Category: Opinion

As employees return from holiday and the new school year begins, business leaders could be forgiven for thinking that they can ease back into their routines this September.

Are you micromanaging? Do you run an “open office?” Is there a strict dress code in effect? The answers to these questions have a direct effect on your company’s ability to make money.

Business Matters’ new columnist Laura Faulkner of Matchstick Design explains how SMEs can avoid unnecessary design costs by writing a tight brief.

Given the same set of circumstances some people create team success and others fail. Great leaders know how to turn tough times into big wins. Here’s how they do it.

This week’s instalment of Dragons’ Den brought us more variety than we’ve seen so far in this series. Hot chocolate, Huskies, flowers, fixings… Yet somehow the Dragons managed to mostly hold onto their money.

Following a turbulent recession small businesses are finally getting back on their feet, but UK small businesses leaders must focus on building their personal presence to truly survive this unsteady economic climate according to Business Improvement Strategist Sylvia Baldock.

The quarterly board meeting may be one of the fundamental aspects of traditional corporate structure. But it is a structure that has remained completely unchanged, still relying, in the majority of cases, on hundreds of pages of paper presented and collated up to several weeks before the meeting.

The Forum of Private Business’s Cost of Compliance survey highlights another increase for small businesses in the cost of red tape. Yet the government maintains there is less regulation than when it came to office. While there’s truth on both sides something has to change, as Alex Jackman explains.

When it comes to finding and nurturing talent, says Linda Jackson from 10Eighty, SMEs don’t know how lucky they are!

Have you ever used the ‘F’ work at work? Being able to express yourself at work and truly say how you feel has become more challenging. Being able to be honest about how you feel without offending others and without expecting the rest of the word to join in is seemingly an impossible task.

Here’s how to improve your listening skills for more effective conversations with employees and customers.

This week’s Dragons’ Den began with a little disappointment for me. Not because of the pitch or product, but because of the Dragons’ reaction to it. Do you ever find yourself in the situation where you completely understand something, maybe a joke or reference, but it seems completely lost on everyone else? This is exactly how I felt.

If your business manages to make it through all 3 company life cycles it has most likely reached its full potential. Most businesses do not, unfortunately.

In his latest article, Professor Graham Jones of Top Performance Consulting explores the important distinction between ‘leadership’ development and ‘leader’ development and looks at what really underpins a leader’s success.

There are 168 hours in a week; this is immutable truth. That sounds like a lot, but is it really enough time to cover the demands of a successful career, family involvement, and everything else that makes up a fulfilling life?