840 134 2004-12-31 731 leadership, leadership skills, dealing with people, managing people, effective leadership I was giving a presentation on " the Value of Recognition" to the office workers of a large Canadian City. The City Commissioner ended his welcome to those present with these words, " I have an open door policy so I want to encourage you to come and talk to me when you have a concern." When he left I heard a couple of people in the front row say with a hint of sarcasm, " Yeah sure. He has an open door policy as long as what you have to say is flattering and doesn't rock the boat." We all have known leaders like this and we all have had similar reactions to them. It is quite apparent that many managers and supervisors don't listen well and are easily threatened when a challenge or criticism is made by someone over whom they have authority. I recall having a supervisor ask me to schedule an appointment to see him. He wanted to tap my brain. I should have been suspicious right from the start because in over 20 years he had never once asked my opinion on anything. In spite of this I prepared thoroughly and was eager to finally have the chance to share my wisdom and experience. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf. When the interview began the supervisor fell asleep within minutes. Is that all the time it took to "Tap my mind?" Since I pride myself on being a rather dynamic and energetic speaker I was really taken aback by this. What a blow!! It was a relief to find out later that he suffered from sleeping sickness and had a difficult time staying awake at the best of times. I dismissed myself from the meeting saying that perhaps I could return when he was feeling better. ( I won't tell you what I really wanted to say.) Along with proclaiming to have an open door policy I think we would all benefit from people in leadership positions declaring that they had an open mind policy as well. Managers with an open mind listen attentively to the thoughts, ideas and opinions of others without becoming upset or threatened when a contrary or critical position or opinion is presented. No one person, no matter what their position or level of expertise, has a monopoly on wisdom, insight or correct thinking. Wisdom resides in the collective and not in any one individual. The following story illustrates what I mean by this. It seems that a rather prestigious country club was having a problem with disappearing bottles of shampoo in the mens' shower room. No matter what the management did the bottles kept disappearing. Signs were posted and meetings were held encouraging the members to leave the shampoo bottles where they found them. Nothing worked. One day the manager of the club was inspecting the shower room while a custodian was mopping the floor. When the manager saw that another shampoo bottle had disappeared he expressed his anger and frustration to the custodian, " We've tried everything. Nothing works. What more can we do?" The custodian stopped mopping, looked up at the manager and said, " Why don't you take the top off each new bottle of shampoo and throw it away? Nobody will take a shampoo bottle without a top." When the manager asked him why he hadn't offered this great solution before, the caretaker replied, " Nobody ever asks my opinion. Nobody gets my opinion." This is the sad reality in far too many businesses and organizations. If you want a happy, healthy and more productive workplace access the wisdom and experience of the group. Cultivate a genuine "Open Door Policy" and combine it with a genuine " Open Mind Policy" and watch great things start to happen in your workplace. By the way it works effectively in your family as well.. " Boat rockers should be considered cherished resources not pains in the neck." M. Moore true Mike Moore is an international speaker on the role of humor in human relations. Mike's articles and cartoons have appeared in publications throughout the world. For more on what Mike can do for your organization visit http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?motplusarticles

Hpow to Maximize staff potential using the power of an open mind

0

506 5 2004-12-31 730 flexibility, sound judgment, persistence, consistency, time, money, effort, pursue a career,success A young chemist who worked in a small mining company, took up a better paying job in New York, hoping to move up to doing pure research. Neither his wife nor his boss approved of his decision. His wife thought that city life would be a rude contrast to the peace of their native mountains and the abundant trout streams. His boss, the President of the mining company, also had his doubts and invited the young man to take his job back if he returned within six months. For the young chemist, the taste of the Big Apple turned sour after only a few months. The glamour of the city faded and his job conditions changed considerably. The job changes occurred when the senior executive who had hired him was stripped of power and transferred to another division of the company. With him went a whole realm of possibilities that would have gradually opened up for the young chemist. Although the potential opportunities of the job had changed overnight, the young chemist, a proud man, decided to stick it out rather than face the humiliation of going back home and admitting that he had made a mistake. In addition, the young chemist had invested a considerable amount into his new job. He had invested money to move his family, buy and furnish a suburban home, and in numerous incidental expenses. He had invested time in making the move. And he had invested effort in learning new skills, attending company-sponsored seminars and night classes to supplement his education. Six months passed, then a year passed, then several years. As the years passed, the chemist, now not as young, became invested in the company's bonus plans that rewarded long service. After many years, the chemist found that he was simply marking time toward retirement. His ideal job in pure research was now no more than a distant pipe dream. He worked in the dull area of purchasing and quality control. The young chemist slipped into inertia. As the years went by he lost his courage to pursue a career of his choice. When his New York job fell apart, he let his pride get in the way of heading back home and starting over. He also had the choice of looking for another job in New York. He was also unwilling to cut his losses with the time, money, and effort he had invested in. While persistence and consistency are often touted as essential success principles, they can also work against other success principles: flexibility and sound judgment. true Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy. <a target="_new" href="http://theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html">Discover how to create a remarkable life</a> Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana.

In our bid for security, we often stick to a path that has long since outlived its usefulness to us. Although we are uncomfortable with our situation, we prefer it to the fear of the unknown. The following story shows why flexibility is an important success principle.

0

1680 102 2004-12-31 729 free tattoo idea, tattoo idea, cool, tattoo, ideas, free, designs, sources Have you been wanting to get a tattoo but don't have an exact idea or not sure what you want? Tattoos are so popular and there are so many ideas but many of us feel stuck at times on the exact tattoo we want to get. For me I often feel stuck when I think of how permanent a tattoo is. I see a lot of cool designs that I like at the time but when I start thinking about the having it permanently done I start to change my mind and look for something else. Others have the idea or rough plan of what they want but they can't find any good source material or flash that matches what they want. Some of our customers state that they have spent months looking for a certain tattoo design. They look through all of the flash sites and etc. but still can not find what they are looking for. This is a huge problem, you end up wasting a lot of time and feeling frustrated. However there are some simple ways around this problem. 1. First you should always pull ideas for tattoos from things that you like or are into. Don't go and get a tattoo just because you saw someone with one and you thought he or she was cool. A tattoo will be with you forever and so it should be something from you not from outside. Along these lines don't do the stupid thing of going out to get a tattoo with a friend and be pressured into getting the same thing he or she gets just because you don't want to look stupid. Tattoos are permanent and therefore should state something about you and what you love. Therefore if you spend time just thinking about the things you like and things that you identify yourself with you are likely to come up with some great ideas. For example for me I love being outdoor and nature and so I like star tattoos a lot and nature themes. I also like a lot of the native American and traditional Japanese designs. My wife is from Japan and she has this plan of getting a Cherry tree branch full of cherry blossoms across her back. These are very significant images for the Japanese. They symbolizes the new year and new life or even r enewal of life. So as you can see your tattoo should be something you identify with. 2. Once you have some rough ideas it is typically time to go online and look for some images. Now lets take the Cherry blossom for example. Some place you could look for a tattoo would be clip art. You can search using Google's image search feature or go to Microsoft online clipart gallery. Either place you can find either a clip art drawn piece or actual source photos. Both will lead you to some good source materials that will help in the design stage. 3. Next you want to take you source materials (photos or clip art) and show them to a tattoo artists. You might also try some initial sketches if you are artistically inclined. Even something with simple line art or pigeon scratches can tell you tattoo artists a lot about what you are looking for. So take everything you got and show it to your tattoo artist and then let them design the tattoo for you. Remember the more accurate and detailed you can be with your description the more happy you are going to be with the results and the whole process will be much easier. 4. Most tattoo artists will then provide you with an actual design shaded in and with color and the line art of the design. If you are getting this done online then you can take that to your local tattoo parlor and find some one to do the actual tattoo for you. Often you can also ask for referrals from the original tattoo artists. Typically they can do the work themselves if you live within driving range. If you take these steps into consideration and actually do a little bit of homework and find your source materials and provide lots of details about what you are looking for then you are sure to get the design of your dreams. true <a href="http://www.designmytattoos.com/">Unique custom design done by professional tattoo artists</a> or view other tattoo articles for great <a href="http://www.designmytattoos.com/tattoo-design-galleries/Articles/articles.html"> ideas on custom tattoo designs</a>

Are you thinking about getting your first tattoo? Or maybe another tattoo to add to your growing collection? This article will help you in find great ideas for new tattoos. Free soruces for tattoo design ideas.

0

205 125 2004-12-31 728 Mystery shopper, secret shopper Performance analysis and mystery shopping is crucial for any modern business. It is an important part of improving quality of service and enhancing sales so that the business progresses and rules the market. The company that proves its competence gains maximum number of clients. The stores and companies try out various ways of improving their customer services. They go out of their ways to find out where the drawback lies. Some managers do it stealthily but the smarter ones hire someone else to do the job. Mystery shopping service is one of the mysterious ways of building the relationship with the customers. Whenever you decide to hire a mystery shopper service, just make sure that you hire the reputed one. A good company would sit with you to discuss the evaluation sheet so that the results are exactly the way you are looking for. The mission of the mystery shopper after this would be to enter your store or shop and locate the areas of deep concern that had created hindrance in the growth of your store. Telephone Mystery Shopping Telephone mystery shopping is another aspect of mystery shopping that ensures that the customers' calls are attended well and their queries are answered properly to rectify their confusions. The procedure is the same; a mystery caller would call up in the store and gather the valuable information regarding employees' performance. Telephone mystery shopping is the most reliable source of gauging the customer services over the phone. If the managers themselves call in the store there are chances that they may get caught or their findings could be biased. Whereas a thorough professional mystery shopper would definitely know the ways to carry out the survey so that the best results are obtained in the end. They take large sample of calls, gage specific aspects, and study data in ten different ways. Whatever be the type of mystery services provided by the company telephonic or otherwise, it is counted as best if it is flexible, have years of experience, depth and a good background. To compare the services of good companies browse the Internet. You can also get help from web vendors that provide excellent tools so that you can enhance your level of phone services. Good phone service is the key to customer satisfaction. Picking up the phone and inquiring about the type of products and services offered is the general practice among the customers. To answer these calls appropriately you need skilled and trained customer care professionals in your shops and stores. There are some companies that provide pre-evaluation screening of the employees. It helps to highlight the good and the bad qualities of the employee before recruiting them. It is very helpful for the stores. There are various companies that have been imparting performance analysis programs in the form of video mystery shopping, training services and telephone mystery shopping. Many UK and overseas businesses including the big and famous showrooms to small retailers, all have benefitted from the these mystery shopping programs, especially the telephonic mystery shopping one. Through these programs they have managed to, - Get an insight picture of what opinion do their customers hold for their products and services. - Expand their businesses on the basis of higher customer satisfaction. - Learn about the problem areas of their employees and ways to improve them. - Retain more sales associates, as there is increased feeling of satisfaction in them. Customer satisfaction should be the first priority of any business. One can opt for mystery shopping not only when one has started out but undoubtedly it is needed more to maintain the standards of one's store true Joseph operates an online resource providing mystery shoppers an avenue to locate more companies to hire them for mystery shopping tasks. You can read more about the resource at: http://www.mysteryshopperresource.com, the place for Mystery Shopper Resource

Performance analysis and mystery shopping is crucial for any modern business. It is an important part of improving quality of service and enhancing sales so that the business progresses and rules the market. The company that proves its competence gains maximum number of clients.

0

1300 84 2004-12-31 727 videoconference cart,video conferencing Are you tired of looking for good quality videoconference carts? What are they, you ask? There is really no need to explain video conferencing carts - they are furniture built to hold video conferencing equipment. Video conferencing carts come in a variety of designs to suit different purposes. Surprisingly, there is nothing special about their construction. At times, they even look like ordinary shelves or cabinets with wheels. Video Conferencing Carts - Go By Function Choose a video conferencing cart that's suitable for your needs. Video conferencing cabinets are a common and cheap alternative. They are similar to TV cabinets. The glass doors help keep your video conferencing equipment free from dust. The small size also makes it extremely portable, good when you have to drag it across rooms. If you need to show video to a larger audience, only a tall video conference cart will do. These tall video conferencing carts are usually similar to video conferencing cabinets, except that the vertical support bars can be adjusted very high. If you need a sturdier piece of equipment, choose a video conferencing cart with an all-steel construction. Video security cabinets with monitor enclosures can be a great investment, too. These large carts are often bulky and made of high-grade materials that will last for a very long time. If you need a versatile cart, you can choose a multi-purpose cart that can serve as a monitor and projector stand. When making the purchase, be sure to inspect the item thoroughly. Check the wheels to make sure that they glide smoothly. Make sure that the frame is durable and the vinyl or paint covering is made well. Finally, ensure that the height is appropriate. A short one will not do and it is preferable to choose the tallest model available. true When the subject of conferencing is confusing so many, Jon Butt's site at www.conferencing-explained.com does exactly what it says on the tin. Explaining the facts and fiction about web, video, audio and teleconferencing, how this latest technology can save you money, the equipment you need or don't need, the best call plans and where to find the best prices and value online

Video conferencing carts come in a variety of designs to suit different purposes. Surprisingly, there is nothing special about their construction. At times, they even look like ordinary shelves or cabinets with wheels

0

440 132 2004-12-31 726 webhosting, webhostingprovider, freewebhosting, affordablewebhosting, cheapwebhosting If you are looking for a cheap web hosting company you may wish to know where to look. Cheap web hosting is available to anyone. But the cost of it depends on several factors. For some people, it may be impossible to get cheap web hosting. You will have to see what is available based on you needs. First, to see if you can use cheap web hosting you need to know how much disk space you will need. How large is your website? How many pages, video files, music files, etc. do you need? Second, a cheap web hosting company will need to know how busy your sight will be. If your site is going to have a lot of visitors, cheap web hosting may not be for you. Third, how many email accounts do you need? Cheap web hosting companies do not usually provide many. Lastly, how much are you willing to spend? Cheap web hosting is not as technical as the more expensive web hosting. If you go online, you can find a list of the top 10 cheap web hosting companies. The top 10 cheap web hosting companies are rated by their price, quality, and service provided. The cheap web hosting companies are priced between $4.95 and $19.95 a month. The cheap web hosting company's price varies on what kind of things you need. The disk space provided can be from 3000MB to 5000MB. The bandwidth varies from 40GB to 300GB. If this is not enough for you, then a cheap web hosting company is not an option for you. Most of these cheap web hosting companies offer free set up. This will make things much easier for you. Be aware of cheap web hosting that offers unlimited disk space. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. The top 10 web hosting companies reviewed are: Blue Host, Power Hosting, Pages Garden, Pro Logic Hosting, Easy CGI, Gigabyte Package, Yahoo! Hosting, iPower Web, Lunar pages, and Dot5 Web Hosting. All of these are very cheap web hosting companies. You will find them listed at top10webhosting.com. At this website you will also find customer testimonials and thorough listings about the cheap web hosting company's services they offer to you. For those of you who still think that this is not cheap web hosting, you can also find free web hosting. It still comes with a price, however. Comcast offers free web hosting to anyone who subscribes to their internet service. You still have to pay for the internet service, but the web hosting is free. That's the best that can be done about cheap web hosting. Weigh the odds, and see which route is best for you. true Jay Moncliff is the founder of <a href="http://www.cheaphosting-center.info"> http://www.cheaphosting-center.info </a>a blog focusing on the <a href="http://www.cheaphosting-center.info">Web Hosting</a> resources and articles. For more info visit his site at:<a href="http://www.cheaphosting-center.info">Web Hosting</a>

If you are looking for a cheap web hosting company you may wish to know where to look. Cheap web hosting is available to anyone. But the cost of it depends on several factors. For some people, it may be impossible to get cheap web hosting. You will have to see what is available based on you needs.

0