Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/watersbusinessconsulting.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/elementor-pro/modules/dynamic-tags/tags/post-featured-image.php on line 39

All, Business Education

How to Avoid People Who Waste Your Time

Successful business entrepreneurs obsess over their companies and know instinctively the phrase, “time is money,” is true. It’s why business owners hire others to do tasks they could otherwise do themselves: accounting, marketing, paperwork, and so on. However, not everyone in the world of business is adept at executing, some, talk and do so a lot — a whole lot. They procrastinate, squander time on trivial tasks, and have long conversations without an objective. What’s worse, is some of us are not only susceptible to time wasters, we’re also enablers.

How to Avoid People who Waste Your Time

Enablers are generally very caring, thoughtful individuals and they don’t like to hurt others’ feelings. Even business people who are laser focused and get things done are time waster enablers, because they interact and hire them. While it seems completely counterintuitive, you don’t really know a person’s qualities until you get to know him or her through your work together. Someone might appear to be just as focused and enthusiastic but appearances can be misleading.

We’re all too busy, spending our days in back-to-back meetings and our nights feverishly responding to emails. (Adam Grant, a famously responsive Wharton professor, told me that on an “average day” he’ll spend 3-4 hours answering messages.) That’s why people who waste our time have become the scourge of modern business life, hampering our productivity and annoying us in the process. —Harvard Business Review

You contract and hire individuals based on their previous work but it isn’t until you really begin to interact with them you learn their true character traits. While you might be impressed with their body of work, you probably aren’t at all eager to become a victim of someone who wastes your time. The really big problem to overcome is to spot time wasters and that’s very difficult, because it could be anybody, not just an employee or contractor, but also a partner, vendor, customer or client. The trick is to identify as soon as possible those who are most likely to waste your time from those who get things done. You can do this by looking for certain personality extremes:

Negative individuals. Head down, slumped shoulders, complete with a scowl or frown, negative people tend to broadcast their misery physically with body language. Even those who manage to look composed will definitely show their true colors when speaking. They portray themselves as victims, bring you and others down, and worst of all, waste your time.
Super happy people. Happy-go-luckily, big smile, with large, enthusiastic stride, super happy individuals might be a blast and cheer others up, but, these people can be a bit too exuberant. These can easily be signs of immaturity and even though jubilant, they’re not serious about much of anything. These individuals will definitely liven up a room, but, they’ll also waste your time and do so with a big grin and bellowing laughter. You’ll be trying to get things done while they’re cracking jokes and carrying-on.
Gossip spreaders. People who can’t wait to tell you the latest about this or that with him or her are to be avoided at all costs because they’re involving you in the drama as well, even if you don’t know it. Individuals that take gossip to a whole new level aren’t interested about getting things done, they are only interested in spreading rumors and stirring-up drama to justify their agenda.
Emotional people. Speaking of drama, those who revel in spreading rumors and gossiping can also be very prone to being emotional. They go from one extreme to another and never seem to be on an even keel. These individuals do little else than waste their own time, as well as others. They tend to be irrational and irritable and ought to be completely avoided.

Another two personality types who can be total time wasters are attention seekers and self-centered individuals. The former will always want to be the center of attention, no matter where they might be, while the latter will step on toes and cross lines in a self-serving manner. This is why it’s imperative to surround yourself with positive, focused individuals who get things done and share your enthusiasm so that you can achieve your goals.

Want to find out about what a business coach can do for you?

[shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

Like this article?

2 Strong Signs You’re Actually Successful, Even if You don’t Believe It

October 21, 2018 No Comments

What does success look like? More particularly, what does success feel like? These are, of course, quite objective. But, there are some signs you’re successful, even if you don’t particularly believe it yourself. It’s always worthwhile to take stake in where you stand — especially when you feel as though it’s less than inspiring. 2 Strong Signs You’re Actually Successful, Even if You don’t Believe It Aside from the hard numbers, how do you know you’re successful? Sure, you can always look at the books and see the bottom line. However, these figures don’t tell the whole story. One such example is when you feel comfortable that you can’t change everything but do change what you can. We’ve all experienced those days when we feel like an absolute failure. It’s a normal feeling when things don’t go as exactly planned. And, when we feel like that, it’s challenging to think of yourself as a successful individual. Here’s the thing about success though – no one can agree what that word means. Even though we all have our own definitions of success, there are also a number of signs that we’re overlooking that can let us know that we’re actually more successful than we could have ever guessed. —Inc.com Or, if you don’t feel stressed out at every bump in the road. People who aren’t struggling just don’t usually sweat the small stuff. It’s really that simple. When you’re making it, little setbacks are regarded as valuable lessons and not nightmare scenarios. Top 3 Signs You’re Making It, Even if it Doesn’t Feel that Way Now, if those don’t apply to you, let’s take a look at a few more telltale signs you’re actually making it — even if it doesn’t quite feel that way: You see the bigger picture. When your focus is large in scope, you are able to think more clearly. Which means you look into the future instead of fretting on every little component in the now. In other words, you’re more comfortable with the bumps along the way because you know it’s just part of getting to the next goal. You feel excited to keep at it. If a person feels excited to keep on with their role, there’s definitely a reason for that. Fulfillment is a sure sign that you’re successful. Otherwise, you’d feel quite different, more pessimistic and gloomy. And, you most assuredly wouldn’t feel energized or enthusiastic about your role. You look forward to the next challenge. Another sign you’re successful is you’re looking forward to the next big challenge in the future. After all, you’ve had to achieved a level of success in order to get to this point. In other words, you’ve had to racked up some successes in the past because there’s still more to go. What other signs of success do you think go unnoticed? Please share your thoughts and experiences by commenting! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

Want to Make Your Business More Successful? Start by Helping Others

September 21, 2017 No Comments

There are a number of things you can stop doing to benefit your business. But, there are also plenty of things you should do to be more successful. Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma clearly show there’s always a need to help your fellow citizens. Although Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma are now gone, their impact remains. And, that presents a great opportunity for you personally, as well as your company. The Numbers Prove Helping Others is Good for Business It doesn’t have to be a natural disaster, either. You can help others in several different ways. For instance, taking a new entrepreneur under your wing is just one. Volunteering your time to speak to others who are starting up or creating a new venture is another. Even donating your time to a local charitable organization is a way to grow personally and help your business in the process. Plus, statistics show this is the case. Mentored businesses increase their revenue by 83 percent, compared to 16 percent for non-mentored counterparts. Moreover, 83 percent of mentored businesses survived, compared to 74 percent of non-mentored companies. When you decided to become an entrepreneur, what reasons motivated that decision? For some people it is the opportunity to make a lot of money, the freedom to live by their own convictions, or to live a certain lifestyle. While these are great personal goals, too much focus on these things can lead you down the wrong path. —Inc.com The thing is, you need real face time with real people. Put technology aside and showcase your own strengths. If you have a skill set that’s not particularly useful for your company, put it to work elsewhere. And, do so with an open heart. Because if you approach it purely as a business opportunity, people will take notice. Why Helping Others is Good for Business When you go into business for yourself, it’s not all about you. While you might start a company to be more independent, you’re still serving the needs of others. And, that’s a good thing because it does offer some real advantages. Here are a few great reasons why helping others is good for business: You make more meaningful connections. When you help others out, you immediately tell people it’s not all about you. That means you are more genuine and therefore, someone who is interested in others. Such unselfish behavior inherently means you’ll make more meaningful connections. You have greater appeal to quality clients. It’s true that when you help other people, you’ll gain better personal qualities. Those are apparent to others and that’s a wonderful stepping stone to find quality customers. You provide real benefit to the community. Not only do you feel personally rewarded for helping others, you also provide benefit to the community around you. So, people within the community will definitely take notice and that’s another advantage. You inspire others to get involved and improve. Giving your time sets an example others will follow. Which makes you a leader and that’s a great attribute. You’ll be regarded as a leader and someone who gives back to the community at-large. How do you help others? What have you done to serve other people that’s benefited your business? Please share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

Here’s What You Need to Know About the ATT and Apple 5GE Sleight of Hand

February 14, 2019 No Comments

In case you haven’t yet heard, a new type of communication technology is on its way — 5G. It’s the fifth-generation cellular system, coming to replace 4G, the fourth-generation. And, it promises to deliver a whole new level of speed. Some experts forecasts speeds of 100x greater. In fact, it’s so fast, the wireless connections will easily rival hard-wired connectivity of the old system. So, it’s no wonder carriers and handheld device manufacturers are ready to get it out into the marketplace. Trouble is, it will take some time to roll out. But, that isn’t stopping two companies from getting-in on the action ahead of time. What Consumers Need to Know about the AT&T and Apple 5GE Marketing Campaign Recently, AT&T started to display “5GE” on select Android phones. Then, this week, Apple joined in, doing the same for some of its iOS devices. The problem is, “5GE” isn’t 5G tech. It stands for “5G Evolution.” This sleight of hand isn’t new. We want results, and we want them now. Your customers want the same thing and are willing to pay for it. A temptation could arise to promise them quick results when you know that’s not going to be the case. This kind of short-sighted thinking hurts your business in the long run. —Entrepreneur.com Companies have done this type of thing before. Of course, it’s misleading, to say the least. Customers might think they’re on a real 5G network, via a real 5G device. Although, the move hasn’t gone unnoticed. Rival T-Mobile posted a short video mocking AT&T, with a caption reading “didn’t realize it was this easy, brb updating.” Others have also joined in, rightly criticizing the move. 3 Real Costs of Deceptive Business Practices Now, the word will most definitely spread and people will catch-on to the ruse. So, it’s important to look at the impact of such misleading marketing and what it can really do. Here are the three biggest effects of deceptive marketing: Customers suffer. Needless to say, customers obviously suffer because such tactics instill a strong sense of distrust. If a business puts out misleading claims, when discovered, customers won’t trust it. What’s more, they’ll also become skeptical about other things. Businesses suffer. While the sleight of hand might payoff in the short-term, the long-term consequences can be quite severe. Word of mouth will spread and that could prove enough to bring about the demise of a business. Employees suffer, too. When a business tries to fool its customers, the employees will take the brunt of the blow-back. It’s not fair for employees to suffer undeserved consequences. What else would you add to the list? Please share your thoughts and experiences by commenting! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.