Business

It is quite common to have people in your circle of friends who share similar values ​​and views to yours. This habit has been common since the beginning and is a way of strengthening oneself as an individual and as a group. However, this is not limited to the personal field — in a business, for example, it is also important to have people who want to move in the same direction as you and pursue the same goals. This is what we call company culture.

An organization must strengthen its culture among employees, as it can be fundamental to attracting or retaining talent in your business. In this post you will discover what company culture is and how to strengthen it. Check out:

What is company culture?

Company culture or business culture are values, behaviors and ideas shared among a company's employees from the operational to the strategic level. Even the way of acting with the external environment ( customers and stakeholders, for example) can be part of this set.

Remember that corporate culture is not necessarily linked to the remuneration of a position, although fair payment for work should be part of it, but rather it is linked to everything that happens during the day-to-day running of a business and functions as a guide for its members : practices, symbols, principles, beliefs, policies, systems, ceremonies, jargon, etc.

Is organizational culture fixed or changeable?

Over time and with the change of employees, it is normal for the company's culture to change, but it is necessary to pay attention to what values ​​will emerge.
With the change of professionals, it is normal for the company culture to change. This is because it is directly affected by employees. Furthermore, a society's constantly changing values ​​can change what is believed to be right in a work environment.

The growth of your company is also responsible for changing business culture. A company established in the market, for example, will not maintain the same habits and behaviors as when it was a startup. Being aware of these cultural changes is, therefore, important to keep the company flexible and open to change.

How to strengthen company culture?

An organizational culture can be the fundamental factor in retaining talent in your company. Firstly because it is much easier to work in a place that suits your ideas and, secondly, this type of environment tends to be less toxic for the employee precisely because of the alignment of values.

The implementation of positive ideas in the company culture that value worker well-being also prevents employees from suffering from moral harassment and pathologies associated with stress.

It is quite common to hear stories of professionals who left successful careers because the work environment made them sick and data shows that nine out of ten Pakis have symptoms of anxiety . This data can be combatted with a culture that values ​​worker health, for example.

Even productivity can increase. Those who identify with the company are much more willing to do satisfactory work . Additionally, a strong company culture has the ability to keep employees motivated.

But there is no point in having a list of ideas and values ​​if nothing is put into practice. See attitudes to strengthen the company culture among employees:

Assess company culture

If you are a manager, you must be aware of the values, speeches and behaviors of a company's teams. How do they carry out their tasks? How do they behave on a daily basis? How do they act with customers and stakeholders? Look for common habits among them.

Take this moment to listen to both employees and customers. Find out what they think of your company, what end-to-end relationships are like, what could be improved and what should be adopted as company culture.

Determine what you want for company culture

After this study, it becomes much easier to know what can or cannot be adopted as company culture. There are certainly behaviors that you do not want to continue in practice. For example, if you work in sales, you find that customers feel mistreated or ignored by salespeople. Adopting a culture that values ​​the consumer can reverse this situation.

Also remember to document these values ​​so that all employees (both old and new) are aware.

Be the example

One of the most important tips is to be an example and show the attitudes you intend to adopt as part of the business culture.
Company culture must go hand in hand with leadership. The strategic sector must align or indicate what it wants to adopt as a value in the organization, but it also needs to act as agreed. Therefore, if you want habits, ideas and behaviors to be adopted by employees, you must start by adopting them yourself.

Use company tools

After the company culture is established, all strategic, tactical and operational actions must follow them, including hiring by the HR sector. You can achieve this strengthening by using the company's communication channels and team .

For example: branding can also be part of business culture. Therefore, the tone of voice adopted can speak to both customers and employees.

Hold corporate events

An event is a way to solidify company culture outside of the work environment. You will be able to observe if there have been changes in the relationship between the teams and external customers, in addition to strengthening the relationship between employees and the company itself.

Events can be lectures with experts in organizational culture, seminars with professionals that you consider examples of what you want for your company, and even parties.

As you have seen, corporate culture is essential for retaining talent and improving the work environment, in addition to helping to build the company's image. And it is only possible with constant work and, of course, it must be updated whenever necessary.

Successful business financial planning requires a lot of commitment and discipline.

A few more months and we reach the end of 2023, successful business financial planning needs to be prepared well in advance!

It is natural for businesspeople to have doubts about what they need to do to prepare financial planning that reduces unnecessary costs and potentially boosts their company.

Some tips that can make your business routine easier and guarantee financial peace of mind are great, right?

Therefore, we have separated advice and tips in this content developed by people who understand business and know how difficult it is to keep everything in order.

Do you want to boost your company and ensure success and financial health in 2024?

Continue reading this post!

1 – Successful financial planning varies from company to company!

This tip is essential. You can't simply base yourself on other businesses, competitors or similar companies.

Financial planning is something unique, and must be applied individually for each company. It's not uncommon for you to find business people and other people who love to kick it up and tell you what you should do to keep your finances in order. However, only the accountant can help you put everything in place and guarantee stability for finances without negatively impacting your business areas.

The ideal is to always count on the help of a professional specialized in business accounting and with experience and know-how to enhance savings actions and elevate your company to an increasingly higher level of profitability and profitability.

2 – Work with growth goals for your company!

Well-structured business financial planning is just the basics, the beginning of the path. You also need to have goals so that there is real growth in your revenue.

To do this, you will need to invest part of the revenue in improvements and ways to multiply your earnings.

If you want to increase revenue, you need to work with real goals and deadlines that match the reality of your business, as well as ways to achieve these goals and complete planning in case ideas go wrong and you need to replant.

Goals may include obtaining a specific number of customers by a certain period, increasing the frequency of sales or size of sales, etc.

3 – Saving doesn’t hurt anyone

Planning and having goals is a good start. Now, you have to guarantee savings for your business!

The resources you have are very valuable, including time, personnel and money. Avoid waste and ensure that your employees' efficiency is being maximized, otherwise you will simply be throwing money away.

Every saving is valid, from the use of paper during the processes carried out by your company to the time each employee spends with each customer.

Prioritize your most profitable customers and ensure less complex processes are handled quickly.

4 – Prepare for the future

You need to know everything that could happen to your company. Good risk management at the beginning of each project is extremely necessary.

Having accounting by your side also helps you predict possible scenarios, complications and solutions that can be applied to ensure that your company's finances remain in the black. Fundamental part of business financial planning.

5 – Credit is good, but you need to be careful with business financial planning

Taking credit to guarantee an investment in an area that needs it or simply to expand the business and increase revenue is a good idea.

However, you need to be very careful with this credit. Taking your company into debt is dangerous and can lead to bankruptcy. Therefore, have everything well planned, know your expenses, the possible scenarios and be sure that you will be able to pay the debt.

6 – Cut what is bad, invest in what is good

The old pen and paper often need to be left aside. It is necessary to invest in technology to reduce bureaucracy in processes, speed up tasks and reduce unnecessary spending on office supplies.

Another important precaution is with dismissals and hirings. It is very expensive to hire a new employee or fire them. Therefore, make sure you are hiring someone whose expectations are aligned with those of the company and invest in training your employees.

Remember: reduce turnover and take extreme measures when necessary.

7 – Long-term Business Financial Planning

You can’t plan your business’s finances only in the short term. It is important to ensure that plans last for several years, considering potential risks and bad scenarios in which your company will have to deal with setbacks.

Therefore, having the help of a business accounting specialist is important at this stage, as it guarantees maximum precision for the entire strategy outlined.

Process mapping is a practice that helps managers solve problems by understanding the company's practical activities and identifying bottlenecks.

Are you struggling to identify bottlenecks, improve communication between teams or increase the efficiency of your processes?
In this article we will show you step by step how to choose the processes to be mapped and how to identify areas for improvement in each of them.
Good reading!

What is Process Mapping?

Process mapping is the identification of the sequence of activities that make up a process and other elements that interact with the workflow.

Thus, the idea is to give the company a complete view of how it works in practice, describing and listing all necessary actions, people involved, materials used and resulting products.
Mapping helps the manager answer a series of questions about the process, including:

• inputs and outputs (inputs and outputs);
• the person responsible for it;
• your goals;
• the risks associated with it;
• main difficulties;
• expected results;
• resources used, whether financial, material or human;
• activities that must be carried out;
• among others.

Did management notice that it is necessary to optimize these issues? So, it's time to do process mapping.

Additionally, have you noticed that there are miscommunications, delays, a high incidence of rework or other problems? Therefore, it is necessary to map the process in question. This is because it will help you understand what is not working and needs to be improved.

What is the Importance of Process Mapping?

Activities carried out in an efficient and organized way require process mapping . Thus, by identifying and documenting the correct sequence of steps, it is possible to avoid errors, rework and delays.

It also offers a clear view of activities. This is because it highlights points where improvements can be implemented.
Through diagrams and flowcharts, it is possible to visualize the interactions between the steps, identify bottlenecks and find more effective solutions.

In addition, everyone involved has a shared understanding of tasks and responsibilities, facilitating collaboration and teamwork.

What is the purpose of process mapping?

The purpose of process mapping is to improve the efficiency of companies. That's because process maps provide detailed information about a specific process, facilitating cross-team discussions to improve existing processes.

In addition, they improve communication and serve as process documentation. Therefore, they are effective in identifying bottlenecks, redundancies and delays.
Not to mention that they help define boundaries, properties and responsibilities of processes, in addition to establishing measures of effectiveness and indicators .

What Is the Level of Detail of Process Mapping?

A process mapping can have different levels of detail:

• First level (descriptive) : its objective is to guarantee that all the people involved are aligned regarding the understanding of the process;
• Second level (analytical) : highlights exception events and treatments and, therefore, brings a more technical view;
• Third level (executable) : details all implemented services, bringing a more data-focused view.

But, of course, choosing the level of depth of your process mapping depends on your objective at each moment.

What Are the Advantages of Process Mapping?

By now, you must have already understood that process mapping brings many advantages to the company.

It allows managers and the team to have an overview of what happens in the company's day-to-day activities. This way, it is possible to identify points for improvement and understand what is behind each of the activities carried out.

Simplifies Processes

Process mapping allows a clear and detailed view of how activities are carried out in an organization.

This way, it simplifies processes, identifying unnecessary steps, duplications of work or complex flows. This way, it is possible to eliminate redundant activities, reduce bureaucracy and improve overall efficiency.

Improves Understanding

By mapping processes, information about the steps, responsibilities and interactions between departments becomes more visible and understandable.

This way, employees understand better how work is carried out and how their activities fit into the general context.
In other words, this clear vision allows them to contribute more effectively to the organization’s objectives.

Optimizes Communication

By having a visual representation of processes, it's easier for team members to communicate about their responsibilities, workflows, and dependencies.

This fluid communication reduces ambiguity and misunderstandings, promoting more efficient and effective collaboration between departments.

Contributes to Project Planning

Understanding existing processes allows identifying areas affected by ongoing or future projects. So, in a way, it allows you to more accurately analyze the impacts and resource requirements.

In addition, it all contributes to setting realistic deadlines, allocating the right resources, and planning activities more efficiently.

Strengthen Documentation

Process mapping provides a clear visual representation of all processes, complemented by detailed descriptions of activities, responsibilities and business rules.

This way, it is possible to reinforce existing documentation, making it more understandable and accessible to all team members, which helps with operational continuity.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Process Mapping?

While process mapping is a valuable practice, it also has some potential drawbacks, such as:

• time and resources : it is a detailed process, with information collection, collaboration between different stakeholders and documentation of the processes. Therefore, it may require a considerable investment of time and financial resources;
• excessive complexity : when trying to document all the details of a process, you can lose focus on the essence and make the map excessively complex and difficult to understand;
• resistance to change : some people may see this as a threat to their established work procedures. They may also fear that process mapping will lead to staff reductions or increased oversight;
• lack of updating : If process maps are not updated regularly, they can become obsolete and lose their relevance.

When to Do the Mapping?

It is possible to carry out process mapping in several situations, such as:

• starting a new project or undertaking;
• improving efficiency and reducing waste in existing processes;
• implementation of new systems or technologies;
• need to understand the interaction between departments or teams;
• identification of bottlenecks or points of inefficiency in a workflow;
• continuous improvement and improvement of existing processes;
• documentation of operating procedures;
• improved communication and collaboration between team members;
• preparation of the organization for certification in quality standards, such as ISO 9001 .

Being a data driven business is essential for anyone who wants to have a competitive advantage in the current market.

With data driven , companies can make decisions based on concrete and accurate data. This means that decisions are made strategically, which reduces risks and increases the chances of success.

Having quality data analysis can also help companies identify growth opportunities in their markets. Additionally, they can identify inefficient processes and areas where productivity can be improved.

Why Is It Worth Investing in a Data Driven Solution?

Data driven companies are able to access information about the business more clearly and obtain qualified data. This, as you can imagine, brings a series of benefits. Meet the main ones!

Reduce Risks

Teams that work with data instead of opinions tend to make better decisions. In this way, the risks of errors, losses or the need for rework are reduced.

Best ROI Assessment

By analyzing data, it is possible to more clearly assess the Return on Investment (ROI) of each initiative. This practice allows the team to understand, in real time, which actions are bringing better results.

This way, you can take action as quickly as possible to optimize the actions that are working. This also allows you to redo or leave aside those that are not bringing the expected results.

Predictive Power

Companies that can analyze and cross-reference data in greater volume can identify patterns and, therefore, predict trends and future scenarios.

With this knowledge, it is possible to strategically anticipate the market, getting ahead of competitors and occupying a prominent place.

Economy

Data analysis helps companies optimize their processes and operations, identify areas for improvement and increase operational efficiency. All of this can lead to cost savings and increased profitability.

As we have seen, a data-driven culture can help companies identify opportunities for growth and innovation. This occurs through the analysis of market data and consumer behavior.

Bolder Planning

Investing in a data-driven culture helps you plan your business more boldly. With the accurate and reliable information collected, you can make strategic and innovative decisions that drive long-term growth and success.

Greater Autonomy for Employees

When the entire team has access to data about their activities, each person can make good decisions individually. Therefore, there is no need to consult leadership or wait for approval from your managers for each initiative.

This autonomy engages and motivates employees, who, naturally, become more productive.

Who Can Adopt Data Driven Culture?

Any company that wants to adopt a data drive culture can do so. But you have to make some adaptations! It’s not enough to acquire the best data collection and automation software – you need to promote the new mindset in the workplace.

The first step towards this is to ensure that leadership understands the concept and knows the importance of data driven in the current market. Then, it will be necessary to draw up plans to incorporate this culture into employees’ daily lives.

Another thing that can contribute to the success of adopting a data driven culture is an environment conducive to innovation. Furthermore, encouraging the development of the ability to analyze data also helps.

How to Apply Data Driven in Your Company?

Now you know what data driven culture is and understand the importance of this methodology for obtaining good results. So, the time has come to understand how to bring this mindset to your business. Check out our tips!

Set Goals And Follow Them Closely

To apply data driven in your company, it is essential to define clear and measurable goals. This will allow you to track your company's progress and performance in an objective, data-driven way.

Learn to Interpret Data

Data interpretation is the most important skill in the data driven culture . It's no use receiving a large volume of information if you can't extract knowledge and insights from it.

Therefore, it is important to invest in hiring trained professionals. Also, consider training people who are already on your team but haven't mastered this skill yet.

Change Your Culture

For data driven processes to be successful, it is very important that this mindset is part of your organizational culture.

Everyone needs to understand the importance of data analysis for making the right decision and it is very important that managers lead by example.

Use Good Solutions

Just as it is not interesting to have a lot of data and not know how to analyze it, it is not productive to know how to analyze it and not have access to the necessary information.

So, to ensure that your entire team has access to valuable data, count on technology as your main ally.

Invest in a tool that collects, stores and cross-references data, in addition to generating reports and providing insights.

When choosing the ideal tool, don't forget to consider the needs and specificities of your type of business!

Empower Your Team

It is important to empower your team, with training and courses, so that the team can interpret and use data effectively.

Furthermore, it is necessary to promote collaboration and communication between teams. The idea is to encourage the exchange of information and ideas.

Use Performance Indicators

Performance indicators are performance measures used to evaluate progress against business goals and objectives.

They are fundamental for applying data driven in your company. This is because they provide a clear view of performance and can help identify areas that need improvement.

Data Driven vs. Analytics Driven: What are the Differences?

Analytics driven and data driven are two concepts that come from data science and are interdependent, but they mean different things.

Data driven is a concept more focused on quantitative analysis, while analytics driven has a more qualitative approach.

Data driven is based on number analysis and predictive models – analytics driven looks for patterns and relationships between data.

We can say, then, that analytics driven is a step beyond data driven , as it uses the interpretation of contexts to find meanings for the data.

Best Data-Driven Tools You Should Be Using

There are several tools you can use to collect, analyze and interpret data to make informed decisions for your business. Let's look at some of the best technologies you can use in your company.

Web Analytics

Web analytics tools allow businesses to track website traffic, user behavior, and other important metrics.

This information can help companies better understand how users interact with their websites.

Additionally, you can understand which pages and content are most popular and which may need to be improved.

Analysis on Social Networks

Just like web analytics, social media analytics tools allow companies to monitor what people are saying about their brand on social media.

This information can be used to adjust marketing strategies, better understand customer preferences and needs, and improve brand reputation.

Lead Capture

Using a good lead capture tool allows you to capture information from potential customers.

With this data, companies can customize their marketing and sales approaches to better meet the needs and interests of their prospects.

Information such as email and telephone are some that can be used to transform your leads into customers.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is used by companies to communicate with their customers, potential customers and leads through emails.

Thus, having an email marketing tool allows companies to send personalized and automated emails to these potential customers and leads.

These emails can be segmented based on information collected by customers, such as interests and purchasing behaviors.

Sales Analysis

Monitoring your sales funnel is one of the ways to measure the results of your sales process and predict the achievement of goals.

Using a tool, such as ERP-integrated CRM, allows companies to monitor and analyze their sales and business processes.

This information can be used to identify trends and measure the performance of sales teams, for example.

The search for better results and improved productivity is one of the biggest challenges facing all companies today. To achieve this, counting on the help of agile methodologies is essential.

With them, it is possible to guarantee coherent delivery in relation to the defined objectives. Furthermore, well-executed execution is the main challenge of any project.

Furthermore, these methodologies seek better alignment between the team, in order to transmit clearer messages, maintaining efforts towards the final objective. Are you interested and want to know everything about agile methodologies ? Then continue reading this article!

What Are Agile Methodologies?

Agile methodology is a way of conducting projects that seeks to speed up processes and task completion. Not only that, but agile is based on a workflow that is more agile, flexible and without many obstacles.

In this way, these methodologies seek to optimize workflows, improve project productivity and increase the prospects of success for your business.
As a result, your company becomes not only more efficient, but also remains competitive in an increasingly innovative market.

What is the Origin of Agile Methodologies?

Agile methodologies had their origins in the early 2000s, as a response to the challenges faced by traditional software projects. At the time, a group dissatisfied with the rigid and bureaucratic approaches met to discuss and seek more flexible and efficient alternatives.

These professionals came together in the Agile Manifesto, a document that defined the fundamental principles and values ​​of agile methodologies . The manifesto highlighted the importance of individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and the ability to respond to change.
Then, from these principles, several agile methodologies emerged , such as Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Lean Development and Kanban.
Each of these approaches offers a specific framework and practices to promote agility, collaboration and continuous value delivery.

Since then, agile methodologies have been adopted not only in software development, but also in other areas of business. They include marketing, project management and even strategic business management.
The quest for greater efficiency, adaptability and innovation has driven the popularity and continued growth of agile methodologies around the world.

Why Use Agile Methodologies?

The implementation of agile methodologies in project management can bring a number of benefits to companies. See the top 5:

• increased productivity;
• improvements in communication;
• higher quality of the final product;
• integration between sectors and people;
• quick responses to unforeseen events.

What Pillars Are Agile Methodologies Based on?

Agile methodologies consist of 8 different methods (more on each one later). Since all were developed based on 4 fundamental pillars, they are:

• communication — individuals and interactions are more than processes and tools;
• practicality — working software is more than comprehensive documentation;
• Alignment of Expectations and Collaborations — Collaborating with the customer is more than negotiating contracts;
• adaptability and flexibility —responding to change is about more than following a plan.

Agile VS Traditional Methodologies

In order for you to know which one to use in your processes, it is essential to know the differences between agile and traditional methodologies .

Traditional project management methodologies have well-defined steps, following a sequential model, that is, one step must be executed after the other. Therefore, a task cannot be started until the previous one is completed.
The main fear within the traditional methodology is that it does not have much flexibility in relation to changes. This way, any change along the way is viewed with great concern by the project manager.
Agile methodologies “ break” the project into smaller parts. This is because, contrary to the traditional methodology, where you only deliver once with the final project, here you constantly deliver until you deliver the entire project.

The concerns with cost, quality and deadlines are the same as in the traditional methodology. However, you can control and manage the changes that will probably appear throughout the project.

What is the Agile Manifesto?

The manifesto formalizes the existence of the methodologies and establishes principles that characterize them.

It addresses values ​​that all the professionals gathered there agreed to follow and disseminate. As a result, it has become a kind of guide that guides the actions, choices of methods and tools of agile project teams, maximizing results.
Although it is related to the technology sector, the impacts of the Manifesto and the proposed agile development are undeniable and benefit companies from different sectors.

What are the 8 Main Agile Methodologies?

As we said, there are methods that use agile processes to strengthen their approaches, making the procedures in which they are applied more efficient.

Check out the top 8 below:

1 – Scrum

Scrum consists of an agile methodology for planning and managing projects (especially software).

In it, each project is segmented into cycles, generally monthly, known as sprints. They consist of a time box or an interval in which a set of activities must be carried out.

2 – Kanban

Kanban is not just a picture on the wall, on the contrary, it is a management method focused on value streams. In Kanban, the evolution of the process is constant, due to the visibility of problems it brings.

3 – Extreme Programming (XP)

Extreme Programming is a methodology whose main values ​​are communication, simplicity, feedback, courage and respect. It's an excellent approach for small teams with constant scope changes.

4 – Lean

Despite being born within Startup concepts, Lean Manufacturing is a widely used method in product development. The validation of ideas and hypotheses is the main objective of this method.

5 – Dynamic Systems Development Methodology (DSDM)

DSDM is intended for developing projects with a fixed budget and short deadlines. In this methodology, it is considered that the client has no way of knowing how much the final solution will cost.

6 – Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Feature Driven Development is an agile method that is guided by the development of features. Basically in FDD there are two phases in the development of a functionality which are design and construction.

7 – Adaptive Software Development (ASD)

ASD or Adaptive Software Development focuses on developing more complex solutions. With it, the objective is to avoid chaos in deliveries, focusing on human collaboration and self-organization.

8 – Scaled Agile Framework (SAF)

Finally, the SAF is a set of standards that should guide the company to apply agile and lean methodologies . Its objective is to align agile teams regarding their responsibilities, the values ​​to be worked on and the level of delivery.

When to Use Agile Methodologies?

Has the company started a new project? So, it's time to use the methodologies.

Do you already have a project underway and your management ended up getting a little confused as it progressed? So know that it's never too late to adopt an agile method and implement it in your team: all it takes is an overview of this need and teamwork.

What Are the Impacts of Agile Methods on Your Company?

The adoption of agile methodologies can bring several positive impacts to companies, we will see some of them below.

Significant Increase in Productivity

Agile methodologies promote a focused and efficient approach, encouraging collaboration and continuous value delivery. This results in greater team productivity and faster project completion.

Multiple Deliveries

Agile methodologies divide projects into sprints or short cycles. This allows teams to deliver working parts of the product at a steady pace.

This provides a sense of continuous progress and enables early validation of features.

Product quality

Agile methodologies emphasize the importance of close collaboration with customers and constant feedback. Leading to a greater focus on product quality, teams can continually adjust and improve based on user needs and expectations.

Greater Employee Engagement

With agile methodologies , team members take an active role in project planning and execution. Promoting engagement, shared responsibility and a more collaborative work environment.

Reduction of Problems and Failures

The agile approach includes practices such as regular reviews and continuous testing, which allows for early detection of problems and failures. Reducing the risks and costs associated with rework, resulting in a significant improvement in efficiency.

Independence and Productivity

Agile methodologies give teams autonomy, allowing them to make decisions and self-organize. This creates a more independent work environment, in which employees feel empowered to take responsibility and produce results effectively.

Customization

Agile methodologies are highly flexible and adaptable to the specific needs of each project and team. Allowing companies to customize their agile practices, adjusting them according to their individual realities and requirements.

Greater Customer Satisfaction

By frequently delivering functional product increments, customers have the opportunity to test and use software sooner.

This allows your needs to be met more quickly and accurately, resulting in greater customer satisfaction and stronger business relationships.

What Are the Challenges Faced by Agile Methodology?

When implementing agile methodologies , it is important to be aware of the challenges that may arise.

Some of these challenges include resistance to change, managing expectations, effective collaboration, time management and prioritization, building cross-functional teams, maintaining quality, scalability, and customer engagement.
But when implementing an agile approach, it is common to encounter challenges. Some people may resist change, especially those used to traditional methods.

Managing the expectations of customers and stakeholders accustomed to fixed timelines can also be complex.
Therefore, balancing time and prioritizing important tasks is essential. Assembling teams with complementary skills and ensuring quality in fast deliveries is one of the challenges. To overcome these challenges, commitment, flexibility and a culture of openness to change are required.

A company has several ways to retain talent in its teams. One of them is the internship, in which those who are starting out with basic tasks can be hired at the end of the hiring period. However, an even more immersive way to train a new professional is through a trainee program. But do you know what a trainee is?

Do you want to attract new talent and, at the same time, train them for management or technical roles in your company? Discover what a trainee is and how to implement this program in your company!

What is a trainee?

This is a professional, usually a recent graduate or someone just finishing college, who has passed the selection process and will go through a company's training program. In general, the program lasts one year and, during this time, trainees pass through different business sectors. However, this can vary: some programs last six months, others two years. The time must be enough to transform participants into leaders of your business.

The selection process is also longer than that of hiring interns or professionals in operational positions. Remember that the intention is for the trainee to have a strategic role in the company. Therefore, during the process, the candidate must demonstrate something more, beyond what you already see on the market.

What is a trainee's remuneration like?

It tends to be higher than that of young people who are starting their careers. The trainee works 8 hours/day in accordance with the CLT.

Positions and salaries tend to vary. But if you want to open a selection process for trainees in different segments of your company, ideally everyone should have the same salary. After all, everyone is at the same hierarchical level.

In the case of a certain position that is in very low demand, the higher value may be an advantage in attracting new professionals.

A trainee's remuneration is usually higher precisely because the charge he receives is also higher.

Who can participate in the trainee process?

Knowing what a trainee is helps you in many stages, especially in relation to the hiring process

Most companies use the following criteria:

• students in the last two years of college or with up to two years of training. Some companies extend the term for those who have up to three years;
• bachelors (4 to 6 years of course);
• graduate students can also participate;
• some positions require specific knowledge, while others only require the candidate to have higher education;
• although it is most common to hire young people over 18 years old, the ideal is not to limit the process by age (for example, do not hire older professionals who are starting over);
• Knowledge of other languages ​​is also interesting, depending on the size of the company.

The programs usually take place annually, starting in the second semester. An example: enrollment takes place in July; in August, the first phase takes place. How it unfolds depends on the number of steps that the Human Resources team decides to add to the process. Candidates are selected by December at the latest, when they are interviewed by the company's CEO, and start in January.

It is important that all steps are clear and well explained before the process even begins, as soon as vacancies are announced. Because it takes longer than a typical hiring process, the candidate may feel discouraged or think they are just wasting time and money.

The whole process should be like a little experience of the situations that the professional can go through in the company and what he would do to solve them. Written tests, group dynamics and project creation are some of the tests that can be applied.

What does it take to be a trainee?

In addition to the aforementioned characteristics, the professional needs to have other qualities to stand out in the process and take advantage of the training program:

• good relationship with all levels (strategic, tactical, operational);
• good communication, both written and verbal;
• ease of adaptation in different sectors;
• creativity in problem solving;
• facility to work in a team;
• ease with data and numbers;
• I like changing routine;
• Easy learning;
• entrepreneurial spirit;
• leadership spirit;
• taste for studying;
• resourcefulness;
• versatility;
• curiosity.

How can a trainee program bring benefits to your company?

With information about what a trainee is, you can now see why this type of program is important for your company's growth.
Now that you know what a trainee is, see why having this type of professional can be advantageous for your business:

• new ideas for your business: the trainee is a newly graduated professional, who is aware of what the market most demands today;
• a “gas” for your company’s projects;
• you will have a professional who knows different segments of your business;
• since he usually has little experience, you will have an easier time introducing him to the needs of the organization;
• As mentioned, the trainee receives training to work in almost all areas of a corporation. Therefore, you will have someone qualified to assist with different projects;
• the trainee has a good  relationship with both the operational teams and senior management;
• The varied knowledge of a trainee can mean savings in different segments.

The habit usually stifle the professional routine. The same structure, the same ways of doing tasks, the same functions, the same formulas for resolving the (same) obstacles… The problem is that, when a crisis happens, you have to renew all the processes to keep the company firm and strong. . That's why encouraging creativity at work is so important.

There are those who consider creativity a great differentiator in an employee. After all, depending on the vacancy, a college degree and even a postgraduate degree are the minimum expected on the resume. But the ability to see possibilities and solutions that no one has yet observed can make all the difference, especially in times of market turbulence.

Do you value creativity at work? An environment that encourages ideas and innovation can have many benefits. Check out!

What is creativity at work?

It is the possibility of developing ideas that can be used in the professional environment. They are fundamental for an ordinary company to transform into an innovative business.

Many of a company's problems are solved through pre-formulated and standard responses. This way, when someone comes up with another solution, they are quickly “censored”. For example: a new employee has to perform a task in a certain way and suggests another more practical one, which could optimize work processes, but is quickly “boycotted” because the company is already used to acting that way.

This problem would be quickly resolved if there was a department that could receive and analyze the applicability of ideas or if the employee could put their way of working into practice, even if it was as a test.

What is the difference between idea and innovation?

Even though they are similar concepts, ideas and innovation are different factors. The idea is the origin of innovation. In short: innovation is the practical result of an idea.

To know the viability of an idea, there needs to be planning. Firstly, it is easy to think that planning is not something very creative, but this step is essential for the theory to be applicable and bring benefits to the company.

It is also important to point out that an idea may not come from something completely new, but rather from adjustments to some processes that already exist in the company, which may be stagnant and hinder  job satisfaction .

How to increase creativity at work?

There are ways to increase creativity at work: encouraging your team with actions such as valuing ideas, brainstorming and offering training.
There are those who treat creativity as a gift. In fact, there are people more predisposed to innovate. However, an extremely rigid work environment can undermine this quality.

But let's see on the positive side: it is possible to stimulate creativity at work. Check out our tips:

Value ideas

The collaborator will only feel encouraged to work on creativity at work if he realizes that his ideas are valued. It is no use, for example, for the human resources team to collect suggestions if they will be shelved. The manager must observe and be aware of what the team says, take advantage of everything that is useful and, whenever possible, give both positive and negative feedback.

Giving benefits and  incentives , such as prizes and bonuses, is also a way of valuing ideas. Don't leave this aside: if the company is going to benefit from the employee's ideas, he must also receive something compensatory.

Brainstorm

Brainstorming (or “brainstorming”) is a very old technique, but extremely useful for awakening creativity at work. In it, participants give random ideas, which can be combined or developed to solve company problems. Large companies often develop creativity at work through this strategy.

There are several types of brainstorming, but if you want, you can follow a step-by-step process. Look:

• agenda creation: what problem does that brainstorming aim to solve;
• choice of meeting participants;
• generation of random ideas, which may be based on material previously researched by the participants. Any suggestion is valid — tell everything that comes to mind;
• analysis of ideas and the possibility of practical application, both in the technical, structural and  financial aspects ;
• choosing the idea that will be responsible for solving the problem. It can also be a combination of two or more ideas.

Offer training

To stimulate creativity at work, it is interesting to offer training, workshops and seminars for your team.
Creativity does not replace knowledge. On the contrary, they are complementary: with a theoretical basis, it is much easier to see new opportunities. Furthermore, any creative idea follows a logical line of reasoning.

Therefore, offer your employees workshops, lectures and seminars with important professionals in the company's sector and the team's activities. This way, she will acquire useful knowledge for herself and develop ideas consistent with her field, in addition to being up to date with market and technology news.

As you have seen, creativity at work does not arise without encouragement. On the contrary: in an unfavorable environment, it can be restrained. That's why encouraging the creation of ideas among your employees can bring unusual solutions in the most difficult times.

Among the suggestions, knowledge may be one of the most underestimated, as people tend to see creativity as something innate. But offering workshops and meetings with big names in the market will bring insights that can take your company to another level.

The relationship network, also known as networking, is a set of contacts that can benefit each other. These are professionals you meet at jobs, conferences, seminars and even in social networking groups.

The interesting thing here, as said, is that both can help each other — some offering vacancies, others providing services. So, it's not just about maintaining contacts with CEOs, but also people who are in contact with your area of ​​interest.

Do you already have a relationship network? Do you know how important it is in your professional life? In this post, you will discover the benefits of networking and how to set it up. Check out:

What are the advantages of having a relationship network?

1. Get promotions in the company you work for

Having a good relationship with other people in the company can help you to have that opportunity to reach the desired position.

2. Get a job

If your network of contacts knows that you are looking for a professional replacement, they can help by recommending you to job openings with your profile.

3. Change of professional field

Keeping an eye on successful professionals in the area you've always dreamed of working in will make the transition process much easier. Talk to them, ask what the job market is like and other important information. Also make yourself available for entry-level employment.

4. Professional assistance to other professionals

Just as you may have benefits, other people want them too. So, if you are professionally stable, why not hire or help people who are looking for a new opportunity? This attitude will make you a reference both professionally and as a human being.
In a relationship network, employees help each other

How to build your professional relationship network?

With willingness and simple tips, you can have effective networking. Look:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the social network aimed at professionals who want to build a relationship network. You can get a job, follow companies you admire and even become a reference in your sector.

See how you can work your profile:

• writing posts about your area and the job market;
• constantly updating your profile;
• encouraging people to comment on your content. For example: at the end of a post, you can ask “what do you think of this?”
• responding to positive and negative comments. As it is a professional network, LinkedIn provides much healthier discussions. Therefore, you do not need to fear criticism, but rather learn from it;
• commenting on posts from other colleagues, always with observations that add something to the discussion;
• using LinkedIn Pulse, a tool that allows you to develop longer and more complete texts, as if it were a blog. Use it to demonstrate that you dominate the segment in which you operate or want to operate. Talk mainly about news or a topic that is being talked about a lot at the moment. If your text has good engagement, LinkedIn itself may indicate it in its newsletter.

Personal branding

When you want to achieve a professional position, you need to know how to position yourself accordingly. To do this, you need to develop your branding, that is, how you want people — and companies — to see you.
To build a relationship network suited to your profile, it is important to work on personal branding, that is, the way you are seen and recognized by people.
Personal branding needs time, effort and attention to detail. After all, it’s like “reconstructing” an individual’s view of you.

Your image, behavior with other professionals (from the working sector to the strategic sector), posture and security are constantly observed. But it's not just that, it's about acting by showing who you are and what you have to offer.

Think of yourself as a brand: how do you want to be remembered?

Quality of contacts

It's not enough to go about adding people unrestrainedly on LinkedIn: you need to have discretion. Maintain a network of relationships with professionals who update their profiles, have a good resume, work in segment one in an area related to the one you want to work on. The important thing is that, in a certain way, these people can contribute to your professional growth and vice versa.

Lectures and seminars

The saying goes that if you are not seen, you are not remembered. So, if you want to build your relationship network, you need to be present in places where professionals in your segment are.

Lectures, seminars, workshops and other corporate events are smart ways to increase your networking and learn much more about the job market. Pay attention to what is said, write down interesting points or those that left doubts. If there is a space for questions and comments, you can take the opportunity to clarify them. It's a way to show that you're there and care about learning.

But be careful: questions and comments must be relevant, not just a moment to appear. Standing out means speaking up when necessary, making timely and intelligent comments, as well as clearing up doubts that other professionals also had but didn't ask.

As you have seen, it is more than possible to build a solid and interesting relationship network that can have you as a professional reference for possible referrals. But, to do this, you need to be present where influential and respectable professionals can see you. After all, good networking is full of valuable connections.

As your company grows, it is normal for there to be more processes and for them to become even more complex. Therefore, you need to be careful that disorganization does not hinder the company's progress.

Furthermore, the way you are used to doing a certain task is not always the best way for your business. It is to solve these problems and align tasks that process management exists.

What is process?

The process is the way we carry out some activity. For example, to go to work: you can go by car, bus or subway. By car it is more comfortable, but there are gasoline costs and the stress of traffic; the bus is empty, but you spend a lot of time in traffic; The subway takes half the time, but is always crowded.

They are all “processes” through which the same activity (going to work) is carried out, but you have to consider which offers the best cost-benefit ratio (balance between comfort and speed in the journey).

The same thing happens at work. Each task can have several ways of execution. However, you must observe which one requires fewer resources and offers a good return .

When a company is small, employees do their tasks “automatically”, that is, in the way they are used to. This speeds up the execution of activities and avoids accumulation and mismanagement of time. However, when the company grows, this may not be the best way to act.
For process management to be carried out with maximum effectiveness, understanding what is meant by process is of vital importance. Source: Gravity Flow

What are the types of process?

In the corporate world, there are three main types of processes:

• Primary: those that directly involve the customer: the delivery of the product or provision of service. Therefore, they are considered the most important, as they deliver brand value. They even positively or negatively affect consumer satisfaction.
• Supportive: they offer material (products, services, equipment) and financial resources so that primary processes can take place. They do not deliver value directly, nor do they maintain contact with the customer.
• Management: they manage the primary, support, and own processes. They are also responsible for establishing control and monitoring practices. Process management, therefore, is one of the management mechanisms of a company.

What is process management?

Process management goes beyond checking whether tasks are being completed. This is because, as you saw, the processes are divided into different stages, as one directly affects the other.

Your task, for example, does not stop as soon as you finish performing it. On the contrary: it directly impacts the work of another employee. This leads us to conclude that a process has several ramifications, however small they may seem.

Therefore, mapping a process means managing all these phases — from strategic planning to delivering the product/service to the customer.
Ensure that your company achieves the expected results and goals set through the implementation of process management.
This means mapping, organizing, controlling, and optimizing processes so that they achieve the company's objectives more efficiently and effectively.

Why should you implement process management in your company?

See why managing processes could be the solution your company needs:

The processes are not yielding results

Often, you already have well-defined forms of execution in your company. However, they are not giving the expected results. Process management allows:

• you find out why that process is not working;
• what form of execution can bring the necessary result;
• which of the two (or more) processes is capable of achieving your company's objective.

You haven't yet mapped the company's processes

When you still don't have a clear understanding of how the company works, you need to go through a phase before management: process mapping. It is at this stage that you will discover how the processes are done and “design” better ways to execute them.

Each employee works in a different way.

As we said, in a small company the employee can work on an “automatic pilot”. He has discovered a way to perform his tasks and performs them in the same way, in order to finish them faster and with less rework.

However, when it comes to saving time and effort, another employee may think identically, but perform the same task in a completely different way. Furthermore, when a new professional joins the company, they may become lost and not know the best way to work.

When you manage and monitor processes from end to end (that is, from the strategic level to the delivery of the product or service), you have the opportunity to discover which of these forms of execution is the most interesting for the company and, of course, for the collaborator.

This way, your organization will have well-designed workflows, which can be modified with the advancement of technology and ways of working. But, of course, these changes only happen when they benefit the employee and the company.

The meeting is the company's main moment for debate and alignment, but many employees do not like to participate. And it's not because they're afraid of being scolded or embarrassed, but because they feel like they're wasting work time when the meeting agenda isn't well structured.

Delays, repetitive speeches and unnecessary subjects are some reasons that take participants' focus and make the moment unproductive. Therefore, the company must develop strategies to manage time with more quality in these moments. And one of the main strategies in this case is the creation of a meeting agenda.

Serving as a guide, the meeting agenda allows for an alignment of the topics to be worked on and time to address everything that needs to be talked about. In addition, it serves as an aid to document these same matters in the minutes.

Have you found that your meetings are getting out of focus? Do you have difficulty managing time to cover all the necessary topics? In this post, we will explain what a meeting agenda is and how to create it. Keep reading and check it out:

What is a meeting agenda?

The meeting agenda is a type of script, in which all the topics that need to be discussed during the meeting are listed in an orderly manner. It is also a call list that must be sent to all employees who need to be at the meeting.

After all, it can be uncomfortable to discover a meeting at the last minute and not have time to prepare and organize, as each employee has their own obligations and deadlines to meet.

A meeting agenda should:

• notify about the type of meeting that will be held, time, duration and location;
• determine whether there is a need to take any additional material;
• advise whether attendance is mandatory or optional;
• organize subjects in order of relevance;
• alert if there is a need to justify the absence.

How to make a meeting agenda?

To create a good meeting agenda, one of the tips is to talk to employees and ask what they think should be discussed about their areas.
There are some ways to create a well-structured meeting agenda, just follow some tips, such as: defining the meeting format, listing the subjects, determining the duration, sending the agenda to participants and asking for help from employees to structure the meeting. meeting.

Now, better understand these tips for creating an optimized meeting agenda:

set the format

Will the meeting be business, informative (to convey important news to the teams, for example), for discussions or  brainstorming style ? Defining and informing the format through the meeting agenda already makes participants aware of their roles during the meeting.

list the subjects

This moment requires more analysis and reflection. What topics do you really need to address during the meeting? In what order? Is a certain topic really relevant to this meeting? Believe me: there are issues that can be resolved in a 5-minute conversation if the meeting is well planned.

Remember that the organization of subjects also influences the interest of participants. If something unforeseen happens and it is not possible to talk about everything, the topics that are not covered will be the least relevant.

Another detail is that the list of topics on the meeting agenda allows teams to research in advance and, if desired, bring additional materials to contribute to the meeting.

Determine the duration

It is very common to start addressing a subject (which may not even be the most important of the meeting), get carried away and, when it comes time to move on to the next one, the meeting time is already over.

As a result, there is that feeling of wasted time, and you have 3 alternatives: create an extraordinary meeting, leave the agenda for the next one or postpone the end. Whatever the choice, all participants end up disadvantaged, as they will have to postpone their tasks again.

Defining the duration for each topic when creating the meeting agenda is essential for the meeting to be dynamic. Obviously, some topics require a greater approach, so know how to balance the number of relevant topics with the time needed for each one.

The meeting must also start and end at the time specified in the meeting agenda. This way, everyone will be aware that they must be at the correct time and that their activities will not be compromised by possible delays. Furthermore, sticking to schedules shows respect for employees.

Another important tip for following the meeting agenda is to have someone responsible to monitor the time. It can even warn that “5 minutes left to start” or “10 minutes to finish”. This way, no one will be cut off or harmed.

Send the list to participants

As we said, some collaborators may feel the need to provide additional material for a specific topic. There won't be time if they find out about matters at the last minute. Therefore, send the meeting agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting.

Ask employees for help

You don't need to define the topics yourself. There are issues that are important for a certain sector and the meeting is the opportunity to discuss them. Ask employees to suggest topics for the meeting agenda and, if possible, justify why they are being addressed.

If you already have some issues you want to discuss, ask them how best to address them. This way, professionals will feel more important during the meeting, and not just extras. Therefore, they will hardly be absent, even if attendance is optional.

As you have seen how a meeting agenda can organize your time and help you prioritize what is really relevant to the company.