The people problem
Have you ever found yourself cursing your employees? "Why can't they do it my way?! I tell them to do X, and they do Y. I tell them to do 50, and they only do 10."
Managing Employees
Discover the true source of your people problems—and solve them.
Management with a partner
I've read The EMyth Revisited and I've heard Michael E. Gerber speak, but I have a business partner who has not and will not. I believe in my entrepreneurial vision for our company, but my partner is not convinced. He prefers doing technical work (which other employees should do) and he swears by the adage "If you...
Hiring your first employee
Hiring your first employee is one of the most exciting decisions any entrepreneur will make. It can also be one of the scariest. Think about it: that first employee doubles the head count of your company! In many ways this makes it the most important hire you'll ever make. Every year thousands of business owners m...
Your operations manual
At the heart of a systems-driven business is your company’s operations manual. The operations manual is the authoritative guidebook of how things are done in your business. It gives you an effective way of communicating policy and procedures, and gives your employees the independence and security they need to oper...
8 ways to optimize and improve employee performance
The essential foundation for getting your employees to take ownership of their roles is to give them a game worth playing.
Delegation vs. abdication
One of the hallmarks of great leadership is effective delegation. This happens when a business owner or a manager regularly gives responsibility and authority to an employee to complete a task. Doing so develops people who are ultimately more fulfilled and productive. And for the manager or business owner, delegat...
Engaging employees in your strategic objective
The intangible, but highly influential, experiences of free expression, self-sufficiency and creative control are what drive many people to embark upon the entrepreneurial journey, as it is these factors that provide personal satisfaction to business owners.
Organizational communication
The importance of effective communication for managers and business owners can’t be overemphasized. Clear and effective communication from management increases efficiency, satisfies customers and improves quality throughout the organization.
5 common hiring mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Your hiring process, like other systems in your business, is about creating consistent, predictable results. Whether you're a two-person business, or a company with 300 employees, a hiring process will take the guesswork out of finding the right person for the job.
Ensuring employee effectiveness
By Nina L. Kaufman, Esq.
Creating an equitable compensation structure
Deciding how to compensate your employees and, if you have partners, how to structure pay between them equitably is a topic of interest for our business owner clients. In this article I’ll touch on some of the important criteria from the EMyth perspective, helping you understand this critical component of your com...
Don't forget the training
Training is an ongoing, routine part of business. It's not something done once when a new hire is brought on. It's a process of employee development that will help in the creation of a world-class organization.
Make meetings worth your time
When was the last time you looked at your calendar and realized that every working minute of your day was going to be spent in meetings? Probably not that long ago. And when you looked at that schedule what was your reaction? Excitement? Anticipation? More likely you thought “How am I ever going to get anything do...
If your company culture could talk, what would it say?
Would you apply for a job at your business? Think about it for a moment. With where you are in your life—with your unique talents and dreams—is it the kind of place that would support you in getting closer to the life you want? Do you think you have any employees who aren’t evaluating their jobs, right this very m...
How can you keep it real with a virtual team?
There’s no substitute for being in the same place as your employees. And that’s a good thing. Part of the joy of going to work is that you get to spend your day with people you respect, and we hope, enjoy being around. And while there are some good reasons to have people on your team who work remotely, you have to...
Want to know what motivates your staff? Just ask them.
It's probably easier to see now, but you didn't start your business just to make money. You did it to feel something - independence, a kind of freedom and control over your life, to be able to do it your way. And you "re-earn" that freedom with every headache and heartache that comes with being a business owner. B...