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Just in case you missed these, here's a compilation of our four most popular Redefining Barter Blog posts of 2021! 

 

1.) Creating a Healthy Workplace Environment

 

An important tip in running any kind of business is to keep your employees happy! A team that feels supported & well taken care of will be much more productive and produce high-quality products & services. A great way to ensure that your employees' needs are being met is to allow space and time for them to voice their opinions in order to implement the necessary changes as needed.

 

Some easy ways to get started with creating a healthy and productive workplace environment are:

 

 Set clear, achievable goals, and articulate them.

Invite your team members to participate in the goal-setting process to ensure that your targets are achievable and everyone knows how they are contributing to the larger success of the company.

 

Acknowledge, praise and celebrate your team's wins!

When you've built a strong team on a foundation of collaboration over competition, a win for one is a win for all! 

 

Offer feedback, not discipline, when projects don't go as planned.

There will always be things that can potentially derail a project or make you miss a target. The most important thing to remember is that your team is working to support your vision, so take time to include them in meaningful discussions, offer helpful feedback, and resist the urge to frame your disappointment as a discipline. Remember that you are a team and your employees are an integral part of your work & always deserve to be treated with respect, compassion and understanding! 

 

Help Prevent Physical & Mental Burnout

 

Overperforming can be just as damaging as underperforming. Even with a healthy work environment in place, you can still take practical steps to ensure that your team doesn't burn out.

 

Rest - Make sure you and your staff are taking some time to rest & recharge outside of the office. Rest & downtime should be an addition to proper sleeping habits - not a replacement. Although supplementing extra rest/downtime when adequate sleep isn't an option can still help you push through a busy period more productively!

 

Fun Time - While resting & downtime is important, so is having fun! Putting on some motivating music is a great example of incorporating a little bit of fun time into your work or weekend day.

 

Mental Health & Wellbeing Days - Try allowing a pre-determined number of Mental Health & Wellbeing days a month that are available for all to take whenever they are needed. With everyone making sure that their own health needs are being met, the entire team will be much more productive and able to produce higher quality products & services!

 

Team Bonding - Cultivating a healthy workplace culture is another great way to make sure that everyone is performing at their best. Taking a group yoga and/or meditation class together, going out for a team meal after work, having a game night, or even just carving out some time each month to allow all staff to hang out and chat are a few great ways to get started!

 

Break Time - Instead of having a rushed/stressful lunch break, take your allotted lunch or break period and turn it into an enjoyable part of your day. If staying in the office over lunch makes you feel as though you can't fully relax and enjoy your meal - go somewhere else! If working from home, try moving out of your workspace area while eating.

 

Move - Many of us sit down all day while working. This can make your blood flow stagnant & sometimes lead to sluggish feelings later in the day. Taking a few minutes to get up and move your body is a great way to get some blood flowing and bring your energy levels up.

 

By implementing these healthy workplace practices, you & your team will be well equipped to work together cohesively and productively in a safe and supportive environment!

 

2.) Cultivating Resilience in Your Professional Environment

The ability to build a sense of resiliency for yourself and your employees can sometimes feel a lot more complicated than it is. While there are many different ways in which resilience can be taught and implemented to set yourself and your team up for success, here are a few helpful tips to get you started:

 

Reframe how you think. Consider alternative perspectives of both your situation and your response to it. There are some basic questions you can ask yourself: “What are the benefits of this situation?” and “What might my interpretation of the situation be missing?” in order to gain a better sense of understanding about stressful situations and allow yourself to deal with them more productively. 

 

Get some sleep. Adequate sleep can result in enhanced attention and creativity. Sleep is vitally important to your mental and physical health because it allows the brain to go from taking in new inputs to encoding, processing, and integrating the day’s experiences in a way that makes them available for future use. It is also very difficult to function and make good decisions on a lack of sleep. Find the time to rest your body and mind and try coming back to work feeling refreshed instead of burnt out, it will likely make a huge difference in your day! 

 

Find a substitute for sleep. If you just can't get enough sleep, try a short nap, a walk, yoga, or break to meditate instead. These practices can take your attention away from the specific situation at hand and give your mind a chance to move beyond stressful thoughts. This is a great way to improve your mental health and enhance your performance when getting adequate sleep just isn't an option. 

 

Explore the power of positivity. Research shows that when people are in positive states of mind, they think more broadly and openly. Positivity is a broad term covering many positive emotions including love, joy, appreciation, hope, serenity, gratitude, and amusement. Try utilizing the previous recommendations to create a more positive environment & habits, clean your space, eat nourishing food, take some time to put your needs first - etc. Taking even a few minutes out of your day to feel a sense of gratitude can put you into a much more positive mindset! 

 

By taking some time for yourself and combining the above habits to incorporate into your daily or weekly routine, it will be much easier to put yourself into a positive state of mind more often and push through tough/stressful times in a more productive and resilient way. 

 

Need some help in achieving a resilient workplace environment? Contact your Niagara Barter Coach to discuss what options are available through BarterPay to take better care of you & your staff’s mental & physical health! 

 

 

3.) How to Create Meaningful Connections With Your Customers

 

When running a business, many of your top priorities likely revolve around your customer base. Without them, your business wouldn't exist! While there are many ways to meet the needs of your customers through your business, here are some easy ways to not only make your customer base happy but how to also make meaningful connections with them to keep them coming back to your business again and again: 

 

Ask Questions: Ask how a customer heard about your business, and if there is any way you can cater to your customer's needs more successfully. Even simply asking how a customer's day is going is a step in the right direction. Showing how much you care about those supporting your business is a key component in building a relationship with them.

 

Remember Names: Remembering and using the names of regular customers is important in making them feel special for continually supporting your business. Try making it easier on yourself by rhyming something memorable with their name in your head. Or, focus on your conversation with regular customers, while actively remembering their faces and names while talking to them. Another helpful tip is to repeat their name to yourself. After a little bit of practice - becoming a pro at remembering your customer's names will help in fostering a better connection between yourself and your customer base.

 

Engage: Engage with your customers & followers on social media! It's great to make sure that you're responding to comments and any feedback on all social media. Having a strong social media presence, that captures the basis of your brand and company values helps customers feel as though they can understand and connect with the people running the business - YOU!

 

Saying Thank-You: Thank your customers! Show a little appreciation for those who support your business. Handwrite some thank-you notes to put in with your products, or leave these notes with customers after completing a service. Another option is to put a sign up in a visible spot within your business that thanks your customers for their support. Thanking regular as well as new customers is important as both deserve some recognition for choosing to support your business. Thanking your customers will go a long way in establishing meaningful connections that will keep them coming back.

 

4.)  How to Create a Business Plan You Will be Excited to Follow!

 

Are you thinking about opening your own business but not sure where to start? Or do you already have your own business but don't feel inspired or motivated by it anymore? Not sure where to make changes or how to start planning for your business's future? Keep reading for some tips on how to create a business plan that will set your business up for success! 

 

Find Where Your Passion Lies: 

Try taking some time to list out all of your interests and pick out the ones that you feel especially passionate about. If you are attempting to start a business, research if any of your passions could become a viable business idea! If you already have a business, see if it is possible to incorporate one or many of your passions into your current business model in order to reinvigorate your business as a whole again. Following your passions will help to create a business that is fueled by a product/service that interests and excites you! By creating a business this way or integrating what you love into an existing business, your work will feel less like work and more like you making a career out of something you already enjoy. Finding the point in your business that makes you feel passionate about it is a great place to begin your business plan from. This way you will feel excited to start the planning process and the goals and ideas you may want to implement into your business will start flowing to you much more easily. 

 

Plan for Sucess: 

While preparing to open your business, try creating a very detailed and well-researched plan to follow. Having a great plan for your business and how you will run it will help to avoid errors and ensure that your business flows well in its initial stages. Creating a plan will also give your business a clear and concise direction to move towards, allowing you to stay on a path to achieve your goals more easily!

 

Keep Your Business Plan On the Right Track: 

Keep your business on track by setting goals at various interval levels: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly. This will help break down those larger goals into smaller, actionable pieces, help you be strategic about your plans, and allow space for you to tackle something every day that moves those goals forward.

 

By implementing these practices into your business plan, you are sure to be setting yourself, your team and your business up for success! Starting your business planning sessions by making sure that the product or service that your business is providing is a great way to make you feel excited and fulfilled through your work and is a sure-fire way for you to stay motivated to meet your professional goals and stick to your perfectly crafted business plan. 

 

 

We hope that you've enjoyed all the small-business related content that we've created for you in 2021. We're so looking forward to making more helpful advice/tips and tricks for small, local business owners in 2022. Thank you for reading our Redefining Barter Blog! Click here to view our blog post gallery for lots more small business content...