Decisions – The Big Words Blog Site

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When you become a business owner, every decision you make will impact the future viability of your business. Some decisions are standard while others must be made in unique circumstances. The following contributed post is entitled, Smart Decisions Your Business Should Be Making.

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As a business owner, you’ll soon discover the things that work well and the things that don’t. Trying to find easier, faster and cheaper ways of doing things is always beneficial to your business, and can help free up more of your resources to think strategically about the future of your business.

While it’s possible that you’ll make some bad decisions from time to time, you can balance these out by making some better ones. Take a look at some of the smart decisions your business should be making to put you on the path to success.

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Outsource when needed

If you run a small business, you’ll soon realize that you’re not capable of everything. Know the saying ‘Jack of all trades, but master of none’? It’s better to do fewer things well than to try and do everything. Outsourcing can be beneficial for your business, putting certain key tasks in the hands of experts instead of having you take care of it all. Understanding what to outsource and when can help you ease your workload and make sure the best people are on the job.

Adopt the cloud

Cloud computing is becoming the new normal for most businesses. It allows instant, seamless access to documents and software, and provides a secure storage system that doesn’t rely on various servers and fragile memory drives. Switching to the cloud can transform your business, making it possible to run it from anywhere. Using IT management solutions can help make sure you’ve got the best systems and software put in place to help you manage your business effectively. Not only that, but cloud computing is affordable to run, helping you free up your budget for bigger and better things. Just make sure you’re aware of all of the issues surrounding the cloud before you commit.

Care about your employees’ welfare

Your employees are the most important part of your business. Many business hours can be lost due to absences and sickness, and those hours are worth a lot of money to your business. Focusing on creating a safe and happy work environment is important, and gives your employees reasons to love where they work and work hard as a result. Consider adopting flexible working and other fantastic policies that can boost productivity and help you develop a stronger, better connected team.

Use social media to promote your business

Are you making the most of your marketing budget? Social media advertising is one of the simplest, but most effective ways of promoting your business. If you want to generate leads and get people’s attention, then putting your marketing budget into social media is the way forward. In social advertising, your money can go a long way, so learn how to optimize a small marketing budget to help get the best results.

Making smarter, better decisions is how you can drive your business forward. Consider the ways you can make positive changes to make a big impact and see the difference it can make to you and your business.

Two key focuses of my blog are Creating Ecosystems of Success and Career Discussions. Stepping up into management doesn’t just mean an increase in pay, but it also involves a whole new set of responsibilities and decisions to make that most staff level employees aren’t privy to. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Are You Cutting Your Boss’ Decisions Enough Slack?

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As an employee, it feels as if you and the boss are at war. Not literally, but metaphorically. You ask for things and suggest improvements and they go about their business as usual. It’s incredibly frustrating when they don’t listen, especially if the idea could transform the company.

It’s easy to see bosses and managers as incompetent. They are stuck in their ways and make decisions for their gain and nobody else’s. Of course, they got to their position through hard work and competency among other things, so they aren’t inept. If anything, they know things you don’t and haven’t yet considered.

Far too often, workers don’t cut their boss’ decisions enough slack and the relationship suffers as a result. You’re more than welcome to go down this route but it won’t work out well for you in the long-term. The better option is to try and see it from their side. Why doesn’t the person in charge drop everything when you have a light bulb moment?

Trade-Offs

Not everything is as straightforward as it appears to the untrained eye. You might want new desktops and iPads for remote working, yet it isn’t a case of making an order. For a boss, an expense such as this will require a trade-off in another area of the company or further down the line.

An example is the impact the cost will have on the budget as a whole. New software and hardware might raise productivity a little, but it won’t help with employee training. If the boss considers the latter to be more important, they won’t make the tradeoff as it doesn’t make any business sense.

No-brainers do exist yet the majority of the time it requires the person in charge to play politics. Yep, even for the most basic of decisions.

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Humanity

The last thing anybody wants to see is layoffs. Watching colleagues and friends pack their things and leave the building is a heartbreaking sight. It’s also scary because you know you could be next. Redundancies don’t discriminate as one way to limit the number of layoffs is to fire high-earning workers.

You might think there are other options on the table; however, the reality is different. Asking people to go part-time or to take a redundancy package isn’t always viable. Depending on the company’s finances, the budget might need cutting to the bone. Also, don’t forget that they have to think about the future as well as the present. It isn’t enough to lay off people to stay above water – the business needs breathing space.

Bosses have to do whatever necessary to stop the firm from going under. Their allegiance is to the company.

Health And Safety

Why is that there? What do we need this for? How come this makes no sense? It’s not uncommon for employees to judge the internal processes of the workplace. After all, an inefficient format makes your life more difficult and it’s stressful.

What workers often forget is the topics of health and safety. Bosses must ensure everyone is safe within the workplace particularly if you work with heavy machinery. That’s why there are electric chain hoists in warehouses which lift small to medium loads vertically. Machines that do it horizontally often swing the load and it’s a potential danger. Pretty much every piece of equipment or resource in the workplace has a meaning, and it’s usually health and safety related.

The next time you wonder why something is the way it is, remember your wellbeing. The odds are the management has put it there for your benefit.

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Fairness

Sometimes, a decision will improve the business as a whole yet it’s tough to implement. The reason is simple: the perception of fairness. Employees who feel their coworkers are getting preferential treatment will rebel. Once this happens, the morale of the team hits rock bottom and everything starts to go wrong.

Home-based work is worth considering in this context. You know that it would suit your life if you could have some independence a couple of times a week. Although the boss agrees, there is no way they can sanction it if there is going to be a backlash. Everyone will want the same and it’s impossible to allow. After all, some people aren’t made for unstructured hours.

So, if a boss makes a decision and you know it’s wrong, think about the bigger picture. As a rule, the togetherness of the team is always going to come ahead of the individual.

How do you see your boss’ decisions now?