Archives for July 2020

Ways to Boost Morale During Crunch Time

It’s essential to keep your employees motivated especially during crunch time. The best way to do this is by boosting morale. This leads to increased productivity, efficiency, and a better quality of work. This is because positive morale leads employees to have the confidence to do their best.

Here are some of the most effective ways to boost morale during one of the most difficult times⁠—crunch time.

Employee Recognition

The power of even the smallest amount of recognition does a lot to boost morale. When times are stressful, a small reward or bit of praise does a lot to give an employee the push they need to continue.

“Two methods of recognition that will motivate your sales team are incentives (like gift cards) and acknowledgment or praise. When your team does well, talk about it. Give compliments and thank them. Make sure they know that you genuinely care that they did well. It’s a simple gesture with a lot of power.” – COO Alliance

Everyone likes to be recognized for their hard work. It’s very motivating and motivation is a very powerful tool during crunch time.

Employee Feedback

When an employee feels like their troubles and stresses are being heard it makes it a lot easier for them to push through when times are difficult. When they know that, yes, things are difficult, but there is someone out there who is listening to them and wants to make things better, it feels very encouraging.

“Getting employee feedback is a great way to boost employee morale. When you show employees that you’re listening, they will feel heard and are far more likely to be motivated. But it isn’t enough just to collect feedback, you need to act on it as well.” – Connecteam

Even if it’s not feedback you can implement, thank the employee for it. Recognize that you are truly listening and always appreciate suggestions to make things better.

A Corporate Retreat

Obviously, it would be a terrible idea to go on a corporate retreat during crunch time, but having corporate retreats as part of your team-building exercises will help improve employee and employer relations. This will benefit you when crunch time does come around.

“The quality of relationships between the employer and employees, and among the employees themselves have a lot of impact on employee morale and how well they deliver. […] Company Retreats are one of the most essential tools used to cement relations among workers and between the employees and the employer.” – COO Alliance

Teamwork helps a company thrive, especially when things are getting intense around crunch time. With improved employee relations between each other and their employer, it helps with stronger, more effective communication especially through harder workdays.

Encourage Real Lunch Breaks

During crunch time a lunch break is sometimes the last thing people think about. It can seem so unimportant when there are piles of work to do and time is ticking by. No matter how much there is to do, it is essential for morale that both employees and employers make time for a lunch break.

“Research suggests that only one in five people take lunch breaks and that white-collar workers are least likely to step away from their desks for a break. Management professor Kimberly Elsbach told NPR that “staying inside, in the same location, is really detrimental to creative thinking.” – Inc.

During crunch time, it can be useful to bring lunch to your employees. When they’re busy, it can seem like a waste of time to go out and get something, but if lunch is brought to them it’s a lot harder to say no. All it takes is a breakroom, a table, and a sandwich platter.

There is always going to be a lot of work to do, but you can’t ignore employee morale for it. Boosting morale is the thing that’s going to get you and your employees through crunch time and get those piles of work done well.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Meetings Suck – How to Make Meetings More Productive

There is a good chance you’ve walked out of a meeting—or many—thinking “This was a waste of time.” Lots of negative opinions regarding meetings tend to be about them being boring, uninspired, or simply just required events in the company but not at all useful.

I’m here to tell you that meetings don’t have to be that way.

Done right, meetings can drive your company forward; you just have to know how to make them productive.

Prepare an Agenda

It is no question that every productive meeting absolutely needs a solid agenda ahead of time. Everyone attending needs to know that the meeting has a purpose and, to keep it productive, the meeting needs to stick to that purpose—get rid of the chance for stray topics to get you off track.

Purpose is integral to you, your business, and your employees. Without purpose, you and your team can easily become lost, bored, or dissatisfied.” – Cameron Herold

With an agenda, everyone can come prepared. If the entire team is very clear on what they’ll be discussing then no one comes in with nothing to contribute.

Time is Everything

Punctuality is not just a virtue, it’s about respect. When everyone is respectful of each other’s time meetings run a lot better. If someone decides to be late, the frustration the other people feel about that can impact the quality of their contribution to the meeting.

“Because time is money, and money is, therefore, someone’s time, you don’t want to waste their time or their money by being late. And you definitely don’t want to waste either of yours.” – Cameron Herold interviewed by Forbes

Meetings take the time you give to them, so limit that time. Maybe cut it in half if the usual meetings tend to feel slow, and you can increase productivity immensely.

Be Exclusive

If someone isn’t vital to the meeting then simply don’t let them attend.

“Everyone needs to be heard during a meeting. If you don’t need to hear from someone in the meeting, and that person silently sits in his or her chair, then that person didn’t need to be there.” – Cameron Herold

To foster strong communication everyone should have something to say. They should feel as if it’s important that they are there.

Know Your Workweek

It’s important to know your workweek inside and out—when your busiest times are, when your lulls are, etc—which also means you need to know your meeting schedule inside and out.

“Block your calendar to maximize your most productive time of day and save meetings for the lulls.” – Medium

It’s also just as useful to decide on specific days of the week to have meetings so that everyone knows which days they will get to work uninterrupted and which days they’ll have to work around a meeting. It’s very useful to have a routine around meetings so that people can get into a productive rhythm around them.

Experiment with a Change in Location

Sometimes plain conference rooms can contribute to the boring and uninspired stigma of meetings. If you’re meeting with a smaller group of people consider bringing that meeting somewhere else. A change in location can often trigger a new sense of productivity.

“When a small group is gathering, I like to take the meeting out of the conference room. Sometimes we will take a walk or find a place outside to sit. To me, a conference room — even a cool-looking one — puts people in “classroom” mode.” – Entrepreneur

When things grow dull, a change in location can be the exact thing needed to spark ideas.

Whether the meeting is big or small, there is always room for more productivity. Meetings are unavoidable so when they happen it’s important to make them matter.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

The Effects of a Toxic Work Culture – What’s Holding Your Team Back

A toxic work culture affects every aspect of your company—you, your employees, the work, the product, everything. Toxicity in the workplace spreads at disastrous speeds so you want to be able to catch it before it even starts. That means being able to identify the effects and their causes early on.

Here are some of the worst effects of a toxic work culture and how they’re holding your team back.

The Line Between Managers and Employees

A toxic work culture creates a kind of line between managers and employees. It puts each into their own bubble with very little interaction which is deadly to effective communication in the workplace.

“When they [managers and employees] do interact, it’s a one-way communication in which the manager tells the underling what to do. There’s no other give-and-take conversation or collaboration between management and everybody else.” – Forbes

This lack of give-and-take makes real communication between leaders and their teams hard to come by. Without proper communication, it won’t be long until your team falls apart.

A Lack of Transparency

A lack of transparency is another effect of a toxic work culture. If people are never open about how they’re feeling—especially when they’re unhappy—they tend to feel they need to fake being chirpy all the time. This quickly leads to burnout and disdain for the job.

“Be Authentic – It drives me nuts when people put on a game face, or a professional voice, etc. I’ve always found that when people are REALLY themselves, they resonate with everyone around them. My energy vibrates when I’m being me. I become a magnet, and I know it.” – Cameron Herold

Being open about your feelings creates an environment suited for people to lift each other up and spread happiness—essentially creating a thriving workplace.

There is No Community

A toxic work culture can ruin any sense of community between your team—whereas comradery is an essential component of a productive team.  It’s how things get done effectively and it keeps people feeling like they belong and matter in their job.

“The final sign of a toxic workplace is that there is no community. The few people who laugh and joke with one another get suspicious sideways looks from people who are too afraid to let their hair down. Outspoken employees and non-traditional thinkers don’t last long. They get disgusted and leave or they are invited to leave when their style clashes with the status quo.” – Forbes

A lack of community makes way for a cut-throat work environment which is very harmful to productivity over time. When there is a sense of community in the workplace it benefits everyone.

No One Goes the Extra Mile

Everyone begins to do the bare minimum to get the job done when they’re in a toxic work culture. People don’t feel engaged or needed so they don’t want to do more than what’s required.

“There’s a big difference in output among employees going the extra mile versus those just doing the minimum to get by, or in other words, “covering their asses.” This gap is felt at every level, from customer service to partnerships with key suppliers, and all the way up to senior organizational leaders.” – Inc

If no one is willing to go the extra mile then that puts your company at a standstill. To be successful you need a team that’s willing to push for more.

A toxic work culture can be detrimental to your company’s success, so it’s beneficial to you and your company to cultivate a healthy work culture.

The Harvard Business Review has a list of the characteristics of a healthy and positive workplace so that you know what to strive for:

  • Caring for, being interested in, and maintaining responsibility for colleagues as friends.
  • Providing support for one another, including offering kindness and compassion when others are struggling.
  • Avoiding blame and forgive mistakes.
  • Inspiring one another at work.
  • Emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work.
  • Treating one another with respect, gratitude, trust, and integrity.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

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Meetings Suck: Turning One Of The Most Loathed Elements Of Business Into One Of The Most Valuable

We all know that meetings suck, right?

You hear it all the time. It’s the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on.

Except it’s not actually true… 

Meetings don’t suck.

We just suck at running meetings.   

When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.

In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar.

This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensure that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away.

In the process, you’ll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work. 

In life, we always hear about people who’ve made huge decisions from their gut – without data.Today, I want you to make a decision, not only from your gut, but also from some data.  A decision that is only $12 per employee but will be priceless for your business.

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your company’s meetings.  You KNOW everyone complains about meetings.

People HATE going to them, they HATE running them, and they really have NO idea which meetings are truly necessary but they hold meetings simply because they think that is what they SHOULD do.

Even some of the smartest CEOs in the world complain about meetings – Elon Musk publicly told employees at Tesla & SpaceX to walk out of meetings if they weren’t being run properly.

I sent Elon a message saying that wasn’t going to fix anything – the key is to fix the root of the problem – NOT continue to ignore why meetings suck.

A Meeting is – Any phone call, video call or occasion where 2 or more people meet to discuss or work-through office topics.

Most employees on average spend 1-2 hours per day in meetings.

And likely, none of those employees – front-line staff or leaders – have had any training on how to attend meetings or participate in them, LET ALONE How to RUN THEM.

Consider this…

If the Average employee spends just 1 Hour per day in meetings – that’s 1/8th of their time.

If the Average employee earns $50,000 per year.

And they’re spending 1/8th of their time in meetings, that means you’re paying $6,250 dollars per year for just ONE employee to attend meetings.

The reality is, employees spend 1/8th of their time – and 1/8th of your company’s payroll – doing something they have literally NO idea how to do.

The Reality is…

95% of employees are booking & leading meetings – and they have NEVER been trained on how to run them.

95% of employees have had NO training on how to show up and participate in the meetings they attend daily.

And 95% of employees and companies have no idea what meetings are even necessary to hold.

Meetings CAN be hugely effective – IF you know how to run them

Meetings don’t SUCK, we just SUCK at running meetings. 

Investing $15 per employee – to help ensure the $50,000 a year you spend on them is an obvious and easy choice.

This could be the most impactful $15 you’ll ever spend and will save the company’s money, time and resources instantly.

Buying a copy of Meetings Suck for 100% of your employees and having them read it this month will have a huge impact on your company’s success.

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Free PR: How To Get Chased By The Press Without Hiring A PR Firm

Public relations has always been an essential part of doing business which is probably why you’re shelling out big money to an outside PR firm. But the truth is that you don’t need them. You already have all the necessary tools in-house to do as good a job as the so-called experts. 

Cameron Herold and Adrian Salamunovic have taught thousands of company execs how to exploit free media coverage and ditch these expensive, often ineffective outsiders. 

Cameron & Adrian have also built in-house PR teams, spent decades learning how to generate Free PR and how to leverage public relations to complement their sales and marketing strategy. 

In Free PR, you’ll learn how the media world operates while you gain invaluable insider knowledge and actionable advice on how to: 

  • Build your own in-house PR team
  • Provide effective interviews
  • Score great media coverage for free with just a few easy steps 

Landing public relations coverage for yourself and your company is a powerful tool to help elevate your personal brand. PR is easier to generate than marketing, PR is easier to leverage than marketing and PR is more cost effective than marketing. In other words, Public Relations is more critical than ever in growing your brand and your business. 

You’ve got more passion, commitment, a larger stake, and a deeper understanding of your business than any outside PR firm could ever have. So stop wasting money and take the reins yourself.  Learn the secrets to landing TONS of Free PR for your company.

What they’re saying:

“I think PR is the core for promoting any business. Public relations acquires customers! That’s what’s cool about this book.”

– Kevin O’Leary,  Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank

“The ultimate guidebook for those looking to get press, grow their brand, and get in front of the masses. Free PR is the roadmap you’ve been looking for.”

– Peter Shankman, Founder, Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

“Adrian and Cameron will show you the secrets of getting massive exposure for your business. This book is packed with actionable insights from two guys that actually know how to to do it.”

– Dan Martell,  Serial Entrepreneur & Investor (Intercom.io, Unbounce)

“I told Cameron to write the book on generating free PR. I’m excited to see that he’s finally sharing his secrets with the world. This is a must read for any entrepreneurial company and marketing team.”

– Verne Harnish, Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

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Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future

Many corporations have slick, flashy mission statements that ultimately do little to motivate employees and less to impress customers, investors, and partners. 

But there is a way to share your excitement for the future of your company in a clear, compelling, and powerful way and entrepreneur and business growth expert Cameron Herold can show you how. 

Vivid Vision is a revolutionary tool that will help owners, CEOs, and senior managers create inspirational, detailed, and actionable three-year mission statements for their companies. In this easy-to-follow guide, Herold walks organization leaders through the simple steps to creating their own Vivid Vision, from brainstorming to sharing the ideas to using the document to drive progress in the years to come. 

By focusing on mapping out how you see your company looking and feeling in every category of business, without getting bogged down by data and numbers or how it will happen, Vivid Vision creates a holistic road map to success that will get all of your teammates passionate about the big picture. 

Your company is your dream, one that you want to share with your staff, clients, and stakeholders. Vivid Vision is the tool you need to make that dream a reality.

miracle-morning

The Miracle Morning for
Entrepreneurs: Elevate Your SELF to
Elevate Your BUSINESS

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Hal Elrod’sThe Miracle Morning has helped redefine the mornings and the lives of millions of readers since 2012. Since then, careers have been launched, goals have been met, and dreams have been realized, all through the power of the Miracle Morning’s six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

THESE SIX DAILY PRACTICES WILL FUEL YOUR EFFORTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.

Now The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs brings you these principles in a whole new light—alongside the Entrepreneurial Elevation Principles and the Entrepreneur’s Elevation Skills. These are essential skills that you need to create a successful business and personal life. Cameron Herold— Bestselling Author and a widely-respected expert on entrepreneurial mindset—brings his wisdom and insight to you using Hal Elrod’s powerful Miracle Morning framework.

DEVELOP A VISION FOR YOUR BUSINESS, AND BECOME THE INFLUENTIAL AND INSPIRING LEADER YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE.

The principles and skills you’ll find in this book will help you to channel your passion and achieve balance in a remarkable new way. – Learn why mornings matter more than you think – Learn how to master your own self-leadership and accelerate your personal development – Learn how to manage your energy—physical, mental, and emotional – Learn how to implement Hal Elrod’s invaluable Life S.A.V.E.R.S. in your daily routine – And much more… You’re already an entrepreneur. Now discover how to take your success to the next level by first taking yourself to the next level. The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs is your roadmap to masterfully building an empire with a powerful vision, utilizing your areas of personal genius, with the right team at your side.

Start giving your business and your life the very best opportunities for success, right now.

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.