Recently, I was asked for information about timetabling software. I don't feel I can recommend a particular product as each school will have different requirements, but I thought it would be worth discussing some of the issues involved in choosing software appropriate to your needs. I think the first consideration is ease of use for those who need to operate the system. The onscreen information should be user-friendly with clear instructions. You also need something that i...

If you�ve recently decided to find your new executives and senior management through an executive search and selection agency, then here�s how to find and evaluate those agencies before you sign up. There are thousands of recruitment agencies, big and small, but only a minority focus solely on recruiting for executive, senior manager and director-level appointments. If you need to fill important jobs with the best people, you need to select an agency that has access to exc...

Isn't it funny how many chef uniforms in high-class restaurants are white? Even a regular person who wears white shirts or pants has a hard time keeping them spot and stain-free on a normal day. Think about how difficult is it for cooks and bakers, who are constantly leaning over soup bowls and saut�ing vegetables, to keep their chef uniforms clean and tidy.

How effectively do you communicate? Use this check list to rate your communication skills.

Change management is something many companies may face throughout their existence. Whether something simple or a complete change, various things can be done to allow for a successful change. Management of the change effectively will allow for the best overall final product but it really just is not that simple. But, there are ways to get effective change management in such a way as to contribute to the betterment of the company. Change management is the management of chan...

�Resistance to change may be active or passive, overt or covert, individual or organised, aggressive or timid��� and on occasions totally justified.� Sadly most significant change fails to meet the expectations and targets of the proposers. The failure is given the catchall name �resistance�, yet resistance can be principled and creative as well as from vested interest. Top management is frequently unreasonable in its expectations and time scale, forgetting the process it...

Meetings are very expensive. To count the true, collective cost of any meeting you need to add the cost of each person's salary for the time they spend in the meeting, the cost of time which could be spent undertaking other tasks and the emotional cost of being part of a meeting especially if the only decision which gets made is the date of the next meeting. Chairing an efficient, effective meeting is a skill - does yours need improving? 10 rules for chairing successful meetings.

The most common cause of businesses failing is a lack of cash flow. Cash flow is the money coming in, compared to money going out. Your business plan will identify where, and when, your major business expenditures occur. These are unlikely times when your income is at a maximum. Businesses often run into cash flow problems because their customers delay paying their bills, or when their customers cannot pay their bills at all. Many individuals delay paying bills until...

Tips and techniques for finding and hiring great people for your business, even in a tight market of almost full employment. Find your way through red tape and legislation to employ the best people and get them involved in your business success.

Sales is like any other business. There are people who just do it as there jobs and are pretty good, there are people who do it cause its what they want to do, and are great at it, and there are people who are in the process of burning out. Only, doing sales, you burn out much more quickly than in other fields. That's why it wouldn't even make sense to do professional sales training as you're starting out � how do you know you'll even be in it for more than a year or two. ...