When planning a convention or congress meeting, the first and most important decision to be made is where to host it. Choosing a venue for your event may seem like a chore, but it is much simpler than many people realise. There are several convention centres that’ll host an event. If it is a small gathering, you may be able to hold the meeting or small convention in some of the well-known hotels in the area. The United Kingdom is known to host some of the largest international conventions and congress meetings in the world. For this reason, there are multiple centres that are available for bookings. If you need assistance finding a suitable venue, there are local services that’ll help in your planning. These professional congress and convention organisers will be able to find the perfect venue. Make sure you know the size of the hall that’ll be needed. This will help narrow down choices. If it is a large convention that’ll be drawing a massive crowd, your venue will have to be able to safely house the people. Smaller congress meetings can take place in many locations because of the lesser size.

Many massive companies will hire a professional organiser to handle the affairs. When a professional is hired, all the details will be their responsibility. The congress organiser will handle many of the steps involved with planning and carrying out a successful congress meeting. Many of these professionals will provide complete management of the event. This will include the design of the conference or convention, guest registrations, marketing, hired speakers, and budgeting. This is a short list, just to name a few of the services professional organisers provide. They will also find an appropriate venue and do all the applicable booking. When hiring a professional congress organiser, make sure you know what needs must be met. There is no need to hire a company that provides full service when some of the work has already been done. There are various companies that offer limited services, which means the customer or client can select exactly what the organiser will be responsible for handling.

Congress organisers are very popular in the UK. It has been reported that almost one third of all conferences and conventions are handled and managed by congress organisers. These organisers are sometimes referred to as venue-finders. Since finding an appropriate venue for an event can be stressful and somewhat difficult, many companies hire this job out. The venue-finding agencies have a complete list of all venues in the UK and will match your needs with an available venue on any given date.

If you are planning a convention and have not yet hired a professional congress organiser (PCO), there’s a place to begin that will lead you in the right direction. The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers is an organisation that represents PCO companies and agencies. Members of this organisation are well respected and known around the world for providing exceptional services to clients. The Association will be able to provide you with a complete list of organisers in the UK as well as in other countries, if needed. You can then start to narrow down the choices before making a decision. Most massive companies already have a PCO in place. Newer companies that are just entering the congress and convention world may not be aware of these services provided. A PCO is a great way to reduce stress and save time and money when planning a massive event. Congress meetings and conventions are very important to companies. This is a main form of advertising and reaching out to the public. Many times, these conventions and congress meetings are a big source of revenue for the host company. That is why it is important to have each detail in place. Hiring a PCO will alleviate much of the worries that are associated with the planning of these events.

Professional congress organisers are usually divided by the industry in which they represent. This means that there are different PCO companies that’ll organise events for various industries. For example, you would not want to hire a PCO that usually manages conventions for the medical field when your company is part of the technology industry. Some people think that by hiring a PCO, they will not have to worry about any of the details. This is not so. It takes a lot of planning to prepare for congress meetings. When hiring an bureau, you must know exactly what the company needs are. This will include an estimate of how massive the convention will be, whether guest speakers will be needed, marketing and advertising, and various other details that make up the massive picture. PCO agencies can and will make a world of difference when planning a congress meeting in the UK. Congress organisers have become one of the most used tools of the trade. A successful convention begins with planning, and this is where your congress organiser comes into play.

Hypnosis Melbourne

Management in an Organisation- Different Roles (PartI)

For any Organisation, there must be certain Goals which defines its objectives and so the tasks. All the small, individual, identifiable and complete activities, which are usually the smallest part of the defined activities are tasks. It is very essential, for an Organisation to define its goal then objectives and so the smallest tasks to be finished within a defined period by evaluating available resources and constraints, which has to be completed by defined people. In an Organisation, the whole goal is usually gets reached by executing three measurable steps, these are execution of Tasks, execution of Objectives and Execution of goals. As these steps in general defines the whole task assigned to different levels of management in suitable time frames, so all the tasks has to be assigned to individuals within these three different levels of management. Usually the task gets accomplished by the lowest managerial level, The objectives by middle management and goals by top management.

As we have quite often observed that in our daily life schedule, to accomplish a small task we are required to plan properly, then execute such task and evaluate it to know that, where the actual plan is, where it should be; if left as it is, and what it needs to place it at certain position, is quite crucial to move it at its desired place. The same situation works in an Organisation too. Rather, this is the common approach by which all the activities are get evaluated, get controlled and get designed to move in the desired direction with the desired speed. This in general known as GAP analysis and have often being used in different Organisation to direct its all the activities towards desired direction.

To meet our needs and expectations we do all the activities, similar is the situation with an Organisation. To get and achieve certain defined goals all economic activities are usually executed and performed. Let us define what costing is, what Finance deals with and what exactly Management deals with.

Let a person wants to produce a unit/economic unit. Now, let that person be an Organisation and assume that the organisation wants to bring a unit into the market, so what it has to do?. What it will have to think of?. How it would structure the idea to be processed through different processes so to bring a definite (desired) product into the market?

If it is a well established organisation, it will certainly follow these steps;

? it will evaluate its (Product’s) credentials/worthiness

? It will enlist the available substitutes

? It will try to justify the uniqueness of the product

? It will go through SWOT Analysis

? It will collect the genuine competitors information

? It will collect information about the feasibility of the Project

? If any other similar product/products is/are in the market, it will try to get the whole experience of the product, i.e., How the product was in the past, what’s it’s current status, what could be projected for the similar products to know the market potential and the growth prospect for the desired product in the market

? The market acceptance for the desired product

? The specific Market/Market Segment or Class of customers to whom it is going to be produced?

? The satisfaction criteria it will serve and to whom?

? What else be expected by the customers from this product?

? What are the other available opportunities available with the organisation, along with this plan which are expected to serve the same purpose of the Organisation similar to this product?

? What are the benefits of producing this product

? What could be lost in monetary and non monetary terms if this product is produced and other opportunities are refused to be produced?

? What are the Pros and Cons of going ahead with the production of desired product?

? What kinds of Risk the Organisation has to face if this decision is taken or other one has been opted?

Now if all these information is available to the Management and if they supports the production of the desired product or else any other profitable product the second step the Organisation must have to do is , they will have to certainly evaluate the available resources, the constraints which might impose the processing during any time of its production. If again, it can be predictable that it is quite worthy to bring the idea into the concept, all managerial efforts will go to bring the idea into the concrete concept.

Let us see how in an simple step we could define, Management is concerned towards such a decision by this situation.

All comes under the preview of Management, the difference gets more defined with:

i) Costing is related with getting comparative overview of all the activities for the product i.e.

? (Pre Production stage/Analysis and Research stage)

? (Processing Stages)

? (Production stage)

? (Distribution and Logistic stages)

? (CRM stages)

with proper recommendations to what would be the best action/decision.

ii) Management would come into the picture with evaluating all available options and to take one ideal decision

iii) finance will serve by examining the financial resources and suggesting the ideal finance plan to support the desired production to be produced effectively and have the right mix of finance to minimize the cost and have at least neutral effect on Shareholders’ value.

In a very brief and specific way we can define costing as a stream which helps in getting all valuable, non valuable, alternate, specific, time bounded, recourse bounded, constraints bounded data to help management in taking effective and worth decisions. It cover all the aspects of an Organisation, by which one can easily decide where to go, how to go why such decision, what its impact or effect would be, what the alternates available etc. So, in general the scratch gets available by these people, the resources especially finance gets measured by Finance people and the management not very different from these has to decide what to do from these information? In general the Management now has to decide and has to take decision based upon the information he has provided with.

Power Hypnotherapy

We might be months away from the tax returns deadline but with the credit crunch now in full swing, it has never been more important to have all your financial records organised. Andy Hardy, Development Director at TaxCalc.com, offers his Top Tips on how to stay on how not to get caught out by the taxman.

Related_____________________________________________

HMRC gives extra 24 hours for self assessments

Family businesses urged to take action on new tax rules

____________________________________________________

Keeping good records is vital in business. It might seem like a challenge, particularly when you are first starting out, but keeping your records organised will bring many advantages to your business, including:

•    Helping you to avoid paying too much tax and makes filling in your tax return much easier

•    Helping to avoid interest and penalties by enabling you to pay the right amount of tax at    the right time

•    Generating information which can help manage and grow your business

•    Making it easier to get a loan

•    Helping you to budget for tax payments

•    Helping HMRC check that the correct amount of tax is being paid

•    Helping you support claims for some reliefs or capital allowances.

Therefore it makes sense to do it properly and to make things as easy for yourself as possible. Here are my top tips on keeping your financial records organised:

Set up a system

It doesn’t matter whether you use a special account book or use a software package as long as you set up some kind of system to keep all your information together.

Keep all your records

Bank statements, receipts, bills, invoices and bank books are all vital for keeping proper accounts but make sure you update them regularly, rather than letting them pile up.

Review and organise the clutter

Many people stuff their bank statements into a drawer without ever reading them. Don’t do this, you should always ensure that you check each statement for accuracy. Keep receipts and mark them off as they appear on your bank statement. In addition, it is equally important that you keep all bills so you can check they’ve been paid and that the payment has been received successfully.

If you’re self-employed you’ll need to keep hold of your statements, receipts and other relevant documentation for tax calculation purposes (see top tip below for time periods). If you are not self employed, I advocate that once you’ve checked all is correct you destroy and get rid of unnecessary and untended paperwork, which will slow your business down in the long run. Remember to shred paperwork that contains personal information to protect yourself from identity theft.

Keep your records for as long as required

There are time periods for which you must keep records. For example, by law you must keep records of all your business income and expenditure for five years. This is because not only might you want to look back on them but HMRC might wish to see them if there’s any uncertainty regarding your tax affairs.

Be efficient

By taking a few moments to record all your ongoing projects it will be easier to raise an accurate invoice and will save you time in the long run. Always ask for a buy order number and quote it on your invoice. Raise the invoice immediately after the job has completed and be very clear about your payment terms.

Reassess your suppliers

Many companies become too familiar with suppliers and forget to ask them for bulk loyalty discounts. What effect would a five or 10% reduction in costs have on your profits? Take another look at the market place and discover what new suppliers are charging to see if you are getting a fair price.

Sort out your tax return – before the deadline!

Rather than waiting until the deadline, complete your return as soon as possible. The tax year runs from the 5th of April each year, and accounts are due the following October. If you want to work out your tax yourself, you can submit your return by the 31st January on the following year.

Commercial software like TaxCalc contains links to wizards and calculators which will compute the more complicated entries for you from your figures, making the whole process much less complicated.

TaxCalc also has the added benefit of allowing users to have complete control of their data and prepare returns offline. This means that if HRMC’s site crashes again, as it did in January this year, TaxCalc users won’t be affected.”

In addition, TaxCalc’s Secure World wide web Filing confirms instantly that the return has been received by HMRC, that the data has been captured and that the calculations concur. Tax Refunds, if they’re due, are also paid more swiftly if the return is filed on the internet.

Brisbane Hypnosis

An organisation’s basic philosophy is more important to its result than technological and/ or economic resources, organisational structure, innovation and choice of time. Thomas Watson Jr.

This article contains no information about technological trends, economical predictions or market analyses. It lays out five principle insights into how and why any enterprise in the world today should practise Strategic Leadership internally in the organisation.

Both strategy and leadership are today a matter of course. How comes, then, that so very few enterprises do actually practise Strategic Leadership? The reasons are many. Top managers want to keep all ways open, not being bound to follow previously decided paths. They want to keep flexibility. Sometimes they’ve hidden agendas that would surface if strategy was overtly formulated. In some cases middle management hides from strategy and leadership because they want to have the liberty to side with the top one day, the bottom the other – even on the same topic. Leadership is perilous, many managers seem to feel. One sticks one’s neck out, and it might be cut off. Strategic decisions might be unpopular. Ore one’s incompetence as strategic leader might become evident. Sometimes processes as those presented here are avoided simply because they take time. There are so many good reasons – and many of them are respectable and sensible.

No-strategy and no-leadership might be OK on a dreamy pacific island. However, in an environment with ever faster changing technology, markets and international politics, and with an ever stronger competition long term survival depends on strategy and leadership. The competitively able enterprises of this day and tomorrow are lean, delayered, decentralised, delegated and flexible. Such enterprises have strategy, it is known, owned and practised by more than a CEO and leadership is practised at all management levels.

Strategic Leadership is based on five insights into the essence of organisations. These insights are here formulated as principles:

Within the ecosystem, all components are dependant on other components for their very existence. Individuals and groups within an organisation are mutually dependant on each other and have better common interests.

Whenever destructive conflicts appear on the scene, the main reason is that the ‘parties’ involved are not aware that they are parts of a system on which they all depend. Usually there’s a lack of common goals is such situations. Strategy contains the common goals, identity and ethics. Without strategy, the organisation is fragmented into departments, professional groups and working groups without co-operation or synergy.

Individuals and/ or groups of people defend their territory against intruders, and hierarchical positions against rivals.

There is no doubt that man is territorial. Without strategy, no common territory is defined. Then individuals and groups define their own territory, which is defended and given superiority, even over the interests of the company. Motivation to perform for the company diminishes, motivation to fight for one’s own or one’s own group’s interests (against other’s in the company) increase.

Man is also hierarchical. Without obvious leadership, a lasting struggle to establish the missing hierarchy starts off. This is wrongly often understood as expressions of a power need. This struggle is most often superfluous. A clear-cut hierarchy based on Strategic Leadership is the necessary first step to prevent ‘power struggles’.

For all systems and organisations there’s a theoretical optimum degree of openness:

- Closed systems and monocultures degenerate and/ or die out

- Totally exposed systems lose integrity, identity and focus

Free flow of information, and free discussion between organisational levels and lines is a necessity. No single person can be the informed specialist of everything in today’s complex world. Strategic Leadership ensures that this exchange of knowledge and thought happens. The organisation should be a truly open system internally – and of course externally.

A system that is very open runs the risk of losing integrity, identity and focus. That is exactly another contribution from Strategic Leadership: a strategy that is owned by all hands implies integrity, identity and focus.

The effect of influences to the ecosystem and upon organisations is dependant on:

- The content of the influence

- The context

- The order in which the influences come

- The stage of development of the system

The fruitful ongoing process of Strategic Leadership should be strictly led and follow certain patterns. Unless this is taken seriously, the situation could turn to the worse. Power struggles, bureaucracy, de-motivation and wasted time could result. Content, context, syntax and the developmental stage of the system must be regarded.

Ecosystems and organisations are governed by feedback.

The strategically led company depends, as we said, on free flows of information and thought. The company is a complex, self-organising and self-correcting system. Any breach in feedback loops is a threat to the company. Feedback should be encouraged, and it should be seen as a matter of course, and an obvious duty of any employee. Feedback is encouraged and put to system in Strategic Leadership.

We see then, that Strategic Leadership has a theoretical basis. This will be further detailed throughout this booklet. Empirical knowledge also strongly supports the necessity of Strategic Leadership. The studies of successful enterprises in the eighties and nineties show that values and strategic goals are deeply rooted in the corporate culture of those enterprises, and that their managers practise more active leadership than mere administrative management.

Excerpt of eBook – Organisational Ecology and Strategic Leadership

By Per A Christensen w/Jon Lund Hansen

Christensen eBooks

Treating Anxiety Attacks

For any person, business or organisation that’s planning to have a conference one of the major challenges faced is the proper planning of the event. From finding the right location, catering, audio visual equipment, to Information Technology resources it is easy to see that organising a conference is no cakewalk. Organising a conference requires a great deal of though and detailed planning and is not necessarily suited to any one person. The different elements involved make this a difficult task and this is where professional conference organisers come in. The task then becomes how to select and what to anticipate from professional conference organisers. Before you go out and hire profession conference organisers you must know exactly what it is you require and the overall objectives you have for the event. This will involve knowing things like the level of hospitality you wish to afford the attendees, the location of the event, catering, time of day, and the number of attendees you anticipate to attend. These are things the organiser needs to know as they affect the whole planning process.

Reputation and experience

Depending on what your needs are it is important that you hire a company or an individual that’s reputable and has vast experience in conference organising and management. They must be able to deliver a service that is among the best in the business as the success of your conference may depend on it. It is important that they have a history of producing great events and that their clients are satisfied. It will be a good idea to ask to talk to a few of their clients and get feedback from them. Do they’ve a good reputation? Find out how long they have been in business and how many conferences have they organised over the last couple of years. Also find out what problems they came across organising and running these conferences and how they solved them.

Organisation

Any professional conference organiser must have the ability to organise an event from beginning to end. This will involve designing, planning, and managing the event based on what the client desires. They have to possess the ability to acquire the necessary equipment and facilities for an event to be a success. This includes communication devices, recording devices, logistics and support. They should be able to give you a details list as to what’s needed and where the process is at.

Creative Ideas

Some conferences need to be beyond the ordinary for its participants to feel as if they have had an experience. With this in mind a conference organiser should be able to come up with some very special ideas that will compliment your own thoughts as to what the event should be like. This will encompass things like the location and how it is decorated, the entertainment provided and the type of food served and how it is served. You should ascertain whether or not they can create a theme or a feel for an event in an effort to project an atmosphere.

Cost

The cost of planning a conference can be exorbitant if you do it yourself. Professional conference organisers should be able to supply you with a detailed cost estimate of putting on an event based on your specifications. The cost estimate should include that of holding the event at a particular location, catering, and technical services needed. Most if not all professional conference organisers have contacts in industry and business and are able to rely on them to get fairly good prices on equipment and other resources needed to plan and put on an event. It is advisable that you get a number of quotes from different individuals or companies before you make your decision.

Accommodation

When you are holding a conference one of the main considerations has to be that of accommodations. If your event is a two day or more kind of event them you’ll have to either provide accommodation or procure deals on accommodations. Most conferences generally secure accommodations for attendees and this has to be done well in advance of the event itself. Your professional conference organisers should be able to do this task for you and also negotiate a good deal for you. They’ll usually check out all the available hotels in the area and choose the suitable ones for you to make your decisions on. Once a decision has been made the organiser should be able to send this information to all the attendees including rates and registration procedures. Professional conference organisers are a necessity as they are able to do easily what the rest of us might find very difficult. It is therefore important that you choose one that knows exactly what they’re doing and will provide you with excellent service and a good conference.

Brisbane Hypnosis

This article is intended to help you organise successful group travel; whether you are new to group travel organisation or are simply looking to improve on your experiences. It is aimed at a variety of people in mind. You may be an allocated tour committee member, Social secretary, Club president; or you may be a manager having been asked to organise a corporate trip. You may also be a best man organising a stag ‘do’ or simply organising a holiday for a big group of friends.

Where to Begin

If you have not organised group travel before you are probably thinking where do I start? If you’ve organised group travel before and it didn’t go so smoothly you should be asking – where should I’ve started last time?

The first thing you need to decide is who will be responsible for what, make sure those roles are clearly defined, and that the individuals comprehend their responsibilities. The number of people who need to be involved in organising group travel will vary depending on your group and destination. For small and informal groups you may decide that you’ll take responsibility for all the tasks. For huge and more formal groups it is often best to assign tasks to multiple people.

You should consider:

Who will be responsible for collecting money?

For sports or performing arts groups – who will organise kit and clothing

Who will sell the tour to your group and convince them to go.

Who will organise your group – make sure they all have up-to-date passports, organise rooming lists, and carry out any other administration that needs to be done.

Fundraising- if required

Idea brainstorming

Once you have decided on these responsibilities you need to come up with some general ideas of where your group should go and what they should do. In some cases this will be simple as other factors will have already pre-determined this. If you’re a sports group and are organising a trip for a sports tournament, your destination and main activity will have already been set. In this situation you should think about what other activities you may also want to do in order that you get the most enjoyment out of your trip.

In many cases brainstorming will be a much more involved process. If you’re a music group wishing to go on tour then the options are almost endless with regards to destinations, concerts and itineraries.

You will probably need to do some research into ideas for your group and the brainstorming process could take several weeks. Why not get some ideas from the experts! There are a number of professional group travel organisers out there such as MyGroupTour who will be full of ideas and have probably done something similar before. Contacting a professional group organiser won’t cost you anything and will enable you to pick their brains. MyGroupTour and a number of others also provide a large collection of pre-built itineraries on their web sites. You may be able to take one of these directly or adapt it to meet your needs. You can also do research in to destinations on the internet by using web sites such as ‘Trip Adviser’ or ‘In Europe’ to help get some ideas. If you are travelling in Britain then use http://www.visitbritain.co.uk. This is a great web site with lots of useful information. As well as destination and itineraries you’ll need to consider approximate date of travel, likely numbers, accommodation type, and extra excursions that you might want to do.

Budget

A group’s budget is very important. If you create an over priced trip or holiday then no one from your group will be able to come. Equally if you set the budget so low, then you will end up in accommodation that no one wants to stay in, which again might put them off coming.

You need to agree a price range that you think your group can afford and create your trip based on that. If you want to go on a week’s tour to Europe but realise that your group can only realistically afford £100 each then you will need to consider fundraising or making an adjustment to your tour in terms of time length, destination or itinerary.

Remember any group can afford a tour it just takes the right amount of planning, creativity and preparation. Some members might have a particularly difficult economic background. You may want to take into account subsidising these members from the clubs funds and fundraising. Some people might also be prepared to pay more in order to reduce the cost to others. You should also take into consideration free places for yourself. In most group bookings you should be able to get a free hotel bed for every 25 members in the group even though coach prices are not normally affected.

Getting your group together

The first step is in persuading people to go on your group trip. There are three main factors that decide this. Does the trip appeal to them, is it at a price they have the ability to afford and how charismatic are you at selling them the idea! If you can get these three things right then you should have no problem in getting most of your group to go on the trip.

Administrating group travel can be quite time consuming and challenging. You can find your self having to ring people multiple times because they are not in. Chasing people up who have not done something you asked them to do, dealing with people who have dropped out or adding new members on to the tour who now want to come. You must be prepared for a complex and time consuming operation if you want to do everything your self. You can significantly ease the burden by using a professional group organiser. They have the ability to help to deal with these problems on your behalf. Depending on which company you go with and what you’ve concurred with them. If you want them to do everything then you should anticipate to pay a tiny extra. But this would free you up to do other tasks that might other wise be more pricey to you by ignoring them. One solution that’ll be available to you from late summer 2008 is the website from MyGroupTour. They will be providing a series of on the web facilities to help you with collecting money, organising your trip and getting quotes from suppliers.

Raising finance and fundraising

Ok, if your group is going on a stag do then no one is going to give charitably to support your drunken antics! If you’re a corporation organising group travel, then the only way you are going to get some one else to pay for it will be if you offer commercial benefits to them.

With most groups though there is a multitude of ways to raise finance for your group travel. You can organise generic events, fun days or organise something based on what your group does. General events and fun days could include: – sponsored marathon/competition, Car washing at a local supermarket or School, Coffee morning for you local retirement home, put on a disco, create a night out, or organise an Easter egg hunt. The list is really only limited by your imagination. Also you should try organising something that relates to what your group does. If you’re an orchestra then organise concerts for your local community. You can quite swiftly raise the money you need for your trip; all it takes is a tiny enthusiasm and it can be lots of fun.

The thing people are most reluctant to do is part with their money. At the early stages it is important that you collect a deposit from every group member who has confirmed they are coming on the trip. With out this there’s no commitment or incentive for them not to drop out at the last second and this could be humiliating. By doing this, your trip will become far more manageable. You should make your members aware that the final amount due may be liable to change slightly if group members drop out or new ones join. A coach booked at £400 divided by 30 people is going to cost more per person than dividing the cost between 40 people. You will normally find that quotes are given in price bands as group travel operators will be aware the people may drop out or you may get additional travellers. You must also make people aware of cancellation cut off dates. Normally if you cancel with a hotel within 30 days prior to departure you’ll be liable to pay the full amount.

Law and the package travel directive

There have been changes in the Law relatively recently that you need to be aware of. If a consumer purchases more than one travel component, it is considered a package. As such, you must place this money into a trust account and cannot access the money until your group members have travelled. This applies to all non regular group travel organisers. However the definition of what’s non regular is not clearly defined and has not been tested in court yet. To avoid the risk of breaking the law on this matter it can be easier to use a professional group travel organiser who already has systems in place to deal with the travel package directive. To find out more you can go to this guide that has been compiled by the government. http://nds.coi.gov.uk/imagelibrary/downloadMedia.asp?MediaDetailsID=231125

Industry bodies

If you do use a professional group travel organiser you should look to see that they’re a member GTOA (Group Travel Organisers Association) or the ETOA (European Tour Operators Association) if you plan on making a European trip.

Travel Insurance

As a group travel organiser or initiator for your group you will be viewed as responsible for everything that happens to your group members. Unfortunately from time to time things won’t go quite as planned. You must there for ensure you and your group members are protected against such instances. This is especially true with school and youth groups. Often travel insurance isn’t that expensive and it can be a legal requirement in many situations.

Hypnosis Melbourne

A learning organisation is an organisation that learns and encourages learning among its people. It promotes exchange of information between employees, hence creating a more knowledgeable workforce. This produces a very flexible organisation where people will accept and adapt to new ideas and change through shared vision.

It is said that the only constant in life is change and organisations are not spared. Change brings about not only uncertainty and risks but also opportunities for growth. Those organisations that can manipulate the information available have a larger opportunity to succeed. It is therefore important for everyone to be more knowledgeable about the work environment they’re in. Building a learning organisation is a means to a business goal. It is not a new theory but a concept that has become an increasingly widespread philosophy in modern companies, from the largest multinationals to the smallest enterprises. It is to be applied according to the circumstances of each business, which has to cater for it at strategic and operational levels.

‘Systems Thinking’ takes a holistic approach to learning whereby not only does the organisation learn but so do all its employees, irrespective of their role within the organisation. Information has to be disseminated to all levels and does not stop at top management, thus, facilitating learning through flexibility and open communication by removing barriers to communication and adopting flatter organisational structure and design.

Therefore the message is clear: any organisation that is committed to future success must become a learning organisation in order to compete and survive. Today continuous improvement is a must. “Any organisation is only as good as its people and continuous improvement in business is about the development of people and therefore creating a learning culture.” (Sheppard)

Systems Thinking

The idea behind the concept coined ‘Systems Thinking’ in the 1950’s was that enterprises need to be aware of both the company as a whole as well as the individuals within the company – taking a holistic approach to managing. Gould-Kreutzer Associates Inc. defined it as “a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things; to see the forest and the trees.” System Thinking therefore tries to change the managerial view so that it includes the ambitions of the individual workers, not just the business goals.

However, it was only during the 1990’s that this concept started to be taken seriously by organisations. Systems Thinking nowadays is synonymous with Peter Senge, one of the modern day gurus, who in his book “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organisation” popularised the concept of the learning organisation, and referred to ‘Systems Thinking’ as the Fifth Discipline. Since its publication in 1990, more than a million duplicates of this book have been sold and in 1997, Harvard Business Review identified his book as one of the seminal management books of the past 75 years.

According to Senge, learning organisations are “organisations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. “

Senge posits that the dimension that distinguishes learning from more traditional organisations is the mastery of certain basic disciplines, which he regards as a series of principles and practices that we study, master and integrate into our lives. The five disciplines that he identifies are said to be common to all learning organisations.

They are:

1. PERSONAL MASTERY. This is the discipline of ‘continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.

People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode, continually clarifying and deepening their personal vision. This takes place by assessing the gap between their current knowledge and the desired knowledge, and by practising and refining skills. This develops self-esteem and creates the confidence to tackle new challenges.

2. MENTAL MODELS. These are ‘deeply ingrained assumptions, generalisations, or even photos and images that influence how we comprehend the world and how we take action. ‘

The discipline of mental models starts with turning the mirror inward; learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, to bring them to the surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny. Every individual has his own perception of the things around him. This happens consciously and unconsciously and therefore, if team members can, through positive, constructive criticism, challenge each others’ ideas and assumptions, they have the ability to begin to perceive their mental models, and to change these to create a shared mental model for the team. This is important as the individual’s mental model will control what can or cannot be done.

3. BUILDING SHARED VISION. Senge sees this as ‘the capacity to hold a shared picture of the future we seek to create. ‘When there is a genuine vision (as opposed to the all-to-familiar ‘vision statement’), people excel and learn. To create a shared vision, massive numbers of people within the organisation must draft it, empowering them to create a single image of the future. With a shared vision, people will do things because they want to, not because they have to.

4. TEAM LEARNING. Such learning is viewed as ‘the process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results its members truly desire. ‘

It builds on personal mastery and shared vision, but these are not enough. People need to be able to act together, as virtually all important decisions occur in groups. Adults learn best from each other and with team learning, the learning ability of the group becomes greater than the learning capability of any individual in the group.

5. SYSTEMS THINKING. The cornerstone of any learning organisation is this fifth discipline. This is the capability to see the more massive picture, to look at the interrelationships of a system as opposed to simple cause-effect chains.

Systems thinking shows us that the essential properties of a system are not determined by the sum of its parts but by the process of interactions between those parts. This is the discipline used to implement the other disciplines. Without it each of the disciplines would be isolated and would fail to reach its objective.

How to build a learning organisation

The challenges facing managers in applying these five disciplines at the workplace are the following:

. Building a sound base

. Apply the Golden Rules

BUILDING A SOUND BASE

Before a Learning Organisation can be reached, a solid foundation has to be in place. This can be implemented by taking into account the following points.

~ Awareness. Awareness of the benefits of a learning organisation must permeate to all levels not just the management level. A learning culture must be fostered among the employees that survival of the fittest depends on having a knowledgeable workforce. Change should start and be supported from top management and this ‘new’ culture should be manifested in the commitment to learning, personal development of the individual as well as valuing people and their divergent views.

~ The Environment. The right environment must be in place so that learning can take place. Centralised, mechanistic structures do not create a good environment. Organisations having organic structures are well positioned to develop into a learning organisation. An organic structure places less emphasis on giving and taking orders and more on encouraging managers and subordinates to work together in teams and to communicate openly with each other. Authority, responsibility and accountability flow to employees with the expertise required to solve problems. In a nutshell, a flat organisation, whereby communication can flow in all directions and foster innovation amongst its employees.

~ Leadership. Managers must adopt open communication management styles so that employees will be able to question and come forward with ideas. Understand that mistakes and errors are part of this process and therefore employees should not be in fear of reprimands. Managers must also provide commitment for long-term learning in the form of resources (money, personnel and time). The amount of these resources determines the quantity and quality of learning.

~ Empowerment. Employees should be empowered to take decisions and actions. Let them own the process whilst monitoring all that’s happening. Only through motivation and innovation will the employees grow and learn, equal participation should be encouraged so that employees can learn from each other simultaneously. The benefits are for themselves and the organisation.

~ Learning. Company-wide training is to be made available. This may take the form of simulation case studies where brainstorming sessions will be beneficial to all participants.

APPLY THE GOLDEN RULES

The following practices and approaches can be used while managing the learning process.

1. Thrive on change. Management must not be afraid of change. There should be commitment to and focus on the things that matter most. Change is necessary and therefore clear objectives and plans must be in place. Change will translate itself into a learning opportunity.

2. Encourage experimentation. Change will bring along uncertainty and risks. Experimentation is a necessary risk. Accept mistakes as a normal process and encourage employees to come forward with ideas. Learning from mistakes is often more powerful than learning from success. The most important thing is to ‘fail intelligently’ to learn something from mistakes. Apply reviews of the whole change process and reward individual effort.

3. Communicate success and failure. Let there be a communication system of disseminating information and knowledge that reaches everyone efficiently, for example, through company journals, website, job rotation programs etc.

4. Facilitate learning from the surrounding environment. Learn from internal factors such as processes and procedures at work and find ways of how to improve learning from competitors. Avoid their mistakes and copy their well-achieved results. Can also form alliances to have a cross fertilisation of ideas. Build a relationship with customers. Apply an outside-in policy to strategies. Customers provide free advice through their complaints, recommendations and surveys. After all, the organisation survives through satisfying customers. Theirs might be the ideal advice.

5. Facilitate learning from employees. Offer continuous learning and multi-skilling opportunities. Remove hierarchies and empower people to experiment and take decisions. The people at the lower ranks in an organisation are the ones who know most of the problems within the business. This means that more often than not, the employees themselves know what needs to be done to improve the business.

6. Reward learning. Have a proper performance appraisal system to reward those employees who are embracing the learning culture to boost morale. Remember that everybody wants their work to be appreciated. Make sure therefore that individual performance is linked with organisational performance.

7. Intentionally retrieve and retain company memory. It is important to keep a record of processes and accomplishments so that learning will not be lost; it can be passed on to those coming later on into the company and also the company can refer back to information held. The learning process must be planned and objectives for it set. It must be monitored and reviewed all the time.

Through the learning organisation process people will develop, the brains of all employees are switched on, not just those of the few, and a feel good factor is created through greater motivation. A more flexible workforce evolves by building organisations fit for human beings. People will become more creative and social interaction will improve. Teams and groups will work superior through knowledge sharing, becoming more interdependent, increasing responsibility at all levels and developing an entrepreneurial spirit. The company will benefit from better customer relations, the breaking down of traditional communication barriers, and from the increased creativity and innovation of its people that should give it a competitive edge.

Hypnosis Australia

g your corporate Christmas party can be quite a task. You may well need a massive venue, catering, and more in order to make this year’s Christmas celebration one to remember. If your staff is quite busy, this might be just one task too many. Fortunately, you can avail yourself of the services available from professional Christmas party organizers.

There are a variety of choices when you’re considering hiring Christmas party organizers. Depending upon your needs, a venue booking service may be best, especially since many venues can handle food, drinks and decorations. Some venue booking services are even free to the user, making them an ideal choice to save your staff time in planning the holiday Christmas celebration. You can simply provide these Christmas celebration organisers with your needs and they’ll create a list of possible venues and the amenities available at each for you and assist you with booking the venue for the date you desire.

You might wish to narrow down your needs before consulting with Christmas celebration organisers. Where would you like to hold your corporate Christmas celebration? Know how many people will be attending the Christmas celebration, as well as the type of venue you would prefer. Are you planning a formal event or a more casual family-friendly one? Do you need a sit down meal or a buffet style meal, or even just appetizers? Will you be serving drinks? Once you have answered these questions, you will be much superior prepared to talk with Christmas celebration organisers.

Venue booking services that include Christmas party organisers are well versed in helping companies of all sizes plan their holiday celebrations. They have the ability to help you find Christmas celebration venues in London or elsewhere that meet both your budget and your needs. Not only can skilled Christmas party organisers help you select a Christmas party venue, but they have the ability to also help make travel arrangements or arrange lodging if appropriate. Given that Christmas party venue booking services can even be free of charge to you, you can save your staff valuable time and energy by using Christmas party organisers.

While venue booking services are often free, some companies choose to hire professional Christmas celebration organisers to design their corporate Christmas celebration. Unlike venue booking services, this can be quite expensive. Moreover, you may find that some Christmas celebration venues offer these sorts of services in-house for a much lower cost. High end specialist Christmas party organisers may seem like an especially good idea if you are considering a themed Christmas party; however, do consider talking with Christmas party venues as to their capabilities. You may be surprised at the services that they’re able to provide on their own for a reasonable fee. Your venue booking service might well be able to help you select Christmas celebration venues perfect for whatever sort of work Christmas celebration you might be considering, including themed Christmas celebration plans.

What are the best Christmas celebration venues? The right Christmas celebration venues for your work Christmas party might depend upon the size of the party, the plans for the party and more. Many companies select Christmas celebration hotels for their work Christmas celebrations. If the guests reserve rooms at the hotel, there’s no need to arrange transport home after the party if anyone has been drinking and many hotels are very well equipped with regard to space and catering. If you’re planning quite a massive corporate event as your work Christmas party, a venue booking service can even assist with travel arrangements for staff or clients travelling a substantial distance. Hotels are also ideal Christmas celebration venues in London for this sort of corporate event.

Can you plan your own work Christmas celebrations? Certainly, however, you will find that choosing the right Christmas party venues takes a substantial amount of time, time that could be spent on work tasks. Moreover, someone will also have to coordinate food and drinks, d?r and more with the venue. If it is a major corporate event, travel arrangements may have to be made. You can save valuable time with a venue booking service or specialist in corporate travel to assist you in choosing the right Christmas celebration venues.

Whether your corporate Christmas party is to be a rather small, intimate dinner or a massive corporate event, choosing the right Christmas party venues is critical. Often the venue you select will impact the quality of not only the physical space, but also the food and drink at your work Christmas celebrations. Be sure your Christmas celebration is one to remember and not one to regret by using those smart habits that have gotten you where you’re today and delegating the choice of Christmas party venues to an expert venue booking service skilled in handling all sorts of corporate events and corporate travel arrangements.

Hypnosis Australia

Starting a new business but not sure what kind of organisation umbrella you choose for your business? There are several options, like sole trader, partnerships, limited liability partnerships and limited companies either private or public. Each type of organisation has its own characteristics, i.e. how many people will be involved in the organisation, how the organisation is funded, the tax and accounting implications and who is responsible for the organisation and to what degree.

The choice you make will be determined by what your requirements are and which type of organisation structure fits ideal to your needs both present and future. The characteristics of two of the most common organisations types are listed below.

Sole Trader – Is a one owner setup and is the easiest way to begin trading, typically includes carpenters, plumbers etc. You don’t have to inform company’s house, you only need to let the taxman know of your intentions.

You may employ one or more people, but you’ll be responsible for their PAYE, tax and national insurance contributions to the revenue. The individual and the sole trader are treated as the same legal entity and hence the liability is unlimited i.e. you’ll be personally liable for debts you incur in the process of running your business. Ensure you’ve insurance to cover liabilities other wise you could loose a lot if things went wrong. Your business and personal income will be taken hand in hand and you will pay income tax and national insurance on all profits. You may be able to offset any losses against tax on other income. Many people start out as sole traders then upgrade into private limited companies.

Limited Companies – One or more shareholders who contribute the capital to finance the company. Directors run the company on behalf of the shareholders. The directors might also be shareholders and might also be employees of the company receiving salary. Limited companies are subject to corporation tax on profits, which can be distributed to shareholders as dividends. The company has to be registered with company’s home and there is more red tape involved in terms of submitting accounts and other documents. The company is treated as a legal entity and hence liability, debt incurred in the process of the company trading is limited as far as the company assets in respect to the directors and shareholders, who will have no personal liability. The company might employ one or more people and will be responsible for their PAYE, tax and national insurance contributions to the revenue. Private limited companies are controlled by smaller numbers of shareholders and are typically smaller in size. Public limited companies are normally more massive companies listed on the stock market with the general public also owning shares in the company.

Hypnotherapy Australia

     TAXABILITY OF CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS

What’s charitable organisation?

A charitable organisation is which has for its objects the benefit of the public or of mankind. It may be formed as a society, trust, company holding a licence or as an association. Such organisations derive income by way of donations, members contribution, income from property held by them. These organisations are thus taxable of their income and are assessable in the status of Association of Persons.

Income of an Organisation includes:

1) Subscriptions from the members.

2) Donations and voluntary contributions.

3) Income from property held under the trust.

4) Capital gain on transfer of property held under the trust.

5) Income from any business carried on by the organisation which     is incidental to the attainment of its objects.

Section 11 of the Income tax Act lay down that any income or profit derived from property held under the organisation (wholly or partly) shall not be included in the income of the organisation.

Organisations exempted under the Act:

1) Organisations created before 1.4.1962 for charitable and religious purposes and applying their income to such purposes in India.

2) Organisations created before 1.4.1952 for charitable or religious purposes, by a special order of the board, and applying their income to such purposes outside India.

3) Organisations created on or after 1.4.1952 for charitable or religious purpose of promoting international welfare in which India is interested, authorised by a special board, and applying their income to such purposes outside India.

4) Organisations created for the benefit of scheduled castes, tribes, backward classes or women or children.

Organisations not entitled to exemption under section 11 and 12 of the Income Tax Act:

1) An organisation for private religious purposes.

2) An organisation created or established on or after 1.4.1962 for the benefit of any particular religious community or caste (other than scheduled caste/tribes, backward classes or women or kids.

3) An organisation or institution for charitable or religious purposes, if any part of its income or property is directly or indirectly for the benefit of a specified person.

4) Any organisation or religious trust or institution, which holds any share in any company (other than shares in a public sector company).

Incomes entitled for exemption under section 11 and 12 of the Income Tax Act:

1) Income in the form of voluntary contributions.

2) Income derived from property held under the trust is exempted to the extent it is applied to charitable or religious purposes.

3) Income being profits and gains of a business which is incidental to the attainment of the objects of the trust.

4) Income being capital gains arising on transfer of a capital asset.

According to Section 2(15) of the Income Tax Act, Charitable purpose includes:

1) Relief of the poor.

2) Education.

3) Medical relief and

4) Advancement of any other object of general public utility.

‘Advancement of any other object of general public utility’ won’t be considered as charitable purpose if it involves carrying on of activity in nature of trade, commerce, or business for any fee, cess or other consideration. If any such activity is carried on by a trust or organisation it won’t be entitled to exemption under section 11 of the Income Tax Act and its income will be chargeable to tax even if utilised for charity.

Hypnosis Melbourne