The Basic Parts of Business Plans

• Executive summary: Synopsis of the business plan. Should be done last.  
• HR Plan: Employees, who does what and their qualifications.
• Operations: Information about the location of the business, hours and costs of maintaining your location.
• Marketing: How product/service will be marketed, promotional methods, how customers will be retained and the costs of marketing. 
• Financials: Usually includes cash flows, balance sheets and income statements.
• Appendix: Supporting documents, diagrams, bank statements, marketing research and lease agreements.

Symptoms of Group-think

A simpler definition of group-think come from wiki books. Group-think is a process where members of a group start thinking alike and there are less individual ideas and creativity. The symptoms of group-think are:

• Illusion of invulnerability: Members are extremely optimistic and believe what ever they do will be a success. Usually occurs with group leaders who have multiple successes.
• Collective rationalization: All members come to the same conclusion, they put aside warning signs and refuse to reconsider any assumptions. 
• Belief in inherent morality: Members take actions based on the rightness of their cause and ignore ethical or moral consequences. Usually prevalent with cults, terrorist groups, and some governments. 
• Stereotyped views of out-groups: A negative view of the 'enemy', creates an us vs. them culture. This view makes a reasonable response to conflict unnecessary for the members in this group.
•  Direct pressure on dissenters: Members are pressured to suppress negative or argumentative opinions of the group.
• Self-censorship: Members hold back their own doubts and deviations, there is no expression of consensus.
• Illusion of unanimity: The decision or view of the majority is assumed to be unanimous.
• Self-appointed mind-guards: Members guard one another or the leader from information that might be problematic.

Asking Questions

Asking Questions

One of my favourite things about communication is questions. They are an opportunity for the speaker to clarify their message, and show further knowledge. It also allows the subject matter to be examined even further. They even help build, and maintain relationships.

According to mindtools.com questions are a powerful way of:

• Learning
• Managing and Coaching
• Avoiding Misunderstandings
• Defusing heated Situations
• Persuading People

There are many different forms of questions:

• Open/ Closed (Can both start, and end conversations)
• Funnel (Questions move from general to more detailed)
• Probing (Are good for seeking clarification, or drawing out further information)
• Leading (Attempt to move the responder to the questioners way of thinking)
• Rhetorical (Are effective at gaining the listeners attention)

They all have different purposes, and it is important to understand how they each work. I am providing a link to the original article, as I feel that it is well worth the read.

Link: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_88.htm

Results of Group-think

As business students we are often put into teams. However, many fail to realize the harmful effects of team work. A harmful effect of group work is group think. According to Dictionary.com group think is defined as: The tendency for members of a cohesive group to reach decisions without weighing all the facts, especially those contradicting the majority opinion.

The five results from group-think are:

1. Absence of Trust:  Group members can't rely on one another to get things done, and they can't come to one another for help.
2. Fear of Conflict: Group members don't call one another out on doing a poor job or not finishing work due to a fear of conflict.
3. Lack of Commitment: Members say they will do one thing but don't follow through, this can result in frustration and can cause some members to leave the group. Also not all group members are heard.
4. Avoidance of Accountability: Group members aren't held accountable for their mistakes. This sets the group back by preventing them from completing tasks.
5. Inattention to Results: Group members do what is good for themselves rather than for the group as a whole. In other words, the goal of the individual is put ahead of the goal of the group.

A Lost Art: Active Listening

A Lost Art: Active Listening


Every now and then I find myself in a position where proper listening skills could have helped me out. Listening, and more importantly active listening is not something that comes easy for a lot of people. In fact it is safe to say that when someone is talking about half of the information will simply be lost.

I read an article today from mindtools.com (link below) that discusses active listening, and provides some tips in order to become a better listener. It is not enough to just hear the words coming out of a persons mouth, but you need to be able to interpret their body language, as well as many other factors.

They key tips to becoming a strong active listener are:

1. Pay Attention
2. Show that you are Listening
3. Provide Feedback
4. Defer Judgement
5. Respond Appropriately

The mindtools.com article can be found at:

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm

Happy reading.

Creating social media for employers

Here are a few suggestions for creating social media for employers:

• Google yourself, make sure you like what shows up, if you don't delete or revise it.
• Have a searchable presence on the web - you don't want the employer to think you live under a rock.
• Have a Facebook account - have information such as education/work/volunteer public so a potential employer can see it. Delete embarrassing/inappropriate photos or make them private.
• Have a LinkedIn account - keep it up to date.
• Mention the link to your website/blog or other channels in your resume.

Pre-Job Interview Checklist

The following checklist can be used prior to your interview. It is a revised copy of the checklist found in the Kwantlen Coop 1101 Job Search Techniques course manual.

Initial Info:

• What type of job is it?
• When and where is the interview?
• What is the name of the interviewer(s)?
• How are they interviewing? E.g. panel, individual, phone
• What do you know about the company? (make sure to look them up if you don't know enough)
• What skills is the employer looking for? (check in job description)

Interview Portfolio:

• Do you have enough copies of your resume and references? (print these out a day ahead)
• Do you have a sample of your work or achievements or a portfolio? (if required - usually required from marketing students).
• Do you have a paper and pen to take notes?
• Do you have questions prepared to ask them? (make sure to write some down so you don't forget)

Be Presentable Please!

I've recently noticed something that has been bothering me...

I don't know if it is just me, but there are times in life when people need to be presentable. Especially as business students, we are meeting new people everyday, and yes, a nice t shirt and a clean pair of shoes does play a big part.

I recently witnessed a group of students dressed up to present an hour long presentation. Four of the five were dressed professionally, and one student was wearing sweat pants and a wrinkled t shirt. When the speaker was talking, I couldn't even take them seriously!

Also, at my work, people are coming in with resumes every single day. Walking in with ripped jeans and dirty skate shoes will only have the employer worried. As an applicant, you have three jobs: present a strong resume, be confident, and dress appropriately.

The main event that sparked this observation was a picture that went viral; Justin Bieber meeting the Prime Minister in overalls, one strap undone, and a backwards hat. Really? Extremely disrespectful!

So come on people, looking clean and put-together will only make you look better. A lot better actually.

Ethos Pathos Logos

I wanted to talk a little bit about Aristotle's Theory: Ethos Pathos Logos.

As business students, we are constantly communicating with others. In order for us to successfully share our work and ideas with the people around us, we need to persuade those around us into believing that our words are true. Most of the time, we are doing this by writing papers, writing exams, and presenting big projects.

It is that time of the semester when students are scrambling around and putting their finishing touches on these final projects. This is why I wanted to talk about Aristotle's theory.

He believes that in order for humans to persuade their audiences into believing and listening to what they have to say, three things need to be considered

Ethos - the credibility of the presenter

Pathos - the emotional connection between the presenter and the audience

Logos - the logics and reasoning used to support the presenters claim.

Students must keep these three things in mind in order to be successful whenever presenting any type of idea to an audience! Especially final group projects!!

Little yeses can lead to a BIG YES

Little yeses can lead to a BIG YES

Following up on my last blog post, this post continues to look at strategies that encourage people to agree with you. This strategy is all about winning people over a little bit at a time.

When trying to convince an individual of your point of view, try getting them to agree with you by asking them questions as you present your position. Phrases such as “sounds good” or “correct”, at key points in the conversation can help lower mental defenses and open their mind to your ideas.

This tactic can be used in many situations. One way to improve your negotiating skills with this tactic is to just start asking these questions during normal conversation. Or ask yourself such questions out loud as you go through your day.

A good source for more insight in to influencing, or persuading people is the classic “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. I strongly recommend it to anyone but especially business students.  

Good luck. But you won’t really need it will you?  

A Picture is Worth a 1000 Likes

Instagram! 

Do you know what that is? No, it’s a unit of measurement but it’s actually a very popular social media platform. How popular you may ask? According to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and the current owner of Instagram, there are about 100 million users as of September 2012.

So what makes Instagram different then other social media platforms?

Instagram lets you share pictures with online followers. Users have the option to apply a digital filter to enhance shared pictures. Followers of the users are then allowed to “like”, comment or share the picture. This social media platform has successfully been integrated with other platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Currently it is only available to mobile users with an android or IOS device.

What makes this platform popular?

It brings a sense of creativity to a social media platform. Users now have the option to express themselves using images, as opposed to text updates. Picture updates are debatably more impactful in certain situations. Online users have to the option to interpret these pictures, which convey emotions, memories, feelings & experiences.

Why you should join? 

With new smartphone devices, picture taking is much easier then ever before. These devices come equipped with credible cameras and options to take great pictures. This capability has played a large factor in the popularity of Instagram. This social media platform targets the inner-artist in many of us. Even though some oppose the notion, it gives a small glimpse into the world of photography.

This social media platform is here to stay. If you have a compatible device, I suggest you give it a try and see if it something for you!

Source:
http://mashable.com/2012/09/11/instagram-100-million/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/253254/why_is_instagram_so_popular_.html

5 Tips to Network Successfully

Networking is a form of communication that all students will need to learn once they graduate and are looking for new jobs. I have posted 5 of the best tips to help ease anxiety.

1.     Prepare questions before you go to an event where networking is a possibility

2.     Dress professionally so that you feel comfortable talking around industry professionals.

3.     When picking out people to go up and talk to, choose a person who is standing alone so that walking into a large group is not as intimidating.

4.     Write them an email after you meet them asking them to keep you in mind for any employment opportunities in the future.

5.     Write the name of the person, and what you talked about on the back of their business card if they give you one. That way, a follow up email is easy to create.

Good luck!

Feedback is Fun!

Providing Feedback

Feedback is an important aspect to the working world. A successful employer will constantly be giving feedback to the employers. This is important for many reasons:

·      Lets the employee know what is accepted/ what isn’t

·      Allows the employee to understand the expectations of employer

·      Employee can voice concerns

·      Employee is given the chance to learn and grow

·      New opportunities may arise

Giving constructive feedback is an important management tool that should be used by all employers!

Silence is the Best Form of Communication?

What is the best form of communication?

I recently read an article about which form of communication is the best and why. It stated that silence was the best form. This is because we find out more about ourselves while being silent, and therefore are better communicators as a result.

“Without this inner stillness, we become like a puppet pulled by the many different strings of external influences. This inner point of stillness is the seed of autonomy, which cuts the strings, and then the loss of energy eases.

Silence heals. It is clear like a mirror. The mirror does not blame or criticize but helps us to see things as they are, providing a diagnosis to release us from all types of wrong thinking.”

Finding inner silence is the hardest part, but once this is achieved, communications are greatly improved.

Do you believe in what this article is stating?

The Law of Reciprocity

The Law of reciprocity

As many students in our class are in the business program I thought that I would share some tips for persuasion. These tips have been proven by research in to human behavior  A good resource for more tips is Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

One of the first things to know when trying to trying to get to yes is the "law of reciprocity". Basically if I give you something you will give me something in return. Even if the thing I gave you have little or no meaningful monetary value. Think of fundraiser campaigns that mail out stamps or pads of paper when asking for donations. This works because of our ingrained social norms.

So how can you take advantage of this principal? Well do an audience analysis and your own needs analysis, and have a backup request. For example when selling something, say fundraiser candy you ask if someone would buy a case of chocolates  Probably they would say no, then asking them to purchase an overpriced candy bar and they probably would because they see you conceded the request to sell them the whole case.

The above example is also aided in the fact that the seller’s second request is much smaller than the first request. 

Good luck

Interviews

Below is a list of tips that will help you get through the interview process and come out with the job.

1.  Company Research – learn as much about the company and the job you are applying for, before the interview.  This will give you an advantage over other applicants, as well as help answer some of the questions they may ask.

2.      Practice Makes Perfect – practice your answers to commonly asked questions will help the interview go smoothly.  An interviewer will likely notice that you have prepared for the interview and will show them that you are willing to go that extra mile.

3.      Behavioural Interviews – be prepared to speak about your pass experience, strengths and weaknesses.  Also come up with questions that you would like them to answer.  You are also making sure that the job is the right fit for you.

4.      Stay Calm – take the time to come up with you answers, even if this means taking a minute or two.  Also ask questions to clarify what they are asking if you are not sure, you want to be able to answer the question fully, and correctly.

At the end of an interview state again how interested in the job you are.  Say thank you.  

Writing an Email

When writing an email keep in mind that the reader is busy

Subject lines are headlines.  Making use of the subject line is the most important decision about an email.  This is where the reader will decided to open the email or delete it.  Never leave the subject line blank. 

Make one point per email.  Each point you make will require its own response.  Separating each point into different emails will allow the reader to respond to each email with the appropriate response in the correct amount of time.  If the questions are all regarding the same subject and need to be in one email, making sure they are clearly separated is important. 

Specify the response you want.  Make it clear what you what the reader to do, by stating when and how to get a hold of you.  If there is no response needed, you can state that so the reader understands what to do.  The clearer the response wanted from a reader, the more likely it is that you will get one.

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/EmailCommunication.htm

10 Tips for Working in a Group

Working in a group can be difficult.  Next time you working with a group keep the 10 tips listed below, in mind.

1.      Listen actively – don’t interrupt, and ask question to make sure you understand,

2.      Establish a common goal – make sure everyone understands the goal,

3.      Assign roles – take into account everyone’s strengths and weaknesses,

4.      Create a timeline – set a schedule, include what everyone needs to do and when,

5.      Outline your objectives – discuss what you will and have talked about for each meeting,

6.      Divide and conquer – divide large project into smaller ones,

7.      Be wary of “groupthink” – make sure you speak up when you don’t agree with the direction the group is going,

8.      Resolve conflicts quickly and fairly – don’t think about a winner and loser, remember to compromise,

9.      Exchange contact information – make sure everyone has a list of all contact information needed,

10.  Book a group study room – plan a quiet area to meet, consider a library.

Not every group is going to run smoothly, but if you won’t on the list above you will have a better change achieving your goals together.

http://www.macewan.ca/web/services/ims/client/upload/10%20tips%20for%20Working%20Effectively%20in%20Groups%20-%20Web.pdf

Resume Writing: 10 tips

         Many people have a false assumption that writing a professional resume is simple. What they don’t understand, is that writing a professional resume is time consuming and can be difficult if you don’t have a good idea of the a well formatted resume.  There are 10 the tips of writing an effective resume:

1.     Start with a clearly stated job objective or background summary. An objective works best when you can be specific as to the type of position you are looking for.

2.     A good resume sets forth your accomplishments. It should not be a list of job duties. Employers want to know what can do for them and how you have contributed in your previous positions. Begin each statement with an action verb and provided quantifiable information whenever possible

3.     It is not necessary to list every job you have ever had. Employers care mostly about what you have done recently – only put your history that related to the job- because employers don’t care anything else

4.     Erase the mind frame that “you got to keep a resume length 1 page!” In fact, if you have been in the workforce for any length of time, it would be impossible to communicate everything you have to offer in one page. Again, keep it relevant to the job you are applying for- but try to keep within 2 pages.

5.     Do not list hobbies or outside interests unless they have a direct correlation to the skills and abilities an employer is seeking- because employers don’t care if you like “long walks on the beach” as a hobby.

6.     DO NOT FALSIFY your work history or education. Keep your work credible as more employers than ever are doing background checks

7.     Don’t get cute or fancy with bold colors or graphics- Keep it simple- which is what employers like. Do not include a picture! Don’t use a template in word for a resume- otherwise your resume will look like everyone else’s

8.     Do not overuse bolding, underlining or mix fonts. This is where tone and style doesn’t matter- employers JUST want to know the facts about you. Don’t forget to also check and double check for spelling and typos

9.     Make sure your contact information at the top of your resume is current- avoid putting your address too- employers don’t need that information- it can cause employer biases if they know you don’t live close to the job

10.  Seek professional help if you do not have good writing skills

Sources:

http://www.effortlesshr.com/blog/employee-hiring/top-ten-tips-resume-writing/