How To Sustain Remote Work  Over recent years, the gig economy and working from home became much more normal for many workers. Due to the recent pandemic, working from home has actually become a necessity for many companies to embrace for survival. When exploring work from home options for your organization, it is helpful to break out the actual categories of employees that may or may not be qualified to work from home. The categories to consider are ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ meaning at the home office, or at the work office.Essential employees are those that need to be physically present in the workplace. Examples of this would be manufacturing where there are machine operators, labs where tests are run, or medical facilities where patients are seen. Non-essential employees are those that do not need to be physically present in the workplace and…

Change Management  There are three guarantees in life: Death, taxes, and constant change. In business, especially during these times, organizations of all sizes will experience “rapid” or “significant”  change. During these times, exceptional leadership is required to create an atmosphere that enables effective adaptation and quells fears of the unknown. The best organizations have leaders that know how to lead through change and bring out the best in people during times of uncertainty. While formal change processes might be well understood, too many leaders neglect the all-important human side of change. The most effective leaders devote considerable effort to including everyone in the change process, remembering that people need time to adapt to such change.  Regardless of how fast-moving the change initiative may be, it’s important to recognize the time required to get everyone fully adapted.Change management models typically focus on what…

Adapting To A Changing World Adapting to a Changing WorldEven before the Coronavirus, the world had been rapidly evolving. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep up, but keeping up is vital for sustaining your business over the long haul, as being adaptable is more important than ever. Being prepared to handle every curveball that comes your way takes thought, strategy, and the ability to be agile with your current processes.Here are some thoughts to help you get through turbulent times.Flexibility Being flexible means you can pivot when needed. It means you can adapt on the fly. The restaurant industry had to do just that to survive due to the pandemic shutting down in-house dining. Many have made the pivot to safely prepare and provide their food curbside for customers. Flexibility can come in all forms. It may have something to do with…

Leading with Emotional Intelligence  Caring seems like a simple thing to do, but it is not always expressed genuinely with delivery or tone. As leaders, it is important to show maturity along with compassion. Being more compassionate and balancing what the job requires with the human spirit needs is key.In other words, leaders need to balance the head and the heart. The intensity of getting the job done should not take over the ability to encourage and appreciate others along the way. Employees typically don’t need someone to hold their hand, they just need to have a clear idea of what is expected of them. When this is done with tact and a thoughtful approach, people will perform. Making the extra effort to appreciate work that is done, and showing that you truly care about people can be more powerful…

The Impact Of Top And Bottom Line Growth The Impact of Both the Top and Bottom Line GrowthIt might surprise you how many business owners do not focus much on top line and bottom line growth equally. If money IN drives the top line and money OUT drives the bottom line, both become pretty important in the life of any business. Quite often the focus does not always remain on both. During times like these it's important to take a deep look to see what you need to do in order to survive and thrive again.The top and bottom lines in your income statement are the most important lines for a company. Analysts and investors pay attention to them for signs of any changes quarterly and annually. Top Line GrowthSince the top line reveals the company revenues or gross sales, it provides…

The Rise From COVID 19  The last few months have been challenging for everyone. The global pandemic has shut down economies, isolated us, changed the way we work, and how we live overall. This is our new norm and how long the effects will last is unknown. In terms of flattening the curve and reducing spread, we know 3 key things. Rapid Testing Availability: (In the short term) The ability to quickly identify and test those who could be infected or have been in close proximity to those infected and isolate them safely at home.Vaccination & Immunization (Long term) Second, we need to continue studying the virus and continue our collaborative efforts on producing a safe, effective, and ethical vaccine.Global Cooperation: (Short & long term) Last, we all need to take this seriously and cooperate to get this under control. It has…