Category : Business News

Working from home may be the Holy Grail of working life for many, but those who live it as a reality can profess to the curses of procrastination, mixing business with pleasure (i.e. washing the dishes whilst trying to make a work phone call!) and never quite feeling like you’re not in work mode.

Developing an effective working environment is essential to getting the most out of your business. And aside from taking advantage of great support systems like our document templates packages, there are plenty of ways to hone your home into a well-oiled productivity machine!

1. Keep regular office hours
Easier said than done, we know! You can’t always know what the work day has in store for you, but you can at least attempt to create a routine on which to base it. Regular working hours – 9 to 5, 10 to 6, 7 to 7, whatever suits your business – can be an exceptionally productive asset.

2. Schedule blocks of time for email catchup, admin, cleaning the office, etc.
The Pomodoro technique is a great way for solo workers to work and break effectively. Wikipedia defines this process of working in time blocks as follows:
a) Make a list of tasks and select the first one.
b) Set a timer to 25 minutes.
c) Work on the task for 25 minutes until the timer sounds, when you should assess how far you’ve got.
d) Take a 5 minute break, then either continue with the task or move on to the next one.
e) After every four blocks of time (“pomodoros”) take a longer break of 15-20 minutes.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re filing legal forms, brainstorming or cleaning the office windows, scheduling tasks can help keep up productivity by breaking down large jobs into smaller, more manageable tasks.

3. Create a clear social policy
Do you need to block social media websites to keep your cursor from clicking over to that Facebook tab every five minutes? Is it possible to make 11:00-14:00 critical working hours, when no family are permitted to wander in asking for some sticky tape?

4. Measure twice, cut once
You may have plenty of copies of that business agreement template, but that’s not to say you can afford to waste time on elementary issues like misspelling. Learn to work at a pace that encourages productivity but allows for the minimum number of mistakes. After all, it’s you who’ll have to amend those mistakes further down the line. It’s better to take a few extra minutes to proofread a document than to handle a customer complaint about incorrect content in the future.

5. Be a productive sleeper
We left the best tip until last, and it’s sure to be the most popular! Every freelancer, small business owner and sole trader is guilty of burning the candle at both ends from time to time, and according to Harvard Medical School, that unbalanced sleep cycle could be impairing your mood, judgement, motivation and perception.
Get into a regular sleep pattern to teach your body when it’s time to work and when to rest.

The UK enjoys a super reputation for start-ups and small business. Initiatives like the current coalition government’s £112 million Start-Up Loans Scheme have helped make Britain an attractive breeding ground for home-grown small businesses.

As your business grows out of the home office and into something like a rented space with those precious first few employees, it can be tempting to take your eye off the ball in terms of things like office productivity, organisation and staff motivation. It’s understandable – the average self-employed small business owner takes less days off than any employed person due to always ‘being on call’ as the head of their business.

But amongst the document templates, health & safety regulations, dress down Friday requests and numerous other topics chirping for the attention of the small business owner, it can be fairly simple to implement effective, sensible measures to keep productivity to a maximum amongst employees.

1. Clear social rules

According to Business Insider, 77% of employed people who have access to social media like Facebook on their work computers will check it at least once per day. One of the most common pitfalls of the small office environment is that employees will typically be on very friendly terms with each other. This in itself is not an issue, but when the odd social catch-up chat becomes an hour of wasted time every single day, there is an issue.

Be clear – should you block social media websites? Would it help to have a ‘quiet’ period of work each day? Be consistent and clear about social boundaries.

2. A strong emphasis on a team ethic
As a small business, you need a team of employees you can rely on 100% A team ethic is crucial and helps boost the connection between you and your staff – and therefore productivity.

3. Good habits and routine
An office routine could seem a little uninspiring, especially in a busy, unpredictable office. But a rough routine can help focus both creative and analytical attention amongst team members.

4. Everybody needs to hear “no” from time to time
It doesn’t need to be written into employment contracts – “must not answer back when told ‘no’” – but as the boss you do need to make boundaries clear. A very friendly, relaxed office environment can be exceptionally tough to police, especially when working amongst people you consider your friends, but being able to say ‘no’ when the situation requires is vital for your standing as a leader.

5. Praise and attention to wellbeing
One of the great things about a small business is that it’s often very clear who is responsible for what. When it comes to praise and concern for employee wellbeing, be honest with your team about how important they are and why you value them, either in writing via staff appraisal templates or in person. According to some experts, this is the number one way to motivate a small business workforce.

Like most other employers these days, you may well rely on employment application forms to gather consistent information about prospective employees. Indeed, job application forms (unlike CVs and cover letters) enable you to receive information in a truly uniform format and compare applicant credentials efficiently and impartially, thereby ensuring your entire recruitment process remains swift and fair for all involved.

Quite simply, a well designed job application form really is invaluable when it comes to recruiting new workers as it enables you to ask every applicant the same questions.
Yet this is not all.

To be sure, there are also a number other very significant reasons why it makes sense to use employment application forms rather than CVs and cover letters.

Truly Pertinent Information

Job application forms allow you to gather information about an applicant’s credentials which they may not include on a CV or cover letter. For example, potential candidates may well choose to gloss over details about previous convictions or why they abruptly left their previous employer when they apply for a post by CV; however, they will have no choice but to declare all pertinent information when they fill out a well designed application form.

Peace of Mind

Employment application forms also enable you to obtain an applicant’s signature which attests all of the information they have provided is true. More often than not, this signature will also afford you the right (as a potential employer) to check the veracity of the data which an applicant has provided, such as their employment history, education history, training qualifications, and so forth. In an age when job hunting is getting increasingly mercenary, false information (such as phantom qualifications, exaggerated job descriptions and inaccurate dates of employment) on application forms is becoming more and more common. Having the capability to verify data is invaluable as it gives you peace of mind that the individual you are thinking of hiring really does have all of the attributes, experience, skills and qualifications they claim to have.

So, how do you go about creating the perfect application form?
Well, whilst there are a number of methods available to you, undoubtedly the quickest and most efficient approach is to download an application form template from us here at Simply-docs.

Simply-docs

Unlike most of the free application form template downloads which are now available on the Internet, the high-quality templates we offer here at Simply-docs have been designed by expert legal teams and HR professionals; therefore they are guaranteed to draw out all of the pertinent information which you as an employer need to be privy to. Moreover, all of our forms are compliant with current employment legislation so you can rest assured your recruitment processes will adhere fully to The Equality Act 2010 when you download our offerings.

To find out more about our services and view samples of our high-quality document templates in greater detail, simply browse our pages further.

If you are thinking of setting up your own private limited company, chances are more than one person will have asked you this one simple question – why? After all, setting up a limited company will involve more administration and cost you more money than being a humble sole trader.

Well, whilst this may be true to some extent, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Indeed, the answer as to whether or not you should set up a private limited company is likely to be determined by the issue of personal financial liability. If you’re a sole trader and your business fails, then you are personally liable for its debts. Naturally, this can result in you becoming personally bankrupt if the debts you incur are considerable enough. Setting up a limited company on the other hand provides you with protection against such circumstances.

The Appeal of a Limited Company
A limited company is a separate legal entity and therefore it is legally responsible for its own actions. This means that the finances of private limited companies are entirely separate from those of its owner(s). Private limited companies can have one or more shareholders, however shares cannot be sold publicly i.e. on the stock market (unlike public limited companies).

As long as you don’t trade recklessly or fraudulently, your risk (as a director of the company) of loss is restricted to the money you’ve invested in the company (of course, you are still liable for any bank loans if you provide personal guarantees for that limited company).

So, it is clear to see that once you dig a little deeper, the prospect of setting up a limited company is actually quite appealing.

Setting up a Limited Company
To become a limited company, you need to register with Companies House. In essence, all you need do to register your limited company with Companies House is provide them with the information they require and sign and date the right corporate documents.

Ready-made limited company names are available to buy, should you wish to go down this avenue. However, if you want form a brand new limited company then you will need to send a Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association and a completed IN01 form to Companies House.

A Memorandum of Association details the limited company’s name, registered office and nature of business, and must be signed by the director(s) in front of a witness. A registered office is the official limited company address, which is where Companies House will send notices, letters and reminders. The Articles of Association sets out the rules for the running and regulation of the company.

Companies House do not supply memorandum and articles, however, they are readily available from us here at Simpy-docs. Indeed, our Company Formation Documents Sub-folder provides a range of document templates, guidance notes, and other supporting legal forms for those who are looking to form a new company.

To find out more, simply browse our pages further or call 020 8878 7236.

In 2011, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 1 in 3 workers in the UK had admitted to taking a so-called ‘sickie’.

For anyone who doesn’t know (or pleads ignorance), a ‘sickie’ is a fabricated excuse which an employee makes for not going into work. In general, these excuses involve reeling off a line of symptoms whilst throwing in a cough or two for good measure. This was clearly reflected in the 2011 survey as four out of ten workers admitted that they even went so far as spending a few days building up their fake symptoms at work before they called in their pre-emptied sickie!

The survey made for fascinating reading. Indeed, the various reasons/justifications employees gave for calling in sick included:

• Being bored at work
• Feeling depressed
• Having to deal with family issues
• Working too hard and ‘rewarding’ one’s self with time off

As well as the more obvious reasons for calling in sick (flu, food poisoning, ‘bug’), some employees also came up with a number of more elaborate excuses for taking time off work. These included: injury during sex, a dart in the back of the head, dementia found in gums after a trip to dentist, and limescale falling into eyes whilst having a shower.

And people say we have no creative talent in this country!

Of course, there is a far more serious side to workplace absenteeism.

Indeed, it is estimated that unnecessary absences cost UK businesses around £32 billion a year. And it’s not just in the pocket where sickies can have a negative affect. They can also damage staff morale as employees who do manage to turn up every day soon get fed up with having to do the work of those who can’t be bothered to get out of bed and do their fair share.

Fortunately, there is a relatively simple way for companies to deal with this problem – update their working practices.

Most people take sickies simply because they are unhappy with the monotony of their jobs. However, some jobs (especially office-based roles) lend themselves favourably to flexible working patterns, such as flexi-hours and working from home for part of the week. Introducing these kinds of practises can help to keep staff members more engaged in their work, thereby reducing their ‘need’ to take a sickie every so often.

Of course, any company that opts to change their working practices will need to make amendments to their staff handbooks as well individual workers’ employment contracts. Fortunately, all of the document templates needed to do this are available in our Employment sub-folder here on the Simply-docs website. Indeed, we have everything from full and part-time contracts of employment to staff handbook policy templates available to download at a moment’s notice, so any company that is keen to make changes to their working practices can rest assured they will be able to do so in no time at all.

Interested? Explore our pages further to find out more.