Category: blog&news

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Enhancing Collaboration With “Plussing”

Collaboration is rarely a smooth and simple process. Team members come together and offer opposing ideas with disagreements and critiques abound, and in the end, one idea comes out on top while the rest are tossed aside. While that one idea was able to triumph, what if one of those ideas that didn’t make it had the potential to be something even better? This is where plussing comes in.

What Is Plussing?

Plussing is the practice of following any critique of an idea with a constructing suggestion. What this does is slightly expand and improve on the idea further before it is tossed to the side. It’s from this expansion that can help drive inspiration, and pull in the insight of the entire collaborative team on one idea to explore it’s potential.

The goal of plussing is to not let the process of collaboration be more of a conversation than people just shouting out different ideas until the “best” one is chosen.

How Does Plussing Help?

Below are some of the ways that plussing can help enhance the creative process.

Innovation

Maybe it’s not the idea that inspired someone but the suggestion that someone else made on that idea. Without that suggestion, they would have never been inspired to make that idea even better. From there, others are inspired to come up with even more improvements, and it’s a cycle that can go on and on.

Team Efficiency

Requiring every team member to provide insightful feedback to every idea means that they need a complete and clear understanding of that idea, so they need to stay involved and listen closely to the entire conversation if they want to contribute. Those who are not helping the group’s cause, or tend to cause roadblocks with non-constructive feedback, will naturally be filtered out of the conversation so that the team can continue with its forward progress.

Team Respect & Comfort

While titles and seniority should never play a role in collaborative environment, plussing ensure that every team member is equal, with seniors required to respect and build upon the ideas of the less experienced, who can also learn from the seniors and offer their own, fresh perspective.

The plussing technique has shown to make for a more comfortable collaborative environment, since those who contribute know that their idea or any suggestion that they make will be built upon instead of shot down.

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Keeping It Cool: A Successful Supervisor’s Guide To Handling Difficult Conversations

Across every industry and workplace, an unavoidable part of every job is dealing with people. And, while standard employees can get away with limiting the intensity of their workplace interactions to the superficial talk at the water cooler, supervisors must often be the hosts of many kinds of difficult conversations.

This can be tricky – mediating employee conflicts, handling complaints, evaluating behaviors, and even letting people go when necessary. However, becoming comfortable and competent with these types of conversations is a necessity for any person serving in a supervisor capacity. Accordingly, here are three key tips for how to fine-tune your conversation style and best prepare and handle difficult conversations with employees.

Go In As Your Best Self

When growing up, people give you a lot of advice about what to do prior to taking a test, or performing in a show, or competing in a match – have a good breakfast, take a deep breath, clear you mind, etc. The thing about these constant reminders though, is that the reasoning behind them holds weight.

One should never go into serious dealings when you don’t have the basic essentials sorted out. Being tired or hungry or stressed can and will affect how you converse with somebody. Ergo, before having an important conversation, make sure you have taken care of all of your base human needs so that when you are in that meeting your best self is fully present. 

Keep Your Emotions In Check, But Keep Them Nonetheless

A lot of people will tell you that when having difficult conversations it is best to check your emotions at the door entirely. This is understandable, as you should not allow personal feelings (positive or negative) to influence your employee-supervisor dealings because fact should be at the core of these difficult conversations.

However, never forget that empathy (even tempered or internalized empathy) is an asset too. Resolving issues, or helping people overcome whatever struggle you are currently addressing is much easier when you understand them. So blocking out empathy completely is as unhelpful to the person you are confronting as it is to you.

A successful supervisor is neither made of stone nor made of pudding. A balance is required – objective, logical proceedings mixed with understandings. For, if not for the first you might end up being a pushover, and if not for the second you might end up alienating your employees.

Talk With Your Employees, Not At Your Employees

When preparing for a difficult conversation or confrontation, it can be easy to follow into the trap of preparing a whole speech in your mind of what to say. The problem with this, though, is that it is unrealistic. A supervisor-employee conversation is not like a presentation or a dramatized monologue; it is not just you in that room. Moreover, it is not all about you.

The point of a conversation is to converse so, while there is nothing wrong with preparing for hypotheticals and giving thought to what key points you want to cover in the meeting ahead of time, over prepping is a bad idea. Speak from the heart, not a script. Ask questions. Involve the other person. You are there to talk about them, after all.

Into The Gray

Every difficult conversation you will face as a supervisor in the workplace is different because every employee is different. As such, there is no exact map to navigate you through each occurrence.

However, that is okay. You were made a supervisor because the people above you believed you could supervise. So, trust yourself, trust your instincts, and keep these three tips in mind. If you do, you will be poised to handle difficult conversations with the empathetic grace and shrewd demeanor of a pro.

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5 Characteristics Necessary To Start A Business

Every success story is different, but it takes a special kind of person start and run a successful business, someone who’s a step ahead.  But what is it that gives them this advantage that they need?  When looking at those who have found success, there are common characteristics that they all share, which provide with them with the tools that they need to be a true, successful entrepreneur.  Here are just a few of those characteristics:

Loving What You Do

Work becomes easy when it’s something you enjoy and when you pour 100% into something, it shows.  Those who truly stand out among the rest in the business world are those who are passionate about what they do. Passion is also what helps maintain a strong drive, allowing you to get back up after every challenge and come back better than they before, learning from where things went wrong and doing everything you can to improve your business.

Believing It What You Do

There’s a common saying in sales that says “you can’t sell what you don’t believe in”.  When you believe in your business and the services or products that you offer, your clients can feel it.  When you’re confident in your business, you’ll be more confident when you’re talking to clients about the benefits that you can offer them, since you’re simply sharing your beliefs.  If you don’t believe in your product or service, not only do you have to convince clients of the value, but yourself as well.

Proper Money Management

Businesses can’t run without money, so smart money management is key for running your own business.  Successful entrepreneurs never stop making careful and calculated financial decisions, regardless of whether business is slow or it’s booming.  From re-investing profits back into your company to allow for growth or ensuring that your team feels the benefits of your success.

Can Form An Effective Team

Speaking of teams, successful business owners know how to put together an effective team full of the right people, since it’s impossible to reach the top with support.  You need a team that you can trust and will strive for excellence just like you, only settling for the best.  For example, National Tax Office will put a professional team of tax industry experts by the side of an entrepreneur starting a new tax preparation business.  Not only does your team need to maintain that level of excellence, but compliment your knowledge and skills with their own to take your business to heights that couldn’t have been achieved alone.

Has / Knows How To Build A Strong Reputation

Beyond the products, services, marketing strategies, and branding lies something that is one of the most valuable assets for a business owner.  Having a good reputation does work for you after you’ve established it, bringing clients to your door after hearing that they can put their trust in your business.  The most challenging part is building this reputation, which takes drive and consistency.  Delivering on promises, capitalizing on your competitive advantage, and giving people a reason to talk about you and your business.

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Celebrating Entrepreneurial Women

How Moms and Women Can Start Their Own Business in Honor of Mother’s Day

Following Mother’s Day, there is no better way for women to honor the occasion than by becoming entrepreneurs and starting their own successful businesses. Although there are many different careers women can choose to pursue, tax preparation is currently a booming industry that is experiencing rapid growth. Women are playing a larger and more important role in this profitable field, so if you want to start your own business, now is the time to begin. Consider utilizing the tools provided by National Tax Office to establish yourself as a successful tax professional.

How to Tell if You Are a Good Candidate

You don’t have to be a math genius to become a professional in preparing taxes. We offer affordable starter packages that provide entrepreneurial women with the tools they need to file taxes professionally, even if they have had no previous experience. Great candidates include women who want to enjoy one or more of the following benefits:

  • Financial independence
  • Ability to spend more time with family
  • Sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment
  • Bragging rights in the professional arena

If you have been longing for the sense of safety and freedom that financial success can bring, you may be the perfect candidate for the tax filing industry. We do not require college degrees or previous accounting experience as prerequisites for a partnership with us. If you have the motivation and the desire to become a tax entrepreneur, we would love to partner with you.

How Does the Program Work?

Our user-friendly program provides you with all of the ongoing support and start-up services that you need to begin filing taxes professionally. From helping you get your business in order to assisting with marketing, we have the expertise and the tools that you need to have the greatest chance at success. Additionally, we ramp up our support during the tax-filing season with 24-hour customer service that you can rely on as needed. We even provide a personal coach to every single client we partner with so that they have access to personalized support and professional advice whenever they need it.

What Are You Waiting for?

In a very short period of time, you could start your own professional tax filing business. With Mother’s Day coming up, there is no better way to honor womanhood than by exercising your entrepreneurial spirit and finding your own place in this lucrative industry with the help of National Tax Office. Thousands of female leaders are stepping into the entrepreneurial world and making a name for themselves in the tax filing industry. Will you be one of them?

 

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To Splurge Or To Save

5 Popular Ways People Spend Their Tax Refunds

Every year, people across the United States are faced with an extremely difficult decision: should they save their tax refund money or spend it on something they have always wanted? Even individuals with the best intentions of saving their money sometimes change their minds once they hold their refund check in their hands. If you are not sure what to do with your check from Uncle Sam once it arrives, you may get some ideas by reading about the top five ways people spend their tax refunds.

1. Buffer Your Savings Accounts

As surprising as it may be, most Americans are actually fairly prudent with their income tax returns. Almost half of Americans receiving refunds reported in a nationwide poll that they put at least some of it into a savings account. The saving rates in America have dropped significantly in recent years, meaning this may be the only time some families have a enough surplus to justify saving.

2. Everyday Expenses & Budgeting

About 35 percent of adults surveyed typically spend most or all of their refunds on more practical uses, such as purchasing food for their families, paying down their monthly utilities, and making repairs around the house. For many families, tax returns are an essential way to make ends’ meet and improve their living space each year.

3. Investments

Around 34 percent of individuals receiving a refund plan to put at least some money towards saving and investing in the stock market or similar items. Although this may seem like a boring way to spend tax money, it is a wise investment in the future that will yield financial benefits years down the road.

4. Pay Down Debt

Approximately 31 percent of Americans have reported that they typically use their tax return to pay down their debt and increase their financial freedom. With student loans, credit card, and medical debts at all time highs, it is unsurprising to hear that families hope to get ahead on payments with this annual windfall.

5. Live it Up!

A very small percentage of Americans (around 11 percent) are expected to splurge with their refunds this tax season. Some of the most popular destinations for their refunded cash include new clothes, fancy jewelry, vacations, electronics, and gifts for friends and family. New, must- have gadgets are appearing every month, and the extra cash flow from a tax return can offer a much-needed escape from the daily grind.

Is There a Better Option?

Although Americans have shown that they are surprisingly responsible with their refunds for the most part, they could be setting themselves up for even more financial freedom in the future by using their refunds to start a business. Unlike investing in the marketplace, investing in your own business can yield quicker and more worthwhile financial results. The National Tax Office makes it easier than ever to start your own business as a professional tax preparer. If you choose to use your refund to build your business now, you can set yourself up for a more comfortable financial future. Don’t settle for financial mediocrity. Experience a taste of financial freedom by partnering with National Tax Office and starting your own business.