Top Tips On How A Company Can Adopt A Culture Of Safety

by Simon Bliss, Managing Director of Principal People

Safety culture is a company-wide safety management system. It’s a health and safety program that requires both individual and group effort that includes shared attitudes, understanding, values, and behaviour. Organisations who practise positive safety culture communicate based on mutual trust and shared perception with regards to safety.

What is behaviour-based safety concept?

H.W. Heinrich concluded that workers cause 9 out of 10 industrial accidents. He proposed that such a problem could be reduced by observing and changing their behaviour. However, this concept blames the employees and neglected other relevant factors.

Fortunately, most industry experts consider this as an out-dated concept for three reasons:

1. Finding someone to blame.

By directing the blame for the accident on the worker, the company ignores the external factors like safety programs, controls, and even communication. These are some of the areas that companies need to improve.

2. Incentives for achieving zero rate injuries.

Incentives can have a negative on your safety program. For example, rewarding employees to hit company quota on injury rate or days without accidents may encourage them not to report safety accidents.

You should carefully plan your incentive program to make sure that it doesn’t discourage them from reporting valid safety issues.

3. Encouraging anonymous reporting of safety issues.

Anonymous observation and reporting tend to incite conflict amongst employees. It also raises concerns that safety issues are being covered up. In a positive safety culture, workers can report problems freely. Also, the company should encourage them to report exemplary behaviour and suggestions for improving workplace safety.

So how can you make the work area safe?

● Empower your employees in safety planning.

Employees are likely to follow safety rules if they have a hand in the planning. The more they understand and take ownership of the safety program, the more likely they will take action.

● Equip employees with clear job instructions.

Consider providing employees with instructions that they can clearly understand. You also need to review and confirm if they understood their responsibilities.

● Periodically inspect machinery and tools.

As an employer, you need to check if the company’s machinery is working correctly. Also, you can have your EHS officer conduct periodic checks of your equipment.

● Understand how employees accomplished their jobs.

Understandably, employees will take shortcuts in their work; however, this can cause safety issues. You should also consider looking for employees who improved their job performance. If applicable, you can have it adopted by other workers.

● Remove any identified hazards.

Your EHS officer should conduct periodic inspection of the company workplace to isolate any potential dangers. It’s recommended to have the check at the beginning of the year. Also, consider reviewing your safety program. However, if your company doesn’t have an EHS officer, you can get the help of a health and safety recruiter to find one.

You can also encourage the safety culture by:

1. Sharing your safety vision and assigning clear responsibilities.

Everyone should understand the stated goal of the organisation’s safety culture. To enforce accountability, you’ll need to assign responsibility to each member.

2. Providing multiple options to your staff.

Employees with safety concern would typically report to their supervisors. However, they should have multiple options for reporting their apprehensions. This will ensure that managers are held accountable for their responses.

3. Educating employees on reporting injuries.

Your EHS officer should educate workers about the importance of reporting accidents, injuries, and even near misses.

4. Setting up a credible investigating system.

When accidents and incidents occur in the workplace, an investigation will typically take place. The EHS officer must conduct a thorough and impartial enquiry. This will help uncover the source of the accident.

5. Earning your employees trust and making every success public.

There’s a way to encourage an employee to observe safety regulations and report safety concerns. One of them is to earn their trust. Also, consider making your efforts public to motivate and update employees about the current process.

Conclusion.

Organisations keen to adopt a positive safety culture should avoid generally blaming the workers for industrial mishaps. The EHS officers should conduct an impartial investigation and consider external factors for the cause of accidents. Another way to improve the safety culture is to appoint a key person to promote it in every department. In most companies, the person responsible could be a safety manager or EHS officer.

 

Simon Bliss is the Managing Director of Principal People, a recruitment consultancy specialising in Health, Safety, and Environment. The company is successful in providing clients with candidates who are fit in a variety of positions including senior and leadership roles. He’s also the COO of the Juhler Group of Companies which operates in 40 locations across Europe and Asia.

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Reasons To Invest In A Dangerous Storage System For Your Startup

Startup businesses that handle dangerous or hazardous chemicals, like flammable liquids and solids, gas, explosives, corrosive substances, oxidizing agents, and toxic substances, should invest in a reliable and durable storage system.

If you have a startup factory or manufacturing business, fast-food chain, refrigeration business, automotive, or electrical business that uses dangerous raw materials, you have a lot of good reasons to invest in a dangerous storage system to ensure a safe workplace. Continue reading below to find out more.

Reduce Health and Safety Risks of Hazardous Chemicals.

Hazardous chemicals refer to substances and mixtures that pose significant health and safety risks in the workplace, and even outside the business premises if not managed correctly. As a startup entrepreneur, you have to keep in mind that risk assessment is crucial if you and your employees handle dangerous or potentially hazardous chemicals.

Moreover, it’s important to invest in a reliable dangerous storage system from a trusted brand, such as Storemasta. In that way, spills or leakages and misuse are avoided. Properly labeling your dangerous storage system is also essential to avoid accidents.

Here are some tips and tricks to handle dangerous substances to help reduce health and safety risks in your startup business:

• Every startup business, regardless of the niche, should formulate clear policies or guidelines associated with handling hazardous chemicals.
• Provide safety and emergency equipment, fire protection equipment, and firefighting equipment.
• Maintain a register of hazardous chemicals and notify the regulator if the storage of hazardous chemicals will be carried out.
• Identify any physical or chemical risk to ensure the stability of hazardous chemicals.
• Provide proper information dissemination, training, and supervision to your employees.
• Provide a spill containment system for dangerous materials and chemicals as necessary.
• It’s important to control ignition sources, as well as the buildup of combustible and flammable substances.
• Ensure that workplace exposure for hazardous chemicals doesn’t exceed standards.
• Provide health monitoring to your employees by hiring a licensed healthcare worker to perform the task.
• Provide a copy of an emergency plan to primary local emergency services and organizations if the quantity of hazardous chemicals at your business or workplace exceeds the quantity of the manifest.

Ensure a Smoother Flow of Business Operations.

By investing in a dangerous storage system, you can ensure that the high-volume hazardous chemicals have stable containers. It also ensures proper decommissioning of handling and storage systems. If dangerous chemicals or substances are handled with care, you have peace of mind that there will be no disruptions in your normal business operations.

A smooth-running startup business has a higher chance of growing, expanding, and becoming successful. You don’t want cleaning up the mess of leaky or poor quality dangerous storage systems. Instead, you should focus your time, attention, and effort on making higher profits for your business by increased production, engaging with your clients, and building partnerships.

Avoid Fire, Burns, and Other Accidents.

As a startup business, it’s important to have liability insurance and worker’s compensation set in place, most especially if you handle dangerous chemicals or your employees are at risk of chemical exposure or work in contained or closed spaces.

Assessing the risks of handling and storing dangerous substances is important, including leaks and spills, and other types of environmental damage. Avoid fire, burns, and other accidents by carrying out prompt actions to control risks, including:

• Proper chemical storage according to the safety data sheet, which bears the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Keep the smallest quantity of dangerous substances necessary.
• Store incompatible substances or chemicals separately.
• Take steps to prevent leakage or release of hazardous chemicals and dangerous substances.
• Keep a spill kit near dangerous storage areas.
• Clean up any spills or leaks that occur.

Avoid Dealing with Legal Matters.

As a business owner, the last thing you would want to do is face legal charges because of an unsafe workplace. You don’t want to ruin your business reputation just because you fail to implement strict company policies in storing and handling dangerous or hazardous chemicals.

While you can always hire a personal injury lawyer to help you handle claims associated with workplace accidents, you can avoid dealing with legal matters by reinforcing a strict dangerous storage system. Make sure to only invest in a trusted and reputable dangerous storage solution provider to ensure high-quality products and excellent services.

Conclusion.

Every startup business owner should be aware of the possibilities and consequences of handling dangerous substances or hazardous chemicals. The benefits of investing in a dangerous storage system for a startup include saving time, money, and effort in cleaning up spills and leaks, as well as reduce health and safety risks.

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Minnesota Office Furniture: How High-Quality Furniture Helps Productivity In The Workplace

Several factors affect productivity in the workplace. Anywhere from the corporate culture to the temperature levels can influence efficiency. However, did you know that utilizing high-quality office furniture could add to overall employee morale?

In this guide, we examine how aesthetically pleasing furniture can bring office productivity to greater heights.

Sometimes all you need to get your business going is great-looking office furniture.

High-Quality Furniture Can Be a “Hygiene Factor”.

American psychologist Frederick Herzberg talked extensively about “hygiene” factors in the workplace. This led to the “two-factor” theory that states that there are factors that cause satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and those that generally dissatisfy employees are hygiene factors.

A hygiene factor is something that an employee must have in their work. If it is present, it does not cause positive motivation, but the moment it becomes absent, it results in dissatisfaction and ultimately a loss in productivity.

An example would be employee salary, where the lack of a wage would dissatisfy an employee, but its presence is already a given and won’t make them work any harder.

A pleasant working environment can be considered a hygiene factor because its absence will be a cause for dissatisfaction amongst employees in the workplace. Part of a friendly working environment is the physical aspect of the environment itself. This includes furniture and fixtures.

In turn, one can consider furniture as a hygiene factor. However, being that it is needed to make sure that employees are always working to a particular standard, the purchase of high-quality furniture should be the norm.

High-quality furniture lasts longer and is always a better investment than cheap alternatives. It helps make sure that your employees are not dissatisfied with their working environment, and that they are always strategically placed to do the best work possible.

By simply picking out the best, you can bring out the best in other people.

Good Aesthetics Helps Motivate Your Employees.

Being able to work at a great looking place is enough reason for a lot of people to get up in the morning. Imagine how many people would trade their current jobs to work for a multinational company such as Google. Apart from the benefits that their employees get and what’s in the name itself, their sprawling offices set them apart.

Their fixtures of high-quality desks and furniture add to their visual appeal, making going to work a fun experience instead of thinking about it as a chore or working enclosed in a box.

High-quality furniture has the ability to influence the way people are motivated to work daily. Naturally, we are drawn to attractive places, and great aesthetics are part of the reason that the tourism industry has been growing. It’s not just the place itself that serve as motivators for people to work harder, but it is also the little details that make you stay.

When you have a great environment to work in, it maximizes your creativity and productivity because you feel as if you’re comfortable and you do not have to worry about anything else apart from the work that you have.

Great Furniture Designs Help Spark Creativity.

Even creative people have slow days on some occasions and for many, finding a muse can be as simple as looking around them. The beauty of high-quality furniture is that it is often designed well. These designs can serve as the basis for more creative endeavors in the company.

Creatives often benefit from a location that can also spark their creativity, and when even the furniture that they are exposed to becomes an avenue for them to imagine and get creative, it certainly helps them get going again.

However, it’s not just creative-types who benefit from this. Even analytical people can derive a sense of inspiration when looking at beautifully designed pieces of furniture. It offers a degree of catharsis because it is an art form in itself. One can look at furniture and, in a sense, restart their imagination and get it going again.

Apart from being aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, good-looking furniture makes places look and feel more professional to other people.

Inspiration, in turn sparks a productive mindset that allows people to be more productive in the things that they are doing.

Creates Multifunctional Workspaces.

Multifunctional workspaces also serve as a way of improving businesses with limited funds because they allow business owners to create multifunctional workspaces without having to build walls. For example, a standard workspace can be easily converted into a meeting area just by using the right type of furniture.

This promotes the flexibility of the office to adapt to changing needs that employees have. One does not need to have a meeting space that is rarely used and have space wasted; instead, any space can be converted any time that a need arises just with the use of furniture.

Multifunctional workspaces have furniture that serve different purposes and can be relied upon to provide these whenever there is a specific need that is required of them. This enhances the feeling of an office that can quickly adapt to the changes that they have.

In turn, furniture are not seen as inanimate objects that just serve one specific purpose, but rather dynamic and multidimensional fixtures that allow a lot to happen. What used to be considered boring is now compelling and, to a certain degree, it makes the office come to life.

High-Quality Furniture is a Sign That The Company is Invested in its Staff.

Great furniture costs a lot of money, and as such, it can be considered an investment. However, what one must realize is that furniture is bought primarily to facilitate the work of the employees working in the company.

Furniture allows employees to be able to fulfill the tasks that they have to do for the company with ease. However, a company that has invested in high-quality furniture for their staff also sends a message that they care a lot for their well-being and motivation.

This level of support from a company indicates that they will go as far as changing their employees’ environment in order to make it easier for the latter to function well in the workplace.

By knowing that their employers care about them even up to the smallest details, employees feel motivated to work harder in order to fulfill the needs of the company. People who receive investment are more likely to work harder and feel empowered in getting the job done for the people that they work for.

If employers decide to save money and provide their employees with cheap furniture, they can’t expect teams to work as efficient because it doesn’t seem as if the management is invested in them. This will become a problem in the long run, especially in larger companies.

High-Quality Furniture Lasts Longer.

The reason a lot of companies invest in high-quality furniture is the fact that it lasts longer than common choices such as fixtures made from wood pulp. This means they are more resistant not only to wear-and-tear, but also to other possible damage because of the way that they were built.

For instance, when affordable desks break, they can cause downtime because staff members will have nothing to use while they are being replaced. This loss of capital equipment will drive productivity lower as employees will have to adapt to temporary furniture for the interim.

Once you factor in the cost of the furniture replacement, you will have driven down both profits and cost the company money.

High-quality furniture from Minnesota might cost more money than cheap furniture, but you can maintain productivity, knowing that it won’t break as easily as its cheap counterparts. It’s the same psychology behind a lot of major purchases that people make.

Even used office cubicles are a better choice than poorly made brand-new cubicles that won’t be able to stand the test of time. As long as the furniture is made with excellent quality materials, you will be able to notice that it would be able to last longer than new ones.

High-quality furniture does not cause unnecessary downtime from breaking, thus being a source of productivity in the long run.

It Bolsters the Image of the Company and Employees. 

Furniture built with both design and quality in mind are great for any company because they help in bolstering the company’s image. It is said that every little detail counts towards how a company’s brand is communicated to its shareholders, and it’s the same deal with high-quality furniture.

Each piece of furniture communicates the brand through both its design and the way it is built; think of it as an extension of the company’s brand image that they have to project to the people that they deal with on a regular basis.

Moreover, employees take pride in being able to work in a good-looking environment. In a way, it boosts their self-esteem and satisfied employees are productive employees in the workplace. Team members will be proud of the fact that they work for a company that puts value in everything, including their furniture. Large productive companies utilize high-quality furniture.

If you think about it, this is part of the branding and marketing of the company. It also matches well with the corporate culture that the company has established.

It Helps Boost the Feeling of Cleanliness.

Cleanliness and hygiene — not Herzberg’s hygiene factors this time around — are not just important aspects of organizations that serve food or cater to healthcare, but they also apply to other businesses, too.

High-quality furniture boosts the feel of a place, making it feel cleaner and with this, employees are better motivated to work. Clean spaces allow for great places to be productive. Think about the times where people have had to clean up their desks in order for them to be able to start being productive.

It is also important to note that hygiene communicates the attention to detail that a company has. Cleanliness does not only help boost the morale of the employees, but it also assists in marketing to customers.

It Helps Attract Customers and Clients.

Just as mentioned earlier, beautiful places tend to attract people and get them to stay, and this is the same for your clients as well. One thing that business owners have to note is that an increase in the number of clients is usually translated to a rise in productivity.

High-quality furniture and excellent design help attract customers because it promotes a sense of comfort when they are in a company’s premises.

However, it is not just businesses that are involved in design and hospitality that can benefit from this increase in productivity due to people liking the high-quality furniture that they may have on their premises. Places such as banks or firms where people and potential clients have to be entertained can benefit from high-quality furniture as well. Clients will immediately have a better impression of the business once they check out what kind of furniture they are using.

By choosing the right furniture, potential clients can assess that you are a firm that places a high value on high-quality products. As such, you are also a company that can provide the same quality to them.

Expensive furniture also indicates to clients that a company is more established and knows how to spend money on the assets that it has. This results in better clients and more work, making the workplace more productive.

Conclusion.

There are many benefits in using high-quality furniture to enable a company’s staff to work harder at their jobs. Productivity has always been the aim of all capital in a company, but furniture does not have to be directly correlated to productivity. It’s motivational and productivity effects can be the result of an externality that relates to work.

As you can observe, there are several benefits to the utilization of high-quality furniture in the furtherance of company productivity. It may cost more initially, but it is an investment that stays with the company. Thus, do not hesitate to use high-quality furniture in the workspace that you manage.

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[Interview] John DiJulius, Founder, The DiJulius Group

John DiJulius is an international consultant and keynote speaker on world-class customer service. A bestselling author of three customer service books, his newest book is, “The Relationship Economy: Building Stronger Customer Connections in the Digital Age“. John utilizes his proven methodology with world-class companies like The Ritz-Carlton, Lexus, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Nestlé, Marriott Hotels, Chick-fil-A and more.

A successful entrepreneur, John is the founder of three businesses: The DiJulius Group, an international consulting firm, John Robert’s Spa, a chain of upscale salons in Northeast Ohio, and Believe in Dreams, a nonprofit that helps make dreams come true for deserving children.

We talk to him about how companies can approach the relationship economy.

How has the technological age affected company-client relationships?

Today we are living in the “digital disruption era.” Technology has provided us with unprecedented advances, information, knowledge, instant access and entertainment. We have computers, mobile phones, tablets, the internet, social media, apps, and artificial intelligence — assistants like Siri and Alexa, chatbots, virtual concierges, facial recognition and self-driving cars.

However, as convenient as these advances make our lives, they also have changed the way we communicate, behave and think, and they’ve led to a dramatic decline in our people skills. As a society we’re now relationship disadvantaged. We no longer become curious about others or eager to engage in conversations. The younger generation primarily communicates electronically, and the explosion of ecommerce means we go out less and less. In business, multi-channel communication has dramatically reduced phone calls to companies; customers can get answers and place orders via email, on websites or through social media channels.

The pendulum has swung over to high tech/low touch. Consequently we long for a sense of community and belonging — a world in which people actually know our name, what we do, what’s important to us, and where we have trust in one another. Today trust is an endangered value. Those who understand that human touch is the most important part of any experience — especially a great customer experience — will flourish. Personally and professionally, success is increasingly about creating and building human connections.

Why is it important that organizations intentionally train staff in soft skills?

There’s one soft skill that, when mastered will, without question, have the biggest impact on us personally and professionally. That skill is the ability to build an instant connection with others. It’s way more than a mere communications skill. It’s the ability to communicate with a purpose — to build your community at every stage of your life. Building a relationship with someone else, whether an acquaintance, friend, customer, coworker or total stranger, is by far the most important skill every human being should be taught at an early age and then should hone throughout life. Unfortunately, it’s rarely taught in any formal way. 

Make no mistake, the lack of social skills our society is suffering from is the problem for business leaders to solve. As a result, businesses that want to be successful need to address this relationship-building deficit in their employee training. Companies need to find ways to train younger staff members on things they may lack, such as social skills and rapport building. Because of the digital revolution, many members of the younger generations lack the necessary people skills of previous generations. Yet they’re now leading start-ups that have developed quickly into leading companies. This will only accelerate the growing number of relationship-disadvantaged businesses.

Describe the Relationship Economy and how it is emerging?

For anyone and any business to thrive in the future, they will have to master the art of relationship building. Since technological advancements have come at the expense of human connections, organizations now need to reinvent their business model to marry digital and human experiences in the best way possible. The Relationship Economy is where the primary currency is the emotional connection made with customers, employees and vendors that results in your organization becoming the brand customers can’t live without. It ultimately makes price irrelevant.

What are some key components in creating a customer-focused culture?

The 3 strategic ways to dominate the Relationship Economy include:

1. Use technology to perform basic tasks and as an alternative convenience for customers, enabling employees to focus on what’s most important: Building relationships that result in higher customer loyalty, retention, lifetime value and employee job satisfaction.
2. Build a culture that creates emotional connections with your employees.
3. Incorporate relationship-building training for new and existing employees.

No one is born with a rapport-building gene. And not everyone is inclined to be outgoing or to strike up a conversation with people they don’t know. The environment you grow up in plays a big part in how you act. If you had extremely outgoing parents, chances are you’ll grow up to behave similarly. However, even if you weren’t exposed to an outgoing environment in your early years, this skill set can still be developed and mastered.

There are certain sets of characteristics to work on in order to master relationship building:

• Authenticity
• Curiosity
• Great listening ability
• Empathy
• A love of people

What internal benefits are organizations seeing from improving customer relationships?

Companies spend millions creating and advertising their brands, yet the customer’s experience is what truly drives customer perception, retention and referrals. If you take really good care of your existing clients, they’ll generate more new customers than any advertising campaign ever could.

Here are some facts about existing customers:

• Repeat customers spend more than new customers.
• Repeat customers give higher satisfaction scores.
• Repeat customers give referrals more often than new customers.
• You need five new customers to produce as much as one repeat customer.

Think about what might happen if you reversed your budgets for advertising and customer service. The top customer service companies typically spend the least in their industries in advertising and marketing. There’s no denying that technology has amazing advantages to make it easier for the customer in most cases — provided businesses do it in moderation and not at the cost of the human experience. The new paradigm starts with hiring employees who genuinely like people and want to serve, then giving them the training that will increase their service aptitude, making sure there’s a leader with the power to oversee and strengthen customer service across all departments and allocating the budget to make it happen.

Are there examples of companies who are leading in the Relationship Economy, and what are their strategies?

Yes. One example is insurance agency Benson Kearley IFG (BKIFG).

BKIFG is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and it isn’t your typical insurance agency because Stephen Kearley is not your typical company president. BKIFG is obsessed with providing a world-class experience to both customers and employees, and it’s paying huge dividends with exponential growth. BKIFG created an amazing incentive program to help its team focus on collecting information on customers’ families, occupation, recreation and dreams (FORD) — four categories that matter most to people. 

BKIFG gives account executives a $25 allowance they must spend every month on their customers. The program reminds employees to listen and recognize customers’ FORD facts and follow up with delightful surprises. For example, an existing customer might call to ask a question about a policy and in the process mention that it’s their wedding anniversary this weekend. The BKIFG employee could use the $25 to send flowers or a gift card.

BKIFG also came up with a campaign to increase the amount of customer intelligence they collect on clients. Back when one of the new Star Wars movies was being launched, their slogan was: “May the FORDS be with you!” They created Star Wars advent calendars for each office location and drew names of associates each day to open the doors on the calendar. They also awarded an R2-D2 trophy to the top FORD producer. 

Learn more at thedijuliusgroup.com.

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Office Apps For Small Business

The office work organization and self-development is a neverending story. There are no universal rules on how to manage your work and communication; it all depends on a person or a team. Thanks to technological development, we have many opportunities to experiment with.

With that in mind, we made a list of the main components of the workplace and chose the best office apps accordingly.

Communication.

Information flow and providing each other with honest feedback is the core of a well cooperating team. Especially if the company is large or has non-local branches. That’s why the selection here is:

Slack.

An extensive corporate kind of communicator that offers both private and group chats and phone calls. It’s possible to create guest accounts to arrange discussions with third parties, as well. Slack improves project coordination and data organization (all information is easily searchable in your conversations). The communicator is also integrated with apps like OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Calendar, etc.

FaxBurner.

Fax is not dead! FaxBurner is an office app that enables sending free fax via your mobile phone. Fax helps you make sure that important documents will get on time even if the internet connection in the receiver’s office is unstable.

iBrainstorm.

This brainstorming app lets your team confront each other’s ideas and opinions far from markers and whiteboards. Create your own private project and share them afterward with your colleagues. You all can make notes and drawings — just like on a traditional board. Stay connected and included even on assignments abroad.

First Agenda.

My boss once said that a meeting without a proper agenda is as pointless as tea without milk. Nothing more right! Plan the gathering carefully in advance, so it’s crystal clear what it’s going to be about, what should the team members expect and prepare beforehand. All users can also make documentation of the planned meeting, or even record everything with the app.

Self-discipline.

Let’s not get carried away with unhealthy work pressure. That’s not what self-discipline at work means. Sensible organization, responsible distribution of tasks as well as carefully thought postponing deadlines are the keys to the highest possible work efficiency. Here’s a couple of office apps to make your own work more productive.

Todoist.

It’s easy to get yourself buried under layers of notebooks and sticky notes. Trying to keep track of your tasks with the help of technology may also be confusing and get chaotic very easily. Although Todoist deserves to get a chance! Keep all your lists in one place, and in a very transparent system. With the app, you can measure your progress and develop healthy productivity habits.

Clockify.

Having a lot on your plate causes awful chaos and panic, especially if you’re losing track of time while doing your tasks. Using just the timer and alarms in your phone is alright as a one-off. Although as for a long-term solution, it’s not productive nor measurable at all. Clockify lets you observe how much time particular activities take, what you’re spending too much or too little time on. You can create different projects and measure time for all the separate activities and tasks within.  Keep in mind that it’s not about making you feel overwhelmed by the clock ticking. You have to observe yourself better, to get better results in the future.

Google Keep.

Google Keep is a universal, multifunctional keep-it-together app. It’s a great tool to make super quick notes and take memo pictures to have them selected and distributed by the end of the day. The app is shareable so you can swap or enlarge, e.g., shopping lists with other users.

Mental wellbeing.

Every employee’s mental state is in a company’s best interest. The sense of stress, pressure and high expectations, even if groundless, has a devastating influence on our mind and nervous system. It would be perfect if your employer offered, e.g., mindfulness workshops. In the meanwhile, you can find an outlet for your emotions that would just fit your needs.

Jour.

It’s an encrypted journal app for your own private use. Writing down what’s eating you is a popular form of self-therapy. Get all the stress, negative emotions, and thoughts out of yourself after a long workday. With the app you’ll be able to write every time and place. You won’t have to remember to take your notebook and pen along with you.

Calm.

Meditation should also be a part of your daily routine. Calm will help you develop this healthy habit. Meditation is a wonderful break for your mind and body. With this app you can also adjust your body clock and take care of the quality of your sleep.

How about you, Dear Readers? What are your favorite methods of organizing work? Maybe you’d like to share your office app picks with us? We’re waiting for your opinions in the comments!

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Basic Translation Equipment For An International Conference Or Business Meeting

When it comes interpretations for business meetings, there is a lot of preparation involved on the part of the interpreter. Good training in terms of terminology knowledge, as well as general interpreting skill, are nothing short of mandatory, considering large international conferences usually involve a lot of important people discussing crucial issues. The pressure to ensure good communication is immense.

But the skill of the interpreter is only one part of the equation in this regard. The rest of the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the organizers who need to make sure that their interpreters have what they need. Without the right equipment ready, it may turn out that your important business meeting will not end well, as your interpreter was hindered and couldn’t do their job. Here’s a short guide that will help you determine what type of basic translation equipment do you need to ensure your international conference or business meeting goes off without a hitch in the translation department.

What type of interpretation is involved?

Before we move on to the specific equipment required, you need to be sure you pick the right type of interpretation for your particular needs. While it might be tempting to hire a simultaneous interpreter for your small business meeting, you’ll most likely end up spending too much money and, essentially, wasting your interpreter’s time – both on the interpreter themselves, as well as the equipment involved.

So what types are there?

Consecutive interpreting: most commonly used for small meetings and presentations, consecutive interpreting involves an interpreter translating during the pauses the speaker makes every several sentences. One interpreter may handle more than one language in this case, though this is rare – usually more interpreters are hired to provide multiple language versions. These interpreters are skilled in jotting down notes quickly and using them to quickly form utterances in the target language.

Whisper interpreting: used for small meetings that can’t have their flow interrupted. It’s also a very popular choice for guided tours for this reason. The interpreter works with a small group among the listeners rather than addressing the entire room of attendees. They relay the sentences in the target language at the same time as they are spoken – a trait they share with simultaneous interpreters.

Simultaneous interpreting: used for larger conferences, such as UN or EU meetings, these types of interpretations are based around matching the pace of the original speaker, so that all attendees speaking the target language can get as close to an authentic experience as possible. Not only is this form of interpretation one of the most stressful and taxing on the brain (which is why simultaneous interpreters always work in pairs), it also requires the most equipment of the bunch.

Does your type of interpretation even require equipment in the first place?

In terms of basic equipment, you don’t really have to worry about much if you’re only hiring a consecutive or whisper interpreter. As these specialists work directly with groups of people, without needing to resort to hiding in the shadows, the only equipment they might ever need is a notebook and pen, and they usually carry that along with them anyway, so there’s usually no need to supply them with anything.

Simultaneous interpretation, however, is another story entirely. As these interpreters usually have to address only several attendees of a meeting at once – who are most likely not sitting anywhere near each other – while not disturbing any of the others, special equipment is required for both the interpreter and the attendees.

Consecutive interpretations – equipment rundown.

For consecutive interpreting, you’ll need to ensure that your conference room is equipped with the following:

• The floor mic – this is the main microphone the main speaker of the event is speaking into,
• A soundproof booth for the interpreters – each should be able to hold two of them, and the interpreters must be provided with professional headsets,
• Headsets for the attendees – so that they can tune into the interpretation of their choosing,
• Lastly, you need to choose one of the two types of transmission systems:
  • infrared transmission is best suited for smaller events, as it has shorter range. On the plus side, it is not affected by radio interference;
  • radio transmission works better for larger conferences. While it can be affected by radio interference, it is a portable system, making it very easy tp use.

Conclusion.

The key to deciding what basic equipment you need for your meeting or conference is knowing what the scope of your meeting is. If it’s a smaller affair, it might turn out you might not need any additional equipment at all. If you’re set on consecutive interpretations, you also need to take the size of the meeting into account to determine the type of transmission system that will work best. Keep all of these aspects in mind and you should have no problem getting your interpreter the equipment they need to do their job right.

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Are You Really Ready To Buy A Resort Hotel?

If you’re considering buying a resort hotel, it may be one of the largest investments you’ll ever make. There are hundreds of variables to consider and plenty of money at stake. Still, it can be a profitable venture if you approach it in the right way.

The requirements of running a resort hotel gets more complicated if it’s part of a franchise. Unless you’re buying a franchise (if so, see this detailed guide on how to buy a hotel franchise), you must abide by the rules the franchisors set. 

The purchase of an independent or franchised resort hotel will likely be among the largest investments you make. Are you ready for what’s ahead? Here’s what it takes to succeed in this competitive industry. 

Solid Financing.

All investments require sound financing to carry the deal through, and a resort hotel is no different. Not only will you need a lender that sees your vision for the property to finance the purchase, but you’ll also need money to keep the business going once it’s yours.

Depending on your lender, you may be able to fit all the expenses under the umbrella of a single business loan. In many cases, however, the lender will want to separate the property and business loans. That way, if you default on payments, it’s easier to delineate where they can recoup their money. 

Because of the size of the investment, stray away from hard money lenders and other high-interest loans. Do it right and go through the steps of conventional lending to meet the needs of a burgeoning business. 

Most importantly, lay out the plan clearly to illustrate how you’ll profit from your investment. This not only proves to your lender that you’ll have a profitable hotel on your hands, but it also shows you the correct way to make it happen. 

Certain Skills.

Running a hotel requires a unique skillset to succeed. That list of skills includes: 

• Customer service 
• Cultural awareness 
• Communication 
• Professionalism
• Teamwork
• Multitasking
• Attention-to-detail
• Organization 
• Problem-solving

The need for these skills is heightened in a resort setting where you’ll serve individuals used to a higher standard of care. Every day, you’ll meet a new challenge, and a strong hospitality-based skillset will be required to meet and overcome them.  

Adequate Experience.

Along with the required skills to get you through the day-to-day of running your resort, you’ll also need experience in the field. Since you’ll be the owner, you’ll want experience in both hotel work and operating a business. 

Preferably, your hotel experience will have experience working with customers at some point. A front desk or management position will be extremely helpful in gauging the needs of your clients and meeting their demands. It would also be useful to have spent time cleaning or maintaining the property. These processes will provide invaluable insight into the standard of care and procedures you should expect from your staff. 

Business experience is not as critical as hotel experience, but it will help. Your knowledge of the inner workings of a profitable business will help you keep things running smoothly on the back end. 

Your experience does not mean that you should do everything to balance the bottom line — you can hire a bookkeeper and finance manager to handle the day-to-day business dealings as well as an experienced shift manager to keep your staff in line. But when you know what you’re doing, you’ll gain the respect of your employees and run a tight ship! 

Commitment.

The purchase of a resort hotel indicates a long-term commitment that you must be willing to keep. After a year, if it’s not working or you’re not enjoying it, you can’t just walk away — with such a large investment of time and money, escaping with your dignity, reputation, and finances intact is often an insurmountable feat. 

Know that you’re in this for the long-haul and be ready for all that entails. You’ll be putting in long nights and an extraordinary amount of your own money. You may go several years before you see a profit, which can be off-putting while you’re in the thick of it. 

Try to keep a long-term view of the deal. Commit at the very beginning to stick with it — with a well-researched investment and the right skills and experience to keep it going, a successful venture is just around the corner.

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