The Office Management Blog

instead of checking the timings of emplyees which irks employees, have performance based reward system which diverts attention of employees to performance.

http://smart-manager.blogspot.com/2008/05/employee-rentention.html ...

instead of checking the timings of emplyees which irks employees, have performance based reward system which diverts attention of employees to performance.

http://smart-manager.blogspot.com/2008/05/employee-rentention.html
...

I have a question. How do you get clients and what is the appropriate way to charge rates? Please assist. These are the only areas where I need more info. I understand the rates but would like to be more thorough. Thank you.

I think that issues of personal hygiene, visible tattoos and hickeys, etc. lead co-workers and clients to have impressions about the type of person they are dealing with. Most of the time, this impression isn't favorable. I think it is the job of the manager to determine whether or not this matters and respond accordingly. If you own a bar, it probably doesn't matter. If you are selling medical equipment, it may.

Yes the incoming and outgoing time should be recorded and calculated for calculation of remunerations, but being too much of a stickler for timings can dampen the spirit and make working atmosphere too regimental. A better way would be to keep track of productivity. If designated work is finished within the dead line period, would it really matter if the employee took for some time to go out for a quick cup of coffee or took off for a walk to de-stress? Quality of work and meeting deadlines matter more rather than punching the clock and accounting for every minute you spend at work.

Well i have yet to come across people with hickeys where i work..but honestly why allow yourself to get affected by it, if the person who has the hickey does not care? maybe a friendly suggestion of cover up make-up tips can give the employee a hint that its inappropriate to display a hickey. But all things considered, i would rate personal hygeine more important, as pointed out by Dexter.

It seems to me that in this particular situation, it's best not to say anything. How can you be certain what you are seeing is truly a "hickey" -- you might be confronting a person who instead has skin that is easily prone to bruising, or worse, marks of physical abuse. This also strikes me as a very rare situation in the workplace, your own personal experiences aside. More common problems to me would be hygeine issues that affect other workers, such as odor or general uncleanliness, especially in a work environment dealing with food service.

In the Northwest Arkansas Area; Bentonville (Home of Wal-Mart), Rogers, Fayettville, Springdale...there are networking opportunities every day of the week going through the entire area...Bentonville one day, Rogers the next, etc. Every industry is covered, if you are trying to grow a business, you are welcome to come...my last meeting with them had everyone from bankers, funeral home directors, IT people, carpet cleaners, massage therapists, and so many others... Our groups may be different from yours but - all of these are free groups without attendance requirements. We also have the BNI group as well. This is a WONDERFUL way of growing your business.

Employee leasing is term utilized by Professional Employer Organizations or PEO. These companies typically can provide affordable health benefits not readily available to a small business.

I agree with Jillian regarding added services. I recommend employee leasing to reduce the daily HR burdens placed upon small business. Employee leasing is a cost effective approach to handle not only payroll service but also workers compensation,health benefits,401K,etc. http://www.onlinehrhelp.com is a useful site to for further information.

Jillian- Thanks for the clear advice to any business. It always amazes me when I work with an employer who is still struggling to provide payroll in house. Outsourced payroll also brings the potential for added services at lower costs. Once a vendor has your data there are lots of other service they can provide.

My suggestion is to speak privately with the manager she is "tight" with. Bring every piece of documentation with you and approach carefully. Let the manager know that her behavior is becoming unacceptable, even threatening, and you would like to know where the manager stands. Make sure that they understand that you value your business relationship very highly, and would hate to jeopardize it. However, this particular person is causing a problem not only for you but also for other employees and something really needs to be done because she is not taking you or your position seriously. The manager could say that they are behind you and you have to do what you have to do. Or they could say that they really don't see a problem and that she will not be leaving. Either way, you will know where you stand. Just make sure you don't go in with guns blazing or you may end up shoot yourself in the foot.

Hello. My name is David. I am the Director of Security Services for a company in California. I need to rid our company of an employee. This employee has been given write-ups for everything from insubordination to cursing at fellow employees. However, I have been reluctant to let her go, as she is in tight with the manager of a company that has hired us for security purposes. Moreover, she has made comments to other employees, that if we terminated her services with us, we would lose our account. What can/should I do? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks for your time. Sincerely, David ...

I agree with the efficiency of a single reply to numerous employees simultaneously. We have installed an instant messenger system that resides on our office network. Employees can place comments and I can respond so that everyone can read. It's also cut down on noise (some of the shouting questions/answers across the room) Ms. MOM @ MOMrants.com ...

I agree with the efficiency of a single reply to numerous employees simultaneously. We have installed an instant messenger system that resides on our office network. Employees can place comments and I can respond so that everyone can read. It's also cut down on noise (some of the shouting questions/answers across the room) Ms. MOM @ MOMrants.com ...

Yes, there will be more. I can put you in touch with Bill Gerber if you would like and he will add you to the mailing list? Thanks! Jillian ...

I missed this post, and am interested in these kinds of free webinars. Do you know if more are coming?

An unfortunate trend is becoming problematic nationwide. Employees from businesses and governmental agencies are being inappropriately placed in domestic violence wife beaters classes by their Employee Assistance Providers. This practice is damaging to victims of domestic violence and useless for persons in need of anger management/executive coaching classes. Employee Assistance Professionals are not required to have training or exposure to anger management as a part of their core training. Consequently, the training which they have in substance abuse, mental health and stress management is inadequate to prepare them to assess and refer employees or dependants in need of anger management. Corporate executives and Human Resource Managers need to carefully examine the referral patterns of in-house and contracted Employee Assistance Services. A simple inquiry to the local court or probation department can quickly provide information on whether or not the referral source is for wife beaters/domestic violence perpetrators or not. There are three national resources which offer some legitimacy finding professional anger management providers. A list of these resources can be found at: www.andersonservices.com, www.aaamp.org and www.anger-management-resources.com. George Anderson, MSW, BCD, CAMF, CEAP Fellow, American Orthopsychiatric Association ...

I agree with Jillian's post about outsourcing accounting services. If your company chooses a quality professional service you'll prevent stress while saving overhead costs. I recommend a longstanding company with great service such as PML, www.onlinehrhelp.com.

Know anyone in the Dallas area?

If you suspect embezzlement, descretely notify the owners of your concerns. If you do not bring it up, you could be associated with the embezzling.

The issue I am having is that I have a manager that I think is embezzling. I'm not sure of the legal ramifications of me not reporting the embezzlement. I'm looking for advice on what I should do about the embezzlement and also to protect myself.

Also, train your people to use the health care system. Many people simply go without benefits which they are owed, because they lack the skills to extract what is owed to them from their insurer. The insurers know this and capitalize on it. http://lushforlife.com/more.php?id=104 ...

How do your workplace innovations enhance the health of your personnel? I will be speaking for >200 HR professionals this fall on how a healthy workplace enhances retention and productivity. Your stories of innovation are needed?have you implemented unusual changes in your company?s A) work environment, B) food availability/diet, C) exercise, or D) stress management ? Any measurable outcomes or ROI on retention, productivity, or employee satisfaction? Please respond to the group AND directly to me at PLRaymond@RxForSanity.com ...

How do your workplace innovations enhance the health of your personnel? I will be speaking for >200 HR professionals this fall on how a healthy workplace enhances retention and productivity. Your stories of innovation are needed?have you implemented unusual changes in your company?s A) work environment, B) food availability/diet, C) exercise, or D) stress management ? Any measurable outcomes or ROI on retention, productivity, or employee satisfaction? Please respond to the group AND directly to me at PLRaymond@RxForSanity.com ...

Great article. The burden rate of an in houes bookkeeper is probably $32.00 an hour total cost. I outsource my books for $3,200 a month to a firm. They send most of the mundane tasks to India over night. I don't care. I can't put in a full time qualified bookkeeper for under $70,000 a year when I include benefits, office expense, and computer cost. This is a great idea.

I personally think that It's ok to have romantic relationship at work provided that It makes no harm to the work of the Department or the company. In the case indicated above, I think the H.R involvement is not appropriate enough to make sure that their privacy are saved. I agree with DEB, In case of knowing,by chance I mean, such an romantic and somehow secret like that, the only way that is save for the THREE is keep silent. SILENCE is GOLD as a saying goes.

I personally think that It's ok to have romantic relationship at work provided that It makes no harm to the work of the Department or the company. In the case indicated above, I think the H.R involvement is not appropriate enough to make sure that their privacy are saved. I agree with DEB, In case of knowing,by chance I mean, such an romantic and somehow secret like that, the only way that is save for the THREE is keep silent. SILENCE is GOLD as a saying goes.

I personally think that It's ok to have romantic relationship at work provided that It makes no harm to the work of the Department or the company. In the case indicated above, I think the H.R involvement is not appropriate enough to make sure that their privacy are saved. I agree with DEB, In case of knowing,by chance I mean, such an romantic and somehow secret like that, the only way that is safe for the THREE is keep silent. SILENCE is GOLD as a saying goes.

A company needs to have a way to monitor expenses. Sure there are some bad people out there. There are also who don't feel repected by their employer and won't look too hard to save costs, company management can change that. Repecting your people may stop some abuse. Monitoring will catch the crooks.

Suggest to kindly update us on some learning activities on how managing people works in an office or in public especially in managing problem person which requires some attitudinal recovery management. Thank you.

There is a great book called The Money Machine by Dwayne Esterline that covers the same type of thing. His book explains how to show employees the importance of saving money, and how to cut costs without cutting back on workers. It really made me understand exactly how much money gets wasted just because no one is directly accountable for the spending. They sell it on Amazon.com, it's great for managers or business owners to read, or anyone who wants to learn more about saving money in their business...

it says here http://www.moneysavingfreetips.com/best-412i-plans.html that 412i plans must be funded with insurance companies... does anyone know any reputable and safe insurance company that does this? not a company that goes bankrupt or something frequently, an insurance firm that has been in business for a while?

Another tool used by more and more growing companies is Employee Leasing or Peo services. A Peo will handle your payroll processing, workers compensation and large group benefits for your employees. This is a great idea because the business owner writes one check per payroll to cover all employee costs, including taxes. They also provide just about any report that I need, on request. This was a great business decision that I made and don't regret. One of the longest operating Peo companies in the United States is PML Worldwide http://www.planmarc.com - 800-567-0235. PML has a good and long running reputation for helping growing businesses.

what do i do when a company gives me a bad check my employment check? thank you ...

Embezelling happens all the time whenever there is an opportunity for that and if any company gives its valuable employees any credit card then it should be checked properly. It is human character and there is only one way to stop it and that is monitoring his daily expenses where the money is spent.

The growth of other types of outsourcing (including Human Resources) is a natural follow up for the previous outsourcing waves affecting payroll. Payroll and HR are intertwined and it only makes sense that both are outsourced. In addition insurance benefits are strongly tied to Human resources so outsourcing that as part of the package is probably next. Today there is already a concept in place called a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that offers these services.. For a national list of PEO providers in the USA visit StaffMarket.com - PEO - Employee Leasing Services.

This blog posting was of great use in learning new information and also in exchanging our views. Thank you. Larry Tolbert http://www.commercialofficespacequality.com ...

Hello, i have a professional question for you, though i'd like to give some background first. i've just recently been hired by a consulting company as a Technical Lead/Manager. My previous positions have included the management of 3 sub-projects over 3 years at 2 jobs under light supervision and a constant environment of other technical people in my field, to ask questions of. at this job, i'm the only person who knows how to use the software, how to create the product going out to the customer and i'm also the technical lead. now i've done fairly well, at calling the software tech support and getting the software quirks worked out, albeit, some took over a day to do. now when it's come to do various IT and hardware troubleshooting, i'm clueless, but i'm not stupid. i keep a record of all my phone calls to tech support for the printer (its a special kind) and other hardware around the office. I keep all the contact info close at hand and I keep notes. So though I dont know much of this stuff, i'm doing my best to learn and fast. when i was getting interviewed, the manager was very brief. he didnt want to know anything about my skills or education. his questions were very focused on what i can do. how do i handle projects and if i can use the software they had at hand. i explained both questions, and surprisingly that was the end of the interview. next week i was hired. i did let the manager know that I was primarily a desktop user and had very little knowledge of IT/hardware troubleshooting, he didnt seem worried. so, with all this new work, being completely alone with no one to speak to about my concerns, overload of work and frantic need to coordinate, i've been very, very, VERY, overwhelmed. also, I should mention that the work days here are odder than what i've been exposed to in the past. work day starts at 7am, allows 1 hr for lunch and ends at 4pm. this has been a bit hard for me to adjust to, as i'm an evening person. so 1/2 the time of the 3 weeks i've worked so far, i've been coming in late (latest being 45 minutes late). i've been staying till 6:30pm tho, to make up the time. so, with all the technical difficulties that descended on me in the last few days, and my apparent lack of coordination, and untimely delivery, has earned me an early talk to my manager this morning. his first order of business was to remind me that workdays start at 7am and i'm expected to be in the office at that time. secondly, he was very surprised to find out my complete lack of IT/hardware troubleshooting skills. and thirdly, he wanted to know why i wasnt treating my work with urgency, as some project demand had come and gone, faster than i prepared a presentation product for him to deliver to the customer. from the very beginning, i knew this job would have a higher learning curve than all my previous positions. however i see this as an excellent challenge to get into management and develop myself technically and professionally faster than i would at any other position. (btw, i kept stressing this point during my interview). so i got a little emotional (teared up, didnt cry) and told my manager that I'll come in at 7am everyday. i also told him that i've been very overwhelmed by the amount of work i've had to do, not just the actual work, but also the technical side of things. he mentioned that the company is looking to place a bid on a huge project in the coming few weeks and he wanted to know that he had the right person in the position. since i wanted to be fair to him, and not just sit their and lie, i told him that i was, indeed, feeling overwhelmed and tho i still want to work here and do my best, i will need help, from like another employee or an intern, to help me handle various issues as they come up, whether it'd be with software, hardware or database management. he said he'll work on getting me some help and that was about it. so, i have a month probation period, and its slowly coming to an end. should i be expecting a pink slip? i really like working here, the perks alone are a good thing to keep working for, tho i feel that i may've let him down? please comment, and excuse the length, i'm a typer. :) thanks, kartogis2003@gmail.com ...

This blog posting was of great use in learning new information and also in exchanging our views. Thank you. Tyrell parkins http://www.asbestosremovalunnoticed.com ...

You are so right. I have clients that do the same to me, they hand me boxes of unopened papers or worst, they don't have their papers ready to be processed or they loose them I think they don't understand the importance of bookkeeping or accounting, many times they don't even know what they are doing, they maybe very good at sellin and so forth but not good at keeping records. One the other hand, I am a virtual assistant and with some help and quidance these clients can become really good clients.

The same thing happens to me with some clients but with some guidance these clients can become the best asset for virtual assistants, usually they want to sell and promote their business but hate administrative work, and this is whre virtual assistants come in handly.

This blog posting was of great use in learning new information and also in exchanging our views. Thank you. Elliot Daverty http://www.answeringservicexpert.com ...

I totally agree with what you're saying. I wish more people felt this way and took the time to express themselves. Keep up the great work. Tyrell parkins http://www.accountingofficecenter.com ...

Poor you. This kind of clients are terrible for anyone. I wonder how long they can survive in the business. Being disorganized is like a curse. having said that, I must admit that I am a highly disorganized person but I am clever enough to know organize things before I reach emergency level. ANyway this is too bad.

i often got puzzled with too many tasks, but since i have used eXtended Task Manager - things goes well, it's an extended windows task manager tool. http://www.yaodownload.com/utilites/system-utilities/extended-task-manager/ ...

As a business consultant I can?t believe the number of clients I have had who simply closed their eyes to the issue because it required too much effort. Hey taking care of our employees should be an absolute most and like the lady said research can go along way to doing it right. How can you have employees be totally committed to the business and your customers if they are worried about taking care of their families let alone themselves? Loyal employees build loyal customer and financially that caries a big dividend for business.

In my line of work - primarily workplace conflict resolution - I see so many organizations out there that are slowly degraded by ofice gossip. Generally one or maybe a few people are singled out and the rumors fly about them. People get angry and ultimately everyone's work suffers. When I consult with organizations I always probe to find out several things - one of them is how prevelant is gossip within the workplace. What you write is a great foundation for dealing with this issue. Well done! Keep up the good work!

Employers should treat their employees as well as or better than they treat their best customers. If you had invested in the Fortune Top 100 Best Companies from 1998 to 2004 your investment would have seen a return of 176%. Happy Employees=happy customers=greater net income. It's not only the right thing to do, it's great (not just "good") business.

I also work in a department where my boss is having a relationship with his subordinate. It has caused extreme tension in our department, yet when H.R. was made aware of this relationship, they said if it didn't interfere with their work performance, it didn't matter. Now the person who brought the relationship to the attention of H.R. is repeated being admonished. Her work is closely examined and critiqued, the slightest error is made into a major event. This employee has since been issued a verbal and written warning, for petty offenses. My advice is if you are aware of such a relationship, keep your mouth closed. I would be interested in learning if there are any state laws in Pennsylvania regarding relationships like the afore mentioned.

Identity Theft cannot be stopped! Yet, people need help "before, during and after" they become a victim. We offer assistance to businesses, employee benefits and families thru the #1 Risk Consulting Company in the world and the #1 Legal Services Plan (both publicly traded and over 30 years old). When you, your employees or your business are Identity Theft victims, you will need our lawyers and investigators who will do most of what is needed for you. Often victims are impacted in various states and with our nationwide coverage we can help. Our Plans help families for only pennies a day with everything from ID Theft, your Will & Living Will, unlimited legal advice in any area of law and much, much, more. Feel free to contact me or visit us at: www.prepaidlegal.com/idt/davidallen55 or www.davidallen.biz 877/204-0032 ...

Hi, I am trying to help my kids' preschool expand in a commercial building. We are non-profit and lease some space. Do we have to pay our landlord's property taxes for the portion of the property that we rent?

thx for the information necessary to me.. and no comments (c) ...

For a good description of a stress management routine based on combining conventional Western medicine, alternative medicine, and spirituality practice, check out the excerpt at AuthorViews from "A Life in Balance: Nourishing the Four Roots of True Happiness," by Dr. Kathleen A. Hall -- a student of Dr. Dean Ornish (Preventive Medicine Research Institute) and Dr. Herbert Benson (Harvard University's Mind-Body Institute). The piece is a nice take on the latest in integrative medicine from someone who has paid her dues and speaks the truth. http://www.authorviews.com/authors/hall2/excerpt.php ...

Most organizations apply different standards to different layers: managers are judged by results only where staff is scrutinized to the point where excess phone usage is considered theft of company resources (time and phone usage).

Let's look at the real profit picture. In today's competitive market, only the smart leader sees profit margins climbing. He/she realizes that one of the largest expenditures (which must be constantly addressed) is balanced and cost-effective staffing. The successful leader realizes that employee leasing provides a competitive edge. Employee Leasing is not a totally new concept. It has been tried and proven by some of today's leaders and most profitable companies. It can help to stabilize your costs and insulate you from unexpected increases, which can send your profit margins tumbling. Our company, P.M.L. Holdings Group, L.L.C. can manage those risks for you. P.M.L. will be your "silent" partner. For more information please visit http://www.planmarc.com or call 800-567-0235.

Strictly casual all the way. Everyone in my office, both in my company and in my second job, wears jeans to work. However, there are guidelines. For example, I allow my staff to wear jeans and sneakers, but they must be well groomed. That means no earings for men and only one earing per ear for the women and no excessive make up. Other than that, I don't care what you wear as long as you get the job done.

I just started a second job as an Application Coordinator where I noticed the primitive nature of the timesheet system. It was a single sheet for the month where everyone logs in their time. This sheet was in one place where everyone would have access to it. Well, I just happen to have weekly timesheets available that I made in Excel. Each employee is now given a bunch of these timesheets to fill out. It is their responsibility to turn in their timesheets. They don't turn it in, they don't get paid.

Common sense is needed here. I just took a second job during the day as an Application Coordinator. The office environment is very casual, both in terms of dress and in operations. We are allowed to work on other personal items so as long as we get our work done by the deadline. This is the same philosophy that I have used when I first start my web design company, and still use it to this day. The focus needs to be on the end result. I layoff on meaningless rules and policies that hinder getting the job done. The result for me are more happy employees. The more happy the employee, the more productive the employee.

I am looking for advice. My boss is dating a manager that reports to him and he is responsible for her evaluation etc. The relationship has become 'public' as now his boss is aware that the two are living together. She does not approve of the relationship and there is a policy in place that discourages supervisor/employee relationships. The situation has gotten very complicated as my boss has turned in his resignation, stating that his boss is now harassing him, more or less punishing him for his relationship with a subordinate. She has now taken away an area of responsibility from the woman involved with my boss and given it to me, stating the relationship is affecting this area. I do not want this responsibility nor am I getting any additional compensation for having more work. I basically now have another supervisor reporting to me who requires alot of attention. Do I have any rights in this situation?

This is an excellent article describing the advantages of employer sponsored benefit programs. It is also worth mentioning, that in addition to a competitive edge, many employers see improved bottom line results by implementing a benefits plan due to increased productivity, morale and worker health.

would be nice if the details of the research done is disclosed in depth to us. The EAP though a very good way of motivating the employee , should also not be seen as a welfare measure to one and all. The employees who are loyal (star performers and the soilders) only should be given preferenece for such a programmes. However a nice insight in the article. regds seema verma, India ...

I always wondered how they get these figures. I do not believe them but if I could see how they do it...

Thanks for posting this Jillian. I know that this W9/1099 things was one of the most confusing and intimidating things when we first started out, and I wish I had your blog post few years ago. This really tells it well; hopefully those people starting out can read this.

what types of informations are available when an employer verifies the I-9forms?

My firm offers a comprehensive identity theft prevention, insurance, and recovery program as a low-cost employee benefit -- google The Identity Guardian and direct your Benefits Manager to our site if you're interested. (www.idbenefits.com) The site also has several good white papers and articles on identity theft, available free. We also offer a 1-day corporate training program on identity theft issues and prevention. Finally, we offer a very rapid 1-week consulting program, to guide companies through development and rollout of a complete, custom identity theft prevention / protection program. This is independent of our Employee Benefit offering -- clients are free to provide the employee benefit, but we do not encourage or sell that during the consulting program. Please feel free to email me directly for more information -- we take pride in the thoroughness and accuracy of our guidance. Thanks, Peter ...

Most of us don't think about our immune system...until we get sick. We never see a need to develop a healthy lifestyle until we get cancer or some other life threating disease! We live in a world where our enviroment puts stress on our lives. The lack of knowledge about how our bodies function and ignoring it's needs are major contributing factors to ill-health. You can no longer afford to neglect the important duty of looking after your most valuable assist, your own health. The air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat impact our lives. Our food is no longer grown naturally, but grown in agricultural businesses where chemical fertilization, pest control and weed control impact the plants we eat. In light of all this, there has never been a greater need to achieve optimum health than now. "The wise man forsees the trouble ahead and steps out of harm's way, while the fool blunders on into punishment." -Solomon-c2300 BC If you are concern and want to enhance your health, then "a diet rich in vegetables and fruit reduces the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases". --National Cancer Institute. Please understand I am not claiming that consumption of Whole Food Complex will prevent or cure any disease. It's all about the foods, you eat andyour pH (alkaline-acid ratio) imbalance. These statements have not been evaluted by the food and drug administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, prescribe, treat, cure or prevent any disease. For more information go to: www.urimembers.com/byfaith www.beyondwholefoods.com To your health, Ruth ...

Having spent a great deal of my professional career in the corporate setting, both at at the middle management and executive levels, I still find very little value in the 'staff' meeting. It is the responsibility of managers to coordinate and facilitate communication between employees. In an age where instant messaging, Intranets, project management and other technological advancements provide even more ways to effectively communicate, we still cling to the idea that meetings carry greater value than they do. More often than not, the meeting is a forum for the ineffective manager to assert his/her self importance in a public setting. I've seen far more effective organizations that meet in small groups and use technology (or just talking to other employees - now there's a wild idea) to communicate these ideas throughout the enterprise. Staff meetings where weekly goals are set seems ineffective as each employee should know their priorities on a daily basis. Those who are unclear on those goals are either led by an ineffective manager or are ineffective themselves.

Jullian - I tried a few times to email you directly and I keep receiving errors. I would love to talk with you directly about accounting outsourcing. Please let me know the best way to reach you directly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Janice Gjertsen-Caillet CEO & Chief Catalyst Coaching Circles Janice@CoachingCircles.com www.CoachingCircles.com U.S. 1.866.865.0720 "Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi ...

I have to say I agree with this totally. Being self-employed (and on my off-days, without a Client), I used to dress in shorts and a t-shirt. Now, I rarely leave the house without at least business casual, even if I don't have a Client. It's really made a difference. I even dress to see clients for a quick visit to their home, to pick up a check, or see about something. I think it sends a positive "I am successful" message. Good post. -- John ...

Jillian, those are great points, especially the one about the interview being a two way street. I have been in many interviews where clearly it was meant to be a one-way street ONLY - where they (the prospective employer) does a grill session. The best interviewers will take time to ask the interviewee if she/he has any questions about the company in between the 'grilling'. Amazingly, that often doesn't happen until the very end - kind of as a final courtesy. Ah well, interviewing is one reason I work for myself.

Great Ideas, Jillian,

If you'd like some assistance in setting up wellness program like this, contact your American Cancer Society @ 1-800-ACS-2345. Ask about "Active For Life" It's a FREE wellness program. Go here for more info: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_5X_Active_For_Life.asp

Regards,

Glenn ...

Great Points Jillian. Two of the first things to get outsourced in our business was the accounting and bookkeeping. We have a local bookkeeper who does the dreadfully (at least to us) mundane task of balancing the bank accounts and we have a local accountant (CPA) who prepares the tax and financial reports once per quarter. In both cases, they work via Email and fax even though we are all located just a few miles apart.

Jillian, this is an excellent overview. Thank you for posting it. Let me share with you an experience from about ten years ago. I'm making no value judgements here... merely relating a story. It came up in the conversation at an office Christmas party that a male co-worker had fondled not only my bottom, but also those of four other men on the staff. My wife asked "What did you do?" I said "I told him to knock it off." All five wives were aghast. "Someone needs to do something" was the recuring phrase. "I did," I said, "I told him to quit. He quit." I found it interesting that the four other guys had all done pretty much as I had. Each of us had firmly told the offender that we didn't want his attention. End of problem. Until that party (and the influence of several holiday eggnogs) we hadn't even discussed it with anyone else. But I found it equally interesting that each of the women in this conversation had the opinion that someone else should "take care of this problem." ...

Gossip is a colossal waste of time. In sales organizations it is generally a rehash of sales callls that went bad. If you must, gossip at home and on the weekends, but not at work Robert Taylor , President www.successtrainingacademy.com ...

Great points Jillian, I think it's best to avoid any kind of people who complain or gossip a lot. They thrive on having a willing ear, but I won't give it to them.

Very true! I agree with you, and to add to what you said...there are people at my gym who love to gossip. What do I do? I put on my earphones, even though I'm not listening to something all the time.