Fundamental principles: Foreign Language courses are not like other courses so you must never procrastinate. It is impossible to succeed in a foreign language course if you keep on playing for time as the minimum time requirement for a student is to put in 3 hours weekly and 15 minutes on a daily basis. While you need not put in more than 45 minutes learning the language in one session, try to accommodate all the extra time you have in your hands.

Distribute your whole study into small units. Attend classes regularly, if you want to pass the course and you are serious about the language. Some occasional review of all material you have learned previously is also very important to your success - for example, the vocabulary. Give below are some clues which can make your attempt to learn a foreign language as easy as ABC.

Get the meaning only of such words whose meanings simply can not be speculated or guessed. Read a little bit of the language every day, especially the chapters in the textbook.

Start to communicate: Do not feel embarrassed if you make mistakes, simply hear what others are talking about and start to speak. Start to talk in the foreign language with your class mates, with yourself as well as with your pets.

Writing: Hone your writing skills everyday till you no longer fumble.

Follow a dictation of the language and check how much of it you have written correctly.

Medley of helps: You ought to have a goal and a good reason for studying the foreign language and develop good feelings towards it. Know what you are going to get from your studies and how to get them. If you need help get it and do not be afraid to ask questions or ask for help for fear of sounding stupid, or being embarrassed. There is nothing to feel embarrassed when you need help or have questions in your mind. Get audio tapes of the language and listen to them or make you own tapes and listened to yourself in order to perfect your pronunciation. To better your pronunciation, the best way is to listen to audio tapes of the language or you could record something yourself and listen. An interesting way to develop vocabulary is to make flash cards where different colors depict different genders and words like nouns, verbs and adjectives. Practice in study groups and become good friends with some of your classmates because they can help you out.

Author: Paul Abbey

About the author:
P Abbey owns and operates http://www.learningmanagementsystemabc.com/scormcompliantlearningmanagementsystem.html Scorm Compliant Learning Management System

Article source: Free Management Articles.

One of the most important assets of an organization is the individuals; the individuals are appointed and employed by an organization so as to perform some of the specific functions. When the entire individuals join together it becomes an organization, however there is a special attention given to the individuals who are doing their job alone. It is important to note the fact that the individuals work in an organization so as to show their productivity and the zeal to show that they have effectively contributed to the working environment of the organization. But in addition to this there are varied needs that must cater to their personal needs, there are things that go beyond the work environment and they look in for something that motivates them. It is important to note the fact this is the reason for the development of the informal groups develop so as to fulfill certain emotional, social and even some of the psychological needs. Another important thing that has to be noted is the degree to which a team satisfies the needs and wants of the members determines the actual limit to which the behavior of the individual will be controlled by the group. Some of the factors that lead to the formation of the informal groups are as follows:
One of the major factors that determines the formation of the groups is the sense of belonging it is important to note the fact there are several kinds of functions that are performed by the informal groups and it is important to note that the group should be in a position so as to satisfy the affiliation needs of its group members like the friendship and a backup support. It is important to note the fact that the members of the group need to belong to it, they also need to be liked by it and even like it, they need to feel a part of it and they also need to rely on the fact that they are affected by its functioning and their work also effects the group as such.
The next factor that determines the effective functioning of the team or the development of an informal group is the identity and self esteem. It is a common scenario which prevails in the organization that the groups act as a means of developing, enhancing and even confirming a person's sense of identity and self esteem. Although there are many organizations that take the initiative to have a catch of these higher needs of their employees but the nature of some of the jobs- their technology and the prevailing environment restricts this from happening. The long communication channel further adds to a greater sense of depersonalization.
Another important factor that adds to the development of the informal groups is the impact of stress. For example one of the functions of the groups is to serve as an agent for the testing of the social relations, for instance all the group members will share the feeling that the supervisor is a slave driver and with the development of the consensus of this feeling, the informal group members are in a position to develop a unity on this feeling and reduce their anxiety associated with the job.

Author: John David

About the author:
John David is a SEO copywriter for Teambuilding events. He has written various articles like Teambuilding seminars, Corporate Team building workshops, Team building activity and more. Contact him through mail at johndavidseo@gmail.com.

Article source: Free Management Articles.

Today's workforce is truly mobile. Most of us now work at the office, from home and on the road. 'On demand access' to critical customer information from anywhere is becoming a 'must have' facility.

Now customers demand CRM access using a remote desktop or laptop accessing data through the Internet or on a handheld device. Suppliers are expected to have all the information at their fingertips at the moment of interaction. The same insight into their business and affairs are expected in a one-to-one meeting is expected when they phone into a call centre.

Remote access is a genuinely useful tool that can help your company to reduce duplicate entry, administration time, travelling time and costs for remote workers. It will also enable you to improve your customer service, and improve the quality and usefulness of data input.

Staff want the technology. Surveys have shown that sales management and field representatives both felt strongly that providing PDA access to CRM systems would drive increase productivity of the sales force. Eighty-three percent of sales representatives felt that a PDA sales solution would make them more productive in the field and 90% said they would use their CRM system more if they had handheld mobile access. Sales management agreed: 82% believe PDA access for sales representatives would drive field usage of CRM and 91% believe mobile CRM software on PDAs will become an important sales tool for their organization.

Two factors have stopped many companies from adopting mobile technology to improve their business functions. Firstly, companies are just inexperienced when it comes to applying mobile technologies. Secondly, even though it is not true, companies percieve the cost associated with mobile solutions to be greater than the benefits gained because they can't immediately identify how to apply mobile data to improve competitive capability. A mobile data delivery solution must be cost effective and allow organisations to experiment with mobile technologies and to gain insight on how to gain a competitive edge from the technology.

It should have the following:

* Access to information from any remote location covered by a mobile network.

* Low start-up costs allowing development of mobile strategies through experiments.

* Simplified user interface making it easy to administer data.

* Quick search and find.

Success can be measured by:

* Improved cycle times in providing a customer with accurate information.

* Efficiency increases for buyers and sales people free them to focus on developing key account relationships

* Empowered sales people and buyers with information when they enter negotiations through remote access to data

* Allowing management to be up to date with information where ever they are engaging with suppliers, customers, partners or shareholders.

* Experiments with mobile strategies to define ways of improving current business processes and prepare for new wireless technologies that will reshape the business environment.

Thanks to broadband and 3G technology this is no longer just the preserve of large companies. Now SMEs can also use the web and PDAs to access their CRM systems remotely giving benefits such as:

* Accessing important account contact and history information
* Updating account information
* Cultivating stronger sales relationships
* Improving customer service
* Scheduling activities and appointments

Article source: Free Management Articles.

It is not a rare occurrence to find people in the wrong job or profession. One reason could be that they just love the social attributes of the job. Some are in the job because they have not been able to get anything better. Others may be on a job because it is the 'family business', and they feel compelled to follow it. Many others begin a work history with the first job they can get and just stay in that industry forever. Your problem manager is defined as a product of one or a combination of the foregoing motives.

Left to his devices, the problem manager can significantly decrease production and staff morale, and contribute greatly to cost increase - quite the opposite of what most company objectives are about. The problem manager can make a large company an unpleasant place to work, and will almost certainly destroy a small company. He may not be quite so difficult to spot. The classical example is the individual, who has the general impression that the entire world rests on his shoulder, and will come crashing down to pieces, if he is not more efficient than he presently is. In the budding stages, he may appear as the supervisor who constantly berates and intimidates his subordinates; the team leader who constantly creates division within his team instead of harmony; the manager who condescends to talk to the individuals in his group but never listens to their inputs; the manager who considers self as better than everyone else, and makes sure that everyone else knows this; the manager, who would 'get the job done even if has to do it by himself.' And in their drive to achieve their very personal goals, they ignore or overlook other people in the organisation.

There are too many managers who do not understand what management is about. Despite what many may imagine, management is not about working hard; it is about working easy. An Unofficial Handbook of Management gives the following as the chief attributes of a true manager:
* Likes not doing anything
* Has no trouble telling others what to do
* Fascinated by work - likes to sit and watch work for hours
* Likes sweating the small stuff
* Always been something of a loner
* Enjoy having people despise him just for doing his job
This perhaps looks like an extract from the CV of a loafer, but the fact, which it seeks to express, is that management is not about working hard, but assisting a team to use their individual strengths more effectively.


It may not be quite easy to use a rule of thumb to identify a problem manager without creating the impression of a corporate witch hunting exercise. But there are several ways to make a tidy investigation, which will leave no one in doubt of the objectives. Quite often all that a senior manager may need to do is talk to the junior staff. Many employees will often seek a sympathetic ear to their complaints. If they are not talking, there may exist a larger problem of their distrust of senior management - or just their fear of their supervisors. Talking to the clients of the company could reveal a lot about the strengths and weakness of the managers in a company. Still a lot more can be revealed by looking at the overhead costs of the company. Overheard increase, which is not linked, to increase in productivity in a department should alert to a problem. For the same reason, staff turnover - when one group has more people quitting (or retiring) than others; when there have been instances where several individuals from the same unit have left the company in a short period of time; when one department has higher overtime costs than the others; when the employees in a particular section have been using up all their vacation and more of their sick days than the average - there is usually a problem manager in charge.

Yet it may be a lot easier to find the problem manager than to correct him. Except the individual has suddenly inherited the family business, they are unlikely to have got where they are without being good at something. If they weren't good at some particular facet of the company, they would quite certainly have been fired long ago. It is important therefore to be able to assess the value of the manager in question to the company and weigh it against their cost to the company. If the manager has increased productivity, by fifteen percent over the past year, stakeholders in the company may wish to overlook the fact that the turnover rate in that department is higher than average. However, if the books show that the cost of sale has increased by ten percent during the same period, because of increased training costs, payment to employment agencies, sick leave costs, and increased overtime, stakeholders will be very much concerned. It is important to quantify the impact of every manager's performance in monetary terms - or in terms directly related to the objectives of the organisation.

The action of top management with respect to a problem manager will depend on the circumstances. Coaching or advanced training can be recommended. The individual might be transferred to a position with less responsibility for people. Again, it must be observed that many problem managers are a result of company policy. Perhaps the goals set for the individual are unreachable, which has caused their management style; and should be adjusted. Lack of motivation is one other fault in company policy, which may produce a problem manager. If management is not sensitive to the skills of employees, resulting in people being placed in positions in which their ability to perform is not stimulated, one can correctly guess the result. A dreamer should for instance be put in charge of creative tasks rather than the accounting. The detail-oriented person should be put in charge of tasks with more structure rather in strategic planning. And, an introverted loner is not likely to go very far in customer service.

Whatever the action taken, it is important to document and quantify the measurements that are used to determine how the problem manager is hurting the company. Intangible faults should not be addressed. True bottom line impacts should be demonstrated by the use of overhead expenses as well as direct costs. The same measurements should be used to quantify the benefit to the company when the action taken, resolves the problem. An honestly implemented manager reorientation policy has the ability to produce more productive satisfied managers. And when this is achieved, the big picture - achieving greater profitability, becomes much clearer.

Article source: Free Management Articles.

Many business owners find themselves in the position to confront employees about their Internet use. Non-work related activities including online games, Internet shopping, stock trading, Internet radio, streaming media and MP3 downloads represent the new temptations in the workplace.

When an employee connects to the Internet, your company is exposed to these four threats:
- Productivity Threats: Just 20 minutes of recreational surfing a day can cost a company with 30 employees over $1000 per week (At $25/hr per employee)
- Legal Threats: Employees can sue if you don't provide a work environment free of gender and minority harassment. This means taking reasonable care to block offensive Internet content.
- Network Threats: An employee can crash your network just by logging into the wrong website. Other activity like recreational surfing and downloading MP3 files can divert valuable bandwidth from critical business needs.
- Security Threats: Viruses enter networks through a variety of sources, such as web-based email, Instant Messenger file transfer, email attachments or through other files directly downloaded from a website.
Companies of all sizes must effectively incorporate email, Instant Messages and web traffic logs into their overall records management strategy. Some companies must do this to comply with industry regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley and HIPAA.

The first step is to choose the types of Internet content that will not be allowed in the workplace. Keep in mind that not all employees will have the same privileges, so it is important the network management solution you choose provides a flexible configuration to suit your needs.

There are two basic types of Internet monitoring solutions: Gateway and desktop solutions. Gateway solutions are software or hardware that act as checkpoint for all Internet traffic on the network. Desktop solutions are installed on the local machine to enforce the Internet policies before the request leaves the machine. Desktop solutions work well on smaller networks and gateway solutions work well on both.

The next step is to create an official company policy specifically for Internet use. It should include all Internet activities and not just those you wish to manage. Keep in mind the document cannot account for every possible scenario on the Internet, so it is important to use broad terms with specific examples. For example, instead of stating 'Political opinions are not to be posted on newsgroups,' you may wish to use 'Messages originating from the company network or other company-owned assets may not contain political opinions.' The second clause is much stronger because it doesn't specify a message type or delivery system. If you have liability insurance, then be sure to get their approval on all documents. In some cases they will have additional provisions that directly relate to your industry.

The most difficult step will be implementing the new policies. In most cases, some or all users will experience a reduction in Internet privileges. Prepare for a temporary increase in support requests as some users will be prevented from accessing some work-related content. Internet policy configuration is an on-going process that must be routinely maintained.

Soon the complaints from users will cease and production will return back to normal. It is important to keep your filtering software updated and to maintain a history of Internet activity. If the time comes when you must confront an employee about their Internet use, you will have proof of their Internet activity and a detailed comparison to their peers. That is a much stronger case than saying 'I've seen you 10 times looking at �.'

Article source: Free Management Articles.

What is Choice Theory (CT)? CT is a theory of the explanation of human behavior. CT has applicability to both a person's personal and professional life. It teaches us about our five basic needs, how to meet those needs in a responsible way, and how to take personal responsibility for getting those needs met.

I have assisted many companies with implementing the concepts and principles of Choice Theory (CT) in the workplace over the years. Their reasons ranged from mere curiosity to desiring a total immersion of their company into the concepts and principles of CT. Those companies that were committed to learning the CT model and implementing it correctly received better than expected results.

One of the elements of implementing CT in the workplace is to put the three conditions of quality in place. Those three conditions are:

1. Create a need-satisfying environment for your employees.

a. Employees need to feel connected to each other, management and the mission and vision of your company.

b. Employees need to feel empowered by having their opinions sought out and listened to and having their work respected.

c. Workers need to feel safe on the job. This pertains to their emotional, as well as physical safety.

d. Workers need to have the ability to make choices and exercise some independence within the definition of their jobs.

e. Workers need to experience some fun and learning on the job.

2. Workers must only be asked to do useful and meaningful work. If this is not clear, management must take the time to explain it if quality is what you are seeking.

3. Finally, workers need to be asked to self-evaluate their work. This self-evaluation component is far beyond the scope of this article but suffice it to say that two main components are required for employees to be able to accurately and honestly self-evaluate.

a. There must not be fear in the workplace. If employees believe that management will hurt them with the information shared during self-evaluation, then management can hardly expect honesty.

b. Also, there must be a very clear and definite matrix of what quality looks like. The employee must have an ideal with which to compare their work.

When these components and others are added to the workplace, you can expect:

1. Increased employee satisfaction. Employees will be taught that they have the potential, capability and responsibility to personally get their five basic needs met. This awareness will result in a decrease of a sense of victimization and complaining, because employees will be focused on solutions they can implement instead of the problems that exist.

2. A unified approach to conceptualization of issues. Once all your employees understand CT, they will be conceptualizing problems in the same way. This unified approach will decrease a lot of competition among your employees and will result in the creation of a unified, cohesive and committed group of workers who believe in the direction your company is headed.

3. Room for individuals' strengths and unique approaches. CT is a framework within which to operate that encourages people's personal expression. Employees will be able to include their unique and creative talents, as long as they don't conflict with CT principles.

4. More effective communication. When everyone in your company understands the basic framework for conceptualizing human behavior, then communication is enhanced. There will be fewer misunderstandings because all are speaking the same language.

5. Less employee stress. Many employees experience stress on the job. This usually comes from a lack of understanding about responsibilities. CT assists employees to understand that the only person they can control is themselves. Once people stop expending energy trying to change people or circumstances beyond their control and instead begin to focus on what adaptive response they can take, stress levels dramatically decrease.

6. Decreased employee turnover. When management learns the steps to create a need- satisfying environment for employees, while holding them accountable for their work, employees become dedicated and committed to the work they do. When people are in environments that meet their five basic needs, there is motivation to stay in that environment.

7. Increased creativity. When employees work in an environment created by their employer that allows for self-expression and encourages personal power, limitless creativity is unleashed, which often results in business improvement and expansion.

8. Enhanced relationships. CT teaches people to get their needs met without interfering with others meeting their needs. When this happens, the status of their current personal and professional relationships improves both at work and at home. The possibilities are endless!

9. Improved services to customers. Using CT/RT, employees assist customers to clarify what it is they want and to evaluate the best ways for getting there. Customers appreciate this approach, which will improve customer satisfaction, resulting in repeat business and an increase in referrals.

10. Decreased Resistance/Increased Cooperation. When CT is implemented in the workplace, employees become less resistant and more cooperative because they are being heard. When we stop pushing people in the direction we think is best and focus instead on building better relationships, resistance is decreased and cooperation is increased.

Article source: Free Management Articles.