The original article can be found here. 

I got a phone call from a SynkedUP user and friend yesterday, wanting to think out loud through the consultation fees he was charging. He had been charging $150 for a consultation for a few years now and hadn’t been getting any pushback.

Until now.

There was some new competition in town, and they weren’t charging any consultation fees. He did learn that their quotes were similar in price though, so it’s not like it was an apples-and-oranges comparison. They were chasing the same type of jobs, and charging similar rates. He had several leads tell him “well, these companies aren’t charging me fees to get an estimate, so I’m just going to get quotes from them.”

This, and the fact the volume of leads is a little less this year than last (for him in his local market) made him doubt the whole idea of charging consultation fees. I’m sure there are more of you out there facing this same reality, so...

Clockwork is a book for business owners. The purpose of the book is for owners to design their business to run itself. It is a book that has freedom and fulfillment as the ultimate goal. It echoes Peter Drucker's quote "Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” Michalowicz has taken this concept and created a process to put it in place. 

One of the most impactful elements of the book is identifying what Mike calls the Queen Bee Role. He writes, “Identify the core function in your business that is the biggest determinant of your company’s success. Within every company there exists a single function that is the most significant determinant of the company’s health. It is where the uniqueness of your offering meets the best talents of you and/or your staff.”

The process of thinking this through is valuable in itself. But it is not easy. We all think that every aspect of our business is crucial. Michalowicz says,...

“Hey, Google, turn on Christmas tree lights”. If I ever needed proof that technology has changed our lives, that was it. We were visiting friends over Christmas and that was how they turned on the lights to their tree. I felt so old and inefficient when I later turned on my own tree lights – by actually reaching for the cord and plugging it into the wall outlet. Technology has definitely changed the way we live our lives.

In the landscape industry, people have adopted a certain amount of technology. Most companies have websites and email. Some have digital time sheets. Most use a weather app. We’re becoming more and more accustomed to using technology in our businesses. Technology has provided a vast array of tools to help business owners and their staff operate faster, easier and more efficiently.

The benefits of using technology are numerous. You can probably think of many examples from your own life. But for business owners, the benefits are significant...

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana 

“Do you have a minute to talk?”. Over the years I’ve been asked this question by employees. It’s a question that immediately knots my stomach, as my experience tell me that the employee is about to resign. 

When an employee resigns, my mind very quickly begins making a checklist. What are the steps we need to take to fill the role being vacated? Do we need to adjust the job description? Do we fill the job internally or post it externally? By immediately jumping to replacement, I’ve missed an important and valuable step - the exit interview. 

An exit interview is an interview held with an employee about to leave an organization, typically in order to discuss the employee's reasons for leaving and their experience of working for the organization. The exit interview can take various forms; it can be a written survey, can be completed verbally with a...

The 6 Types of Working Genius has been one of the most enlightening books I've read regarding how people work. In fact, our whole team read the book and took the assessment. It has given us a greater understanding of how we each work and has changed the way we approach projects. It has also relieved some guilt over areas that are not our "genius". 

The 6 types of working genius are as follows:

The Genius of Wonder: the natural gift of pondering the possibility of greater potential and opportunity in a given situation.

The Genius of Invention: the natural gift of creating original and novel ideas and solutions.

The Genius of Discernment: the natural gift of intuitively and instinctively evaluating ideas and situations.

The Genius of Galvanizing: the natural gift of rallying, inspiring and organizing others to take action.

The Genius of Enablement: the natural gift of providing encouragement and assistance for an idea or project.

The Genius of...

If you thought the Great Resignation was a 2021 phenomenon, you’re wrong. Employee retention is still a problem for employers. In a recent article published by the Human Resources Professionals Association, they indicate that Canadian companies are collectively attempting to fill 915,000 job vacancies, 80% more than in 2019 according to Statistics Canada, and well above pre-pandemic levels. 

“What’s unfolding then is not just the Great Resignation (the symptom), but the Great Prioritization (the cause). Simply put, people are putting a greater focus on well-being, health (physical, social and mental), family (childcare and/or aging parents) and other hobbies and interests - and by extension, taking the time to consider who they work for, how they work, and why they work.” 

Recruiting employees in this environment is a challenge, but an equally important discussion is how to keep the great staff that you already have. It’s time to rethink how...

Our focus for the month of March is Human Resources. We thought we'd start off with the recent State of the Global Workplace report, an annual report representing the collective voice of the global employee. In this edition, the pandemic and its aftershock continued to disrupt the workplace.  

The pulse of the global workplace is low, but it's still beating, leaving much room for leaders to ask, "How am I creating a thriving workplace for my employees today?"

The report lists six findings, summarized below: 

1. Global engagement and wellbeing remain stable, but not great.
2. Stress among the world's workers reached an all-time high -- again.
3. Wellbeing in Europe and South Asia was hit hard in 2021 by COVID-19 waves.
4. The job market made a recovery in the U.S. and Canada region, but not elsewhere.
5. The best region in the world to be an employee.
6. Employee wellbeing is the new workplace imperative.

To read the full report, click here.

"The most productive business leaders I coach recognize productivity is not about getting more things done; it's about getting the right things done. It's about starting each day with clarity and ending with a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, and energy to spare. It's about achieving more by doing less, and this book shows you how." (Michael Hyatt, Free to Focus)

This book is a productivity game-changer. Michael Hyatt guides you through the process and provides tools to identify the work that is the most productive and most satisfying. The work that allows you to achieve more by doing less. He says that , "the important question is not, Can I do this job faster, easier, and cheaper? It's, Should I be doing this job at all?"

"If you want to master your schedule, increase your efficiency and output, and create more margin in your life for the things you care about, you've got to learn how to focus. I'm talking about the ability to zero in and do the deep work that creates a...

Want to start your season off right? Plan a spring kick-off meeting. A seasonal kick-off meeting is a way to get everyone on the same page, remind them of policies and procedures, review your company values and priorities, celebrate achievements and get excited for the year ahead. It's a great team-building opportunity that will bring everyone together and create a positive company culture. 

Below are some great ideas from an article for Lawn & Landscape by Steve Cesare (original article can be found here).

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A business owner from Massachusetts called me the other day to talk about the annual transition from the snow season to the landscape season, and what he should do to get all the employees on the same page to ensure prompt, aligned and optimal field execution. With 85-90 employees to consider, it is important for the business owner to design a well-crafted, organized “Landscape Kickoff Day” that is informative,...

(Original article by John Janes can be found here.)