Do Poor Organisational Skills Affect Your Business Profits?

Did you know that in a recent survey conducted by a leading British University, Organisational Skills came out as the 3rd most important skill sought by employers in the UK?

Organisational training skills are amongst the most transferable and valuable in any marketplace and they allow professionals to plan, prioritise and achieve as part of meeting their objectives and goals.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have also stated that the art of planning and organising is becoming increasingly prevalent with demand for training courses on this topic are in high demand.

organisational skills
DO POOR ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS PROFITS?
INTRODUCTION:

There are 3 main skills which fall under the banner of Organisational skills which employers seek:

  1. Physical Organisation
  2. Planning
  3. Teamwork
PHYSICAL ORGANISATION:

It goes far beyond simply having a clear desk but also a clear mind and a clear vision to how to achieve their goals. You can nearly always tell the well organised professionals when they enter a room by their appearance, how they communicate, how they present their written communication or how they prepare for a meeting, an interview or an event.

Let’s face it, you do not need to be a Project Manager in order to have strong organisational skills yet the demand in the job marketplace has never been higher.

PLANNING:

According to The Guardian Jobs website, the question, ‘How do you manage your time and plan for your day?’ is one of the most asked by interviewers.

A plan can be as simple as deciding which part of my car do I wash first or as complicated and detailed as charting a corporate strategy for the next 4 years for a leading multi-national.

Unless you have an effective plan in place, a goal might as well be a wish. Every project will have a timeline to adhere to and will require anticipation of resources available along with regular communication and updates for stakeholders. Strong Organisational Skills will need to be drawn on in order to build an effective, workable plan of action that can be managed and executed on time and on budget. The questions need to be asked, does your business have the right personnel in place to think, plan and organise effectively?

Do they draw on Business Intelligence, use business data and data trends to help in their decision making or they follow their instinct?

Are they skilfully adept and working efficiently at problem solving, program management, project management and strategy planning?

TEAMWORK:

In a well-oiled team, all members work to their strengths and are assigned accordingly. Providing the appropriate delegation of these tasks can save on time and profits as a project in the wrong hands can have far reaching cost-related consequences.

Well organised people will understand and maintain the structure of the wider teams of which they are a part.

In order to maintain commitments to their people, all businesses must deliver on their promises of providing professional development to their people in order to assist them in reaching their potential and playing their part in keeping the business profitable.

These skills all form part of a long-term development plan, so it is important to set clear goals to keep on track. Our motivation course can help with this.

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The Perils Of Perpetual People Pleasing!

How to say ‘no’ assertively

If you are a passive person, there is one word that strikes fear into your heart, and because of this it rarely appears in your personal dictionary. It’s a difficult but short message – the word ‘no’. If you are passive, you prefer to be a ‘yes’ person, a people pleaser. Your aim is to avoid confrontation with others, and sayings such as ‘anything for a quiet life’ and ‘don’t make a scene’ trip easily off your tongue.

Someone could do with assertiveness courses

So what’s the problem?

Once people realise you are passive, they will take advantage of your good nature. They will know they can dump work on you and you won’t fight back or even question it. They will get used to hearing ‘Ok, no problem. Leave it there and I’ll do it later’. But you end up with the in-tray from hell and you never get to go home on time! You will also get very stressed and will begin to suffer.

Your self-esteem and dignity will be around your ankles and you won’t like yourself very much. As a trainer, I have delivered many stress management and assertiveness training sessions and the vast majority of attendees are passive and need help! Also, what people don’t realise is that every time they take advantage of your passive nature, they are adding to the frustration which is accumulating inside you, and you will reach a point where you can take no more.

You will lose control and explode with rage, and once the outburst is over, you will feel utterly ashamed and full of regret. This is where the expression ‘it’s always the quiet ones’ comes from.

The answer is: learn to be more assertive!

If the prospect of saying ‘no’ fills you with terror, then don’t say it – negotiate instead! Assertive people don’t say no unless they absolutely have no alternative, and even then it’s a ‘no, because…’ Always support the ‘no’ with the reasons behind it, so people can understand. Honesty is always the best policy, so let’s not make promises we know we cannot keep just to make people happy – it will come back to haunt you later!

Empathy is a useful technique to use at the beginning, for example ‘I understand that you need this doing by 4pm today, however with my current workload..’ or ‘I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it won’t be possible…’ Next, offer options and alternatives for them to consider, for example ‘I understand you need me to work late tonight, but I cannot. However, I’m happy to come in early tomorrow morning if that helps’ or ‘it won’t be possible to finish this by 4pm, but I can have it ready by 5pm’.

The key message here is that I want to help, but what you’re asking just isn’t possible. But I can do this, or this – which one would you like?

Consider this: nobody is saying ‘no’ – we’re just agreeing on a different ‘yes’! A ‘yes’ that is acceptable to both parties. You can say no to now, but yes to later. In the end, everyone wins – we just need to agree on the running order!

Conclusion

Many people have problems saying the word ‘no’ when they really should, and as we have discovered there can be consequences. The solution is to be more assertive – stand up for yourself, whilst treating others with respect. If it’s a definite no, then make it a ‘no, because…’ and give reasons, but where there are other possibilities, you should negotiate.

Find a way forward on your terms as well as theirs – you’ll feel a lot better! And remember, nobody said no, we just agreed on a different yes. It works for me!