Belize IBC Structure
The country is committed to remaining 100% attractive in terms of its ability to secure the privacy and wealth management of international companies who choose to incorporate and/or bank offshore in Belize. Shareholders and directors can be the same person or corporate entity, there is only one shareholder and director required, they do not need to reside locally in Belize and nominee shareholders and directors can be appointed. There are many potential benefits to establishing an International Business Company offshore, but few jurisdictions offer the features and benefits that Belize does. One of the most interesting and attractive features of an IBC in Belize, and a feature that sets Internati

Unique Challenges for Women in Business
I’ve been in private practice for almost 10 years, now. I am living my dream; I do what I love to do, the hours I work are the hours I choose to work, and I can often take time off to play with my family or enjoy a friend, if I wish.But, as most self-employed people, I’m a hard boss, and as a female small business owner, I have much more to do than just ‘work’. As I type this, I am also making lasagna so my husband has something he enjoys eating while I’m out of town for the next few days, working. I also need to fold the laundry that is in the dryer so I can take care of some last minute clothes I want to pack for my trip. Tomorrow I will get up a little earlier than necessary so I can ge

The space race, Customer Service and monkeys flying rocket ships. 7 strategies for the New Year.
I was thinking this morning about rockets, the “space race” and Customer Service Management. (I dated myself with the “space race”, didn’t I. But it really happened.) I know that the two subjects seem completely unrelated. Not even in the same Encyclopedia volume.And I submit for your consideration that driving a rocket in the space race and good Customer Service Management are exactly the same. Let me explain why.Your business is your rocket ship. In this ship is everything you need to survive when venturing into the hostile environment that is space. (And business) In it you will find life support systems, food and water, power, data bases, computer systems and communications.bute meaningfully to the agenda?

Even if the right people are invited to the meeting ahead of time, most meeting conveners who even bother to send out an agenda, make the agenda pretty sparse—generally, the topics, the time allotted and the person assigned to report on each topic. This doesn’t give the participants much of a hint on what it is about the topic that will be discussed, let alone what preparation they should do to contribute to the topic.

The solution is to determine the goal of the meeting first. Why must you have a monthly team meeting? Is the goal to report on departmental performance, company business results or to induce behavior change on the part of the participants? The meeting’s purpose may be to inform, to influence or to educate. In fact, a good meeting agenda will contain the goals for each topic, and it will be sent to all participants in enough time that they can review it, prepare to add their perspectives on each topic or to provide additional information that the other participants may not have. Either way, a good agenda will answer the question: What do we need to accomplish in this meeting?

Use structured brainstorming to get full participation.

One of the most frustrating things about most meetings is the dialogue that occurs amongst participants. It is usually all over the map. If the topic is reducing expenses, there could be several great ideas offered, but, generally, there is a great deal of conversation, often rambling, with little to no closure on whether everyone agrees with the idea or is willing to try it out. Great ideas that go nowhere are sometimes called “plops.” Throw out an idea, hear some discussion around it, and, “plop”—it goes nowhere.

One good way to ensure that ideas are fully discussed or eliminated appropriately, is to use structured brainstorming. Most people are familiar with brainstorming where participants think through a topic and are then asked for their input. All ideas are taken with no judgment allowed and no discussion until all input is on the table. Structured brainstorming is an even better tool to ensure productive meeting dialogue.

Here’s how it is done.

The discussion leader asks participants to think silently about ways to control departmental expenses, for example. Each person spends approximately 10-15 minutes silently brainstorming and writing one idea each on a post-it note. When each person runs out of ideas or the time is up, each person posts his or her post-it notes on a wall or flipchart. The group reads all the post-it notes and groups similar ideas together. They then come up with a category header for each of the groupings. Out of the exercise, there should be several ideas which could be explored further and in more detail.

Structured brainstorming gives everyone an opportunity to participate fully in the discussion and provides a structure for looking at the ideas in categories. Thus, it provides the group with the ability to select those categories which could have the biggest impact on the problem they are trying to solve.

Never let a meeting end without an action plan.

How many times have you been in meetings that have topics on the agenda that you thought had been covered in a previous meeting? Were these topics on this agenda because there was more to discuss or simply because no one took ownership for actions on the topic in between the first and second meeting?

Once a topic has been fully discussed, the meeting convener needs to ask the group what actions need to be taken to solve the issue or to make progress on the topic. Not every topic will need follow on, but where they do, it is imperative to have someone accountable for taking action, reporting it to the group and doing so by some deadline.

Having an agenda that leaves space for the action item, person responsible and due date, is a good way to ensure that each topic that warrants follow up actions will get them. Then, you must determine if the action needs to be reported out prior to the next meeting or during it. Bringing closure to items on meeting agendas will add even more discipline and structure to meetings.

These three suggestions for conducting meetings may not prevent the wireless addicts from working their phones or other devices during the meeting, but t

e question: What do we need to accomplish in this meeting?

Use structured brainstorming to get full participation.

One of the most frustrating things about most meetings is the dialogue that occurs amongst participants. It is usually all over the map. If the topic is reducing expenses, there could be several great ideas offered, but, generally, there is a great deal of conversation, often rambling, with little to no closure on whether everyone agrees with the idea or is willing to try it out. Great ideas that go nowhere are sometimes called “plops.” Throw out an idea, hear some discussion around it, and, “plop”—it goes nowhere.

One good way to ensure that ideas are fully discussed or eliminated appropriately, is to use structured brainstorming. Most people are familiar with brainstorming where participants think through a topic and are then asked for their input. All ideas are taken with no judgment allowed and no discussion until all input is on the table. Structured brainstorming is an even better tool to ensure productive meeting dialogue.

Here’s how it is done.

The discussion leader asks participants to think silently about ways to control departmental expenses, for example. Each person spends approximately 10-15 minutes silently brainstorming and writing one idea each on a post-it note. When each person runs out of ideas or the time is up, each person posts his or her post-it notes on a wall or flipchart. The group reads all the post-it notes and groups similar ideas together. They then come up with a category header for each of the groupings. Out of the exercise, there should be several ideas which could be explored further and in more detail.

Structured brainstorming gives everyone an opportunity to participate fully in the discussion and provides a structure for looking at the ideas in categories. Thus, it provides the group with the ability to select those categories which could have the biggest impact on the problem they are trying to solve.

Never let a meeting end without an action plan.

How many times have you been in meetings that have topics on the agenda that you thought had been covered in a previous meeting? Were these topics on this agenda because there was more to discuss or simply because no one took ownership for actions on the topic in between the first and second meeting?

Once a topic has been fully discussed, the meeting convener needs to ask the group what actions need to be taken to solve the issue or to make progress on the topic. Not every topic will need follow on, but where they do, it is imperative to have someone accountable for taking action, reporting it to the group and doing so by some deadline.

Having an agenda that leaves space for the action item, person responsible and due date, is a good way to ensure that each topic that warrants follow up actions will get them. Then, you must determine if the action needs to be reported out prior to the next meeting or during it. Bringing closure to items on meeting agendas will add even more discipline and structure to meetings.

These three suggestions for conducting meetings may not prevent the wireless addicts from working their phones or other devices during the meeting, but t

w it is done.

The discussion leader asks participants to think silently about ways to control departmental expenses, for example. Each person spends approximately 10-15 minutes silently brainstorming and writing one idea each on a post-it note. When each person runs out of ideas or the time is up, each person posts his or her post-it notes on a wall or flipchart. The group reads all the post-it notes and groups similar ideas together. They then come up with a category header for each of the groupings. Out of the exercise, there should be several ideas which could be explored further and in more detail.

Structured brainstorming gives everyone an opportunity to participate fully in the discussion and provides a structure for looking at the ideas in categories. Thus, it provides the group with the ability to select those categories which could have the biggest impact on the problem they are trying to solve.

Never let a meeting end without an action plan.

How many times have you been in meetings that have topics on the agenda that you thought had been covered in a previous meeting? Were these topics on this agenda because there was more to discuss or simply because no one took ownership for actions on the topic in between the first and second meeting?

Once a topic has been fully discussed, the meeting convener needs to ask the group what actions need to be taken to solve the issue or to make progress on the topic. Not every topic will need follow on, but where they do, it is imperative to have someone accountable for taking action, reporting it to the group and doing so by some deadline.

Having an agenda that leaves space for the action item, person responsible and due date, is a good way to ensure that each topic that warrants follow up actions will get them. Then, you must determine if the action needs to be reported out prior to the next meeting or during it. Bringing closure to items on meeting agendas will add even more discipline and structure to meetings.

These three suggestions for conducting meetings may not prevent the wireless addicts from working their phones or other devices during the meeting, but t

ed in a previous meeting? Were these topics on this agenda because there was more to discuss or simply because no one took ownership for actions on the topic in between the first and second meeting?

Once a topic has been fully discussed, the meeting convener needs to ask the group what actions need to be taken to solve the issue or to make progress on the topic. Not every topic will need follow on, but where they do, it is imperative to have someone accountable for taking action, reporting it to the group and doing so by some deadline.

Having an agenda that leaves space for the action item, person responsible and due date, is a good way to ensure that each topic that warrants follow up actions will get them. Then, you must determine if the action needs to be reported out prior to the next meeting or during it. Bringing closure to items on meeting agendas will add even more discipline and structure to meetings.

These three suggestions for conducting meetings may not prevent the wireless addicts from working their phones or other devices during the meeting, but they certainly will provide an opportunity for all meeting participants to contribute as fully as they desire to help you achieve better meetings.