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Be prepared
Whilst this long weekend will be the perfect opportunity for most to relax and put their feet up it also incorporates the last day of the football season, which for sad cases such as myself, will result in pain, agony and unbearable tension for a ninety minute period of Saturday afternoon. I will never understand why I pay for this experience but the simple fact is that I do and therefore I just have to get through it as smoothly as possible. The scenario is not a pleasant one. Win and we're promoted, lose and we're not. It is a strange feeling to spend 45 painstaking Saturdays of a year trying to achieve a goal only to be left with such a winner takes all situation on the final day but alas that is the situation we find ourselves in and therefore we must deal with it. It can obviously go two ways. If we're winners we'll turn up thoroughly prepared for the game, tactically aware of absolutely everything the other team can throw at us. We'll know whose quick, whose slow, which centre half is already thinking about their summer holidays and who left their lucky boots at home. If we're losers we'll turn up thinking the hard work is done and the job in hand is simply a case of going through motions. The second I see our full back staring quizzically at their right winger as if to say 'so what do you do?' is the second I head for the pie van and prepare for next season. To be completely and utterly prepared in such a pressurised situation is the only way to come out on top. All I can hope, is that my team know this, otherwise Saturday could be somewhat of a write off. For more information on researching please grab a free download of 'The seven behaviours of high performing sales people
Discuss
Being social is no longer just an option, it's fundamental. Networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have proven that people want to know exactly what is happening every single day, every single minute, even if it's merely being kept in the loop that the milk is off or the cat is sick. This constant need for social discussion means nothing can avoid being drafted into the networking line up. Even whilst watching Youtube (which in itself, has become a site for sharing and conversation) most sit through the action already thinking about who would appreciate a forward or link.For businesses, discussion can only be a good thing. These sites can provide a platform on which to shout messages infront of a sell out crowd, which has led to a controversial new trend of 'astroturfing' where companies build up hype about themselves using a variety of forums and groups.
But an interesting article from profy.com adds weight to suggestions that the business world is exploiting networks rather than using them to their advantage. Of course, there are some cases where companies have used the socializing tools to good effect, but is it happening enough? This is a genuine example from earlier this year: In a friendly media office built up of around seven different departments, each department held their own meetings and discussed their own priorities, social discussion took place but rarely business.
One day a group email was sent round asking for any travel tips about an upcoming holiday in Japan from anyone who had previously visited the country; a very sensible piece of research from someone hoping to make the most out of the trip. On the same day the author of the email then set off to an important meeting, without asking for any information or advice on a client who had already met with several different departments in the company. Why is business conversation being ignored? Sharing insight and opinion can be so valuable, but at the moment it seems the potential is being overlooked and we are perhaps, just slightly, too interested in dated milk. For more information on this subject please grab a free download of 'The seven behaviours of high performing sales people To see how socialising can help business performance visit the Artesian Solutions wesbite