Hold Faster Meetings
    Have everyone stand up for the duration of a meeting. (Most will end in about 15 minutes!)

Make Customers Happier
    Incent everyone in your group by linking their pay to customer satisfaction (via quarterly surveys).

Solicit Employee Feedback
    Have the CEO do a "coffee and bagels" session each month with employees who have a birthday that month.

Build Fun Culture
    Reverse the casual trend and have a "dress up" day.
    Celebrate your star performers with themed candy bar or ice cream flavors. The themes are endless: $100,000
bar, Rocky Road, Good 'n' Plenty, etc.

General Management (or holiday) Tip
    Be ruthless with time but gracious with people.

Solicit Employee Feedback
    Give every employee $10 and tell them to give it to the fellow employee who is most responsible for their success
(often mandate it go to another department employee).

Hire Smart
    Ask your candidate's references for additional references. These folks often provide the most honest and
insightful input.

Run Meetings Faster
    If you need to cut a meeting short, simply stand up, offer to shake hands and say "thanks."

Solicit Employee Feedback
    Ask your lapsed (i.e. one-time) customers why they haven't returned. The answer is key to the long-term vitality of your business.

Manager Tip of the Month
    Be calm in tense times (and tense in calm times). From How to Manage Like Joe Torre in Fortune, 4/30/01: "When a situation turns tense, Torre grows outwardly calmer; when things are going well, he turns up the heat."

Mark Breier is an Internet expert who has led two major e-commerce companies. Breier served as president and CEO of Beyond.com. As VP of Marketing at Amazon.com, Breier helped develop radio ads, launched innovative promotions and participated in the company's explosive growth. Today, he advises and invests in Internet start-ups. [email protected].

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