General (Business) Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-28-2022

If you’re considering buying a business, you will need to investigate the company to make an informed decision about the business's valuation. The valuation process involves research and observation — whether the prospective enterprise is operating successfully or is functioning as a troubled company.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-27-2022

In a business environment of complexity and uncertainty, excellent decision-making skills are paramount. Employees, customers, and others touched by a company's actions respond to what they trust — ethical decision-making in business has become a strategic asset. Learn how to communicate decisions effectively, how to make faster and more informed decisions on the fly, and how to incorporate your core values into your decision-making.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-27-2022

Before you earn an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree, you can still apply MBA-level knowledge in your career: Be a better business manager by efficiently delegating responsibilities among your employees and successfully rewarding those who do a good job. Hone your design and marketing skills by creating an informative and easy-to-use business website and a brief but clear marketing plan.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-25-2022

Robert's Rules provides rules and procedures that allow a deliberative assembly to make its decisions efficiently, and with all due regard for the rights of the minority. Following the rules ensures more a fair and more achievable outcome without wasting time, but remembering all the details of parliamentary procedure can be a tall order. Keeping some quick reference material on hand when you enter a meeting will ensure you have the important information you need to effectively and democratically achieve the business of the assembly.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-18-2022

Successful businesses have discovered the power of storytelling and its ability to affect the bottom line. A good way to start building your business stories is to use the time-honored storyboarding technique. There are usually a few ways to tell the same story — the one you choose may depend on the circumstances of the telling, the audience, your intent and goal in telling it, and other factors. Sometimes it can be a challenge to “pull” stories out of your organization so that they can be structured and polished for your purposes, and you may need to use story prompts to dig out the storytelling gold that exists in any company or organization.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-04-2022

Whatever reason you have for selling your business — finances, family, fatigue — you'll want to assemble the right group of professionals to assist you through the sale process, know which essential documents to have on hand, and understand how to value your business assets to ensure a successful sale.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-23-2022

Cash flow refers to generating or producing cash (cash inflows) and using or consuming cash (cash outflows). You should think of cash flow as the lifeblood of your business, and you must keep that blood circulating at all times in order avoid failure. Managing cash flows is essential to the successful operation of your business.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-27-2022

Math is an important part of managing business. Get to know some commonly used fractions and their decimal equivalents, area and perimeter formulas, angle measurements, and financial formulas — including understanding interest rates and common financial acronyms — to help with your business tasks.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 12-20-2021

Becoming a master in business analysis is a goal many business analysts (BAs) have, but it can be a difficult one to achieve because this field is constantly changing and evolving. The business analysis project life cycle can vary from project to project. You often have to search out areas for process improvement, even when the business involved doesn’t know those areas need improving. Plus, you have to account for the myriad ways your project may impact the business.

Article / Updated 11-24-2021

To save you time and unnecessary work, Robert’s Rules spells out exactly what needs to go into your minutes. Minutes are important because they’re the only surviving record of what was said and done at a meeting. They can be dry and boring. In fact, it’s probably a good sign if they are! Most importantly, they need to be informative and easy to navigate for whatever the reader needs to know six months from now. When you call a parliamentarian and ask for help, they're going to want to see the minutes, and they're going to need to find something important — maybe the exact words of a bylaw amendment that was officially adopted, or a tellers’ report that furnishes details on the vote tally. Simple organization of the facts and use of unpretentious language are the best attributes you can give your minutes. You want your minutes to be readable, but you must be precise in the information you give. Your minutes provide the record of the action taken at the meeting, so they need to clearly memorialize the facts. Composing your meeting’s minutes The first paragraph needs to include this information: The kind of meeting (regular, special, annual, adjourned regular, adjourned special, and so forth) The name of the organization The date, time, and location of the meeting (don’t list the location if it’s always the same) A statement confirming that your organization’s regular presiding officer and secretary are present (or giving the names of the persons substituting for them) A mention of whether the previous meeting’s minutes were read and approved (and the date of that meeting, if it wasn’t a regular meeting) Corrections to minutes are noted in the minutes being corrected; they’re not detailed in the minutes of the meeting at which the corrections were adopted. (The minutes of the meeting at which corrections were made should merely state that minutes of the previous meeting were approved as corrected.) The body portion of the minutes needs to include this info: All main motions (except ones that are withdrawn), along with the name of the member making the motion (but not the name of the person who seconded the motion). Motions bringing a question again before the body (except for ones that are withdrawn). The final wording of the motions, either as adopted or as disposed of. If it’s appropriate to include mention of debate or amendment, you can note these items parenthetically. The disposition of the motion — including any adhering amendments — if it’s only temporarily disposed of. Information about the vote. Counted vote Roll-call vote Ballot vote Secondary motions not lost or withdrawn, where necessary for clarity (example motions include Recess, Fix Time to Which to Adjourn, Suspend the Rules, Postpone to a Particular Time, Ballot Vote Ordered, and so on). Allude to the adoption of secondary motions by saying, “A ballot vote having been ordered, the tellers. . . .” Notices of motions. The fact that an assembly went into quasi-committee or committee of the whole, and the committee’s report. All points of order and appeals and their subsequent dispositions, with reasons given by the chair for the ruling. (Rulings often establish precedent, so a careful record here is important.) The full text of any report that the assembly orders to be entered into the minutes. This situation doesn’t happen often because a reference to a written report is usually sufficient for the record. Any of the juicy and disorderly words that a member has said that get them “named” by the chair for being disorderly. The last paragraph of your minutes needs to include the hour of adjournment. And that’s it! Well, except for the following additional notes to keep in mind when finalizing your minutes: The proceedings of a committee of the whole aren’t included in the minutes, but you do need to include the fact that the move into committee occurred and also include the report of the committee. When a question is considered informally, the same information should be recorded as in regular rules. Informality is permitted only in allowing additional opportunities to debate. The full text of any report is included in the minutes only if the assembly so orders. Record the name of any guest speaker and the subject of presentation, but make no summary of the speaker’s remarks. Signing the minutes Minutes are to be signed by the secretary and, if customary, may also be signed by the president. Minutes are your group’s legal record of its proceedings, and the secretary’s signature establishes evidence of the original document’s authenticity. Approving the minutes The minutes of one meeting are normally approved at the next regular meeting, following the call to order and opening ceremonies. If the meeting is an adjourned meeting, you approve the minutes of your previous meeting (the meeting that established the adjourned meeting) before taking up business where you left off in that meeting. Also, the minutes of the adjourned meeting need to be approved at the next adjourned or regular meeting. Minutes drafted ahead of time aren’t the official minutes until the members approve them. Because changes may be made in the minutes before they’re approved, it’s good practice for the secretary to note somewhere on the distribution copy that it’s a “draft for approval.” When minutes are approved, the secretary annotates the original file copy with any corrections in the margin or retypes the minutes to include the corrections. The secretary then writes “Approved” on the minutes and adds both his initials and the date to the record.