{"appState":{"pageLoadApiCallsStatus":true},"categoryState":{"relatedCategories":{"headers":{"timestamp":"2022-05-20T18:31:23+00:00"},"categoryId":34255,"data":{"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","image":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"parentCategory":{"categoryId":34225,"title":"Business","slug":"business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"}},"childCategories":[],"description":"Looking for ways to reduce waste in the office? Find answers to this question and more in our general articles on business.","relatedArticles":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles?category=34255&offset=0&size=5"}},"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"relatedCategoriesLoadedStatus":"success"},"listState":{"list":{"count":10,"total":538,"items":[{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:58:53+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-28T16:05:34+00:00","timestamp":"2022-04-28T18:01:08+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Business Valuation For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"business valuation for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"business-valuation-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn how to investigate a company — including research and observation — to make an informed decision about the business's valuation.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.","description":"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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10607,"name":"Lisa Holton","slug":"lisa-holton","description":"Lisa Holton is a former business editor and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She's a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10607"}},{"authorId":10608,"name":"Jim Bates","slug":"jim-bates","description":"Jim Bates is vice president, transaction support for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, Illinois.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10608"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":196619,"title":"How to Investigate a Business before Buying the Company","slug":"how-to-investigate-a-business-before-buying-the-company","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196619"}},{"articleId":196611,"title":"How to Research Troubled Companies You Want to Purchase","slug":"how-to-research-troubled-companies-you-want-to-purchase","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196611"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282043,"slug":"business-valuation-for-dummies","isbn":"9780470344019","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/0470344016-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/business-valuation-for-dummies-cover-9780470344019-201x255.jpg","width":201,"height":255},"title":"Business Valuation For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"\n <b data-author-id=\"10607\">Lisa Holton</b> is a former business editor and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She's a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books. <p><b data-author-id=\"10608\">Jim Bates</b> is Vice President, Transaction Support, for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, IL.</p> ","authors":[{"authorId":10607,"name":"Lisa Holton","slug":"lisa-holton","description":"Lisa Holton is a former business editor and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She's a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10607"}},{"authorId":10608,"name":"Jim Bates","slug":"jim-bates","description":"Jim Bates is vice president, transaction support for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, Illinois.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10608"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470344019&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-626ad6649f71f\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470344019&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-626ad664a00b6\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":196619,"title":"How to Investigate a Business before Buying the Company","slug":"how-to-investigate-a-business-before-buying-the-company","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196619"}},{"articleId":196611,"title":"How to Research Troubled Companies You Want to Purchase","slug":"how-to-research-troubled-companies-you-want-to-purchase","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196611"}}],"content":[{"title":"How to investigate a business before buying the company","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Research, observation, and common sense are powerful tools in the business valuation process. Here are some things to consider as you examine and analyze a company you want to buy:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Listen to customers. </strong>Assuming that you’re targeting a consumer business where you can legally do some creative loitering, spend some time listening to customers talk about what they think of the business.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para Tip\">If the target business is a restaurant, strike up casual conversations in the waiting area about whether customers have come here before and, if so, why they’ve come back. Don’t be a stalker; just find the right approach. If you find several people on repeat visits who volunteer how great the business is, or what they like and don’t like about it, start recording those comments.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Watch the foot traffic.</strong> Pretend that you’re a plainclothes detective for a few weeks. At different times during your target company’s business hours, park the car or sit in a coffee shop across the street, and set up a chart that notes the time, date, and segment of time you’re watching. Note when the business gets busy; note when it’s dead. Note what kinds of customers are going in, and try to find out why.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para Tip\">If the business is a clothing store, are shoppers showing up only when a sale or promotion is going on, or are their visits tied to crucial shipments of merchandise that they can’t wait to see? Professionals get paid a lot of money to do this kind of observational research; you can do it yourself for free.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Check out the neighborhood and competing businesses. </strong>What’s the character of the street and general area where the business is located? Does the street have a lot of other businesses similar to this one, and where is it on the trendiness and necessity curves?</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Does the neighborhood really need this business? Is the area gentrifying (people with money are moving in) or already gentrified (serving the clientele with the most disposable income that would go into your cash register), or could it be slipping, with dollars going elsewhere?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Diagnose the empty-storefront issue.</strong> Empty storefronts may not always be bad things. Storefronts may be emptying because the neighborhood has a growing crime problem and residents are fleeing (definitely bad for most businesses, even for non-consumer businesses that want to attract a workforce).</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Alternatively, storefronts may be emptying because a quiet real estate boom is going on in the area, and landlords feel that they can charge rents that more upscale tenants are willing to pay to attract a rising clientele.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Study the local power base.</strong> Identify the politicians who are lowest to the ground where your target business is. Study what they’re doing — and not doing — for their business constituents. See whether the area has any nonprofit groups that aid local businesses, and find out as quietly as you can what data and intelligence they can provide you in your research.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Do a news search.</strong> You know those boring columns in the business section with the dopey headshots, talking about how Joe Jones just got a big promotion? These columns can get pretty interesting when you’re thinking about buying a business.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Search for any news story that features the name of your target company, and look for good news (expansion, new locations, talented new executives) or bad news (locations closing, top management quitting, lawsuits filed by customers or suppliers).</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"How to research troubled companies you want to purchase","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Prospective buyers who are interested in purchasing a troubled company go through a due diligence process that involves gaining permission to see the business&#8217;s operations.</p>\n<p>A company may require a legal confidentiality agreement to allow information gathering about the business. When you’re given the go ahead for due diligence, use this list to request everything you need to make informed decisions.</p>\n<p class=\"Remember\">Don’t be discouraged if a company doesn’t offer up everything you ask for. Some records may be unavailable (or missing).</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A summary of the company’s tangible assets so you can physically view them and get a price range on them for potential sale valuation.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A summary of the company’s intangible assets so you can examine records on those items within a company’s computers or physical files.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Recent audited financials and tax returns.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Any verbal or written details on the company’s status with creditors (lenders, suppliers, customers waiting for merchandise, etc.).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Anything resembling a strategic plan in the way of market expansion, product development or other efforts to improve the business.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Projections of future income. (The current owner might .have his or her own data or opinion on this. You definitely want to know what that person thinks about business prospects so you can verify them.)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A summary of all current and possible legal or regulatory complaints against the company (which you should verify through a public documents search).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Account summaries/data for suppliers and customers (accounts payable/receivable data, contracts, invoices, notices of delinquency in payments by the target company or its customers).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Regulatory or tax notices — current or projected. (If a company is expecting major regulatory or tax changes in its business, potential buyers should know about it.)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Any analyses by the target company of its supplier and customer concentration and what losing any of them could mean to the business (compare with your analysis of all supplier and customer data).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Access to all possible correspondence, phone records or e–mails between regulators, suppliers, customers or anyone else in close contact with the target company. (And if you are contacting these constituencies yourself, make sure you ask for their copies of such data as well.)</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"One year","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-28T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":209534},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:47:52+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-27T18:34:18+00:00","timestamp":"2022-04-28T00:01:06+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Decision Making For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"decision making for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"decision-making-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn how to communicate decisions effectively, make faster decisions, and incorporate your values into your decision-making.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.","description":"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. 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She co-designs the future of organizations, transforming them from \"business-as-usual\" to inclusive cultures of prosperity. </p>","authors":[{"authorId":9351,"name":"Dawna Jones","slug":"dawna-jones","description":"Dawna Jones is a consultant, writer, and podcaster who applies 25 years' experience to helping businesses and organizations make bold decisions. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9351"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118833667&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6269d9427cdb4\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118833667&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6269d9427d763\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":149189,"title":"11 Questions that Help You Communicate Decisions Effectively","slug":"11-questions-that-help-you-communicate-decisions-effectively","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/149189"}},{"articleId":149188,"title":"5 Steps to Faster, More Informed Decisions","slug":"5-steps-to-faster-more-informed-decisions","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/149188"}},{"articleId":149190,"title":"Incorporating Core Values into Decision-Making","slug":"incorporating-core-values-into-decision-making","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/149190"}}],"content":[{"title":"11 questions that help you communicate decisions effectively","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>When you&#8217;re communicating a decision, you need to know that you have successfully communicated the basic message. You also want everyone on the team to share an understanding of what the target results are so that, in the event that something unexpected happens, everyone knows what to do. The worst time to find out that you and your team are not on the same page is after you&#8217;ve communicated a decision and tasked your team with implementing that decision.</p>\n<p class=\"Warning\">Communication failures take place when</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">The aim of the decision, its purpose, and what is to be accomplished aren&#8217;t clearly communicated.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Expectations aren&#8217;t made clear. You have expectations for how it should be done and what it should look like, but you fail to take into account your employees&#8217; and other stakeholders&#8217; views and concerns.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">The words you use mean different things to different people and are easily misinterpreted. (As the communicators, it&#8217;s your responsibility to learn what words work and what don&#8217;t.)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Communication doesn&#8217;t happen often enough, so course corrections are presumed to take place but get missed.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">You and everyone else assume that the communication has been effective.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Remember\">Getting your message across effectively is a matter of confirming that all understand the aim or purpose of the decision, as well as what&#8217;s expected. It&#8217;s especially important when you&#8217;re communicating the implementation of an important decision. To offer clear direction to your team, start with gaining clarity on what&#8217;s going on inside your brain.</p>\n<p>Answering these 11 questions enables you to deliver a clear message:</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>These 11 Questions . . .</th>\n<th>. . . Elicit these Benefits</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1. What is to be accomplished?<br />\n2. What is the result and why?</td>\n<td>Knowing the answers to these questions enables you to<br />\ncommunicate the message effectively to your team.By doing so, you enable them (1) to improvise independently when<br />\nthere&#8217;s a need to adapt, and (2) to incorporate new opportunities<br />\nfor attaining the goal as those opportunities arise — without<br />\nhaving to gain your permission, which slows things down.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3. What are your expectations for what happens next?<br />\n4. Is there anything you don&#8217;t want your team to do?<br />\n5. Is there anything you specifically want your team to do?</td>\n<td>Outlining the parameters helps clarify both the expectations<br />\nand the boundaries for independent or creative thinking.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6. What could possibly go wrong? Or &#8216;What if&#8221; . . . this or<br />\nthat happened?<br />\n7. If something were to go wrong, what would you expect team<br />\nmembers to do?</td>\n<td>By anticipating the unexpected, you reduce the risk while<br />\nsimultaneously preparing for it.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8. When do you expect your team, staff, and anyone else<br />\ninvolved in the implementation process to communicate to you?<br />\n9. What feedback do you need in order to stay abreast of what is<br />\nhappening?<br />\n10. How do you want to hear about unexpected surprises —<br />\nthrough a phone call or email, or at project update meetings?</td>\n<td>Keep your team apprised of new developments so that they aren&#8217;t<br />\nworking in the dark. Agree on when they need to keep you informed<br />\non how implementation is proceeding, whether it&#8217;s good or bad<br />\nnews.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11. If you were the one listening to your message rather than<br />\ndelivering it, what else would you want to know?</td>\n<td>Putting yourself in your team&#8217;s shoes allows you to take a<br />\nvague bit of direction and make it more clear and specific. You can<br />\nalso identify relevant information you need to communicate<br />\nthroughout the project.</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"5 steps to faster, more informed decisions","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Can you make decisions swiftly and confidently when vast amounts of data cross your desk and inbox every day? How do you prioritize and rapidly respond in the midst of changing conditions? Well, you use the skills you already possess but may not be tapping into.</p>\n<p class=\"Tip\">Here&#8217;s an interesting correlation: The way you process information as you drive a vehicle works for making an informed decision, as well. If you drive well enough to be 98 percent accident-free, chances are you&#8217;re already a master of processing tons of data at high speed: You select pertinent information almost automatically and then use the information quickly and accurately. If you apply that innate skill to your decision-making, you can make informed business decisions without second guessing yourself.</p>\n<p>To sort from a sea of information, do these things:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Focus on the outcome.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Being clear about the end point does two things:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Provides guidance for your intuition, enabling you to sift through all the available information to select what&#8217;s important for the decision you need to make</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Gives you a solid anchor for your decisions that can accommodate opposing facts and perspectives</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"child-para\">If, for example, the end point is to stay under budget, then your decision and the data you use to inform your decision will be filtered based on that. If the end point is to produce a product that meets customers&#8217; unstated needs, then all the available information will be filtered using that criterion. <i>The outcome anchors your decision making.</i></p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Stop mentally concentrating on the issues and let your subconscious do the work for you.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Your subconscious is faster than your conscious mind, and it works automatically when your focus is clear. When you turn the issue over to your subconscious, you gain speed and accuracy.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Question and expose the beliefs you use to interpret how the world works.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Beliefs, otherwise known as <i>mental models</i> — things you believe to be true but that may not actually reflect a widened view of reality — filter reality to confirm your previous experiences.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Questioning your beliefs permits you to improve the accuracy of your analysis, jettison past connotations, and open up new possibilities.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Observe your emotions.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Step back to gain perspective and quiet the mental chatter so that you can accurately hear your inner voice. You&#8217;ll gain a wider view of the situation and be able to see alternatives.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para Remember\">It&#8217;s really easy to fall prey to doubt or to rationalize your decision. If you&#8217;re feeling fearful, you may think you have only one option or no options. In climates of high fear, when the rational dominates, making an informed decision requires that you achieve a calmer state of mind so that you can access your higher mental and intuitive functioning.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>After you analyze and review your options, select your decision, but before you commit, check in on how you feel about the option you&#8217;ve selected.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Call it a heart check. Even when the solution is a totally new approach, you need to feel at peace with it.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Remember\">Making an informed decision requires that you work with both facts (actual data) and emotional information, and that you take steps to mitigate the effect of ingrained bias. Doing so requires that you commit to mastering all your senses and intelligences so that, in chaotic decision-making environments, you&#8217;ll be able to balance data with open-minded experimentation and stay sensitive to cues that other decision-makers will miss.</p>\n"},{"title":"Incorporating core values into decision-making","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Core values reflect what is important to your company. They serve as the unshakeable foundation for what your company stands for in good and bad times. When integrated into decision-making, core values are part of decision-makers&#8217; mindsets at every level in the company.</p>\n<p class=\"Tip\">Consider core values the nonnegotiable part of your company&#8217;s reputation, sustained by the commitment of executives and employees at every level to live those values in their decision-making and in their relationships with company personnel, customers, suppliers, and communities.</p>\n<p>Core values express your company&#8217;s core priorities and its commitment to, for example, making the environment and social health integral parts of management and operational thinking and perspectives.</p>\n<p>To identify your core values, ask questions such as the following:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>To gain clarity on what you feel is critical:</strong></p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">What does your company stand for?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">What values express what is important and essential to how you operate and why your company exists?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>To gain insight on how your values permeate internal relationships:</strong></p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">How do your employees describe your company&#8217;s core values?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Why do they work for you and not the competitor down the street?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>To gain clarity on how your customers view your integrity and how your values are expressed through your action:</strong></p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">How would your suppliers or customers describe your values?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Tip\">To become a company that uses value-based decision-making to anchor decisions, you need to reflect on and identify what your company&#8217;s core values are. To do so, take a close look at what is going on in your company. Core values — whether they were thoughtfully created or not — are embedded in your company&#8217;s priorities, actions, and management decisions, and in its relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and the environment.</p>\n<p>When you incorporate your core values into your decision-making, you enjoy these benefits:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>In a business climate where customer testimonials define your reputation and attract loyalty, integrating your core values with decision-making and action offers stability, particularly when conditions are chaotic.</strong></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\"><a href=\"http://www.novonordisk.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Novo Nordisk</a>, for example, one of the world&#8217;s largest pharmaceutical companies, has a list of core values, as many companies do. It includes words <em>accountable, responsible, </em>and <em>ready for change. </em>That&#8217;s all well and good, but the important thing about core values isn&#8217;t what&#8217;s on the poster in the hall of a company; it&#8217;s how they&#8217;re applied. When Novo Nordisk makes decisions, the final check is, &#8220;Is the decision financially, environmentally, and socially responsible?&#8221; Simply put, the company&#8217;s commitment to core values — the health of the economy, environment, and society — is a recognized part of its long-term success.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\"><a href=\"http://www.unilever.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unilever</a> is another company that connects core values to priorities. Recognizing that the company is a part of a wider fabric of existence, its decision-makers actively engage a wider view, one that embraces the company but also extends beyond company boundaries into the health of society, communities, and the environment.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>When your company&#8217;s decisions are aligned with its core values, you streamline decision-making.</strong> When used for decision-making, core values take a complex set of conditions and run them through a simple filter so that financial and nonfinancial measure of success are intertwined. In a complex, fast-changing business environment, decision-making needs to be streamlined and progressive, and decision-makers need to look ahead rather than rely solely on past beliefs and practices.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">The solution isn&#8217;t to get rid of past practices altogether (although it may mean that); it&#8217;s to be aware of what guided decision-making in the past so that you can select faster, more effective approaches to meet today&#8217;s needs.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":207644},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:53:11+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-27T17:55:44+00:00","timestamp":"2022-04-27T18:01:08+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Complete MBA For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"complete mba for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"complete-mba-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"This Cheat Sheet outlines important aspects of business management, including delegating to employees, and developing a marketing plan.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.","description":"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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10120,"name":"Kathleen Allen","slug":"kathleen-allen","description":"Kathleen Allen, PhD, directs the USC Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization and is the author of several books on entrepreneurship.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10120"}},{"authorId":9734,"name":"Peter Economy","slug":"peter-economy","description":"Peter Economy is a best-selling business author, ghostwriter, development editor, and publishing consultant with more than 100 books, including several Dummies books, to his credit.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9734"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":201540,"title":"Reading an Annual Report","slug":"reading-an-annual-report","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/201540"}},{"articleId":200509,"title":"Designing a Better Business Organization","slug":"designing-a-better-business-organization","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/200509"}},{"articleId":199534,"title":"Choosing a Budget Method","slug":"choosing-a-budget-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/199534"}},{"articleId":199501,"title":"Conducting Effective Business Meetings","slug":"conducting-effective-business-meetings","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/199501"}},{"articleId":186199,"title":"How to Delegate Tasks among Employees","slug":"how-to-delegate-tasks-among-employees","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186199"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282099,"slug":"complete-mba-for-dummies-2nd-edition","isbn":"9780470194294","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/0470194294-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/complete-mba-for-dummies-2nd-edition-cover-9780470194294-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Complete MBA For Dummies, 2nd Edition","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"\n <p><b data-author-id=\"10120\">Dr. Kathleen Allen</b> directs the USC Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization and is the author of several books on entrepreneurship. </p>\n<p><b data-author-id=\"9734\">Peter Economy</b> has authored or co-authored several books including <i>Consulting For Dummies.</i> </p>","authors":[{"authorId":10120,"name":"Kathleen Allen","slug":"kathleen-allen","description":"Kathleen Allen, PhD, directs the USC Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization and is the author of several books on entrepreneurship.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10120"}},{"authorId":9734,"name":"Peter Economy","slug":"peter-economy","description":"Peter Economy is a best-selling business author, ghostwriter, development editor, and publishing consultant with more than 100 books, including several Dummies books, to his credit.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9734"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470194294&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-626984e44be98\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470194294&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-626984e44c801\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":186199,"title":"How to Delegate Tasks among Employees","slug":"how-to-delegate-tasks-among-employees","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186199"}},{"articleId":186175,"title":"How to Reward Employees Effectively","slug":"how-to-reward-employees-effectively","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186175"}},{"articleId":186173,"title":"Design Tips for Effective Business Websites","slug":"design-tips-for-effective-business-websites","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186173"}},{"articleId":186174,"title":"Developing a Concise Marketing Plan","slug":"developing-a-concise-marketing-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186174"}}],"content":[{"title":"How to delegate tasks among employees","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>No manager can do everything alone, MBA or not. Delegating is an effective tool that business managers can use to achieve goals. If you delegate work, responsibility, and authority to employees, you&#8217;ll increase the amount of work accomplished and often with better results.</p>\n<p>Delegation is a great management tool when done right, so follow these steps to help:</p>\n<ol class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Communicate the task.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Describe to your employees exactly what you want done, when you want it done, and the end results you expect. Be clear and unambiguous, and encourage your employees to ask questions.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Furnish context for the task<b>.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Explain to your employees why the task is important, how it fits into the overall scheme of things, and any possible complications that may arise during its performance. Encourage employees to ask questions, and don&#8217;t get defensive if your employees push you for answers (someone always will).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Determine standards.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Everyone needs to know when they cross the finish line. Agree on the standards that you&#8217;ll use to measure the success of the task&#8217;s completion. These standards should be realistic and attainable, and you should avoid changing them after performance has begun.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Grant authority.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Empower your employees with the level of authority required to complete the task — they can do without constant roadblocks or standoffs with other employees.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Provide support<b>.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Determine the resources (money, training, manpower, advice, and so forth) your employees require to complete the task and then provide them.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Get commitment.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Don&#8217;t assume that your employees will automatically accept the assignment; you must make sure that they do. Reaffirm your expectations and confirm your employees&#8217; understanding of the commitment to completing the task.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n"},{"title":"How to reward employees effectively","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>As a business manager, you know your employees will be happier, perform better, and stay at their job longer when they&#8217;re recognized and rewarded for doing a good job.</p>\n<p>Do your part as manager by using these guidelines for effectively recognizing and rewarding employees:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Specify the behavior you&#8217;re rewarding.</b> When you reward an employee, be sure that you&#8217;re clear about exactly what behavior merits recognition. Say, for example, &#8220;You did a great job yesterday afternoon when you helped that customer figure out which product was the best for her needs,&#8221; or &#8220;I really appreciate all the extra effort you put into the Scanlon project.&#8221;</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Give the reward sincerely.</b> People greatly appreciate sincere expressions of thanks, but they won&#8217;t accept insincere or false praise — in fact, they may be insulted by it. Only offer your employees rewards and recognition when they&#8217;ve truly earned them.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Be positive.</b> When you give rewards and recognition, do so in a positive and uplifting way. Your goal is to inspire the employee — and, in turn, his or her colleagues — to continue exhibiting the behavior you&#8217;re rewarding. And never immediately follow praise with a reprimand!</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Give the reward as close to the event as possible.</b> To have maximum impact on employee behavior, give rewards as soon as possible. Waiting days, weeks, or months will greatly lessen the impact and perhaps extinguish it altogether.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Design tips for effective business websites","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>MBA-level executives know that a well-designed business website is critical for attracting customers and generating sales. When customers access websites, they want to find information quickly. The easier it is for your customers to use your website, the more likely it is that they&#8217;ll take action — such as registering at your website, answering company-generated questions, or purchasing product.</p>\n<p>Try these tips when designing your business&#8217;s home page:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Grab customers&#8217; attention.</b> For instance, you can create a specific headline that grabs readers&#8217; eyes. If your user is searching for gardening books and enters those words into your site&#8217;s search engine, you want your site to pop up with a related headline. It should have the words &#8220;gardening books&#8221; in it rather than something completely general, like &#8220;Find any book you want here!&#8221;</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Use images to convey your message.</b> Not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but it also takes up less space!</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Motivate customers to act quickly.</b> Put a time limit on what they&#8217;re looking for. For instance, offer a discount if they purchase an item today. There&#8217;s no quicker way to get people to act than by giving away something for free. If you want your users to register for your site, for instance, consider giving them a free newsletter.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Offer customers payment options.</b> They should have a number of ways to pay for the products or services you&#8217;re offering. For example, you can offer an online payment service such as PayPal, and you can accept credit cards either online or through a toll-free number. After you design your home page, test it with users and track the responses you get. Create several versions of your home page—practice makes perfect!</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Developing a concise marketing plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Your marketing plan can be an elaborate 50-page business plan or a simple paragraph. In fact, many professional marketers suggest the simple one-paragraph plan because it&#8217;s focused and identifies the key components. A productive one-paragraph marketing plan has the following elements:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Purpose:</b> What&#8217;s the marketing plan supposed to accomplish?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Benefits:</b> How will your products and services satisfy the needs of the customer?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Customer:</b> Who&#8217;s your primary customer, and what&#8217;s your strategy for building long-term relationships with that customer?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Company image:</b> How will the customer see your company? Remember, customers will contribute to positioning your company in the marketplace.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Niche:</b> What&#8217;s the niche in the market that your company has defined and will serve?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Tactics:</b> What specific marketing tools will you use to reach customers? You can utilize advertising, promotion, a Web site, publicity, and so on.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Budget:</b> How much of your budget will you allocate to this effort?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208494},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:51:56+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-25T15:43:58+00:00","timestamp":"2022-04-25T18:01:12+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Robert’s Rules For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"robert’s rules for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"roberts-rules-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Remember all the details of parliamentary procedure to ensure efficient decision-making and due regard for the rights of the minority.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.\r\n\r\nKeeping 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.","description":"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.\r\n\r\nKeeping 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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9838,"name":"C. Alan Jennings, PRP","slug":"c-alan-jennings-prp","description":"","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9838"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":220933,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Reports and Recommendations","slug":"roberts-rules-reports-recommendations","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220933"}},{"articleId":220922,"title":"Being Secretary According to Robert’s Rules","slug":"secretary-according-roberts-rules","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220922"}},{"articleId":220917,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Contesting an Election","slug":"roberts-rules-contesting-election","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220917"}},{"articleId":220900,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Disposing of a Main Motion","slug":"roberts-rules-disposing-main-motion","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220900"}},{"articleId":220894,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Interrupting a Debate","slug":"roberts-rules-interrupting-debate","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220894"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282542,"slug":"roberts-rules-for-dummies","isbn":"9781119824589","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119824583-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/9781119824589-170x255.jpg","width":170,"height":255},"title":"Robert's Rules For Dummies, 4th Edition","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"\n <p>C. Alan Jennings, PRP, holds a Professional Registered Parliamentarian credential from the National Association of Parliamentarians. He is past president of the Louisiana Association of Parliamentarians and a member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. Learn more at alanjennings.com.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":10932,"name":"C. Alan Jennings PRP","slug":"c-alan-jennings","description":"C. Alan Jennings, PRP, holds a Professional Registered Parliamentarian credential from the National Association of Parliamentarians. He is past president of the Louisiana Association of Parliamentarians and a member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. Learn more at alanjennings.com.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10932"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119824589&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6266e1e902a6a\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119824589&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6266e1e903432\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":175196,"title":"Using Robert's Rules: The Presiding Officer’s Script","slug":"using-roberts-rules-the-presiding-officers-script","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/175196"}},{"articleId":175185,"title":"Making and Handling Motions Following Robert's Rules","slug":"making-and-handling-motions-following-roberts-rules","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/175185"}},{"articleId":175180,"title":"Following the Standard Order of Business","slug":"following-the-standard-order-of-business","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/175180"}}],"content":[{"title":"The presiding officer's script","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>The best <a href=\"https://dummies-wp-content.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/ten-tips-for-presiding-officers-per-roberts-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">presiding officers </a>plan ahead. With an agenda and knowledge of the business at hand before the meeting, a plan can turn into a script like the following example that following Robert’s Rules and will enable you to preside like a pro.</p>\n<h3><strong>President’s Scripted Agenda</strong></h3>\n<p>June 19, 2012</p>\n<p>Call to order:</p>\n<p>3:00 p.m.</p>\n<p>Rap the gavel once. One time. Uno Rappo. Ein Bangf.</p>\n<p><em>The meeting will come to order.</em></p>\n<p>Approval or correction of minutes:</p>\n<p><em>The secretary’s draft of the minutes of the May meeting was sent to you last week, and a copy is in your meeting packet. Knowing you all to be judicious minute-readers, please let me know now if you found any errors. </em></p>\n<p>Pause.</p>\n<p><em>Are there any corrections to the minutes as distributed?</em></p>\n<p>Take corrections until there are no more.</p>\n<p><em>If there are no (further) corrections, the minutes stand approved as distributed (corrected).</em></p>\n<p><em>The next order of business is officer reports.</em></p>\n<h3><strong>Reports of Officers</strong></h3>\n<p>President’s Report:</p>\n<p><em>You have a copy of my written report, so I’ll review a couple of highlights and move on. </em></p>\n<p>Treasurer’s Report:</p>\n<p><em>The treasurer is absent this afternoon, but furnished his report. Let’s take a minute to review it. I hope I can answer any questions.</em></p>\n<p><em>We have 281 dues-paid members, $21,272 total cash accounts. You have in your meeting packets some financial reports for the period 1/1 to 5/31.</em></p>\n<p><em>You have an itemized income and expense report covering our year to date in your materials along with an expense detail available; if you have any questions, I’ll be glad to try to answer them.</em></p>\n<p>Handle questions:</p>\n<p><em>No action is required on the treasurer’s report. It will be filed for audit.</em></p>\n<p><em>Before we continue, please allow me to report some committee appointments. </em></p>\n<p>Report committee chairmen and membership appointments so far.</p>\n<p>Executive Director’s Report:</p>\n<p><em>The chair recognizes Mr. ED for a report.</em></p>\n<p><em>Thank you Mr. ED</em></p>\n<p><em>There are a number of recommendations here and we’ll take them up one at a time. . . .</em></p>\n<p>Ask Secretary to read the first recommendation. Someone then should “move the adoption of the recommendation just read.”</p>\n<p>State the motion</p>\n<p><em>It is moved to adopt the recommendation just read. Is there debate?” </em></p>\n<p>Handle discussion; put the question when ready by saying,</p>\n<p><em>Those in favor say “Aye” [pause] </em></p>\n<p><em>Those opposed say “No”. . . .</em></p>\n<p><em>The motion passes (fails) and the recommendation is (not) adopted.</em></p>\n<p><em>The next order of business is standing committee reports.</em></p>\n<h3><strong>Reports of Standing Committees</strong></h3>\n<p>Membership Committee Chairman’s Report:</p>\n<p><em>The chair recognizes ____ for the membership committee report.</em></p>\n<p>[Script for motions arising from the report]</p>\n<p><em>Thank you ____.</em></p>\n<p>Finance Committee Chairman’s Report:</p>\n<p><em>Your president is the current finance chairman and the treasurer’s report given earlier covered everything.</em></p>\n<p>Convention Committee Report:</p>\n<p><em>Members, complete information from the last Convention that has not been finalized, and the Convention Committee will report at the next meeting.</em></p>\n<p><em>Next order of business is reports of special committees.</em></p>\n<h3><strong>Reports of Special Committees</strong></h3>\n<p>Special Certification Committee Report:</p>\n<p><em>The chair recognizes ____ for the certification committee report.</em></p>\n<p>[Script and handle motions arising from this report]</p>\n<p><em>Thank you.</em></p>\n<p>Special Chapter Charter Revision Committee Report:</p>\n<p><em>The chair recognizes ____ for the chapter charter revision committee report.</em></p>\n<p><em>You have a written committee report. The committee recommends you adopt the following resolution.</em></p>\n<p>Read the resolution.</p>\n<p><em>The question is on the adoption of the resolution just read. Is there debate?</em></p>\n<p>Handle debate, put the question, announce the result.</p>\n<p><em>The motion passes, and the resolution is adopted.</em></p>\n<h3><strong>New Business</strong></h3>\n<p><em>Is there new business?</em></p>\n<p><em>The Chair recognizes AB.</em></p>\n<p>[AB makes motion and it is seconded.]</p>\n<p><em>It is moved and seconded to create a special committee of three members to be appointed by the president to report recommendations on requirements for annual continuing education credits for members.</em></p>\n<p>Handle debate, put the question, announce the result.</p>\n<p><em>Is there any further business to come before the meeting?</em></p>\n<h3><strong>Announcements</strong></h3>\n<p><em>We need to set the date for our next meeting. It looks like September 18 is the usual date. Shall we meet next at 3 pm on September 18? Hearing no objection, we’ll meet next on September 18 at 3pm here at the clubhouse.</em></p>\n<h3><strong>Adjourn</strong></h3>\n<p><em>There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting is adjourned.</em></p>\n"},{"title":"Making and handling motions following Robert's Rules","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>In an organization that’s following Robert’s Rules, when that light bulb goes off in your head and you have a great idea, you make a motion to get your idea discussed and a decision made. Here are the eight steps required from start to finish to make a motion and get the decision of the assembly. Each step is a required part of the process. See also <a href=\"https://dummies-wp-content.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/roberts-rules-on-basic-motions/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert’s Rules on Basic Motions</a>.</p>\n<table width=\"655\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Step</td>\n<td>What to Say</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1. The member rises and addresses the chair.</td>\n<td>“Mr./Madam Chairman.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2. The chair recognizes the member.</td>\n<td>“The chair recognizes Ms. Gliggenschlapp.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3. The member makes a motion.</td>\n<td>“I move to purchase a copy of <em>Robert’s Rules For<br />\nDummies</em> for our president.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4. Another member seconds the motion.</td>\n<td>“Second.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5. The chair states the motion.</td>\n<td>“It is moved and seconded to purchase a copy of<br />\n<em>Robert’s Rules For Dummies</em> for your president. Are you ready for the question?”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6. The members debate the motion.</td>\n<td>“The chair recognizes Ms. Gliggenschlapp to speak to her<br />\nmotion. . . .”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7. The chair puts the question, and the members vote.</td>\n<td>“Those in favor of adopting the motion to buy a copy of <em>Robert’s Rules For Dummies</em> for your president, say<br />\n‘Aye.’ [pause] Those opposed, say ‘No.’”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8. The chair announces the result of the vote.</td>\n<td>“The ayes have it, and the motion carries. A copy of<br />\n<em>Robert’s Rules For Dummies</em> will be purchased for your<br />\npresident.”</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"Following the standard order of business","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>An easy way to remember the Robert’s Rules standard order of business is with the mnemonic 3R-SUN — you can see it clearly in the following list. This list is a quick reference to make it easy for you to set up a <a href=\"https://dummies-wp-content.dummies.com/education/politics-government/roberts-rules-using-an-agenda-to-produce-better-meetings/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">basic agenda for your meeting</a>.</p>\n<ol>\n<li>Reading and approval of minutes</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://dummies-wp-content.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/roberts-rules-and-the-reports-of-officers-boards-and-special-committees/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reports of officers, boards</a>, and standing committees</li>\n<li>Reports of special (select and ad hoc) committees</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://dummies-wp-content.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/roberts-rules-and-special-orders-of-the-day/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Special orders</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://dummies-wp-content.dummies.com/careers/business-communication/roberts-rules-unfinished-business-general-orders/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unfinished business</a> and general orders</li>\n<li>New business</li>\n</ol>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2021-12-03T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208284},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:48:34+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-18T19:39:33+00:00","timestamp":"2022-04-19T00:01:29+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Business Storytelling For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"business storytelling for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"business-storytelling-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"This Cheat Sheet outlines a variety of different ways to approach storytelling in your business to connect with your audience.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.\r\n\r\nThere 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.","description":"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.\r\n\r\nThere 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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9532,"name":"Karen Dietz","slug":"karen-dietz","description":"Karen Dietz, PhD, is a 25-year veteran in business storytelling consulting, training, and leadership, and organizational development.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9532"}},{"authorId":9533,"name":"Lori L. Silverman","slug":"lori-l-silverman","description":"Lori L. Silverman offers business storytelling training, keynotes, and consulting. For 26 years, she's advised enterprises on strategic planning and organizational change.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9533"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":160936,"title":"10 Things You Should Always Do When Working with Storytelling","slug":"10-things-you-should-always-do-when-working-with-storytelling","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160936"}},{"articleId":160934,"title":"How Data Can Enhance Your Business Storytelling","slug":"how-data-can-enhance-your-business-storytelling","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160934"}},{"articleId":160933,"title":"How to Write Business Storytelling Titles that Grab People’s Attention","slug":"how-to-write-business-storytelling-titles-that-grab-peoples-attention","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160933"}},{"articleId":160935,"title":"Business Storytelling with Virtual Teams","slug":"business-storytelling-with-virtual-teams","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160935"}},{"articleId":160911,"title":"Different Types of Business Stories and How to Find Them","slug":"different-types-of-business-stories-and-how-to-find-them","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160911"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282041,"slug":"business-storytelling-for-dummies","isbn":"9781118661215","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118661214/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1118661214/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1118661214-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1118661214/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1118661214/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/business-storytelling-for-dummies-cover-9781118661215-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Business Storytelling For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"\n <b data-author-id=\"9532\">Karen Dietz</b>, PhD, is a 25-year veteran in business storytelling consulting, training, and leadership, and organizational development. Lori L. Silverman offers business storytelling training, keynotes, and consulting. For 26 years, she's advised enterprises on strategic planning and organizational change.","authors":[{"authorId":9532,"name":"Karen Dietz","slug":"karen-dietz","description":"Karen Dietz, PhD, is a 25-year veteran in business storytelling consulting, training, and leadership, and organizational development.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9532"}},{"authorId":9533,"name":"Lori L. Silverman","slug":"lori-l-silverman","description":"Lori L. Silverman offers business storytelling training, keynotes, and consulting. For 26 years, she's advised enterprises on strategic planning and organizational change.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9533"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118661215&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-625dfbd99202c\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118661215&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-625dfbd9929b7\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":160910,"title":"Storyboarding Your Business Story","slug":"storyboarding-your-business-story","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160910"}},{"articleId":160912,"title":"11 Story Structures for Business Storytelling","slug":"11-story-structures-for-business-storytelling","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160912"}},{"articleId":160911,"title":"Different Types of Business Stories and How to Find Them","slug":"different-types-of-business-stories-and-how-to-find-them","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/160911"}}],"content":[{"title":"Storyboarding your business story","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Storyboarding is a nonlinear way to craft and learn your business stories. Here are the steps to creating an effective one. If you’ve been crafting your stories in other ways, try this approach for variety. It may stimulate a more creative flow.</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Steps</th>\n<th>Instructions</th>\n<th>Comments</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 1</td>\n<td>Grab a pad of Post-It notes, a stack of 3 × 5 cards, and<br />\nsomething to write with.</td>\n<td>If your story is very long, it can help to break up sections by<br />\nusing different colored 3 × 5 cards.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 2</td>\n<td>Start with an image or a trigger word. What’s the first<br />\nimage that brings your story to mind? What’s the first image<br />\nyou want to convey to listeners? Some images may be too complex to<br />\ndraw. But a simple trigger word generates an image in the mind. So<br />\nfeel free to generate a mix of images and trigger words.<br />\nDraw the image or write the trigger word on a Post-It and stick it<br />\nto a 3 × 5 card. This isn’t about art! Just scribble<br />\nwhat you need to so you can remember the image or word.<br />\nIf you don’t like what you drew or the selected word, rip off<br />\nthe Post-It and write a new one. That’s a lot cheaper than<br />\nrecycling 3 × 5 cards.</td>\n<td>For stories to be authentically shared, don’t memorize<br />\nthem by rote. Spend time figuring out the images and trigger words<br />\nyou want to convey and put them in the order you want so you can<br />\nshare the story. Having a solid launch makes the rest of the story<br />\neasier to tell.<br />\nIf you can see the image, you can convey it to your listeners. The<br />\njob of the storyteller, when telling, is to feed the listener<br />\nimages to feast on. Focusing on images is an easy way to both<br />\nremember the story and trigger the experience in your<br />\nlisteners’ minds. When you’re re-experiencing the<br />\nstory, your listeners can experience it with you.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 3</td>\n<td>Continue through the rest of the story. Keep drawing images<br />\nand/or scribbling trigger words until you’ve gone through the<br />\nentire story. By the end you should have a full image deck.</td>\n<td>Don’t worry about how many cards you have at this point.<br />\nJust get the images down in the order you think they go in. The<br />\nsize of the deck can get large if it’s a long story. Rubber<br />\nband sets of them together if you need to.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 4</td>\n<td>By yourself, review the story and eliminate extraneous details.<br />\nKeep it simple. Boil the story down to its essential images.</td>\n<td>In the first pass you might create a card for every piece and<br />\ndetail of the story. That can easily become overwhelming. Now is<br />\nthe time to start winnowing down the pile to make it manageable and<br />\neasier to remember.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 5</td>\n<td>Speak the story out loud. Rearrange the images as you need to.<br />\nYou may also find that an image or trigger word you discarded<br />\nbecomes important again. Add it back in. Likewise, some other<br />\nimages can be eliminated.</td>\n<td>Once you start speaking the story out loud, the order of the<br />\nimages may change. This is normal as you recall what happened and<br />\nfigure out how the story wants to be told.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 6</td>\n<td>Images need transitions to get the listener from one place in<br />\nthe story to the next. Solidify these transitions. Write them out,<br />\nif necessary. These are usually very short — typically a<br />\nsimple sentence. It can often help to memorize these<br />\ntransitions.</td>\n<td>Transitions help get you to the story’s key message. If<br />\nyou’re clear about them, then you have flexibility in how you<br />\nshare your experiences. They allow you to tell the story in<br />\ndifferent ways to different audiences while still remembering the<br />\nsteps you took to get to the key point.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 7</td>\n<td>Practice, practice, practice. Practice the story out loud. Get<br />\nused to hearing your story being spoken.<br />\nTake your image deck out for a walk, telling your story out loud as<br />\nyou work through your cards. Or speak it while on a treadmill. Time<br />\nyour story as you practice and walk with it.<br />\nShare your story with a trusted partner.</td>\n<td>In this step you’re learning to tell the story by moving<br />\nfrom image to image, and using your transitions to get from one<br />\nplace to another.<br />\nAs you speak it out loud and with trusted friends, make further<br />\nadjustments as you figure out what’s working and what you<br />\nwant to fix.<br />\nSpeaking your story out loud as you walk or use a treadmill are<br />\nterrific ways to build the story into you physically, while<br />\ntraining you to tell it in spite of distractions. This is how you<br />\nbegin to know physically what 10 minutes feels like. Or 3 minutes.<br />\nIf you only have 3 minutes or 10 minutes to share your story,<br />\nbuilding in this internal time clock is invaluable —<br />\nespecially when a clock or timer isn’t available. And how<br />\noften do you glance at your watch when telling a story? Hardly<br />\never. If you do this physical step, you won’t need to.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Step 8</td>\n<td>Practice and tell your story without the cards.</td>\n<td>Yeah! You’ve arrived. You know your story. You know the<br />\norder of the images so you can tell it well and with confidence.<br />\nYour transitions flow and the key message and following action<br />\nsteps are delivered flawlessly.<br />\nNow you can tell that story in different ways by simply reordering<br />\nthe cards, finding new transitions, and maybe even sharing a<br />\ndifferent key point and/or action steps.<br />\nJust keep having fun!</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"11 story structures for business storytelling","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>If you want to develop and deliver a memorable story to your business audience — whether your listeners be employees, stockholders, or customers — you need to consider how to shape your storytelling. Here are some ways in which you might build your business story for maximum impact:</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Name</th>\n<th>Structure</th>\n<th>Comments</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“I’m Better Off”</td>\n<td>Main character gets in trouble, then gets out of trouble, and<br />\nends up better off for the experience.</td>\n<td>Story of struggle and redemption — of losing everything<br />\nand gaining something better in return. A bankruptcy, being let go<br />\nfrom a job, losing a home, or making major mistakes and recovering<br />\nfrom them.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Highlight Both Loss and Gain”</td>\n<td>Main character falls in love with a business or opportunity or<br />\nis doing work that fulfills their dreams — loses it when<br />\nsomething puts those dreams on hold — and then regains<br />\nit.</td>\n<td>This is a very common business story. What makes it different<br />\nthan “I’m Better Off” is that there’s a dream<br />\nthat starts the story, which is followed by loss.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“The Cinderella Down-and-Out Story”</td>\n<td>The main character is in a bad spot. A special helper provides<br />\ngifts, but then the character loses their good standing. Eventually<br />\nthat good standing is restored, and the character gains incredible<br />\nbliss.</td>\n<td>The most popular story in Western civilization. In business,<br />\nthis could be a story of dissatisfying work and living in<br />\ndesperation. Then a mentor comes along and transforms the<br />\nperson’s life, but circumstances still hold the character<br />\nback. These are eventually resolved which leads to the<br />\ncharacter’s dreams being realized.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>SHARES</td>\n<td>Start with a <i>setting</i> (“I was sitting at my desk . .<br />\n.”), followed by the <i>hindrance</i> or obstacle that’s<br />\ncreating a problem. The <i>action</i> that was taken is given next,<br />\nfollowed by the <i>result</i>. The teller then provides a statement<br />\n<i>evaluating</i> the experience (“this made me think about .<br />\n. .”), ending with <i>suggested actions</i>.</td>\n<td>This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited.<br />\nIt’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail<br />\nnewsletters and on blogs where space is short.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>PARLAS</td>\n<td>Start by presenting the <i>problem</i>. Then work your way<br />\nthrough the <i>action</i> taken to solve the problem, what the<br />\n<i>result</i> was, what was <i>learned</i> in the process<br />\n(“what I learned from this was . . .”), how that learning<br />\n<i>applies</i> to today, and ending with <i>suggested</i> actions<br />\nfor your audience.</td>\n<td>This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited.<br />\nIt’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail<br />\nnewsletters and on blogs where space is short.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>CHARQES</td>\n<td>Start with laying out the <i>context</i> — what was<br />\nhappening and why. Then the <i>challenge</i> is presented, what<br />\n<i>action</i> was taken comes next, followed by the <i>result</i><br />\nin <i>quantifiable</i> numbers. After this, the teller gives an<br />\n<i>evaluation</i> of the experience and finally provides<br />\n<i>suggested</i> actions to take.</td>\n<td>This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited.<br />\nIt’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail<br />\nnewsletters and on blogs where space is short.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>CCARLS</td>\n<td>Start with the <i>context</i> of the issue (similar to<br />\nCHARQES). Then the <i>challenge</i> is presented, the <i>action</i><br />\nthat was taken is brought in, and the <i>result</i> is provided<br />\n— along with the <i>lesson</i><i>.</i> <i>Suggested</i><br />\nactions are given at the end.</td>\n<td>This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited.<br />\nIt’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail<br />\nnewsletters and on blogs where space is short.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Open with an Opportunity”</td>\n<td>Present a possibility — a dream, a promise — based<br />\non what’s known to be true today. Follow this with the<br />\nobstacle that’s preventing this possibility from happening,<br />\nhow others have already helped to (partially) remove the obstacle<br />\n(if indeed that’s the case), and the action steps your<br />\naudience can take to overcome it.</td>\n<td>This is a powerful structure for nonprofits and companies<br />\ninvolved in social change.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Speak to the Why”</td>\n<td>1. State a problem that the product or service addresses.<br />\n2. The first “why” is: Why is that important? Because . .<br />\n.<br />\n3. The second “why”: Why is that important? Because . .<br />\n.<br />\n4. The third “why”: Why is that important? Because . .<br />\n.<br />\n5. The fourth “why”: Why is that important? Because . .<br />\n.<br />\n6. The fifth “why”: Why is that important? Because . .<br />\n.<br />\n7. The ultimate “why” is: Because . . .</td>\n<td>Use in marketing to get at a product or service story.<br />\nExample:<br />\n1. Our product makes stinky sneakers smell better.<br />\n2. Because stinky sneakers turn people off.<br />\n3. Because when they’re turned off to you, they won’t<br />\nwant to hang around you.<br />\n4. Because if they don’t want to hang around you, you<br />\ncan’t get to know them.<br />\n5. Because if you can’t get to know them, you can’t<br />\ndate them.<br />\n6. Because if you can’t date them, you won’t get one to<br />\nmarry you.<br />\n7. The ultimate “why”: If you have smelly sneakers,<br />\nyou’ll never find your mate (and never get married).</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Leverage the Underdog”</td>\n<td>1. Describe the significant struggle that the person has<br />\nexperienced.<br />\n2. Insert a hint of hope.<br />\n3. Share the moment of deliverance from the struggle.<br />\n4. Provide the key message.<br />\n5. Reference back to the implied action steps or attitudes if this<br />\ncan be done appropriately.<br />\n6. Show how your organization is celebrating the success.</td>\n<td>People love underdogs. Think Superman, Spiderman, and other<br />\nfavorite heroes who experience deliverance. Hint: We’re all<br />\nheroes who’ve experienced deliverance. And many of your<br />\ncustomers are underdogs who have overcome and persevered. Hope is<br />\nthe ultimate message.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Present-Future”</td>\n<td>1. Start out by painting the picture of the current<br />\nreality.<br />\n2. Introduce the first turning point — the urgent call to do<br />\nthings differently.<br />\n3. State what could be.<br />\n4. Outline what is (based on another part of step 1).<br />\n5. State another example of what could be.<br />\n6. Outline what is (based on another part of step 1).<br />\n7. State another example of what could be.<br />\n8. Outline what is (based on another part of step 1).<br />\n9. Introduce the second turning point — the call to action<br />\n— and articulate the finish line and problem resolution.<br />\nThese are action steps that will resolve shortcomings in the<br />\ncurrent reality and bring about the future.<br />\n10. End on a higher plane. Have proof of a happy ending to share so<br />\nfolks know their hard work, dedication, commitment, and<br />\nperseverance will pay off. They’ll have a greater commitment<br />\nto taking action knowing it won’t be easy, but worth it.</td>\n<td>This structure is very useful when presenting a project that<br />\nyou want people to support or become a part of. And it’s a<br />\ngreat structure to use when launching change.</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"Different types of business stories and how to find them","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Organizations use and tell lots of different types of stories, many of which are listed here. Each type is appropriate for various unique uses and applications. <i>Story prompt</i><i>s</i> are things you say to someone else in order to draw out the story.</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Name and Definition</th>\n<th>Possible Story Prompts or Steps to Craft These Stories</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Your founding” stories: Moments in your life that<br />\nmade a huge difference in who you are today. Sometimes people talk<br />\nabout these as <i>I finally realized who I am</i> or<br />\n<i>Here’s when I began to feel comfortable in my own skin</i><br />\nsituations.</td>\n<td>“An event surrounding your birth may be of huge<br />\nsignificance. Enlighten me about a time like this.”<br />\n“Share with me a memory about an early childhood situation<br />\nthat defines you to this day.”<br />\n“Tell me about an event that has profoundly shaped you as a<br />\nperson.”<br />\n“Tell me about that moment when you just knew you needed to<br />\npursue the career or business you have today.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Organizational founding” stories: Every organization<br />\nhas a unique founding story about its inception and which problem<br />\nit originally was focused on solving. This type of story includes<br />\nstories about the founder and/or key leaders.</td>\n<td>Ask the founders: “Tell me about that moment which<br />\nmotivated you to start the organization. Or about a problem that<br />\nyou couldn’t solve that led you to start this organization.<br />\nOr about an experience that compelled you to conceive this<br />\norganization.”<br />\nIf it’s your own company: “Tell me about that moment<br />\nwhen you clearly knew you had to open your own business. Or about<br />\nan experience you had earlier in life that led you to create this<br />\norganization.”<br />\nIf your organization has been around for a long time: If no one<br />\nrecalls how it started, dig into archives and old newspaper<br />\nclippings.<br />\nIf you work for a government agency: The founding story may be<br />\nburied in legislative materials or the creation of a law. Go find<br />\nthat stuff and piece together the story. If you can, interview<br />\nthose who may have been involved at the time.<br />\nIf the company has completely reinvented itself: “Tell me<br />\nabout the event or situation that was a key turning point in the<br />\norganization.”<br />\nFor existing products and services: Figure out who was responsible<br />\nfor their creation. “Tell me about the situation, or series of<br />\nsituations, that caused you to invent XYZ.”<br />\nIf you’re working on a new offering or innovation: Keep track<br />\nof what sparked the effort. Then craft a story about it.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“What you stand for” stories: Stories that relay what<br />\nyou value and prize the most. They may come from experiences in<br />\nyour personal life or within a work setting unrelated to where<br />\nyou’re employed today.</td>\n<td>“Tell me about a situation that caused you to realize you<br />\nhold strongly to a specific value in life.”<br />\n“Paint for me a picture of a time in your life where you were<br />\nvery clear about what’s essential to your ethical<br />\nwell-being.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about a time when a principle you hold became<br />\nnon-negotiable for you.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“What the organization stands for” stories: Stories<br />\nthat depict how core values are <i>embodied</i> in your workplace.<br />\nThese aren’t stories to say that your organization has<br />\nvalues. Convey what’s done to actualize these values.</td>\n<td>If you’re an entrepreneur wanting to distill what your<br />\nfirm stands for: Identify up to ten values that are critically<br />\nimportant to how you want to run your firm. Then systematically<br />\ncollect stories of how your organization embodies them.<br />\nIf you have feedback from customers, members, patients, clients,<br />\nand so on: Pull out situations that appear to exemplify the values<br />\nthese individuals feel are important in how your organization<br />\ninterfaces with them. Craft stories around these experiences.<br />\nIf your organization has been around for several years: Ask<br />\nlong-tenured employees: “Tell me about a time when the<br />\nbusiness operated in such a way that what’s highly prized<br />\ncame to the surface.” Or: “Tell me about a time when<br />\nqualities we most prize came through in our interactions with<br />\ncustomers.” Or: “Tell me about a time when what we most<br />\nprize about our business products or services was clearly<br />\ndemonstrated.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“What you do” stories: Stories about memorable<br />\nmoments in your work life that define how you spend your time told<br />\nin a way that allows others to <i>experience</i> what you do as an<br />\nindividual. These stories include both successses and<br />\nfailures.</td>\n<td>“Tell me about a time when you were influenced by a mentor<br />\nor coach and how that shaped the way you view your<br />\nwork.”<br />\n“Paint me a picture of a memorable moment in your career<br />\nthat’s impacted your perception of the work that you<br />\ndo.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about an event that’s profoundly impacted<br />\nyou as a person and how this is reflected in your work.”<br />\n“Tell me about the personal legacy that you’re leaving<br />\nthrough the work that you do.”<br />\n“Tell me a story about your work that reflects its ultimate<br />\nimportance.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“What the enterprise does” stories: Stories about the<br />\n<i>why</i> of what the organization believes in (this isn’t<br />\nto make a profit).</td>\n<td>“Tell me a story about the <i>why</i> behind what you, as<br />\nstaff, are collectively paid to do as an organization.”<br />\n“Talk to me about a customer challenge that demonstrates what<br />\ndrives your business.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about a situation that demonstrates the impact<br />\nyour organization has on the lives of individuals or the<br />\ncommunity.”<br />\n“Visualize and tell me about a specific moment in time that<br />\nrevealed to you and your colleagues the importance of the work you<br />\nall do.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Personal vision” stories: An image of a possible,<br />\nattractive, and desirable state not yet realized. (This is a type<br />\nof “future” story.)</td>\n<td>Consider journaling stories related to the following prompts.<br />\nThen step back and observe what they’re telling you in sum<br />\ntotal:<br />\nTell yourself about a time when you truly expressed your passions.<br />\nOr paint a picture of what you see yourself doing for the rest of<br />\nyour life. Or create in your mind’s eye a story about what<br />\nyou envision your legacy will be.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Personal scenario” stories: Whenever you have a<br />\ndecision to make, you roll through multiple options. You can craft<br />\nstories around these scenarios. (This is a type of<br />\n“future” story)</td>\n<td>Select a complex decision that you need to make — an<br />\nissue that has significant consequences or is fuzzy somehow.<br />\nBrainstorm at least three options. For each option, craft the story<br />\nof what the outcome would look like if it were to be realized. Then<br />\nstep back and figure out which story best depicts the outcome that<br />\nbest suits the situation.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Dream” stories: A personal story about the future of<br />\na project, business, product, service, or enterprise. (This is a<br />\ntype of “future” story.)</td>\n<td>If you’re a leader, your job is to offer people a dream<br />\nand allow them to articulate their version of it. Sometimes these<br />\ndreams emerge from seeing what’s possible in the future.<br />\nSometimes the dream comes from the past — a video of a talk<br />\nfrom a leader who has since died, an unrealized project, archived<br />\nmaterials, or the organization’s founding.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Organizational future” stories: The story of the<br />\nfuture that you and your business’s customers, by being in<br />\nrelationship with each other, create to bring about a difference in<br />\nthe world. It’s a story of the better future that<br />\nyou’re advancing together, along with what you’re doing<br />\nnow to achieve it.</td>\n<td>This story is based on the organization’s vision,<br />\nstrategies, and goals coming to fruition at some future specified<br />\ndate. It expands a vision statement into a full-blown situation,<br />\nwith characters and conflicts that are overcome. To aid in doing<br />\nthis, you may want to conduct interviews with future-thinking<br />\ncustomers, vendors, and others who know your organization, and the<br />\ndifference your products and services are making and could make in<br />\npeople’s lives.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Project-specific future” stories</td>\n<td>Similar to an organizational future story, a project-specific<br />\nfuture story is based on what life will be like when the vision and<br />\nproject plan are fully implemented and operationalized.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Organizational-based scenario” stories</td>\n<td>Consider the approach used by the 2020 Media Futures Project.<br />\nYou can <a href=\"http://2020mediafutures.ca/Reports\"><b>download<br />\nseveral reports</b></a> that outline their approach.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Your personal success” stories</td>\n<td>“Share with me a memory about a time when you achieved a<br />\nmajor personal success that was unexpected.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time when you set out to do something and<br />\nfound success beyond your wildest dreams.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about a time in your personal life when you<br />\nstumbled into a wildly successful situation.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time when you consciously decided to become<br />\nsuccessful at something and, against all odds, reached your<br />\ngoal.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Organizational success” stories</td>\n<td>If you’re an entrepreneur: Talk to your customers. Pull<br />\nthe stories out of them by saying: “Tell me about a<br />\nsignificant success you were able to achieve with the assistance<br />\nthat you received.”<br />\nIf you have customers, members, patients, clients, and so on: Draw<br />\nout testimonials and thank yous and turn them into success stories.<br />\nYou may need to re-contact these individuals for more input.<br />\nIf your organization has been around for several years: Go back<br />\ninto the archives and search for past successes that no one is<br />\ntalking about anymore. They are timeless. Craft stories around them<br />\nand make them visible. They may be just the spark that’s<br />\nneeded internally to motivate a stalled team and externally to<br />\nboost sales.<br />\nIf you have long-tenured employees: Have them tell you about a<br />\nmemorable success that they helped create. Or a situation that was<br />\nhighly successful that didn’t get enough air time. Or about a<br />\nrock star employee sparking a significant business success.<br />\nIf you have sales professionals: Ask for their favorite success<br />\nstories — the ones that turn prospects into buyers.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Overcoming personal barriers” stories</td>\n<td>“Share with me a memory about a time when you overcame a<br />\nmajor life hurdle.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time when you found yourself surrounded by so<br />\nmany obstacles that you thought you’d never be able to dig<br />\nyourself out — but you did.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about a time in your personal life when you<br />\nstumbled into a wildly successful situation.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time when you consciously decided to become<br />\nsuccessful at something and against all odds reached your<br />\ngoal.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Overcoming organizational barriers” stories</td>\n<td>“Tell me about a time when an employee saved the<br />\nday.”<br />\n“Tell me about a major obstacle on a project and how it was<br />\nresolved.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about a situation where a group went the extra<br />\nmile to satisfy a customer.”<br />\n“Build me a story about a huge, unexpected challenge that<br />\narose and what was done to rectify it.”<br />\nGo back through the organization’s archives and find<br />\nsituations where the entire firm or a single brand offering was<br />\ncompromised and what was done to overcome that. Then craft stories<br />\nto help others appreciate these situations.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Your memorable customer” stories</td>\n<td>“Share with me a memory about an experience that made you<br />\nsay, ‘Wow. That was awesome service.’”<br />\n“Tell me about a time when you were shocked at how a customer<br />\nissue you were having was resolved.”<br />\n“Enlighten me about a situation in your personal life when an<br />\nemployee went above and beyond the call of duty to delight<br />\nyou.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Your organization’s memorable customer”<br />\nstories: Stories about people you work with day in and day out and<br />\nhow they solved a customer’s problem, went the extra mile,<br />\novercame an obstacle to meet a customer need, and the like. These<br />\nstories may also come from your customers.</td>\n<td>From employees: “Tell me about a time when a customer used<br />\nour product or service and had a huge win. Or a situation where a<br />\ncustomer used our product or service and saved the day in their<br />\ncompany or were able to overcome a significant<br />\nobstacle.”<br />\nFrom customers: “Tell me about a time when you used our<br />\nproduct or service and had a huge win. Or a situation where you<br />\nused our product or service and saved the day in your company or<br />\nwere able to overcome a significant obstacle.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stories from sponsors, funders, or supporters: Stories of how<br />\ntheir contributions made a difference to them and to your<br />\norganization and include the results that came from their<br />\nsupport.</td>\n<td>1. Share stories (not statistics and information) with them<br />\nabout how their actions led to specific results.<br />\n2. Ask them for the story of what led to their support. Listen<br />\ndelightedly.<br />\n3. Ask them what that support or funding has meant to them.<br />\n4. Ask them if they’d be willing to share their overall story<br />\nwith others so that additional people might also support your<br />\nprogram, project, organization, or nonprofit. This story is not<br />\nabout the kind of support they provided or how much money they<br />\ngave. It’s really about how they worked together with you to<br />\ncreate an amazing result.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Now” stories: These stories bring together pain<br />\npoints, opportunities, and obstacles to heighten urgency and<br />\nstimulate action right now when seeking support or funding.</td>\n<td>Gather stories from end users about their pain points.<br />\nYou’ll have to decide whether you start with these or with a<br />\nstory about the compelling business value opportunity. Be careful<br />\nabout how you relay data here.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Your” stories: These stories highlight why<br />\n<i>you</i> are passionate about solving a particular problem or<br />\nsupporting a cause.</td>\n<td>These stories disclose the risks of not moving forward. They<br />\nmay include end-user input about the dangers of remaining at status<br />\nquo. If people don’t know who you are and why you’re<br />\ninvolved, they won’t know why you’re asking for<br />\nresources. Nor will they have a reason to trust you.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Our” stories: These stories of inclusion put forth<br />\nwhat you and the sponsor, supporter, or funder can accomplish<br />\ntogether. (This is a type of “future” story.)</td>\n<td>Convey what’s made possible by working together that<br />\nwouldn’t be possible otherwise.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Back” stories (from consumers): Stories that build<br />\ntheir reputation and yours as well.</td>\n<td>Request customer stories.<br />\nReach out to folks who comment about your organization on social<br />\nmedia.<br />\nCreate online communities for people to exchange stories<br />\nFind existing online communities and seed them with story<br />\nprompts.<br />\nSeed a conversation and allow consumers to actively join in and<br />\nco-create the rest of the story.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Back” stories (insider stories): Stories about what<br />\nmakes your organization tick and challenges it has faced and<br />\novercome — and/or stories associated with a product or<br />\nservice’s entire life-cycle, from beginning to end. This<br />\nset of “supply chain” stories also reflects your<br />\norganization’s values.</td>\n<td>Here’s how to find the story behind your product or<br />\nservice offering:<br />\n1. Reveal the inspiration or “a-ha” moment behind<br />\ncreating the product or service. Tell the story about the idea that<br />\ncreated it or the need or issue that caused it to be brought into<br />\nyour business to sell.<br />\n2. Relay stories about how consumers can use the product or service<br />\nin their lives<br />\n3. Tell stories about how a product is made or how a service<br />\ntranspires. Share pictures that document these processes. Place<br />\nthem on your firm’s website or in a retail store. Knowing the<br />\nstory behind age-old processes that are used to create the offering<br />\nmakes it desirable on a very different level.<br />\n4. Show the workmanship and quality inherent in the product if<br />\nthat’s what helps makes it special. If people only see a<br />\nphoto of a scarf or a pile of rugs, it might not be of interest to<br />\nthem or worth the money.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Target market” stories: Stories about the market<br />\nsegments you serve and/or stories about the prospect’s<br />\norganization.</td>\n<td>Get intimate with the biggest pain points and what’s<br />\nchanging in the industry, the solutions that potential buyers are<br />\nseeking, as well as the opportunities that exist within these<br />\nsegments in the future:<br />\n1. Personal stories, based on experiences you’ve had with<br />\nproducts or services offered within the market segment — or<br />\nthose of your family or close friends.<br />\n2. Stories that you specifically craft after reviewing<br />\nindustry-specific or demographics-specific information on each<br />\ntarget market.<br />\n3. Stories from current customers in the markets you want to<br />\ncontinue to serve, or even one customer in a new market.<br />\nLearn everything you can about the prospect’s organization in<br />\nthe time you have available. What’s its founding story? Are<br />\nthere any stories about its core values in action? What folklore is<br />\noften shared about the enterprise? What stories are current in the<br />\nnews media?</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Target audience” stories: What you know about the<br />\nprospect(s) you’re meeting/chatting with</td>\n<td>What can you learn about the people you’ll be speaking<br />\nto? Their likes and dislikes? Where did they grow up and go to<br />\nschool? Who do they know that you may also know? What hobbies do<br />\nthey have? Find stories that relate to what you learn. Social media<br />\nsites are a great resource to find this kind of information. Reach<br />\nout to friends and colleagues who may know these people.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stories about past failures (for use in prospecting)</td>\n<td>There are two types of “failure” stories: those about<br />\nprospects who chose not to embrace what your organization has to<br />\noffer (especially those who elected to do nothing) and those<br />\ncustomers who didn’t fully utilize, follow, or implement what<br />\nyou provided to them. Why do you want to tell these stories to<br />\nprospects? The first one speaks to the risks of doing nothing. The<br />\nsecond is an opportunity for you to talk about what can happen if<br />\ncustomers misuse a product, don’t properly implement a<br />\nservice, or ignore your advice. It’s also a chance to talk<br />\nabout how you recover customers when things go awry.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stories about pain and urgency (for use in organizational<br />\nchange)</td>\n<td>“Ain’t it awful” stories: These are real<br />\nstories of the struggles and challenges that people face because of<br />\nbroken systems, inefficient processes, marketplace threats,<br />\nconsequences for customers, and so on. Connect these struggles to<br />\nthe organization’s potential fate. These stories reinforce<br />\nthe fact that maintaining the status quo isn’t workable.<br />\nDistress about the way things currently work provides motivation,<br />\nmore so than the vision of what’s possible.<br />\n“From the future” stories: Go into the future. Do an<br />\nenvironmental scan looking out five to ten years. Identify trends,<br />\nthreats, and wildcards — highly unlikely events that would<br />\nhave huge impact if they were to happen. Craft stories for your<br />\nchange based on this information.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Change is possible” stories: Stories about people<br />\nsurviving a personal or organizational change that’s<br />\nsignificant to them.</td>\n<td>“Tell me about a time when you were faced with an<br />\nunexpected change in your life and what you did to get you through<br />\nit successfully.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time in your life when you greatly resisted a<br />\nchange and, when you embraced it, many opportunities presented<br />\nthemselves.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time when a group you were part of (in the<br />\norganization or elsewhere) went through a big change that no one<br />\nthought could be accomplished — yet it was successful —<br />\nand what made that possible.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Identify what needs to get done to solve problems”<br />\nstories (for use in organizational change)</td>\n<td>1. Evoke stories about the challenges people face around a<br />\nspecific issue.<br />\n2. Learn how they currently get around or overcome those<br />\nchallenges.<br />\n3. Gather their best ideas to solve the problem.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Pinpoint and mitigate risks” stories (for use in<br />\norganizational change)</td>\n<td>“Tell me about some of the risks you’ve experienced<br />\nthat we might need to address if we change XYZ.<br />\n“Tell me a story about a risk you think could possibly happen<br />\nduring our change effort.”<br />\n“Tell me about a time during another change effort at the<br />\ncompany when you stumbled upon an unforeseen risk and what happened<br />\nas a result.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Obtain the resources you need in a change” stories<br />\n(for use in organizational change)</td>\n<td>“Tell me about an experience you’re now facing with<br />\nthis change that requires resources that weren’t budgeted up<br />\nfront.”<br />\n“Now that you have the resources you need, tell me about how<br />\nthey made a significant difference in moving this change<br />\nforward.”<br />\n“Tell me about a situation where you shared resources outside<br />\nyour group to create a win-win for everyone.”</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Adapt as we go” stories (for use in organizational<br />\nchange)</td>\n<td>Stories about course corrections that happen once the<br />\norganization gets deep into the change.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>“Best practice” stories (for use in organizational<br />\nchange)</td>\n<td>“Tell me a story about something that happened in [xx]<br />\nphase of the change that really made an impact on you (or your team<br />\nor department).”<br />\n“Tell me about the most important (or significant or moving)<br />\nstory you’ve heard about this change project.”<br />\n“Tell us about a situation in which you gained a personal<br />\ninsight about this change that will continue to influence how you<br />\napproach your work long-term.”<br />\n“Tell me a story about a specific action that you (or your<br />\nteam or department) took that really helped to solidify the<br />\nchange.”<br />\n“Tell me about something that happened in this change that you<br />\nwould suggest not repeating in a future change<br />\ninitiative.”</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-18T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":207799},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:48:28+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-04T16:55:11+00:00","timestamp":"2022-04-04T18:01:04+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Selling Your Business For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"selling your business for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"selling-your-business-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Make certain that selling your business is a success by knowing what documents you need and how to value your business assets.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.","description":"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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9303,"name":"Barbara Findlay Schenck","slug":"barbara-findlay-schenck","description":"Barbara Findlay Schenck has been a marketing consultant for more than 20 years, with clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. In addition to her experience as a small business strategist, she's also a best-selling author and nationally syndicated columnist. Visit her website at bizstrong.com.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9303"}},{"authorId":9526,"name":"John Davies","slug":"john-davies","description":"","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9526"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":0,"slug":null,"isbn":null,"categoryList":null,"amazon":null,"image":null,"title":null,"testBankPinActivationLink":null,"bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":null,"authors":null,"_links":null},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-624b326049d32\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-624b32604a2af\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":157929,"title":"Selling Your Business: Major Documents to Have On-Hand","slug":"selling-your-business-major-documents-to-have-on-hand","categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/157929"}},{"articleId":157930,"title":"Knowing Who's Who on the Business Sale Team","slug":"knowing-whos-who-on-the-business-sale-team","categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/157930"}},{"articleId":157928,"title":"Selling Your Business: What Are Tangible and Intangible Assets?","slug":"selling-your-business-what-are-tangible-and-intangible-assets","categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/157928"}}],"content":[{"title":"Selling your business: major documents to have on-hand","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Sooner or later in the business sale process you&#8217;ll need the following materials. Use this checklist to assemble everything as soon as possible to smooth the road ahead.</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Federal tax returns for the past three years (corporate or Schedule C)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Income statements for YTD and the past three years</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Balance sheets for the past three years</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Statement of seller&#8217;s discretionary earnings for most recently completed year</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Financial ratios and trends</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Accounts receivable aging list</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Accounts payable list</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Inventory list including value</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Current building lease</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Franchise agreement, if applicable</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Fixtures, furnishings, and equipment list including fair market values</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Asset depreciation schedule from most recent tax return</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Current copies of equipment and facility maintenance agreements</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Current employee, customer, vendor, and distributor contracts or agreements</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Current business licenses, certifications, and registrations</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Copies of patents and trademark registrations, if any</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Copies of outstanding loan agreements</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">List of existing liens</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Product or service price list</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Employee records showing staff, hire dates, salaries, pension records, employee benefit plan outline</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Organization chart</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Business formation documents</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Current client list</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Current list of major suppliers and distributors</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Business plan</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Marketing plan</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Employment policy manual</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Business procedures manual</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Photos of business building, work areas, and equipment</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Knowing who's who on the business sale team","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Making the decision about who to bring onto your business sale team isn&#8217;t clear-cut. One thing is certain, though: Selling your business isn&#8217;t a time for flying solo. You need to bring aboard some professionals to assist you — from accountants to attorneys to business sale brokers to appraisers. The following list shows which professional resources are available:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Accountant.</b> This is probably the first business sale team member you&#8217;ll recruit. The financial condition of your business, and the way your financial story is presented, is fundamental to sale success.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Your accountant will have all the information at hand to help you prepare the numbers you need to plan your sale offering and present your business to buyers. If you&#8217;ve worked with an accountant over the years, be sure that person has experience in business sale transactions and the resulting tax implications. Your accountant will likely participate on your sale team at his or her regular hourly rate.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Attorney.</b> If you already work with an attorney to advise you on issues regarding your business structure, employees, contracts, and other legal matters, you probably want to involve that person on your sale team, maybe from the onset but certainly as you reach the negotiation stage and closing point.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Your attorney can help you with preparation of legal documents such as confidentiality agreements, seller disclosure statements, and, of course, the purchase and sale agreement that will finalize the sale. It&#8217;s especially important to bring an attorney with business sale-transaction experience on board if you&#8217;re trying to handle the sale on your own without a broker. You&#8217;ll pay either hourly rates or a flat fee.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Business broker.</b> Some business owners handle their sales with only the help of an accountant and an attorney. Others use a sale intermediary, most often a business broker, but sometimes a mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) specialist if the business is large and the deal is complex. The decision of whether to hire a broker weighs heavy on most sellers&#8217; minds, and no one answer prevails. Some sellers will tell you their sales went through just fine without a broker, and others will say the broker was essential to their sale success.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">In a nutshell, a broker can help maintain confidentiality about your sale, find and deal with prospective buyers, and free you from the demands of selling your business while also trying to run it. A broker can also provide advice on how to value your business. In return, you&#8217;ll pay a fee, which is usually about 10 percent of your sale price.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Appraiser or valuation expert.</b> If you need a formal appraisal — because of the size or complexity of your business, because you need to prove the validity of business value to the buyer or to the IRS, or because you doubt the accuracy of the value established by your broker or by your sale advisors — you can hire a professional appraiser.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Appraiser fees can range from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the complexity of your business and whether you want an oral appraisal or a formal, written document. Numbers between $2,500 and $5,000 seem to be most common for small business written appraisals, but most appraisers charge by the hour, and the final fee depends on how much time goes into the effort.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Before obtaining an appraisal, talk with your broker if you&#8217;re using one. Also talk with your accountant. It may well be that between these two resources, you can arrive at a good figure from which to start seller negotiations.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Remember\">No one, no matter how small the deal, should sell a business without obtaining financial and tax advice. At the very least, you want an accountant to help you assemble and present your business financial records and to help structure your sale with the intent of managing taxes and facilitating buyer decisions. You may also want to involve an attorney, particularly if your business has established a relationship with a lawyer whom you trust to deliver good business and legal advice, or if you plan to sell your business on your own without a broker&#8217;s help.</p>\n"},{"title":"Selling your business: What are tangible and intangible assets?","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Getting ready to sell your business? You&#8217;ll need to separate your tangible and intangible assets because at sale time (or in the sale contract), the Internal Revenue Service requires you to break down the price into asset categories, which are taxed at varying rates.</p>\n<p class=\"TechnicalStuff\">To value your business assets, you create an inventory of all the assets of your business and assign a value to each based on what it would cost to create or replace that asset in similar condition.</p>\n<h2>Tangible assets</h2>\n<p><i>Tangible assets</i> include business furnishings, fixtures, equipment, leasehold improvements, inventory, real estate, automobiles, and other major physical assets.</p>\n<p>Tangible assets are probably the easiest part of your business to value, because by their very definition, tangible assets are ones you can see and touch. You can often even find comparable items on the market (through eBay and other online shopping sites, through equipment distributors, and through other used-equipment outlets) to help you determine current market values. When valuing your tangible assets, also talk with your accountant, who can help you figure the depreciated value of items you&#8217;ve held for multiple years.</p>\n<h2>Intangible assets</h2>\n<p>In businesses with well-known names, products, and reputations, up to half the business sale price often covers the purchase of <i>intangible assets</i> — things buyers can&#8217;t hold in their hands.</p>\n<p>Intangible assets fall into two general categories:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Intellectual property rights assets,</b> including trademarks, patents, licensing agreements, and trade secrets.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Other intangible assets,</b> including business name and reputation, processes, strategies, and general know-how, which together contribute to business value over and above the value of tangible assets. These intangible assets compose what&#8217;s called the goodwill of your business<i>. </i></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Goodwill assets include</p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Your business name and brand identity</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A trained workforce</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Loyal clientele</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Strong and durable supplier and distribution networks</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Phone numbers and websites</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Proprietary technology, systems, and processes</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Brand equity, which is the value of the competitive advantage of your name and reputation in the minds of consumers and business and industry partners.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Solve","lifeExpectancy":"One year","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-04T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":207773},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:53:14+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-02-23T15:19:31+00:00","timestamp":"2022-02-24T17:07:37+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Cash Flow For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"cash flow for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"cash-flow-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Know your cash inflows (generating cash) from your cash outflows (consuming cash) to maximize profit in your business.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"<i>C</i><i>ash flow</i> 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.","description":"<i>C</i><i>ash flow</i> 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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9472,"name":"John A. Tracy","slug":"john-a-tracy","description":"John A. Tracy, CPA, is professor of accounting, emeritus, at the University of Colorado in Boulder.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9472"}},{"authorId":10124,"name":"Tage Tracy","slug":"tage-tracy","description":"","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10124"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":186387,"title":"The Key Terms of Profit and Cash Flow Analysis","slug":"the-key-terms-of-profit-and-cash-flow-analysis","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186387"}},{"articleId":186382,"title":"The Relationship between Cash Flow and Profit in Business","slug":"the-relationship-between-cash-flow-and-profit-in-business-2","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186382"}},{"articleId":186380,"title":"Types of Cash Accounts for Your Business","slug":"types-of-cash-accounts-for-your-business","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186380"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282059,"slug":"cash-flow-for-dummies","isbn":"9781118018507","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118018508/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1118018508/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1118018508-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1118018508/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1118018508/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/cash-flow-for-dummies-cover-9781118018507-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Cash Flow For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"\n <p><b data-author-id=\"9473\">Tage C. Tracy</b> is principal owner of TMK &amp; Associates, an accounting, financial,and strategic business planning consulting firm. <b data-author-id=\"9472\">John A. Tracy</b> is Professor of Accounting at the University of Colorado in Boulder and the author of <i>Accounting For Dummies</i>. </p>","authors":[{"authorId":9472,"name":"John A. Tracy","slug":"john-a-tracy","description":"John A. Tracy, CPA, is professor of accounting, emeritus, at the University of Colorado in Boulder.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9472"}},{"authorId":9473,"name":"Tage C. Tracy","slug":"tage-c-tracy","description":"Tage C. Tracy is principal, owner, and founder of TMK & Associates, an accounting, financial,and strategic business planning consulting firm.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9473"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118018507&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb590394a\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118018507&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb590431f\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":186387,"title":"The Key Terms of Profit and Cash Flow Analysis","slug":"the-key-terms-of-profit-and-cash-flow-analysis","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186387"}},{"articleId":186380,"title":"Types of Cash Accounts for Your Business","slug":"types-of-cash-accounts-for-your-business","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186380"}},{"articleId":186382,"title":"The Relationship between Cash Flow and Profit in Business","slug":"the-relationship-between-cash-flow-and-profit-in-business-2","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186382"}}],"content":[{"title":"The key terms of profit and cash flow analysis","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Understanding the terminology used in profit and cash flow analysis is essential to managing the finances of your business. Here are some key terms you should commit to memory:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Break-even</b>: The level of sales required to produce operating results with zero profit (sales revenue less cost of sales and other expenses equals zero).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Burn rate</b>: The rate at which cash is burned or consumed by a business that is operating at a loss (or at a very low profit margin possibly).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Cap table</b>: A cap table, or capitalization table, is a summary of who owns what portion of a company and in what structure. Ownership structures are a very sensitive and important issue with third-party financing sources.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Extending the runway</b>: If you’re forecasting cash to run out in four months but a new source of cash won’t be available for six months, you must find a way to stretch your cash, or extend the runway to reach the next funding date.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Fume date</b>: Closely related to the burn rate, the fume date is an estimate of the date a company will run out of cash and be left running on fumes.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Sustainable growth rate</b>: Based on how fast a company can grow with internal resources alone (that is, without securing external capital or cash to support future growth). Breaching the sustainable growth rate means external capital is needed to support the higher growth rate.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Types of cash accounts for your business","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>The cash you use to run your business resides in different accounts. To manage your cash flows effectively, you generally need to have cash in the following types of accounts:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>General operating account: </b>Used for processing the large majority of a business’s normal and customary transactions, such as paying vendors and receiving customer payments.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Payroll account:</b> A separate bank account for processing payroll activity. A payroll account is funded with just enough to cover the next payroll.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Investment account:</b> Various names apply for this type of bank account, including <i>savings, money market, </i>interest<i> bearing,</i> and others. The basic idea is that when a company has excess cash balances, the cash is “parked” in an account that can generate interest or other investment earnings.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Restricted cash accounts:</b> A restricted cash account can be any one of a number of different unique bank accounts that hold a cash balance for a particular use. For example, it could be a trust account set up to segregate cash that can be used only for a very specific purpose.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"The relationship between cash flow and profit in business","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Making profit generates cash flow. Any business owner knows that. But the actual increase in cash during a given period is invariably lower or higher than the profit number. The following points illustrate how cash flow relates to profit:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">The amounts of cash flows during the period rarely are equal to the revenue and expense numbers in the P&amp;L (profit and loss) report for the period.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Actions that <i>lower</i> cash flow: increasing accounts receivable and inventory; decreasing accounts payable and accrued expenses payable.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Actions that <i>raise</i> cash flow: decreasing accounts receivable and inventory; increasing accounts payable and accrued expenses payable.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Depreciation expense is not a cash outlay in the period recorded; neither is amortization expense; unusual losses recorded in the period may not involve cash outlay but rather be write-downs of assets or write-ups of liabilities.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"One year","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-02-23T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208505},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:54:05+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-01-27T20:35:26+00:00","timestamp":"2022-02-24T17:07:27+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Business Math For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"business math for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"business-math-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn some of the most commonly used math in business, including fractions and decimal equvialents, financial formulas, and more.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"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.","description":"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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":8985,"name":"Mary Jane Sterling","slug":"mary-jane-sterling","description":"Mary Jane Sterling taught algebra, business calculus, geometry, and finite mathematics at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, for more than 30 years. She is the author of several For Dummies books, including Algebra Workbook For Dummies, Algebra II For Dummies, and Algebra II Workbook For Dummies. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/8985"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":188304,"title":"Common Fraction and Decimal Equivalents in Business Math","slug":"common-fraction-and-decimal-equivalents-in-business-math","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188304"}},{"articleId":188302,"title":"Important Angle Measures in Degrees","slug":"important-angle-measures-in-degrees","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188302"}},{"articleId":188303,"title":"Financial Formulas","slug":"financial-formulas","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188303"}},{"articleId":188300,"title":"Common Business and Financial Acronyms","slug":"common-business-and-financial-acronyms","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188300"}},{"articleId":188301,"title":"Common Area and Perimeter Formulas","slug":"common-area-and-perimeter-formulas","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188301"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282035,"slug":"business-math-for-dummies","isbn":"9780470233313","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470233311/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0470233311/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/0470233311-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470233311/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0470233311/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/business-math-for-dummies-cover-9780470233313-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Business Math For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"\n <b data-author-id=\"8985\">Mary Jane Sterling</b> is the author of four other <i>For Dummies</i> titles: <i>Algebra For Dummies, Algebra II For Dummies, Trigonometry For Dummies,</i> and <i>Math Word Problems For Dummies.</i> She has honed her math-explaining skills during her years of teaching mathematics at all levels: junior high school, high school, and college. She has been teaching at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois, for almost 30 of those years.<br> When not teaching or writing, Mary Jane keeps busy by working with her Kiwanis Club, advising Bradley University’s Circle K Club, and working with members of the Heart of Illinois Aktion Club (for adults with disabilities). All the volunteer projects taken on for these clubs help keep her busy and involved in the community. ","authors":[{"authorId":8985,"name":"Mary Jane Sterling","slug":"mary-jane-sterling","description":"Mary Jane Sterling taught algebra, business calculus, geometry, and finite mathematics at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, for more than 30 years. She is the author of several For Dummies books, including Algebra Workbook For Dummies, Algebra II For Dummies, and Algebra II Workbook For Dummies. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/8985"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470233313&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb4f48e3b\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470233313&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb4f4979f\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":188304,"title":"Common Fraction and Decimal Equivalents in Business Math","slug":"common-fraction-and-decimal-equivalents-in-business-math","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188304"}},{"articleId":188296,"title":"Earning Money through Interest","slug":"earning-money-through-interest","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188296"}},{"articleId":188301,"title":"Common Area and Perimeter Formulas","slug":"common-area-and-perimeter-formulas","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188301"}},{"articleId":188303,"title":"Financial Formulas","slug":"financial-formulas","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188303"}},{"articleId":188300,"title":"Common Business and Financial Acronyms","slug":"common-business-and-financial-acronyms","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188300"}},{"articleId":188302,"title":"Important Angle Measures in Degrees","slug":"important-angle-measures-in-degrees","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","accounting","general-accounting"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/188302"}}],"content":[{"title":"Common fraction and decimal equivalents in business math","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Fractions and decimals form the basis of much of the math in business. The following table shows you some of the more commonly used fractions and their decimal equivalents. An ellipsis (three dots) after a number means that the digit goes on forever.</p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/251684.image0.jpg\" alt=\"image0.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"400\" /></p>\n"},{"title":"Earning money through interest","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>You can track how long it takes to double your investment if you deposit money at a specific interest rate. For interest rates that fall between the rates in the chart, remember that the time will fall in between also.</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Interest Rate Compounded Quarterly</th>\n<th>Amount of Time Needed to Double</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2%</td>\n<td>ª 34.7 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3%</td>\n<td>ª 23.2 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4%</td>\n<td>ª 17.4 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5%</td>\n<td>ª 13.9 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6%</td>\n<td>ª 11.6 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7%</td>\n<td>ª 10.0 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8%</td>\n<td>ª 8.8 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9%</td>\n<td>ª 7.8 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10%</td>\n<td>ª 7.0 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11%</td>\n<td>ª 6.4 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>12%</td>\n<td>ª 5.9 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>13%</td>\n<td>ª 5.4 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>14%</td>\n<td>ª 5.0 years</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>15%</td>\n<td>ª 4.7 years</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"Common area and perimeter formulas","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>You may need to find out the size of an office space, perimeters of buildings, and tracts of land for your business. Keep these frequently used formulas handy for your business math needs:</p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/251687.image0.jpg\" alt=\"image0.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"237\" /></p>\n"},{"title":"Financial formulas","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Formulas are an important part of business. A formula qualifies as such when it consistently gives you correct results and answers to questions thus providing organization and structure. The most common financial formulas that you need are:</p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/251689.image0.jpg\" alt=\"image0.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"319\" /></p>\n"},{"title":"Common business and financial acronyms","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>The business world is packed with terms and acronyms. Take a look through the following list, learn the terms, and you’ll be speaking like a financial pro in no time.</p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/251691.image0.jpg\" alt=\"image0.jpg\" width=\"211\" height=\"500\" /></p>\n"},{"title":"Important angle measures in degrees","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>When you’re figuring out things like lot lines or fencing for your business, you’re working with angles. These figures are the more commonly used angle measures and can help you estimate angles for your business tasks:</p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/251693.image0.jpg\" alt=\"image0.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"181\" /></p>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-01-27T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208644},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:49:09+00:00","modifiedTime":"2021-12-20T15:13:48+00:00","timestamp":"2022-02-24T17:07:18+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Business Analysis For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"business analysis for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"business-analysis-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"<p>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.</p>\r\n","description":"<p>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.</p>\r\n","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9590,"name":"Kupe Kupersmith","slug":"kupe-kupersmith","description":"Kupe Kupersmith, CBAP, is a vice president at Athene. Kupersmith has over 20 years of experience in software systems development. He serves as a mentor for business analysis professionals.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9590"}},{"authorId":9591,"name":"Paul Mulvey","slug":"paul-mulvey","description":"Paul Mulvey, CBAP, has over 20 years of experience as a business analysis consultant. Previously, Mulvey was a senior business analysis coach, instructor, and mentor with B2T Training.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9591"}},{"authorId":9592,"name":"Kate McGoey","slug":"kate-mcgoey","description":"Kate McGoey has more than 20 years of experience in application development and life cycle processes business.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9592"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":164783,"title":"10 Roles for Business Analysis Professionals","slug":"10-roles-for-business-analysis-professionals","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164783"}},{"articleId":164782,"title":"5 Tips for Conducting a Requirements Review Session","slug":"5-tips-for-conducting-a-requirements-review-session","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164782"}},{"articleId":164781,"title":"Division of Labor in Large Business Analysis Projects","slug":"division-of-labor-in-large-business-analysis-projects","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164781"}},{"articleId":164780,"title":"Maximize the Business Analyst–Project Manager Relationship","slug":"maximize-the-business-analystproject-manager-relationship","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164780"}},{"articleId":164776,"title":"Plan for Contingencies in a Business Analysis Project","slug":"plan-for-contingencies-in-a-business-analysis-project","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164776"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282030,"slug":"business-analysis-for-dummies","isbn":"9781118510582","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118510585/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1118510585/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1118510585-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1118510585/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1118510585/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/business-analysis-for-dummies-cover-9781118510582-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Business Analysis For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"\n <p><b data-author-id=\"9591\">Paul Mulvey, CBAP</b>, Director, Client Solutions, B2T Training, has been involved in business analysis since 1995. Kate McGoey, Director, Client Solutions, B2T Training, has more than 20 years' experience in application development and life cycle processes business. Kupe Kupersmith, CBAP, President of B2T Training, possesses more than 14 years of experience in software systems development. He serves as a mentor for business analysis professionals.</p> <p><a href=\"https://www.b2ttraining.com/about-us\">https://www.b2ttraining.com/about-us</a></p>","authors":[{"authorId":9590,"name":"Kupe Kupersmith","slug":"kupe-kupersmith","description":"Kupe Kupersmith, CBAP, is a vice president at Athene. Kupersmith has over 20 years of experience in software systems development. He serves as a mentor for business analysis professionals.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9590"}},{"authorId":9591,"name":"Paul Mulvey","slug":"paul-mulvey","description":"Paul Mulvey, CBAP, has over 20 years of experience as a business analysis consultant. Previously, Mulvey was a senior business analysis coach, instructor, and mentor with B2T Training.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9591"}},{"authorId":9592,"name":"Kate McGoey","slug":"kate-mcgoey","description":"Kate McGoey has more than 20 years of experience in application development and life cycle processes business.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9592"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118510582&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb4686b8b\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118510582&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb4687515\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":164317,"title":"Business Analysis: A Basic Project Life Cycle","slug":"business-analysis-a-basic-project-life-cycle","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164317"}},{"articleId":164325,"title":"Business Analysis: 15 Areas for Process Improvement","slug":"business-analysis-15-areas-for-process-improvement","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164325"}},{"articleId":164324,"title":"Performing a Business Impact Analysis for a Project","slug":"performing-a-business-impact-analysis-for-a-project","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/164324"}}],"content":[{"title":"Business Analysis: A Basic Project Life Cycle","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Business analysis projects all follow the same basic life cycle. A <i>project</i> is a set of steps that accomplish something, so describing business analysis activities as part of a project life cycle makes sense. Although each project you undertake is different, and you must always remain fluid and flexible to some degree, business analysis tasks follow a general order:</p>\n<ol class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Plan the project.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Create a work plan and at least think through an approach for the analysis effort.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Scope the project.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Define and document the project boundaries and analyze the business problem without deciding on a solution. This job includes clearly identifying the opportunity or problem the company needs to address.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Elicit, analyze, and communicate requirements.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">This task is the lion&#8217;s share of what business analysis professionals do at the project level. Understand the real business needs and find the root cause of business problems, and communicate requirements to the intended audience.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Design the solution.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Business analysts (BAs) aren&#8217;t typically responsible for this activity; instead, they support the solution team through this effort.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Build or buy the solution.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">The business and project team make a decision based on the results of the activities Steps 1 through 4 to buy a solution prepackaged, build one internally, or have a group outside the company build it. During this time, your role is to ensure the solution still meets the business need stated in the project objectives and the business requirements.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Test the solution.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">As the solution is being designed and built, collaborate with the test team to validate that the solution meets the business needs elicited during the project.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Implement the solution.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Make sure business uses the solution. You actively work with project stakeholders as the solution rolls out. You may work as a change agent, advocating the need for change, and you may also train new users on the system.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Conduct post-implementation review. </p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">After the solution has been implemented, you need to make sure it&#8217;s meeting the goals outlined in the project. If not, this discrepancy may lead to another project to address the gap. Basically, you want to make sure the business is actually using the solution you provided. If not, why not?</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n"},{"title":"Business Analysis: 15 Areas for Process Improvement","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>A major business analysis task is overseeing <i>process improvement</i> &#8212; identifying, analyzing, and improving an existing business process so the company can integrate processes from mergers and acquisitions, improve inefficient processes, meet new goals, and the like. You can identify areas to conduct process improvement by keeping an ear open for these 15 indicators while talking with stakeholders and employees of the company:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Activities that fix errors instead of preventing them</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Unnecessary handoffs or complex communications between roles or other processes</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Unclear decisions or conditions (otherwise known as <i>gateways</i>)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Activities that perform statistically outside the norm or standard</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Inefficient flow of existing processes</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Activities that are being performed by an inappropriate employee or other entity (also known as a <i>resource</i>)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas of <i>a</i><i>uthority ambiguity</i> (where two or more people have the power to make the same decision, which leads to confusion about who has final say)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas that have too much or too little management control</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Roles that are bottlenecks</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Activities that have unclear role assignment</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas with backlogs</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas with activities that don&#8217;t provide business value</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas that can reduce or eliminate waste</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas that can reduce or eliminate defects</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Areas that can reduce or eliminate frustration</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Performing a Business Impact Analysis for a Project","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p class=\"TechnicalStuff\">A <i>business impact analysis</i> (BIA) is a business analysis tool that helps you predict how significantly your project will impact the business. You use it to gather information about the project&#8217;s various elements, players, and entities so you can determine the depth and breadth of your potential efforts.</p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a worksheet to help you complete a BIA. In the third column, write &#8220;low,&#8221; &#8220;medium&#8221; or &#8220;high&#8221; according to the guidelines in the second column. Then count the numbers of each ranking. The predominant ranking denotes the impact of your project.</p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<th>Factor</th>\n<th>Impact on Business</th>\n<th>Rank</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Number of users</td>\n<td>0&ndash;100: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>101&ndash;1,000: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>1,001+: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Number of stakeholder subject matter experts (SMEs)</td>\n<td>1&ndash;3: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>4&ndash;10: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>11+: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Number of team members</td>\n<td>1&ndash;6: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>7&ndash;12: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>13+: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Highest position held among stakeholders</td>\n<td>Manager: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Director: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Executive: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Number of stakeholders&#8217; geographic location</td>\n<td>1: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>2&ndash;3: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>4+ (or international): high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Business complexity</td>\n<td>Subjective. Consider the complexity of core components,<br />\nnonfunctional requirements, and implementation. Assign low, medium,<br />\nor high.</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Solution complexity</td>\n<td>Subjective. Consider software, hardware, technical<br />\narchitecture, support, and whether the task is outsourced. Assign<br />\nlow, medium, or high.</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Relative importance of the project to the organization</td>\n<td>Subjective. Consider this project relative to the project<br />\nportfolio. Get input from project manager and executive sponsor.<br />\nAssign low, medium, or high.</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Business risk</td>\n<td>Identify risks. Identify costs for high risks. Consider input<br />\nfrom project manager, executive sponsor, or business SMEs. Assign<br />\nlow, medium, or high.</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Quality requirements/expectation</td>\n<td>Potential for loss of comfort: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Potential for loss of discretionary money or opportunity:<br />\nmedium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Potential for loss of life, essential money, or<br />\nmission-critical: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Due date</td>\n<td>Movable date: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Target date: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Fixed date: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Project length</td>\n<td>Project length &gt; project scope: low</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Project length = project scope: medium</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n</td>\n<td>Project length &lt; project scope: high</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stakeholders&#8217; knowledge</td>\n<td>Subjective. Consider the value of stakeholders&#8217; knowledge and<br />\nrepresentation. Assign low, medium, or high. <i>Note:</i> This<br />\nranking has an inverse relationship with impact (high knowledge =<br />\nlow impact ranking).</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Project budget</td>\n<td>Subjective. Relative to size of company or other projects.<br />\nAssign low, medium, or high based on input from project manager and<br />\nexecutive sponsor.</td>\n<td>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</table>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2021-12-16T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":207913},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T16:00:13+00:00","modifiedTime":"2021-11-24T20:56:16+00:00","timestamp":"2022-02-24T17:07:11+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General (Business)","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Meeting Minutes According to Robert's Rules","strippedTitle":"meeting minutes according to robert's rules","slug":"meeting-minutes-according-to-roberts-rules","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Not sure exactly what meeting minutes should include or the correct procedures related to them? Find the answers here.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"To save you time and unnecessary work, <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/roberts-rules-for-dummies-cheat-sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert’s Rules</a> 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.\r\n\r\nWhen 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.\r\n\r\nYou 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.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >Composing your meeting’s minutes</h2>\r\nThe first paragraph needs to include this information:\r\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The kind of meeting (regular, special, annual, adjourned regular, adjourned special, and so forth)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The name of the organization</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The date, time, and location of the meeting (don’t list the location if it’s always the same)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">A statement confirming that your organization’s regular presiding officer and secretary are present (or giving the names of the persons substituting for them)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.)</p>\r\nThe body portion of the minutes needs to include this info:\r\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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).</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Motions bringing a question again before the body (except for ones that are withdrawn).</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The disposition of the motion — including any adhering amendments — if it’s only temporarily disposed of.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Information about the vote.</p>\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Counted vote</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Roll-call vote</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Ballot vote</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Secondary motions not lost or withdrawn, where necessary for clarity (example motions include <i>Recess, Fix Time to Which to Adjourn, Suspend the Rules, Postpone to a Particular Time, Ballot Vote Ordered,</i> and so on). Allude to the adoption of secondary motions by saying, “A ballot vote having been ordered, the tellers. . . .”</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Notices of motions.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The fact that an assembly went into quasi-committee or committee of the whole, and the committee’s report.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Any of the juicy and disorderly words that a member has said that get them “named” by the chair for being disorderly.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThe 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:\r\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The full text of any report is included in the minutes only if the assembly so orders.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Record the name of any guest speaker and the subject of presentation, but make no summary of the speaker’s remarks.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >Signing the minutes</h2>\r\nMinutes 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.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab3\" >Approving the minutes</h2>\r\nThe minutes of one meeting are normally approved at the next regular meeting, following the call to order and opening ceremonies.\r\n\r\nIf 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.\r\n<p class=\"Warning\">Minutes drafted ahead of time aren’t the official minutes <i>until the members approve them</i><i>.</i> 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.”</p>\r\nWhen 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.","description":"To save you time and unnecessary work, <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/roberts-rules-for-dummies-cheat-sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert’s Rules</a> 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.\r\n\r\nWhen 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.\r\n\r\nYou 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.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >Composing your meeting’s minutes</h2>\r\nThe first paragraph needs to include this information:\r\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The kind of meeting (regular, special, annual, adjourned regular, adjourned special, and so forth)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The name of the organization</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The date, time, and location of the meeting (don’t list the location if it’s always the same)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">A statement confirming that your organization’s regular presiding officer and secretary are present (or giving the names of the persons substituting for them)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.)</p>\r\nThe body portion of the minutes needs to include this info:\r\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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).</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Motions bringing a question again before the body (except for ones that are withdrawn).</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The disposition of the motion — including any adhering amendments — if it’s only temporarily disposed of.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Information about the vote.</p>\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Counted vote</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Roll-call vote</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Ballot vote</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Secondary motions not lost or withdrawn, where necessary for clarity (example motions include <i>Recess, Fix Time to Which to Adjourn, Suspend the Rules, Postpone to a Particular Time, Ballot Vote Ordered,</i> and so on). Allude to the adoption of secondary motions by saying, “A ballot vote having been ordered, the tellers. . . .”</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Notices of motions.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The fact that an assembly went into quasi-committee or committee of the whole, and the committee’s report.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.)</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Any of the juicy and disorderly words that a member has said that get them “named” by the chair for being disorderly.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThe 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:\r\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">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.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">The full text of any report is included in the minutes only if the assembly so orders.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n \t<li>\r\n<p class=\"first-para\">Record the name of any guest speaker and the subject of presentation, but make no summary of the speaker’s remarks.</p>\r\n</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >Signing the minutes</h2>\r\nMinutes 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.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab3\" >Approving the minutes</h2>\r\nThe minutes of one meeting are normally approved at the next regular meeting, following the call to order and opening ceremonies.\r\n\r\nIf 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.\r\n<p class=\"Warning\">Minutes drafted ahead of time aren’t the official minutes <i>until the members approve them</i><i>.</i> 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.”</p>\r\nWhen 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.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9838,"name":"C. Alan Jennings, PRP","slug":"c-alan-jennings-prp","description":"","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9838"}},{"authorId":9839,"name":"PRP","slug":"prp","description":"","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9839"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General (Business)","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[{"label":"Composing your meeting’s minutes","target":"#tab1"},{"label":"Signing the minutes","target":"#tab2"},{"label":"Approving the minutes","target":"#tab3"}],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":220933,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Reports and Recommendations","slug":"roberts-rules-reports-recommendations","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220933"}},{"articleId":220922,"title":"Being Secretary According to Robert’s Rules","slug":"secretary-according-roberts-rules","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220922"}},{"articleId":220917,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Contesting an Election","slug":"roberts-rules-contesting-election","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220917"}},{"articleId":220900,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Disposing of a Main Motion","slug":"roberts-rules-disposing-main-motion","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220900"}},{"articleId":220894,"title":"Robert’s Rules for Interrupting a Debate","slug":"roberts-rules-interrupting-debate","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/220894"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282542,"slug":"roberts-rules-for-dummies","isbn":"9781119824589","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119824583-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119824583/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/9781119824589-170x255.jpg","width":170,"height":255},"title":"Robert's Rules For Dummies, 4th Edition","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"\n <p>C. Alan Jennings, PRP, holds a Professional Registered Parliamentarian credential from the National Association of Parliamentarians. He is past president of the Louisiana Association of Parliamentarians and a member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. Learn more at alanjennings.com.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":10932,"name":"C. Alan Jennings PRP","slug":"c-alan-jennings","description":"C. Alan Jennings, PRP, holds a Professional Registered Parliamentarian credential from the National Association of Parliamentarians. He is past president of the Louisiana Association of Parliamentarians and a member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. Learn more at alanjennings.com.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10932"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119824589&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb3f6ae79\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119824589&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-6217bb3f6b814\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Articles","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2021-09-16T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":171788}],"_links":{"self":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255/categoryArticles?sortField=time&sortOrder=1&size=10&offset=0"},"next":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255/categoryArticles?sortField=time&sortOrder=1&size=10&offset=10"},"last":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255/categoryArticles?sortField=time&sortOrder=1&size=10&offset=528"}}},"objectTitle":"","status":"success","pageType":"article-category","objectId":"34255","page":1,"sortField":"time","sortOrder":1,"categoriesIds":[],"articleTypes":[],"filterData":{"categoriesFilter":[{"itemId":0,"itemName":"All Categories","count":538}],"articleTypeFilter":[{"articleType":"All Types","count":538},{"articleType":"Articles","count":516},{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","count":17},{"articleType":"Step by Step","count":5}]},"filterDataLoadedStatus":"success","pageSize":10},"adsState":{"pageScripts":{"headers":{"timestamp":"2022-05-20T12:59:10+00:00"},"adsId":0,"data":{"scripts":[{"pages":["all"],"location":"header","script":"<!--Optimizely Script-->\r\n<script src=\"https://cdn.optimizely.com/js/10563184655.js\"></script>","enabled":false},{"pages":["all"],"location":"header","script":"<!-- comScore Tag -->\r\n<script>var _comscore = _comscore || [];_comscore.push({ c1: \"2\", c2: \"15097263\" });(function() {var s = document.createElement(\"script\"), el = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; s.async = true;s.src = (document.location.protocol == \"https:\" ? 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Looking for ways to reduce waste in the office? Find answers to this question and more in our general articles on business.

Articles From General (Business)

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538 results
538 results
General (Business) Business Valuation For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Decision Making For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Complete MBA For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Robert’s Rules For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Business Storytelling For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Selling Your Business For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Cash Flow For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Business Math For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Business Analysis For Dummies Cheat Sheet

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.

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General (Business) Meeting Minutes According to Robert's Rules

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.

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