Digg it UP - Business

Create Your Methodology Based on a Standard Framework - Part One
OK. So you have decided that your organization has to improve the way in which it works. You have chosen to implement a methodology as the best way to achieve this goal. And now you ask yourself, where do I start? Whatever the discipline you are trying to model (from software development to supply chain management), it is highly probable that a standard framework exists, that can serve as the basis for your own methodology.WHAT IS A STANDARD FRAMEWORK?A standard framework is a set of best practices, normally expressed as a set of repeatable processes created by an organization (a professional association, university, public administration, etc...). These frameworks are sometimes referred to as bodies of knowledge, methodologies, etc...Standard frameworks cannot be applied out of the box. They are aimed at a wide spectrum of organizations and thus cannot be detailed to a level at which they are ready to use. In order to have an executable set of processes, a project has to be undertaken in order to fill the gap between the framework best practices and your methodology executable processes. This gap is filled when you have translated the best practices into concrete procedures and policies that take into account the characteristics of your organization and its environment.For example, when the framework says “determine which risks might affect the project and document their characteristics” the methodology can say “the project leader registers all project risks in the risk list and documents its characteris

with no clear insight anywhere. When you reach this point, if you have first really persisted in efforts to fit your puzzle together, then the third stage in the whole process is completed, and you are ready for the fourth one.

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4. Incubation

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In this third stage you make absolutely no direct effort. You drop the whole subject, and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.

It is important to realize that this is just as definite and just as necessary a stage in the process as the previous three. What you have to do at this time is to turn the problem over to your subconscious mind, and let it work while you sleep. You have a massive processing powerhouse on the ‘back end’ of your mind, one that we don’t experience consciously but it unquestionably exists.

Completely ignoring the task at hand at this stage will force the unconscious mind into action because the problem remains unsolved and the unconscious mind does not sit well with unfinished problems.

You may remember the old Sherlock Holmes books, he used to stop right in the middle of a big case, and drag Watson off to a concert. This sent practical and literal-minded Watson round the twist but Conan Doyle (the author) was a creator himself and knew the creative process. So when you reach this third stage in the production of an idea, drop the problem completely, and, turn to whatever stimulates your emotions. Listen to music, go for a walk, read poetry or take a long hot bath.

In the first stage you have gathered your food. In the second you have chew it up well. Now the digestive process is on. Leave it alone and let the gastric juices do their work. But be on your guard with pen and paper to...

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5. Catch the Idea

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If you have worked hard during the previous four stages then this stage is inevitable.

Out of nowhere an idea will appear.

It will come to you w

Educate Future Generations In Temporary Teaching Jobs
Most people that become teachers will tell you that they have actually wanted to do that since they were children. There is something extremely appealing about being able to shape the future by educating future generations. The influence that teachers have is mind-boggling but ultimately fulfilling so you may want to take any opportunity to teach that comes your way, including temporary teaching jobs.The demand for skilled teachers is unbelievable today. It is indeed higher then ever, and that has opened up more opportunities for student taking an education degree in order to become a teacher. They can now get experience ahead of time, which would ultimately make them more attractive to potential employers when they have actually graduated. Temporary teaching jobs are always open to qualified students that bear impressive credentials and this can actually give them an idea as to whether they are cut out for the profession or not.There are specialist temping or staffing agencies out there that can offer qualified individuals temporary teaching jobs. This will help them gain that experience they need to stand out from the crowd as well as helping to lessen the demand for teachers somewhat. There are not enough teachers to actually meet the demand created by understaffed schools. Thus temporary teaching jobs can actually lead to permanent positions when the student in question graduates.Another option open to students where temporary teaching jobs are concerned is going abroad to get experience. Overse

So where do new ideas come from? I hate to disappoint you, but there are NO NEW IDEAS. Before you burn me at the stake for this overt falsity I reassure you I do not mean there are no new ideas in this monumentally stupid sense:

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." -Charles H. Duell, 1899, U.S. Commissioner of Patents

There are no new ideas, BUT, there are splendid combinations of old ideas. Things that look new will be coming and going for the rest of time but truly they are a dynamic new combination of OLD things.

So how do you do it? Come up with 'new' ideas, those precious combinations of old things made to be new. Most people I talk to say “oh, but I’m not creative!”.

"Not Creative?" I say “What a load of...wrongness! Human beings are all inherently creative, YOU ARE CREATIVE! I then go on to tell them their problem isn’t that they are creatively disabled but rather that they are mentally disabled (at which point I either really have their attention or I get a smack in the mouth).

Then I meet some people who are wildly creative, tremendous creative geniuses who can come up with all kinds of dynamic ideas at the drop of a hat. But when I ask them how they go about it they grin mysteriously and proudly say 'the ideas just come to me' as if they have a special gift that only a lucky few receive if they are in the right place at the right time when God is distributing his magical creativity dust.

Well my dear friend whether you like it or not this article will allow even the most addle-minded of us to be a creative genius (no magical dust required!).

The process is simple and based on the principle that ALL new ideas are merely combinations of old ideas. If you take the children’s game noughts and crosses and replace the noughts and crosses with a number from 1 to 9 the total number of potential combinations is 362,880. Imagine how many ideas must be available to you!

The process of getting ideas is not dissimilar to stories of the sudden appearance of islands in the South Seas. There, according to ancient mariners, in spots where the charts showed only deep blue sea-there would suddenly appear a lovely atoll above the surface of the waters. An air of magic hung about it. And so it is with ideas. They appear just as suddenly above the surface of the mind; and with that same air of magic and unaccountability. But the scientist knows that the South Sea atoll is the work of countless, unseen coral builders, working below the surface of the sea. So how do we set our mind’s 'builders' to work?

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1. Purpose

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State what you are trying to achieve, are you trying to come up with a new marketing angle, a great game for a kids party or a new and dynamic way to feed the world’s poor?

Write down what your purpose is. Really, write it down, with a pen and paper. I repeat this because it makes a BIG difference having a written objective for idea generation. It ensures that you have a clearly stated objective and it articulates it in a manner where you can return to it again and again to get it bedded down in your subconscious mind.

After you have your purpose written down then make a guess as to what it is going to 'cost' you to achieve your purpose. Will it cost you a lot of time? Will you need to spend some money? Work out the time costs and dollar costs and then write those down too. Now is a good time to ask yourself ‘Is this what I really want? Is this worth the investment of time and money?’

If the answer is 'Yes' then go right ahead and set yourself a timeframe in which to achieve your stated objective. We all know that 90% of homework gets done the night before it is due, so give yourself a due date and stick to it.

You have decided that this idea generating project is worthy of your time, so it is time to begin to:

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2. Gather Information

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If you are dealing with a specific problem or searching for a specific idea then begin to gather the appropriate information. In fact at all times be gathering information, develop a childlike curiosity begin to ask 'why?' ask 'why?' to yourself ask 'why?' to others, search out information with passion. Use your notebook to record interesting ideas facts and tid-bits glue articles into a scrap book, keep a file. Become a veracious new knowledge consumer.

You may remember, the famous scrapbooks which appear throughout Sherlock Holmes stories, and how the famous detective spent his spare time indexing and cross-indexing, the odd bits of material he gathered there.

Force yourself to learn new things that are outside your usual area of interest. Learn how to paint, learn something about quantum physics or child raising. Pick up a book at your local library that your friends will think it is strange that you are reading.

Say it with me now: "I am a naturally curious person."

So when we are looking to solve a problem or come up with a new idea we gather all the information on the topic and start to draw and re-draw great whopping mind maps on the topic. This gathers our information and draws other information out of the dark corners of our mind. Then when you think you have all the information gathered together (and depending on the scope of the subject this could be many-many books) gather a little more information.

The information gathering process is the most often neglected part of idea generation. I can not stress it enough you need to have the raw materials of ideas (information) before you can start building an amazing new idea. You would never expect a builder to begin construction on your house with no materials.

Now that you are confident that you have more information than you need we can move on to step three...

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3. Chew over the topic repeatedly

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Assuming that you really did a diligent job of the information gathering stage then you may have already begun this stage inadvertently. This part of the process is the most difficult to explain because it all happens inside your head.

What you do is to take the different bits of material which you have gathered and feel them, float them around in your mind. You take one fact, and turn it this way and that, look at it in different lights, and feel for the meaning of it. You bring two facts together and see how they fit.

What you are looking for here is the relationship, a synthesis where everything will come together in a neat combination, like a jig-saw puzzle.

I know that what I am about to say sounds like a paradox but experience shows that it works. Facts sometimes display their meaning quicker when you do not scan them too directly, too literally. You remember those magic eye pictures where you have to look 'past' the picture to see the 3D illusion? It is like that. In fact, it is almost like listening for the meaning instead of looking for it. When creative people are in this stage of the process they get their reputation for absent-mindedness.

As you go through this part of this part of the process two things will happen. First., little tentative or partial ideas will come to you. Scribble these down on paper. It doesn’t matter how crazy or incomplete they seem: get them down. These are foreshadowing’s of the real idea that is to come, and expressing these in words speeds up the process.

The second thing that will happen is that you will inevitably get very tired of trying to fit your puzzle together. Don’t quit yet! Keep at it! The mind, too, has a second wind. Keep bashing away at the idea even after you are past tired and get this second layer of mental energy in the process. Keep trying to get one or more partial thoughts into your notebook.

But after a while you will reach the hopeless stage. Everything is a jumble in your mind, with no clear insight anywhere. When you reach this point, if you have first really persisted in efforts to fit your puzzle together, then the third stage in the whole process is completed, and you are ready for the fourth one.

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4. Incubation

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In this third stage you make absolutely no direct effort. You drop the whole subject, and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.

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5. Catch the Idea

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If you have worked hard during the previous four stages then this stage is inevitable.

Out of nowhere an idea will appear.

It will come to you wh

What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management?
The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor is "CRM is the business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate, manage and personalize the needs of an organization's current and potential customers"From this we can learn that CRM is more than just a piece of software; CRM is a business strategy, one that puts the customer at the heart of the business.“That’s nothing new” I hear you say, and you would be right. Good business people have always understood the relationship between happy customers that come back again and again and creating long term, sustainable profitability.You just have to think of the local shop owner who knew everyone of his customer’s names, birthdays and particular ailments to prove that point. What is new is that there now exists the technology to enable this customer-centricity on a much larger scale.It is said that a successful CRM implementation will allow your Customer Service, Sales and Marketing people (and anyone else in your organization) to have a holistic view of each and everyone of your customers. In theory this will enable them to make quick, informed decisions, create cross selling and up selling opportunities, measure marketing effectiveness and deliver personalized Customer Care.Sound’s great doesn’t it!The History of CRMFollowing on from Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP (the business strategy that promised to automate the “back-office”), the term CRM was first coined in the mid-1990s. CRM in those days referred to the software used to help businesses manage their

as is not dissimilar to stories of the sudden appearance of islands in the South Seas. There, according to ancient mariners, in spots where the charts showed only deep blue sea-there would suddenly appear a lovely atoll above the surface of the waters. An air of magic hung about it. And so it is with ideas. They appear just as suddenly above the surface of the mind; and with that same air of magic and unaccountability. But the scientist knows that the South Sea atoll is the work of countless, unseen coral builders, working below the surface of the sea. So how do we set our mind’s 'builders' to work?

------------

1. Purpose

------------

State what you are trying to achieve, are you trying to come up with a new marketing angle, a great game for a kids party or a new and dynamic way to feed the world’s poor?

You have decided that this idea generating project is worthy of your time, so it is time to begin to:

------------

2. Gather Information

------------

Say it with me now: "I am a naturally curious person."

Now that you are confident that you have more information than you need we can move on to step three...

------------

3. Chew over the topic repeatedly

------------

What you are looking for here is the relationship, a synthesis where everything will come together in a neat combination, like a jig-saw puzzle.

------------

4. Incubation

------------

In this third stage you make absolutely no direct effort. You drop the whole subject, and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.

------------

5. Catch the Idea

------------

If you have worked hard during the previous four stages then this stage is inevitable.

Out of nowhere an idea will appear.

It will come to you w

Experiencing Great Service
Last winter, I had a skin condition that baffled my regular doctor and she had to refer me to a specialist.Until then, my familiarity with dermatologists was limited to high school acne. I remember the experience being pleasant. He checked my face, gave me a handful of horse pills and finished with dry ice treatments. Okay, I know, they sounds painful or at least uncomfortable, but they were neither. In fact, for me, they were the best part of the visits.That was then, this is now...As always upon meeting a new doctor, I was a little anxious as I rode the elevator to his office. When I followed the nurse back to the exam room, I didn't know quite what to expect. Right away, she put me at ease.For five or six minutes, she questioned me extensively about my malady. It struck me how different it was from my primary physician's office. There was no rush. There was no feeling of being a number. This woman had time for me. She gave me the sense she'd take all the time necessary to take down the information needed for a proper diagnosis. Maybe she had four or five other patients waiting for her, but her attention remained on me. I felt important.But the best was yet to come...I have a childish fear of needles. It's a legitimate phobia -- even has a name -- two in fact: Aichmophobia and Belonephobia. I appreciate how silly it is for a grown woman to be afraid of a little old inoculation, but I am. I mentioned it to the nurse. Probably a good thing too, because after the first shot and biopsy, I reacted badly. I began shaking uncontrollably and app

Say it with me now: "I am a naturally curious person."

Now that you are confident that you have more information than you need we can move on to step three...

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3. Chew over the topic repeatedly

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What you are looking for here is the relationship, a synthesis where everything will come together in a neat combination, like a jig-saw puzzle.

------------

4. Incubation

------------

In this third stage you make absolutely no direct effort. You drop the whole subject, and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.

------------

5. Catch the Idea

------------

If you have worked hard during the previous four stages then this stage is inevitable.

Out of nowhere an idea will appear.

It will come to you w

Custom Neon Signs
Neon signs have come a long way since their inception. Since neon was first used in signs, it has captured everyone’s imagination, and signs are ordered for business and personal use, custom made to meet one’s specific requirements.Many retail outlets invest in custom-made neon signs to let potential customers know what they do. These signs provide cost-effective advertising, and the bright colors and lighting sell the product to the customers right at the doorstep. For example, a Chinese outlet may have a sign saying, “$1 Chinese”; a caf? specializing in cappuccino may have a “cappuccino” sign at their storefront; a car dealership selling Porches might have a “Porches agency” sign blinking outside their window.Custom signs are becoming popular for personal use, too. Companies can make cartoon characters for children to hang in their bedrooms or washrooms. Hot favorites are those from animated movies such as Ice Age, Finding Nemo, and more recently Madagascar. They are good to hang in your den or kitchen, too. Custom-made neon clocks are becoming popular with enthusiasts who like to design their own glowing time machines.Most companies providing neon signs are happy to make products according to the customer’s specifications. They need to be given details such as size, letters, and coloring.Custom-made neon pictures are also available upon demand. Popular examples are Coca Cola, Jack Daniels whiskey, Harley Davidson, NFL pictures, etc. The prices of custom signs depend upon the size, quality, and lettering of the sign, and different companies will char

eally did a diligent job of the information gathering stage then you may have already begun this stage inadvertently. This part of the process is the most difficult to explain because it all happens inside your head.

What you are looking for here is the relationship, a synthesis where everything will come together in a neat combination, like a jig-saw puzzle.

------------

4. Incubation

------------

In this third stage you make absolutely no direct effort. You drop the whole subject, and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.

------------

5. Catch the Idea

------------

If you have worked hard during the previous four stages then this stage is inevitable.

Out of nowhere an idea will appear.

It will come to you w

Habla Espanol?
How much would you pay to find your next manager or future franchisee? Companies routinely spend thousands of dollars to find applicants outside their company. Why not spend a bit of time and money to provide current employees the necessary skills? For many employees, it begins with learning the English language.Over the past twenty years, the number of Hispanics in the restaurant workforce has tripled. Perhaps many of them simply need to become comfortable with the English language to move ahead in your company.There are many great, inexpensive tools customized for the restaurant industry to help you develop this wave of talent:Workplace English. Developed for a large QSR chain, this program is a mixture of reading and flash cards, combined with face-to-face practice with managers, to help develop the English language skills of your team. Visit www.qsrmagazine.com/store for more information.Sed de Saber. A unique and innovative ESL program that uses an interactive, self-paced, take-home format to provide multi-sensory English language learning designed specifically for the Hispanic adult. Sed de Saber has had great success in a number of restaurant chains. Visit www.retentioned.com for more information.MFHA QuickVue English to Spanish Workplace Language Guides. These innovative and convenient pocket-sized guides assist restaurant managers in communicating more clearly with Spanish-speaking co-workers. The guides include words and phrases that help management carry on simple conversations in Spanish. Visit www.mfha.net for more in

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4. Incubation

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In this third stage you make absolutely no direct effort. You drop the whole subject, and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can.

------------

5. Catch the Idea

------------

If you have worked hard during the previous four stages then this stage is inevitable.

Out of nowhere an idea will appear.

It will come to you when you are least expecting it - while shaving, or bathing or most often when you are half awake, in the morning. It may wake you up in the middle of the night. Be ready to catch that idea and make it your prisoner. Always have a pen and paper nearby to scribble it down in your notebook where it will be trapped forever for you to milk it for all it is worth.

A friend of mine keeps a little voice recorder by his bedside so that if he has an idea when he is not fully awake he can 'catch' the idea onto tape and then write it in his notebook in the morning.

An old friend of Jessie’s (my wife) had a dream one night that included in it an amazing idea. Knowing that they needed to catch this idea so they wouldn’t forget it they got up and wrote it down on a piece of paper. In the morning, however, when they read their late night scrawlings they where disappointed to find that on their precious sheet of paper where the words 'an Amazing Idea', and nothing else.

DO NOT be fooled, you will NOT remember your idea if you don’t capture it somehow. It doesn’t matter how dynamic an idea, if you don’t catch it, it’s gone forever. In fact it seems that the subconscious mind births the most elegant of ideas at the most inconvenient of times (I guess this stands to reason, my wife never went into labor at a 'convenient' time) you MUST catch them, good ideas are slippery little suckers and can pop out of your head just as quickly as they popped in.

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6. Test the idea

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The final stage which you must pass through (but definitely NOT before you have completed the other five stages) is to see how your idea stand in the harsh world of reality.

When you begin to test an idea you may find that it is not the precious little child that you first expected, but in fact it has some flaws and needs some tweaking to make its place as being truly helpful. But you will be pleasantly surprised that a good idea has self-expanding qualities and possesses the elasticity to be stretched this way and that to apply to your specific needs.

Some ideas are 'gateway' ideas, they are in themselves not perfect but simply writing them down and toying with the new idea will allow your unconscious mind space to deliver the real humdinger of an idea that you are looking for.

Relax and let it happen, you have an amazing brain and now you know how to use it:

State what you want to develop an idea on.

Gather the raw materials (facts).

Work over these materials in your mind.

Let the idea incubate.

Catch the idea when it pops in your head.

Shape the idea and develop it for practical usefulness.

A good dollop of this article was inspired by a very old book entitled 'A Technique for Getting Ideas' by James Webb Young, if you find a copy (it’s no longer in print) buy it, it's a Gem!

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When I first started this article, I asked several people what kind of experiences they had had with poor customer service. Some of their experiences were extreme – with one instance where a photographer punched an unsatisfied customer – but most relayed occurrences consistent with my own. I narrowed it down to three behaviors of customer disservice. When these behaviors are continually maintained, the ability to drive people away will surely be in the bag.

Business management is a very important subject and with business management comes financial and fiscal responsibility. The most difficult places to manage are those places, which have the most unethical people and employees working within their organization.

This report gives an insight into the regulations in China. These regulations are especially towards the retail industry in China. Thus, it talks about franchising, distribution and other Chinese regulations like tariff rates.

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