Canadian Small Business Women

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The “K.I.S.S.” Principle – Only Nicer!

Sheralyn

Keep it short and simple.  Being in the business of communication, I often suggest my clients keep their message short.  Use tight, clear and effective language that promotes their business concisely. The way I tell it, the “K.I.S.S.” principle takes on a slightly revised, definitely more polite, meaning.  The guiding principle when describing your product or service must be “Keep it Short and Simple.”

I’m sometimes guilty of not adhering to my own rules and have certainly posted a blog or two that was just a bit too long. (OK, maybe even a 100 words too long…I love to talk!)  For my clients however, I know how imperative it is to keep the chit- chat down to a minimum.  So, whether you employ a third party or do the work yourself – this revised K.I.S.S. principle should be paramount. What this means however is that you MUST pay particular and close attention to the use of every single word chosen. Choose the BEST word for the job. You don’t need to use plenty of words to say plenty. You just need to be choosy. Remember also you should choose words that are dictionary friendly and not necessarily those you think are part of the “common” vernacular.  Your opinion of “common” may reflect regional or cultural choices that aren’t actually understood by many in your intended audience.

How do you do this? Employ the services of a thesaurus if you need assistance. Consider what your business is really all about and then think about how you could distill that essence down to just ten simple words. Yes, ten. It’s the best way to truly drill down to your core business service and then build your sentence or promotional message around those ten words. We’ve said it before, here it is again: say only what matters because it matters what you say. Keep it short, snappy and simple.

If you’re thinking “No way can I get my message across in only ten words,” try first eliminating superlatives. Often they are used excessively.  Next, ask yourself these questions: “What do I do, Who do I do it for and Why do I do it?” That should help you achieve some clarity and once you do, you can easily condense even further. Apply these principles to create your own K.I.S.S. message: Clear, concise and condensed, choosing only the best words for the job. Keep it short and simple.  It’s “K.I.S.S. – refined!

As Owner and Principal partner of “Writing Right For You” Sheralyn is a Communications Strategist – working together with entrepreneurs to maximize profit through effective use of the written word. Looking for web content that works, blog articles that engage or communications strategies that help you get noticed?  Contact Sheralyn today. Sheralyn is also the mother of two children now entering the “terrible and terrific teens” and spends her free time volunteering for several non-profit organizations.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

The Art of Delegation

yvonne

Are you struggling to get as much as possible done in a day? As a leader, entrepreneur or someone in charge of your own work, delegation can be the difference maker in being more successful both in the short and long term. While hours in a day are finite, the things we want done can seem infinite.

I had to recently force myself to delegate some tasks in order to see progress with my goals and growth of my practice. I started the year wanting to accomplish so much, however, come February, I found myself struggling, so I revisited my plan. Come March, I was still struggling, and had to face the fact that I had too many tasks on my plate, and for me to be successful come end of 2014, I would need to either let go of some items, or delegate.

For some, delegating tasks can be a huge task in itself. Perhaps it is our need to hold on to what we consider to be ‘too important’ to let someone else do it, fear it may not be done ‘as good’ as you would, or having experienced failure in delegating work in the past. While some of these reasons may seem valid, once you learn the art of delegating properly, it becomes easier and enables us achieve more in less time. Below are 5 tips to help you delegate more effectively so you can free up more of your time to do what you do best and should be doing.

 

  1. Choose Wisely

When it comes to choosing which tasks to delegate, choose tasks that only you can and should do. In my Mastermind Groups on John Maxwell’s “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” book, John shares his 3Rs strategy in the Law of Priorities that you can also use. “What Is Required? What Gives The Greatest Return? and What Brings The Greatest Reward?” Get rid of tasks that you can’t do, not interested in doing, or someone can do even 80% as well as you, but brings less reward or return on time invested.

  1. Have a System

Know what, when and who to delegate to. Effectively plan your time daily and in advance so you know what YOU need to do, what other items still need to be done, and by when. Know your team or colleagues well; know their strengths, interests, skills etc. Armed with this knowledge, you are better delegate tasks to the right individuals and at the right time. Other systems include the Pareto 80:20 Principle from John Maxwell, where focusing on the top 20% of your activities will give you 80% of your results.

  1. Empower Your Team and Colleagues

Before delegating, ensure the individual has the ability, is provided clear directions, and has been empowered to use their initiative and make decisions when needed. Start by providing the required training or hiring the right resource after proper interviewing. Spend time with them at the beginning to help ingrain the culture, vision, value and goals; this helps them to more easily take the right actions as needed. Provide clear instructions along with tasks striking that fine balance between being too vague and micro-managing. Be open to the fact they may choose a different route to arrive at the finish line. And be willing to give them the benefit of doubt if not done right the first time.

  1. Balance the Workload

Delegate workload evenly. In many organizations, there are often the few “go-tos” when it comes to task delegation, which can result in these employees becoming overburdened, overworked, and deadlines being missed. Be willing to trust others, and cross-train the team in order to empower more people to deliver and also building a stronger team.

  1. Give Credit When Credit is Due

Always be gracious and thankful when the individual gets the task done, and openly give them credit so that everyone can acknowledge their hard work.  It builds trust, helps them feel valued, and not only will this inspire them to continue to work hard, it will also inspire others to have that same attitude and become more productive.

To learn about Yvonne’s latest book on Changing your Mindset for greater results, visit http://www.oliveblue.com/changeyourmindset/

Yvonne is an Author, Speaker, Change Consultant & John Maxwell Leadership Coach who is passionate about working with Individuals, Entrepreneurs and Organisations to help implement change they want and achieve their goals.   

She can be reached at: www.oliveblue.com . www.facebook.com/oliveblueinc . www.twitter.com/oliveblueinc.www.youtube.com/ChangeYouWantTV

Is Leadership Relevant for Everyone?

yvonne

When many hear the word ‘Leadership’, it is easy to associate it to someone who leads others, is in a position of power or management. However, this is easily one of the biggest leadership myths and misconceptions that is slowly changing.

Very early in life and my career, I felt that in order to effectively lead others or have others do something, you needed to be in a position of power. However, over time I have seen and learnt otherwise. I have observed the most influential and effective leaders are those who are able to lead and influence others without relying on the ‘stick and carrot’ approach e.g. leaders of volunteer organisations.

John C. Maxwell, regarded as one of the top global leadership experts, defines the true measure of leadership as Influence – nothing more, nothing less. Leadership is not directing, commanding or managing, leadership is influencing others to take action or follow; be it family, friends, colleagues, your boss or team.

Position provides a platform for anyone, but Influence is what keeps you in that position and takes you to the next level.

John also shares in his book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” that our Leadership ability is the LID that determines our level of effectiveness, known as the ‘Law of the Lid’. Where our LID is the maximum level at which we can be effective.  Therefore, if our leadership ability were to rate at a 6, our level of effectiveness, and ability to lead others or impact our organisation could never be greater than a 5.

“The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence should be” – John C. Maxwell.

Why leadership is important

  • It determines our level of effectiveness in all areas of our lives; helping us to be more effective in taking a lead in our personal and professional lives
  • It increases our sphere of influence with others (team, colleagues, boss, family), as well as in leading others, and getting things done
  • It enables us manage and deal with change more effectively; helping us build character traits and skills to respond to change more quickly, and deal with the ambiguity that often comes with change
  • It differentiates us in a crowd to be singled out and recognised, and to rise higher and higher

To help raise your lid and develop your leadership skills, consider some of the following:

  • Identify your leadership gaps, have a leadership mindset and be intentional about developing yourself as a leader
  • Find a mentor(s) for 1-2-1 mentoring, or consider mentorship from a distance by studying, observing and learning from leaders you respect
  • Read books on leadership and self development
  • Attend leadership training, events and conferences
  • Surround yourself with other leaders – iron sharpens iron

Leadership is NOT always about title, position or power. It provides required traits and skills for everyone that when applied to both our personal and professional lives it helps us excel… “Everything rises and falls on leadership”.

What are your thoughts on the value of leadership?

To learn about Yvonne’s latest book on Changing your Mindset for greater results, visit http://www.oliveblue.com/changeyourmindset/

Yvonne is an Author, Speaker, Change Consultant & John Maxwell Leadership Coach who is passionate about working with Individuals, Entrepreneurs and Organisations to help implement change they want and achieve their goals.   

She can be reached at: www.oliveblue.com . www.facebook.com/oliveblueinc . www.twitter.com/oliveblueinc.www.youtube.com/ChangeYouWantTV

Managing Information Overload

Tamara high res 1

Whatever stage your business is in, I can guarantee that you are managing a lot of information. It may sound familiar to be juggling things like correspondence, deadlines, project work and your many-amazing-ideas on a daily basis.

Today I am going to share some simple strategies of how to easily (and enjoyably) send and receive information without it being a stressful or overwhelming process.

Information can come to in the form of a phone call, email, text or even a knock at the office door. When you get that email or pick up the phone, the first step is to identify if it is reference material that is ‘response required’ or not.

Reference material is anything that you will need to access at a later time. For example, it could be details about the date and time of a networking event (time based) or some industry news that you will need to look at later for a project you are working on.

The information that comes to you (but doesn’t require a response) is often the hardest to keep track of. The most effective strategy I have ever used has been to categorize information and prepare a collection area before it comes. Of course you can’t predict every type of information that will come your way, but don’t worry. You should easily be able to create word documents or sections in your paper planners/notebooks to divide topics such as Marketing, Product/Service Development, Website, Industry news etc.

As you start noticing trends in types of information you can add them as you go. Having this area prepared is a quick solution for handing the information that does not yet need to be processed. It is also an easy way to input new information and reference it because it is not getting mixed up from the beginning.

If the reference material is time related, it is considered ‘response required’. To handle this information, simply write down the task in relation to a date or time in your calendar, right at that moment. This could be details of a webinar you intend on attending or something related to sending information to someone else. If you don’t do it as soon as you receive it, it will be something that can get lost in the shuffle. If you don’t have time to do it right then…read on and I will tell you the next important strategy.

If you don’t have time to do any follow up action when receiving information (ie. Look up a quote for a client on the phone), then don’t receive it. Remember, this is your business and you get to set up your day the way that works best for you. It’s better to call the client back when you are available to talk, rather than let it interrupt your current work and risk forgetting to follow up.

Finding a way to manage this information proactively is key to being productive and reducing the stress that comes along with not being able to easily access information when you need it. You get to step out of being reactionary in your business and give yourself more time and opportunity to dive deeper into the work at hand – reference materials near by.

Lastly, becoming organized with information takes commitment and time. It’s an evolutionary process that needs to be adjusted as your business grows. If you find yourself having so much information collected on one certain topic, it may be time to sub-categorize or sift through the information and pull out the most important parts.

It may require an initial time investment but it will definitely save you far more time and decrease stress in the future when any kind of information needs to be sent or received in your business.

Tamara is the owner and designer at ‘Your Pretty Pages’ where she provides templates, guides, tools and resources for creative entrepreneurs to get and stay organized. To gain access to Tamara’s FREE 5 Day Challenge (Transforming Information Overload to Organizational Bliss) visit https://yourprettypages.com/5daychallenge/ .

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