10 great reasons for #freelancing & #contracting

Posted on November 28, 2012 by admin

Following on from our last post about Freelancing here are some great reasons
you might want to go down this career route:-

Have you got a low boredom threshold ? – Freelancing allows you to choose
the length of your contracts based upon your own preferences. 3 months, 6 months, 12 months – whatever suits you so your never anywhere long enough to get bored.
Do you thrive on a challenge ? – instead of sitting around doing the same old thing, getting stuck in a rut every contract opportunity presents a fresh challenge, new people to meet, new things to do.
Do you like traveling ? – open up your horizons by working in different
parts of the country……. or even other parts of the world.
Fed up of Office politics ? – Freelancing allows you to ignore petty
politics & get on with your job. You’re there to complete a task to the best of your abilities not to impress the boss into giving you promotion.
Would you rather have the cash than holidays or other perks ? – contracting offers higher rates of pay without the frills associated with “permanent” employment.
Do you enjoy looking for work ? – a serious question, if you love interviews you will love freelancing !
Are you available at the drop of a hat ? – if you are you may be offered a contract on the basis of a telephone interview as long as you are prepared to start immediately.
Can you handle uncertainty ? – some people love not knowing what they will be doing in 6 months time – if you can embrace this you will get a buzz out of freelancing.
Are you sociable & outgoing ? if you don’t enjoy meeting people &
integrating you had better stick to that day job.
Are you flexible & adaptable ? – If you can join a new organization & hit the ground running, adding real value & making a big difference – contracting might just be the career for you.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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#Freelancers earn loads of wonga………..#HFD2012

Posted on November 21, 2012 by admin

It’s Freelancer day today so lets debunk some of our favorite myths about freelancing:-

Freelancers earn loads of wonga – Freelancer pay is very much dependent upon industry, location, length of contract etc. In Engineering a typical freelancer may earn 25% more than a “permie” but that’s like comparing apples & pears as the freelancer gets no paid holiday’s, sick pay, pension, bonus etc etc so a direct comparison needs to take into account the monetary value of these “permie” benefits.

Freelancers pay less tax – There is some truth in this. By owning a Limited Company a Freelancer may structure his pay to take home more income (perfectly legal) but the biggest benefit is being able to deduct legitimate business expenses like car mileage from taxable income. It should be stressed that legitimate Freelancers pay their full contribution according to UK tax law.

Freelancing is insecure – This is largely down to career management. In a lot of respects it can be more secure because the contractor has more active control. Rather than being at the whim of an employer the Contractor tends to be secure for the length of his contract & needs to be active in seeking another towards the end. If her Network is well developed this is perfectly manageable.

Freelancers can’t get a proper job – some people move easily between Contracting & “Permanent” roles. The majority, however, prefer freelancing. Most Freelancer’s wouldn’t take a permie job given the choice.

Freelancers are ruthless opportunists – no more so than the companies who employ them on short notice contracts. Freelancers are certainly not naive & are perfectly capable of exploiting an opportunity should it arise.

Freelancers are essential – Of course I would argue this but who else is going to step in & cover for 12 months maternity leave or provide invaluable support through a period of rapid growth. If it wasn’t for Freelancers the corporate world would be like a Swiss cheese.

Freelancers are competent Professionals – undoubtedly true. To survive without the fluffy blanket of corporate support, to learn on the job, hit the ground running, contribute immediately & be effective are all signs of competent professionalism. If you want an easy life don’t go into freelancing.

So why would anyone want to go into Freelancing ———that’s for the next post.

Happy Freelance Day!

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Building great teams……..#business #leadership

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin

Team building is not all about weekends away in the Lake District building rafts & swinging through the trees. Effective Managers employ simple everyday methods to build team performance. Here are 10 tips for great team building:-

Do as I do not as I say. – If you ask team members to carry out tasks you either cannot or wouldn’t do yourself you will quickly lose respect.
Eliminate the blame culture – Organizations which have an overwhelming blame culture are unproductive & waste energy. Avoid blaming others, especially in public, and seek to improve your own performance & those of your team.
Open & Honest Feedback – is to be encouraged. If you want to question a team members performance it must be done in private & in an open, honest manner. Be prepared to hear things you don’t want to hear but don’t be afraid to point out weaknesses you feel need to be rectified.
Don’t delegate irresponsibly – by overloading your team or passing off un-savoury tasks you don’t fancy doing yourself. This will only create resentment & lower morale.
Get your hands dirty – now & then, the team will really appreciate it – and so will you.
“Big Up” your team – to Senior Management instead of taking the credit yourself.
Have an “open door” policy – to listen to people’s personal problems, it will be much appreciated.
Show Leadership – by taking responsibility for failure as well as success.
Treat others as you would have them treat you – it’s obvious but the best advice normally is.
Celebrate Success – buy the drinks, cakes – whatever but celebrate that win !

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Are you listening to the Voice Of the Customer?….#business, #innovation

Posted on October 30, 2012 by admin

One of the most difficult choices in New Product Development is in deciding what products to develop !

Lot’s of us watch “Dragons Den” on TV and it’s pretty obvious some of the budding entrepreneurs believe they have a great idea but have never even considered asking their customers or potential customers what they think.

To avoid wasting millions of dollars on products no one wants it is essential to listen to the Voice Of the Customer. (VOC)

Companies involved in New Product Development & Innovation need to establish effective methods to capture VOC.

This can take many different forms such as surveys, telephone conversations, face to face interviews, feedback forms, Social Media strategies etc etc etc

Whichever mix is used the information then has to be filtered and sorted to identify priorities for New Product Development. To do this effectively it is essential to have a multi-functional team involved to get a number of perspectives.

If you are involved in Innovation you need to capture the VOC.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Digital Switchover – a great project management success #pmot

Posted on October 24, 2012 by admin

This week has seen the completion of the Digital TV switchover in the UK. Over a 5 year period the team has managed the successful transfer from Analogue to Digital in all regions of the UK. This has involved:-

Re-engineering over 1100 transmitters from Analogue to Digital.
Maintaining coverage at around 98.5% of UK residents.
Making 95% of the population aware of the programme.
Ensuring those who need help get it fast.
Freeing up the Analogue bandwidth for other uses.

The Team achieved all this and more completing the changeover on time and within budget. It was also an excellent example of collaboration between public sector broadcasters, independent broadcasters, Ofcom, Government and other parties.

Particularly impressive were the adverts targeted at the public which were clear, concise and informative.

Congratulations to the Digital Switchover team for a job well done.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Your #business cannot compete on cost alone…

Posted on October 16, 2012 by admin

According to new research published today by Allianz Insurance, some 83% of UK managers rank Innovation as the key to their organization performing strongly.

However, despite the fact most leaders are fully aware of the benefits of innovation, the ongoing challenging economic environment has caused many to opt out of such projects in recent months.

For instance, 23% of the 500 respondents noted that the economic slump has pushed innovation further down their list of business priorities, with issues such as a lack of funding and a focus on profits being the main reasons behind this fact.

This approach is not only wrong it is patently short sighted. Innovating value added products or services is the only way to ensure long term survival never-mind success. Long-term it is not possible for organizations to compete purely on cost. Globalization ensures that whenever you compete purely on cost, someone, somewhere will be able to undermine your cost base and do it cheaper. The only way to compete successfully, particularly in the West, is to produce differentiated products with high added value, which cannot be easily reproduced elsewhere where labor costs are significantly cheaper.

This requires investment in R & D, training and advanced manufacturing techniques.

Innovation is essential to long term survival.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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#Innovation adds value and creates jobs……

Posted on October 9, 2012 by admin

Fantastic news today regarding the development of a National Automotive Innovation Campus at the University of Warwick.

Funded jointly by the Government’s U.K Research Investment fund, Tata Motors & Jaguar Land Rover, the centre will cost 92 million pounds.

David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said: “The UK has world-class companies and great universities. This new investment will get them working together to deliver innovation and growth.”

“The automotive industry in the UK has seen a recent resurgence, but for the UK to remain internationally competitive we must create urgently a critical mass in research excellence,” said WMG chairman and founder Professor Lord Bhattacharyya. “Our vision is to create the National Automotive Innovation Campus where we link people, research and world-leading infrastructure to create and develop novel technologies.

“NAIC will be an ‘engine’ for economic growth, with wide economic benefit, and sustained growth from the creation of world-leading technologies. It will enable academic and industry teams to work together in state of the art buildings, with tailored equipment and digital solutions to create and integrate breakthrough technologies with a whole system approach crossing multiple disciplines.”

This is exactly the type of investment British Science & Engineering has been crying out for & is a terrific example of how collaboration between successful organizations and Government can work together to increase innovation & deliver high value added products along with well paid jobs.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Invasion of the Robot cars….#auto #innovation

Posted on October 2, 2012 by admin

Last week saw a little reported milestone in Automotive history when Californian Governor Jerry Brown signed through legislation to allow fully automated vehicles on California’s roads.

This took place at Google’s ‘Mountainview’ headquarters where the team have been working on a car which utilizes Google’s ‘Street View’ mapping technology, a number of sensors & some clever software to enable the car to navigate without human intervention. The company has already done over 300,000 miles testing with zero collisions so far.

So why is all of this so important ?? As Highways get increasingly congested it has long been a dream to enable convoys of vehicles to travel nose to tail in close proximity in separate lanes, breaking off as necessary, to reach local destinations.

Robot cars may smack of Sci-Fi but this development could herald a massive social change and a glimpse of the future.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

British #Engineering Excellence….

Posted on September 27, 2012 by admin

At today’s Paris Motor Show British Automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover revealed 2 fantastic new vehicles. The new aluminium bodied Range Rover and the fabulous new F-type sports car, Jaguars first for over 30 years reviving memories of the iconic 60’s classic the E-type. These vehicles illustrate the very best of British Design and Manufacture. The Quality standards and attention to detail in Design, Product Development and Manufacturing are second to none.

Jaguar Land Rover goes from strength to strength with annual sales over 50% up on the previous year, and all this in the depths of a recession.

This proves that excellence in design, product development, engineering & manufacturing can create tremendous commercial success & generate thousands of high value jobs.

Take a look at the unveil by following this link:-

http://microsites.jaguar.com/LVS/Paris2012/gl/en/

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

Amberhill Associates Ltd ©️Chris Robinson

Great projects, on cost, on time, every time. call 0775 172 2603

10 great reasons for #freelancing & #contracting

#Freelancers earn loads of wonga………..#HFD2012

Building great teams……..#business #leadership

Are you listening to the Voice Of the Customer?….#business, #innovation

Digital Switchover – a great project management success #pmot

Your #business cannot compete on cost alone…

#Innovation adds value and creates jobs……

British #Engineering Excellence….