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Archive for the ‘Office Management’ Category

I turned down a job just recently. Oh sure – the deadline was impossible, there weren’t enough people (or the right type of people) in the project team to do the job, the scope of deliverables was poorly defined, and it was over 3 hours away from where I lived. But none of that was the reason I turned down the job, even though I was asked to name my own price. The problem was the Project Owner.

As I work as a contractor, before I take on a new Program or Project Management role, I try to get a feel for the stakeholders involved. In this case, I went in for a 3 week stint to prepare their overall program plan. This brought me into close contact with all the key players in the project, from the project owner, to the sponsor, to key stakeholders in other departments and the project team.

As I said above, this project had lots of challenges, but none more so than the Project Owner. This guy (let’s call him John) had absolutely no project management skills, and was smart enough to recognise this and therefore hire a contract Project Manager with the necessary skills.

However I noticed during that 3 weeks that John was a very hands on Project Owner – and I mean hands on. He would wander out of his office, ask how some piece of the project was going, then advise the project team member what they had to do and when. Now in many instances, the interim Project Manager was standing right there. John didn’t ask him – he went straight over to the project team member – asked them – and then gave them work to do.

How would that make you feel as a Project Manager?

And this Project Manager was no dummy (perhaps not assertive enough…), but he had no control over John. John had been in the organization longer, was a senior executive of the company, and no business analyst or marketing specialist is going to say no to an executive! It made for very tricky status meetings when people tried to explain why they hadn’t done what the Project Manager wanted done, because they were too busy doing work for the Project Owner.

So – the time came for me to go, and the Project Owner called me in to try to talk me into staying on as the Project Manager. He was shocked that I wouldn’t stay – it was a great project, good team, name your own price! But I asked just one question which made him stop in his tracks – who would be in charge if I stayed on the project. John thought it would be him.  Read more...

Are you interested in pursuing a career in office management or are you an office manager who would like to sharpen yours skill?  If you are, you may want to take the time to examine office management training courses.  Office management training courses can be of great assistance to those who are looking to update their office management techniques or for those who need assistance with finding an office management job.

Before focusing on the benefits of attending office management training courses or classes, it is important to remember that they come in a number of different formats. Their goals, however, are all the same.  That goal is to improve the productivity of office managers through successful techniques.  You may find deluxe training classes that last a few months or even a few weeks. These classes often focus on a wide range of office management issues and topics, such as clerical skills, time management skills, and so forth.  It is also possible to find detailed office management training courses that focus on one particular topic, such as word processing. Generally speaking, the more hours you log or the more classes you take, the more information you are likely to walk away with.  Read more...

“Time is of the essence,” is a clause that lawyers insert in contracts when the date of delivery plays a crucial role. In those cases, even one day of delay might determine that commitments have not been satisfactorily fulfilled.

When heavy contractual penalties apply, the whole undertaking could become a nightmare for the party who has incurred the delay. The experience of 50 years of Japanese management techniques only serves to confirm that speed has become a critical success factor in all fields of human endeavour.

Producing and exchanging value, whether physical or psychological, is the fundamental reason why people interact. In this sense, purchasing commercial products and services is not that different from enjoying conversation with friends or family. It all boils down to giving and receiving some kind of value.

Five decades ago, Japanese firms began to develop a management style based on extreme cost-awareness. Their experimentation with different techniques quickly led to the conclusion that the best way to deliver maximum value was to increase the end-to-end speed of processes. This principle applies equally to design, engineering, factory organisation, and sales.  Read more...

Electronic medical billing has made billing more efficient and much easier through the increased use of electronic medical billing software.Medical billing has become much easier and more efficient through the adoption of electronic billing software. This article should explain electronic medical billing to those in charge of entire billing operations or those in charge of single medical offices. Electronic medical billing makes life easer and collections more successful. Questions about medical bills can be answered before the bill becomes past due because of quicker response times. Many medical billing offices are overwhelmed with billing due to complicated procedures for payment from insurance companies. Electronic medical billing makes offices more efficient.

The primary reason for this increased productivity is directly linked to the different kinds of electronic medical billing software.The increased productivity in billing can be directly linked to the different kinds of electronic medical billing software. Client server (CS) and application service providers (ASP) make up two types. The client server has a central server and terminals that are linked through a local network. After initial installation management of these systems require configuration, back up, restoration, and upgrades. For these reasons client servers are usually more expensive.  Read more...

Do you need a business consultant? If you are asking the question then in all likelihood you do. The job of a business consultant is to understand your business and consider the business you have from the perspective of your clients. They will look at all aspects of your business and try to give you a direction into the ways you can improve your business to ensure your client satisfaction and therefore repeat business as well as increase your business profitability overall.

As a business grows often the initial resources of management and idea streams within the company are limited. With the company growth also follows the need to obtain further information and assistance to keep the business growing. Many large businesses take on the practice of hiring business consultants almost as a matter of standard however there is no reason that as a small business you can not consider the assistance of business consultants yourselves.

External consultants come in with a fresh perspective and offer up new information and ideas that are often lacking within existing staff and management of a business. As the business becomes larger it also changes and becomes a more complex machine. Seeking the services of a professional business consultant to analyze your company is not a lack of confidence in your own abilities but a proof that you wish your current success to continue.  Read more...