Promised simplification of the UK’s tax regime and financial incentives for small businesses are two key notes arising out of the eagerly awaited Emergency Budget. The rest is “TBA” with technical details to be fleshed out later.
In the SME IT arena the Budget Report indicates tax breaks around Intellectual Property and R&D tax credits. While this is welcomed, cynics may wonder whether this will achieve the Government’s stated goal in making the UK the leading high tech exporter in Europe.
Owner managed “personal service” businesses will be interested to know that “The Government remains committed to a review of IR35 and small business tax and will release further details shortly”. This statement was included twice in the Budget Report and illustrates George Osborne’s commitment to simplify an overly complex tax regime.
The solution? Tax policy will be handled by the newly created “Office of Tax Simplification” and delivery of a tax solution to remedy IR35-related issues is eagerly awaited.
The Government also promises to promote employment by reducing the cost of retaining and hiring staff. This is a key area and perhaps a parallel can be drawn with end client’s obligations regarding workers rights under new EU directives and logistical tax compliance problems associated with overly complicated “PAYE” deeming tax regulation in the supply chain.
The Government’s stated objective is to “balance the books by 2016”, on the other hand it intends to give entrepreneurial businesses confidence by reducing the burden of tax. Confused? Those with a specialist interest, such as tax advisers and City financial institutions, including the taxman, are left wondering about the technical detail flowing from the dept of “Tax Simplification”.
Generally, the Budget Report points to tax incentives for small businesses which are, by definition, small. In my opinion, tinkering with small business rates (20%), employers NICs and so forth are neutralised by increases in VAT. With capital gains tax rising to 28 per cent from 23rd June, higher rate taxpayers making capital disposals should seek specialist advice.
However, perhaps the greatest area of interest for SMEs is the promise of increased access to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) and greater transparency as tenders for government contracts will be published online.
Experience suggests that tax is never simple and SMEs need specialist advice to navigate safely in the complex tax regulatory environment to safeguard their liquidity.
I am available for comment and further discussion in the Contract Recruitment And Business Services (CRABS) subgroup of The UK and European Open Practice Technology Network . Please click on the link in the previous sentence to join CRABS, where you will find a link to this blog that we can use to discuss this online.
Chris Leslie MBCS
Qubic Associates
Director of Tax Disputes & Investigations
(O) 0191 493 4940
(e) cleslie@qubictax.com
(w) http://www.qubictax.com/
Tags: Budget, contractor, Finance, IR35 Supply Chain, Recruitment, Small Business
Hi,
My name is Larissa Tihhomirova and I am a Life Coach.
Recognising that life is not just about work and that people want to have a rounded, balanced and happy life, I am pleased to introduce 7C Alliance members to our new Life Coaching service.
This blog is to give an idea of what life coaching is all about and I am happy to discuss it privately through a message or connecting with me on LinkedIn (click on the link to the left) or by an appointment being made through the 7C Alliance switchboard on phone 0844 844 2470.
We have also opened a discussion on this in the 7C Alliance’s OPTN LinkedIn discussion group entitled “What do you do if you discover that your issue with getting a job is MORE THAN just professional ability to do the job?”
COACHING IS ABOUT GROWTH
Coaching is a very powerful tool that can bring about huge changes in your life and or your business. Coaching is not about me telling you what to do – rather it is about empowering you to find your own solutions and then motivating you and helping you do it.
It begins with you talking and me listening – I mean really listening to you. I will also ask you lots of thought provoking questions to make you think deeply about what you want to achieve. When it’s clear where you want to go, then we will put together a plan. During our time together, I will encourage you, motivate you, keep you focused, teach you new skills, be your champion and walk by your side until we reach your desired destination.
Coaching will challenge you to find out who the real ‘you’ is, because it’s at the heart of everything you do. In both business and life coaching, we will look at values, beliefs, standards and boundaries for when you get clear on these, all other decisions naturally slot into place.
Coaching involves learning new things and doing things differently, but a huge amount is based on common sense and getting back in touch with your inner wisdom. In today’s fast-paced, commercial world most of us have lost touch with what we instinctively know to be right for us. Part of my role is to help you see this again and experience the joy of knowing what is right for you and being able to do just that.
What coaching achieves
Amongst many outcomes, coaching aims to:
• Establish clear, motivating goals
• Identify blocks to achieving the goals
• Explore and resolve mental barriers
• Overcome particular emotional or practical challenges
• Enhance self-awareness and interpersonal interactions
• Develop greater skills to manage decisions and actions more effectively
• Increase ownership of feelings and self-responsibility
• Build confidence in existing achievements
• Identify next steps and clear plans
And much more!
Principles of coaching
The power of coaching lies in the principles that underpin it. These principles are held because they have been shown to work time and again.
• Action-oriented: coaching aims to create change and practical results outside of the coaching environment
• Empowering: coaching should ultimately leave the coachee with greater skills of self-management for future success
• Results-driven: coaching needs to be measurable by focusing on clearly defined goals and outcomes
• Non-advisory: coaching encourages the client/coachee to dig deeper for their own solutions recognizing that the coach does not necessarily have the right answers
• Non-judgemental: once the coach agrees to work with the coachee,
then the coach ceases to judge the decisions or actions of the coachee but instead creates a conversation that enables self-scrutiny
• Equal: the relationship between coach and coachee is one of mutual respect and trust with a shared ambition to generate the desired results from coaching
Why people hire coaches
In terms of why people hire coaches, there is a big split between corporate coaching and personal coaching.
Organisations know about coaching and will seek out coaches to develop
their staff. Their needs will vary but they understand that coaching is the right way forward.
In life-coaching, this is not so often the case – people want change and results but they will rarely know it’s a coach that could help. That’s why life-coaches need to be out meeting people and exploring their concerns, ambitions and desires rather than advertising as a life-coach in the Yellow Pages! People hire coaches for many reasons but ultimately it comes down to one thing: positive change.
What people want
• People want change in their life or their business.
• Perhaps they’ve struggled for years to lose weight or get fitter
• Maybe the time is right to focus on building a career that
really excites them
• Or perhaps they are fed up of being in debt or want
to become financially independent
• They might want to create and nurture a wonderful
relationship which makes them happy, satisfied and loved
• Or they want to develop a great social life, spiritual life or find purpose
There are so many other areas of life that can be coached
10 reasons why someone hires a coach
• To change a long standing stubborn behaviour
• To explore new ways of doing something
• To gain clarity on what they want
• To gain accountability around their goal
• To generate momentum behind their ambitions and dreams
• Because they feel stuck and want take a fresh look at their life
• To challenge themselves to new heights
• To gain focus and renewed energy
• To overcome emotional barriers to success
• To succeed
So I look forward to start working with you on new exciting, fulfilling and happy life.
Tags: Life Coaching, work/life balance
There is a saying: “life is what happens when you stop making plans”
This assumes that we have a plan!!
Even if we have a plan, life can throw up things that we have to deal with regardless of what the original goal was.
So what do you do when, regardless of whether you have a plan or not, you are stuck in “life” with not knowing what to do next? Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters?!! Your local friendly astrologist?!! Aunt Mary?!!
Or take it seriously and call a professional. But then what kind of professional?
As you are not ill, your doctor cannot help you deal with it – nor, seeing as it is not a behavioural problem or issue with your state of mind, can a psychologist, psychotherapist or other form of counsellor necessarily help.
It is a practical dilemma – often known these days as a “life issue” – and may even be one that you cannot discuss with your family, friends or work colleagues. Especially if the dilemma entails a mix of conflicting professional and personal choices – such as whether to change jobs, sack somebody to get a promotion, end a relationship in favour of a new career direction, deal with what is happening on the home front and not bring it to work, move countries…….and all of the above for one person to have to deal with at one time in their life.
You may somehow be both unfortunate and fortunate at the same time in having to make such choices – which cannot necessarily be done in isolation from one another. So how do you choose what to do? Or know how to go about it?
Enter The New Profession: Life Coaching
This is where Life Coaching, a fairly new profession, enters the fray of that “to be, or not to be” question we may often ask – but perhaps with not quite as dramatic consequences as when Shakespeare’s Hamlet deals with it where it is likely to bring down a nation. However it may feel like that. The main thing is that we now have someone to talk to for help in dealing with an issue that may be VERY important for us personally in obtaining the happiness and life that we seek – or dealing with something tricky that has arisen that puts what we already have at stake.
So what has led the 7C Alliance to Life Coaching?
In short, to help each of us both ask and answer questions on how we can begin to live a life WITHOUT limits. Or, simply, help get the life that we always wanted but were too afraid to even dream it, let alone take action.
In the past 7 years since it was first incorporated as a bunch of IT professionals coming together to support one another in getting and doing work, the 7C Alliance has helped its members with professional issues – but there have been occasions when it has been more than just a question of work. Members have needed someone that they could call if they had a personal goal that they have been struggling to achieve in line with their professional ones – and needed extra support beyond other members’ technical knowledge and the professional support that we had all developed together and provided to ourselves through 7C Alliance Limited.
For instance, a few years back we had two members fall in love.
One who was from Melbourne, Australia, and one who was a British national. The professional plan of the Melbournian was to work on contract for a short while in the UK – but, personally, it was with a view to meeting someone while she was here. At first the guy she’d met (and also introduced to the 7C Alliance) was happy to consider the plans – but then a question arose when they came to get engaged of whose country they should live in after they got married.
To cut a long story short, things did not work out and they went their separate ways – however both found it difficult to know who to turn to, as family and friends were divided over the issue and neither were happy. The challenge was therefore much more than professional – however it affected both professionally as well as personally through how they could not reconcile lives individually or as a couple.
Shortly after that another member had relationship issues that affected his professional life. These involved similar considerations of whether to stay with his partner who was expecting him to make a career change to fit with the lifestyle that she wanted – but that also meant giving up on dreams and goals that he had chosen for himself. It could have resulted in a serious breakdown – however he discovered a professional called a “life coach” who helped him with better understanding himself and his needs as well as making choices that would help him with how to manage this very personal crisis.
It was foreseeing more issues like this that the 7C Alliance realised that there was a need for members to have support to deal with such life challenges in order to succeed in life as much as professionally – and recognising that the two are closely linked.
So welcome Larissa, a Life Coach and new Alliance Partner
We are very pleased to announce an alliance with Larissa, a Life Coach who is experienced in helping people with the types of issues described. She is available to advise about life coaching generally through the Open Practice Technology Network.
For 7C Alliance members, Larissa can be contacted for an appointment through the 7C Alliance switchboard on 0844 844 2470. The first appointment is available for free on the basis of gaining mutual understanding and commitment.
For further details, see the following blog post by Larissa that explains what life coaching is.
Tags: Life Coaching, Lifestyle
For those seeking to reach the pinnacle of their profession, being effective at public speaking is an art form that they need to master as much as what it is that they do.
It is therefore not enough to be able to “walk the walk” when you want to be the best – you must be able to “talk the walk” too.
The 7C Alliance has recognised this and, in the interests of its top Senior Associates and Principal Associates being able to be the best they can be at walking AND talking, we have formed an alliance with St Paul’s Speakers.
St Paul’s Speakers is one of the clubs of Toastmasters International , a global organisation with a long history of success in developing successful public speakers. Some businesses, such as McGraw Hill (who the 7C Alliance has also established a relationship with in reselling its technical books at a discount to its members), have their own club that they use to develop the public speaking and leadership skills of their senior employees.
However it goes well beyond that. Toastmasters has a tried and tested way to develop public speaking skills that has led to it having over 250,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries. Each club works to the same formula of being voluntary and non-profit, allowing members to use a self-paced format with clear stages to development. This begins with an Ice Breaker speech, at the first stage, through to how to fully structure delivery of a speech that might be expected of an industry leader at a conference or even a politician on a podium for election.
The beauty of Toastmasters is that it can be seen as a fun night out too, as they allow guests to come and observe – and even participate too! For instance, some of the more amusing topics in the past include:
The topics can also be highly personal and intellectual at the same time, such as dealing with the condition of “Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity” (adverse medical symptoms caused through exposure to electromagnetic fields) or abstract and highly scientific, such as one recently given by a friendly local physicist on his work with data from the Large Hadron Collider – a device based in Switzerland that is being used to test scientist’s theories about the origins of The Universe. They can also be personal and personable, as well as highly amusing too – such as one member’s James Bond addiction that left the audience both shaken and a little stirred….
Hopefully this gives you an idea that it could be anybody, from all walks of life, on anything. It could even be you, a member of the guest audience, as every club night there are a set of impromptu table topics where anyone in the audience can be invited to talk.
The 7C Alliance is looking forward to a long and happy association with Toastmasters and to some amazing members amazing others with how they well they can talk – and walk the walk too!
The 7C Alliance has organised for an introduction to the St Paul’s Speakers Toastmasters club in London for members of the London IT Contractor Alliance Meetup (LITCAM) group for Wednesday, 12th May. If based in London and interested to attend, then please register for LITCAM using the form at the bottom of the page before 1st May.
As only limited space is available, all registrations will need to be confirmed by 7th May. If popular, we will also look at other open nights
To understand more about inclusion of Toastmasters in the Professional Development programme for Senior and Principal Associates of the 7C Alliance – and interest in becoming a member of the 7C Alliance – then register online using the form on the Contact Us page of the old web-site.
For those wishing to learn more about Toastmasters, and its educational programme, please visit the main Toastmaster’s site for further details.
Tags: Best Practice, leadership, principal associate, public speaking, senior associate
With the ups and downs of IT recruitment generally, the topsy turvey nature of IT in banking, the tap versus slide to answer your smartphone, the SUN behind The Cloud – or not at all – and Bill Gates no longer the richest man in the world, some of us are wondering where IT has all gone to. Certainly it seems like it’s a no man’s land right now, let alone A Man’s World like some industry blogs are spouting.
So how about we try applying some science to the situation and getting some answers straight from the horse’s mouth? Starting with the state of the play here in the UK.
So please get those people responsible for IT – such as your boss, your CIO, your employer, your customer or your end-client – to respond to the following survey so we can start to build a simple picture of where things are at:
Thank you in advance to that boss, that CIO, that employer, that customer or that end-client for answering this survey. There is a prize draw for you for responding of either a bottle of top Kiwi white or Australian red wine valued up to £30 or a spring picnic hamper that we will announce at the end of the survey period. This will be at the end of April, 2010.
Tags: Market Research, survey
In the course of people I have met online in the last year, I have had great pleasure to make the acquaintance of Anand Subramanian (or “AS” to his colleagues).
Anand Subramaniam is a Professional Service Consultant, focusing in the value chain arena, and – as shown in the table below – has brought together a vast body of knowledge from his work in 32 countries over 30 years.
This work has been produced due to his passion for performance excellence, including integration of multiple frameworks, processes, systems, tools and people. Based on leveraging this, from one engagement to the next – and developing it a little further each time, Anand has been able to rescue high profile businesses as well as manage multi-site engagements which were behind schedule, over budget, or had ambiguous scope.
The body of knowledge, as headlined in the table below, helps him track and re-use experience from the past to determine and provide the required governance and, during the course of the engagement, coach and mentor cross-functional teams. To give just a partial insight into how broad this scope is, Anand’s work has covered a wide range of industries from Automotive, Aeronautical, Banks, Chemicals and FMCG, through to Pharmaceutical, Retail, Telco, Textile, and Steel – so pretty much the A to Z of industry!
AS’ Body of Knowledge (BOK).
The table below is an index to the full body of knowledge that AS has brought together. I requested Anand’s permission to share this, as I found it both inspiring and amazing for someone to put together such a summation of everything they have used and learned to date – and in such a structured and focused way.
I hope everybody who is connected with the 7C Alliance, and may be seeking guidance or direction for work in project portfolio, programme and project management (aka P3M), will find this useful in some way and look forward to comments on it in the Open Practice Technology Network as well as to support for Anand in continuing to develop it.
| Title | SlideShare Link |
| Change Management | |
| 1. Change Management | http://tinyurl.com/lduju8 |
| 2. Change Management Checklist | http://tinyurl.com/mq9p3w |
| 3. Stakeholder Analysis | http://tinyurl.com/lvtwd7 |
| 4. Stakeholder Communication | http://tinyurl.com/n8tpe2 |
| 5. Stakeholder Engagement | http://tinyurl.com/nzdecl |
| 6. Stakeholder Mapping | http://tinyurl.com/l29gun |
| 7. Stakeholder Relationship Management Audit | http://tinyurl.com/kmsfxg |
| 8. Transition & Transformation Change | http://tinyurl.com/r8xtdf |
| Channel Management | |
| 9. Channel – Benchmarking | http://tinyurl.com/ydkhpmg |
| 10. Channel program | http://tinyurl.com/oppzvl |
| Client Engagement | |
| 11. Business Case – Formulation | http://tinyurl.com/y8c27we |
| 12. Contract & Tender Management | http://tinyurl.com/mftce6 |
| 13. Proposal Management Process | http://tinyurl.com/y949sfg |
| 14. Solving Client Issues | http://tinyurl.com/mzv9tt |
| Distribution / Logistics | |
| 15. Distribution Management | http://tinyurl.com/nb9nvy |
| 16. Logistics Management | http://tinyurl.com/l4um8d |
| 17. Operations Strategy | http://tinyurl.com/m9aryt |
| 18. Reverse Logistics | http://tinyurl.com/nfxl3k |
| Financial Management | |
| 19. Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) | http://tinyurl.com/y88cs7a |
| 20. Implementing Balance Scorecard | http://tinyurl.com/ofez9w |
| 21. Link (Non)Financial to Supply Chain Performance Metrics | http://tinyurl.com/ybfp6gw |
| 22. Optimise & Integrate – WCM & SCM | http://tinyurl.com/lnluem |
| 23. Working Capital Management | http://tinyurl.com/o6ad69 |
| Marketing & Sales | |
| 24. APAC Go-to-market Strategies | http://tinyurl.com/rajbdw |
| 25. Cross Culture – East & West | http://tinyurl.com/m2zjry |
| 26. Sales & Proposal Process | http://tinyurl.com/qxy32g |
| 27. Sales Performance Measures | http://tinyurl.com/ntmwm9 |
| Material Management | |
| 28. Inventory Management | http://tinyurl.com/owmxcu |
| 29. Product Life Cycle Management | http://tinyurl.com/qpnv85 |
| Manufacturing | |
| 30. Advance Planning & Scheduling | http://tinyurl.com/mmq59e |
| 31. Enterprise Asset Management | http://tinyurl.com/lwv8gm |
| 32. JIT | http://tinyurl.com/yeqcl4s |
| 33. Lot Sizing Techniques | http://tinyurl.com/npvutp |
| 34. Manufacturing Execution System | http://tinyurl.com/lb7zpg |
| 35. Plant Maintenance | http://tinyurl.com/ng2xfa |
| 36. SMED / Setup & Lead Time Reduction | http://tinyurl.com/y89fhg8 |
| MRP / MRPII / ERP | |
| 37. Close Loop MRP | http://tinyurl.com/ya7zw5p |
| 38. ERP (RE)Implementation | http://tinyurl.com/qbsfdv |
| 39. MRP / MRP II / ERP | http://tinyurl.com/qdo9r9 |
| Information Technology Management | |
| 40. IT Processes & Systems | http://tinyurl.com/yjb7pru |
| 41. Software Development | http://tinyurl.com/l84e4e |
| Knowledge Management | |
| 42. Content Management System | http://tinyurl.com/ldd2n5 |
| 43. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) System | http://tinyurl.com/mwyyc9 |
| Practice / Professional Services Management | |
| 44. Practice Management | http://tinyurl.com/lzbjkg |
| 45. Professional Services & CMMi | http://tinyurl.com/p9aeou |
| 46. Service Delivery & Support | http://tinyurl.com/nh6v5n |
| Process Improvement | |
| 47. Benchmarking | http://tinyurl.com/ohbny4 |
| 48. Bottom Line Improvement | http://tinyurl.com/olfauc |
| 49. Business Process Improvement | http://tinyurl.com/mrg584 |
| 50. Process Audit | http://tinyurl.com/p9dsrc |
| 51. Process Mapping | http://tinyurl.com/maxvud |
| Proj Portfolio / Prog / Proj Management | |
| 52. Earned Value Management | http://tinyurl.com/m66z6r |
| 53. Lesson Learned Report | http://tinyurl.com/lfbuz2 |
| 54. Program Management | http://tinyurl.com/ykeczrg |
| 55. Project Closure Report | http://tinyurl.com/nuyceh |
| 56. Project Closure Checklist | http://tinyurl.com/mdtclk |
| 57. Project Execution & Control Checklist | http://tinyurl.com/lr75j6 |
| 58. Project Health Check | http://tinyurl.com/ner35d |
| 59. Project Initiation Checklist | http://tinyurl.com/ktdg7w |
| 60. Project Planning Checklist | http://tinyurl.com/m62b66 |
| 61. Project Management Office | http://tinyurl.com/mekeua |
| 62. Project Management Principles | http://tinyurl.com/nomwme |
| 63. Project Metrics & Measures | http://tinyurl.com/ljj9kd |
| 64. Project Portfolio Management | http://tinyurl.com/lwwrxh |
| 65. Project, Program and Portfolio Management | http://tinyurl.com/p4d4oa |
| 66. RACI Matrix | http://tinyurl.com/lqou5x |
| 67. Testing & Quality Assurance | http://tinyurl.com/n3gzfe |
| Purchasing Management | |
| 68. Spend & Contract Management | http://tinyurl.com/nadfhc |
| 69. Sourcing & Optimising Strategies | http://tinyurl.com/l9omlj |
| 70. Strategic Sourcing & eProcurement | http://tinyurl.com/pzk43a |
| 71. Vendor Audits | http://tinyurl.com/kodk8t |
| 72. Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) | http://tinyurl.com/yanam8w |
| 73. Vendor Management | http://tinyurl.com/l7z3r6 |
| Quality / Six Sigma / Lean Management | |
| 74. Design for Six Sigma (DSS) | http://tinyurl.com/mnwjvj |
| 75. DMAIC Components | http://tinyurl.com/ko2×7t |
| 76. DMAIC Vs DMADV | http://tinyurl.com/ndoh8p |
| 77. Lean Transformation ~ A Journey | http://tinyurl.com/l6kgjw |
| 78. Quality Assurance & Control | http://tinyurl.com/mmk68b |
| 79. QMS & ISO 9001 | http://tinyurl.com/ml54o6 |
| 80. Six Sigma Lean (SSL) | http://tinyurl.com/mqo82w |
| 81. 5S – Office Audit | http://tinyurl.com/lbqhmh |
| 82. 5S – Manufacturing Audit | http://tinyurl.com/mkj6on |
| 83. Value Steam mapping | http://tinyurl.com/oyakaf |
| Risk & Governance | |
| 84. Assess your Business Continuity Management Process | http://tinyurl.com/ku3kpw |
| 85. Corporate Governance | http://tinyurl.com/ma4s72 |
| 86. Risk Management Framework | http://tinyurl.com/kqvr9o |
| S&OP Management | |
| 87. Demand Management | http://tinyurl.com/ylsm54h |
| 88. Forecasting Techniques | http://tinyurl.com/yg24eaj |
| 89. S&OP process | http://tinyurl.com/yaq2m6v |
| 90. S&OP Implementation Roadmap | http://tinyurl.com/ycue5aq |
| Supply Chain Management | |
| 91. Bullwhip Effect | http://tinyurl.com/ybq4ctn |
| 92. Innovation Global Supply Chain | http://tinyurl.com/l6w4u5 |
| 93. Supply Chain Performance | http://tinyurl.com/mfsucn |
| 94. Supply Chain Risk Management | http://tinyurl.com/n3stpm |
| 95. Supply Chain Management | http://tinyurl.com/nwv4eq |
| Sales & Marketing Management | |
| 96. Competitive Intelligence | http://tinyurl.com/p2t9tz |
| 97. Customer Service Strategy & Customer Experience | http://tinyurl.com/ydfzlfv |
| 98. CRM Implementation | http://tinyurl.com/nrxb9v |
| 99. Market Entry Strategy | http://tinyurl.com/lq7ut8 |
| 100. Marketing Performance & Profitability | http://tinyurl.com/ya29eu8 |
| 101. Market Research / Intelligence | http://tinyurl.com/nwhezy |
| 102. Traits – Successful Sales People | http://tinyurl.com/yj22g6a |
| Strategy & Execution | |
| 103. Business Plan | http://tinyurl.com/paxobq |
| 104. Innovation | http://tinyurl.com/odxacl |
| 105. New Product Development | http://tinyurl.com/psgzaf |
| 106. Performance Improvement Culture | http://tinyurl.com/qmmpsl |
| 107. Turnaround strategies | http://tinyurl.com/pww8tz |
| 108. Your Organisation | http://tinyurl.com/llohxf |
| Sustainability Management | |
| 109. Sustainability Management | http://tinyurl.com/nx78lr |
So please join the Programme, Project and Change Management subgroup of the 7C Alliance’s Open Practice Technology Network for engaging with Anand direct in discussing any of the slides in this vast body of knowledge or for guidance on how to use them in your engagement in the P3M.
If you also have knowledge that you would like to share with end-clients as part of openly showing the value of your consulting practice then please either connect with me through my LinkedIn profile http://uk.linkedin.com/in/mattmiller63 , or contact me through the 7C Alliance by calling the switchboard on 0844 844 2470 , where you can ask about 7C Alliance and make a time for an appointment to see me or a business coach. You are also welcome to register to become a member through completing and submitting the form on the Contact Us page of the 7C Alliance web-site .
However if you are seeking more structured and better ways to manage your projects – and P3M – then please contact Anand direct through connecting with him on LinkedIn. Anand’s LinkedIn profile is: http://au.linkedin.com/in/anandsubramaniam
Matt Miller
A Little About Matt
Matt is:
- An Independent Technology Practice Management Consultant
- The Director, 7C Alliance Limited
He writes blogs on best practice in IT for the 7C Alliance, on the current state of the IT recruitment market in the UK, or industry at large, for the IT Job Board as well as on ways to achieve and enjoy an independent lifestyle for social networking organisations such as Arts Hub, London Charm and Trip Advisor.
Tags: P3M, Portfolio Management, Programme Management, Project Management
Jenrick IT, one of the trusted recruitment agencies of the 7C Alliance, has announced a webinar that they will be doing on ‘12 deadly interview sins’ for both recruiting managers and candidates.
See the posting by Philip Fanthom from Jenrick IT in the 7C Alliance – Open Practice Technology Network for details and registration of interest.
Through its Alliance partnership with an accredited training organisation (ATO), 7C Alliance Limited can get significant discounts – amounting to several hundred pounds – on cost of training that leads to certification in ITIL.
Currently our ATO partner has advised that they have two courses in London and in Warwick running on the following dates:
London:
· Service Support – 10-14th May
· Service Delivery – 21-25th June
· Exam Coaching & Revision Days – 13th & 23rd July
· Exams – 28-29th July
Warwick:
· Service Support – 7-11th June
· Service Delivery – 5-9th July
· Exam Coaching & Revision Days – 12th & 22nd July
· Exams – 28-29th July
Benefits of sourcing a course through 7C Alliance
The savings from sourcing and taking a training course through 7C Alliance, and especially ones that tie in with a recognised industry certification such as ITIL V3 Service Foundation or higher, amount to a lot more than cost of 7C Alliance membership – and so are a key justification for joining.
Furthermore, through using 7C Alliance’s Study Group concept, these courses can also be tied in with 7C Alliance’s structured networking and coaching around increasing opportunities to source work based in ITIL. This includes further opportunity to save on costs of additional materials needed to help pass the exam, as well as network with industry professionals in regards to applying ITIL according to best practice in the marketplace as well as recruiters seeking to place independent ITSM professionals.
So please join 7C Alliance to be eligible to receive these discounts or inquire about Study Group concept through enquiring online at http://www.7c-alliance.com/contact_us.html
For understanding about the value and further details about training that 7C Alliance Limited can facilitate, including professional development for the independent professional in line with creating work opportunities, see Training blog page
Tags: Training
LITCAM March 2010
When:
Thursday 11th March
6pm onwards
>
Where:
West London
Featuring:
SOME Project
of the 7C Alliance
and
Art on “Life”
by Ron Best
with
Complimentary Wine
Selected By Members
A seminar on How Agencies Work as well as a workshop on CV Writing Tips and Techniques will be held on Thursday March 18th at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London. See below for more details, or to register interest in attending and reserve a place, then email register@7c-alliance.com
Background
Mark Compton, from Fisher King Associates, was engaged as an Alliance Partner by the 7C Alliance last year to provide advice and assistance to those 7C Alliance members who are independent contractors, aka freelancers, on good recruitment practice both by and in using recruitment agencies. This draws on his background of 20+ years in IT and technical recruitment as well as reputation for high integrity and value as a recruiter.
Mark’s and other Alliance Partners’ engagement, and introduction of Trusted Recruitment Agencies to members of the 7C Alliance’s Open Practice Technology Network, are all part of an “open practice” approach that the 7C Alliance initiated in 2009 to enable greater awareness and understanding of how the recruitment marketplace operates from the contractor’s perspective. This includes professional support and advice for the wider local UK community of independent IT and Telecom (ICT) contractors on how to engage and best manage the supply chain for their services end-to-end, using the 7C Alliance concept of there being “7 C’s to consider for survival and success on contract“.
As part of this initiative, Mark and the 7C Alliance started doing live events and trialed two presentations in West London last year that are now to be presented again on March 18th, 2010, but this time in Central London.
Overview of CV WorkShop
This will be a panel-based workshop on CV Writing and Marketing Tips. It will include techniques for both writing your CV for agencies to pick up on in the current market but also for following up and getting agencies to read and submit it.
Mark will give us his advice on what agencies expect and how they use your CV, if it is accepted.
Matt Miller, Director and Founder of the 7C Alliance, will share 7C Alliance Members’ understanding based on experience gained from his coaching as well as 7C Alliance Limited’s independent research into the UK contract recruitment market over 5 years. This reprises the highly successful workshop that we trialed in September last year as shown on 7C Alliance’s blog at the following link: http://bit.ly/8RDo5v
This workshop will be from 2.30 to 4 pm.
Seminar: How Agencies Work
This seminar will reprise the presentation that Mark gave to members of the London IT Contractor Alliance Meetup (LITCAM) group at a meetup at the London Chamber of Commerce in July last year.
This seminar will be from 4.30 – 5.30pm and include advising how contractors can leverage understanding of how agencies work in sourcing and applying for contract work through them.
Mark will also give advance notice at that workshop of what contracting management structures contractors are best to use in line with new legislation on the Agency Worker Directive (AWD), aka Temporary Worker’s Directive, which is now due to be introduced following the UK Elections and most likely in 2011.
Registration and Fees
Unlike the trials of this workshop and seminar last year, there will be a fee for each of £55 to members of the general public – or £100 to attend both.
A discounted offer of £45 each per seminar / workshop is available for members of the OPTN group or LITCAM list.
Please note that spaces ARE limited on both of these – and we will hold more if they prove as popular as they were last year.
Other Workshops
On the same day there will also be two workshops on Interview Techniques held by Lindsay Maclean from ielevate.
These will be held earlier in the day and be 1 hour each, with one at 11am (Workshop A) and the other at 12.30pm (Workshop B). They are the same workshop but just geared to allow for the fact that some contractors may want to attend in their lunch-hour – and as much get a few tips on what they can do to improve their presentation as much as their interview techniques from Lindsay in the 12.30pm time-slot.
A separate blog post on this will feature shortly.
Tags: agencies, agency, CV, CV marketing, CV writing, interview, interviews, Recruitment
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