The Radiance of Knowing

To ensure that you get value from the time and money invested in team building sessions and corporate retreats, there are several pitfalls that your company should avoid.

Team Building Pitfalls

1. Allocate sufficient time for planning

   There is no way that you can expect to pull off an effective team building session or corporate retreat if 1 - 2 weeks prior to the session you are just contacting vendors

2. Don’t schedule your session to end on a Friday.

   Like it or not, focus will become a challenge as the day wears on.

3. Do allocate more time for your session if your group is highly analytical.

   Analytical learners need more time to debrief and apply the session to your specific business challenges or they will leave feeling frustrated and that the session was a waste of time. “What was that?” will be a frequent comment on your feedback forms.

4. Don’t splurge on food and accommodation and scrimp on facilitation fees.

   ou need an experienced facilitator to execute a session successfully. I remember a company that contacted us in a panic. They had blown most of their budget for a top of the line conference facility with all the bells and whistles. They had little left to pay a facilitator. We suggested a couple of cost affective facilities for accommodation and meetings but eventually had to pass on that booking too as they insisted on the high end facility and could not afford a facilitator.

5. Don’t just go through the motions of team building.

   Team recreation is important. If your goal is a day off work, then schedule a picnic or recreational activity.

6. Get your priorities straight.

   We thought we had heard it all when we were asked “Can you cut your simulation down to half a day so that we can have more time to go shopping?” Another time, a prospective client selected a venue that was less than optimal for their activity as they did not feel their staff could forego alcohol for one day and the ideal location was not licensed for alcohol.

Alcohol: Don’t Let it Flow Freely

There is no way to address this topic without just coming out and saying it. “Watch the booze.” Again it comes down to priorities and liability. I remember doing some location scouting with a prospective client. I should have known we were in trouble when one of the first questions they asked was “Will there be a fridge where we can store our beer?” It was downhill from there. Late night drinking binges, a director passing around a bottle of hard liquor before a physically challenging outdoor event and the CEO having to be confined to his bed on the last day of the session for overdoing it.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with a glass of wine with dinner. Many companies are not aware of the fact that if they allow the liquor to flow freely before an activity that involves physical exertion, your company could be held liable if someone gets injured.

There is another area of potential liability. If participants will be driving after your corporate event, hire a smart serve bartender who is trained to detect potential problems and turn off the tap when appropriate. You might also want to have a backup plan and provide a taxi or hotel accommodation for any participants who do become inebriated. The bottom line is that courts throughout the USA are rendering judgements that hold companies liable when employees consume too much alcohol at company-sponsored functions and then cause accident after leaving the event.

Put a Leash on the Libido

During some corporate retreats, excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to poor judgement and sexual indiscretions. Many companies don’t realize that they are skating on thin ice when they turn a blind eye to dirty jokes, sexual innuendo and employees skinny dipping in the pool on a corporate retreat or at a sales rally. We heard of one sales rally to which the Director brought along a pornographic video. In the evening, the director, the CEO and several members of the sales team returned to the meeting room at the conference centre and watched it. The next day, a lot of snickering was going on. We are also aware of two unrelated incidents at two different companies during corporate retreats in which employees became so intoxicated that they jumped on the table and started doing a strip tease

If even one employee had decided to file a sexual harassment suit (US) or human rights complaint (Canada) due to any of these incidents, the negative publicity alone could have done a lot of damage to a company’s reputation. As Astra USA, the American subsidiary of Astra AB, a Swedish pharmaceutical company discovered, it could also hit you in your pocketbook.

Astra USA agreed to pay nearly US$9.85 million to approximately 80 former employees complaining of sexual harassment and retaliation on the job, at corporate retreats and during sales rallies. They admitted to fostering a hostile work environment, including requests for sexual favors in exchange for favorable treatment on the job. Business Week Magazine covered this story in detail and you can still access it on their web site.

To avoid similar difficulties, have a clear code of conduct for ALL company related meetings, activities, and events. Cover it in your orientation, diversity training and management development programmes. Have every employee sign-off and agree to adhere to this code. When incidents occur that are clearly inappropriate, deal with them and send a clear message that certain behaviour will not be tolerated in the workplace or at company events.

Team Building: The Bottom Line

Team building sessions and corporate retreats can be enjoyable and produce a myriad of benefits for your company. To get the most bang from your team building buck, ensure that there is bottom line results in what you offer. Remember, people don’t have to get wasted or tell off-colour jokes in order to have a good time. There is something to be said for brainstorming with co-workers to come up with solutions to some vexing business problems or flow charting to improve a process that isn’t working. There is something to be said for relaxing around a bonfire, getting to know your co-workers while you pitch a tent or start a fire, cooking your meals outdoors, learning a new sport like polo, and the many other activities that can add the “fun factor” to your events. From where we see it, there is far more value in activities like that than boozing it up or frolicking nude in a hot tub with co-workers.

© 2006 Executive Oasis International

Anne Thornley-Brown is the founder and President of Executive Oasis International, a Toronto based firm that helps executive teams in Canada, Jamaica, Asia, and Dubai design strategies to survive, thrive and grow in our turbulent economy. Their services include executive retreats, meeting facilitation, executive team building, and executive coaching.

For information about our executive retreats, please visit our web site:

Corporate Team Building for Executive Retreats by Executive Oasis International:
http://www.executiveoasis.com/executiveretreats.html

For more articles by Anne Thornley-Brown, check out the Spice of the Month Accelerated Learning Ezine:
http://www.thetrainingoasis.com/ezine.html

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In their book, Beyond Budgeting, Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser highlight the inadequacy of traditional annual based budgeting and argue passionately for a new management model that can cope with the volatility of today’s business environment. Their model embraces much more than just budgeting, it is more a philosophy of decentralization and a way of encouraging managers at all levels to become accountable for their performance without tying them to an annual budget straitjacket.

Hope and Fraser analysed many companies of various types that have abandoned traditional annual budgeting in favour of their new model and found that management gained a new sense of empowerment and a “can do” attitude. In addition, they benefited from faster and more adaptive decision-making, reduced bureaucracy and lower costs. The companies became more competitive and customer satisfaction improved along with many of the company’s’ KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).

The new model replaces annual budgeting and centralized control systems with multilevel controls that include effective governance, fast financial actuals, trend analysis, rolling forecasts, key performance indicators, performance ranking, and management by exception.

Its probably no surprise that annual budgeting is expensive and time consuming, but just how much time companies are spending on the process and how useful are the results, should be of concern to all senior executives. Hope and Fraser found that the budget process typically starts at least four months prior to the year to which it relates and grinds its way through countless meetings where managers negotiate targets and resources. An estimate of 20 to 30 percent of senior executives’ and financial managers’ time is absorbed in the process, while the Ford Motor Company concluded that they spend $1.2 billion per year on forecasting and budgeting.

Quite apart from the cost, the budgets this process produces are often meaningless. The forecast numbers are out of date before the budgeting round has finished. Even the numbers themselves are suspect. Having been agreed upon during countless negotiations, they are based more on politics than strategy. A manager’s performance is often related to achieving targets set out in the annual budget, which inevitably leads to a conflict of interest. Managers will attempt to negotiate the lowest possible targets and avoid taking risks.

Without going into the whole management philosophy, which is covered in commendable detail in their book, the control systems clearly needed in today’s volatile world must be fast and flexible to be relevant. In the companies that successfully implemented their model, Hope and Fraser say: “All our case examples use rolling forecasts in one form or another to provide a fast, high-level view of future performance”.

For more information on rolling forecasts and budgeting visit http://www.markitquest.com

About the Author: Mark Ritsema is the founder of Markitquest, developers of the Controller Series; a set of Excel based financial modelling software tools for business. Mark has over 20 years experience in financial management, having worked in various industries as Controller and Financial Director for companies both large and small.

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When it comes to sustainable energy, solar power is the buzzword of our times; when most people think of energy efficiency, of being ‘eco-friendly’, or of ‘going green’, the first port of call, it seems, is often solar energy.

Within the field of solar power, though, there are many different systems and designs. First, the most common.

Photovoltaics

This is the type of solar energy conversion most readily associated with the term ’solar power’. Photovoltaics is the use of solar cells - light absorbent panels - to garner energy from the sun, to be converted into electricity.

Indeed it was the first type of solar power; the first cell was constructed in the 1880s. Photovoltaics did not reach a mass audience, though, until the 1960s and ’70s.

With its use of solar cells, photovoltaics is the solar energy system that is most commonly used in households.

Solar Thermal Power

These systems can be divided into low, medium or high temperature thermal collectors. At the higher end of the spectrum are power towers and parabolic troughs.

The first is a tall tower that absorbs heat reflected from an array of mirrors placed around its base. The second is a collection of mirrors curved into a trough, with an absorbent strip running through the middle. The angles of the trough mean that heat is reflected from the mirrors on the outer rims onto the absorber in the centre.

Of the systems deemed as low temperature collectors, the most notable are solar chimneys and solar air conditioning.

These are used mostly in households. A solar chimney - which is linked directly to the process of solar air conditioning - is heated by the sun from the outside, and creates heat for the air on the inside. In a similar process, solar air conditioning uses a suction system to create cold air at the base of the chimney, for use in the building below it.

Thin Film Solar Panels

A new development in technology means that ‘thin film’ - material that can be as thin as a nanometre - is being developed into a method of utilising solar energy through photovoltaics.

It could make for a revolutionary step, simply because the materials are cheaper and can be mass produced. If the developments are a success, ‘thin film’ could replace traditional heavyweight solar panels as the default platform for photovoltaics.

Solar Dye

In its early stages of development, the concept behind a solar dye is that - with the chemical capacity for light or heat absorption - the dye can be sprayed on to surfaces.

As a main benefit, then, solar dye technology allows for easy transportation and relatively low cost. It also appeals to a number of people because it does not involve the installation of equipment; simply spray selected surfaces and areas.

So there are many different types of solar energy out there, and these are just the main contenders. There are more, and - as solar power becomes more reliable, more cost efficient - more will develop.

Until then, have fun with these.

Chris Woolfrey is the solar power expert at EcoSwitch The environmental social network.

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The Law of Motivation

Most of us are motivated by one of two things desperation or inspiration.

Usually we wait until we are desperate before we get serious about changing something in our lives. The doctor says stop smoking and start eating right or die, the bill collectors are calling, children are out of control, or a spouse is walking out the door.

Inspiration, on the other hand, comes from looking ahead, anticipating what is coming and getting motivated to prepare for the rest of your life.

The Law of Looking Back

Looking back before you look ahead can help create and build motivation. Look back on the last three months of your life. If you like what you see, don’t get too comfortable and rest on your laurels. Keep doing what you have been doing or do even more of what has been working.

If you don’t like what you see, it’s time to make some changes.

The Law of Remaining the Same

If you continue to do the things you’ve always done, you’ll
get the same results you’ve always gotten. Ask yourself what life will be like a month from now if you keep doing what you’ve been doing. What about six months from now? A year?
Two years? I’m willing to bet it’s not a pretty sight.

The Law of Looking Ahead

Begin to take actions today that can propel you into a future worth looking forward to. Turn the previous questions
around. What would it be like a month, six months, one year, two years from now if you took the necessary actions each day to
achieve your goals? That can be worth working toward.

Visit http://www.TheArticleGuy.com for more leading edge tips and tools for writing articles that bring you prospects, publicity and profits. You can also subscribe to our monthly Article Writing & Marketing Tips Newsletter. You are also invited to visit my Express-Start Article Writing Program for more information on the next article writing tele-seminar.

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New York, New York, so good, they named it twice. Corny, I know but it sums up pretty neatly, a city with something for everyone on vacation, whether a weekend break or a full two weeks. There is so much to see and do that it’s hard to pick out the top hits but here’s a selection to choose from.

Must See

Central Park - There’s so much going on here that you can take a full length holiday without ever leaving the park. It’s so huge (843 acres) with playgrounds, sports grounds, nature conservancy, fountains, fortifications, a reservoir with walking/jogging track, sculptures, gardens and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There are exhibitions, Tai Chi and Yoga classes, concerts and tours and you can even get married there.

The Empire State Building - Located on 5th Avenue, the Empire State Building is the tallest in New York at approximately 1,453 feet (443 meters). From the 86th floor observation deck you can see the whole of New York City spread out below and on a clear day you can see for as far as 80 miles into the neighbouring states of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts as well as New York State itself.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - Situated on Liberty Island, in New York Harbour, the statue stands at 305 feet (93 meters) tall and was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States and is only accessible by boat. Guided tours of the island and monument are available and this symbol of freedom and democracy must be seen. The Ellis Island Immigration Museum forms part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and preserves the history of the twelve million immigrants who arrived in America seeking their fortunes.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (Central Park) - A must for art lovers, the museum contains permanently over two million works of art, ancient and modern, from all over the world as well as American paintings and sculpture as well as featured specialist exhibitions.

Museum of Modern Art - As you might expect, the exhibits here are not restricted to paintings, drawings and sculpture but include film and media, photography and architecture and design.

Times Square - Famous for it’s coloured neon signs, Times Square is best seen at night. There are restaurants, theatres, cinemas and clubs galore - enough for even the most hardened night-lifer.

Must Do

Shopping - New York is renowned for its shopping, particularly at Christmas, when it takes on a magical quality. Fifth Avenue is THE place to shop in New York. All the big names are here including, of course, Saks Fifth Avenue and Trump Tower.

See a show on Broadway - Broadway is the street in New York which means “theatre” to most people so seeing a show here is essential. There are only four theatres actually ON Broadway, which only covers the twelve blocks from West 41st Street to West 53rd Street but there are plenty more east and west of here.

Eat pastrami and/or salt beef sandwiches - New York has a fabulous selection of delis so don’t forget to try one of these typical sandwiches or how about a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese or potato pancakes - never mind the waistline, you’re on holiday.

Hear some jazz - Harlem to Greenwich Village is an area full of jazz clubs - so many in fact that you might do well to get a guided tour.

Visit Ground Zero - the site of the World Trade Center - now a memorial to those who died in the terrible tragedy of 9th September, 2001.

Absorb the financial atmosphere of Wall Street, home of the New York Stock Exchange - unfortunately, you can’t visit the Stock Exchange at the moment but take in the architecture of the old banks and buildings here.

——————————————————-
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to New York Vacation
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If you aren’t from New Jersey, or you have spent little time in the Garden State, you may not be too familiar with some of the peculiarly named towns located around the state. Indeed, with 566 incorporated communities, New Jersey has no lack of uncommon named locales including, Hoboken, Hackensack, Teaneck, Wanaque, Ho-Ho-Kus, and others. Located in Bergen County, in northeast New Jersey, Ho-Ho-Kus is one such town with an unusual name. Let’s take a look at the history of this little community.

With 70 communities, Bergen County is New Jersey’s most populated county with just under one million residents. The county is located just west of New York City and the towns which comprise the county are what many call “bedroom communities” for the city workers who make the daily commute to Manhattan. Indeed, located just 17 miles west of New York is the town of Ho-Ho-Kus, where a large portion of the people who have settled in the town make the daily trek to the city via train, bus, or passenger car. With just over 4000 people living within its approximately one square mile radius, Ho-Ho-Kus has a history that can be traced back to 1698 when European settlers deeded land in what is now Ho-Ho-Kus.

The name Ho-Ho-Kus is a fairly big mystery as well. Town residents take pride in the unusual name and are adamant that commonly used ways of writing the name of the town not be used, including HoHoKus or Hohokus. The Lenni Lenape were the original inhabitants of the area and some believe that a particular native term, Hochaos, is one of the closest words associated with the current spelling. The meaning of Hochaos is not certain as some think that it could be a native term for “running water” or to a Dutch term for high oaks, or it may simply be referring to another native term “hoccus” meaning gray fox. Indeed, there are at least six different explanations for the origins of “Ho-Ho-Kus”, but none are definitive.

Much of the current town saw its growth in the 20th century via the establishment of a railroad station. A walking tour of the business district reveals to visitors charming shops, restaurants, the train station, and a beautiful library. There are no lodging establishments within the town, but several can be found in neighboring Paramus.

The town has just one public school covering grades K-8, with high school students sent to Northern Highlands Regional in Allendale for their schooling. Three churches are located within the town and Ho-Ho-Kus is free of all industry.

A national historic landmark, The Hermitage, is located within the borough and it is well noted for having been visited by General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The manse is a wonderful example of domestic Gothic Revival architecture.

Most of the residential area is located to the north, west, and south of the business district and the homes are recognized for their architectural beauty as well as being pristinely maintained. Indeed, per capita income for town residents reflects the overall wealth of Bergen County and the residences keenly reflect this fact.

Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on just about any and every issue imaginable. You can preview samples from his high performing site at www.thearticlewriter.com

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Public Business and Image

Individuals of the British Royal Family share quite a lot of official engagements annually, right away through the UK, as formally documented in the Court Circular, to pay tribute, support and discover the achievements or events of individuals, foundations & enterprises in an array of sections of life. As representatives of the sovereign, they regularly unite with the public in commemorating recorded incidents, holidays, celebratory & awful affairs & frequently also sponsors or participates in several hundreds of charitable, intellectual and public activities.

Their excursions overseas on behalf of the United Kingdom (also referred to as State Trips when the Queen legitimately visits other government bodies) attracts public notice to great dealing within & between the Commonwealth & other nations, to British cargo and trade, & to Britain as a historical, vacation, & holiday-maker location. Their current activities & established roles represents the height of an up-to-the-minute “royal court,” & give a specifically British & historical vision to royal services (For example, Trooping the Colour) & outlook to public shows (I.e. Garden Parties, Ascot).

Right through their lives they get an immense amount of journalist attention in the shape of pictorial, written and TV commentary on their daily lives, family contact, means of passage, traits, costumes, behaviour, and public duties.

Financial Backing

Cash that support the Royal Queen in the implementation of her jobs as the ruler of state of the U.K. comes from the Civil List. This is a return of a little segment of the proceedings from the Crown Lands that are given up by the monarch to parliament at the foundation of each and every reign; all Crown Land being managed by The Crown Estates, an institution responsible to parliament. In the two thousand and three-four financial year, the sum endowed was one hundred and seventy-six million pounds, where the Queen’s expenditure was only thirty-six million pounds. The Head of State’s expenses doesn’t contain the price of guards. Whilst on holiday in England why not find out about the English Royal Family.

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The September/October issue of Time Compression Technologies magazine includes a feature article, “Lean Manufacturing: How Big is the Market? Lean Enterprise: How Much Bigger is the Market?” authored by North America’s leading manufacturing journalist, Thomas R. Cutler (www.trcutlerinc.com).

Cutler provided a detailed history of the lean manufacturing marketing including how e-kanban solutions are central to an effective lean manufacturing initiative. According to Matthew Marotta, founder of Datacraft Solutions, “We do not charge for upgrades to the system as we learn about new best practices that clients ask us to incorporate. Before Datacraft incorporates the request, it is reviewed buy a lean advisory board to validate the value of the best practices and the value added impact upon our partner community. Once it is passed, they develop, test, and implement.”

The hosted solution provides the customer with their own set of servers which are maintained offsite by and outsourced set of administrators. All of the administration fees, equipment, support teams and software updates are all included in the monthly service fee which is less then the cost of hiring an internal system administrator.

The value of an ASP is that manufacturers can buy “by the drink”, low risk, and a see a rapid ROI. Only internet access is required.

The non-ASP option leaves manufacturers investing a large sum into the communication network, IT personnel, IT training, application servers, consulting for system modification, along with all the hidden costs that come with it. The only disadvantage of using an ASP is the client never owns the system (application), only their own data. This concern tends to be the issue of IT since they want to control all phases of the e-kanban operation. The cost of the control is wasteful and completely antithetical to a Lean Initiative.

While some ERP systems QAD, Factory Logic, and Supply Works have some e-kanban functionality is not their core focus, so manufacturers are purchasing the ERP system at a significant price tag including all the prices increases (and upgrade charges). From the perspective of Lean functionality and immediate ROI the cost cannot be justified, unless there is a plan for a manufacturer to replace the ERP system.

Datacraft Solutions www.datacraftsolutions.com Matthew Marotta 800-819-5326

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Nokia really put their hearts into the design of the Nokia 6280 producing a real design classic. The 6280 is an entry level phone and, contrasted with more popular models within this price bracket it is fairly well featured. Like other comparable mobile handsets from Nokia the visual aesthetic is fairly cutting edge and would be appealing to a broad range of customers.The 6280 from Nokia is a sleek and stylish handset.

If the visual appearance mobile phone matters, you should be aware that the 6280 comes in, Carbon Black and Graphite grey. Compared to competitors phones currently on the market the Nokia 6280 is very compact and easy to carry. Weighing in at 115 g this handset is pretty light. The ring-tones on the 6280 are Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 including a vibrating tone. This handset is bluetooth enabled so it can be used with with the vast majority of mobile devices. The battery supplied with the 6280 is a Li-Ion 970 mAh (BP-6M). In terms of the all important battery duration the Nokia 6280 has 200 hours reserve charge and 5:00 talk time. The Nokia 6280 has support for 2G GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 and 3G UMTS 2100. A 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, VGA video, flash; secondary video call VGA is integrated into this mobile handset camera. A WAP 2.0/xHTML compatible browser is also included allowing mobile Internet access. The display is a TFT, 256K colors. There are also a number of additional features included with the Nokia 6280 such as:

Due to the number of online stores that have opened it has never been simpler or more cost effective to purchase a mobile phone. Shopping online will save you a lot of money, it is even possible to get 6 months free line rental on the Nokia 6280 , which may never cost very much at all, if anything.

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