Open Offices: What They Are and How They Can Work for You

Open offices have been generating a lot of buzz lately. The open office is famous for its use at Google, Facebook, and other fast-paced tech companies, who assert that having an open office encourages employees to cooperate on projects. Supposedly it’s the 21st century office layout for 21st century employees, but do they really measure…

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Food Tech Startups: The Simple Way to a Free Lunch

It’s a fact — humans love food. Survival instinct aside, we’ve also added a generous helping of cultural and emotional associations. One recent and tempting movement that’s turning heads and filling stomachs is offering free lunch (snacks or meals of any kind) at the office. But, We’re Not Google That’s ok, you don’t have to be.…

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Celebrate Your Mistakes

How do you teach your work force that mistakes are OK as long as they learn and don’t repeat them? By being a visible example. A friend and fellow CEO states that he publishes each of his mistakes in his company internal blog along with the lesson he learned. “If the CEO can do this,…

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Games at Work? It’s Not What You Think

Establishing a positive company culture is absolutely essential when you’re looking to create a successful business. One concept many companies are relying on to help create a more fun and rewarding environment is gamification. With the implementation of gamification in the workplace, many businesses are seeing an increase in loyalty and satisfaction among employees and…

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The Importance of a Distinctive High-Performance Culture

All companies strive to have their team arrive each day highly motivated, ready and eager to do what it takes to get the job done. However, this is more of an ideal than reality. Motivation comes and goes, performance targets are achieved one month only to be missed the next, and achieving a high performance…

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How to Foster a Company Culture That Values Creativity and Innovation

As a startup founder and investor, it’s not enough for me to merely value innovation and creativity: I must also manage the hazards associated with new ideas. After all, employees who routinely bring novel ideas to their colleagues are likely to experience more rejection, failure, and even embarrassment than others in their career. The question is, how do you…

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Leadership Skills: 4 Ways to Achieve the Ultimate Customer-Focused Company

In May 2007, Ranjay Gulati (Michael Ludwig Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management), wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review entitled “Silo Busting: How to Execute on the Promise of Customer Focus”. Galati’s main point is as true today as it was then — that while…

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How to Recruit for Those Highly Coveted Business Positions

In a competitive market, there is no guarantee that you will get every talented employee that you have your eye on. However, there are steps that you can take during the recruiting process to increase the odds that you get the right people in the right spot to take your company to the next level.…

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Great Company Culture Essential to Success

The Internet has had two very interesting, and important, impacts on small businesses. First, it has lowered the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs and second it has raised the bar for customer service. If you aren’t among the businesses offering the top customer experience today, your bottom line suffers and your long-term viability is doubtful.…

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The Importance of Company Culture in Your Franchise

What kind of business do you want to run? One where employees clock in and out and fill the hours in between with minimal effort? Or a space that your staff considers their second home, where customers always marvel at how much fun everyone is having? Defining company culture puts the power of shaping your company…

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