Join TAB Fort Worth today!
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| Hear How We Help Our Members |
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| Event Details |
| Watch for Upcoming Events
September 25, 2009 in the morning at TCU - Business Online Networking Best Practices presented by Ed and Valerie Riefenstahl, Certified LinkedIn Instructors
Fall 09 - Email Marketing Workshop presented by Julie Niehoff, Development Director at Constant Contact |
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Attend Business Bites Lunch 'N Learn on May 6, 2009 (there is still room)
Dealing with Challenging People and Situations
Presented by Dr. Connie Sitterly, Senior Human Resource Consultant, OneSource Virtual HR
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Attend Business Bites Lunch 'N Learn on June 3, 2009
Coloring Your Bottom Line Green
Presented by Judy Gaman, Business Owner, Speaker and Author
Ever wonder why some businesses succeed in their marketing efforts while others fail? Research tells us that colors have an interesting effect on the value we place on items. Did you know that an identical item can be packaged in two ways and depending on the colors of that package, a consumer will pay more or less? Attendees of Coloring Your Bottom Line Green will learn what the colors of their company's logo say about their company. They will learn important information about color and culture as well as color and age factors. Each participant will have a chance to discover their individual color psychology. More information, including Judy Gaman's bio
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| Schedule a TAB Speaker for your organization |
| The Alternative Board (TAB) of Fort Worth possesses a Speakers Bureau comprised of individuals from various companies and industries. The range of topics is varied (finance, the environment, new technologies - such as LinkedIn business network, ethics, energy efficiency, and small business management, to name a few).
Click here for a list of topics.
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| Quick Tips |
Google What?
I use Google Alerts (www.google.com) to track activity of my clients, prospects or those industries relevant to my business. These snippets of information, emailed to me daily, are an invaluable source of new product, trends, events, etc. which can be used in my sales or marketing conversations.
Deborah Elms
Imprinted Originals
Smithtown, NY |
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| Connect with LinkedIn Business Network |
Register for LinkedIn classes
Read LinkedIn Testimonials
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| TAB in The News |
For a full listing of press hits, please visit our In the News page.
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| Now Available: Click on the above book cover to order your copy of The Wall Street Journal business book best-seller the 9 Elements of Family Business Success by Allen E. Fishman, Founder and Chairman of The Alternative Board®. |
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Touted as the most valuable and beneficial business advisory organization in the world, The Alternative Board® (TAB) has been featured in leading business news sources from the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, the Washington Post, CNN and many others.
The essential and critical counsel and value The Alternative Board® consistently delivers to small and medium size businesses, and the immediate impact it brings to its client organizations is an essential element for any organization that intends to thrive. | |
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| Financial
Seize the Upside of the Downturn |
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This month, Dave Diesslin would like to share some valuable information he recently read. The following excerpt, "How to Seize the Upside of the Downturn," appeared in an article, "Survival in an Age of Turbulence," by Donald Sull, in the April 16, 2009 issue of the Financial Times newspaper.
In a recession, companies can accelerate
organizational change, take share from rivals, acquire resources cheaply and outmaneuver rivals.
Be agile. Rather than trying to predict an unknowable future, build an organization capable of seizing unexpected opportunities as they arise.
Explore anomalies to identify opportunities. Unexpected events signal a gap between strategy and competitive realities. By exploring anomalies, managers can spot opportunities others miss.
Execute by commitments. At its heart, an organization is a dynamic network of commitments up and down the chain of command, across units and to external stakeholders. Cultivate and coordinate commitments to execute in a systematic way.
Collect "Rush" data - information that is real-time, unfiltered, shared across the organization and holistic enough to provide a multifaceted view of a complex situation - to spot threats and opportunities.
Use simple rules for a complex world. Rather
than match market complexity with complicated
strategy, apply a small number of heuristics to critical processes.
David H. Diesslin, MBA, CFP® Diesslin & Associates, Inc. |
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Focus and Resolve
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Sometimes all that's needed to resolve a problem is to get one or more of my employees to focus on it. I recently grew tired of constantly having to remind my warehouse crew to promptly take care of our surplus inventory. I got their attention. I went to a sporting goods store and picked up small pistol targets. I began taping a bull's-eye to any piece of excess inventory I passed in the warehouse. No need for dialog or angry words, the bull's-eye gets their attention and gets it done.
Herm Bloom, Home Mattress Centers, Wilmington, DE |
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Member Highlight Working in an Environment of Trust |
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Darlene Ryan, Executive Director, TECH Fort Worth (501 Board)
To Darlene Ryan, TAB means a place to work with other executives in an environment of trust, where members meet regularly and help each other think through whatever issues they are having with their businesses or organizations. "I'm currently the executive director of a nonprofit, but I was previously the founder and owner of my own manufacturing company, so I understand the issues associated with both types of entities. Sometimes I figure out my own next steps when I'm helping someone else work on theirs," Darlene states.
TECH Fort Worth's first big event, since its formation 12 years ago, takes place on May 5, 2009. According to Darlene, "my TAB Board has helped me think through every aspect of this event, giving me outside objective feedback that I could never have gotten from all of the people closely affiliated with the organization. It is that input that allowed us to raise enough sponsorship money to break even on the event in its first year and in a bad economy, as well as to sell out the tickets to the event itself. Huge success, and Ed Riefenstahl and my TAB Board members played a big role in helping us get here."
TECH Fort Worth is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt technology business incubator. The organization's purpose is to grow the local technology-based economy. TECH Fort Worth has facilities and programs, including mentoring and coaching by seasoned entrepreneurs who have started and grown technology-based companies of their own. To access Incubation services, a potential client must own some form of proprietary technology and have the desire for a business of their own. For the more advanced Acceleration services, a client must also have a feasible business plan ready to execute and be ready to work full-time in their business. TECH Fort Worth has offices and wet labs to rent to its clients while they are building their businesses. What makes TECH Fort Worth unique is the experience of its Executive Director and the backing of the existing technology-based business community and the City of Fort Worth, the nation's fastest growing large city. Darlene Ryan, the Executive Director, was a nationally recognized entrepreneur who started and grew a pharmaceutical manufacturing and technology company from nothing in 1994 to being listed as one of the nation's 500 fastest growing private companies for three years, being named the area's Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Life Sciences in 2003, and being named one of nine Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World in 2004.
"After 30+ years as a physician/academician/educator, I found myself a 'rookie' Fort Worth Tech client. While I felt our venture in the area of educational technologies had promise, I felt considerable trepidation taking on a new career as a businessman. However, Darlene not only helped me address those fears but also continues to serve as a truly excellent mentor helping me translate the nature of business relationships into actions and infusing the enterpernual spirit into our startup company. The Fort Worth business community is blessed to have Darlene play a critical role in redefining our community as a player building the technologies of tomorrow."
Frank Papa, DO, PhD
President, Advanced Curricular Design and Educational Technologies (ACDET)
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OneSource Virtual HR Tip Provide Feedback with Performance Appraisals
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Dear Workplace Doctor,
Question: As a small business owner, with three employees, should I bother with performance reviews?
Sam
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Dear Sam,
Answer: Yes; meaningful feedback on job performance is essential for every employee, and performance appraisals can be an effective tool to manage performance when properly administered.
While frequent, candid conversations are helpful, appraisals are opportunities to compare an employee's perception with their manager's perception, acknowledge above average performance and address below average performance with a specific improvement plan. Try twice a year instead of once, and learn more about the process before, during and after.
Give employees a blank copy upon hire, then a week or two before you meet, with instructions to complete a self-assessment. Review their self-assessment and compare it with your appraisal. When you meet, discuss any disparities with specific examples and/or criteria.
The more you learn about managing and appraising performance, the less "bother" it will be.
The Workplace Doctor ™
Attend Dr. Connie Sitterly's presentation "Dealing with Challenging People and Situations" on May 6, 2009, from 11:45-1:15 at TECH Fort Worth as part of TAB Fort Worth's Business Bites Lunch 'N Learn (no cost). Click here for more information. Copyright 2009, Dr. Connie Sitterly, Independent Senior HR Consultant, OneSource Virtual HR
Connie Sitterly, "The Workplace Doctor™," is an independent consultant with OneSource Virtual HR, a human resource consulting company based in Euless, Texas. She is an international speaker, trainer, executive coach, author, management consultant, You may reach her by phone 817.737.2893, e-mail csitterly@onesourcevhr.com or www.onesourcevhr.com
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| Use the Rule of 30 |
As an architect, my partner and I manage multiple projects from the initial design to completion. Each project operates within a budget and our ability to complete the project at budget is critical to our relationship with clients. After each project closes, we conduct a detailed comparison of the actual cost versus our estimated cost to identify opportunities to improve.
Over time, we have learned that 30 percent of our projects with the greatest variation from the estimate provide the greatest learning. Projects completed at a cost closest to our estimate (the remaining 70 percent), provide limited new insight. By focusing on the 30 percent with the greatest variation, we have accelerated our rate of improvement.
Carl Winnekins, Architects Group Limited, Green Bay, WI |
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| Handle Collection Matters with Payment Coupons |
Create and send official looking payment coupons-somewhat similar to a car payment coupon booklet-to people who owe you money. This should be used for the clients you KNOW are not in a position to pay off their balance in full anyway. Because of the situation, rather than turning it into an unsolvable dispute, receiving coupon booklet payments is better than writing off the debt. I was surprised to find something so simple to implement actually worked.
Ronald Cook, Law Firm of Ronald Cook, Smithtown, NY
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| Avoid Layoffs |
When business fluctuates, layoffs can damage morale. We deliberately hire with the intention of doing 12 percent of our production using overtime. When things get temporarily busy, we can increase to 25 percent overtime (10 hours a week) without adding staff. When business slows, we can cut our capacity by 12 percent without cutting anyone.
Jeff Garvens, Acme Holdings, San Antonio, TX |
| Communicate with/Motivate Key Staff |
We often mistake what motivates us with what motivates our staff. Ask your staff to let you know specifically what aspect of what they do feels the most rewarding. Utilize this information to acknowledge and help motivate them to a higher level of performance within their job responsibilities.
Leyla Pinarli, One Source Document Management, Inc., Ronkonkoma, NY |
ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVE BOARD®
The Alternative Board® is comprised of members who are business owners, CEOs or presidents who run businesses in non-competing fields. During a TAB Board meeting, you receive the benefit of the collective experience of the board members, who offer practical solutions to your problems-not theories.
You can learn more about TAB, which has been helping business owners succeed since 1990, by visiting TheAlternativeBoard.com |
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