Here are ten fundamental concepts that characterize an effective meeting.

1) Definition: A meeting is a business activity where select people gather to perform work that requires a team effort.

2) A meeting, like any business event, succeeds when it is preceded by planning, characterized by focus, governed by structure, and controlled by a budget.

3) Short meetings free people to work on the essential activities that represent the core of their jobs. In contrast, long meetings prevent people from working on critical tasks such as planning, communicating, and learning.

4) Three things guarantee an unproductive meeting: poor planning, lack of appropriate process, and hostile culture. Effective leaders attend to all of these to create an effective meeting.

5) Effective meetings require sharing control and making commitments.

6) The ultimate goals of every meeting are agreements, decisions, or solutions. Meetings held for other reasons seldom produce anything of value.
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What is Coaching?

Coaching is a fairly young discipline, so there are a lot of definitions of the term “coaching”. Let’s take a look at various descriptions offered on the World Wide Web.

Coaching can be defined as:

* A process providing an individual with feedback, insight and guidance on achieving their full potential in their business or personal life.

* A strategy used to help individuals reach their fullest potential and achieve their goals.

* A set of practical skills and a style of relating that develop the potential of both the individual being coached and the coach.

* A professional relationship in which you work together with your coach to clarify your options, set goals and develop action plans to achieve these goals.

The notion of coaching originated from sports, but nowadays there are lots of different coaching types. However, in this article we’ll look at the two main types of coaching: life (personal) coaching and business (corporate) coaching.

Benefits of Corporate Coaching: Organizational Development.

1. Increase of performance. This is perhaps the main advantage without which coaching literally would have no sense. Coaching develops the best qualities of people and teams and enables the usage of these qualities at work for the benefit of organization. Thus using coaching in management significantly increases staff productivity.

2. Improvement of relationships at work. Questions asked during the coaching process add value both to the person being asked and his/her answers. Thus an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust is being established. Good relationships at work provide the fertile ground for staff productivity, while the instructions and directions typical for the directive style of management aren’t likely to bring such positive changes.

3. Staff development. Staff development means not only educational seminars and trainings, but also unlocking the inner potential of the company’s employees. Whether the employees are going to develop themselves or not depends mainly on the company’s management style. Initially, all of us have a great potential which can be revealed through coaching. Coaching allows the employees to develop themselves directly in the workplace, thus increasing their efficiency.

4. Flexibility and adaptability. Improving competitiveness on the market requires such skills as flexibility and adaptability. Coaching aids in quickly adapting to every kind of change, which is quite important in today’s business world.
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Based on recent litigation storm clouds, business owners planning exit strategies better batten down their legal hatches.

As a small business owner, your company most likely represents a significant portion of your net worth. That’s why it’s crucial not to let litigation wash it away when the time comes to convert your years of hard work into cash.

Selling a business involves substantial amounts of money and a wide range of issues including warranties and representations, disclosures and contractual obligations. Consequently, there are many opportunities for litigation to arise. Not only is litigation highly unpleasant and disruptive to your lifestyle, it is also very, very expensive – even if you win.

But other than wishing, hoping and praying, what’s a small business owner to do? Rather than complaining try something more constructive. Here are eight strategies to follow when selling your business that can help minimize litigation issues.

1. Honesty is the best insurance policy. Tell the truth about your business. Do not attempt to hide any problems or issues that, if left undisclosed, might be the basis for future litigation. Rest assured that the cost of disclosure in a transaction is very small when compared to the cost of litigation for non-disclosure.

2. Develop a confidential business review. This is a high-quality and comprehensive document that describes your business and its background. Within this document, clearly disclose any negative issues that are involved in the business. Not only will disclosure reduce litigation risks, it will also add to your credibility with potential buyers and save you time by eliminating those who are unwilling to accept the realities of your business.

3. Accurately communicate historical financial results. Do so in a manner that demonstrates the earning power of your business. Ideally, this information will be presented in a summarized format that recasts your discretionary and certain other expenses to show EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization).
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Different things motivate different folks. Some people are motivated to enhance their appearance while others are motivated by prestige or sexual conquest. Others are motivated by money. When it comes to work, many people are not motivated to do much of anything except show up and collect a paycheck. It is our job as managers to create an environment in which employees are inspired to do a better job and forge.

A recent Gallop Poll stated that about 20% of people queried described themselves as “actively disengaged” at work. Most of these people also said that they were not given the proper tools to do their job or that they were not given clear directions for completing the task. From this Poll, we see statistics that are astounding. These employees who are being described as “actively disengaged” are costing employers more than 300 billion dollars a year! This same Poll showed that these people are more likely to go hooky or to be late and are also described as less enthusiastic to their jobs.

A frequent mistake that employers make is levying too many regulations for employees to follow. This is highly de-motivating for the employee! They feel that they are not empowered to creatively carry out tasks for fear of breaking a rule.

Having employees feel that they are not trusted is another critical mistake that management makes. Creating rules and polices that question an employee’s trustworthiness is common practice in major businesses. An example includes allowing a certain number of days off when a family member dies. This assumes that if there were no limit on the number of days, the employee would take advantage of their time off.

The following are tips to create a work environment that fosters motivation.

Guidelines for an Enjoyable Work Environment

• Minimize rules and policies to the essential. Rules are there to protect your business and create structure; if a rule does not serve that purpose, then you will need to consider retiring that particular policy.

• After the rules are established, it is essential that all employees know what is expected of them. Ensure apt promulgation of all regulations.

• Establish a code of conduct. Implement a collaborative effort which involves all or most of the employees that work with you. A vision and mission statement keeps the ship sailing towards a common goal.
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