Interpersonal Relationships Success Tips

Gossip is rampant in most workplaces. Sometimes, it seems as if people have nothing better to do than gossip about each other. They gossip about the company, their coworkers, and their managers. They frequently take a partial truth and turn it into a whole speculative truth. Many employees gossip about the amount of money they make – and often, they don’t tell the truth. So, unhappy coworkers beat a path to the HR door asking about their own salary.
Expect a certain amount of gossip; people want to know what is going on in their workplace, and they like to discuss work issues. The key is to know when the gossip is out-of-hand. You need to act if the gossip is:

• disrupting the work place and the business of work,
• hurting employees’ feelings,
• damaging interpersonal relationships, or
• injuring employee motivation and morale.

If you find yourself having to address gossip frequently, you may want to examine your workplace to understand the consistent themes in the gossip. Consider that you may not be sharing enough information with employees. It is also possible that employees don’t trust you and are afraid to ask about important topics. If gossip has been unmanaged in the past, gossip tends to become a negative aspect of your work culture. So, don’t let negative gossip go unaddressed.

You can manage gossip exactly as you would manage any other negative behavior from an employee in your work place. Use a coaching approach, when possible, to help the employee improve his or her behavior. But, when needed, gossip management starts with a serious talk between the employee and the manager or supervisor. If the discussion of the negative impacts of the employee’s gossip has no effect on subsequent behavior, begin the process of progressive discipline with a verbal warning, then a formal written verbal warning for the employee’s personnel file.

If you assertively deal with gossip, you will create a work culture and environment that does not support gossip.
"Who gossips to you will gossip of you." --Turkish proverb
[http://humanresources.about.com]

Keep your credit score from taking a major hit

It's time to devote another column to answering your e-mails, because I know the readers below aren't the only ones worrying about their investments and wondering how to keep their credit reports clean.

Q: I've relocated to the United States after spending 30 years overseas. I have no credit history here. How can I begin creating one? — Shannon in Chicago, Ill.

A: What you need is a secured credit card. It looks like a credit card and works like a credit card, but the difference is that you deposit a sum of money with the card-issuing company and that becomes your credit limit. The best-secured cards will also pay interest on your deposit. As long as you don't pay your bill late or go over your limit, the card should automatically convert into a regular credit card 18 to 24 months down the road. Voila, you have a credit history. You can find a list of secured cards at cardweb.com.

Q: How does canceling a credit card affect your credit rating? I really don't want to hold on to a particular card, but I am afraid canceling it will negatively affect my overall credit rating. — Pam in Long Island, N.Y.
A: It's not just an urban legend that canceling credit cards dings your credit score. That's  +because about one-third of your score is made up of something called your utilization ratio, the amount you have borrowed divided by the amount of credit you have available to you. By canceling a card, you shrink your credit line (the denominator), so the ratio takes a hit.

If you really want to get rid of this card — and there are lots of reasons you may want to, annual fees and high interest rates are just two — make sure that you're not planning to apply for a big loan on a car or a house in the next six months. Then, pay down a little bit of debt (the numerator) at about the same time you cancel. Don't cancel any other cards for the next few months and it should be a wash.

By Jean Chatzky

TODAYShow.com contributor

How to Save Money at the Supermarket#1

One of the best ways to save money at the supermarket is to be aware of marketing strategies used to encourage you to buy more and spend more. Every week for the next couple months, I’ll be posting a new tactic you should look out for the next time you’re at the grocery store. 

Keep your eyes closed! Stores now have flat screen TVs and newspapers in the cafe seating area. This is a multi-purpose concept to get people used to staying longer in the store: the longer we stay the more we buy…and lets not forget that a rested shopper is a better shopper!

Starting a business?

 Tips for a successful launch

Sharon Epperson shares smart ideas for nurturing your new business.

Starting your own business can be daunting, but if you have an idea of the obstacles you could face you’ll be well ahead of the game. Lots of folks think they have a great idea for a business — selling customized gift packages of your signature-recipe brownies, creating a fundraising consulting firm for nonprofits, or opening a health and wellness store catering to new moms. You think you’ve come up with a terrific enterprise, one that you’re really passionate about, but do you really know what it takes to launch this business?

CNBC’s personal finance correspondent Sharon Epperson, author of “The Big Payoff,” poses the questions you need to ask yourself — and some tips on how to find the answers.

What do you need to know before you start a business?
What you need to know is not always apparent until you start developing your business. You’ll likely make many mistakes and learn from them. But to make that learning experience less painful, follow these steps before you start your business. 

Build your cash reserve
Unless you already have substantial savings or have recently received a windfall, you’ll probably need to start saving money for your business for a few years before you launch it. Plan to put any extra money that you get from a raise, bonus or stock options into a special fund for your business. The amount of money you’ll need will likely vary depending on the type of business and the location. Dawn Casale, owner of One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn, says her advice to budding entrepreneurs is always: “Save double what you think you’ll need because it goes so quickly.”

Know your credit score
Pay off as many bills as you can, save money, and get a copy of your credit report to understand what it says about you. “Know, protect and correct your credit score,” says Nell Merlino, president and CEO of Count Me In, which provides micro-loans for women entrepreneurs. (Count Me In and OPEN by American Express provide money, mentoring and marketing opportunities for entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses to a million dollars or more.) 

Know your financial risk
How much money you can afford to lose? If you put $20,000 of your savings toward your business, are you prepared to lose it if the business isn’t successful? Will you still be able to cover your personal expenses and meet other financial goals? “You may be excited about your idea, but you need to be practical,” says Judith Rosenthal, a financial advisor with Ameriprise in New York. “The risk should be in line with your financial situation. If you lose $50,000 or more in savings, will you still be able to pay your mortgage and other household bills and also save for your retirement and kids’ college education?” Don’t lose sight of your other financial goals.

Don’t be afraid of debt, but use it wisely
You’ll likely use a combination of your own money, friends and family, credit cards, bank loans and other financing. Make sure you understand the terms of bank loans or other types of loans. Know that home equity lines of credit and credit cards have variable interest rates, which could increase substantially over time.

Open a separate account for your business
It’s important to always know how much cash you have, how much you’re spending and how much is coming in, Merlino says. The best way to do that is to separate your personal and business financially.

Finally, prepare to work hard
If you’re not geared up to work hard, don’t do it. If you treat it like a hobby, it will generate hobbylike revenue, says Susan Sobbott, president of OPEN from American Express, which provides access to working capital for small business owners and their companies.

How do you start a business?

1) Base a business on what you know
Create an idea for a business based on what interests you and what you know. If you are not passionate about the business, customers and prospects will sense it.

2) Target your market
Keep an eye out for unmet needs. If your community lacks a product or service that you have the ability and willingness to provide, you might be onto a kernel of a business idea. Talk to prospective customers, experts in the field and leverage every available resource. If possible, conduct online surveys, phone interviews and face-to-face discussions to sharpen your idea.

3) Be flexible
Once you have an idea, be prepared to modify it — flexibility is critical to being a small business owner. Ask any owner — a few unexpected experiences likely brought them to their destination.

4) Create a short business plan
“Your business plans should spell out who you plan to sell to, what they will pay for products and/or services, how your offering is unique, how you will reach customers and how you will turn a profit,” says Susan Sobbott, president of OPEN from American Express. Five pages is enough, she says, and the process of creating this document will help to polish your idea further and create a plan to get started. Network with members of the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (www.nawbo.org) in your area or visit a Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center (www.sba.gov) to help with research for your business plan.

[source, www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20926395/#storyContinued]