Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as a company’s environmental, social and economic performance as well as the impact of the company on its internal and external stakeholders.

Some companies use other terms for CSR such as corporate responsibility, corporate sustainability and “triple bottom line”. Other companies prefer to treat each CSR item separately, such as environmental management and community or employee relations, etc.

The good news is that corporate social responsibility programs and initiatives are rapidly proliferating; we increasingly have the power, reach, and resources to make a difference.

The bad news is that despite this multitude of such programs, most efforts to date have been well communicated.

To be effective in Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, a company needs to do more than “doing good for your community”.

Companies will need to approach CSR strategically, as a viable component of their overall business strategy. That also includes h marketing, branding, research and development, innovation, talent management, and operations.

In potential.com we have launched over 100 various CSR programs that address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and target youth, women, and Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs). We call these programs Real World Education.

The most successful programs have been a result of strong alignment between the business strategy and the CSR strategy of the organizations involved in these programs.

Below are 10 key elements to Corporate Social Responsibility business strategy success:

• • Internal Assessment.

    Before designing a CSR strategy it is often helpful to assess your current CSR activities, looking at the whole picture what CSR policies, programs, and structures are already in place and where the “gaps” are.

  • Put it in writing.

    Ensure that your company creates a separate CSR statement or embeds its CSR commitment within the company’s mission or values statement, code of conduct or other appropriate company policy.

  • Embed CSR into the company planning and budget processes.

    The goal of a CSR management system is to ensure that CSR considerations are a part of all business decisions.

  • Develop processes for employees to raise CSR issues and concerns to appropriate decision-makers and advocates.

    An open environment is one of the easiest ways to solicit valuable feedback on CSR issues and problems.

  • Formalize the board- and executive- level responsibility for CSR issues.

    It is virtually impossible to successfully implement Corporate Social Responsibility in your company without board, executive and senior management buy-in, support, and accountability for CSR performance. Your ability to build senior-level vision and support will have a direct impact on the depth, breadth, longevity and overall effectiveness of your CSR work.

  • Communicate CSR performance visibly and frequently to all employees.

    Whether through newsletters, annual reports, intranet communication, meetings, training or other informal mechanisms, make sure your employees know CSR is a company priority.

  • Put CSR on the agenda of meetings at all levels of the company.

    This includes the board, executive and senior management, companywide meetings and departmental communications.

  • Provide training for employees directly involved in CSR activities.

    This is an ongoing commitment since training needs will change as the company’s CSR issues change and evolve.

    Below are examples of CSR activities:
    – Buying items that are fair trade
    – Carbon footprint reduction
    – Getting involved in charitable activities
    – Investing in firms that are environmentally aware
    – Participating in volunteer work

  • Create CSR accountability at all employee levels.

    Build CSR responsibilities into the job descriptions and performance evaluations of employees at all levels.

• Measure and communicate your performance.

  Whether you choose to engage in an internally managed assessment of your CSR performance, or contract out a formal external assessment of your  performance, find an honest and appropriate way to share the results with internal and external stakeholders

3 Key Areas that you should Measure your CSR Performance on

Many of the best companies now integrate corporate social responsibility into their day to day operations using civic engagement to create shared value to the community and business.

Instead of just focusing on profit generation, progressive companies look at what is called the Triple Bottom line which goes beyond the focus on profits – the original bottom line.

These Triple Bottom line or 3Ps allows companies to evaluate their performance in the following areas:

1. People which focuses on the development of the community and adherence to fair labor practices
2. Planet focused on the impact on the environment and what is being done to integrate sustainable environmental practices
3. Profit the economic value created by the organization after deducting the cost of all inputs, including the cost of the capital

By focusing on these 3 Ps, companies can ensure that they are using business as a way to address customer needs and create jobs while maintaining a healthy surrounding.

In today’s business environment, corporate social responsibility has become an integral part of cooperation’s operations. With a clear CSR strategy communicated to all employees within the company, everyone will be working towards the same goals; reflecting its values and its relationship to the society.

If you are interested in learning more and engaging with an expert to work with you on your 2022 CSR initiative, you can request a free consulting session here.

The post Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – 10 Key Elements to make an Impact appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

In this Supervisory Skills post, we will be giving you guidelines on how to become a supervisor. If you currently work as a supervisor, you will find this guide a helpful tool to improve and excel in your job.

Before we start, we’d like to share this interesting data from a Harvard study on how supervisors can play an important role in employee engagement. 

Supervisors are twice as likely to be rated highly on both their business results and their team’s satisfaction than middle managers, senior leaders and top management.

So developing your supervisory skills can be a critical stepping stone for other management and leadership positions.

5 Core Skills to Be a Good Supervisor

Have you ever struggled with leading a team?

Have you ever lost track of tasks and got stressed about deadlines?

Do you have a hard time making tough decisions?

Well, supervision is critical and vital to enterprises, companies, and institutes. Some core supervisory skills are required to become a better supervisor.

Supervisors lead teams, manage tasks, solve problems, report up and down the hierarchy, and much more. One of the pillars of growth in business is to have good leadership and supervision skills over employees and team members.

Therefore, improving your supervisory skills for better leading is important to be able to interact with others and make the right decision.

The Core Supervisory Skills

Here are the 5 Core Supervisory Skills that are essential to acquire:

1. Leadership Skills: Being a good leader is critical for a supervisor, it is the first step toward managing a team. Your team members or employees would rely on their leader for guidance and mentoring which is vital for success.
2. Time-Management Skills: Time Management is the seed to thriving in any task, it is implemented in every workplace and for any position. As a supervisor, you should learn how to manage your time as well as scheduling tasks for your employees. Therefore, time planning is critical to the success of any job or project.
3. Technical Skills: When an employee asks for your technical help and knowledge, you should be able to deliver as their supervisor. Mentoring, and passing on your technical skills are of great importance as a supervisor.
4. Communication Skills: Your communicative skills should be perfected as they happen to help you to deliver the message or task to an employee properly, as well as setting an example to the team members; it also maintains your prestige as a supervisor.
5. Judgmental Skills: Judgement of a certain situation, or deciding on a task is a skill acquired with experience, time, as well as trial and error.

Supervisory skills are easy to acquire and apply, yet it is still important to improve them.

So, improve your Core Skills and become a better supervisor with excellent leadership and time management skills.

Supervisory Skills require Leading by Example

Do you feel like your employees need motivation and inspiration from time to time but you cannot offer them that?

Do you feel like your judgments and decisions are the hardest part of your job?

Well, inspiring your employees and motivating them are essential for having a healthy and productive work environment.

Listening to your team members and being compassionate about their struggles and problems whether it is personal or work-related, gives your employees the chance to trust you and follow their leader. Therefore, following the steps introduced in this video will guarantee that you become a better leader.

Supervisors becoming leaders

Here are the 6 supervisory skills steps to lead by example and provide you with.

1. Inspire: Be an inspiration to your employees. Employees always seek guidance and they will instantly take their supervisor as an example. Setting the right example to your employees helps them do the job more efficiently as well as ensures that they will feel safer knowing that their supervisor is there to help.
2. Acknowledging failure: As a supervisor, you are still prone to failing or taking a wrong decision. Yet, failure can be a success if acknowledged and fixed. Being the supervisor, some employees might find it intriguing and will not acknowledge their mistakes due to fear. Your task is to assure them that it is okay to fail but it is not okay to keep on doing the wrong thing.
3. Motivation: To be a leader you should motivate. Motivation is a necessary factor that humans cherish. If an employee fails to do a job or lacks motivation, be a leader, help them with their work, or guide them. A manager tells an employee to do a task, a leader will do the task with the employees and supervise it.
4. Listening: Listening skills are vital to leadership. Listening to a suggestion from a team member could change the course of a task, action, or decision and direct it to the right path. As a supervisor, you should encourage everyone to speak, and you should listen.
5. Courage: As a leader, hard decisions must be made from time to time. Calculating risks and taking them needs a courageous leader. It also sets an example for the employees to always have the courage to suggest, and commit to a task even if it is risky as well as empowering you as a leader.
6. Compassion: Being compassionate with your employees or team members is a humanitarian act that every leader should practice. Employees are only humans and are prone to work-related or personal issues as well as the daily hassles that face them. Be the source of comfort to your employees and make them feel safe, but be tough when needed.

Leading by example helps you gain the trust of your team as well as inspire and motivate them. That is why it is essential for a supervisor to follow the above supervisory skills and to set the right examples for their team members to help guide them with their tasks.

Related book to read:

In Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential. I truly advise you to read or hear this book.

5 Methods to Gain Trust and Develop your Supervisory Skills

Do you feel like your employees do not trust you?

Are your employees scared of informing you?

Employees tend to work better and feel more comfortable when their supervisor or leader gains their trust.

This assures you as a supervisor that your employees would be more honest and will not feel threatened to inform you of their mistakes or their need for guidance. Therefore, practicing the methods introduced here will help you make employees and your team gain your trust.

Supervisory tips

Here are the 5 methods that will help you gain trust and improve your supervisory skills.

• Give Trust to Get Trusted: As a Supervisor, you should let your team know that you trust them and believe in them. To give your employees the trust needed, let them know that they can do their jobs and beyond that. Let them know that their job designations do not limit them, and make them feel that you are one of them, not their boss.
• Be Reliable: You can let your team rely on you when an experienced person is needed to complete the job. Let them know that they can rely on you to help them when they fail to do a task.
• Take blame & give credit: When success occurs or when a task is accomplished, do not take all the credit, give your employees the credit and congratulate them on their accomplishments. Praise them to your boss in front of them. When a failure occurs, do not blame your employees, instead, blame the methodology of the enterprise or your own leadership that might need some improvement.
• Keep the door open: Although you have a higher job designation in the hierarchy, always be humble. An open-door policy is one of the best policies to show your employees that they can come in and share thoughts or worries at any time without any fear.
• Share Information: Employees love to talk, whether it is good or bad news, sharing information with your employees is important. Although some information must remain confidential, other information like the success or progress of a project should be shared with the employees. Bad news should be shared as well. This shows your team that you are not hiding anything and will make them trust you more.

Earning and giving trust is only a natural human response that can be dealt with using simple supervisory skills techniques that you would use in your everyday routine. For a leader, having the trust of the team encourages communication and in turn, sustains the success of the business.

4 Ways to Improve Your Role as a Supervisor

Are there ways to improve your supervision skills? Do you believe that your employees are always expecting the best from you? A supervisor should always work on improving themselves to set an example for the employees.

Improving your supervisory skills

Here are 4 ways to improve yourself and your supervisory skills:

• Be a Mentor: Being a supervisor, leading by example also means that you should be a mentor to your employees. As a mentor, you should examine the highest potential of your team members individually and push them forward to achieve their best. Being a role model to your team is also essential and is achieved by setting rules and guidelines and following them as well as handling problems and risks properly.
• Know when to Discipline: Leaders make hard decisions all the time, it can include a decision to take a risk that might help the business succeed, or a decision to terminate an employee. Discipline to an employee is a necessity to make sure no one steps over the limits.
• Give Positive Feedback: Employees who achieve a goal or complete a task always look for feedback. Leaders should give positive feedback to their employees even if they did not do the right thing. Instead of telling them that what they did was wrong, tell them that they can improve.
• Be up to date: Any employee should always be up to date with the current business situation and updates on the field. With your help as a leader and a supervisor, guidelines, and workshops can help increase the team’s knowledge.

Great Leaders always look forward to improving themselves as they develop their supervisory skills. Improving yourself makes you a role model to your employees and helps in increasing the productive outcome of your team members.

See Also: Top Reasons to Delegate

5 Pitfalls you Should Avoid as a Supervisor

Here are 5 pitfalls you should avoid as part of your supervisory skills development:

• Not Planning Properly: Project Management is essential to complete all the tasks assigned. Your job as a supervisor is to plan ahead of time for every detail and schedule all tasks beforehand to avoid exceeding an assigned deadline.
• Laying off work: Although you are a supervisor, laying off work is an act that should not be practiced because it sets a bad example for your employees. It also increases the load on your team members which in turn delivers an unacceptable outcome and a decline in productivity rate.
• Not Giving your employees enough work: Just like how you should not let others do all the work, you should not do all the work yourself. Distribute the work per the job designations and responsibilities of your team members. Not having an even distribution of work might also cause a decline in productivity, as well as having your employees slacking due to the lack of tasks assigned.
• Being too Friendly: At all costs, avoid being too friendly. Moderation is the key, allow your employees to trust you and rely on you, but do not let them step over you or exceed their limits.
• Recruiting the wrong people: As a supervisor, you sometimes need to recruit more team members. Recruiting the wrong people gives off a bad impression on your judgment as a supervisor. Instead, you can make sure that the candidate gets a proper briefing and training before getting the job.

Mistakes are easily made but can be easily avoided. Being a supervisor, making a mistake is expected, so work on avoiding it next time and make sure you teach that pitfall to your team.

We hope the above supervisory skills tips help you become a better leader and propel your career.

The post Supervisory Skills – Steps to Become a Successful Supervisor (Updated) – Potential.com appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

Everyone is involved in initiating and managing projects, from planning your next vacation to launching a new product in your business.

We believe that project management skills are fundamental and should thus be taught to everyone starting from the school years.

Project managers delivered a 25% decrease in failed projects – according to the State of PMO report.

Whether project management is part of your day-to-day activities or you just need to manage an ad-hoc project, this blog will provide the essential training for effectively managing a project of any size. 

Introduction to Project Management Skills

What exactly is a project? A project is a temporary group of activities designed to produce a unique product, service, or result. It is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. 

Project management elements

A project has four essential elements: 

• A specific timeframe with well-defined start and end date and set milestones 
• A well-coordinated approach to co-dependent events and the sequence by which these events occur 
• The desired outcome such as a measurable milestone, timeline, goal or objective 
• Unique characteristics and challenges dependent on the project resources, scope and environment 

Project management skills are the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Projects are delivered in stages with common project management processes running across these stages. 

Project management process

Project management processes fall into five groups: 

• Initiating 
• Planning 
• Executing 
• Monitoring and Controlling 
• Closing 

Phases, or stages, are very important for project managers to ensure that the deliverables produced at the end of each phase meet their purpose, and that project team members are properly prepared for the next phase.                

Remember as a project manager you need to be ready to plan, manage, implement, control, support, measure & report, communicate, and face unplanned challenges and risks. 

Project Management – Initiating and Planning a Project 

Getting your project off to a good start is essential for the success of the project. Lack of clarity in your project objectives can result in the project heading in different directions, and building up unrealistic expectations and worries. 

Before you start your planning, controlling, and reporting activities, you need to get everyone on the same page. This is done through a well-defined Project Initiation Document (PID), which is considered the top-level project-planning document ensuring all stakeholders understand where the project is heading. 

Project Initiation Document

The PID would include the information needed to get your project started, and communicate key information to the project’s stakeholders. 

The PID normally includes: 

1. Project Name 
2. Project Purpose & Benefits 
3. Expected Objectives 
4. Deliverables & Outcome 

Your Project Initiation Document provides the following: 

• Defines your project and its scope 
• Justifies your project 
• Secures funding for the project, if necessary 
• Defines the roles and responsibilities of project participants 
• Gives people the information they need to be productive and effective right from the start 

By creating a PID, you’ll answer the questions: What? Why? Who? How? When? 

Creating your Project Plan 

Once you have created your Project Initiation Document, you are ready to create your Project Plan, which is the project’s roadmap. To create a project plan you will need to have: 

• Personal and project calendars in terms of working days, shifts, and resource availability 
• Description of project scope to determine key start and end dates, major assumptions behind the plan, and key constraints and restrictions. 
• Stakeholder expectations to help determine project milestones. 
• Project risks to make sure there’s planned time to deal with identified risks 
• Lists of activities and resource requirements to determine if there are other constraints to consider when developing the schedule 

Your project plan should: 

• Guide project execution and control 
• Document planning assumptions and decisions, 
• Facilitate communication among stakeholders 
• Document approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines 

Project management tools

Your project plan could be created using: 

• Gantt Charts: Gantt charts convey this information visually. They outline all of the tasks involved in a project, and their order, shown against a timescale. This gives you an instant overview of a project, its associated tasks, and when these need to be finished 
• PERT Charts (Critical Path Analysis):  Define the sequential order of activities where you cannot start some activities until others are finished 
• A simple Excel file 

What should be included in your Project Plan 

The project plan is the project’s roadmap that creates the common language that all stakeholders can reference to ensure that the project is on target with regards to time, output and costs. Read more: What Project Plan Elements Should You Include

Effectively Executing a Project 

Now that you have your project plan in place, you are ready to start executing on the phases of the project towards the expected deliverables. Execution involves proper allocation, co-ordination and management of human, physical, and financial resources. 

Throughout execution, as a project manager, you will be monitoring and controlling all the processes, deliverables and project performance so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken. 

Monitoring and controlling typically include: 

• Measuring the ongoing project activities (the As-Is – ‘where we are’); 
• Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project management plan and the project performance baseline (the To-Be - where we should be); 
• Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get on track again); 
• Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented. 

Project managers need to monitor three key elements: Time, Scope and Cost.

The scope covers the deliverables at certain agreed quality and within a defined time. Quality should never be sacrificed, but can be adjusted through re-scoping, in agreement with project owner. 

Effective Project Management Skills Communication 

Project Managers can use a Project Dashboard to quickly and effectively communicate the project status. This can be achieved by following the steps below: 

1. Assess your goals and expectations for the dashboard: Why you are you using it? What should it tell you in terms of budget, meetings, resources, activities statuses, and risks 
2. Define what should be shown on the Project Dashboard, and how this should be represented. 
3. Make sure that people are held personally accountable for their Project Dashboard judgment calls and decisions. 
4. Enhance your dashboard as needed by adding or eliminating measures, increasing or reducing the sensitivity of reporting, encouraging people to make good judgment calls, and validating the information being reported. 

For more complex projects, project managers can use the Project Milestone Report for effective status communication. This report includes: 

1. Description of the Milestone: Details about what was accomplished in order to complete the milestone specification. 
2. Due Date: When the milestone was due according to the current project plan. 
3. Actual Completion Date: When the milestone was actually accomplished. 
4. Comments: Details about modifications from the original plan i.e. why the due date was missed or why deliverables were changed. 

Project communication can occur through various channels based on the defined communication plan. Although online communication channels are effective, project managers need to hold regular meetings throughout the project lifecycle.

Project Management – Closing A Project

Once all the phases of the project are completed, the project manager needs to ensure the formal acceptance and end of the project. At this stage, project managers and teams are responsible for archiving all the files and documenting lessons learned. 

The closing phase consists of: 

• Contract closure including the resolution of any open items and the closing of each contract applicable to the project or project phase 
• Project closure to finalize all activities across all processes to formally close the project or a project phase 

The closing also includes a Post Implementation Review phase. This is a vital phase of the project for the project team to learn from experiences and apply lessons learned to future projects. 

What Makes a Successful Project Manager 

Communication is a key skill for project managers.

Project managers spend up to 90% of their time in communication (meetings, phone calls, emails, letters). 

The duties and responsibilities of project managers vary from one project to another and from one company to another. However, the following duties are somewhat common to all project managers: 

• Project Planning 
• Interacting and communicating with key stakeholders 
• Procuring project resources 
• Interacting with outside clients, vendors and suppliers 
• Initiating project implementation 
• Continually monitoring the project progress, reviewing interim objectives and adjusting the project elements as needed 
• Managing the project team, delegating and providing feedback 
• Identifying opportunities and problems and related solutions and adjustments 
• Managing and resolving conflicts 
• Consulting with advisors, mentors and coaches 

Successful Project Managers possess diverse skills and characteristics such as: 

• Leadership & self-confidence 
• Pragmatism & empathy 
• Conduct meetings effectively 
• Conflict resolution & sound judgment 
• Negotiation & influence 
• Team building and motivation 
• Relationship management 
• Decision making & analysis (Data and Impact) 
• Detailed oriented and seeing the big picture 
• Listening, generosity, flexibility, humor & calmness 
• Able to give and receive criticism 
• Awareness of project management skills
• Political and cultural awareness 
• General management

Common Project Manager Pitfalls 

Project managers are put in very sensitive and difficult positions surrounded by possibilities of errors and things going wrong at each stage of the project. 

Some pitfalls that Project Managers should avoid include: 

• The failure to address issues immediately 
• Rescheduling too often 
• Be content with reaching milestones on time while ignoring quality 
• Focusing more on project administrating and less on project management 
• Micromanaging rather than managing and delegating effectively 
• Adopting new tools to quickly 
• Monitoring project progress intermittently 

Just like with any other profession, project managers are constant learners. They continuously work on enhancing their technical, managerial and interpersonal skills. They learn from their mistakes and use their experiences to manage their future projects successfully. 

The Project Manager’s Checklist 

Project managers utilize their skills and techniques at every stage of the project lifecycle. Here is a list of areas that Project Managers need to ensure that they do well: 

• Project Integration: Develop a solid understanding of the project’s goals, and how the various elements will fit together for a successful outcome. 
• Scope Management: Define the scope at the very start of your project based on the requirements and manage it closely against sign-off while effectively controlling any variations. 
• Schedule Management: Clearly define the sequence of activities, estimate the time needed for each one, and build in sufficient contingency time to allow for the unexpected. 
• Cost Management: Remain systematic with your estimating, budgeting, and controlling the project decisions will could an impact on cost. Understand what’s driving your costs and to develop a system for monitoring the project’s financial performance.  
• Quality Management: Projects must be delivered on time, on budget, and to specification. 
• People Management: Get the correct mix of interpersonal, technical and political skills on your team. 
• Communication: Communicate with the right people at the right time and using adequate methods. 
• Risk Management: Understand which of the risks are significant and develop a plan for monitoring and controlling the major risks involved in your project. 
• Project Procurement: In case you are using external suppliers you will need to closely manage the cost, time and quality impact. 

By keeping an eye on these areas, Project Managers can ensure that they deliver successful projects that are on time, budget and within the quality level needed. 

The post Project Management: Ultimate guide to successful projects (Updated) – Potential.com appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

It has become clear without a doubt, that businesses around the world have a responsibility toward their environment and communities to grow in a responsible and sustainable manner. Our planet needs it and our customers demand it! As such, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been elevated to strategic business activity within each organization. 

Anyone that is looking at launching or being part of effective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs would benefit from this article including: CSR Managers, Entrepreneurs, Marketing Managers, PR Managers, Recent Graduates 

Key Areas that Companies should Measure their Performance on 

Many of the best companies now integrate corporate social responsibility (CSR) into their day to day operations using civic engagement to create shared value for the community and business. Instead of just focusing on profit generation, progressive companies look at what is called the Triple Bottom line which goes beyond the focus on profits – the original bottom line.  

These Triple Bottom line or 3Ps allows companies to evaluate their performance in the following areas:  

1. People which focuses on the development of the community and adherence to fair labor practices 
2. Planet focused on the impact on the environment and what is being done to integrate sustainable environmental practices  
3. Profit the economic value created by the organization after deducting the cost of all inputs, including the cost of the capital 

By focusing on these 3 Ps, companies can ensure that they are using business as a way to address customer needs and create jobs while maintaining a healthy surrounding.  

Related article: Corporate Social Responsibility – 10 Key Elements to make an Impact

Ways in Which Diversity and Inclusion can Help your Workplace

Diversity in the workplace ensures that there is a healthy mix of gender, ethnic and religious talent that is a reflection of the actual world we live in. By having such diversity that is brought together in an inclusive environment and not a quota has driven one, businesses benefit dramatically. 

Here are 5 ways in which diversity and inclusion can help your workplace: 

1. Greater creativity outputs countless studies have shown creativity improvements in diverse teams 
2. Better engagement from employees since no one feels left out  
3. A better  understanding of customer needs since customers would be well represented in the team 
4. Higher productivity since people feel that they are valued in an inclusive workplace 
5. Higher profit where many studies have shown that top-performing companies have diverse and inclusive cultures 

There is no doubt that by integrating people from diverse backgrounds in the workplace, the benefits are immense, and what companies should ensure is that the culture in the organization is an inclusive one, where people are valued, respected and supported.  

If we consider diversity as the melting pot, inclusion is getting the ingredients to taste well together.

Why you should Launch an Open Innovation Program as your Next Community Project 

Innovation is needed by all organizations to survive in today’s fast-changing world. While we might have very talented teams working for us, we can never assume that we have a complete set of creative talent within the boundaries of our organization. As such it would be great to tap into the wisdom of our users and community where we operate and seek their ideas on how we can innovate further. In doing so, we can have a positive social impact and include this as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. 

Here are 4 reasons why you should launch an open innovation program:  

1. You can get access to ideas from the community in a very affordable way 
2. While engaging in getting ideas from the community, you can also educate them on key aspects of your industry 
3. You would be able to identify top talent through the engagement that you might hire later on 
4. It could help position your brand as open and innovative thus creating more loyalty 

Running such open innovative programs is not as difficult as it used to be since it is relatively easy to reach out to a broad audience online and identify from there who are the best participants to engage in your programs. In doing so you can ensure that you are doing well for your community and for your business.  

Reasons Why Doing Good for your Community is Good for your Business

Gone are the days when companies can just focus on their sales and profit numbers and disregard their impact on the community and environment around them. Customers, governments, and shareholders are holding businesses more accountable toward their surroundings as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This doesn’t mean though that companies who do good need to compromise on profits.  

Here are 5 reasons why doing good for your community can also be good for your business:  

1. Increased sales, since today’s customers like to buy from companies that they perceive are socially responsible  
2. Hiring great talent, since many studies have shown that the most talented employees need to feel that their job has a sense of purpose  
3. Better brand awareness, since the press and media will help in sharing stories of good business practices much more than just talking about your products or services 
4. More engagement from your customers as they could participate with you in the community projects that you organize 
5. Stronger brand loyalty where customers would not be as inclined to switch to a competitor when they appreciate the value you are providing to the community. 

So, launching such community projects that help those around you is not only good for them but also can have a very positive impact on your team, your marketing, and your bottom line.  

Reasons Why Educational Programs can be Great Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Tools

Many companies struggle to identify corporate engagement or corporate citizenship programs that work for them. Some resort to charity work, while others have their teams volunteer in community activities but this kind of activity struggle to maintain momentum or sustainability. Education programs that are launched by businesses to help educate the community about something meaningful to them can have a very positive impact on the community itself and the business.  

Here are 5 reasons why educational programs can be great Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) tools for your business 

1. You can align the education to your business so that you are seen as a thought leader in that space – raising your brand awareness 
2. Giving your team a chance to volunteer in workshops or mentorship sessions where they develop their own expertise further  
3. Developing educational material can be a great way to create content that can then be repurposed on your social media and website 
4. Using it for open innovation where you educate your community industry challenges and rewarding the best solutions or ideas  
5. Using education to foster engagement from your community as they interact with your program 

So for the next corporate engagement opportunity that you are exploring, identify what areas of development could be useful for your community and aligned to your business. By creating relevant educational content, you would be doing good for both.   

To give you further ideas about various CSR Programs, check our empowerment page. We use the following form when we are launching a program on behalf of a client. Check it out, it could be of use to you as you launch your next social initiative.

The post Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): An Essential Strategic Business Tool appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

By recording minutes of meeting, you will assure that everything in the meeting has been documented to help in documenting decisions and taking actions. In project meetings, this is an essential tool to move the project forward. It’s also a key part of business etiquette.

Minutes of meeting allow you to ensure that everyone in the meeting is on the same page and that there is no ambiguity about what was agreed. This is essential when working on projects with clients so that you ensure that you have an agreement on the scope of a project and how you are progressing against that scope.

Related content: Setting a project scope

So, let’s move on to the steps you can follow to prepare your minutes of meeting.

Minutes of Meeting

Step 1. Before the Meeting

Create a template to record minutes of meeting this; template should include:

• Date and time of the meeting
• The purpose of the meeting
• The meeting lead’s name
• Assigned action items
• Decisions made

Step 2: During the meeting

• Write notes or record the meeting. If you are recording the meeting, make sure you have informed everyone that you will be doing so
• Check if all attendees are present and take their business cards.
• Try and take an outline of what is said or done and don’t go too much into detail.
• Record all notes directly into the template so you don’t get confused later
• Number the pages so the sequence of the meeting is identified

Step 3: After the meeting

• Review the notes and add additional comments, or clarify what you didn’t understand right after the meeting.
• Type your notes on the template so it is easier for everyone to read
• Assure that your document is reviewed with the meeting lead before sending it across

Try to send the minutes of the meeting to all participants, as close to the actual meeting time as possible. The minutes of meeting document is like an ice cube, the more it is delayed the more its value melts away.

If you would like to see a video of the above tips, check it out here.

Following these three steps will help you create a clear and concise “minutes of meeting” document.

The post Minutes of Meeting – Step by Step Guide appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

It involves treating co-workers, employers, and customers with respect and courtesy in a way that creates a pleasant work environment for everyone.

Poor business etiquette can cost you the trust of your workers and your customers, and the loss of valuable business opportunities.

In what follows, we will focus on business etiquette in meetings and work in general. You might be interested in our Email etiquette and Telephone etiquette posts.

Business Etiquette in Meetings

To set the right environment before going into a meeting, here are some tips for getting the best out of your meetings:

• Socialize with the attendees of the meeting before the meeting starts. Speak about the weekend, your interests and any other nice conversations.
• Stand up when being introduced to someone and exchange your business cards.
• Be punctual. Being on time will reflect that you are dependable and committed.
• Sit upright at the same level as everyone else and don’t cross your legs as that could be viewed as inappropriate.
• Dress appropriately. Business attire is required for all business meetings i.e. formal pants, a shirt or blouse and a jacket with formal shoes.
• No need to pull out a ladies chair for her as this can be viewed as gender biased.

Keeping these tips in mind will help you keep and maintain a professionalism in a meeting.

Business Etiquette Tips for Communicating in a Meeting 

Below are some points you can keep in mind when in a meeting:

• Be concise and clear. Be straight to the point and don’t repeat yourself.
• Make sure you are well prepared. Have a checklist of the different things that you would like to discuss and tick off the different points on your checklist once you have covered them.
• Speak out loud and clear so everyone can hear you.
• Listen well and do not interrupt. Interrupt only when you think is necessary and allow others to express themselves. Ask any questions as you move along during the meeting.
• You can drink something during a meeting like coffee, tea, and water. Just refrain from having any gum or food.
• Do not put your phone out. Keep it in your bag or pocket and do not send any text messages during the meeting. If you have to take a call, apologize for the interruption and take it outside the meeting room. Make sure it is quick.
• Take notes in the meeting so you can follow up later with an email or “minutes of meeting” document. If you choose to record the meeting on your phone and not use a paper and pencil make sure that you inform the attendees of the meeting that you are recording.

Keeping these tips in mind will help you communicate professionally during a meeting.

Professionalism in the Workplace – The Essentials in Business Etiquette 

Characteristics you should possess to shine in the workplace and be recognized for his/her professionalism are:

• Be Competent. Make sure you have the skills and knowledge to be good at what you do.
• Be Reliable and Honest.  Make sure that people can depend on you to show up on time and meet deadlines. Tell the truth about what has been accomplished and what has not.
• Have Integrity. Stick to your principles no matter the circumstances.
• Make sure you respect others and support others. Treat all people in your workspace equally and make sure you acknowledge their success and shed the light on their achievements and guide them if they need help.
• Upgrade yourself. Research and be up to date with all the details related to your field.
• Be Positive. Have an upbeat optimistic approach and attitude.
• Staying Work-Focused. Keep your personal matters at home.
• Don’t forget. You should always take notes and make sure you are on top of all your tasks and tick off the tasks you have daily. “I forgot!” is for slackers and unreliable people.

If you abide by the above, you will convey the professional characteristics of an employee. It would be great for your teamwork, for your customer service and for your sales efforts.

After all, you don’t want to be like every fish in the sea. You need to shine and stand out to progress and move forward.

The post Business Etiquette – Essential Business Skills appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

Actually, a big portion of all internet traffic is still email – despite the fact that 60% of email traffic is made up of SPAM! I’m sure you come across SPAM emails on a daily basis.

In this post, I will provide you with some tips to improve your email communication skills, sending minutes of a meeting, and e-marketing by using some email etiquette tips.

But let’s start with a small definition of Etiquette in general. According to the Collins dictionary,

Etiquette is a set of customs and rules for polite behavior, especially among a particular class of people or in a particular profession.

Email etiquette is just an extension of that definition to cover conversations that take place through email. It’s one of the key elements of business etiquette in addition to phone etiquette and meetings etiquette. It’s also essential for effective customer service and digital marketing.

Related Content: Ultimate Digital Marketing Guide

Here are some Email Etiquette Tips that you can use in your day to day work:

Follow the following email etiquette tips when sending out business emails:

• Fill the subject line with something catchy that means a lot to your reader.
• Try to be straight to the point and include your main message at the beginning of the email. Make sure your email doesn’t exceed 2-3 paragraphs. You can always add a more information section or attach a document with all the details so that it is optional for the reader to go through it.
• Be clear with your message and keep it simple
• Make sure your email has no punctuation or grammatical errors. Use spell and grammar check and proofread your email many times before sending it across
• Remember to say please and thank you. Be polite as you would in a normal conversation
• Add a signature block section with the contact details necessary. There is no need to clutter your email with “sayings” or artwork in the signature section. Keep it nice and neat.
• Be firm in terms of receiving responses and respond to your emails. If there are any delays be sure to clarify the reasons behind the delay.

Email etiquette could be very helpful in customer service situations since it makes a huge difference when a customer feels they are being respected.

If you run across a client who is complaining about a product or service make sure that you are positive and friendly. You can watch the below video to see 5 Great Customer Service Words & Phrases:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83VVs-bzrR4

Finally, remember before you press the send button on an email or email marketing list that you follow the following email etiquette best practices:

• You have a clear and concise subject line
• You have used the right salutation to who you are sending the email to
• You have done your best to keep the email short and simple
• You have minimized the use of images and have provided a text alternative to the content of within the text. This is a good practice, in case the recipient’s server doesn’t load the images
• You have put your contact details at the bottom of the email

In summary, you should keep in mind, Email etiquette is about writing and responding to your emails in a highly professional manner.

Email is the business world’s communication tool, so treat it that way.

The post Email Etiquette – Tips for Better Communications appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

In this post, I will provide you with some tips to improve your communication skills, customer service, and sales opportunities by using some telephone etiquette tips.

But let’s start with a small definition of Etiquette in general. According to the Collins dictionary,

Etiquette is a set of customs and rules for polite behavior, especially among a particular class of people or in a particular profession.

Telephone etiquette is just an extension of that definition to cover conversations that take place through a phone. It’s one of the key elements of business etiquette in addition to email etiquette and meetings etiquette. It’s also essential for effective customer service.

Related Content: Customer Service Tips for Your Business

Here are some Telephone Etiquette Tips that you can use in your day to day work:

When responding to a phone call in an organization you can follow the below points so that you convey professionalism in your working environment.

Some telephone etiquette tips that you can use to ensure a good call flow are:

As a start, Pick up the phone quickly. People don’t like to wait while calling make sure that you answer a call by the third ring.

Then, Answer the phone with a formal greeting. Start by greeting and introducing yourself. You could say, “Good morning/ Good evening / Good Afternoon, This is Sara from Potential, how may I direct your call?”

Smile as you speak! It’s hard to believe but people can pick up if you are smiling without actually seeing you. Smiling makes you sound pleasant on the phone.

End the conversation by saying “Thank you sir/ madam, is there anything else I can help you with?”

In general, follow these telephone etiquette best practices:

Make sure you use sentences like “Looking forward to seeing you soon. Looking forward to hearing from you again. Thank you for calling Potential”

Make sure that the vibes given on the phone are positive and reflect total assertiveness and professionalism.

Make sure that there isn’t too much noise in the background. Do your calls from a quiet area in the office or from the inside of your parked car.

If you run across a client who is complaining about a product or service make sure that you are positive and friendly. You can watch the below video to see 5 Great Customer Service Words & Phrases:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83VVs-bzrR4

Here are some telephone etiquette tips that you can use in general.

If you are taking a message for your colleagues or team you should take the details below:

1. The caller’s name
2. The person he/she is calling
3. The purpose of the call
4. An email or contact number where he/she can be reached.

Make sure you repeat the number to ensure that it is accurate. Give the same information if you were to leave a message for someone.

Related Content: Teamwork – Effective Team Building

Following the above points will help in your day to day interactions on the phone. The most important thing to remember in telephone etiquette is to SMILE! It’s also the easiest thing you can do!

The post Telephone Etiquette – Tips for Better Phone Conversations appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

In simple terms, pricing is the process of determining what a business will receive in exchange for its goods and/or services. Pricing decisions should be based, not only on what is necessary to recover business costs or match competitors but also on the customer’s perception of what the good or service is really worth!

So how can you make appropriate first-time pricing decisions?

1. Establish a strategic pricing objective, that reflects what you hope to accomplish with the product in its target market, and which is congruent with your business and marketing strategies.

2. Estimate demand by carefully examining the factors affecting customers’ price sensitivity: perceptions and preferences, awareness of and attitude towards alternative brands and substitute products, as well as ability to pay for a good or service.

3. Pinpoint the perceived value a potential customer will associate with a given product-market entry, and the price he/she is willing to pay!

4. Determine costs and their relationship to volume, while taking the following volume-cost relationships into consideration: economies of scale and the experience curve.

5. Track and analyze your competitors’ prices, costs, and relative quality of offers. Pick the most appropriate pricing method(s): cost-oriented, competition-oriented, and demand/customer-oriented. Then, adapt price structure to meet variations in demand and cost across geographic territories, market segments, and sales channels.

The pricing of your product is a key element in determining the profitability of your business!

The post Making Correct Pricing Decisions for your Business Marketing Success appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as the name suggests operate on a smaller level and thus can always be short on their budgets for carrying out the business activities. Hiring talented people as the business grows becomes a great challenge as the budget constraints hinder in attracting top talent.

So what should you do as an SME to get these highly talented individuals to work for you?

• Flexible Working Hours

  Offering individuals with flexible working hours is one of the ways to make them work for you. The budget constraints do not allow for high salaries and lucrative benefits, which the top talent will demand. Offering them flexible working hours will provide them freedom to choose their working hours and also help maintain a good balance between personal and professional life. Regus Country Manager for UAE, Kory Thompson, says that flexible working practices are one of the key ways to attract and retain top talent. Similarly, a study by Vodafone last year revealed that flexible working hours are as important to employees as the financial benefits. Thus, as an SME you should look to make flexible working practices as part of your human resource strategy.

• Contract / Freelance work

  Another way for attracting talented individuals to work for you is by offering them work on contract/freelance basis and allowing them to physically work from any convenient place. Also, offering top talent highly challenging jobs are attractive. Offering them something new and different will attract the brilliant people as they would like to have a say in the development and growth of a company rather than following commands or executing someone else’s strategy.

• Laissez-faire working environment

  A more relaxed (laissez-faire) working environment can attract top talent. A less stressful workplace can draw out greater performance from employees, as they would not have all the pressure of ‘Corporate Culture’ on their backs. Have an ‘Open Door’ policy, where everyone has the opportunity to talk to their managers regarding business-related or personal issues. No need to have secretaries to schedule 5 minute meetings weeks in advance.

• Reward Performance

  Paying end of year bonuses based on performance throughout the year will not only entice new talent to join your organization but also keep your current staff onboard. Continued praising and ‘pats on the back’ in front of fellow colleagues provide the sense of worth where employees can increase their performance.

• Provide Perks

  Providing benefits such as schooling allowances, medical insurance, mobile phones and company cars may attract new talent as well as current employees to your operations. As colleagues and peers congregate, many will try and showcase the perks that their employers are providing them. Once an employee hears that other employers are providing more and better perks to their employees, then the risk of employees deciding to leave as well as having a negative impact on their work performance also increases.

• Training

  An organization that looks after their employees, helping to train and develop their skills will always influence new employees to join as well as the current employees to remain with the organization. Many employees look to further their skills as a way to keep up with the market requirements so that they remain able to perform their duties to the required standards.

The business environment is changing day by day; either via the products or services that are provided, the tools and infrastructure and skills that are required to complete the job. Investing in your most important asset within the organization – Human Capital, providing up-to-date training, praise along with some Perks will attract new employees, help keep your current workforce and promote your organization as being the ‘It Company’ to work for.

The post How to Attract and Maintain Talented Employees? appeared first on The Online Learning Platform.