news & views from BKGManaging Debtors27th February 2011Perhaps one of the most important aspects of business survival is ensuring that your bills get paid - making sure that people who owe you money pay. In the second Business Boost specials, we are making our How2Guide on Managing Debtors available for four weeks. These documents are normally only available to BKG Members. Three-and-a-Half Dimensions of Quality20th February 2011The latest One Minute Boost is launched today, with some new ideas on expanding the way you think about quality. This Boost will introduce you to four themes to consider and to an underlying philosophy. Getting Priorities in Order13th February 2011The latest One Minute Business Boost is launched today - all about concentrating organisational effort on what matters most to the business. This helpful document will enable people to get a grip on better understanding how much value each organisational activity generates. It will enable organisational leaders to see where time and effort is wasted on activities that don't create value. Athena 3 - Contracts Paper Published7th February 2011HBS today publishes the third in its free Athena Series documents. Dr Bob Mackenzie looks at the importance of proper contracts in establishing partnerships in healthcare, a theme of huge importance as the NHS in England embarks on the latest round of major re-organisation. Bob's paper can be accessed from the front page of this site. Business Planning Guide Published for Limited Time6th February 2011Today, HBS has made its How2Guide on Business Planning available for general viewing for one month. The publication, which forms part of a series of 88 How2Guides is normally only available to Business & Knowledge Gym members and clients. HBS director Stuart Haines said, "We put it up partly to further demonstrate our commitment to providing free material as far as possible, and partly to show-case our prestigious How2 series". The publication is part of the Business Boost series, and will be only available for 4 weeks. It will be archived on 6th March 2011. Shop Local Campaign21st January 2011Small independent businesses are the backbone of any community. When SMEs do well, the knock-on effect is felt right across the economy and marger businesses feel the benefits too. Unfortunately the reverse is not always true. The best way to get the country back on its feet (whichever country you're in) is to energise small independent businesses - including local shops. If every person in the UK went out this weekend and spent £10 extra in a local independent business, this would have the effect of pumping £600 million into the national economy. Think about it. If every household in the country thought about ONE purchase they were planning to make in the next few weeks, and decided to spend it in an independent local business, that too would have a profound and very positive effect. This simple positive action would massively contribute to the national economy AND would significantly enhance the local situation too. If you are interested in getting involved in this very worthwhile project, visit our new campaign pages on this site. [Click Here]. Send us an Email of Support [Click Here]. But above all, go out into your local community and spend your money. And let your friends know about it, too. BKG Launches One Minute Boosts9th January 2011They're here - BKG has launched the new One Minute Boost series. Quick and easy ideas to stimulate your thinking and aimed at busy people. Each week we'll publish a new title. We'll give you some ideas about how to get on with it, and you can download a handy single side booster in PDF form to keep and use as an aide memoire. Whatever business you're in, we think we've something for you. All our boosts are free. But here's the catch. We will only keep up to four on our site at any one time. Each boost will remain on the site for just four weeks, before we whip it away and put it in the archive. BKG members will have access to the archive. We may re-publish individual boosts in time in response to demand. But you'll have to keep watching the Boost space on our homepage. This week, we launch the series with "Declare War on Waste". Click Here for More Information. Appraisal Downloads Pass 500 Mark7th January 2011The BKG Guide to Appraisal and Revalidation, launched in the autumn as part of the Athena Series has been downloaded by NHS clinicians and managers more than 500 times, and the figure is still climbing. Already, clinicians have started to send their own perspectives and thoughts on the subject. Some people have been in touch to ask for permission to forward the document on to their colleagues. That is precisely what it was intended for - to pass on and share. Three-and-a-Half Dimensions of Quality18th December 2010BKGs Stuart Haines presents a mini series in the run up to Christmas on the three and a half dimensions of quality, and gives a few ideas for organisations to think about as they prepare for 2011. Read his latest thoughts on the Blog - click here. BKG Launches Policy Bank15th December 2010The long awaited BKG Policy Bank is now available on-line. Members will be able to 'withdraw' policies and procedures from the bank, so that they can be adapted for use in their own organisations. It is expected that organisations will also 'deposit' examples of their own policies for sharing more widely. The Policy Bank builds on the success of the Athena Series - free resources available from BKG. Non-members can also get access to documents in the bank on a share-one-get-one basis. Simply agree to deposit a policy into the bank, and you can withdraw one for your own use. BKG's intention is to grow this reource over time. More information is available - click here. BKG founder Stuart Haines Sharing Insights in his New Blog7th December 2010Stuart Haines has re-launched his personal blog. He is using the forum to share personal insights and experiences. This week he is musing on what organisations of the future will look like. He is considering what organisations will need to do to be able to emerge from the current global economic situation with strength. He thinks that there will need to be a new way of doing business and companies will need to think and work radically different. You can read Stuart Haines' blog by clicking here. Seasonal Offers - BKG Membership On Line - Special Offer7th December 2010Season's Greetings to one and all. We noticed that we are getting a lot of visits to our website from outside the UK - in particular from the United States of America. We decided to offer Gym membership as a special offer, and for a limited period of time, on an e-mail only basis. Basically, e-members will get all the benefits of normal membership, but all their interactions with us will be by e-mail. Perfect for businesses working on a tight budget, and those outside the UK. So, if you want to build your own business - and want to take advantage of this time-limited offer, get in touch right away. Email us: stu@hbsgym.com. We're also offering a FREE analysis of your business, and a free consultation. All you have to do is download the Self-Analysis form, available by clicking the link on our home page, complete it and send it back to us, along with your contact details. We may ask you a few additional questions by email so we can get a better picture of you, your business and your ambitions. Everything you tell us will be treated in STRICT CONFIDENCE, and there's no obligation to join the Gym (although we'd be delighted if you did). You've absolutely nothing to lose, and everything (potentially) to gain. Go on, drop us a line. Remember, this offer is only open until the end of January 2011. Clinical Leadership Programme - Athena for Clinicians7th December 2010We've updated the Athena Clinical Leadership Programme page on the website. Athena for Clinicians is a tailored approach to developing leadership amongst clinicians - doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and others involved in clinical management and leadership. We have shaped the programme around the arguments we set out in the Athena Series document on Clinical Leadership. Athena is available as a whole programme, or in chunks. We offer single day sessions. Anyone inbusinessng out more can log on to the page or drop us an email - stu@hbsgym.com. New, Updated, Appraisal Document for UK Doctors21st November 2010We've launched the Second Edition of our Athena Series document on Revalidation and Appraisal for Doctors. It's available on our homepage and on our Athena Series page as a FREE download. This is part of BKG's commitment to sharing and disseminating knowledge. The updated edition includes the latest information about the new Responsible Officer legislation, coming into force in January 2011. We encourage colleagues to download the document and share it with their own colleagues. The Athena Series seeks to be a dynamic resource, and we want to incorporate feedback, and examples shared with us into future editions, which we aim to put on-line periodically. The Apprentice (BBC) Discussion Group7th November 2010We know that many of our friends, colleagues and customers are avid viewers of the BBC-1 business reality show "The Apprentice". We've started a discussion group within the Business & Knowledge Gym Group at www.LinkedIn.com. If you're following the series, and want to join in the discussion, or are simply interested in what others are saying, join the group. Who knows, we may even learn something new from it. BKG on LinkedIn30th September 2010We have launched our new Discussion Group at www.LinkedIn.com. The group is FREE to join. We've dedicated it to learning more about ourselves and business. We're encouraging as many of our friends, colelagues and customers as possible to get involved and start sharing key issues with as many people as possible. Yes, we want to encourage networking. But, our principle aim is to encourage the sharing and diessemination of knowledge and ideas. If you haven't already joined LinkedIn, you can set up an account easily. If you're already a member, find our group and join. It's that simple.
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