Project Derailed: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Commercial Construction

The majority of commercial construction projects are rarely straightforward and offer plenty of opportunities for cost overruns and other potential problems which could prove a setback when you are working to a deadline.

There are ways to avoid the stress and financial implications associated with an unexpected derailment of your project.

Worker at a construction site

Here is a look at how to manage expectations and build a strong team, the importance of budgeting, and why you need to address legal compliance issues as a priority. There is also an overview of negotiating a fair price and bringing all the components of the project together.

Harmony within the project team

There are going to be a number of different key people and companies who need to be able to work together and work as a team when it comes to commercial building projects.…

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These 6 Strategies Will Make Your Business More Efficient

Are you looking for ways to make your business more efficient?

There’s no shortage of opportunity. The trick is knowing which strategies are likely to pay off for your company, and which are best left to others to pursue. As with so many other things, investing in efficiency is all about ROI: the greater the potential return, the higher the priority.

Business people working together

While every company is different, these six efficient business strategies have proven effective across a broad range of industries and niches. If you’re seeking to streamline and improve your company’s operations, they’re all worth a closer look.

1. Automate High-Volume Functions

You probably have more to do than that of which your staff allows.…

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10 Things To Remember When Expanding Your Business Globally

Expanding your business into overseas markets may be a long-cherished dream of yours, but when doing so, you shouldn’t presume that your success at home will automatically translate into success elsewhere.

Global expansion

Follow these 10 tips to ensure that you do well in new markets.

1. Ensure stability back home

You should ensure that your business is already thriving in its current market, before going to the effort of targeting overseas business. Expanding a business is a time-consuming and sometimes risky undertaking, so you need to be sure that the business has first established the strongest possible foundations in its original territory.…

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How Companies Can Make Use Of CRM Systems

Customer relationship management systems, better known as CRMs, make running a business much simpler. Regardless of the industry you work in, it’s important to keep on top of your relationships with customers to improve trust, increase brand loyalty and deliver an excellent service. Below, we’ve put together just some of the ways in which companies can make the most out of CRMs.

Using CRM

To improve time management

Managing time can be difficult when running a business, but customer relationship managers can be used to follow up activities, automate alerts and give customers the levels of communication they deserve. If you work in hospitality, for example, you can rely on an online booking system like Eviivo to manage bookings, deal with clients and keep on top of customer invoices – saving you time, money and allowing you to deliver a professional, confident and streamlined service to your guests.…

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How To Make Sure Your Christmas Party Doesn’t Turn In To A Nightmare

It’s nearing the time of year when you get to have fun at the office Christmas party. These parties are often held as team-bonding activities that ingratiate employees to their employer. They can start off positively because they are intended to show them that they are valued by the company, but there is also the risk of these parties becoming nightmares for the small business that throws them.

There is no one who wishes to have their Christmas party become an awful affair. One of your coworkers could drink too much eggnog and give away an inappropriate gift for Secret Santa.…

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Studies Show Businesses with More Females in Management Do Better. Here’s Why.

Not to play the gender card, statistics actually show that companies with females on their board of directors do better than those with no women. A study of Fortune 500 companies demonstrated that those with the highest number of women in management, recorded higher financial performance on the average. The study was based on three financial measures: return on equity, return on sales and return on invested capital.

Female managers

There have been a number of other studies that show a link between a balanced gender distribution in a company’s management and its profitability. These studies have been carried out in different countries, at different times, and across a variety of sectors.…

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The Importance of Worker Engagement

No doubt, you are sitting there right now scratching your head wondering what we mean by worker engagement. Do not worry because you are not alone. The term is one that has gradually fallen out of use over the years.

Happy and engaged employees

Simply put worker engagement is the way in which firms interface with their workforce. How they manage their relationship with their employees.

Sadly, the reason the term is no longer in common use is because few firms think much about worker engagement. This partly explains why the relationship many companies have with their workers is no longer healthy and mutually beneficial.…

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Your No-Nonsense Roadmap to Effective Crisis Management

Sooner or later, every company experiences a crisis that threatens its reputation and revenue, which are of course inextricably linked. For the uninitiated, the experience can be truly terrifying.

Crisis management

In crisis management, as in much else, fortune favors the prepared. Before you get in over your head, follow this crisis management roadmap.

Lay the Groundwork with a Transparent Corporate Culture

While your company’s next crisis remains a gleam in fate’s eye, lay the groundwork for your response with a transparent, forthright corporate culture that respects your employees and stakeholders. The more information you share, the better.

“Understanding that employees want to feel they contribute to their company’s success, it is key that employees be exposed to the company’s strategic goals and objectives,” said Lovell Communications president Rosemary Plorin in a recent Inc.

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7 Things Managers Need to Know About Handling Remote Teams

There has been a serious misconception that productivity and colocation are two inseparable factors for success. The need of a swift business expansion in emerging startups has encouraged a new approach towards management that favors remote teamwork as a time-saving and cost-effective solution.

Remote team meeting

Despite being extremely popular, especially among tech companies, remote team management is still an evolving concept. As such, it comprises a wide array of management techniques which vary from strict surveillance and employee evaluation to a more relaxed approach that puts freedom over tight regulations.

Open Your Doors To New Horizons

One of the many benefits of telecommuting teams is the lack of limitations when it comes to hiring a talented crew member.…

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How To Optimize Inventory Distribution For An Omnichannel Business

The customer is not local anymore – we are all now fully aware of the global opportunity. However, in the pursuit of trying to address our distributed customer, we often forget that our inventory planning needs to be tuned to this new business model.

Checking inventory

Is the goal of this article to convince you to buy warehouses in multiple cities/countries? Not really. We’re here to discuss and evaluate models and figure out what kind of model works best for each context. Hopefully, once you have identified your distribution model, you will know where exactly to store your inventory and how to make the largest cost savings for your size of business.…

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