Maybe your client never returns your calls, or, on the flip side, needs to instant-message you at all hours. Their flaws may differ, but the bottom line is the same: They’re your worst client.

This client is way more work to deal with than the rest of your client list, pays way less or way slower, or all of the above. Perhaps the best thing you can do is get rid of them.

Why would you do such a thing — especially in this awful economic climate? Difficult clients can sap your energy. It’s exhausting and possibly even annoying to deal with them. Your workplace becomes less desirable, too — making it harder to keep good employees on the payroll. Then, you may simply lose the drive to find new business as you run around trying to meet your hell-client’s impossible demands.

You may think you need the business, but the reality is as soon as you give a nightmare client the heave-ho, you’ll probably find twice as much work elsewhere. The negativity a bad client puts into your life tends to keep you from finding quality clients.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to get rid of bum clients, though. Here are five tips that I’ve tactfully used to show downer clients the door.

1. Contain the damage. While you’re out finding new clients to replace Ms. Annoying, limit the time you have to spend with the offending client. When clients hire you for one thing but they keep demanding more and more, it’s time to set some boundaries. Remind them of the terms of your relationship, and let them know you’ll be charging more if additional work is required. Or, let them know you aren’t able to go beyond your original contract, as you’re too busy. Cutting them off may ease them out the door on their own.
2. Give lots of notice. If this client relies on you for regular work, tell them near the end of one project cycle, so they have time to find a new vendor. Or give 30 days’ notice. Whatever works within the context of your relationship.
3. Refer them. If this client annoys you, but you think a fellow entrepreneur might better suited — or at least, more willing — to deal with Mr. Picky’s issues than you, refer the client. Just be sure to properly warn the other business owner about your experience.
4. Keep it professional. Dysfunctional people usually aren’t going to change. There’s no need to go into a litany of their annoying habits. I usually say something along the lines of, “I’m sorry to say I won’t be able be able to work on your account anymore, as I’m fully booked.”
5. Announce a massive price hike. Calmly let the problem client know your rates have doubled, and they’ll usually head for the exits on their own. Be sure to name a rate at which you might be willing to keep this client on, as there’s always the possibility they’ll agree. It’s amazing how a lot more money might change your attitude about whether this client is really such a terrible problem.

Huge amounts of money are lost as a result of dipping productivity, a study shows, but in Australia it’s more about the quality than the quantity of work.

Each year a staggering $109 billion l wages is wasted as a result of falling productivity. That means nearly one -sixth of the nation’s $606 billion wage bill is not achieving its desired result.

The findings are from a recent study by Ernst & Young, which points the finger of blame at poor management.

The first inaugural Ernst & Young Productivity Pulse study surveyed 2500 workers and their employers spanning even sectors from all levels in the private and public sectors.

The report shows people management issues have the biggest impact on productivity (54 per cent) followed by organisational processes (23 per cent) innovation, (15 per cent) and technology (8 per cent).

Ernst & Young advisory leader, Neil Plumridge, says the real issue is not about the quantity of work as Australia is ranked among the hardest working in the developed world, notching up an average 44-hour week, but rather that the quality of work has fallen.

Productivity is an output measure and the data supports that Australians are working harder and they are motivated, with 71 per cent of the respondents saying they do their jobs to the best of their ability.

Workers aged 45 and above have the highest motivation, with 74 per cent keen to do their job to their best of their ability, versus 66 per cent of younger workers, under 45.

The biggest issue, says Plumridge, is the lack of focus on people management at a higher level.
Employers no longer focus on helping staff to develop their careers, so they can perform at their best.

“This hasn’t happened overnight,” he says, “This is a build-up of management practices over many years. Companies have too many agenda items.
The focus on people has become just another initiative or another activity as opposed to being the most important one.”

He adds that organisations have become overly complex, resulting in structures and processes that have become very inefficient.

Plumridge recalls a client telling him a tale of corporate bureacracy stifling productivity. “This client told me that over the past five years, the approval process to get a capital item approved had gone from weeks to months,” he says.  It now requires a dozen signatures internally to approve the expenditure, where as once it only need three or four people for the approval.”

He says that’s a result of organisations becoming increasingly risk averse, which produces more internal layers of red tape through to an increase of external governance and regulatory processes.

Second, technology – once hailed as a great aid to productivity – has become so complex, it is now slowing productivity. “While it’s true that technology has enhanced some of our work, it has also hindered some of the productivity,” he tells BRW.

“Each time new technology is introduced into the workplace, it’s not always fully integrated.”

Plumridge gives the following examples of technology waste. “Look at call centres: often the centre has all the latest applications but you’ll find the employees are toggling between two and three different systems, which is inefficient,” he says.

“Likewise where you have an accounts payable clerk who is still using paperwork and shuffling this manual processor with some new technology. The automation hasn’t kicked in, resulting in productivity waste.”

The report also found that only 40 per cent of survey respondents felt they had adequate training. “What about the other 60 per cent?” asks Plumridge.

He says organisations can increase productivity by removing non-value, bureaucratic work and by using effective structures to help employees move into new technology. BRW.

3 WAYS THAT TIME GETS WASTED AT THE OFFICE

1. Pointless activities
Products, services and activities that few people ever or rarely use, such as unnecessary reports or analysis, meetings, or forums.
This includes quality products and services that are performed then rejected.

2. Waiting around
Delay in waiting for action. This can be from a higher authority to review a decision or waiting for input from other parties. This includes waiting for IT, machine breakdowns and help desks.

3. Redoing work and doing work manually
Doing something manually or reworking an activity when it all can be done automatically. Work that is required to be done because the step before was inadequate, wrong, or defective. This includes work that is duplicated.

This Blog post is adapted and Based on a BRW Report by Emily Chantiri
All In a Day’s Work – BRW 16-10-2011

When I started at Napoleon Perdis, I was fortunate to start off from a blank slate with no prior experience, hence, no hang ups, no prejudices.  I learnt quickly and fell hard along the way, making sure the lessons I aquired along the way became deeply ingrained.

Trust is the biggest thing in building a business. Employees have to be able to trust their leader to make the right decisions on their behalf. In turn, leaders have to be able to trust their staff to execute the  strategy to make the business succeed. Both parties have to feel confident that one is doing right by the other.

Getting the people you need on board and invested is one thing but creating a team is different altogether. There are so many factors that must be understood and sorted for it to work.

To begin with, personalities play the biggest role in a group dynamic because unlike skills, they aren’t something you can sharpen or improve upon. Personalities are innate, so it’s best to cultivate them by creating a team of people that complement one another. Some people are visionaries and others are executors and different people have different strengths and weaknesses. It is the dynamic of a well-constructed team that makes big things happen. The principal challenge is to cultivate that dynamic.

When you’re building a business, the most important thing you can do is communicate your philosophy and continue to remind your staff why they are getting out of bed every day.

The most successful companies around the globe are the ones that make their entire team feel like they are an integral part of the success of the company.

It’s about creating a culture of accomplishment and sharing in the wins.

A business culture is cemented when an entire company, large or small, feels like it has a real purpose. It’s that “all-in” mentality of working towards the same goals, having the same fears and enjoying the same successes that morphs a company into a corporate family.

It is the leader’sjob to ensure their people are as motivated as they are. A company’s inspiration and drive has to resonate down to the people who turn up to face another day.  Without motivation, there would be nothing.

The interactions between a person and the team, the dynamic of that team within its group and the way that group fits in with the rest of the company will determine the ultimate success for the business, not just a savvy executive suite.

These interactions make a business successful and are also what can make it all come crashing down!

An organisation is only as good as the sum of its parts – the people, their virtues and how they practise them day in and day out. When you take your people and their personalities and make them feel like they truly belong to something, that is when the magic really starts to happen.

The term “incubation” was borrowed from ancient Greek practices at the temples of Asclepius. There the ill tried to have dreams that would tell them how to cure their malady.

Here is how we harness our dreams:

1. Write down your problem as a brief phrase or sentence and place this note next to your bed. Also keep a pen and paper- and perhaps a flashlight-alongside it.
2. Review the problem for a few minutes before going to bed.
3. Once in bed, visualize the problem as a concrete image, If possible.
4. Tell yourself you want to dream about the problem as you drift off to sleep.
5. On awakening, lie quietly before getting out of bed. Note whether you recall any trace of a dream and try to invite more of the dream to return. Write it down. If you want a more elaborate process, add these steps to your incubation routine:
6. At bedtime, picture yourself dreaming about the problem, awakening and writing on your bedside notepad.
7. Arrange objects connected to the problem on your night table or on the wall across from your bed.

Published in Scientific American Mind – November/December 2011

Having survived the tech-stock crash of 2001, the GFC of 2008, following are the top tactics that have assisted me in coping, surving and thriving through tough times.

1. Cashflow is crucial. It keeps the business moving and gives you ability to service debts.

2. Have cash in the bank. Only have debt on assets that help the business grow.

3. Don’t live in fear of the next downturn but have a budget and a plan. Do a “what if” analysis – list the top five or 10 things that could go wrong and how you can prepare for them. There’s only so much you can control.

4. Find new ways of reducing costs without affecting efficiency. Reduce overheads and find ways of being more productive such as new technologies.

5. When times get tough, business owners and senior management may have to roll up their sleeves and get back into selling.

6. Get enough data around your business performance, especially about the profitability of a particular market or sector.

7. On that same note, study the marketplace so you are aware of what customer preferences are and you can take on projects that will satisfy the customer.

8. Don’t get bogged down by the bad news. Try to be informed through different avenues, such as your own business network.

9. Start forming relationships with financiers and be transparent with them, in advance.

10. Invest in new products and new ways of doing things. Entrepreneurs across the world are investing in the future regardless of how badly the global economy is performing today.

The day after attending an industry event, the National Sales Manager of a well known skin care brand, got on the phone to the company of a contact he had made at the event.
He called reception because neither he nor the contact had their business cards on them at the event to exchange details.

It’s a common story these days – business cards aren’t what they used to be. Even when people do exchange cards, it’s likely that they will end up in a pile on the desk.

No one has the time to input personal details from these cards on their computer and in any case, with LinkedIn and Google and the like-do we really need business cards anymore?

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that business card usage is indeed on the decline.

There’s a dispute as to whether this has actually led to a decline in business volumes.

What everyone agrees on, however, is that business cards are being standardised, with printing specialists attesting to a decline in the variety of paper stock available from manufactures.
He believes this to be a function of a trend in which businesses are increasingly moving away from cards with “bells and whistles” to settle on a more standardised format across industries.

Business people say standardised is welcome.

Any steps away from the size and shape of the normal card is just frustrating because its tool small or too big and you’ll only end up losing it. You might think, oh, that’s interesting! for 10 seconds but then it becomes a hassle.

Networking expert Robyn Henderson agrees that cards on the whole are being produced to a more standard format but has also noticed the introduction of some new, interesting features.

“I saw a QR code [two-dimensional barcode] on the back of a business cards, and I thought it was really unusual but very useful, she says.
Henderson has also noticed the emergence of what she calls the “conference card”, a business card that includes a small picture of the person. Photos are a great feature which can really help to jog the memory.

She thinks the decline of the business card in some circles is because many professionals don’t feel comfortable in exchanging business cards in certain contexts.

The problem is that there’s an awkwardness about when to give [a business card] out,” she says. “A lot of people think ‘Oh, I’m being pushy if I [offer a business card]‘ when it really should just be an automatic part of communication. Henderson says this hesitance is completely misguided and is actually causing many professionals to miss out on great opportunities.

As a professional, Henderson is happy to say that the most rewarding contracts of her professional career have come via third-party introductions, which have come as the result of her business card being passed from one contact to another. “Every new connection you make is an opportunity to market yourself, because new contacts could be your new clients,” she says. “You need to make it as easy as possible for the other party to contact you.” And while some professionals may be lax about carrying business cards locally, she says this is an attitude that simply won’t fly for an executive wanting to engage in international business. Henderson believes that in international business, cards are a means of survival.

“You’ve got no hope [of doing business internationally] without a business card. You’ve got absolutely no way of establishing any credibility.”

How to get the most from a business card?

1 Keep them close:

The mad dash to locate business cards mid conversation can be an awkward and embarrassing process. It can be made even harder with a drink or canape in hand. Take the time to find  business cards before going into a function and put them in an easy-to reach place. Men can put them inside their top pocket, and women can use a business card holder if they don’t have pockets. Don’t be afraid to hold them in your hand, it makes the exchange a lot easier.?

2 Don’t hold back:

Many professionals are hesitant to give out cards for fear of looking pushy. Think of business cards as “name cards” – as they are known in Asian business circles. Such a change in perspective can help professionals become more comfortable in handing theirs out. I’m just giving them my name and saying, let’s stay in touch.’ It doesn’t mean you’re trying to sell them a thousand palletes.

3 Remember to read:

When you receive a card, you should take the time to really read it. This is courteous and can give you some great ideas to start a conversation; like asking someone questions about the city where the company is based is an easy way to get the chat flowing.

4 Sort the wheat from the chaff:

It’s not unusual to collect more than a dozen business cards at a single function. You ought to mark important cards by subtly bending their corner as you put them away. Or make a note like a  horoscope tag.The tag or dog ear will remind you which new contacts need a follow up.

5 Make contact like you mean it:

Don’t leave it to a personal assistant to send follow-up emails on your behalf. The response is likely to be impersonal and you can be sure your new connection will know that they’re not dealing with the real McCoy. It also opens the door for embarrassing encounters in the flesh, when a new connection thanks you for an email that you have no recollection of sending. Likewise, resist the urge to send generic emails to each new contact you have met after a function. It will only come off as insincere and is likely to be treated in the same way as junk mail.

An adapted post Based on a BRW Article by Samantha Hutchinson

1. Understand what exactly you want from a mentoring relationship

2. Research potential mentors – consider their experience, values and personality by speaking to several

3. Have a preliminary meeting with a potential mentor to check fit – chemistry, values, their commitment and enthusiasm, and their listening skills

4. Clarify your expectations with your potential mentor and ask whether they fit with what the mentor is offering

5. Review how its going after three meetings – at this point, fine tune it or, if its not a good fit, agree to part company

1. Match the medium to the message.  Use email for information sharing, make face-to-face, video-conference and Telephone contact for sensitive issues.

2. Recognise that staff need regular, enthusiastic contact to keep them motivated.

3. Be prepared to travel.  Meeting and greeting spreads the message and means problems can be spotted early.

4. Embrace technology.  Skype will work well once you have established working relationships.

5. Judge employees on what they produce, not necessarily how long they spend doing it.

6. Find ways of bringing staff together in informal contexts to help stimulate ideas and teamwork.

Are your customers truly happy with your products or services? It’s important to know — the answers could shape what you offer in the future, how you price it, or where you sell it.