A Chat That Can Save You A Lot of Time and Hassle

Knowing how much time your team spends on tasks or projects attributed to them can also be an effective monitoring device. Maybe you notice that one person makes a lot of time-consuming phone calls to one client or one resource. When you see that the team member includes this in her weekly report, you can ask her what the issues are with that person.

Depending on the answers, you can help her solve the problem or advise that she minimizes time on the phone with that particular client. Without a report, you might never be able to find out why she charges you that many hours or why she is spending so much time with that one person – who might not be worth her time at all.

Another good reason to check in with your team is to minimize confusion. Depending on the type of support person you hire, she might not feel comfortable to communicate all her struggles and challenges to you, especially when she thinks you must be busy with something else and she doesn’t want to bother you with such a trivial matter.

However, if you talk to the person on a regular and frequent basis, asking her about any challenges she has come across, she might open up and communicate her problems to you earlier.

Even if it is just a five-minute conversation or a short email status update, it’s a more effective way of tracking your team’s progress and avoiding potential pitfalls.

If you want to know how we can help you get there faster with more confidence, sign up for a business evaluation NOW at: http://reginaminger.com/bizevaluation

A painless way to schedule your projects – give yourself time!

Are you one of those people who gets so excited about a new project, you want to rush right in and finish it…yesterday?

And then you come down to earth and discover that your timing was all wrong – there was no way you could have finished it by the deadline you set up for yourself.

Spontaneity is great, but it doesn’t always work – especially not in business.

Being revved-up about a new project, wanting to see your idea implemented and generating income is natural (after all, that’s why you became a web entrepreneur). But setting unrealistic deadlines is sure to backfire.

Has this already happened to you?

If so, you are no stranger to frustration and disappointment you feel when a goal you set for yourself can’t be reached because you underestimated the length of time such an implementation is likely to take.

Let’s say you decide on a Monday to write and submit an important article by Friday. You may even sit down and start writing, finishing it by Tuesday. But then you find out that your editor can’t start reviewing your draft before the beginning of the following week, because she is swamped with other projects. And your brilliant idea of having your article finished by the week’s end is going down the drain.

That’s a very good reason to re-think the way you do your scheduling. For instance, whatever project you are thinking of launching, make sure to plan extra time for testing, re-thinking your strategy, or any unforeseeable circumstances that may pop up and delay the project’s completion – maybe a team member is on vacation or sick. Giving yourself enough leeway will allow you to set – and meet – realistic goals without putting undue pressure on yourself or your team.

As the saying goes: timing is everything!

Contact me Today to receive a business evaluation session to see how your projects can get done smarter, and set up the right business systems and checklists to achieve better results. Send an email to info@reginaminger.com with the subject line: business evaluation.
I look forward to connecting with you.

How to know what your team is doing...

Let’s be honest, we are not getting less busy, because as an entrepreneur or a solo business owner there is always something you want to do, let alone all these ideas you come up with every day. As a busy and often overwhelmed web entrepreneur you must be looking for ways to simplify the management of all the tasks and responsibilities inherent to your business.

Whether you work alone, are outsourcing or delegating some jobs to contractors, systematizing your knowledge will help you manage your tasks and your team more efficiently.

Simply put, systems are experience-based guidelines or bullet-point checklists outlining steps that need to be taken to accomplish a task or a goal.

Think about all the ways systems can make your life easier. There is probably no one area of your business that couldn’t benefit from this systematic approach; it can be applied to virtually every task to make sure things get done correctly and on time.

We’ll be talking about guidelines again and again but today I’d like to focus on how to best monitor the work and progress of your team.

HOW 2 CORNER

Establish guidelines on keeping track of various projects you delegated to contractors.

Ok, so think about the following things:

• How often do you check in with them? Once or twice a week?
• Do you expect team members to have their own ways to communicate with you?
• Do you need to see some results earlier than your deadline so you can review them and make necessary changes?
• Are you waiting for contractors to get back to you with some info so you can continue the work?

Explain to your team the importance of systematizing their own operations so your work timelines are synchronized. Tell them how important it is to work on schedule and inform other team members if someone can’t finish a task on time and what they should do in a case like that.

Write down YOUR guidelines, how you want things done, when you want everyone to check in with you, and in what way.

Think about ways to “connect” with your team – maybe chatting in the morning over a cup of coffee with those who are in your geographical vicinity. For virtual team members, you may want to set aside contact time via phone or email.