Sat.Aug 05, 2023 - Fri.Aug 11, 2023

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Consulting Profit Margin: 4 Ways To Approach This Key Metric

Consulting Success

Most consultants know the most important number for a consultancy is gross margin. However, there are a lot of ways to look at margin — and many nuances to look out for This article will provide a practical guide on how you should be looking at margin in your consulting business.

Metrics 243
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3 People Reducing Productivity at Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

Dagnabit, there’s someone slowing down your consulting firm! More than one someone, in fact—multiple someones conspiring to suppress growth, pillage productivity and wipe out your hidden chocolate stash. And, worst of all, you know the rascals. They’re you. You’re the leader of your consulting firm and you may also be the biggest obstacle to its … Continued The post 3 People Reducing Productivity at Your Consulting Firm appeared first on David A.

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Utilization & Margin In Consulting With Matt Hayter: Podcast #302

Consulting Success

Many consultants struggle to grow their businesses because they’re busy working in their business rather than on their business. Because if you are looking to scale your firm, owners should understand the crucial role of margin. Today, Matt Hayter, the CEO and founder of Project Works, emphasizes how utilization and margin ensure sustainability and growth.

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The Secret to Leading Highly Collaborative Teams

Harvard Business

You can improve your team dynamics if you understand the people you manage.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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Transformational Leadership: Changing Culture to Fuel Financial Success

Organizational Talent Consulting

An Examination of the Importance of Leadership Behaviors and Attributes on Shaping Culture Executive Summary Organizational culture is a critical factor in financially successful companies. But culture change is often overwhelming and elusive. In a fast-paced digital workplace, leaders face increasing pressure to innovate, make data-driven decisions, and effectively lead a remote and multicultural workforce.

Culture 52

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A Guide to Project Portfolio Management: Doing the Right Projects at the Right Time

Epicflow

Business organizations that run multiple complex projects, experience business growth, and at the same time have limited resources may require a more sophisticated approach to managing all their projects. In particular, they need to sort all their endeavors in line with the organizational goals and objectives. This is where project portfolio management (PPM) can help.

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Talking About a Difficult Decision — When You Can’t Share All the Details

Harvard Business

When you have to communicate a difficult organizational decision to employees, it’s hard to know how much information to provide when you can’t be fully transparent yet. Saying nothing can undermine people’s trust in your motives and compassion, whereas saying too much can leave people feeling overwhelmed and vulnerable as they struggle to process the information and implications.

Exercises 172
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Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Finance

Tom Spencer

In the ever-evolving world of finance, where data analysis and informed decision-making are vital, the emergence of artificial intelligence has proven to be a transformative force. One particular facet of AI that is revolutionizing the finance industry is natural language processing , which leverages AI and machine learning algorithms to extract valuable insights from vast volumes of textual data.

Finance 78
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One Pragmatic Thought: Reward Collaboration, Not Individual Work

Johanna Rothman

If you're trying to use an agile approach, what do you care about in terms of finishing: That the team finish the work, regardless of the personal or team cost? That you know who did what, so you can reward them? Or that the team completed the work, without undue stress and strain? (also called sustainable pace) Most of my management clients feel torn.

Agile 56
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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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10 Tips for Managing Your Digital Identity

Kraft Kennedy

The shift to passwordless environments is catching on, but for most, passwords still serve as the keys to their digital world. At the time of this publication, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released Special Publication 800-63 , a set of best practices for managing your digital identity. We’ve culled the advisory down to a list of 10 guidelines for securing your personal information and creating better passwords: Password Length: Encourage users to create longer p

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How CEOs Can Navigate the Emotional Labor of Leadership

Harvard Business

Although the CEO role comes with power, pay, and privilege, it also involves emotional labor, as leaders feel the toll of making divisive and unpopular decisions. This aspect of the job has become more challenging the last few years. This article offers leaders four tools to help cope with the pressure.

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The Canvas of Innovation

Chad Barr

Years ago, after the construction of our home, we looked at the vast 1400 sq. foot basement—a blank canvas, a space filled with potential. Our vision guided us to divide it into a playroom for family fun, and a workout room for better health. With the delivery of the pool table, treadmill, bike, and weight machines, our basement became the entertainment center and a nucleus for togetherness.

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We all hate networking

Consultants' Consultant

Consultants Consultant: According to Jon Levy in this podcast, we all hate networking because it’s not. The post We all hate networking appeared first on Consultants' Consultant.

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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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8 Common Misconceptions about Managed IT Services

Kraft Kennedy

You spoke, we listened. We collected feedback about the misconceptions around Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) and we’d like to take a moment to debunk the myths. “Long wait times and lack of knowledgeable technicians is an industry standard and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Our post-ticket satisfaction rating is 98%.

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Getting Along: My Coworker Is Sabotaging Me — and My Boss Won’t Help

Harvard Business

Working with someone who is set on undermining you can be incredibly frustrating. And it can feel especially defeating if your boss doesn’t intervene when you try to get their support. This is the situation one of our readers finds themselves in. They wrote to our advice columnist, Amy Gallo, looking for help, and Amy shares her research-backed recommendations in this article.

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Time Is On My Side

Alan Weiss

There are three key approaches to creating more discretionary time for yourself and decreasing labor intensity: Streamline your models. You may have been doing something extremely well for years with excellent results, but that’s no reason not to try to improve it. Reduce the number of meetings or sessions; reduce the duration of meetings; move from in person to remote; eliminate guest speakers and commenters; reduce the number of exercises; educate the client differently about how often y

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Willpower

Consultants' Consultant

Consultants Consultant: It seems willpower is linked with the ability to sit in discomfort. Here’s an. The post Willpower appeared first on Consultants' Consultant.

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Savings Consultants Are Needed in Today's Market More Than Ever

Savings Consultants are needed in today’s market more than ever. With an increase in expenses, businesses are looking for opportunities to save. Often unknown to businesses are savings in expense reduction, specialized tax savings, specialized savings including medical underpayments, health benefits cost reduction, zero cost processing, and more. Blue Coast Savings, with over 20 years in business, assists Savings Consultants in helping these companies move toward more profitable businesses.

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The low-stakes argument

Seth Godin Blog

It’s tempting and fun to argue about the logo. About the way the toilet paper is hung. About how to load the trunk of the car. These sorts of arguments work precisely because they don’t matter. At all. And they distract us from the incredibly difficult work of discussing the things that actually do matter. That we can take action on. That are easier to ignore.

How To 49
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When Should You Take a Problem to HR?

Harvard Business

Toxic norms and cultures are among the hardest workplace issues to deal with. They can make people question their values and competence and even wonder if quitting is their only option. Study after study shows that these kinds of cultures drive attrition. Other people make or break our experiences at work. If you’re considering going to HR about a toxic situation at your job, you may be concerned about the potential repercussions.

Study 172
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The Hidden Power of Small Steps in Leadership

Leadership Vision Consulting

In this podcast episode, we discuss the importance of taking small steps in leadership. Extraordinary leaders not only cast big visions but also break them down into achievable milestones for their teams. By doing so, they foster a sense of connection, motivate individuals, and ensure steady progress towards the ultimate goal. Enjoy The post The Hidden Power of Small Steps in Leadership appeared first on Leadership Vision.

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What High Performing HR Business Partners Do Differently

LSA Global

High Performing HR Business Partners Act Differently Even after decades of trying to improve, the majority of business leaders and employees perceive HR Business Partners to be too reactive, transactional, and administrative to truly understand, predict, and consult on their strategic talent management issues in a way that adds measurable value to the business.

Talent 36
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The GTM Intelligence Era: ZoomInfo 2025 Customer Impact Report

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

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Dreams and roadblocks

Seth Godin Blog

The first step is to imagine what the people you serve want and care about it. The second is to figure out why they don’t have it yet. If you can help people get to where they seek to go, when they’re ready to get there, the stuff called marketing gets significantly easier.

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What the Finance Industry Tells Us About the Future of AI

Harvard Business

What will artificial intelligence do to industries and jobs? For a preview, look to the finance industry which has been incorporating data and algorithms for a long time, and which is always a canary in the coal mine for new technology. The experience of finance suggests that AI will transform some industries (sometimes very quickly) and that it will especially benefit larger players.

Finance 172
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4 Strategies to Prepare for a Late-Career Shift

Harvard Business

If you’re a senior professional who has decided to change careers, how will you compete in a new field with younger competition? Will prospective employers immediately dismiss you as a candidate because you’re overqualified? The author presents four strategies to use if you’re preparing to switch gears later in your career: 1) Own your age enthusiastically; 2) Identify multigenerational connections within your network; 3) Be prepared to 10X your job search; and 4) Practice your answers to tough

Strategy 172
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Research: Caregiver Employees Bring Unique Value to Companies

Harvard Business

There is no lack of data and information about why organizations should offer caregiver-friendly employee policies and benefits. For example, the U.S. lacks the infrastructure to support caregivers, and in fact is the only industrial nation without federal paid parental leave, and many people live in childcare deserts. Given these shortcomings and the fact that 73% of U.S. employees are caregivers, in order to have a productive and sustainable workforce, companies must create the infrastructure

Research 172
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Pricing for Profit: How to Set, Negotiate, and Succeed

Speaker: Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader

In today’s competitive market, pricing is more than just a number — it’s the cornerstone of profitability. The right pricing strategy ensures that you capture the true value of your offering, paving the way for sustainable growth and long-term success. Join Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader, in this exclusive session where he will explore how a well-crafted pricing approach balances customer perception with business objectives, creating a powerful tool for securing both competitive advantage a

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How a Global Brewing Company Explored the Cannabis Market

Harvard Business

How Molson Coors formulated its strategy for entering the cannabis beverages business.

Marketing 172
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What to Ask Yourself Before a Career Pivot

Harvard Business

Gone are the days of picking a job or career path and sticking to it forever. Career pivots are far more common today than they ever were. For example, consider Oprah Winfrey’s transitions from TV anchor to superstar talk show host to film actress, producer, and media mogul. But how do you know if you’re ready for a change, or if your pivot is likely to be successful?

Film 172
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Demystifying Emissions Reporting

Harvard Business

The International Sustainability Standards Board and the European Commission are implementing new mandatory non-financial reporting requirements, with the former releasing its inaugural standards for global capital markets and the latter developing standards as part of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. These standards will take effect from 2024, but may not be as costly or difficult to meet as businesses fear.

Report 172