Tuesday 29 January 2013

Have you considered what books can do to your Business?

Books like Blue Ocean Strategy and The World is Flat are some of the books that helped me in rethinking business strategy. In Africa, the rate of business growth is alarming but the type of strategies adopted some times making this business to go into extinct faster than expected.

  1. Books especially research based ones can revolutionise your strategies.
  2. They give you an edge over others
  3. They help you in properly positioning your business for growth.
  4. It increases ones survival in business, no wonder big corporations spend so much in research.
  5. It enlarges your sense of reasoning.
Get yourself a business book and read.


“If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one’s chances of survival increase with each book one reads.” — Sherman Alexie


“A good book is an education of the heart. It enlarges your sense of human possibility what human nature is of what happens in the world. It’s a creator of inwardness.” — Susan Sontag

You may not have the capital to invest in Research, but you have enough to buy a book that can teach you new strategies in business.

Friday 11 January 2013

BECOMING PRODUCTIVE AT WORK



Scott Odigie, Guest Writer

It is not enough to be busy… 
The question is: What are we busy about?
-          Henry David Thorean
 
In life, there are three things that dignifies a man; Faith, Family, and Work. There is a level of responsibility and discipline each demand, and it is expected that there should be a balance when sharing the limited resources (like time, money etc) available to an individual among the three. Even culturally speaking, after you are asked about your family the next thing is your work. Why? Work shows how responsible you are; it is a yard stick for measuring how resourceful you are as a person within a society.
In an ever competitive and challenging society, the worth of a man is measured by the value he is able to create from the bunch of activities that he is engaged in. Creating such values could come from redefining productivity as it relates to your habit and attitude towards work which means achieving more results with available resources. Productive people achieve more with less, they bring out the best result from each activity they undertake.
Unfortunately, many people are busy without being productive. They are engaged in various activities, but with little accomplishment.  It all boils down to your attitude to work or the work habit you have developed over time. If you have a negative attitude towards work, that is having little or no value for work; it affects your productivity level. Work tends to require one major resource – Time, and sometimes it creates an imbalance in a man’s life that make faith and family to be sidelined.


Here are 9 ways to become productive at work.
  1. Work with strategy
Engage your mind, think and develop strategies that will make you work smarter. It is importance you identify the essential activities, and the best way to accomplish them. A good strategy helps you create the best method of achieving your goals.

  1. Work with priority
According to Leo Babauta, “Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest. Productivity simply means working with the understanding of what is important to you and your organization, and what adds more value.

  1. Work with diligence
Concentrate your efforts on your current task. A persistent effort in doing something is what produces result. Work as if your life depends on that work, put in energy and be proud of what you are doing.

  1. Work with optimism
Expect the best from your effort. Being optimistic is an attitude you can develop. Don’t just work for the sake of work, but work with optimism and hope for a better result.

  1. Work with excitement
How enthusiastic are you about your work? Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration. This is an attitude that helps you to feel your work, smell it and even taste it from afar. There are many individuals that are not happy with what they do. You can’t be excited about your work and not be productive.
  
  1. Work as a steward
Work with the mindset that you are accountable to someone, and that you must show your score card at the end of your task. Whether you are managing your business or you were appointed or employed to oversee a task, having that sense of accountability helps you to track your achievements.

  1. Work synergistically
Nothing replaces good relationship in the workplace. Developing the mindset of working in a cooperative or an interactive manner enhances productivity because the combined effort of the group is greater than individual effort. This means to work with value, respect and unity with your colleagues

  1. Work tirelessly
Develop your mind to be your motivator, and draw strength from within you. Work with a drive and without any form of discouragement

  1. Work with target
Set goals, and challenge yourself to achieve it. When a man doesn’t know where he is going, every where looks like it. There must an anticipated level of measuring productivity.

Sometimes focusing and doing little is more rewarding than doing more. It is all about your attitude rather than the work itself. You must make a decision today to value your work.




Scott Odigie is a Public Speaker and Professional Trainer 
on Personal Development, Organisation Motivation and Strategic leadership