Business and Money Tips

AI Saves Time. But What Are We Saving the Time For? The biggest question about AI is no longer: “How do we use AI?” It is: “What happens to humans when AI can do more and more of their work?” There is an uncomfortable paradox. We train employees to use AI to become more productive. But if “productivity” simply means that the company eventually needs fewer employees, why should workers enthusiastically help train the technology that may reduce the need for their jobs? This is where we need to rethink what AI productivity really means. Suppose AI allows ten people to do the work previously done by twenty. The company may save money. Its measured productivity may rise. But that is only part of the equation. If the other ten people lose their jobs and cannot find productive new work, society also loses their income, consumption, skills and potentially their future contribution. The real opportunity from AI comes when the time and resources it releases are reinvested into human value creat...

3 Things that Are Not Worth Your Time 1. Trying to Impress People or Maintain the 'Perfect' Image you have We are all humans, if you spend time trying to impress people or making sure that you maintain the perfect look, you are living not your life, but other peoples' lives.   We must be prim and proper, but not all the time, sometimes it is good to let people see the true side of you, not so pretty, etc.  Be authentic, not perfect 2. Forcing Things To Work Out There is a difference between being in a rut and being completely stonewalled. Being in a rut means you still have options, you can bounce back and you have some rational ground to continue pursuing something. Being stonewalled is when you’re in an environment that is causing you incredible pain — physically or mentally — and you’re still trying to make it work. A relationship that’s draining you or where you’re constantly arguing isn’t worth it. A career that is dragging you to the brink of depression or suicidal ...

To get more done with less time, less cost and less effort, you need to be mindful of your productivity.   Productivity is about how much you create and deliver; not just finishing busy work. Don’t overfocus on minor details like having the perfect calendar. Measure your results and your work will improve. Avoid checking your phone, emails, and social media first thing in the morning, which puts you in “reaction” mode. Instead, take a step toward your goals before touching them. Multitasking and switching tasks ruin your productivity. Instead, minimize distractions while you work and remove clutter from your workspace. Don’t work until you’re exhausted; you’ll burn out and had nothing left for the next day. Instead, stop when you feel your productivity decline and take breaks throughout your day to conserve energy. Prioritize your tasks based on importance, not just urgency, so you can maximize the results you get from each workday. Don’t  find  time for the things t...

Everyone knows today’s economy is very different from 2015 or even January 2016. Not only are the costs rising, selling prices continue their downward spiral. These factors, coupled with labour shortage and Brexit factor, make many businessmen wonder: where is the future? As we know, every crisis produces winners. We need to ensure that we are the winner and not the loser. To do that, we must adapt fast and evolve with the rapidly changing markets. This means that we need to move to higher gear: innovate fast and ramp up productivity. As we know, innovation is about strategies and tactics and productivity is about people.  We can learn from people who have done it before: people who have won numerous battles for thousands of years using a proven formula: Sun Tzu Art of War. Background information and Why Sun Tzu is powerful : Sun Tzu (or Sūn Zǐ in pinyin) was a 500 BC Chinese general and military strategist. He led his country won numerous battles against its stron...

There are at least 10 ways where employees and employers can work together to reduce staff cost without cutting staff pay: Work with your hearts , and you'll it not hard to work hard . When you work hard, hard results will arise.  Staff cost will drop naturally.  Find out the various ways to work hard at  here .  Focused, never get distracted when at work.  Work like the Germans with clock-like precision Have Better Team work , and productivity will rise naturally Resolve Conflicts better , and output will rise fast Reduce mis-communication and we can do more with less time Upgrade your skills weekly . Every week, invest at least 3 hours to learn something new.  Come for short, effective trainings like these T ake ownership of your work.  Never blame, give excuses or worse still, deny your mistakes Profit sharing , not overtime pay, and you'll find that people will go all the way to increase the company's profits.  Reduce Overtime . S...

Yahoo News reported on 24 January 2015 that Singapore workers work the longest hours in the world. Based on their lower productivity levels this means they’re either doing the same amount or even less in a longer amount of time than their counterparts in other countries. How can this nation that is among the most advanced in the world be actually less productive than many less advanced nations?  If we want to be rich and happy, how can we work not lesser hours, but actually less hours?  There are 5 ways that we can all work less hours and yet achieve more: Work with More Heart .  Many people work hard, but what they do are without any feel and they are just going through the motion.  As a result, there is little meaning in what they do.  Look at many of the silly meetings where people are just finger pointing and you'll know what I'm talking about.  To know how to work heart, not work hard, read this article . Be More Productive . There are more th...

Talk about Productivity and many equate it to be 'better, faster and cheaper'.  Some think of getting new and advanced machines to replace manpower, others say productivity is about getting the government's Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) money to improve productivity.  (To read more on the latest curbs and abuse of PIC, click here ). Many trainers advocate training your staff while at Asia Trainers we opined that training bosses and managers are more important than training staff.  To the businessman, productivity is about E ver More with Ever Less.  This means getting more output with ever lesser input.  This must be the most apt definition and I shall use this in this article.  To have more output is easy, just lower your selling price and your sales would increase and you will have a quantum leap in productivity.  But without profit margins there is no productivity.  Thus the element of profit or residual value is important. ...

Before we can talk about motivating people, let's know how to Not Demotivate People in 5 Ways: Ignoring People , giving people the cold shoulder and seeing people as transparent.  When you ignore people, you are telling them they are not important, and what you say would be overshadowed by this Over Promise . Nothing beats under promise over deliver and over promise under deliver is the most de-motivating Favouritism . Everyone wants to feel important, and making people feel unimportant must be the biggest insult of all Negativity , like being so pessimistic and make everything seem impossible Ask for Opinion and Then Discard that Opinion .  We know when you ask for opinion you make people feel important. But when you discard that opinion you are making them feel really unimportant!  So my friend, before you open your mouth and post another comment on the internet, ask yourself this question: am I de-motivating people?  If so, don't do it. For we know...

Many people in business like to work on things even when they are well known to be not working. Today let me share with you the 5 most common practices that don't work. Avoid them and you won't be having any chance of disappointments: Auto-Pilot .  The myth people have is that pilots, once they put the plane on auto-pilot, have basically nothing to do during their flight hours. Nothing is further than the truth: even with the plane on auto-pilot, pilots have to go through their flight navigation plans, make notes on where they have passed and plan for landing and watch out for tubulences.  In short, they have to be on the alert and work all the time even when the plane is on auto-pilot.  Same for business.  Even if your business is as big as Apple, Facebook or Alibaba, you the CEO still have to clock in many hours of work everyday for there is simply no auto-pilot in life Threat of Termination works.  This threat only works with those that find it difficu...

Yes, everyone is talking about productivity, which we all know is dependent on sales volume. To leap frog productivity, the fastest way to do so is to leap frog your sales.  This is called Sales Productivity: how you can sell more on higher profit margins .  In this course, you will learn the secrets of selling that make companies like Apple and H & M famous. You will discover what are the 7 must-have strategies to sell effectively. We will also reveal you the secrets of successful salespeople and how you too can become a sales expert.   You'll also avoid the reason that make Samsung sales drop in 2014 (read here for write-up) Whether you are new or experienced in sales, if you too want to not just learn, but get inspired to achieve more than you think possible, this course on Successful Sales Strategies will reward you many times over. *** This course qualifies for PIC (Productivity & Innovation Credit), where you can get 60% Grant. This means your n...

As we know, a great man is not one that does great things but one that does greatly in what he is supposed to be doing.  We all know what are the right things to do, but due to work pressures and meeting the demands of others, we tend to divert our focus.  If you're reading this newsletter, I hope to inspire you to do the following 6 things so that you can be happier at work: Do the best for the day , and not wait for another day to come.  This means not holding back and give it your all Continuously upgrade your skills, attitudes and knowledge . One good way is to get someone outside (like a Trainer) to challenge your thinking.  For if you change your thinking, your life will change Improve your inter-personal skills .  Know how to empathize with people and not just push your way through. Have high self-awareness and equip yourself with EQ and profiling skills Know how to be tough .  Get driven and be tough to take tough actions.   Know that di...

It sounds funny, right?  How can we lower staff cost by increasing staff cost?  As we know, staff cost is computed this way: Staff Remuneration/Staff Output .  So if you increase staff remuneration and get a higher output, your staff cost will decrease.  Other than this, there are 4 other ways that you too can increase cost and lower your staff cost as a result: Increase training cost .  With better trained staff, their output will increase automatically.  Make sure that you send your staff for training that cost less than $200 per head (for half day ).  Most importantly, ensure that the training covers practical issues and not just some impressive theories. With PIC covering at least 60% of your training cost, your net cost is only $80 per head, and I'm sure your company can recover it easily in just 2 days.  To find out the 7 ways to train your staff, click here .  Read here to discover the 9 things that a good sales training should c...

Everyone wants to be a great employee or High Contributing Employee (Course on 26 May 2016 Thur. 2 pm).  Unfortunately, such essential skills are not taught in schools. At Asia Trainers , we teach the following 7 things that all employees should ask before they ask for pay raise: Early in the Morning , ask "What are the one or two things that I can do today to make your work easier?" At end of the Day , ask "Thank you for the teachings today" End of the Month , ask "How's the month's profit?  What one or two things I can do in the next month to make it better?" If your boss is consistently working late , ask "What can I do to help you go home earlier?" When faced with attacks from customers or competitors, ask "What track records we can rely on to turnaround the situation?" At end of the Quarter , ask "What can I do to increase sales, lower costs, improve cash flow, minimize risks, increase productivity and most...

(Read 4 Weeks to a Better Manager at here ) We know that with the Singapore's economy growing at 3% to 4% this year, companies should be enjoying at least 5% to 10% of sales growth.  Yet many businesses that I talked to, including the famous restaurant at Orchard Road that I attended, are seeing stagnant sales.  Some are even experiencing declining sales.  Why? Lack of Labour . Because of the low birth rates from 1990 onwards, there are far fewer job seekers than job providers.  This, coupled with the continued tightening of foreign labour, means that it is the lack of labour, not lack of customers, that is causing sales to stagnant .  Is there a solution? The solution must be a permanent one, that is, it should once and for all solve this labour shortage problem, at least for the next 10 to 20 years. It should also not increase the cost of doing business , yet at the same time does not require government's funding.  What is this perfect solution? ...

Shocking statistics: the world's top 3 instant messaging services with people efficiency as follows: Whatsapp: 450 million actives users, employs only 50 staff to handle 50 billion messages daily; WeChat: 600 million registered users, employs 20,000 staff; Line: 300 million registered users, employs 5,000 staff; Here's how Whatsapp managed to be so productive employing only 50 staff to serve 450 million customers daily: Very Simple Product with little or no variation (no premium version).  In fact Whatsapp simple product makes it the most used product (as compared to WeChat).  Many people including myself use Whatsapp for its no-brainer style that gives reliable results Systematize operations with each person well trained (employs no intern or inexperienced staff) Full computerized operations with all 50 people working round the clock in shifts.  In this way no problems can be left undetected and solved immediately and there's no need for meetings at all ...

Many working people tell me (in our training courses) that it's hard to keep the momentum going and they are feeling tired at work.   We know that if you are drained at work, your productivity will go down.  This will make you feel even more tired as you are not making headways at work.  If left unchecked, you will soon reach burnt-out stage.  Thus all employees, including bosses, must ensure that they don't checked out at work.  The following are the 7 proven ways that everyone can remain fresh and not get drained at work: Keep a Fresh Perspective every 90 days .  Every 3 months, take a fresh look at your job and its contributions to the society.  You'll realize that your work is not as stale as what it seems.  For we know that as long as you dig deep into your work, you will discover gems at your work. Take short breaks (5 to 10 minutes) every 2 to 3 hours  at work.  If this is too much for your boss, you don't have to take smo...