Friday, October 13, 2006

Decisions, Decisions when will they make them?

I dare say there are many people out there who have been in this position. Waiting for that call to say yes please come in, we want to make you an offer. But we sit by the phone waiting, people around us say its ok, they'll call but they just need time.

We are in a world where time is all perspective. We wait and time becomes very long. We get what we want and time flys. If only we could work the two together and shorten that waiting period. The other question is that unasked question, am I wasting my time? You never know so I am now working to the idea that a decision not given is a decision not made and move on to something else. Its just a pain that people can not be more open in their communications and consider what it is like on the other side waiting on that decision.

Marc Dimmick

Friday, March 31, 2006

Where is the value in your business?

When you consider your business where is the value? Is it in the building, the property a physical item or is it more intangable?

More and more todays businesses are no longer hold their business value in their bricks and morta. The real value is more often in the heads of the people we employee. The problem is that people don't always stay. How much do you invest in building and developing those intangable assets? Like most businesses this can be quite a conciderable amount both directly and indirectly. So why do people move on? It is not always the dollars that people look for. It can sometime be as simple as recognition of input and value. Do you value your intagable assests??

Marc Dimmick

Method or Madness?

Is your business running in chaos or is there an underlying method to the way you work?

Many businesses today just get in and do the work. When its just you and maybe one other that's fine, but what happens as you grow. Like many businesses it not until things become crazy that this is ever though about. Initially it may not be necessary to define a process in the way you work. But as they say if you fail to plan you plan to fail.

When people start their business the idea is to add value, most times for the client or end user. The other motive is to build the business so you can sit back and just make all that money. Well you will never beable to sit back and rake in the money if you don't have processes. It does not need to be complex and infact the simpler the better but look at what and how you carry out the task to deliver your services.

Document and then test it with someone else and see if they understand what you are trying to do. Then review and update, in this way when you employ those hundreds of employees you can sit back and rake in the money.

The important thing is to constantly review and update and make sure that everyone knows and understands the process. This will then help when you hire the next member of your organisation.

Marc Dimmick

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Who suggested this idea?

Have to been in a meeting with you superior and they starts to sing the praises of a member of staff. The thing is you don't have any respect for that member and the current project you are working on can potentially be stopped by that person. The next comment to come out is a brilliant new idea that, that person has proposed. Your superior thinks very highly of them but all you see is red. You can either make the point that you proposed the idea or just let the water run off your back.

I have just recently faced that situation as I would think many have in the past and will do in the future. The only conciliation is that this person will have to face the music at some stage. The only problem is that I won't be there to see the result. The only conciliation is that I have kept my dignity and realise that there will always be people like this. I can stay at their level and feel angry or I can move on knowing that their situation is limited.

I came a cross a great saying by TS Eliot which might give you a laugh.

"between the dreams and reality fall the shadows"

The second line is mine.

"this is the realm of the shadow man"

These are the people who are incapable to shining their own light in life. They hide behind others pointing fingers and taking and using other peoples ideas. They then try to put them up as their own but will in the end fail. This is the difference You either create your own light which people will see or you join the realms of the shadow man.

As Dr Peter F. Drucker once said "The best way to predict the future is to create it" and that is what I try to do each day.

Are we compliant or passionate at what we do?

Does it matter if we are compliant or passionate about our work? What are you?

This is a question that is very important to me. I have always believe that unless you are passioinate about what you do then two things happen. One you don't get the total satisfaction out of what you are doing and your employeer is not getting the best he can out of you. The second part to this question is does the empoyer know this? and if they do then who is to blame for the resulting situation?

In a resent position I have held I have had to put up with being complient as I was not equiped with the require knowledge to fufill the tasks assigned to me. The totally frustrating situation about the whole insident was that the the managers were aware of this situation before I started my employment. they admitted it and asked for assistance to remedy the situation. the problem was their words did not result in action.

As I proposed options and solutions I faced constant hurdels and blockages. These at first were low but day by day became bigger, until it got to the point of me stopping. I then endded up in a situation of then becoming compliant as I was unable to doing anything. The biggest problems with many managers is they don't know what their issues or problems are. I came across a bigger problem facing management today and that is knowing what the problem is but then either not being able to or a lack of conviction to carry out the work needed to fix the problem.

What managers really have to do is to look at themselves and ask the question. Are they the real problem?

Marc Dimmick