Archive for November, 2011

I’m a member of the Women In Business, West Kent Group and I was recently asked to present on ‘Working from home’. It was a great evening where we shared challenges and ideas with a stark realisation of the common issues home workers face. Jade Pluck, the group’s social media guru, wrote a post and she has agreed that I can guest her on my blog.  I hope the  ideas help you to work more effectively from home.

We had one of our members Denise Molloy speak to us re Working from Home, this is a subject which plays an important part to most of our members, and what a fantastic session it was. I think we all got one or two things off our chest about the trials we face when working from home and you know what they say “a problem shared is a problem halved” and I think was the case.

So what did I take away from the session; well the most important thing when you are working by yourself is to have a Board of Directors, these could be people such as:

• People who you can talk to and who are supportive of your business and you
• Having someone you are accountable to therefore achieving the goals you have put in place
• Partner with people/associates who have the strengths you don’t

We also discussed what our “driver” is, now most of us have set up our business as we are passionate about it which is great and you can really tell the enthusiasm when we talk about what we do, but we all need to think what we want to get out of it, is it a better work life balance or to earn a bigger income to help support your family – whatever it is really stay focused to make sure you get their (don’t forget your Board of Directors if you get stuck).

When it comes to self-management make sure you

• Play to your strengths
• Structure your day
• Maximise your time (doing what is most important at this point in time)
• Manage your activity
• Balance your energy

So how can you make sure you are using your time effectively, quite simply look at this A – E model below:

A – Tasks that must get done, allocate time for them

B – Be good to do

C – Could do if nothing better

D – Delegate

E – Eliminate

In conclusion I think we all took away something that was beneficial to us, for me it’s what I am going to eliminate from my to do list.

Emma Cox took away from the session:

• Surround yourself with supportive people
• Have a buddy
• Know your inspiration for working
• Check your passion – do you enjoy what you do? If not, do something else.
• Recognise your drivers and arrange your business around them.

What did you take away from it?

One last tip,Denise suggested a great book: Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

If you would like to speak to Denise then please do get in contact with her here.

Written by Jade Pluck of Virtually Anywhere

Denise is running two morning workshops in January to help

‘Get Your Year into Gear’

Thurs 12 January in Tonbridge and Wednesday 18 January in Maidstone.

Full details to follow soon but each date will be restricted to 12 people so if you want to be the first to know make sure you sign up for her newsletter here.

I happened to flick onto the tail end of a documentary with Peter Jones of Dragon’s Den ‘How we made our Millions’. He was seeking to find out the unique qualities of an entrepreneur – what made them successful.

Regular readers of my blogs will know that I am a fan of the Gallup Strengthsfinder tool and their book ‘Strengths In Leadership’, research studies into the unique strengths that makes a successful leader. Jones’ documentary provided further insight into how two very different leaders achieve top performance and earn millions.

Richard Reed is co-founder of Innocent and Michelle Mone founder of MJM International lingerie.

Reed advocates everything natural; from his smoothies to the way he does business with his staff and business partners. The offices are like a family home and his style is very much about collaboration and accessibility. Peter Jones called him a ‘hippy with a calculator’. The creative team confessed to working in organised chaos that was successful, much to the discomfort and dismay of Jones. Reed told Jones that he wanted to get rich and die poor, a reference to his contribution to charity and the needy.

Michelle Mone is much more of an authoritative, demanding leader whose strong need for perfection, by admission of her and her staff, makes life quite stressful. Her offices, like her home, are pristine and organised to perfection. Mone is always changing her mind and admitted she is a ‘nightmare’. Jones compared her to Thatcher as the ‘Iron Lady’  also only needed 4 hours sleep. Michelle’s drive for success is strong, and any self doubt she may have accelerates that drive to greater success and satisfies her need to achieve more.

I picked up on 6 of the traits for success that I think are worth reflection as you take your business to where you want it to be

• If you don’t like what is happening, do something different to change it
• If you are 70 % sure go for it, it doesn’t need to be perfect to start
• Don’t take no for an answer without asking ‘why’?
• You can be doing well but you can do better
• Collaboration with business partners and staff earns loyalty and trust
• Let any self doubt be a driver not a barrier

However different Mone and Reed behave and think, they are undoubtedly inspirational leaders in their field, and have made millions! The road to success is very different for each of them, as they chose to run their business so that it  fits their lifestyle.

Denise Molloy is a business and performance coach who works with owner managers to take their business to the next stage. Watch out for her workshops in January to help you:

‘Get Your Year In Gear’

Register to receive her blogs direct so you don’t miss out.

In my last blog I asked what makes you procrastinate, defined as putting off doing things needlessly. I suggested looking at the benefits of doing something and the consequences of not doing it as a way prioritising your time.

So what stopped me writing my blog last week?

I didn’t do a blog as my VA Lauren, who normally posts it on WordPress, is away so I didn’t have my normal deadline. But when all is said and done, writing is not my favourite activity. I like to be in front of people, to listen and interact. I prefer to be with people than write so that’s what I did and I had no one to be accountable to but myself.  But I recognise the merits of blogging in my business so I know I need to knuckle down and write. Once I get immersed into it I’m fine!

So here are 5 key tips to get you and me going on tasks that may not be our favourite activity!

• Firstly, make sure you are the only one who has to do the task – delegate what you can so you  spend time on what only you can do
• Know how long the task should take you and schedule time in your diary to get it done
• If you answer to no one but yourself, find yourself an accountability buddy with whom you can agree  deadlines, someone who you know will chase you up!
• Consider the task as you would an important prospect so you don’t put it off or reschedule
• Focus all your energy of getting that task completed in the time you allocated

Denise Molloy is a business and personal performance coach who works with small business owners to be more productive and profitable. Find out more about how she can support you and your business here