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The fiscal year is coming to its end, many of you already achieved the target. It's time to be prepared for the next financial year, how will you set up your business for a prosperous 2018?

The financial year is going to its 4th quarter and its final three months of the year. This time most organizations calculate their goals and achievements, whether they accomplished or not. Most successful companies set their goals at this time. It's the time when CEO's check everything from the previous year.

Professional sportsman that inflict in crunch time is labeled "clutch." It takes a strong-minded footballer to shoot a critical shot with the game on the bottom line or go for the "Hail" pass with only a few seconds remaining on the clock. The executives need the same type of mentality to crunch the time and make it bold. This is the time of the year when executives put their skill into a big test and show how efficiently they can motivate their team.

Let's face it -- 

Finding ways to motivate employees is hard for most executives when the year comes to an end. December holidays and Thanksgiving are big notorious for decreasing employee productivity. Also, the mental stress of previous year's performance starts to increase this time. This is harsh news for CEO's as they try and make one significant push to end the year on a high note.
Fortunately, there are some proven ways to motivate employees specifically in Q4.

Lead by example.

An action speaks louder than a word. Finishing a strong year is hard for employees when they don't understand what the leader commanding. If executives fail to show motivation to the employes, it becomes harder. The employees always follow the executives. So, managers should explain what he expects from the employees. An example, get to the office earlier and leave later than the previous few months.

Employees admire their executive staff for direction. If they see their CEO giggling, having a decent time and not working hard on the primary job, workers will rapidly stick to this same pattern. True leadership during Q4 originates from managers moving up their sleeves and buckling down side-by-side with their employees.

Also read: 
8 Tricks Successful People Use to Stay Calm in Stressful Situation
5 Ways to Regain Motivation When You Are Discouraged

Recognize great work.

While extraordinary work should be expected through the year, it's critical to perceive and praise employees when they go well beyond in Q4. Nobody is expecting daily recognition for doing their tasks, but showing thankfulness after seeing an employee put in 110 percent effort on work will show staff members that executives are giving careful consideration to their shots at the end of the year.

Perceiving employees for their diligent work and expressing the value they bring is a proven technique to increase inspiration and engagement. A study by Make Their Day, an employee motivation firm, found that 70 percent of survey respondents revealed their most meaningful recognition "had no dollar value" and that 83 percent of people said recognition for contributions was more satisfying than rewards of prizes. Making sure that employees are receiving the feedback they deserve toward year-end could lead to a very promising Q4.

Also read:
How to Motivate Employees During a Recession
10 Tips To Stay Motivated While Working From Home

Set realistic Q4 goals.

Back in January, executives clarified objectives and goals for the organization to accomplish before the end of the year, and it's been proven that workers understand their organization's direction.

My company's Executive Priorities Report 2017, which was built from survey responses of over 400 managers, found that more than 75% of executives believe their employees have a clear understanding of their company's vision for the year. At this point, it's conceivable clear whether those objectives will be met or not. Regardless of the company's progress, officials will want to see the last push from their employees to set themselves up for a solid beginning to Q1.

One approach to fulfill this is to set Q4-specific objectives that will regain the concentration of workers and give them new focuses to go for. It's vital to make sure that these goals are challenging yet realistic, sufficient to drive workers to deliver great performances but fair enough to not dishearten staff individuals.

Also read:
10 Tips on How to Get Motivated as an Entrepreneur
7 Ways To Motivate Your Team Without Money

Offer incentives.

While prior I talked about a study that said that gifts and rewards aren't as satisfying as recognition, despite everything they work, particularly toward the finish of the year when the Christmas season is drawing nearer. Remember there are rewards and endowments outside of prizes and gift vouchers. Offering additional PTO days in the new year to the hardest laborer of the quarter is an approach to persuade workers without giving them an in a split second redeemable fiscal reward.

As we enter Q4, it's imperative to remain on track and keep vitality high. It's the official's obligation to discover approaches to spur workers amid this period and drive comes about. With the right outlook and procedure, Q4 could be the current year's most elevated quarter. Right now is an ideal opportunity for administrators to ask themselves, "Do I have what it takes to intention my group and complete this year solid?"

Do you often start your day with a plan to get as much done as possible, but find your workday spiraling out of control? You soon find yourself distracted, focusing on the lower-priority tasks and, eventually, procrastinating. It is time you regain control of your time – however, a one-size-fits-all solution will not make you more productive; instead, here’s an outline of productivity techniques depending on your working style and personality.

If You’re the Multitasker

Do you think you can get more done handling multiple tasks at a go? For example, trying to call your co-worker as you type out an email to your web design consultant and check on your Facebook page. While it feels like you are being productive, you are probably not getting much out of these tasks in terms of efficiency.

Everyone has a limited size of cognitive bandwidth – this is the number of memories and thoughts you can hold in your mind at any time. Your brain might delude itself into thinking that it has the capacity to handle more than it really can; but in reality, it’s working extra hard as you switch back and forward between tasks. Your ability to handle things efficiently depends on how well you can focus on a single task for five minutes or an hour.

To help you monotask, consider removing temptations like the urge to check on unrelated social media as you work. Consider working on just one screen at a time by putting away your smartphone and turning the second monitor off. In case you find your focus wavering, move or work in intervals and use tools like timesheets.

When distractions finally take over, forgive yourself. Fortunately, when you work on focusing on a single task at a time and ignore distractions, you’re exercising your prefrontal cortex, the more involved part of your brain. Ultimately, it will become easier to focus.

Also read:
3 Easy Exercises You Can Do At The Office
3 Ways to Feel More Confident at Work

For the Procrastinator

One of the best tools to help you combat procrastination is getting an accountability partner. This could be a manager or a work colleague who is charged with the responsibility of regularly checking on your project’s progress. The person you nominate should take his or her role seriously, whenever you do not achieve a goal, expects disappointment and appreciation when you do.

Some procrastinator partners may even agree on a set of punishments and rewards that will go along with deadlines. However, this will depend on what motivates you the most. The reward may be a free lunch, while punishment may be an email to your department announcing a deadline has not been met.

To help you stay on track, use to-do lists that will keep you accountable since you have to stay on the path to getting the most important work done first. Before stepping into the office each day, make a list of about eight targets that you would like to accomplish the following day. On a separate list, have personal errands that need to be done on that day – this list should not contain more than three items.

While making your work to-do list, make it as simple, realistic and specific as possible – do not simply tack an item like “finish project” somewhere on the list. Instead, break the project into smaller, discrete components.

Also read:
6 Critical Life Lessons You Didn't Learn in School
5 Things To Remove From Office Desk To Improve Productivity

Your Desk is as Important as How You Work

 
There is no single right way of organizing your work desk. However, the physical workspace does have a huge impact on productivity. It can either energize you or sack your energy.

In general, just 25 percent of the desk’s messiness is attributed to organization skills, 75 percent is due to time management. Every piece of paper has a task attached to it, and this task will require your time. An out-of-control pile of paper on your desk may be an indicator that you require delegation.

In general, always have your desk clear except for the project you are currently working on, as well as equipment you may need. Also, create an “in zone” for things that just come in and an “out zone” for stuff you are finished working on and require distribution. The best way to change how you organize your workspace is spending at least 10 minutes every day organizing your desk for the day.

This was a guest article, written by Wendy Dessler from Outreachmama.

There’s no single hack for improving your team’s collective emotional intelligence. As a manager, it’s the small habits you perform and encourage that ripple outward.


Getting smart people into your company is hard enough. Turning them all into great collaborators and risk-takers is even more difficult. Even on the most high-performing teams, coworkers don’t just openly share feedback and challenge each others’ ideas all on their own–managers need to create a culture that encourages this. And that usually requires building your team’s collective emotional intelligence. Here are a few straightforward (and entirely low-tech ways) to get started.

1. BEGIN ON DAY ONE

A team’s work culture determines the parameters within which everybody on it interacts–what’s acceptable, expected, and imaginable. But that culture can subtly change depending on the team’s composition. When someone leaves or somebody new gets hired, you’ve got to reset those parameters to make sure everybody is still operating according to the values and ideals you’d like them to.

So as a manager, make it explicit to every new hire–from their first day in the office–that they should feel free to challenge ideas at all levels. In fact, emphasize that that’s what’s expected of them. Scott Kelly, chief human resource officer of Hitachi Data Systems, says that “from day one on the job, new employees are not just encouraged but expected to be self-starters with a solution-oriented mindset.”

Sure, just about every job listing includes high-flying language like that, but very few managers actually follow through by reiterating this crucial expectation once they fill those open positions.

2. INVITE YOUR TEAM TO CHALLENGE YOU

The freedom to question the status quo and bring up new ideas can make the way for building interpersonal connections that every emotionally intelligent person needs. But it has to start at the top. Not only do team members need to feel comfortable interacting with each other, but they need to share that same level of trust with their leaders.

That’s why managers have to model the behavior they’re trying to promote. If your employees notice you hesitate to share your own opinions or see you flinch when they question your approach, they won’t be willing to take the risk of doing so. You need to actively seek out perspectives that differ from yours, then act on them (rather than just paying lip service). This will let everyone know that it’s okay to challenge you and each other.

3. TURN REGULAR FEEDBACK INTO A HABIT

One of the best ways to encourage emotional intelligence on your whole team is to lower the stakes of giving and receiving performance feedback. The more you trade notes on how things are and share challenging ideas, the less defensive you’re all likely to get around criticism. The feedback that’s reserved for meetings or for other occasions just for that purpose sends the message that constructive critique isn’t the norm for your team.

So commit to doing it regularly and continuously, during one-on-one meetings and other informal opportunities around the workplace. When feedback and ideas are bounced around frequently and openly, it gives people the confidence to share, challenge, and speak out. Soon they’ll just come to see it as just the way things are done around here.

4. REWARD INITIATIVE, NOT JUST WINS

One of the easiest ways to keep your team members feeling isolated and emotionally closed off to one another is to create a sense of fear around taking risks and failing. You might not think you’re doing that as a manager, but this type of culture can creep in unwittingly if you aren’t careful. You run this risk anytime your team members make a gamble and fail, and then pay some sort of penalty as a result–or even just perceive themselves to.

So it never hurts to err in the opposite direction. Heap praise and appreciation for people who give their best effort. Anyone on your team who tries something new deserves acknowledgment, even if things don’t wind up going as well as expected. Instead of wallowing in failure, the most emotionally intelligent teams know how to scrutinize it for lessons that can help them succeed next time. But this, too, takes practice and has to start from the top. Rewarding initiative rather than successes gives people the green light to take risks they’d otherwise feel too vulnerable to try.

5. SHARE OWNERSHIP OF OUTCOMES (GOOD, BAD, AND MIDDLING)

Finally, cultivating your whole team’s emotional intelligence requires accountability. You need everyone to take ownership and credit when things go well, but you also need them to take responsibility when things go awry. The old, top-down management model never left much room for this degree of accountability. When things went wrong, the boss who’d given the orders was ultimate to blame for the whole team’s missteps.

But as hierarchies flatten and the interpersonal skills among all contributors become more decisive, a much more distributed sense of ownership is no longer optional. As a leader, you can encourage that by openly and publicly sharing credit for decisions that worked well and acknowledging your role when things go off the rails. Taking responsibility from the top down can encourage everyone on your team to do the same.

Developing an open, safe, trusting workplace where everyone feels free to challenge and share their ideas depends on a high degree of emotional intelligence on all sides. Without it, your team members won’t be self-aware enough to know how they come across to others. They won’t be able to empathize or listen to each other, or find ways to improve their skills individually or as a group. But for managers, changing that starts by adopting a few good habits, then modeling them continuously for their teams. Stick with it, and you’ll have a powerful group of collaborators who know how to pull together as a unit, even when the going gets tough.

Does creativity have a real impact on business performance? How to stimulate creativity in the company? Innovation, gain in market share, competitive advantages: creativity can bring real performance levels to an activity. Take note of these 'games' that will open the mind of your team and encourage you to generate new ideas for the company.

Innovative companies perform better

The findings of this study demonstrate as one would expect that creativity is indeed a factor of development and performance of the enterprise. Indeed, 58% of companies seeking to promote in-house creativity achieved a higher turnover in 2016 than in 2015, compared with only 20% for less creative companies. Promoting innovation, Approaches to gain new market shares or the emergence of the primary competitive advantages, innovative companies also benefit from an additional image that attracts attention and talents. These are the most creative companies that rank among the best employers in the world. Creativity, that is, the production of new ideas in any field, Innovation, but also differentiation and attractiveness.

3 Tips to Inspire Creativity in Your Employees

Photographer, Freelance active and emotional speaker Walker Holmes teaches some of the world's largest companies how to have fun in the office. Wahl believes that most workspaces are too rigid and do not allow employees to have time to originate creative thoughts that produce innovative ideas. 

Wahl describes numerous ways to break those unproductive patterns to create environments that not only nurture but accelerate creativity. We share three unconventional methods that you recommend: 

1. Play with plasticine

Before starting a meeting, take with you plasticine and give each of the attendees a tin or two and tell them that they have a few minutes to model something that reminds them of their childhood. There will probably be awkward laughter at first, but Wahl says that few times people refuse to do so. 

The tactile nature of plasticine and the exercise of making a connection with childhood helps people break with the pretension that commonly exists in these boards as well as to open the mind. Use five or 10 minutes to play and then discuss what each person did. Immediately, he continues with the theme of the meeting. 

"You've broken the ice, made people laugh and relax. This will help you get better answers and ideas, "he says. 

2. Planning leisure

Time Plan time in the week that is completely free, where employees can do any relaxing activity such as taking a walk, sitting down to think or enjoying a quiet time. Giving the brain rest from the remainder of the day to engage in a soothing and inspiring task will allow you to return to the desk with new ideas and thoughts. 

It is important that this time is not used for work-related matters. You may feel weird at first, but it serves to open the space for the mind to innovate. 

"When we are very focused or thinking critically we have little time to generate ideas. It is at the point where we stop thinking when we generate new and different ideas, "says Holmes. 

3. Draw

'Art' is an effective way to open the channels of creativity. During one of his talks with Honda's creative team, Wahl started by getting everyone scribbled. They listened to him speak and only had to draw what caught their attention at the moment. 

Wahler says he later received a note from one of the team members. The drawing he did ended up being a new product by which the company obtained a patent, and that resulted in millionaire profits. Clearly, few scribbles are so lucrative, but the process of creating art can lead to exciting discoveries and ideas.

Toxic employees in the workplace generate high noise. For employees, in the meanwhile, it is tough to work with a toxic boss. It would be advisable to establish a protocol to identify possible toxic workers, and do not frivolity this subject because it requires an in-depth study of the behaviors.

"How did I come to hire that person?" It is the questioning that we have at some point made ourselves frustrated, those who have been hiring staff for a long time and, moreover, we usually keep the person in the company to avoid the unpleasant step To say goodbye.

To hire toxic collaborators is extremely costly for our organizations:

• They negatively affect the team.
• They are black holes that, due to their bad attitude, absorb the energy, morale, and commitment of other collaborators.
• Damage the relationship with current customers.
• They cause loss of clients and potential new sales.
• They are unproductive and generate more work for the company.

When we finally decide to separate them from the enterprise, the cost of this is added to the uncertainty that makes the equipment that a person leaves for the possible increase in their work and the insecurity of who will be the next to go.

According to an article by G & A Partners, replacing a partner can cost the company, depending on their position, between 30% and 150% of the person's annual salary. The more specialized, the more expensive area will be the replacement.

The Harvard Business Review notes that 80% of turnover is due to poor recruitment, which in most companies is not a priority.

For all of the above, whether you are the founder of the enterprise, General Manager of an SME or a large corporation or the leader of a work team, one of your priorities should be: To create the best possible work team to achieve the objectives. To achieve this, it is essential that you focus on innovating and establishing a recruitment process that considerably increases the chances of hiring the person who best matches the culture and vision of the organization so that, almost immediately, it will add up.

Next, I share the process of collaborative recruitment that we develop in the company, and that is giving excellent results:

1. Apparently, identify what you expect 

Job descriptions do not necessarily define what is required of the person. I suggest you take the time to expand this story detailing the following aspects:

• The purpose of the position: In a maximum of two lines explains the rationale of that position. Why is there such a job?
• It defines its responsibilities, that is, what the person in that position has to achieve; Not the functions you have to perform.
• It details the type of experience that the person has to have to be successful in the position; What you should know how to do.
• Describes the type of soft skills or personality strengths that are required to match the position and culture of the company; Such as assertive communication, stress management, high level of organization and self-management, leadership, etc.

2. Invest time in recruitment

Depending on the position, you can rely on recruitment agencies and social networks - such as LinkedIn - to locate candidates.
Also read: 7 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy (and Working Hard)

3. Filters by mail

Before you interview, send an email to all the candidates who have responded to your advertisement thanking you for the interest and asking them to answer the following questions that are essential to the process:

• Why are you interested in the position?
• What are your strengths as a person and how can they join the organization?
• What are the expected minimum income and desired benefits?

My recommendation is to interview those who best describe their strengths and who are within the defined salary range for the position.

4. First Interview  

Interview, then, only those who by their description sent by mail and their CV, meet the requirements defined for the position.

During the meeting, focus on identifying if the person has the attitude and skills desired for the position and the company by asking questions that allow the candidate to talk about their experience:

• What has been the most severe problem or disagreement you have had with a boss?
• With which of your previous bosses did you become more congenial? How was he?
• What has been the work or company that you have most enjoyed and why? And which one did you like least and why?
• How do you keep the team aligned?
• What programs or processes have you implemented for?
• Tell me if you had a lot of stress in a job and how you handled it
• Share me a success case in the implementation of
• Currently, how do you (define any process) that is relevant to the position? (This will allow you to validate the current knowledge to perform your work).

What has been the work or company that you have most enjoyed and why? Tweet

Focus on asking questions that allow you to evaluate situations that you have already lived and avoided hypothetical questions (How would you handle or solve?) Because all you are told is the level of imagination of the person.
Also read: 10 Things You Should Never Do With Your Employees

5. Create a personal connection

The lighter and personal the more relaxed interview will feel the candidate, and more thoroughly you will be able to meet him.

6. Apply diagnostics to identify strengths and abilities

Apply to the selected candidate's diagnoses that allow you to determine their soft skills, those personality traits that characterize them. Today there are several at an excellent price that can help you; Like the strengths of viacharacter.org or the skills Gallup.

Remember that it is more important to hire by attitude than by aptitude.

7. Interview Panel 

This is the best part of the process. It selects from 3 to 5 better candidates so that they are questioned by some of their possible collaborators and subordinates, who will form the panel of interviewers

Before the interview, ask each of the members of the group to write and send to the Human Resources area two questions they would like to ask their future boss and partner (the interviewee).

Human Resources will group and validate the questions in an interview format that will be given to each panel participant at the time of the interview.

During the panel, each of the participants will ask their questions to the candidate, and everyone will evaluate their degree of mastery with their response.

"It’s Better to Avoid a Toxic Employee than Hire a Superstar" Tweet

Panel questions include questions that allow everyone to assess the candidate's type of relationship and mentality.
Examples:

Relationship:

The General Directorate asks you and another area director for a project for a specific date. Both agree on what activities belong to each one to be able to fulfill in time and form. You commit and perform your part. However, the other director is not fulfilling his due and the deadline to submit the project is due, which can make them both as irresponsible to the Directorate General.

Share and briefly explain three concrete actions to manage this situation and fulfill the commitment.

1. Mentality. Answer that you agree or disagree with these statements:
2. Work does not come to socialize.
3. For things to go well, it is better to make them oneself.
4. A high and controlling image is necessary to be respected.
5. The rules were made to follow them, not to question them.
6. It is tough for someone to impress me.
7. It is important to have control to avoid problems.
8. It's hard to find people eager to do things.
9. Feedback from the team

After the panel interviews are over, meet with the team to exchange their impressions, asking them questions such as:

• Based on what you have heard and observed about the candidate, would you like to work with him as a peer or boss?
• Based on the information you have today from the candidate, do you consider that the team will be successfully integrated?
• Based on the information of the candidate you have today, do you consider that he is the best person to help you achieve your purpose or objective?

9. Select the person best evaluated by the group or start the process again

The participation of the team during this process significantly increases the chances that the individual will function in the organization.

10. Thanks by mail to all the participants that speak very well of your company

People are the soul and heart of the business, which will make the initiatives possible or not. Invest time in selecting the best ones for your business.

Discover what elements to add to your workplace to improve the health, well-being, and productivity of the equipment. 

Although no model office applies to all companies, there is a consensus on the importance of individual elements to ensure the well-being of employees: exercise and movement, access to light, clean air and healthy food. Integrating them all in the workplace improves the lives of employees not only when they are inside the office, but also outside the office.

Having a healthier and happier team improves productivity and innovation within the company. Here, five design solutions that help achieve this goal:

1. Offices that promote movement

It is already known that spending all day sitting is not good for health, but in most workplaces, interactions and tasks require staying in the same seat. The opposite end is also contrary, since spending long hours standing is not ideal. So the answer lies in the ability to change posture and generate movements every 20 minutes. If your office offers different spaces, such as areas for foot joints or modular elements that can be arranged in a variety of ways to promote movement, a more active environment is generated.

This is called "interactions with purpose," which must be linked to different moments, such as team meetings, more interactive projects or individual work moments. It also helps to have open and comfortable ladders, as well as areas that invite informal social interactions. Beyond the areas themselves, distributing the job functions and technology to drive the movement leads to a more energized and vibrant culture.
Also read: 10 Incredible Cool Facts & Benefits of Coworking Spaces

2. A building intended for employees

In the last decades, the design and construction community has focused on making workplaces more sustainable, which has a positive impact on health and well-being. One result of this is the International WELL Building Institute, which is at the forefront of new business practices that will reinvent physical spaces to make them better for the planet and people.

The leading companies in this movement are becoming familiar with the institute's latest construction standard, which identifies 102 performance metrics, design strategies, and procedures that can be implemented that are divided into air, water, nutrition, light, condition Physics, comfort, and mind.

3. Spaces to interact

Another way to address mental health is to create spaces that foster coexistence between collaborators and better support networks between them. Social areas such as cafes or even informal spaces for breaks help people relax but also generate interdisciplinary collaboration. But do not forget that respect for places of silence and tranquility is just as important. There, the distractions will be minimal, and those who need it will be able to focus on their tasks or simply get away from stress.
Also read: 7 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy (and Working Hard)

4. "Healthy" work materials and tools

Objects selected to create physical environments have a great impact on health. It is important that leaders take this into account when choosing and planning renovations or new spaces. Companies that understand this make informed decisions that do not cause harm (or better yet, improve) the health of their employees.

5. Please... natural light!

Companies can not limit their concern for well-being to physical health; they must also deal with mental and emotional health. One of the design solutions to strengthen mental health in the workplace is to provide universal access to natural light. According to a Northwestern University study, those working in offices with more light sleep longer and sleep better, and have a better quality of life and physical activity than those with limited access to natural light.

At the time you created your business, it is very likely that you did it for a particular purpose. You may have outlined your company's mission and described its ideal future in your statement of long-term goals.

As an executive at the helm of a start-up business, the beliefs, values and core standards you establish for your company in its infancy will set the tone for its organizational culture. Corporate culture is important. Here are a few reasons.

A strong organizational culture can help guide employees. It serves as a benchmark for taking regulatory measures, and it can guide employees on how to behave with their colleagues, clients, and management.

• A well-defined corporate culture can help you distinguish between your company and its competitors.
• A supportive corporate culture can lead to increased employee loyalty and reduce staff turnover.
• On the other hand, a corporate culture that is inconsistent with your organization's business objectives can be a barrier to the success of your business or even to its existence. So what can you do if you find that your organization's current organizational culture is hurting its growth?

Follow these tips for implementing a corporate culture that suits your business.

• Take into account that changes are necessary: Recognizing that it may be required to change the corporate culture of your business is a major step in the right direction.
• Maintain good communication: Encourage discussion and communicate openly with your employees about the goals and vision of your business.
• Take the example: It is not enough just to convey the values, rules, and beliefs of your organization to your employees. Leaders must set the tone and demonstrate to employees how organizational culture must be put into practice; Their acts and gestures must be their expression.
• Recognize employees who actually embrace the new standards and reward them.

There are various kinds of corporate cultures. Your company's culture can affect everything from the way your brand is perceived by the public to the satisfaction of your employees about their work. 

No matter what you build, invent or sell, your organization can not go forward without people. CEOs, founders of companies and bosses around the world know that keeping teams moving together in harmony makes the real difference.

In an article for Forbes magazine, Leonard J. Glick, professor of organizational development and management at Northeastern University in Boston, teaches the art of motivating employees. Glick explained some key ideas aimed at entrepreneurs and managers, to keep their people smiling and productive at the same time.

Build a sense of belonging to your team 

You have to have employees who feel that the place belongs to them, not just working there. "One of the principles of self-managed teams is to organize a whole service or product." In other words, make sure that the company's staff feels responsible for what the customer buys.

One way to inspire that feeling is to have each team member become familiar with what others do by allowing them to bring their ideas to the table to improve and participate in the whole process. If the roles are not too personalized, you can rotate the staff, because according to experts this contributes to the feeling of feeling something as their own, and most people when they feel something like their own, do not want to fail.

Gives employees the confidence to leave their comfort zones

Few employees want to do a particular task over and over again. Do not be afraid to give them new responsibilities, this will allow them to grow and trust more in their abilities as they feel more valuable to the organization.

Although managers may feel uncomfortable allowing their people to try new things because they believe they pose a risk to productivity or put workers out of their established place, they rule out other issues. "For me, the biggest risk is people getting burned or bored," Glick explained.

Keep your team informed

Business leaders have a clearer perspective on the big picture than their employees. It is worth telling those who are under you what is happening. "The things that managers take for common knowledge about how things are going or what challenges are coming or what new products are coming in often do not take the time to share that with their employees," Glick said. The diffusion and therefore the common knowledge of the information reinforces the feeling among the workers who are an essential part of the organization.

Your employees are adults, treat them as such

In any business, there is going to be bad news. Whether it is the company as a whole or an individual within the organization, employees need to be treated in a direct and respectable manner. "They can handle it, usually," Glick said. If you decide to keep your people in the dark about difficult times, you hurt yourself too. "Rumors are often worse than reality."

You are the boss, sometimes you have to make him notice 

While this topic is affecting the overall culture of an organization, there will be times when you have to make a decision as a leader, despite the efforts you have done to put equality with your staff on the ground. "The idea is that they have an open relationship, but they are not necessarily the same," said the expert and added: "I think the worst thing is to pretend that you are the same."

Money matters (but not as much as you think)

Compensation packages are a great thing when employees are hired, but once an agreement has been reached, the source of motivation tends to change. "Motivation comes from the things I've been talking about: the job challenge, the daily purpose, the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to contribute," Glick explained. It is about finding a salary that allows employees to feel that they are being paid fairly.

Benefits matter (but not as much as you think)

Some companies (we see on Google -0.95%) have received attention for offering generous benefits to their staff - massages, free gourmet lunches, ping pong tables, day care. But, like money, these things tend to be less motivating for workers that challenge you at work and the feeling of being a valuable part of a quality team that will recognize your contribution.

A manager needs to understand that while these benefits are great and free the shoulders of employees, they are not a substitute for the primary sources of professional inspiration. "I do not think people work harder, work harder for those things," Glick said.

A good relationship among all employees will help you improve productivity and customer service. You need positive team work for business success. 

Teamwork is an indispensable tool for the proper functioning of a company since all employees have a fundamental role in the development and growth of the same.

Therefore, the first step is to take care of the communication that is given to the members of the business, since several factors negatively impact this link, which results in poor performance by employees and a work environment complicated.

Communication within the company is one of the factors that determines the success or failure of the same. So be sure to maintain healthy communication in all areas to avoid any kind of conflict and to achieve success in an efficient and friendly.

But how do you achieve good teamwork? Next, I share some secrets that you can put into practice.

1. Build trust

Confidence is the primary element of teamwork. It encourages an environment where all the participants know the skills of others, understands their roles and knows how to help each other.

2. Establish common objectives

For all employees to work as a team, they must pursue the same goals. It is, therefore, important that everyone knows the mission and goals of the company in a uniform way and define how each member and the department can contribute to fulfilling it.
Also read: How to attract good luck in a business 

3. It creates sense of belonging

Humans need to feel part of something, so the most dominant factor in team building is the development of a collective identity. The best thing for this is to define what identifies your teams, set values ??and make each member aware of their impact on the team.

4. Involve the whole team in decision-making

Nothing affects a teamwork more than the fact that the decisions are made by an autocrat leader. To avoid this, we must encourage the generation of ideas and motivate each person in the team to share their opinion. If you have this feedback, it will be easier to implement any change or strategy.

5. Have empathy

It is very easy to criticize or underestimate the work of others when you do not know it or have not executed it. To create understanding among collaborators, it is important that you perform rotation exercises between areas. So each member will know what the other's work consists of and how it can contribute to doing it better.
Also read: 10 Reasons you are not as productive as you could be 

6. Motivates responsibility and mutual commitment

When a person is part of a team, he knows that the achievements or failures are the responsibility of each and every one of the members. It is not good to foster the mentality of "this is not my problem," we must make the problems, and the successes are shared.

7. Celebrate group successes

Although it is also important to recognize the individual work, it is key that the rewards are given by team results. When something goes well, it brings together all those involved and thanks them for their work. It tries to emphasize the role of each one but celebrates the group result.

Coworking spaces are great for productivity and work-life balance. Coworking spaces are the perfect solution for work at home business persons. Can you guess how many coworking spaces in the us? The answer should be 10,000+ coworking spaces are currently being used according to global coworking survey. The theme of Coworking versus the traditional office has been a constant debate in the world of entrepreneurship.

We share some data from shared workspaces that have gained great popularity among entrepreneurs and freelancers thanks to the facilities they provide.
Coworking is a modality of work that has gained a great boom in recent years due to its practicality and the advantages it offers to those who need a space without paying large amounts of money to rent offices and to prepare them, or for those who do not want to follow Working from the isolation of his house.

Below, we list five curious facts about this trend of independent work.

1. Born of a concept

Based on the coworking concept that Bernie DeKovenen coined in 1999, Brad Neuberg created the first official coworking space in 2005, "Hat Factory".

 2. Help to exchange ideas

The concept of "coworking" refers not only to sharing the same work space with professionals from different areas but also to the exchange of ideas as a basis for the creation of new entrepreneurship projects.

3. Reduce costs

Coworking owes its growing popularity to the multiple advantages it offers to freelancers, among them are cost reduction, elimination of distractions as opposed to working from home or from a coffee shop, the exchange of ideas that is generated from Coexistence with other users and ease of transfer.

4. It gives you free time

This way of working allows you to set your own hours, which translates into more free time, thus reducing stress levels and promoting a higher quality of life for its users.

5. They can all occupy

Coworking spaces are not only for freelancers but also for companies looking to save on the cost of having their own facilities and requiring different job sites in the city. Such is the case of Central District, which facilitates its facilities to corporate employees in order to save costs and transfer times and thus generate greater productivity.
Co-working spaces have become popular worldwide, affording startups instant networking opportunities. Have you considered adding coworking spaces to your repertoire of workspace options for employees?

Reasons to use Coworking spaces & benefits of coworking spaces

We have heard the experiences of friends and colleagues who, after going through several attempts to establish themselves, have found success when approaching a Coworking space.
Reasons to use coworking space:

If you've ever found yourself being oppressed in a "farm" of cubicles or trying to find the best place in that noisy and expensive cafeteria, that's a thing of the past.

Today, Coworking is the solution and escape of that old system of entrepreneurship, freeing you from that already obsolete office format.

Before you sign that forced and costly contract in a traditional office, we give you some reasons to consider testing the model and working style of Coworking.

• Grow your network faster

In a Coworking space, networking is a constant activity and a way of living. Regular interactions lead to building trust and relationships; Sharing knowledge, collaborating on projects, and even random conversations about coffee can bring new and valuable connections.

• Find talented people to work with

Coworking spaces are a central hub for talent. With the rise of independent and remote work over the last few years, we are seeing an unprecedented increase where the best talent moves into the Coworking spaces. Hiring a great designer or programmer would be easier with a desirable project opportunity.

• Immerse yourself in a creative environment

Human beings are sensory creatures that feed on their surroundings. Therefore, a small cubicle or messy home office simply does not help. Not to mention the day-to-day interactions with other creative people that would surely amplify their creative and cognitive abilities. Coworking spaces pay special attention to design and aesthetics; Color painting, decorating, furnishing and lighting are essential to stimulate our minds and catalyze a creative mindset.

• Improve your social life

One of the biggest drawbacks of segregating yourself in a private office is that you lose social interactions. Many who have worked in the classic "9 to 5" form friendships only in the kitchen; A workplace always provides us with an abundant source of new friends, and when you finish once you leave your traditional office this source is depleted. On the contrary, when you join a Coworking place, close interaction allows you to fill gaps and start friendships with people with your own way of thinking.

• Obtaining and sharing knowledge

For entrepreneurs, having access not only to a shared space but also to resources such as mentors and peer support is invaluable. You can choose to arrange regular tutoring meetings to talk through your business challenges, tackle obstacles, and set attainable goals. Having someone to support you in your professional development is one of the biggest benefits of being a member of a coworking space.
Also read: Ways to transform your business

• Reduce costs to a minimum

The price of Coworking is handled for its value, unlike the traditional office where interest is profit and physical dimensions. Members of Coworking spaces enjoy flexible pricing and are provided with a huge variety of incentives to make their experience more satisfying. Depending on the space, coworking plans can cost as little as $ 100 per day. Comparing this with the cost of office rent gives us an easy choice for convenience.

The employer-employee relationship can be a minefield of dangerous faux pas. The determination of whether employer-employee relations exists between the parties is very important. Aiming to create a strong employer-employee relationship within your organization is commendable.
After spending day in and day out with your employees, it's easy to think of them as more than just employees. However, that thinking can be the downfall of your business.

Avoid these 10 situations to make sure you never cross the line.

To have an effective team, some rules are not meant to be broken—and when they are, big problems usually follow. Avoid trouble, loss of productivity and lawsuits by never, ever doing the following 10 things with your employees.

Never date

In the modern workplace, men and women work together for eight or ten hours a day; Don’t date employees. Never ever!

Period

Many people ignore this advice. What may seem like a harmless thing at the time is a really bad idea, especially when you break up with them. While this may bring short-term joy, the pain can last for a long time.

Get drunk

It can start out as one drink, but for some people, it can get out of control. Both employers and employees say and do things when they drink that they would never do otherwise. Too much alcohol never mixes with a profitable business.

Okay, that's all I have to say. We're done.

Don't do all the talking. Don't rattle off your list of complaints, or sing the employee high praises, then kick them out. Just like a good hiring manager would do in a job interview, turn the tables at the end of the performance review and allow them to speak and ask questions. This is a crucial part of the review process and you wouldn't want to take that away from them.

Don't generalize.

"Generalities are the quickest way to put the employee on the defensive," Price explains. "Constructive feedback is specific, timely, and actionable--it's the basis for an honest beneficial performance evaluation."

Share a hotel room. 

Things are more complicated these days. Sexual harassment is one of the most common allegations employees make. Never be in a totally private place with any employee.

Don’t bother me right now. 

I’m updating my Facebook status. – Social media networking is an important part of today’s business world.  It should not, however, be an excuse for failing to communicate with an employee.

I'm not sure how to help you.

Don't fail to offer your support. One of the worst things a manager can do is give feedback, make suggestions, and then not offer to help the employee accomplish these things. As the boss, you're not expected to come up with solutions to every issue addressed during the review, but you should offer support, guidance, and advice to the employee as they work toward self-improvement.

As exciting as a relationship with the ‘Big Cheese’ might be, don’t do it. It won’t end well and you will be left wondering why you did it in the first place.

Meetings can consume the better part of your day and leave you wondering, “What did I accomplish by attending one meeting after the next?” Before you schedule or attend another meeting, consider the goals and objectives of the meeting first.

1. Is it for informational purposes only? If so, can you obtain the necessary information from someone else?
2. Is it because you have something to contribute? If so, do you need to stay for the entire meeting?  
3. Are you scheduling the meeting? If so, what steps will you take to ensure that it produces the results you need -- without the attendees feeling as though you’ve wasted their time?

Here are 20 techniques you can implement to ensure you are scheduling, managing and participating in productive meetings.

1. Start meetings on time. This shows you respect everyone’s time. If you always start meetings late, you are setting an expectation and people will arrive late. Be in your chair a few minutes before the start time.

2. Show up on time. When you show up late, you are telling everyone else that your time is more valuable than theirs -- combined.

3. Use an agenda. Meetings that last more than 20 minutes need an agenda to ensure the group remains focused and the appropriate items are covered.

4. Distribute the agenda prior to the meeting. This allows for prep time that may be necessary, rather than catching attendees off guard or risking those who will attend unprepared.

5. Keep it short. A shorter meeting can accomplish just as much as one that is twice as long.

6. Schedule a 45-minute meeting instead of an hour. Meetings have a way of filling the time scheduled -- don’t allow this to happen. Use the extra 15 minutes to accomplish another task, such as:  filing meeting notes, inputting tasks as the result of the meeting into your task management system, check voicemail and return a call, grab a snack or take a break!

7. Don’t allow scope creep. Discussing an unrelated topic is one of the easiest ways to derail a meeting and will frustrate others. This is another reason an agenda is necessary. If a topic comes up that isn’t on the agenda, put it on the parking lot and return to it at a later date, or address it at the end if there is time.

8. Acknowledge the elephant in the room. If there is something standing in the way of making forward progress, acknowledge it up front and move on. 

9. Choose an effective moderator or facilitator. If this is not your strength, enlist someone to help. Someone must be responsible for keeping the meeting on topic and moving forward.

10. Conduct meetings while standing. Can you accomplish just as much in a short meeting where you stand than in a longer meeting where you get comfortable in a chair?

11. Listen. Show respect to the person speaking because you’ll want the same respect when it’s your turn.

12. Stop multitasking. Establish a policy of no e-mail, texting, or web surfing during meetings. If the meeting is short enough this should not be problematic.

13. Be prepared. Don’t be caught off guard if someone asks for your opinion or advice. No one appreciates the person that doesn’t participate; what’s the point of attending?

14. Don’t speak just to be heard. Speak only if you have something meaningful to add. People stop listening to those who speak all the time but never really say anything.

15. Follow up. Most meetings are likely to create action items. Though everyone should be responsible for their own to-do’s, people get busy. They might forget what they were asked to do or fail to communicate the completion.  Designate someone to record action items and post them to a shared document. Someone will still need to remind others of their commitment.

16. Cancel a meeting. If you are the meeting organizer and you realize that you aren’t prepared for it, do everyone a favor and reschedule it. 

17. Can the meeting be replaced by a phone call?  Ensure that every meeting you attend or schedule can’t be replaced by a phone call. If a meeting is needed later as a result of the call; schedule it at that time.

18. End the meeting on time; if not early. Never assume that you can continue a meeting after the scheduled end time; you may not be aware of what attendees have scheduled next.

19. Use the calendar scheduling feature in Microsoft Outlook to schedule meetings. You will save time using this feature when scheduling a meeting with those in your company where you can view their calendars. You can also use this to schedule meetings outside your company; you just won’t be able to see when someone is available.

20. Use Doodle. Doodle did a study in September 2015 that determined that professionals spend 4.75 hours a week to arrange 8.9 meetings. That amount of wasted time translates into a Friday afternoon off each week!  Wouldn’t that be more fun?

Productive meetings are possible when you implement these techniques. What can you do immediately to ensure that you’re scheduling and managing a productive and efficient meeting?

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