5 Excellent tips on Doubling your Sales this Year

Do you want to double your sales?

Of course, you do. Every organisation does. A boost in sales provides all sorts of benefits. You’ll increase your revenue, which usually means you see a boost in profits. You can then use this extra money to grow the organisation, which should lead to even more sales and even higher profitability.

Find New Customers

So what’s the first one? The first thing is we have to get out and meet new people. One of the strategies is that we have to have our marketing focused on benefits. What are we doing for the customer? Remember, they only listen to that one radio station, WIIFM (what’s in it for me). So we need to have benefits-focused marketing, so that we can attract the most new people to the business. Source: businesstown

Build a revenue ladder

Unless you launch a killer new product, it is unlikely that you can double your revenue based upon a single offering. Get to work and brainstorm. Effective entrepreneurs know that the key to revenue growth is to get that revenue coming in from multiple streams. You build your revenue ladder one step at time based on the idea of growing multiple revenue sources simultaneously. Source: entrepreneur

Stay Visible and Connected

Accreditations, licenses, and certifications—for your business or individual employees—can set you apart from your competition. Take your reputation online, using social media, your website, and a blog to connect with clients and make strategic alliances.

Use advertisement sharing with complementary businesses, find ways to leverage referral selling and take advantage of affiliate marketing tools to drive new customers to your site. Eliminate stale, ineffective alliances that may be dragging you down. Source: thebalancesmb

Eliminate Costly Services and Activities

Many companies get into a routine or rhythm of offering expensive services to their customers that they could easily discontinue with no loss of customer satisfaction.

Look at the little services that you offer to your customers. Is there anything that you could reduce or discontinue altogether? Source: briantracy

Get Better Leads

Getting more leads may seem like the secret to doubling your business growth. After all, if you get twice as many leads, shouldn’t that mean twice as many sales? Not necessarily. For instance, if your marketing agency targets midsize businesses as clients, getting lots of leads from small businesses won’t do you much good.

The real secret to doubling your business is focusing on attracting leads that fit your target customer profile. These leads are more likely to convert to customers, making them more valuable and more profitable. Source: fundbox

Benefits of Hiring a Business Consultant

All business owners will agree – managing your own business entity is a challenge. You find yourself running around all day, strapped for time and often budget. While you may be able to visualize where you’d like your business to head, you might be finding it difficult to put the necessary action steps in place to ensure your organization heads in the right growth direction. With business consulting, you can entrust the planning and implementation of business growth tasks to those who make it their business to grow your business. Here are some benefits of business consulting..

You take advantages of New skills

The critical role of any consultant or business growth agency is to ensure the business stays afloat in regard to business strategies, methodologies, and trends. When a consultant puts these methodologies into play, its commonplace for the company’s top management to ask for an in-depth explanation as to how they utilized them to come to their conclusions.

This is the right time for the company’s top brass to learn these new business consulting skills. These skills will be beneficial in the long run, especially if the consultant walks away or their contract expires. Source: upwork

Objectivity

As the owner or manager of your business, you likely can’t see the forest for the trees. You’re immersed in the daily operations of the business, so it’s difficult for you to focus on the cause of an issue to reach a resolution. A business consultant can look at your situation objectively, without prejudice or getting caught up in the personal or political aspects of it. They can analyze the facts and offer solutions without getting sidetracked. The business consultant has probably helped other companies work through similar situations, so they can draw from that experience to benefit your business.

Because consultants are objective parties, they’re able to compile all of the data necessary to make the best informed decisions. By having all of the right data, you’re able to get complete transparency into your business, and how it impacts your role, and bottom-line. Source: e3businessconsultants

Accomplishing Short-Term Goals

Employees are established performers within their own job descriptions. However, it can be difficult to get employees to implement short-term goals when it involves utilizing other skill sets. Employees that normally perform specific tasks may get annoyed at having additional duties or may simply be unfit and too inexperienced for the task. Bringing in an experienced consultant and the resources available to him or her often ends up saving the substantial time and money that would be involved in retraining employees, organizing and prioritizing their schedules, and executing the strategy. Source: help.legalnature

Contributing fresh, new ideas

A solid strategic consultant should have the ability to bring a new perspective and generate new ideas that you haven’t already been considering for your small business.  Their specialty and expertise should contribute dynamic new approaches to what you’ve already laid out on the drawing board. Source: pcg-services

A consultation can provide answers and insight for industry-specific burning questions.

Business owners frequently have a specific problem that is pertinent to their particular industry and can’t rely on one-size-fits-all business advice. Business consultants often specialize in certain industries based on their professional experience and interests, and can pinpoint what works and doesn’t work for your industry. Many new business owners find themselves wandering around in the dark trying to apply standardized solutions to industry-specific problems; a business consultant can turn that situation around completely. Source: rueassociates

Save Time

Another benefit to using a consultant lies in their keen ability to simplify project components and strategize ways for your entire organization to save time.

This quality may not seem intuitive at first, as some organizations see researching, screening and selecting the right business consulting service as adding to their workloads, not reducing them. Yet the advantages of hiring a consultant are a lot like a new business investment, with the up-front effort saving you measurable time and resources down the road. Source: m-inc

Get an Outside Take on Your Operations

Sometimes all it takes to see the trees through the forest is an outside perspective. Rather than trying to improve operations from the inside out, having an outsider offer their view of your current state of business may clear things up as to how to achieve growth and improve overall efficiency. Source: cmtc

Confidentiality

When you work with a seasoned business consultant, you can be sure they will keep your information confidential. Advisors are often privy to highly sensitive data like compensation, personnel matters and changes in ownership. It is critical that business owners and senior leaders feel comfortable revealing everything that’s important with the clear understanding that it will remain private. Source: krissibarr

Delivery Speed

Consultants are not distracted. They are focused on the results and task(s) they are hired for. Unlike internal management, which tends to have other responsibilities. Consultants are able to deliver results with speed. They do not have a learning curve and are able to provide advise and guidance to clients. Source: illuminationconsulting

Navigate changing workloads

Here’s an important question for every small business owner to consider: If you would need to ramp up your small business suddenly and significantly, could you deliver?

If you don’t have ample support to meet an increase in demand for your products or services or to create new offerings, you could be at risk of disappointing your customers — and potentially damaging your business’s reputation.

You could also end up burdening your core staff and undermining their on-the-job happiness. But of course, you also want to avoid hiring more employees until you are certain that workloads will be sustained. Source: roberthalf

Increases accountability

It’s easy for business owners and CEOs to lose focus and veer off track. This is typically the result of a lack of accountability. When an individual finds himself in a position of power, accountability dissipates and the ability to act autonomously often clouds judgment and decision making. When a consultant is hired, accountability suddenly reenters the picture. The consultant will establish meetings, set goals and provide objectives that have to be satisfied by certain checkpoints. This is good for everyone involved. Source: cio

Training

Consultants can facilitate workshops and courses that can help your workforce learn a new skill, keep up on technology or achieve professional growth and development. Source: kjco

Things to consider in Starting a Business

However you’ve reached your decision to take the plunge and start your own business, you need to go in with your eyes open – there are certain things you need to do to make sure you stand the best chance of success.

The plan

Create a business plan. Many people skip right pass this step and end up backtracking. Creating your business plan at the beginning will help guide your vision and direction as you continue along you entrepreneurial journey.  Think of your business plan as your blue print…you wouldn’t just start building a house without a plan would you? Source: forbes

Self-discipline

This may be one of the most important qualities for an aspiring entrepreneur to have. You are at the heart of your business idea, meaning that you will be the one to hold yourself accountable. As an entrepreneur, you’ll have to stick to your business plan, make and respect your budget, dedicate time to developing your business, and meet the goals you’ve set for yourself. If you find yourself lacking in self-discipline, this might be something to work on before you pursue your entrepreneurial dream. You have to be ready to put the time and effort in before you begin your venture. Source: drivinginnovation

Define your target audience

Appealing to everyone appeals to no one. You need to focus on your target audience and style everything, from your website to your marketing campaigns, around them. Make sure you are targeting the right people by sending out questionnaires, speaking to your customers through social media and holding focus groups. The only way to provide a product or service people really want is to get inside their heads. Involve your target customer in the development of your business and continue to test, test, test. Consulting your customers will also make them feel like they have a voice, will breed loyalty and, if you're lucky, will increase the likelihood of them recommending you to others. Source: smarta

Don't listen to statistics

People love to throw around the statistic that 95 percent of business fail. Don't listen to that -- it's an excuse to make you feel comfortable about giving up. If that number is even correct, it's because most people don't commit, they don't follow through to the end or they are stupid in how they manage their money. Source: entrepreneur

Start small and grow

If possible, self-fund your startup and then go for funding when you can create a growth story. This might cause you to break up your product/service offering into smaller pieces so you can fund the early stages and get some traction and experience. Source: blogs.constantcontact

Find the funds

Start-ups often spend more than they earn for as long as two or three years. Make sure you have funding in place to cover initial purchases and the time it takes to start generating income. Remember, government grants are available to top up your investment, so don’t be shy of applying. Source: axa

Read Up on Managing People

Many first-time and new business owners have never had any experience managing people. Learning how to manage people is an art, and it is essential to the success of every business. Fortunately, there is plenty of great advice on management; you just need to know where to look. Source: help.legalnature

Focus on the market instead of the product

Many startups and small businesses make the mistake of relying too much on their product to drive sales. What this means is that they fail to take into consideration the market they're getting into.

Small businesses should focus on delivering a product that people are actually willing to buy. You can come up with the most revolutionary product in the world, but you won't get anywhere if there isn't a market for it. Focus on niches. Getting a small market share is better than trying to invest in a market that doesn't exist. Source: inc

Resolve Is Your Greatest Asset

Despite anything that you’ve heard or seen on TV, starting your own business isn’t very glamorous. It’s a grind that involves obsessive dedication and unrelenting effort and resolve.

Every startup will encounter obstacles that will threaten to shut it down. Every new business will face seemingly insurmountable odds. Getting your idea off the ground will require your weekdays, weeknights and weekends. There’s no getting around that.

If you’re launching out to start your own business, you must be prepared to fight. Will you be willing to stick to the plan even if it seems that it’s failing? Are you willing to make the sacrifices today that might pan out in five or 10 years? Source: businesscollective

Target Market

Determine your target market so that you know if a demand exists for your product or service and how best to market your business. Consider the demographics of your target market, including their age, gender, neighborhood, income level and consumer behavior. Research your target market by examining consumer surveys, census reports and competitor information. Source: smallbusiness

Get your advisers in places

Source your advisers early and get them involved in the set up of the business. Ensure you have a great accountant (ask other business owners for referrals), a great lawyer (especially if you are leasing a premises), a great marketing adviser to help develop your Marketing Plan ahead of time and possibly a few other advisers like a graphic designer, website developer, IT consultant etc. It does depend on the type of business you are planning to open. Invest in getting the right advice before you start your business and your chances of success will be dramatically increased. Source: news

Read up on what the government and tax office need

there are so many hoops to jump through from letting the tax office know that you are now self employed and registering for VAT to setting up a limited company if you are going down that route to any health and safety certificates if you need them. So make sure you know what’s required otherwise you may find yourself with a big fine. Source: smallbusinesspro

Rent – Don’t Own – At Least at the Beginning

It’s almost axiomatic that you will need cash in order to start a business. But most of that cash will likely be needed for your personal survival. The less that you put into the startup itself, the more you’ll have for survival, and the longer that you’ll be able to last during the early days of your business. Source: allbusiness

 

 

Tips on how to be an effective Speaker

Public speaking is one of the most important skills that you can develop in your career. Most effective public speakers have worked hard to master effective speaking skills and good public speaking techniques. They may spend hours practicing, working with a coach, or taking speech courses. Here are some things to take into consideration when preparing for your public speech.

Listen to recorded speeches

If you want to become a great speaker, you should first have an idea on what it means to be great. Famous speeches became that way in part because the speaker knew how to wring the most feeling and meaning out of what he was saying. Pay attention to the pauses they take, the words they emphasize, and the steady pace most famous speakers perform at. Source: wikihow

Nervousness Is Normal. Practice and Prepare!

All people feel some physiological reactions like pounding hearts and trembling hands. Do not associate these feelings with the sense that you will perform poorly or make a fool of yourself. Some nerves are good. The adrenaline rush that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and ready to give your best performance.

The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. Once you have become comfortable with the material, practice—a lot. Videotape yourself, or get a friend to critique your performance. Source: extension

Focus on concepts

Avoid sounding over-rehearsed. Rather than memorizing the entire content of your presentation, understand the concept as this will help you develop the points even on an impromptu basis. It also takes away the fear of your mind going blank at any point during the presentation. Create bullet points of the key takeaways and speak naturally about them. Source: yourstory

Give Yourself Time to Acclimate

Many speakers begin talking immediately after being introduced or walking onstage. Instead, try approaching the stage in silence. This gives you time to gather your thoughts, take a deep breath, and get used to being in front of the audience.

It gives your audience the chance to get used to you as well. If they’re checking email or answering some last-minute texts, it provides a few buffer moments so they can wrap up. This pause also sets the tone for the rest of your speech, which should be evenly paced, effective, and purposeful. Source: blog.hubspot

Slow Down

Most inexperienced speakers talk faster on stage than they realize – and it’s completely understandable.

When you’re giving your talk, you’re nervous, anxious, and you’re trying to hold all the information you need to present in your head. All you want to do is get through your speech so you can get off the stage and go someplace where people can’t judge you.

Unfortunately, this can cause you to rush through your speech far too quickly, which make the information you’re presenting hard to understand. Source: collegeinfogeek

Structure your material in three sections

Grabber, middle, close. Know your material. Get really interested in the topic. Find good stories. Source: forbes

Be Yourself

You don’t have to be someone else on stage, all you have to do is just be yourself. Sometimes, no matter how much you believe in your message or how well you’ve rehearsed, if you don’t act like yourself in front of the group, your audience may view your speech as insincere or calculated.

If a political candidate doesn’t seem authentic, it’s not likely they’ll win an election. If a company’s social marketing strategy appears inauthentic, their sales will not go up. If you create a page on a dating website but what you write is not authentic, the people reading are likely to pick up on this inauthenticity and never contact you. Speaking is the same way. Source: magneticspeaking

Body language

Make sure your body language is engaging and comfortable. If you fold your arms across your chests or you speak with your head down the audience will be able to pick up on your nerves and may not be receptive to you. Use your body language to convey a message of ease, comfort and openness. Source: studentbrands

Think Positively

Positive thinking   can make a huge difference to the success of your communication, because it helps you feel more confident.

Fear makes it all too easy to slip into a cycle of negative self-talk, especially right before you speak, while self-sabotaging   thoughts such as "I'll never be good at this!" or "I'm going to fall flat on my face!" lower your confidence and increase the chances that you won't achieve what you're truly capable of.

Use affirmations   and visualization   to raise your confidence. This is especially important right before your speech or presentation. Visualize giving a successful presentation, and imagine how you'll feel once it's over and when you've made a positive difference for others. Use positive affirmations such as "I'm grateful I have the opportunity to help my audience" or "I'm going to do well!" Source: mindtools

Just Smile

There is nothing as powerful as a smile and nothing as simple either. Smile before you head on stage. Smile as your audience filters into the room and smile during your speech. When you take a moment to smile, it naturally brings a feeling of confidence and relaxation over your entire body.

Smiling at someone in your audience can help you feel calmer, and less nervous, while helping you feel more connected to the audience that you are speaking to. It is really that simple—so give it a try. Source: blog.mindvalley

Ask questions

Draw your audience in by asking questions. If you do not receive many responses to a question posed to the entire group, approach one of the participants and ask, “What do you think, John? I’m interested in how you would approach this.”

Once one person responds, others will often engage. If you are asked a question, repeat if for the group, and rephrase it to be sure you fully understand what is being asked. When responding to a question from the audience, be sure to talk to your group, not at your group. Source: meadowlandsusa

Make first impressions count

Before you even begin to present, your audience will base their first impressions on your appearance. Make it count. Dress appropriate to the event. Be neat, clean, professional, and comfortable enough to act naturally. Source: office.xerox

Be Open to Receiving Feedback

Both positive and negative feedback can improve your confidence. One of the most painful experiences is watching recordings of yourself. Although I’m uncomfortable every time I view my performance, I push myself to do it and to find places I can improve.

Watch yourself on video and observe your overall delivery. What seemed to rouse the audience? Watching yourself from a third-person perspective can accelerate your growth. Negative reviews help you pinpoint areas for improvement. Even though negative feedback might sting your ego, these points of view usually boost your skills in the long run.

Being open to criticism helps you develop thick skin. Grow your confidence from both positive, inspiring feedback and negative, constructive feedback. Source: businesscollective

11 Tips on How to Improve Yourself

Do you find yourself feeling frustrated on a daily basis? Do you feel like a zombie, waking up each day to the same repetitive cycle that seems never-ending? Has the quality of your life decreased over time, resulting in a loss of energy, vitality, and enthusiasm for the future?

We have gathered up things that could help you improve yourself and make a better person.

Exercise your willpower to change direction

You don’t have to keep doing what you’ve been doing the last six years if it’s not yielding the benefits you want. Pick a new destination and go that way. Use your willpower to start the process. You don’t have to repeat last year. Clean up the errors. Invest it now in the next year. Watch it make the difference. Source: success

Read a book every day

Books are concentrated sources of wisdom. The more books you read, the more wisdom you expose yourself to. When you’re reading a book every day, you will feed your brain with more and more knowledge. Do you know what’s the best way to store up all this knowledge and information? You need this Digital Brain. Source: lifehack

Learn a new language

Learning new languages without a particular need, develops and opens our minds. It is beneficial to our academic and work environment and allows you to get to know other cultures. Source: lifehacks

Optimism

Never mind if you don't have hours a day—even a few minutes spent in quiet contemplation once in a while yields noticeable benefits. A group of adults who meditated an average of six hours and 13 minutes over the course of five weeks developed patterns of brain activity typically associated with positive moods. Source: oprah

Do something different

If you zig when others zag you will avoid being in the majority making it easier to rise to the top. Its far easiest to be great in a smaller pool. Source: medium

Be kind to yourself

If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?  The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.  You must love who you are or no one else will. Source: marcandangel

Appreciate life lessons and mistakes you’ve made

No one is perfect, and there is nobody who never makes mistakes. The only difference is that some people successfully overcome difficulties and make the right conclusions, and other people easily get discouraged and believe that life is a failure. Remember, life’s obstacles and trials make you stronger. Having taken a risk and fallen, rise and try again. Try to be in constant motion, learn new things, grow and improve yourself. Source: learning-mind

Create goals and targets

What does it distinguish successful people from others? Well, the willing to build objectives and achievements. They know what they are looking for, they do daydreams, and they dare. The secret to achieve any goal is then to plan every step. If you want to have a better idea, you have to create smart goals.

And remember, big goals are always divided into several smaller steps. Identify the steps of every target plan you are going to do. Source: mind-globe

Change Your Habits

Do you find yourself feeling frustrated on a daily basis? Do you feel like a zombie, waking up each day to the same repetitive cycle that seems never-ending? Has the quality of your life decreased over time, resulting in a loss of energy, vitality, and enthusiasm for the future?

We are all creatures of habit. We follow the same routines, day in, day out. This makes life easier for us, but also makes us lazy. To spice things up, you need to change your habits. I’m not talking about refraining from brushing your teeth, but maybe brush with the opposite hand. Source: MoneySmartGuide

Learn to face your fears

If you constantly shy away from facing your fears then you will never be able to improve yourself. When you face your fears not only do you feel incredibly liberated but you also broaden your horizons. This will help to make you a better and broad minded individual as well. Source: WiseStep

Don't want too much

Desire can be a powerful motivating tool, but wanting something too much can be very painful and very expensive, so don't live beyond your means or covet the unattainable. Seek your desire, but keep your integrity. Source: PsychologyToday

6 Tips on Building your eCommerce Website

eCommerce web design isn't just about how the website looks but how it works. Successful e-commerce store design merges conversion strategy, visual design, and technical engineering to create a simple and smooth shopping experience.

Choose the Right Platform

The first step in the process is to choose a website building platform. Also known as content management systems (CMS), these are the engines that allow websites to run. The three most popular platforms are WordPress (which has an incredible 50.07 percent market penetration rate), Drupal and Joomla. Source: Business

Make branding a priority

When it comes to shopping online, people want to buy from established brands—not faceless ecommerce sites that look like a front for trying to steal your credit card information.

If you want to build the trust you need to drive serious sales with your ecommerce business, you need to put some serious thought into your branding. Your branding is like the DNA of your ecommerce business; it’s who you are as a company, what you’re about, and how you’re different from your competitors—and it plays a huge part in building a connection with your audience and driving sales. Source: 99designs

Get all the paperwork you need for a legitimate business.

Register your business, get a vendor's License and start looking into legal business issues. You should contact a local attorney to assist in the creation of your business. While it is an upfront cost, it likely will save you significant headache and expense in the future. Source: entrepreneur

Finding a product to sell

The first step to building an ecommerce business is to know what products you want to sell. This is often the most challenging part of starting a new online business. In this section, we’ll highlight strategies you can use to find product opportunities, explore the best places to look for product ideas, and finally, we’ll look at trending products to consider. Source: Shopify

Know the Competition

Prior to developing an Ecommerce business, you need to make certain whether your potential brand name has been used. You should be conscious about the competition present in the market that you are targeting. You need to divide the market, target a specific client base with similar. Source: Quora

Utilize simple website design

Minimalist websites are consistently rated as more visually appealing and more trustworthy than visually complex websites. If you want to optimize your ecommerce web design for conversions, you should consider simplifying it. Source: LyfMarketing

And this is all for now..

Keep checking this blog as we will be adding more tips and guide to building your eCommerce website!

Ways to make your workplace more flexible

Flexibility in the workplace allows employers and employees to decide about working conditions that suit them. This helps employees maintain a work / life balance and can help employers improve the productivity and efficiency of their business.  Flexible working arrangements have traditionally been viewed as a special privilege for employees. Here are some of the way’s flexibility can benefit your business and strategies you can employ to make a flexible workplace a reality.

Start with a Plan

Freedom and flexibility will make your employees feel well-treated and respected but maintaining productivity and keeping track of your bottom line really come down to effective management and personal accountability. Don’t start implementing more flexible workplace policy or design elements without establishing a plan to manage how different spaces are to be used, how flex-time will be managed and who will approve it. Be sure to include communication as a cornerstone to your flex strategy. Remember, Flexible doesn’t equal lenient. If you aim to be a truly flexible organization, how and where your team work should be left up to them, but accountability and deliverables should be well-defined and well communicated from the get-go. Source: apexfacility

Think creatively

Your team should be encouraged to explore different avenues for fostering creativity and accomplishing work goals with a new mindset. Those who tend to stick to the same tried-and-true methods are likely to have decreased flexibility and will resist change. Be prepared to give your team a little extra effort. Source: bizjournals

Be Open-Minded

You'll likely find it easier to understand and manage a situation if you look at it from different perspectives. For example, if you're looking to launch a new product, you might first like to analyze it from different viewpoints.

How will it fit into the marketplace, for instance? What will the impact be on your production process, and your sales and marketing teams? How do you think your customers will react to it?

Make it a priority to listen to and understand the views of the other people involved. If your manager asks you to help out on an urgent project, for example, consider how it will benefit the team or your career, rather than simply thinking, "Oh no, not more work!" Source: mindtools

A better work-life balance

The biggest reason most workers want a flexible workplace is to spend more time with their families. Cutting out the commute, cutting down hours (job share) and flexi-hours all help to facilitate more quality family time. If your family’s happy, then you’re happy and usually better equipped to deal with work demands. Source: cpacareermentor

Give employees time to think

Allowing your employees to go for runs may also have more benefits than just making them happy. While we are engaged in aerobic exercise, our brains convert to alpha waves, indicating our brains are in a default-state typically connected to daydreaming or meditation. Research shows that alpha waves reduce stress and boost creativity and innovation — supporting the proverbial “I got my idea while in the shower” notion.

Giving your employees time away from drilling down into email, communicating in meetings or marathon-ing through a project -- the activities associated with beta and gamma brain waves -- allows them the mental energy to individually brainstorm, internalize information and devise some of their best action plans. This means managers should encourage breaks, whether it's a stroll around the block or a face-to-face interaction. Source: entrepreneur

Consider Culture

Organisational and team cultures are critical to the success of workplaces where employees can access flexibility for all roles and for any reason, and can have successful, engaged careers. Source: flexibleworkingday

Establish Good Communication

Communication plays a huge role in flexible work arrangements. One of the main reasons flex work programs fail is because of lack of communication. There’s no excuse for miscommunication, especially with all the available online team collaboration programs. Slack, Yammer, and numerous instant messenger programs are just some examples of software tools that promote consistent and solid communication among telecommuting employees.

Additionally, a regularly scheduled ‘check-in’ via weekly or monthly group meetings can aid managers and leaders in monitoring telework. During the planning phase, institute both formal and informal systems for ensuring that flexible work arrangements are productive. Be sure to include fail safes that end the ability to work flexibly for employees who don’t meet productivity goals. It’s important to communicate to everyone involved that the flexible work schedule is predicated on meeting certain goals and completing assigned tasks. Source: risesmart

Know that not everyone will be a good flexible worker

Telecommuting and working flexible schedules require specific traits that not everyone has. But don't shut down the entire flex-work program just because a few people aren't cut out for it. Instead, consider other perks that can be offered to employees for whom flex work isn't a good option, while continuing to let the majority of employees take advantage of work flexibility. Source: businessnewsdaily