Polish Up Your Leadership & Management Skills With A £1,000 Grant

The Leadership and Management funding program for small business owners and managers is back, but with a different spin.

If you own a company with 2 to 49 employees and you have been resident in the UK for the past three years you are eligible for a leadership and management grant of £1,000 which you must match with another £1,000 of your own funding. You can spend the grant on getting external coaching and training to help you expand your business management and leadership skills.

If you own a larger company of 50 to 249 employees you could spent the money on developing your top team as well or instead.

There are a few other new eligibility criteria that you will need to show you comply with as well. These include that funding is for companies with the potential for high growth, which is defined in terms of employee growth or turnover growth of at least 20% per year for 3 years, or if you have been in business for less than a year you are eligible if you expect to reach a turnover of £500k in three years.

Social enterprises are also eligible but need to demonstrate ability to grow by 10% or more each year for the next three years.

The funding is targeted at providing coaching or helping you to improve management effective such as through cultural change, team building or improving employee performance.

In the past the scheme has been hugely popular partly because the application process is relatively fast and simple, especially in London where it can take as little as two weeks to secure grant approval.

You will need a business plan or some other mechanism to demonstrate how your business meets the eligibility criteria.

There is no knowing how long this pot of funding will be available so grab it now if the fit is right for you.

Click for more information and to download an application form

What Makes a Good Project Manager?

If you are not sure whether you are cut out for project management, or if you hate exams, but you are thinking about taking PRINCE2 project management training, it might be wise to first think about whether you have the right personality for project management.

Many people would agree that all project managers need high energy levels, bags of enthusiasm and a good measure of political astuteness. They also need to be the kind of people that like to complete things, but this is only the start.

Some of the key traits of a good project manager include:

-- organised
-- disciplined
-- structured in their approach.

A good project manager will also exhibit top level:

-- communication skills
-- team building skills
-- interpersonal skills.

This is still not all -- a good project manager needs to believe in what they are doing and have a positive outlook on life -- be one of those people whose cup is half full, not half empty.

If you are involved in managing projects I'd love to know what you think is the defining characteristic that makes a great project manager.

Read my article: What Makes a Good Project Manager Into a Great One? - Methodolology of Course!