Business Process Management System

Managing a project can be daunting. Whether planning your wedding, developing a new website or building your dream house by the sea, you need to employ project management techniques to help you succeed. I’ll summarise the top 7 best practices at the heart of good project management which can help you to achieve project success.

Define the scope and objectives

Firstly, understand the project objectives. Suppose your boss asks you to organise a blood donor campaign, is the objective to get as much blood donated as possible? Or, is it to raise the local company profile? Deciding the real objectives will help you plan the project.

Scope defines the boundary of the project. Is the organisation of transport to take staff to the blood bank within scope? Or, should staff make their own way there? Deciding what’s in or out of scope will determine the amount of work which needs performing.

Understand who the stakeholders are, what they expect to be delivered and enlist their support. Once you’ve defined the scope and objectives, get the stakeholders to review and agree to them.

Define the deliverables

You must define what will be delivered by the project. If your project is an advertising campaign for a new chocolate bar, then one deliverable might be the artwork for an advertisement. So, decide what tangible things will be delivered and document them in enough detail to enable someone else to produce them correctly and effectively.

Key stakeholders must review the definition of deliverables and must agree they accurately reflect what must be delivered.

Project planning

Planning requires that the project manager decides which people, resources and budget are required to complete the project.

You must define what activities are required to produce the deliverables using techniques such as Work Breakdown Structures. You must estimate the time and effort required for each activity, dependencies between activities and decide a realistic schedule to complete them. Involve the project team in estimating how long activities will take. Set milestones which indicate critical dates during the project. Write this into the project plan. Get the key stakeholders to review and agree to the plan.

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Communication

Project plans are useless unless they’ve been communicated effectively to the project team. Every team member needs to know their responsibilities. I once worked on a project where the project manager sat in his office surrounded by huge paper schedules. The problem was, nobody on his team knew what the tasks and milestones were because he hadn’t shared the plan with them. The project hit all kinds of problems with people doing activities which they deemed important rather than doing the activities assigned by the project manager.

Tracking and reporting project progress

Once your project is underway you must monitor and compare the actual progress with the planned progress. You will need progress reports from project team members. You should record variations between the actual and planned cost, schedule and scope. You should report variations to your manager and key stakeholders and take corrective actions if variations get too large.

You can adjust the plan in many ways to get the project back on track but you will always end up juggling cost, scope and schedule. If the project manager changes one of these, then one or both of the other elements will inevitably need changing. It is juggling these three elements – known as the project triangle – that typically causes a project manager the most headaches!

Change management

Stakeholders often change their mind about what must be delivered. Sometimes the business environment changes after the project starts, so assumptions made at the beginning of the project may no longer be valid. This often means the scope or deliverables of the project need changing. If a project manager accepted all changes into the project, the project would inevitably go over budget, be late and might never be completed.

By managing changes, the project manager can make decisions about whether or not to incorporate the changes immediately or in the future, or to reject them. This increases the chances of project success because the project manager controls how the changes are incorporated, can allocate resources accordingly and can plan when and how the changes are made. Not managing changes effectively is often a reason why projects fail.

Risk management

Risks are events which can adversely affect the successful outcome of the project. I’ve worked on projects where risks have included: staff lacking the technical skills to perform the work, hardware not being delivered on time, the control room at risk of flooding and many others. Risks will vary for each project but the main risks to a project must be identified as soon as possible. Plans must be made to avoid the risk, or, if the risk cannot be avoided, to mitigate the risk to lessen its impact if it occurs. This is known as risk management.

You don’t manage all risks because there could be too many and not all risks have the same impact. So, identify all risks, estimate the likelihood of each risk occurring (1 = not likely, 2 = maybe likely, 3 = very likely). Estimate its impact on the project (1 – low, 2 – medium, 3 – high), then multiply the two numbers together to give the risk factor. High risk factors indicate the severest risks. Manage the ten with the highest risk factors. Constantly review risks and lookout for new ones since they have a habit of occurring at any moment.

Not managing risks effectively is a common reason why projects fail.

Summary

Following these best practices cannot guarantee a successful project but they will provide a better chance of success. Disregarding these best practices will almost certainly lead to project failure.

Simon Buehring is a project manager, consultant and trainer. He works for KnowledgeTrain which offers training in project management and PRINCE2 trainingin the UK and overseas. Simon has extensive experience within the IT industry in the UK and Asia. He can be contacted via the KnowledgeTrain PRINCE2 project management training website.
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Ever wonder what your accountant might recommend that you do differently in your business?  What are some of the accounting best practices that could increase your bottom line?  I have collected some of the juiciest tips to save your business time and money, and keep things accurate and up to date.  You may be surprised to see that some of the best practices here don’t have to do with data entry into QuickBooks, but instead financial practices that can help you avoid major money pitfalls, and build more wealth in your business.

Evaluate your fees/prices at least once per year; don’t go more than 2 years without an increase.  This is a challenge for some companies.  Especially when times are tough you don’t want to scare anyone away with raising prices, but you also don’t want to find out at the end of the year that things have changed and the business made zilch.  Make it a practice to review prices at the same time every year, and do a price adjustment when warranted.

Bill on time.  This seems very basic, BUT many businesses get caught over extending credit to customers, and experiencing defaults or disputes simply because collection was late.  Accepting credit cards is a great idea no matter what kind of business you have, because it gives your customers two options – pay up in cash or pay up on credit.  With everyone staying on schedule you are providing better service, and keeping your balance sheet looking pretty.

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Stop running to the bank.  Use RDCs (remote data capture) machines to scan your daily deposits.  If you insist on going to the bank, go at least once weekly.  Ensure you don’t lose checks (someone once left a $7500 check in a file and found it 4 years later – gut wrenching!).

Don’t let money go stale.  Transfer idle cash balances from your checking to savings account so it earns interest, and can help your company save more because “out of sight is out of mind.”  You also may want to look into sweep accounts.

Play detective.  Employee fraud is easier to commit in small business.  Whether it’s supplies pilferage or overstating expense reimbursements: scrutinize timecards; separate check-writing duties from billing and deposits and bank reconciliations; to deter or avoid temptation, make sure employees know you’re looking.

Cross-train everyone in your accounting department.  Lack of cross training leaves a business reliant on one or more specific individuals, and that’s not good.  You always need to think about the “get hit by a bus scenario.”  You never know when a staff member will need to leave your employ, fall ill, win the lotto, etc.  So, cross-training is safety for your business.

Mark-up all pass-through costs at least 20%.  Regardless of whether you run a construction business, or a tutoring business, many businesses by supplies or materials needed on the job.  If you purchase things on behalf of your customers then add a 20% markup to cover your overhead and add value.

Send bills through the Internet; no more snail mail.  Not only does this save you postage, but very costly late fees, and even maybe gain you early payment rewards (like 2% for paying by the 10th).

If you or your partner are going to run the books yourself, take a class!  I have seen instances where one minor mistake in running a report for depositing sales tax resulted in over $10,000 in taxes, fees and penalties.  Get your skills in order before taking on such an important task.

Review Balance Sheet and P&L at least once a month.  Drill down to investigate questions.  Was there a change in sales?  Did your expenses meet your budget?  Identifying trends, problems, etc. early will help you nip it in the bud, and steer your business in the right direction.

Reduce costs – Don’t spend money without a return on that investment.  This one might be a no-brainer too, but the relationship between costs and business investments can be very tricky on the mind.  Yes, a new fangled color copier that slices and dices will give you the ability to create your own marketing materials, BUT the $10,000 lease that it will cost you could buy an awful lot of professional design and printing help.  Scrutinize everything. 

Accountability Services is a full-service local accounting, tax and consulting firm that caters to family and privately owned companies. The firm was founded in 1997 in Seattle, WA. To learn more tips, visit http://www.accountabilityservices.com.

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A bankruptcy lawyer offers a 30 minute, free initial consultation for consumers.

I learned about her because another attorney and I were discussing marketing tactics, and he mentioned the bankruptcy practitioner, whose office is in the same building. “She has a line of clients out the door,” he noted, with admiration.

Naturally, I attributed part of that apparent success to the economy. Millions are in financial distress, so helping folks battle insolvency by fending off swarms of swooping creditors, can be big business.

Yet, you also have to ask, to what extent is the free, initial consultation an attraction? Would an imposed charge at the first meeting thin the standing room-only crowds?

I believe the freebie is necessary because it serves both parties, especially the attorney:

She can quickly determine whether the prospective client qualifies. Maybe a recent filing precludes a current one.

She can ask a few questions to learn what Chapter the person qualifies for: 7 or 13

She can determine if there is an impending garnishment of wages, a tax lien, or an auto repossession that requires a swift filing at the earliest possible moment.
 

She can learn if the client can afford to retain legal counsel.
 

She can sense if the client will be too much of a headache or too demanding, and this should be avoided.
 

All of these things, and more need to be learned and assessed. So, the “free” meeting really serves the information provider. In this sense, it is neither “free,” nor is it gratuitous. It is essential. I have no problem with this type of business enticement. Inevitably, the lawyer will dispense a modicum of helpful advice, gratis. Practically speaking, it is unavoidable.

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I don’t see this as a loss, but part of a larger “win + win” scenario for the parties. Consider it an investment in the relationship.

Where I do find FREE inappropriate, offensive, and as profane as a four-letter word, is where the information being sought is:

(a) Valuable and usually dispensed carefully and thoughtfully in the ordinary course of a professional’s practice. Taking the same scenario, the client that gets 30 minutes has no right to insist the lawyer prepare the filing, involving considerable time and expertise, for free as well.

(b) Other people typically pay for this information. Lots of lawyers will offer a free initial consultation. It’s somewhat standard. But if someone comes to me to critique a sales or service script, then he has to pay. I know of no consultant that does this for free. It isn’t standard.

(c) The freebie seeker can afford to pay the going rate, yet wants to get something for nothing.

(d) The information provider is deceived into believing that “Free will become fee.” Ad agencies, graphic designers, writers, and lots of creatives are victimized. They’re asked to submit proposals on spec, addressing the very task the client wants to accomplish. Ad agencies will be asked to pitch their concept for theme development for a new shopping mall. In principle, if their proposed campaign is attractive, their bid will be chosen. In reality, the client is simply brain-picking, with no intention to retain an agency, thinking it will combine or disguise the contributions and use them for FREE.

(e) Free is requested or demanded without a corresponding duty on the part of the freebie-seeker. For example, if you go to the cosmetics counter at a department store, you may be treated to a goodie bag, “Free with your purchase.” That’s fair, but free without purchase or ANY obligation to reciprocate, is patently unfair.

More to the point, it is unsustainable, economically. The lawyer, consultant, writer, artist or worker of any kind that gives away her talents cannot invest the same hours and days in paying work.

Free-precludes-fee, instead of leading to it.

To be asked to do your work for nothing is unrealistic and insulting.

Don’t be conned into doing it.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top speaker, sales, service, and negotiation consultant, attorney, TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books. He conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His top-rated seminar, “Best Practices in Negotiation” is offered at UCLA and UC Berkeley Extension. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant’s “Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing.” He can be contacted at gary@customersatisfaction.com about professional speeches, seminars, and consulting engagements.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top speaker, sales, service, and negotiation consultant, attorney, TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books. He conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His highly-rated seminar, “Best Practices in Negotiation” is offered at UC Berkeley and UCLA Extension. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant’s “Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing.” He can be contacted at gary@customersatisfaction.com.
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B2B Marketing is the practice of facilitating the sale of a product or service to other companies or organizations that in turn resell them; use them as components in products or services that they offer, or use them to support their operations – thanks Wiki. As with most marketing drives, the purpose of B2B marketing is to bring in new business and generate qualified sales leads. As in real life, your B2B email campaign needs to mirror the same behaviour as your face-to-face meetings with a potential client. Keep the tone sincere and professional and state clearly and simply what you are offering and what benefit it has to the recipient.

Examples of B2B email campaigns might include trying to coax your subscribers to sign up for a free trial, invite them to an event, participate in a conference or webinar or offer expert advice and tips on relevant marketing strategies. Even though what you are offering may genuinely be a great deal or opportunity, if your recipient ignores or deletes your message immediately, then what’s the point? As with any email marketing campaign, a B2B subject line needs to grab your reader’s attention and encourage them to open it and take action. Once they do, it’s especially important that you follow all forwards and new opt-ins, which count towards your sales leads.

We’ve outlined 5 of the most popular B2B email marketing best practices and followed them up with 5 examples of great subject lines, so that you have an idea of what works and what doesn’t.

1. Know who you are targeting: You can get a lot of valuable information about a company just from viewing their website. Is it full of graphics? Then go ahead and include a few relevant images in your campaign. Is it mainly composed of text? Then follow a similar style with your message. Customizing your email according to the business you are targeting won’t go un-noticed by your recipient and you are far more likely to start seeing the results you desire if you do so.

2. Keep content relevant, specific and concise: State your offer openly and without reservation right from the beginning of your email message, and certainly keep it Above the Fold. Maintain a professional tone at all times and as always, don’t forget to include a strong, clear call to action that is easily visible. By keeping the content short and ensuring that it opens and downloads quickly, you also appeal to those who are likely to view their email on a mobile device. This option is fast becoming very popular and is worth taking into consideration.

3. Know how to reach the level you want: Quite obvious, but often ignored. If you want your email to get to the CEO or MD then don’t send it to the most junior employee. Here, your ‘from’ name is incredibly important, one that is recognised and relevant will correspond to an email that is relevant and therefore important. Realise that a ‘from’ name is more likely to resonate with a person in power if it’s from a person in power.

4. Know what your B2B customer wants: Because your customer is a business and not a consumer, their interests are different and bombarding them with the latest offers, discounts and sale items is probably not going to get their attention. This is because the B2B audience don’t generally spend their own money so an offer for a coupon off their next purchase is wasted. You need to give them something they can use and something that adds value. Open access to a VIP event or an upgraded status on a favoured networking site are just two unique ideas you could try.

5. Create a follow up campaign: By tracking and using your analytics, you can get a much better idea of who to re-target and how to devise a more relevant strategy. Be sure to only send out one follow-up though. Be respectful of a person’s time, especially if they are a busy corporate, and don’t send countless emails telling them that they are missing out. If they are interested, they will respond. If they haven’t after the second email, then let it go.

Right, so now you have an idea of which best practices to follow, take a look at these 5 top performing subject lines, as given from numerous marketers who count them as their most successful. We’ve chosen these particular lines because they are descriptive, clear and professional in tone.

1. July home sales increased 12 %; median home price declined 19.6 %

2. Complimentary Webinar: (insert webinar name and details)

3. Success Tip: # Ways to a Better (XXX)

4. Save Money and Look Like a Start to Your Boss

5. Event Registration Today: (name of event) (date)

And here are a few that weren’t successful, note the ‘spam’ words and long, boring text.

• Free Evaluation of ABC Encrypted Portable Drive

• Data Company Add’s Cascaded Replication to DR Infrastructure

• EFG Company: Request for Meeting

• Meeting Request: Introducing our new product

• XYZ data centres: High density collocation & Managed Server

Georgia Christian is the editor for the online Email Marketing service Mail Blaze. She is responsible for communicating Mail Blaze’s five plus years of industry experience and accumulated knowledge into the market.  Experienced in all facets of email marketing Georgia has been tasked with collating and imparting Mail Blaze’s collective knowledge to you. It’s her dream that one day we’ll live in a world where all emails are perfectly formatted, spam free and beautiful to read.Email Marketing – Mail Blaze   
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It is generally accepted in the Human Resources field that there is a direct correlation between times of recession and dramatic increases in employee lawsuits.  Even the best of companies are not safe from litigation. As employee unemployment still hovers at all-time highs, it is natural to for employees to fear for their future. Additionally, with employers scrambling to contain costs, reducing headcount is usually the first area to be considered. Employees, often feeling they have been wronged, will fight back. How? By filing a lawsuit.

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) reported 99,900 cases filed in 2010 – an all-time high! These cases included wide range of charges including age, disability, race and gender claims. Employees won, on average, 60% of the time. Total claims paid out by employers was over $400 million!

How can you protect your company?

There are several simple steps that all employers can take to greatly reduce the vulnerability of their company.

1. Management must be educated. While a manager is often viewed as a leader, trainer, or director of their staff, they are often overlooked as an extension of the company. Management practices are considered employment practices, and a manager that takes a wrong step can be pinned directly back on the employer. Therefore, it is imperative that all managers AT THE LEAST should be aware of the laws, and to know when they are being violated. They are not expected to be experts, but they are expected to recognize a problem and bring it to Human Resources before acting.

2. Run an ethical organization. Employees are much less prone to file a lawsuit if they feel they have been treated fairly. Equitable and fair treatment of one employee to another will often defuse 90% of complaints; and they want to see employees that break the rules held accountable.

Remember the following – employees don’t usually quit companies, they usually quite managers.

3. Be a positive motivator and leader. Most employees are hired excited and ready to work. But as time passes, they fall into a rut and see the work as just a “job”. They lose interest, or worse, become disgruntled looking for a way out. It is imperative that managers enable their staff to maintain that enthusiasm. It may be hard, day in and day out, but with a positive attitude and a little creativity it can easily be accomplished.

4. Keep communication open. Employees who feel comfortable approaching their manager will feel less compelled to quit and file a lawsuit. A manager should be assertive – firm with set boundaries, but treats employees with respect – not aggressive.  A hostile, “in your face” attitude makes employees afraid and defensive. If concerns arise, they will not approach their manager. Instead, they may quit and sue.

5. Document! In the Human Resources field there is a common refrain, “Document everything!” If something isn’t documented, then it never happened. From a casual, verbal observance (such as, “I’ve noticed you’re coming in late. Please try to be on time”) to a formal, written warning, documentation begins the paper trail that can ultimately make the difference between a successful defense, and a failed one. Consider the following interactions; all should be documented: acknowledgments, casual observances, written warnings, performance appraisals, and input from other departments.

Employers should pay close attention to these recommendations, particularly in states that are known to be more “employee friendly.” California labor laws, for example, or are heavily tilted against the business owners, who must be even more diligent incorporating management best-practices. However, with an attention to the five above key guidelines, managers will be well on their way to preventing lawsuits. While it is impossible to anticipate every eventuality, management best-practices will help reduce the possibility of lawsuits, and improve overall morale and productivity.

Ari Rosenstein is the Director of Marketing at CPEhr, a Human Resource Services firm, specializing in outsourcing HR and PEO, servicing 15,000 employees and hundreds of clients nationwide.CPEhr was founded in 1982 and assists small employers with the management of their employees. It provides an array of HR services including compliance with labor law in California, employment administration, employee health insurance benefits, safety consulting, training, recruiting and payroll and tax services.
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Much like the headquarters of an offline company, your website acts as the headquarters and hub for your online business. Not only visitors, but all transactions and everything related to your online business goes through your website. In order to get the most from your site, it is important to follow the best practices for website design.

Make sure you have clear and simple navigation on your website. Navigation menus should be uncluttered, easy to maneuver and understand, and should be free of excess text or Flash.

It is best to limit the use of images on your website. Superflous images on your website may cause your site to load slowly and become an annoyance for visitors. Visitors on slower modems will be especially frustrated if you are using large images that take up a lot of bandwidth. In website design, it is a best practice to reduce anything that detracts from the content of your site, and too many images on your website can be a distraction.

Keep each paragraph of text at a reasonable length. Paragraphs with too much text are difficult to read, and your visitors may feel as though they are not progressing through your website. The best practice is to keep short, well formed paragraphs that are to the point and devoid of excess information.

Your website should also comply to the web standards at www.w3.org, and should always be cross-browser compatible. During your website design, make sure to test your website on as many different browsers as you have available. Some web browsers read code differently, and this can cause an unnecessary inconvenience for the visitor. Just because your site looks great on Internet Explorer does not mean it will look as good on Firefox or Opera.

Avoid using any scripting languages unless there is a specific reason to do so. Scripting languages can cause several problems, including problems loading on some computers. Heavy scripting is not always supported across browsers. Scripting can also create a more hectic experience, since visual effects can be both distracting and a burden on loading time. It is a best practice for website design to stay away from any programming that may cause any problems to your visitors.

Finally, it is a good idea to use a CSS to style your page. This saves you time and effort because it will style your entire site at once, rather than you having to type in the coding for each paragraph. It also ensures that the website is kept simple, clean, and consistent, which creates a better user experience.

- Resource Box – This article may be distributed freely on your website, as long as this entire article, including working links and this resource box, are unchanged. To find out how you can bring the pieces of your online business together, go to: http://www.elitewebsolutions.com . Copyright 2009 Larry Lang. All Rights Reserved. Lang Enterprises Inc.

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