So What's Next? The Secret to Assessments
When it comes to personality profiling, the human development industry has countless tests and assessments from which to choose. These instruments may differ greatly on the surface - in the number and names of the archetypes each model advocates and the method through which a person's type is determined. But at their core, they are all attempting to accomplish the same objective: divide humanity into a manageable number of types and describe each type as a set of distinct and demonstrable characteristics. These "psychometric" instruments are designed to "measure the minds of respondents and provide them with greater insight and understanding of themselves. Because of that, they have increasingly become a core service offered by professional trainers, coaches and consultants.The ways in which the professional community has positioned personality profiling in their practices varies widely:1) As an intake tool, personality tests provide the professional with a relatively inexpensive way to engage a prospect in a meaningful dialogue that may lead to them becoming a client.2) As the foundation for a working relationship with a client, assessments provide starting points from which clients can make better decisions about themselves and their futures - in matters of career counseling, personal relationships and life in general.3) As part of a team building experience, personality tests provide the members of a group with a shared language and insight into themselves and their fellow teammates.4) As subject matter for a training program or keynote presentation, a general overview of a typing system can be instrumental in helping customer service representatives or sale representatives identify, understand and respond to different customer types more effectively.5) As

Opening a Dollar Store - Creating a Job Description
Are you opening a dollar store? If so take the time early on to develop specific job descriptions for all positions within your business. Investing that upfront time will mean that every employee knows exactly what the job that they are performing consists of.Your job description should include all of the primary tasks and duties that are performed by every employee in that specific position. While not every single one must be listed be sure that all major categories are covered. Also be sure that there are representative tasks and duties for all major categories. It is also important when opening a dollar store to add wording such as ‘other tasks as required’ or ‘other duties as assigned’ to make sure that there is an expectation of even more being required.Training or experience requirements that are considered prerequisites for the position should also be noted. For example if you add a lead cashier position after opening a dollar store, there may be the requirement that to be considered for the position a prospective employee must have at least three years of retail cashiering experience.When opening a dollar store it is important to document and communicate all of the special requirements associated with a job. Special requirements might include working weekends, working evenings, being able to do heavy lifting of objects that weigh up to 25-pounds, continually bending and stooping, and others. It is also helpful to review these requirements and how they are applied to the job with your employees. If there is any risk of injury include training on proper lifting techniques, add two-person lifting requirements for heavy lifting and be sure that proper safety equipment and tools are readily available.Finally the compensation range for the position might also be included.<

An Empty Mind: The Key to Great Teamwork and Communication
To really connect with the people around you, it is vital that you have an empty mind. But what exactly is an ‘empty mind?’ Contrary to what it sounds like, having an empty mind does not mean that a person should sit there staring vacuously into space. Rather, it means having the ultimate open mind. Similar to an empty cup waiting to receive water, the mind should be in a state where it is ready to receive input.In order for you to keep a properly empty mind, you must push all extraneous thoughts out. If you are speaking to someone then you must focus on what they are saying. You must not think about the meeting you have coming up, or the project you have to do, or the fight you just had with a friend.You must also ignore the impulse to start formulating an answer before the other person is finished. Focus on what they are saying, not on what you want to say. Similarly, push aside what you think you already know. If someone is talking to you about a problem they are having and you have had a similar problem in your life, resist the urge to start thinking that you know all about their problem. Every situation is different, and sometimes what you think you know can have as strong negative consequences as what you don’t know. I’m not saying you can’t use your experience to help them; that’s probably why they came to you in the first place. What I am saying is that you need to listen and wait for them to finish before you start comparing it to your past. You may find that the situations are not 100% identical.Keeping an empty and open mind is vital when interacting with others. One of my favorite Zen stories illustrates why, and I have included it here. I first read it in ‘Zen in the Martial Arts’ by Joe Hyams, but I have seen it in other sources as well.In this story, an accomplis

Invest In Your Employees and Watch Your Profits Grow!
There was recently an article about a recent Harris Interactive survey that found that many organizations still do not recognize that their workforce has a direct correlation on their business success.Don't believe them?How many times have you gone into a business and been treated rudely? The staff were sullen and it was obvious they did not care about their job. Did you really want to go back to that place of business again? Alternatively, think about a time when you went into a business where everyone got along and was happy. Wasn't their mood contagious?The difference between the two businesses? How they are treated by their employees.The Harris survey high-lighted a few areas where employees are not satisfied with their current employer They want competitive pay They want to be treated with respect Want to be recognized for a job well done 100% healthcare coverage While I certainly know where they are coming from with wanting full health-care, those days are over. The rising medical costs every year make it so that a company already has to take a hit to provide healthcare to their employees, and full-coverage would drive it into bankruptcy…or leave the employee with the worst healthcare imaginable.Few companies realize that employees WANT to do a good job. But at the same time, when you are benefiting from their hard work, is it really so hard to say good job? Maybe a monthly ice cream party or lunch? Make your employees feel motivated to want to work harder for you.While the scope of jobs at your business may differ, the overall treatment of your employees should be the same. A person's job description may describe what they do, but it shouldn't define who they are. The janitors in your building should be treated

5 Steps to Exceed Customer Expectations
We all have a common set of expectations from certain industries we do business with that we won’t compromise if those expectations aren’t met. We expect to hear a dial tone when we pick up the telephone when no one else is using it. We expect our cars to start in the morning when we get ready to leave for work. It’s implied that a restaurant will prepare our food properly and follow satisfactory sanitary guidelines. If we pay our electric bill on time, we expect the lights to work when we flip the switch. Same goes for the water bill—we expect water when the faucet or shower is “started.” These are expectations set, in part, by the industries providing the service, but they are also engrained in our culture as things to gripe about quickly should there be any form of disruption.When is the last time you weren’t alarmed by a power outage even if it occurred after a major storm? You likely called the utility company immediately to tell them all the while understanding you probably weren’t the first person calling. If your telephone didn’t have dial tone, you likely sought out a cell phone to track down the utility and phone companies to alert them of the disruptions, right? Your common sense told you that a pole must be down or a set of lines got cut somehow, but you went ahead and called anyway. We all do this even though we understand the companies we’re alerting have a good chance of knowing about the outage anyway.If you were to think of your company in the same light, what would be some things your customers have come to expect that are deal breakers if you don’t live up to the industry’s established and implied expectations? For my company, a consulting firm, I believe all bets are off if we don’t put the customer’s interests first throughout

Dealing with Workplace Disappointment
Workplace disappointment is a growing problem in today’s small business IT marketplace, the inability for technicians to deliver quality and timely services to clients due to increasing demands and lack of quality talent in the available talent pool right through to vendors not coming through on promises in the channel is causing the level of disappointment to rise right through the ceiling.What happens when disappointment takes over? This is a huge problem for business leaders in the small business world. When it is a small issue and not tackled in the early stages can grow to become a over powering concern which can lead to mental health issues like depression and other an overall feelings of “why bother”.Many owners of small business consulting firms when they hit the stage where workplace disappointment is no longer a small weekly challenge often have feelings of personal guilt that they are the source of the problem, questioning themselves, “is it me?” or “what have I done to warrant this disappointment?” and other common question is “Are my expectations to high and resulting in this disappointment?” It is normally nothing that the business owner has done personally, however, it is a result of the marketplace today.How to you know you are becoming overwhelmed with disappointment? The easiest way to determine if you are starting to have a difficult time dealing with feelings of disappointment is when you start exhibiting the same behaviours that you are concerned about. These can range from avoidance of issues, ignoring peoples requests, going after the low hanging fruit instead of perhaps your usual striving for the fruit at the top of the tree, general feelings of why bother and general disappearance from the daily routine.Business owners of small business IT firms n