3 Work Skills That Are Useful At Home

Apr192019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

3 Work Skills That Are Useful At Home

Is your home life more chaotic than your work life? If so, you’re not alone, and some of the skills you use in your job can help. Planning and scheduling. Do you struggle to finish your personal to-do list? Block out time in your calendar for the things you need to get done (even mundane tasks like laundry and errands). You’ll feel more in control and more productive.Decision making. is about understanding how your actions affect other people. To improve, pay attention to how your colleagues react to things, and ask yourself (or them) what could be behind their behavior.Putting people first. At work, would you idly check your phone while a client speaks? Of course not — and our families deserve the same respect. Try to give people your full attention at…

Apr172019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

All The World Is A Stage

Attitude and Mindset, Featured

In the play, As You Like It, William Shakespeare states, "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." The phrase is meant to compare life to a play, but the line applies to business as well. In business everyone has their role and it takes everybody hitting their mark to make things run. This isn't just about the people but about the businesses themselves. Businesses play different roles at different times. They can partner with other businesses in one area and compete with them in another. They can be benefactors, suppliers, buyers, employers, etc. The roles they play are many and just as each employee, supplier, etc. needs to play their roles for the business to benefit, the business has to play its roles properly…

Apr152019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

What Successful People Did Is What You Can Emulate

Featured, Improvement

There are hundreds of books and articles where successful people talk about their habits. The idea is that if you follow those habits then you too can be successful. The problem is most of these focus on what these people are doing today. Many of these of habits are only feasible because they already have money. You need to look at what successful people did before they had money. Two perfect examples are Warren Buffett and Arianna Huffington. When Warren Buffett talks about his success, he talks about what he did as a child and how he made his early money, not just what he does now. Arianna Huffington wrote a book on how people can become successful. She completely passed over how she made her initial money. This is…

Apr122019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

At Your Next Meeting, Use a Shot Clock

Featured, Process

Tired of being in meetings that drag on and on? It may sound unusual, but the answer is a shot clock, much like the ones used in professional basketball. Here’s how it works: Before a meeting, explain that you want to devote a certain amount of time to each agenda item. If you’re leading an annual budget review and have 10 investment proposals on the table, say, “We’re going to spend exactly 5 minutes discussing each topic. Speakers will have two minutes to present, followed by three minutes of discussion.” If different topics warrant different amounts of time, try to determine that in advance. Then set up the shot clock — a smartphone timer works nicely. It should buzz (loudly) when time runs out and keep buzzing until people stop talking. While it’s…

Apr102019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

Putting Things In The Right Order Matters

Featured, Process

In school there are courses that have prerequisites. The reason is that the courses build on each other. To get the most out of the second course, you must have completed the first. To get the most done you have to consider the order in which you are doing it. Many projects have several parts where later parts rely on the first ones being completed. When planning an event, you don't advertise an event before a location is secured. More commonly, organizations take on projects that could succeed, but fail to fix problems first, which dooms the project. For example, a project is started before budget shortfalls are fixed. This makes the costs of the project, which would have been manageable, too much for the organization to bear. Make sure…

Apr82019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

All Comparisons Are Not Equal

Evaluate, Featured

Mark Twain once said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics." There was a recent instagram post from a company called Arbonne. Arbonne is a network marketing/MLM company that sells cosmetics and vitamins. The company was touting the fact that their growth rate was higher than Google and Amazon. While the statistic is technically true, it's also incredibly misleading. How can they claim to have a growth rate larger than those incredibly successful companies? It is simple. When a $20 million company grows to $30 million it has a 50% growth rate. For a billion dollar company to match that rate, they need to grow $500 million. By the same token if you invest a dollar and get a 1000% return, you have $10. A fantastic growth rate but hardly…

Mar292019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

When Your Growth Stalls, Ask Yourself Why

Featured, Improvement

We’ve all hit a wall at some point. You may run up against a competitor you can’t beat, lose your job despite your best efforts, or encounter some other kind of roadblock. When you can’t go forward, the only way to keep moving is to take a step back. Some people think stepping back is the same as admitting failure. Others think they can simply smash through the wall in front of them. But this type of rigidity can be disastrous — how many of us have told a recruiter “I can’t take a lower salary” or “Any move has to be a step up”? By contrast, being flexible and willing to pivot can greatly increase your chances of success. So pause, step back, and reassess your career and your…

Mar272019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

To Start Your Week Refreshed, Treat the Weekend Like a Vacation

Featured, Improvement

When Monday morning arrives, do you feel relaxed? Or are you still stressed out from the previous week? Research shows that one way to make your weekends more refreshing is to think of them as a short vacation. Part of this is simply enjoying yourself: sleep in, do less housework, eat a bit more than you normally would. And find ways to make common tasks more fun, whether that’s turning on upbeat music in the car while running errands or making yourself a margarita for folding laundry. Another part is slowing down: Pay attention to your surroundings, the activity at hand, and the people who are involved. Keeping your mind on whatever’s happening will help you savor it, which in turn will help you feel like you’re breaking out of…

Mar252019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

Follow The Facts

Evaluate, Featured

It happens all the time. A project goes off the rails. The projected results fail to come in. Yet a business continues to pour good money after bad to keep it going because management believes in the project. While belief is a wonderful thing, you need to follow the facts. When a project you are invested in, emotionally as well as financially, it becomes difficult to evaluate it objectively. Without that objective evaluation, these projects can go from a minor failure to massive drain on resources. How can you make sure a project is evaluated properly? Step away from the project: Look at what's going on as if it were happening to someone else. Would you advise someone else to take the action you have if you weren't involved?Ask for…

Mar222019 by Modern Observer GroupNo Comments

Want to Be More Open-Minded?

Attitude and Mindset, Featured

Open-mindedness at work — about new products, strategies, business models — is one key to success. But how do you develop it? Research has found there are several things you can do. For one, travel, whether it’s to another country or somewhere closer to home. As you encounter ways of living that differ from the ones you know best, your brain will get better at accepting new approaches and ideas. For a cheaper option, read fiction. Books can train your brain to be curious about others’ experiences and opinions. Another low-cost option is mindfulness meditation, which has been shown to help people be willing to revise their ideas. And if you’re someone who tends to get stuck in their ways, there’s a simple trick you can try: Start sentences with…

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