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- THIS DELIVERY STANDS FOR TWO ISSUES

Africabiz Online's editorial team is taking one month break from August 1 to August 30. Therefore, this delivery covers two months: July 15 to August 14 - Issue N° 99 / Vol 1; and August 15 to September 14 - Issue N° 100 / Vol 1. The next issue N° 101 / Vol 2 will be online on September 15, 2007.

TEAMBUILDING: 10 TIPS TO IMPROVE TEAM FOCUS, MORALE AND RESULTS

By Sharon Feltham

If you're serious about improving your team's performance then at the beginning of every year plan and schedule time for each of the following activities. These activities bring your team on board; they keep the team focussed and they prevent many of the problems that undermine a team’s ability to perform.

1. Reconnect with the Vision and Mission

Help your team connect with the bigger picture and bigger purpose by revisiting your company’s Vision and Mission Statement. They provide the co-ordinates and context for all team activity and the motivational source to drive performance. However, given that Visions are never ending, they can appear unobtainable so translate yours into a meaningful and achievable 3-year vision.

2. Provide structure, clarity and direction

Allocate time to ensure everyone on your team understands the Business plan and priorities for the new financial year. Plans help people understand what needs to be done to fulfil the company’s Mission and what needs to happen within the next 12 months. This provides clarity and direction -- critical requirements for high performance teams.

3. Reduce overwhelm and provide accountability

Break your 12-month plan into 90-day plans. This assists with the prioritisation and targeting of time and resources, while increasing action and accountability. 90-day deadlines are more immediate so they focus team effort and attention.

4. Conduct a quarterly review

Each quarter review your 3-year vision; 90-day goals and progress towards your 12-month business plan objectives. Things change and goal posts move so determine if objectives and strategies are still relevant. Re-prioritize and reallocate resources where relevant.

5. Conduct team meetings

Don’t underestimate your team’s need for high quality communication. It’s a key factor in high performance teams so make team meetings a habit. Establish a regular day and time - and only reschedule in emergencies. Regular team meetings are vital to keep the team on track, motivated and focussed. They enable you to communicate priorities and progress and they assist with the early identification of problems, concerns, ideas and opportunities.

Where a team is comprised of many smaller teams, sub teams should use a “10 minute talk”, preferably before the start of work each day. A quick check in on attendance, shift changes, reallocation of work and problems from the previous day keeps everyone informed and up to date.

6. Schedule regular performance reviews

Ideally this type of 1-1 meeting should be part of your Performance Appraisal process, but if you don’t have one you must schedule time to meet with every team member at least once every six months. Review their progress; discuss their performance and any issues or concerns. You should also discuss personal goals to identify appropriate developmental opportunities. Don’t ignore this, as it’s a key factor in staff satisfaction and retention. And you'll ensure each and every team member is aligned and focussed on achieving team goals.

7. Take time to build relationships

Make time for regular informal 1-1 meetings with all your employees. A quick check in on workloads, issues or concerns and small achievements builds better relationships leading to long-term loyalty. People feel valued and problems won’t escalate. Early detection prevents the “bad apple” syndrome and prevention is far less costly, time consuming and painful than the cure.

8. Improve results by building skills and knowledge

High performance teams are highly skilled teams and yet training is often the first casualty when teams get busy. Unskilled and poorly trained staff cause more problems and cost in the long term so plan ahead, designate time and allocate additional resources to ensure staff keep up to date with their professional development and technical skills.

9. Develop your team rewards and recognition plan

Involve your team in developing a team reward and recognition plan. This can include rituals such as individual awards and commendations and team events to celebrate milestones and achievements. Social events are important for morale and relationships but delegate their organization to team members -- it’s a great way to promote team building.

10. Remember the personal touch

Build morale with your personal recognition system. This should include verbal acknowledgments, informal written notes (avoid email if you can) and where appropriate more formal letters for exceptional achievement or contribution. Keep on top of this by using a monthly or weekly bring up system. Ask yourself “Who do I need to thank this week?

About the Author: Sharon Feltham is an organisational development, training and development consultant and founder of Excellerate in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. With more than 25 years experience she supports organisations with the development of their people and the performance of their teams. She can be reached at http://www.excellerate.co.nz where you'll find free resources, tips, techniques and tools to build skills, lead, coach and develop teams with confidence.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

MORE ON TEAMBUILDING

1- 104 Activities That Build: Self-Esteem, Teamwork, Communication, Anger Management, Self-Discovery, Coping Skills by Alanna Jones (Paperback - Mar 1, 1998) 3- Team-Building Activities for Every Group by Alanna Jones (Paperback - Jan 10, 2000) 5- Quick Teambuilding Activities for Busy Managers: 50 Exercises That Get Results in Just 15 Minutes by Brian Cole Miller (Paperback - Nov 2003)

2- The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series) by Doni Tamblyn and Sharyn Weiss (Paperback - Jun 27, 2000) 4- The Big Book of Team Building Games: Trust-Building Activities, Team Spirit Exercises, and Other Fun Things to Do by John W. Newstrom and Edward E. Scannell (Paperback - Dec 1, 1997) 6- 101 Teambuilding Activities: Ideas Every Coach Can Use to EnhanceTeamwork, Communication and Trust by Greg Dale and Scott Conant (Paperback - Sep 2004)

"CONTRIBUTOR'S GUIDELINES" are available here. We invite you to contribute to AFRICABIZ ONLINE MONTHLY ISSUE - with articles related to "How Africa Could Bridge The Developing Gap".

Your feedback / objection / contribution is welcome. Visit WorldWide BizCenter, and choose General Information (as topic) to create a thread for discussion. On the top of the WorldWide BizCenter page, there is a HELP link to assist you making an efficient use of the discussion board. This link also is useful

Many thanks for subscribing to Africabiz. See you here on Sept 15, 2007.

  Dr. B.M. Quenum
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Business Opportunities

SUGAR-CANE & PRODUCTS - PART VII: - A MEDIUM-SCALE OPERATION TO MANUFACTURING BROWN SUGAR - B - ECONOMICS

This series' first issue outlined the importance of sugar-cane as Economic Catalyst to developing. The current delivery deals briefly with the economics about a labor intensive medium-scale operation - to produce brown sugar from sugarcane juice - as an alternative to capital intensive facilities.

- SIZING-UP THE FACILITY

Based on investment data exposed here about a small-scale sugarcane juice production facility, a sugarcane-stick crusher produce 300 liters per hour of fresh sugarcane juice. That is 2,400 liters of fresh sugarcane juice daily / 24 days per month over 11 months. In other words 633,600 liters over an operational year/ around 633 metric tons of fresh sugarcane juice and 95 metric tons of dried bagasse. That operation will need 4 operating workers.
 
A facility as above briefly described would produce 45,214kg of lightly colored brown sugar [50kg x 633,000/700], and 72,342kg of muscovado [80kg x 633,000/700]. In total a production of brown sugar amounting to 117 metric tons per year. This operation would need three more production workers than the one dedicated solely to sugarcane juice production. That is 7 operating workers, plus a technician/ manager and two more hands. 10 people in total.

- INVESTMENT ESTIMATE AND OPERATING EXPENSES

Below are listed investment estimate and operating expenses under conditions exposed in previous paragraph (and in issues: 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98):

Items	US$
INVESTMENT
Total investment	64,200
PRODUCTION LEVEL
1- lightly coloured brown sugar = 45 metric tons per year. 2- Jaggery/ Muscovado = 72 metric tons per year.
OPERATING COSTS
Operational Expenses: Raw material (around 745 metric tons of fresh sugarcane sticks per year or 2,821 metric tons per day - purchased at 30$US per metric ton), harvesting, handling and transport to processing floor - production costs - insurance - utilities - staff and hands / management salaries - amortization - interests on loan. Etc.	70,000
Cost of production off plant for one metric ton of brown sugar	598

This is an excellent cost of production as one kg of white sugar costs up to triple in most of African countries that do not produce sugar.

Next delivery (Issue 101/ Sept 15, 2007) will show how a network of medium scale producers can cater for and feed an African country with good quality and nutritive brownsugar, assist in the industrialization process in rural areas, create thousand of jobs and save foreign currency - contrary to a big "high tech" production facility that yields the same global sugar tonnage as medium-scale producers.

For more on the matter click here.

MORE ON SUGAR CANE & PRODUCTS

1- Sugar Cane Industry, The (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography) by J.H. Galloway (Paperback Sep 23, 2005) 2- The House Surrounded by Sugar by Leanna Williams (Paperback - Mar 8, 2006) 3- From Cane to Sugar (Start to Finish) by Jill Braithwaite (Hardcover - Aug 2004) 4- Cane Sugar Handbook: A Manual for Cane Sugar Manufacturers and Their Chemists by James C. P. Chen and Chung Chi Chou (Hardcover - Nov 8, 1993) 5- Sugar Cane by Alex Morgan (Paperback - Aug 28, 2002) 6- The Sugar cane factory: A catechism of cane sugar manufacture for the use of beginners by Frederic I Scard (Unknown Binding - 1913)

7- Sugar Cane Cultivation and Management by Henk, Bakker and H., Bakker (Hardcover - Jan 1, 1999) 8- Sugar Cane (Tropical Agriculturalist) by R. Fauconnier (Paperback - Feb 24, 1993) 9- Management Accounting for the Sugar Cane Industry (Sugar Sciences, Vol 8) by A. E. Fok Kam (Hardcover - Mar 1988) 10- The nature and properties of the sugar cane With practical directions for the improvement of its cultures, and the manufacture of its products) by George Richardson Porter (Unknown Binding - 1831) 11- Sugar-cane and Sugar Industry in Nigeria The Bitter Sweet Lessons by Abdul-latif D. Busari (Paperback - Nov 2005) 12- The 2007-2012 World Outlook for Sugar Cane Mill Products by Philip M. Parker (Paperback - Oct 13, 2006)

Click here to read more about the matter

Control Your Desktop

ARE YOU EXPERIENCING JERKY VIDEO / DVD PLAYBBACK - PART III: INSTALL THE RIGHT FLASH PLAYER AND ACTIVEX CONTROL

Click following link for Part II of this series: Install Additional Codecs To The Ones That Shipped With XP

It is utterly important to have the right Flash Player installed in each brand of browser you have on your system.

The problem is simple for Mozilla Firefox for the browser itself, in case the Flash Player is missing - will signals that a missing Adobe Flash Player plugIn should be installed if one visit a page that features media/ video. Then you accept the install and everything should be OK.

That is not the case with Internet Explorer. When visiting a media page, Internet Explorer will ask for the installation of the missing Flash Player - stating that the visited-page needs Flash Player version 6 or above to be correctly viewed, and asking you to uninstall any other installed Adobe Flash Player before installing the "right" one.

However, when one does uninstall any existing Flash Player (using the uninstall tool provided by Adobe), the Flash Player plugin installed in Mozilla FireFox is also uninstalled. And if one succeeds to install what is deemed the "right" Flash Player for Internet Explorer (that is the newest version of Adobe Flash Player /ActiveX Control downloaded and installed straight from Adobe Flash Player Download Center), it may not be the right one for Mozilla FireFox, that would be still requesting the install of a missing Adobe Flash Player plugin when one visits a media page. And doing so, one get jerky video playback in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla FireFox, because Internet Explorer is optimized by Microsoft to play streaming-video - and FireFox play Flash Video (FLV/SWF) better.

Although, if you do have Window Media Plugin for FireFox installed, you would notice that when experiencing jerky video playback in Internet Explorer for msn.com video, you would be getting smooth video playback in FireFox for msn.com video. Strange isn't?

For more on te matter visit this link.

Freebie Of The Month

A REPLACEMENT TO WINDOWS TASK MANAGER: MICROSOFT PROCESS EXPLORER

In line with subject exposed above in Control Your Desktop, here is Microsoft Process Explorer: An advanced replacement to Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) that shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded on your system.

The display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in:

- 1- If it is in handle mode (VIEW/ LOWER PANE VIEW/ Handles) you'll see the handles that the process selected in the top window;

- 2- If Process Explorer is in DLL mode (VIEW/ LOWER PANE VIEW/ DLLs) you'll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded.

Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.

The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.

Process Explorer works on Windows 9x/Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Server 2003, and 64-bit versions of Windows for x64 and IA64 processors, and Windows Vista.

In relation to Control Your Desktop subject above outlined, Process Explorer shows the score of DLL that an application could generate and why it is compulsory to close down/ kill active processes before uninstalling a device's drivers or application software in order to avoid conflicts between DLLs.

Just to have an idea about how interlinked DLLs of a specific application can be with Microsoft system DLLs, click on your AntiVirus .exe file in Process Explorer's top panel and see the intricacy of relationship!

There are some advanced replacement to Windows Task Manager on the Internet. However, Microsoft Process Explorer stands the competition and is free. Visit Microsoft's download page to grab your copy of this marvelous piece of software