Business Networking !

That is the actual headline of the January 25th edition of Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal*. It’s their annual Industry Outlook special report.

Believe me, I read the special report. I’m just like you – I want to know how to maximize my business in this economy and how to minimize any downsides.

Only 3 industry sectors are predicted to have a good outlook. Those sectors are Technology, AD/PR, and Health Care.

The good outlook for Health Care is obvious. No matter what is happening in our economy, people still require health care. And Minnesota has always been an innovator and leader in the health care field.

The technology predictions are good because corporations and individuals continue to demand more bandwidth, at higher speeds, and we have an increased need for data storage. It also makes sense to me that in an economy that threatens recession, a very good ROI is going to be in leveraging technology. Technology works for us 24/7, and at a fixed or predictable cost and efficiency. Technology, done correctly, really adds value.

The only other “up” outlook is for AD/PR. Why AD/PR? In a down economy it’s all about getting the eye of the consumers. And companies will want to do that very intelligently and strategically. PR will benefit because again, companies will want to put their best face forward. Ads and PR will showcase to consumers the value of a company’s products and services.

Will the dour predictions prove true for the other sectors – airlines, banking, energy, food, hospitality, insurance, manufacturing, med tech, media nonprofits, real estate, retail, and sports business? There will certainly be individual winners in those sectors too depending on how they are planning to outsmart their competition for the dollars in consumer’s pockets and on how well they carry those plans out to be the valuable option that cash strapped consumers will choose.

BUT, I firmly believe that coaching will do for companies what beefing up IT infrastructure and clever advertising and PR will do. It will help individuals and companies be their best and put their best foot forward and maximize efficiencies of their people to get the competitive edge. People that are being coached will not only be more valuable to the company, they will give more value to the consumers whose dollars they are wooing. Talk about leveraging and great ROI!

Coaches are in the business of adding value. Coaching helps people to achieve greater bandwidth and put their best foot forward too. We add value by helping our clients expand their options, giving them viable and timely information, success tips, holding them accountable, and giving them encouragement. These efforts of ours assist our clients in solving their problems and even more – expanding their potential. In this economy, we need everyone to be living and working at their highest level of ability.

Top performers in every industry sector, the ones that consistently outperform their competition, are invariably the companies and individuals that recognize and utilize the value of coaching as a strategic leveraging tool. Especially in a down economy, they need to rely on proven tools and techniques even more, and that need will be compounded in the less than favorable industry sectors. Here is a quote from Fortune Magazine: Asked for a conservative estimate of the monetary payoff from coaching they got, these managers described an average return of more than $100,000, or about six times what the coaching cost them. This figure is consistent with reports across the spectrum. In fact, this figure is often conservative.

Coaching used to be perceived as a perk for the executive levels of organizations. Now, with the understanding that coaching is not a perk so much as a very wise investment, it is spreading down the ranks and is available to anyone that has a mind to be coached. Many individuals are even paying for the coaching from personal funds because it helps them gain the promotions that they desire. Others are being creative and adding coaching to their individual development plans funding.

However you manage it – here is to your best year yet! And here is another quote: In any moment of decision the best you can do is the right thing. The worst you can do is nothing. – Theodore Roosevelt

In today’s high-paced, competitive workforce an effective office manager is key to successful business operation. As an effective office manager you need to understand your role, and your key objectives.

The key responsibility of any office manager is to ensure the smooth operation of day-to-day business. There are three levels required to accomplish any large task (like running an office)

1. Strategic Planning and Monitoring
2. Tactical Planning and Monitoring
3. Execution of the Plan

An Office Manager is a tactical manager. As a tactical manager you normally have the following key responsibilities.

1. Understand the strategic plan. This is harder than it sounds. It is not always easy to get a clear vision of your objectives from your leadership team. Keep asking for it until you get it, and accept and understand that you may never get a clear answer on this. Ask how your performance will be measured. If you can’t get a straight answer on the objectives, you can often figure them out by what you are being measured on. Strategic planners measure their staff on things that reflect what they want done. Your real objective is to meet not just the measurements, but also to meet the intent of the measurements.

2. Communicate your objectives. Start by writing down your best interpretation of what you think you are supposed to accomplish. Always pick 2 or 3 key objectives for the year. Communicate them to your boss (this is what I’m planning to do, tell me if you want any changes) Communicate them to your team. Don’t wait for your boss’s approval (unless additional spending is required).Start. If your boss disagrees, then make the necessary course corrections. Show some initiative. This is your team. If you’re struggling with where to start suggest looking at ways to reduce office costs and ways to improve making accurate time estimates and meeting them. The main thing is that you put together a plan and show that you have an organized direction. Tactical managers must be able to organize details and turn objectives into plans.

3. Motivate your team. Tell them what the objectives are. Tell them what they will be evaluated on. Ask them for ideas on how to accomplish the objectives. Listen to them. Whenever possible give people credit for their ideas. Whatever you do, don’t try to keep all the planning to yourself. The more you modify your plans with the ideas of your team, the more cooperation you will get in achieving them.

4. Monitor progress, communicate progress and deviations, and make course corrections. Your leaders want measurements. It’s the only way they know something is happening.

Understand the strategic plan, communicate your objectives, motivate your team and measure your progress.