By Richard Foster-Fletcher ACB CL, Toastmasters International
When someone you work with has made a bad mistake it’s easy to get emotional and lash out with negative feedback.  If you are running your own business and the error may be particularly costly that is a very human reaction.  Let me share my tips based on years of managing teams on how to give feedback effectively in such difficult circumstances.
Manage your emotion
You may be somewhere on a scale from deeply despondent to furious. This won’t help you have a productive conversation …

These days there are many businesses that choose to trade internationally so that they can grow their business and build their brand awareness worldwide.  No matter which type of business you are running, international trade can be an important step to take to help you grow. With Brexit currently in progress there is an increased uncertainty for businesses over possible increased costs for international trade.
When trading overseas it is therefore important that as a business owner you are able to reduce your international trading costs and reduce the overall risk …

Latest research from CV-Library reveals that 77% of the U.K workforce believe that their colleagues don’t work hard enough, leading to negative feelings of job dissatisfaction and demotivation in their role.Data from this research also revealed that over half of employees work with people they dislike or find frustrating, with just over a third indicating that their workplace has a negative atmosphere due to the people around them.
Despite the majority of employees claiming to support their colleagues both in work and personally, 26% admitted to becoming jealous when their co-workers …

We live in a highly disposable culture where, if we don’t like something, we change it. In many cases we don’t think long and hard about it or even try to make it work out – we just swap it for something else, the latest mobile phone, pair of trainers or even dating on Tinder. The days of ‘marriage is for life’ are long gone and we are no longer a generation of “until death do us part” believers. With the divorce rates in the UK at 42% and in …

After working hard for 12 years at the same company, I was ready for a change. I needed a break and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for my next step. As a child, I grew up in Dubai and traveled often with my parents. I missed traveling and the freedom I had had as a kid and it dawned on me that my family could possibly take a sabbatical and travel around the world together.
It took some persuading to convince my wife, Natasha, that we should …

Everyone is feeling it. With Christmas coming up, petrol and food prices rising, and Brexit on the horizon, money just isn’t going as far as it did. I’ve been looking at ways to make my money go further over the last few months. Instead of feeling worse off, here are a few practical and sustainable ideas that will help you reduce your day to day costs without having to miss out on any of the good stuff.
What’s your budget?
Working out how much money you have coming in and what’s going …

No matter where you live in the world, one of the issues with modern education seems to be that we are not teaching our children to be leaders. Many parents in both the UK and the United States claim that we rely too heavily on technology without giving our youth the tools they need to think for themselves and to think outside the box. This is something which can never be said about schools like Maricourt Catholic High School because they have prided themselves on quality education from the very …

A GP’s Advice on How Parents Can Avoid Christmas Hazards

By Dr Tom York, NHS-registered and private GP for GPDQ, the UK’s first doctor-on-demand app
As a doctor, I’m acutely aware of the variety and frequency of accidents which can happen to children, even at home. Every year, more than two million children under the age of 15 will see a doctor following an accident at home. The general chaos of the Christmas holidays can create a range of hazards and consequently injury rates over this period often increase.
My son turns one …

Research analysed by co-working-meets-creche start-up Cuckooz Nest reveals that women are far more likely to travel less than 15 minutes to work whilst the vast majority of long commutes are undertaken by men. The question is, does this disadvantage them in the work place?
Men travel longer distances to work, and women are the most likely to walk to work. Men account for 74% of those that cycle to work. Overall, men predominate journeys via train and tube and women occupy more bus and taxi seats.
Cuckooz Nest suggest that women opt …

Today, eight of the UK’s most successful female entrepreneurs were announced as winners of the 2018 NatWest everywoman Awards. For the past 16 years, NatWest and everywoman have created one of the most renowned awards programmes for women in business, to showcase phenomenal female talent. From the founders of multi-million-pound empires, to the women creating life-changing employment for disadvantaged individuals through social enterprises, their success stories will inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in other women.
At a time when Brexit negotiations are causing uncertainty for businesses, it is important to recognise …