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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Dont Think Time Management Think Conflict Resolution

Don't Think Time Management - Think Conflict Resolution

David began, "I have a major time management problem. As an editor, I often get two clients calling with assignments. They call around ten AM and both want their projects completed by mid-afternoon. Then a third client calls around lunchtime with a crisis. So I have too many projects â€" all at once. The next day the phone is silent."

David's dilemma made me think of Jennifer, who worked for two bosses, Blue and Green. Blue would give her an assignment to be completed by noon. Green would call five minutes later with another assignment â€" you guessed it â€" to be completed by lunchtime. Jennifer was stressed and frazzled all day long. We helped her negotiate with her internal customers â€" her management team â€" to set up a service delivery schedule that would be fair to everyone.

Whether your customers are internal or external, the key is to design consistent policies to avoid conflict. Here are some suggestions that worked for my clients.

1. Train your customers from the get-go.

Clients typically are nice people who have no clue about what it takes to deliver your service. For example, one client sent me a project, along with a ten-page single-spaced set of "notes." When I called with a question, she asked, "Can't you just read the notes?" I explained that I might spend an hour searching for the answer to my question -- and I would have to charge accordingly. Sometimes clients will pay the fee as long as they get to remove themselves from the fray â€" but sometimes they'll prefer to become more involved. It's up to you to give them that choice.

2. Develop a conflict resolution plan before you need it.

As you face conflicting demands, develop a system so you won't have to play referee every day. You can insist on 24 hours notice, command extra charges for rush jobs, or adhere strictly to first come, first served rules.

Working for a company? Get everyone to agree on a rule for setting priorities. Match your communication style to your organization's culture. If nobody wants to negotiate, or if you're working late on everybody's projects (while the folks who assigned those projects left hours ago), your challenge becomes, "how to deal with unreasonable bosses."

3. Design your promises ahead of time.

When a client's on the phone, it's so tempting to say, "You only want to pay X dollars? No problem." Or you invite everyone in a class to send questions, which you promise to answer within 24 hours.

Off the phone, you realize you've just committed to an hourly rate that's a fraction of your normal fee. (We've all done this at least once.) Either you deliver a half-baked solution or you put in lots of unpaid overtime. And either way, you'll find yourself resenting the client and wondering why you got into this business in the first place.

Lessons learned: Conflicting demands? You're not facing a time management challenge. You're looking for a new strategy -- a way to mesh your preferred working style with the needs of your clients â€" and a set of policies to protect you from your own generosity.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

401(k) Plans

Excerpt from the book 'The Stockopoly Plan'. by the author Charles M. O'Melia

I've been in and interested in the stock market so long (one year shy of forty years) I can remember when the Mutual Fund pages in my home town paper were just one page! (The DOW was under 700.) Now it looks like there are more Mutual Funds then there are stocks listed on the New York stock exchange. I wonder how many billions of investor dollars are supporting these funds. How many investor dollars are supporting all the brokerage firms? How many times has 401(k) monies been given to a 'financial expert' to manage after retirement, then three years later the $400,000 is down to $200.000 (Yet, the financial expert is still driving around in a new Lexus). I could tell you stories from the people I know, who have retired and aren't so happy with these experts, but I bet you know some stories of your own. (Why, I bet I could even write a book on the subject!)

Do you know what you're going to do with your 401(k) money when you retire? If you are going to hand it over to a financial expert to manage, see if you can get the names of some of his/her clients. See if you can call some of the expert's clients, tell them what you're planning to do and ask them if they're satisfied with the expert's performance. Or you could talk to those people you've once worked with, have retired, and went with a financial advisor or planner. Try to get some reference from a live body that has already been there, rather than just a bunch of statistics thrown at you by the expert.

Today's 401(k) plans are excellent vehicles for saving money and here's what I like about mine:

I like the 10 percent contribution being a tax write-off (some plans, sixteen percent). I can contribute up to 16 percent, but 6 percent would have to be after-taxed dollars.

I like that the monies made in a 401(k) are tax-deferred.

I like the company's 70 to 100 percent company match (it differs every year with my company) up to 6 percent of my contribution.

I like the option to move my money (every business day, if I wished) into my company's stock or an Interest Income fund, Bond fund, Mutual fund or Index fund, at no cost.

I like the option to roll-over into an individual IRA account, twice a year, any after-tax and company matched dollars put into my 401(k), with no penalties or fees, even while I am still employed with the company. This allows me to select individual stocks and allows the dividends from those stocks to be rolled-over automatically into more shares of each company, also at no cost. (However, there are commission fees for the purchases of the stock. Dividend purchases only are commission-free. In my book 'The Stockopoly Plan' I explain how to purchase stocks commission free.)

I like that the company's dividends in my IRA (set up by monies from my 401(k) plan) are also tax-deferred and are 85% tax free.

I like knowing that when my retirement day arrives, I'll already have an individual IRA set up to move the rest of the 401(k) monies into, with twelve stocks already chosen, owned and proven to provide reliable ever-increasing dividend income. (The companies owned all have a history of raising their dividends every year.)

I like the free 1% the company gives me, just for being in the 401(k) plan.

I like the option to borrow money from my 401(k) plan, pay a low interest rate on the loan and know that the interest rate I'm paying on the loan goes to me (if I were paying a credit card bill of $3,000.00 at 18%, I know I have the option to pay off the high interest credit card loan and pay only 6% interest (to myself) on the $3000.00 loan from my 401(k).

I like knowing that when I move the rest of my 401(k) monies into my IRA when I retire, I'll know about how much income I can reasonably expect in dividend income four times a month, twelve months a year (all twelve stocks have staggered dividend pay-out dates, providing cash dividends every week of the year).

The companies chosen in my IRA, with their history of raising dividends every year, will provide the comfortable, worry-free income which I believe investing should be all about.

My advice on 401(k) plans is to talk to an expert from the firm your 401(k) monies are with and find out what options are available to you and/or what your company allows. My point was simply to inform you that you may not be restricted to just putting your money into a Mutual fund or your company's stock. You can transfer monies from your 401(k) to an individual IRA (Tradition, Roll-Over or Roth), at no fee and build your own Mutual fund. (I have been doing this in my 401(k) plan for years while still employed with my company.) If those companies you choose in your IRA have a dividend reinvestment plan you can request to have the dividends reinvested back into the stock each quarter. And this would be done for you, commission-free.

For more info on 'The Stockopoly Plan'
visit www.thestockopolyplan.com