep employees motivated, though, make sure you’re not requiring too much. While you want employees who are willing to work hard, you don’t want to overwork them. If you do, employees are likely to burn out, and then you’ll really be kissing effective task completion goodbye! 

To avoid this, make sure you’re prioritizing a good work/life balance for your team. Be flexible when it comes to when and where employees work. They’ll be better able to focus on the task at hand if they’re not worrying whether someone’s going to be home when the kids return from school. In addition, encourage your employees to take breaks during the day and offer paid time off. Employees will return from their time off energized and eager to get back down to work. 

As an employer, it’s important to make sure your employees are staying on task. With more people working from home, it can be a challenge to effectively manage what your employees are doing. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. From using the right tools to maintaining team motivation, the tips above will help you keep your employees on task without becoming overbearing. 

Productivity Lessons Learned From the Olympics

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Productivity Lessons Learned From the Olympics

It’s 2021, but they’re calling it the 2020 Olympics — a year later than scheduled. It’s an exciting time for athletes and sports fans around the world. Even though fans cannot be in attendance due to lingering concerns over Covid-19, there have been plenty of memorable moments and incredible performances to remember. In addition, there are productivity lessons that can be learned from the Olympics.

The Olympics are often an inspiring event for global citizens of all ages. Kids become interested in trying new sports, and adults get a burst of energy to get up off the couch and exercise more often and better than better. All the while, citizens cheer on their countries in a display of unity and patriotism.

You can take many lessons from the Olympics and apply them to your everyday life. So watch a few events the next couple of days and tune in before the Closing Ceremony’s on Sunday, August 8th. Here is a list of the lessons we would like to take home from these Olympic games:

It’s OK Not to Be the Very Best

A lot of people will tear themselves down when they notice that someone else is better at them at something. That’s easy to see while watching the Olympics from home. You might ask yourself, “Why should I continue to pursue swimming if there’s always going to be someone who’s faster?” That sort of feeling will get you stuck in a deep rut rather quickly.

Keep watching the games and you might notice something peculiar. You’ll see athletes jump for joy with tears in their eyes after winning a bronze medal. Two people bested them, but they didn’t care. The way they saw it, they were still one of the best in the world and now had a medal to commemorate all of their hard work.

Seek to find that joy in what you do even if you’re not the best at it. Play the guitar because you enjoy it, not because you’re going to be the next Jimi Hendrix. You will be a lot happier and more fulfilled when you make that mindset shift.

Learn From Your Failures

While watching the world’s greatest athletes compete on TV, it’s easy to think that they’re superhumans that rarely make mistakes. But, in reality, the opposite is true. The athletes you see have actually had countless failures, but they learned from every single one of them.

Learning from your failures is hard. It’s much easier to curl up in a ball with some Netflix and ice cream and admit defeat instead of pushing through. Nevertheless, its greatness occurs when you rise from the ashes, and you use the experience, however bitter, to become better than you were before.

Musicians are another great example of learning from mistakes to become better. While practicing a piece of music, they commit numerous errors in the early stages. You’ll experience this when taking on a new job or trying to learn a new skill. When those mistakes come, look at how to avoid repeating them instead of letting them conquer you.

Get a Good Support System

While tougher to notice in this year’s Olympics, you’ll often notice athletes run to celebrate a victory with someone special. Family members, friends, and coaches the athletes have grown close to are the first to bask in a win with the victor. This support system knows just how hard the athlete has worked to get where they are today and was there to guide them for most of the journey.

Friends and family can and should make up part of your existing support system. If your loved ones are a bad influence, consider expanding your circle to include some more positive friendships. Spend time with those who uplift you and support your goals, and you’ll be amazed by what they can help you achieve.

Another way to build up your support system is through networking. By networking, you can find valuable mentors who can teach through experience and lend a helping hand. While you’ll most likely find mentors in a professional capacity, the advice and support they can give can be applied to almost every facet of life.

Preparation is Everything

The Olympics are only every four years (switching off between summer and winter games). While there are regional and even some global competitions in between each Olympics, there’s nothing quite like having an Olympic medal draped around your neck. That’s why those four years are filled with intense focus and preparation from every athlete.

Just think about the runners in the 100m dash. Their races only last for about ten seconds. Yet, they spent years training for those ten-second races. That sort of dedication is quite admirable. It should put a lot of your personal goals into perspective, like going back to school or changing career paths. It will take a lot of Calendar events, planning, and execution to reach your goals.

Discipline is Required for Greatness

Let’s circle back to that Olympic work ethic for this last section. While it’s true that most, if not all, of the Olympic athletes you see, are naturally gifted, none of them made it to the world stage without their fair share of hard work. It takes gallons of blood, sweat, and tears to become an Olympian and even more to make it to the podium.

When the going gets tough, just remember that discipline is required to be great. Many professional athletes are used to getting up early and working long hours to achieve their goals. You should expect to do the same, especially for the goals most worth pursuing.

At the end of the day, the Olympics make for entertaining television. However, let us not let the lessons that can be learned from the various sporting events we watch — be lost on us.

Everyone has it within themselves to become someone or something magnificent (or at least better than we are now) with a ton of hard work and focused determination.

Increase Your Productivity by Finding Meaningful Work

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Increase Your Productivity by Finding Meaningful Work

What is the most important thing you want out of your job? Do you want to make more money? Are there opportunities to climb the corporate ladder? What about job security? Does flexibility exist?

Chances are, if you’re like most people who’ve been asked this question, meaning is often the number one answer. In other words, we want to know that what we do has a purpose beyond money, promotions, job security, or even flexibility.

This isn’t exactly surprising. Several studies suggest those who experience meaning in their work experience increased motivation, engagement, empowerment, career development, job satisfaction, and individual performance. When put together, meaningful work is one of the most powerful and effective ways to boost productivity.

What’s more, it’s also been found that more than 9 out of 10 employees are willing to trade a percentage of their lifetime earnings in exchange for greater meaning at work.

But, what exactly makes a job meaningful? And, more importantly, how can you find meaning in your work?

Meaningful work: The key to unlocking motivation.

“In exploring what makes work meaningful, we rely on self-determination theory,” write Milena Nikolova and Femke Cnossen for the Brooking Institution. “According to this theory, satisfying three innate psychological needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness—is key for motivating workers and enabling them to experience purpose through their work.”

The first psychological need is competency. That means that “individuals have a need for feeling competent in terms of having the skills and capabilities to overcome challenging tasks.”

The second? People want to feel autonomous and have the freedom to decide what they want to do.

“Finally, workers feel related if they experience genuine care from their bosses or colleagues, and that they care about their superiors and coworkers in return,” add Nikolova and Cnossen. As far as work is concerned, there are other important factors, such as wage and benefit levels, opportunities for career advancement, job security, and the number of hours worked.

“Our analysis shows that that relatedness, which is about relationships at work, is the most important determinant of work meaningfulness,” they add. Those who telework and cannot socialize with colleagues, either before or after the pandemic, won’t be shocked by this finding.

“In general, we discover that autonomy, relatedness, and competence are almost five times more important for perceptions of having meaningful work compared with compensation, benefits, career advancement, job insecurity, and working hour,” the authors write.

At the same time, meaningful work is “intimately personal and individual.” There is no one formula for meaningful work. But, it may also achieve the following;

  • Allows you to use your skills and talents.
  • Makes you feel like you’re a part of something bigger.
  • Knowing that your contributions actually mean something.
  • Feeling like you have a work-life balance and ownership.

Steps to finding meaningful work.

So, obviously, finding meaningful work should be a priority. But, how can you make this possible?

All you need is love.

The most obvious answer? Doing what you love. And, that ultimately comes down to what you’re passionate about.

Of course, passions vary from person to person. So, there is no right or wrong here. For example, you may enjoy doing software work or love engineering. On the other hand, you might get a thrill in helping animals or those in need, cooking, or sharing your expertise.

Identify what you enjoy doing and what you’re truly passionate about. From there, see if you can make a living doing it. In some cases, your passion could be enough to live off of. But, in reality, it might be a side hustle for at least a specific amount of time.

But, what if that’s not an option?

Well, maybe you have a job that offers plentiful vacation time so that you can pursue your passions. Or, even though it’s not the job of your dreams, you genuinely believe in the organization and the goals it’s trying to achieve.

Use the alignment triangle.

“Finding meaningful work involves seeking alignment between three areas: passion, values, and gifts (or what some may call talent or skills),” adds Caroline Castrillon in a Forbes article.

“Do you have a hobby, or something you enjoyed doing as a child, but never considered it a career possibility? Do you find yourself doing something that you love where the time seems to fly by?” Answering these “questions can help reveal your hidden passions,” says Castrillon.

But you already knew that. The next step is to take into account your values. This could be your family, creativity, helping solve a problem or becoming financially stable.

“Make a list and prioritize them,” she advises. As Aristotle once said, “where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.”

Finally, consider whatever it is that you excel at. “Those are activities that, when aligned with passion and values, can lead to work that truly lights you up inside.”

Job crafting.

If you’re unhappy with your current job, you can either adjust it or look for a new one. The first approach is known as “job crafting,” which was coined by psychologists Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane E. Dutton in 2001.

A job crafting strategy involves turning your current job into one that you sincerely enjoy. How is his possible? By amending your job description so that it’s meaningful. As a result, you’ll be happier and more engaged at work.

According to Wrzesniewski and Dutton, there are three parts involved with job crafting comes in three parts. However, any one of these components will enhance your enjoyment and sense of meaning at work.

  • The first part is task crafting. This consists of one or more tasks being dropped or picked up to change your daily role. This isn’t possible for everyone. But many roles will allow you to do this once you have shown your abilities and earned trust.
  • Relational crafting is the second part. Here you would create or strengthen workplace relationships. For example, instead of eating lunch with your same crew, try and have lunch with different colleagues every Friday.
  • The third and final part is cognitive crafting. Here you’re essentially changing your entire perception of your job. Even a little change in perspective can make your current role seem more meaningful. As an example, changing your title so that it conveys the most meaningful parts of your position.

As a result of job crafting, people tend to feel more autonomous at work. And, this is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction.

Seek autonomy.

In modern history, have we had as much freedom at work as we do today? More and more companies are moving away from traditional hierarchies towards a more autonomous structure. There are several reasons why, such as technology that allows for more remote work. Also, organizations have realized that this increases innovation and productivity.

Of course, if you’re a business owner, then you have a fair amount of autonomy. However, if you’re working for someone else, there are ways for you to take ownership of your work, such as;

  • Ask for more flexibility from your employer. For instance, you could ask if you could work from home one or two days per week. Suggest a trial period to build trust and deliver results. When working from home, you can set your own schedule and choose how to work as an added perk. Eventually, you may be able to work even more days remotely.
  • Volunteer for new responsibilities. You don’t want to overextend yourself. But, if you have the availability, ask to take on responsibilities that let you showcase your unique talents.
  • Seek autonomy outside of your “job”: If there aren’t opportunities to show off your skills, find them elsewhere. Maybe during your downtime, you could freelance or engage with a hobby. And, why knows? Down the road, this might become a full-time gig.

On your end, you still need to hold yourself accountable. Doing so will build trust with your employer, which in turn, will generate more opportunities for autonomy.

Ask someone.

This might be awkward asking other existential questions like, ” What am I good at?” or “What’s the purpose of my work?” But, there are some clever workarounds, such as;

  • Asking others, like a co-worker or supervisor, for constructive feedback
  • Bouncing ideas off those whom you work closely with.
  • Sharing your ideas or opinions during meetings or online surveys.
  • Reading online reviews about your product or service.
  • Sharing your expertise through blog posts or coaching others and listening to what your audience has to say.

I’ll be honest; listening to feedback from others can be tough. However, don’t take it personally. Rather, use it to learn and grow. And, most importantly, use it to find what’s most meaningful to your work.

How to Handle the Post-Pandemic Appointment Onslaught

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How to Handle the Post-Pandemic Appointment Onslaught

Life is finally getting closer to normal. Even though there have been some Covid-related twists and turns, businesses are beginning to reopen, and customers are once again clamoring for services. If your city is approaching a full reopening, you can expect customers to be rushing to your doors and booking appointments in the near future.

While the sudden influx in business is positive, it brings along a host of challenges. How do you fit in every single appointment without turning anyone away? How do you keep up with the demand? How do you prepare your employees for potential chaos?

You may run a dentist’s office or a hair salon. No matter your business, there are some basic business principles that will help you handle the post-pandemic onslaught with ease. Start by implementing the following:

Review Your Walk-In Policy

Your clientele may have lost a bit of their sense of protocol after a long hiatus during the pandemic. You might find many customers trying to fit into an appointment on very short notice. Some may even walk in requesting to be added to the queue. This behavior is difficult to plan around and can cause a lot of logistical bottlenecks if not handled correctly. 

This is a good time to review and potentially revise your walk-in policy. Consider placing a cap on walk-ins and announcing the restrictions to your customers. This will hopefully alert as many people as possible that the best way to get an appointment is through booking in advance. It can eliminate the wave of those who show up unannounced. 

A walk-in policy can consist of a maximum of two walk-ins per hour or a set number for the entire day. Your business might be able to fit in a few walk-ins, especially on a slower day. Having a set cap ensures you don’t get overwhelmed. 

Automate What You Can

Any office task that you can take out of the hands of your employees will help ease the post-pandemic appointment rush. Your workers will be able to assist more customers when they’re not continuously getting caught up in administrative duties. 

Implementing online appointment software should be your top priority if you haven’t set one up already. Making it possible or even required to book an appointment online will keep the phone lines quiet, reducing in-house interruptions. With online appointment software, you can keep track of customer or patient information automatically and even receive payment in advance. 

Appointment reminders are another type of automation that will benefit your business. Your system can automatically send out reminders at various intervals to reduce no-show rates and boost punctuality. 

Consider Expanding Your Workforce

Post-Covid unemployment levels are still higher than before the virus struck our shores. Although they’re steadily improving, there are still over 9 million people without work. If you’re considering expanding your workforce, now is the time to do it.

Think about the sort of entry-level positions you could open up and how they would be beneficial to your business. For example, seasonal jobs can add an extra set of hands to your payroll. This helps you avoid a long-term commitment that you don’t want to keep once the rush dies down. 

You can also look into hiring some full-time personnel to pick up the slack. Out of the 9 million people without a job, there must be someone out there looking for an opportunity that you can provide. 

Prepare in Advance

How much preparation does your business need before the doors open each day? If you’re experiencing higher appointment numbers than normal lately, you might need to start those preparations a little earlier than usual. 

Let’s say you run a salon that requires guests to have appointments. You may have a huge amount of appointments queued up as customers are ready to get fresh haircuts or pedicures. Offer some overtime pay to have a few people prepare supplies and service areas in advance. This will enable you to serve customers in a timely fashion.  

Even making sure that your workforce clocks in well before doors open will help prepares you for the busiest of days. Incorporate timeliness into your training and scheduling so that you’re never caught short-staffed during a time like this. 

Leave Room for Error

When handling so many appointments, there are bound to be some bumps in the road. Customers will show up late, appointments will run long, and systems won’t work as designed. Be prepared to right the ship so you can continue to move forward instead of crashing into the rocks.

For starters, make sure you have proper buffer time in between appointments. This gives you some leeway if a customer shows up late or if an appointment runs long. Without buffer time, such situations would cause overlap with other appointments and create messy scheduling conflicts. 

Some businesses designate one employee as a “floater” to help handle scenarios like this. The floater’s job is to run between rooms or workstations and assist as needed. They can help answer phones when there are too many calls to process. They can also check in guests to move them into their appointments quickly. They can be a lifesaver in numerous situations. 

Remember that having too many paying customers is better than not having enough. As your business pivots to a post-pandemic world, you can streamline how you deal with appointments to help smooth the way.  

6 Tips for Getting a New Job

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6 Tips for Getting a New Job

There is a major labor shortage happening in the United States right now. There are many reasons why this might be the case, but regardless of the circumstance, this could be an excellent opportunity for many working Americans. Thousands of new job openings mean that this could be the perfect window of opportunity to chase a dream job or change careers.

Tips for Getting a New Job

Getting a new job can be just as daunting for seasoned workers as it is for college graduates. There are a lot of factors to consider when applying for a job that could ultimately lead to success. This article aims to guide you through the process so you can take the next step in your professional career no matter where you are now.

1. Review Your Resume

Your job résumé is your first impression when applying for a new position. That being said, it’s one of the most important resources you have when searching for a job. As a result, most candidates are sifted out based on the contents of their résumés.

Different hiring managers look for different things in a résumé. Of course, they’ll want to see relevant experience and a work history that shows you’re reliable. Try and keep your résumé concise no matter what and have the most important information in clear, bold lettering. There are plenty of formatting guides and templates that can aid you in your résumé design.

If you. have a complicated or complex resume — consider hiring a service that can give your resume the polish it deserves.

2. Brush Up Your Interview Skills

Almost every job you’ll ever apply for will have some sort of interview process. Some smaller companies will hold a single, semi-casual interview, while others have applicants undergo a more extensive screening process. Others still might meet with you over the phone and call that good. So you need to be prepared for anything.

Every interview will be different, so you can’t memorize a list of questions and the answers you’d like to give. You can prepare for basic questions, however, such as “why do you want this job,” “what do you know about this company,” and “why do you feel like you’re a good fit for this position?”

Get a trusted friend to pepper you with questions, hop on YouTube and watch interviews, listen to some podcast interviews, watch a few TedTalks for good speaking with clarity tips, and don’t forget to stand in front of the mirror and ask questions.

Don’t work yourself up too much. You don’t have to be a master negotiator in order to nail a job interview. Most employers just want to ask a few questions and get to know you a little better. Team chemistry and job fit can be a big deal, so coming across as respectful and eager to learn is often better than acting arrogant and overconfident in your abilities.

3. Flood the Mailbox

Don’t just apply for a single job and wait to hear back. Who knows how long this can take. Moreover, while you’re patiently waiting for a single response, you could be missing out on dozens of other opportunities. Instead, take a shot at a position you don’t feel qualified for yet; you might surprise yourself.

Set a goal to send your resume to a variety of different companies.  You could aim to send out one new application each day or a set amount of 10-20 by the end of the month. Job posting website Indeed recommends you send even more than that, up to 10-15 applications a week or 2-3 per day.

Even if they don’t have a job posting listed, send them your resume in an email just to reach out. Then, you might hear back from an organization that is at least willing to guide you in the right direction.

4. Take Advantage of Networking

That segues nicely into this next section. Networking is your best friend when looking for a new job. Having reliable connections can get you to people and places you had no idea existed or couldn’t find independently.

For example, you might inquire at a local hospital if they have any job openings available even though none are posted. Even so, you might be able to connect with someone who has a friend running a local clinic that is hiring. Without networking with the hospital, you might have never found this job opportunity.

Another great way to network is through social media. Websites such as LinkedIn provide a great platform for connecting with industry leaders and professionals from around the world, not just in your local community. You can get great advice from here as well as access to certification courses to advance your education and career.

5. Take an Internship

Sometimes you just need to find a way to get your foot in the door. An internship can do just that, giving you training and networking opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to you. For example, it’s a lot easier to get an internship at Google than to become employed there without a previous relationship.

Unfortunately, many internships are unpaid or pay a lot less than regular employment. This can be a tough situation for someone looking for a job to pay the bills. However, a part-time internship at a more promising company or in a new field you’re interested in might make for a bountiful long-term investment.

6. Steady the Course

Don’t let your job search impact your work performance at your current employer if you do, in fact, have on. Many companies will contact former employers to inquire about you as a worker. But, of course, you want them to say only good things about you, so don’t cut the slack even if you’re planning on making a move.

Also, don’t give up. Job searches can get exhausting quickly when applications are sent back, and doors seem always to be closing. Instead, keep working on improving yourself, networking, and seeking out opportunities and eventually, you’ll find an opening.

Best of luck on your job search now and any time in the future you look for a change of scenery. Keep these tips in mind and bet on yourself. You’ll be amazed by what you’re able to accomplish.

Learning to Speak With Clarity

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Learning to Speak With Clarity

In terms of content, it’s essential to structure our thoughts logically, as well as choose our words carefully. Just as important are projections, pronunciation, and diction. After all, in order to be a good communicator, you need to go beyond language skills.

In other words, you need to learn to speak with clarity

Whether you’re having a one-on-one meeting, speaking at an industry, or just shooting the breeze with friends or family, communicating with clarity shouldn’t be overlooked. It ensures that you’re delivering the right message. And, more importantly, that the other party gets that message loud and clear.

What’s more, it’s possible to learn to speak with clarity. And, to get started, here are nine strategies to utilize.

Identify and overcome obstacles.

In my opinion, identifying the obstacle should definitely be you’re starting point. How can you speak clearly without first identifying the overcoming the obstacles holding you back? It’s like trying to go on a bike ride when you have a flat tire.

While everyone has their specific hurdles, one way to identify your obstacle is to play time management games. These games reveal to you where you have unclear speech, as well as time issues.

Here are the most common challenges to clear speech and communication — and how you can resolve them.

Fast rate.

Unclear speech results from a variety of factors, such as being nervous. As a consequence, words become muddled up with consonants since vowels have become shortened. In fact, it’s when speaking, we should aim for about 140 words per minute.

Slowing down your speech and talking deliberately (at first) helps form your sounds more accurately. And, this gives your listeners time to process what you’re saying.

But, how can you slow down? One suggestion would be practicing deep breathing while speaking. You can also try the following;

  • “Practice Speaking and Self-Monitoring” exercises
  • Recording yourself practicing a speech. Not only does this let you hear how fast you’re talking, reciting your speech builds confidence.
  • “Shadowing” others, such as watching TED Talks and then, mimic speakers.
  • Working with a coach or consultant.

Slowing down naturally can best be accomplished by breathing deeply while speaking. After you gain clarity — in this day and age — I also think we need to step up the pace again when speaking. Slow speech aggregates those who are in a rush — which is most of us. Become clear in your speech first — then speed it up again. (I’d say it takes six months to a year to get this right, you can’t rush it — and it takes a lot of practice.)

Mumbling.

Another common culprit is mumbling. And, this usually goes hand in hand with fast speech. The reason for this is that the mouth doesn’t open as much when speaking quickly. In turn, the sound of your speech gets distorted since it’s being squeezed between your teeth.

The best way to address mumbling is by relaxing your jaw and tongue. Doing so will allow you to speak clearly and with greater precision. You can also use some of the strategies listed above, such as recording yourself. A more strange technique would be speaking with a cork in your mouth because it makes your mouth work harder to pronounce the words more clearly.

Some people mumble because of self-confidence — they don’t really believe what they have to say is important. Believe what you have to say has merit, and it will help with clarity. If you know you are mumbling today — just be quiet and listen.

A quiet voice.

Speaking too softly or not loud enough will result in a lack of clarity. What do your listeners have to work with when you aren’t putting enough sound into the room?

The more breath you take and the more vibrations you feel in your body, the more power you will be able to produce without straining. Keep in mind though, that your voice will appear louder to you than to your listeners. This is awkward, but don’t worry too much about it. Again — record and listen to your voice — continually adjust to the correct volume for the situation.

An accent.

Others may find it difficult to understand you when you have a thick accent. But, there’s nothing wrong with having an accent — all of us have one. But, depending on who is listening to it, it may be difficult to understand.

An accent is more problematic when combined with a weak voice or fast rate. As a result, a strong accent may cause confusion and frustration. Before you start speaking, make sure that you’re projecting well and speaking slowly. It could be as simple as that.

Usually, with a thick accent, you will need a coach. Listen to Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first movies — you can hardly understand him. Listen when he was California’s governor — quite a bit better in his speaking. Listen to him today — he’s understandable. Schwarzenegger put a lot of time into his muscles — and in speaking better — with tons of work, many coaches, and practice. Speaking well and with clarity doesn’t happen by accident; it takes difficult work and practice.

Speaking with clarity is like anything else worth doing well — it takes practice and concentrated work to get it right. There are many YouTube’s about speaking well — look up a few of these.

Stay in your wheelhouse.

“The ‘most natural’ way to project confidence when we speak is when it’s done from the position of authority or as an expert,” says writer and wellness advocate Evelyn Marinoff. “We all tend to pay close attention to such individuals and believe pretty much everything that they say. Because they ‘know their stuff.’”

“So, find your strengths and passions, and further develop them—become the best you can at what you do.”

This was actually a conversation my brother and I recently had. My argument was that I get turned off by people who are considered experts because they have a platform. It’s like when a celebrity champions a diet. They may not be wrong. But, they aren’t nutritionists and, so you should take their advice with a huge grain of salt.

Being an authority figure doesn’t just give you “brownie points with others—mainly, in the form of respect and appreciation, it will also breed confidence. In turn, this “makes us better armed to face the world, to weather adversities, and to calm down our nervousness and self-doubting.”

You don’t have to use big words.

It’s not uncommon for educated people and thought leaders to use a lot of big words when speaking. I can’t vouch for them all personally, but I believe it’s because they think that this will validate that they “know thief stuff.”

However, this isn’t always true. For some, having an extensive vocabulary is merely a tactic to hide behind. As a result, your arguments become misrepresented. And, that defeats the whole purpose of communicating with others.

Does this mean you should avoid big words all the time? Of course not. Sometimes they are more accurate and superior to their smaller cousins.

If you don’t want to exasperate or offend your audience, define big words before using them.

Captivate and engage others.

Piggybacking from the last point, an audience that doesn’t understand you won’t be able to benefit from your expertise. And, that might be because you’re using jargon. Remember, just because you and your colleagues throw around industry terms freely doesn’t mean that everyone is aware of their meanings.

Unless you know your audience, like their backgrounds and motivations, steer clear of the complicated words or acronyms that your audience is not familiar with. It’s a surefire way to lose them and prevent them from being engaged and captivated.

Another suggestion? Keep your explanations simple and clear. This guarantees that your audience can relate to and understand them. And, when they, you’ll be able to maintain their attention

In the words of Albert Einstein, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

Read a Thesaurus.

Using different words can ensure that other people will understand what you’re saying. By using synonyms and changing a sentence structure, it will be much easier to get someone’s attention. But, repetition is needed to initially grab their attention.

Repetition has a special quality that’s called “specialty.” This is because people can say the same thing in a variety of ways. It will be in your best interest to learn a wide range of synonyms and related words.

Here are just a couple of examples in action:

  • When you can’t think of a specific word, for example the word goal, you could say, “aim” or “objective” instead.
  • When you’re talking to someone and they don’t understand what you mean — you can use goals or intentions.
  • When you wish to reiterate your point — if you say, “we need to reduce expenses by creating a budget. This would save us a lot of money.” The short explanation gives clarification to the sentence.

Write more often.

It becomes easier to speak more clearly when you’re able to write well. Over time, your vocabulary, sentence structures, and arguments will become second nature.

The reason? It helps you prepare and think ahead. As a result, you do not need to focus on your structure or vocab. Instead, you can focus on your presentation structure in order to avoid mistakes. Even if you’re busy as heck, try writing in a journal during your morning routine for a couple of minutes may help.

Avoid sub-clauses.

Another benefit of writing? It allows you to put several arguments inside one another. In other words, writing allows your audience to find the beginning of your sentence so that they don’t get confused. You can’t do that when you’re speaking.

Therefore, don’t nest ideas inside each other. Be concise when writing and end one thought before starting another. When you clearly end a sentence — you won’t lose your audience. More importantly, the listeners can walk away with the key points you wanted to relay.

4 Ways to Up Your Social Media Marketing Game

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4 Ways to Up Your Social Media Marketing Game

Let’s get straight to it. Your company’s success relies on social media. Why? Because that’s where the consumers are. Today, there are about 3.78 billion social media users worldwide. And these users have high expectations. 

In today’s ever-changing and demanding world, consumers expect a lot from their social media feeds. They want to be informed, engaged, and entertained. They also want to learn something new from time to time. This puts a lot of pressure on businesses, particularly new ones trying to establish a social presence. 

Building an engaged and involved social media following takes time. Setting your social media goals is a true first step in establishing your social media game. With goals, you have a clear sense of direction for your company’s brand. Not to mention, you also have a plan for you and your team to get behind and work toward. 

Read on for four ways to give your social media marketing a boost. 

1. Post Consistently 

This is arguably the easiest but also the most fruitful way to gain more followers. Posting consistently creates a rhythm to your platform. It helps create a sense of reliability and continuity. Your users will start to expect content at certain times of the day, month, or year. 

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re managing a new restaurant’s social media. Users will be looking for food content at times they are hungry. If you post a special menu photo at 5 p.m. each day, that will resonate with users who want to try the restaurant for dinner. The next time users are looking for a place to eat, they may return to your social channels. 

However, if you only post that menu photo once and then don’t post anything for another week or two, users will quickly forget about your original post. Your audience won’t be engaged and will be unlikely to return to your feed. 

Maintaining a consistent social media schedule may seem daunting at first. Luckily, there are tools such as Hootsuite and Agorapulse that can alleviate the stress of scheduling social media posts. 

Struggling to create content in advance? Seek out special holidays and observances such as Freedom Day (February 1) or Retro Day (February 27) for some inspiration.

2. But Also Post Consciously 

Social media users are constantly sharing and reacting. Sharing and reacting to world events. Sharing and reacting to other posts. Sharing and reacting to a brand’s stances. It’s you and your company’s responsibility to stay up to date on what is happening both on and off social media. 

For example, June 2020 was a monumental month for the social world. The Black Lives Matter movement grew significantly and steadily due to social media. Businesses that reacted sensitively in the moment retained their loyal followers. On the other hand, companies that posted inappropriately worded content or ignored the movement altogether took a major hit. 

So, what does this mean for you? While there isn’t one right way to handle any situation, there are wrong ways. Be conscious of what is happening — even while you’re on vacation — and pivot your planned social tactics accordingly. You don’t necessarily need to be the very first company to react to something. However, you should create a strategy when major events surprise the social world.  

3. Be Flexible and Adaptable

Setting up a new social account or taking one over can be intimidating. What works one day may not work the next. However, think of social media as a world of opportunities. If a company is stuck in the past, it won’t be moving ahead. This opens up the door for newer ones to take up space in a crowded field. 

Consider this example. Just recently, Instagram announced it was no longer just a “photo-sharing app.” The platform will be focusing on video content and entertainment in the months to come. Why? It’s likely because the app is looking to compete with popular video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.

This news could shock a lot of businesses, particularly those that focused solely on posting photos and copy. Instagram’s algorithm will make it harder for users to see these brands in their feeds. Therefore, companies need to adapt, and so do their social media feeds. By posting Instagram Stories, Reels, and IGTVs, for instance, businesses can better stay ahead of the game. 

4. Tailor Your Posts to the Platform 

What works on Instagram may not necessarily work on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, or LinkedIn. Users adapt their needs to where they are. So a cute cat photo on Instagram won’t really be appropriate for LinkedIn, for example. 

Getting to know your customer is part of tailoring your posts effectively. Keeping an eye on your social metrics can also help you determine what kinds of posts work best for your business. 

Let’s go back to the restaurant example. If a Facebook post introducing a new menu item doesn’t resonate, look at what the call to action is. Could you make it clearer to the audience that this item is “back by popular demand”? Could you say the item is “available only for a limited time”? Using these types of words could help. 

If you’re still not seeing the traction you want, try another platform. The same photo could work better on Instagram and garner more attention if that’s where your foodie audience is. 

These four tips aren’t the only ways to up your social media marketing game. They are, however, strategies you can start to implement today to meet your goals. Be aware, though, that it takes time. Just like your business wasn’t built overnight, neither will your social media presence be.

Learning to Speak With Clarity

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Learning to Speak With Clarity

In terms of content, it’s essential to structure our thoughts logically, as well as choose our words carefully. Just as important are projections, pronunciation, and diction. After all, in order to be a good communicator, you need to go beyond language skills.

In other words, you need to learn to speak with clarity

Whether you’re having a one-on-one meeting, speaking at an industry, or just shooting the breeze with friends or family, communicating with clarity shouldn’t be overlooked. It ensures that you’re delivering the right message. And, more importantly, that the other party gets that message loud and clear.

What’s more, it’s possible to learn to speak with clarity. And, to get started, here are nine strategies to utilize.

Identify and overcome obstacles.

In my opinion, identifying the obstacle should definitely be you’re starting point. How can you speak clearly without first identifying the overcoming the obstacles holding you back? It’s like trying to go on a bike ride when you have a flat tire.

While everyone has their specific hurdles, one way to identify your obstacle is to play time management games. These games reveal to you where you have unclear speech, as well as time issues.

Here are the most common challenges to clear speech and communication — and how you can resolve them.

Fast rate.

Unclear speech results from a variety of factors, such as being nervous. As a consequence, words become muddled up with consonants since vowels have become shortened. In fact, it’s when speaking, we should aim for about 140 words per minute.

Slowing down your speech and talking deliberately (at first) helps form your sounds more accurately. And, this gives your listeners time to process what you’re saying.

But, how can you slow down? One suggestion would be practicing deep breathing while speaking. You can also try the following;

  • “Practice Speaking and Self-Monitoring” exercises
  • Recording yourself practicing a speech. Not only does this let you hear how fast you’re talking, reciting your speech builds confidence.
  • “Shadowing” others, such as watching TED Talks and then, mimic speakers.
  • Working with a coach or consultant.

Slowing down naturally can best be accomplished by breathing deeply while speaking. After you gain clarity — in this day and age — I also think we need to step up the pace again when speaking. Slow speech aggregates those who are in a rush — which is most of us. Become clear in your speech first — then speed it up again. (I’d say it takes six months to a year to get this right, you can’t rush it — and it takes a lot of practice.)

Mumbling.

Another common culprit is mumbling. And, this usually goes hand in hand with fast speech. The reason for this is that the mouth doesn’t open as much when speaking quickly. In turn, the sound of your speech gets distorted since it’s being squeezed between your teeth.

The best way to address mumbling is by relaxing your jaw and tongue. Doing so will allow you to speak clearly and with greater precision. You can also use some of the strategies listed above, such as recording yourself. A more strange technique would be speaking with a cork in your mouth because it makes your mouth work harder to pronounce the words more clearly.

Some people mumble because of self-confidence — they don’t really believe what they have to say is important. Believe what you have to say has merit, and it will help with clarity. If you know you are mumbling today — just be quiet and listen.

A quiet voice.

Speaking too softly or not loud enough will result in a lack of clarity. What do your listeners have to work with when you aren’t putting enough sound into the room?

The more breath you take and the more vibrations you feel in your body, the more power you will be able to produce without straining. Keep in mind though, that your voice will appear louder to you than to your listeners. This is awkward, but don’t worry too much about it. Again — record and listen to your voice — continually adjust to the correct volume for the situation.

An accent.

Others may find it difficult to understand you when you have a thick accent. But, there’s nothing wrong with having an accent — all of us have one. But, depending on who is listening to it, it may be difficult to understand.

An accent is more problematic when combined with a weak voice or fast rate. As a result, a strong accent may cause confusion and frustration. Before you start speaking, make sure that you’re projecting well and speaking slowly. It could be as simple as that.

Usually, with a thick accent, you will need a coach. Listen to Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first movies — you can hardly understand him. Listen when he was California’s governor — quite a bit better in his speaking. Listen to him today — he’s understandable. Schwarzenegger put a lot of time into his muscles — and in speaking better — with tons of work, many coaches, and practice. Speaking well and with clarity doesn’t happen by accident; it takes difficult work and practice.

Speaking with clarity is like anything else worth doing well — it takes practice and concentrated work to get it right. There are many YouTube’s about speaking well — look up a few of these.

Stay in your wheelhouse.

“The ‘most natural’ way to project confidence when we speak is when it’s done from the position of authority or as an expert,” says writer and wellness advocate Evelyn Marinoff. “We all tend to pay close attention to such individuals and believe pretty much everything that they say. Because they ‘know their stuff.’”

“So, find your strengths and passions, and further develop them—become the best you can at what you do.”

This was actually a conversation my brother and I recently had. My argument was that I get turned off by people who are considered experts because they have a platform. It’s like when a celebrity champions a diet. They may not be wrong. But, they aren’t nutritionists and, so you should take their advice with a huge grain of salt.

Being an authority figure doesn’t just give you “brownie points with others—mainly, in the form of respect and appreciation, it will also breed confidence. In turn, this “makes us better armed to face the world, to weather adversities, and to calm down our nervousness and self-doubting.”

You don’t have to use big words.

It’s not uncommon for educated people and thought leaders to use a lot of big words when speaking. I can’t vouch for them all personally, but I believe it’s because they think that this will validate that they “know thief stuff.”

However, this isn’t always true. For some, having an extensive vocabulary is merely a tactic to hide behind. As a result, your arguments become misrepresented. And, that defeats the whole purpose of communicating with others.

Does this mean you should avoid big words all the time? Of course not. Sometimes they are more accurate and superior to their smaller cousins.

If you don’t want to exasperate or offend your audience, define big words before using them.

Captivate and engage others.

Piggybacking from the last point, an audience that doesn’t understand you won’t be able to benefit from your expertise. And, that might be because you’re using jargon. Remember, just because you and your colleagues throw around industry terms freely doesn’t mean that everyone is aware of their meanings.

Unless you know your audience, like their backgrounds and motivations, steer clear of the complicated words or acronyms that your audience is not familiar with. It’s a surefire way to lose them and prevent them from being engaged and captivated.

Another suggestion? Keep your explanations simple and clear. This guarantees that your audience can relate to and understand them. And, when they, you’ll be able to maintain their attention

In the words of Albert Einstein, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

Read a Thesaurus.

Using different words can ensure that other people will understand what you’re saying. By using synonyms and changing a sentence structure, it will be much easier to get someone’s attention. But, repetition is needed to initially grab their attention.

Repetition has a special quality that’s called “specialty.” This is because people can say the same thing in a variety of ways. It will be in your best interest to learn a wide range of synonyms and related words.

Here are just a couple of examples in action:

  • When you can’t think of a specific word, for example the word goal, you could say, “aim” or “objective” instead.
  • When you’re talking to someone and they don’t understand what you mean — you can use goals or intentions.
  • When you wish to reiterate your point — if you say, “we need to reduce expenses by creating a budget. This would save us a lot of money.” The short explanation gives clarification to the sentence.

Write more often.

It becomes easier to speak more clearly when you’re able to write well. Over time, your vocabulary, sentence structures, and arguments will become second nature.

The reason? It helps you prepare and think ahead. As a result, you do not need to focus on your structure or vocab. Instead, you can focus on your presentation structure in order to avoid mistakes. Even if you’re busy as heck, try writing in a journal during your morning routine for a couple of minutes may help.

Avoid sub-clauses.

Another benefit of writing? It allows you to put several arguments inside one another. In other words, writing allows your audience to find the beginning of your sentence so that they don’t get confused. You can’t do that when you’re speaking.

Therefore, don’t nest ideas inside each other. Be concise when writing and end one thought before starting another. When you clearly end a sentence — you won’t lose your audience. More importantly, the listeners can walk away with the key points you wanted to relay.

How Analytics Can Help Your Small Business

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How Analytics Can Help Your Small Business

In our increasingly digital age, it can be all too easy for a small business owner to become overwhelmed by a sudden glut of available data. It seems like every new gadget or operations upgrade connects to the internet and includes an opportunity to accurately measure something or other to which they previously gave very little thought.

Some business owners make the rookie mistake of collecting as much data as possible, meticulously entering it into spreadsheets, and more or less leaving it at that. Successful entrepreneurs, on the other hand, understand that increased opportunities for data collection can be helpful, but only when those analytics are leveraged. Simply stated, they know the difference between raw data and actionable data.

The time to be impressed by internet-enabled devices that spit out new forms of previously uncollectible data is over. Small business owners, in particular, need to bring an increased level of discernment to data that’s merely “cool” vs. data that can help them increase efficiency and profits.

The best place to start is not by compiling all the data available to you but instead pausing long enough to write down a few simple questions. Only after you’ve decided which questions you’d like to answer can you begin to assess which analytics might actually prove helpful. Listed below are four questions just about any small business owner can adopt or adapt, along with pointers for how newer forms of data can help provide actionable answers.

1. Where are we wasting time?

The difference between time and money is that money can be replaced. Business owners and managers should be setting the tone in terms of effective time management during office hours. When management consistently demonstrates respect for the value of time, that attitude tends to filter down to the frontline staff. Conversely, managers who call meetings for no apparent reason can’t reasonably expect employees to place much value on anyone’s time.

Nowadays, there are many scheduling apps that include reporting features that will allow you to more effectively track how you’re spending time and whether or not that investment is paying off. For example, time-tracking analytics can be cross-referenced against customer billing numbers to assess ROI. This relatively simple exercise can be eye-opening in terms of surfacing high-maintenance individuals who, as it turns out, are not contributing all that much to revenue. 

Is the relationship worth the ongoing effort? Time-reporting analytics can help you decide whether to limit specific client contact to certain levels of time commitment or not.

2. Which demographics are falling away?

An investment in customer relationship management (CRM) software can provide individualized feedback on customer preferences, allowing your business to tailor its offerings accordingly. Marketing campaigns can be tweaked to highlight products and services that seem to strike a chord with your regulars. Emails can include a higher degree of personalization. Special events can be designed to respond to feedback.

Additionally, CRM data can chart changes in your customer base and help you do a little exploration. For example, visits to your salon by your 50+ customers may have driven the lion’s share of high-end sales, but those visits have declined precipitously. Is the falloff in any way related to how your business is operating in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic? Or did your product or service line shift such that your more mature customers are no longer interested? 

If the latter, are you OK with that shift? Analytics provided by just about any CRM package should provide the data you need to analyze who your customers are, what they care about, and how you can tailor your business to their needs.

3. At what point do our website visitors lose interest?

Website analytics, in particular, are one area where it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of available data. This is where your ability to formulate relevant, niche-specific questions before you start excavating data is most likely to save you from being over-informed and under-actioned. In particular, owners of appointment-based need to pay close attention to website bounce rates and abandoned scheduling forms.

Did you lose the booking when they read your terms and conditions or when you requested prepayment? Was the user confused by being presented with too many options too soon? Website analytics can provide the when, but you might need to investigate further to find the why.

If, for example, you notice a high bounce rate on a website resource that features one of your most popular offerings, that definitely merits a closer look. The problem might be tied to something as complex as mobile browser compatibility or something as easy to fix as a lousy photo. As you study online analytics, scan for any anomalies as your first step.

4. What do our Wi-Fi analytics reveal about peak business hours?

By encouraging customers to freely use your on-premises Wi-Fi, you can learn a lot. What days and times of the week see the most walk-in traffic? You can use this information to make sure you have enough staff on hand to serve these impromptu clients.

If users sign on via their social media accounts, you can glean further insights from demographic data. Are certain age groups more apt to patronize your business at certain times of day? You can tailor everything from promotions to in-office music choices accordingly.

Proceed with caution, though. There’s a fine balance to be struck between using Wi-Fi analytics to enhance your bottom line and being too nosy. Customers are growing increasingly wary of the data that any service provider collects, so you’ll want to be proactive about this. 

A simple disclaimer informing customers that you collect data to enhance their experience with your business is typically sufficient. Not every customer will agree to your terms and conditions, but many will, thereby helping you increase the overall effectiveness of your staffing and outreach.

Analytics can be powerful tools … or they can be powerful distractions.

There is no denying that objective, empirical data is a good thing. The question every business owner needs to address is whether or not specific forms of data can be utilized to foster growth. Depending on the niche you occupy, newer forms of analytics might be interesting but not helpful. Focus on data that facilitates needed changes.

Don’t fall into the trap of collecting and charting data merely for the sake of collecting and charting data. As you encounter newer forms of analytics that can be conducted, stop and ask yourself whether you should. By keeping an ongoing log of relevant business issues you hope to address with data, your data-sifting process will become much simpler.

Ways Businesses Can Get Their Calendar and Finances Organized

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Ways Businesses Can Get Their Calendar and Finances Organized

Staying organized in all areas of business may not be a strong skill for many founders. Try as they might, plenty of entrepreneurs are unable to bring order to their chaos. Some even claim that they thrive on not knowing what comes next. But for the vast majority of executives, disorganization leaves them at a serious operational and financial disadvantage.

Without systems in place to keep everything moving along systematically and predictably, the wheels start to fall off the train — fast. That’s not good for productivity, morale, or future success. Therefore, owners owe it to themselves and their companies to practice organizational skills.

Of course, being organized isn’t just about applying a few hacks, as a Harvard Business Review piece notes.

Ways Businesses Can Get Their Calendar and Finances Organized

Getting and staying organized for the long haul requires developing protocols and processes that close (or bridge) time management and financial management gaps.

If your struggle with self-organization is an everyday occurrence, try these steps. First, they’ll help reinforce weak spots with strong, proven practices. Then, within a few weeks of making consistent changes, you should see a difference in your performance and efficiency levels.

1. Stay on top of your personal and business credit scores.

Nothing interrupts organization for your company like finding out that you can’t get a loan to buy equipment or scale-up. Suddenly, you’re sent into “scramble mode,” forced to find alternative financing options.

Credit bureau Experian has been working to provide more inclusive ways for consumers to bump their credit scores to help them get the loans they need. One way they do this is by helping people link positive payment history to vendors — like utilities — to their credit history through a service called Experian Boost.

Experian also offers free regular access to updated FICO scores. Tracking a FICO score takes just minutes and can alert you quickly to any problems, like the possibility of identity theft, if your score suddenly plummets.

Many business owners lean on loans to get them over hurdles and through rough patches. However, being credit-savvy removes barriers to powering ahead efficiently to meet your objectives.

2. Explore ways to get paid faster.

Think about a time when your organization has faltered. Could it be that you’re always trying to play “catch up” because of lagging finances? When you’re scrambling to pay bills on time or make payroll, a snag can occur in your system. You’ll want to get on top of the core issues you face. Often, the issue lies in how you’re getting paid.

For example, if you typically give your clients 30 days to pay their invoices, you have to wait at least a month for the money. That lag time between making a sale and getting compensated can ruin your organizational opportunities. After all, you can’t focus and stay on top of all your obligations if you’re distracted by a dwindling bank account.

Many entrepreneurs are trying to overcome this problem by exploring real-time payment options like those being driven by RealNet. Created by FIS, RealNet uses existing payment rails to move money rapidly from place to place. Currently, RealNet’s use cases have shown that some transactions can occur momentarily rather than taking days.

Getting that money in the bank faster will reduce last-minute scrambling due to dipping balances.

3. Put everything onto one calendar.

Do you manage multiple calendars? All those calendars may make you feel organized, but they’re just complicating matters. Rather than trying to juggle your commitments and force yourself to stay on top of multiple calendars, consolidate them.

Consolidating your calendar serves countless purposes when you’re attempting to add more organization into your life. First of all, you’ll only have one place to look for everything. That’s bound to cut out wasted minutes because you won’t have to jump around between calendars. Secondly, you’re much less apt to double-book or have a drop when you have one calendar.

Which type of calendar program should you use? Experiment with a few platforms to find what works. You may even want to add your daily, weekly, and monthly checklist to your cloud-based calendar. Being able to glance at an organized, color-coded schedule keeps you on track. In addition, if you notice problem areas, you can ward off trouble by rearranging responsibilities and commitments.

4. Keep a running log of your organizational missteps.

You missed a major business meeting last week because you were overbooked with work. You’re embarrassed and feeling out of sorts. The last thing you want to do is relive the experience. However, reliving (or at least reviewing) the past is exactly what you need to do to become a smarter time manager. Specifically, you need to consider the event objectively.

Don’t worry: You don’t have to share your organizational faux pas with anyone else during this exercise. Just write down every recent organizational mishap on a document or piece of paper. Then, analyze why the snag happened and how it could have been prevented. Resist the temptation to feel shame or blame. Instead, use the moment for self-reflection.

After you’ve examined your latest organizational problem, put measures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Maybe you could delegate more of your duties. Perhaps you could declutter your desktop, so you’re not visually or digitally distracted. Try different strategies to chip away at all the habits that are sabotaging your organizational success.

Final Thoughts: Technology, Time Management, and Your Business

At the end of the day, your ability to better manage your time will positively affect both you and your company. Your new behaviors may even spark a desire among colleagues to improve their own organizational processes. In fact, you may want to check out all the latest technologies that can help you. That way, you can pass along ideas to your team members so everyone can be a little more organized.

Even if you’re not fully tech-savvy, you owe it to yourself and your business to look into organization-focused platforms and solutions. After all, every improvement will get you closer to avoiding the financial and operational pitfalls that come with a lack of organization. And best of all, you may discover that you have more time on your hands for all the rewarding activities you love.

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