Managing Communications and ACT (Aviation Institute of Maintenance, Centura College, Tidewater Tech) are hosting this exciting event to increase awareness of Virginia Department of Education’s CTE (Career and Technology Education) initiatives and how we can increase high-quality, work-based opportunities for our Southside Hampton Roads high school students.

Why?

Our Hampton Roads workforce needs are many, both now and too strategically build a pipeline for our future. Our economy depends on young workers in many industries, especially maritime/transportation, healthcare, hospitality, new energies, and manufacturing/distribution. We also want our students to gain the education they need for sustainable careers in the fields which interests them. If we do, we will keep them in our region!

How to get Involved?

This first Workforce CTE Forum focused on Southside Hampton Roads high schools and both large and small businesses is by invitation only. One hundred business representatives, area colleges and universities, workforce development entities, and CTE administrators from Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk are being invited to the event:

Thursday, May 4, 8:30-11:30 a.m.
ATC Headquarters
4455 South Blvd, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452  

Our Agenda

• Continental Breakfast and Networking
• Welcome: Susan Long-Molnar, Owner, MCC and Joel English, President, ACT
• Where Workforce Development and Education Meet: Mayor Kenny Alexander, Chancellor, ACT
• CTE in Virginia: Sharon Acuff, Virginia Department of Education
• HQWBL (Implementing High-Quality Work-Based Learning) Dr. Nikki Finley, Regional Work-Based Opportunities Learning Specialist
• Panel of HR Success Stories
• Breakout Industry Cluster Conversations
• Wrap up: Next Steps and Resources

  Additional Information for Attendees:

We will update this page with news about our panelists, parking details, and next steps after the Forum. If you would like more information or have given your rsvp for who is attending from your organization, please do so soon: 757-513-8633 or susan@managingcommunications.com.

Download our Forum Flyer and the Virginia High-Quality, Work-based Opportunities Flyer to learn more!

Want to meet your city’s CTE Administration?
Reach out to Dr. Nikki Finley, Work-Based Learning Specialist, Region 2, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education,
VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: 804.225-2051 | nikki.finley@doe.virginia.gov

It is likely getting harder to hire administrative assistants and others who support you as we get closer to the holidays. People decide to stay put. To fill your empty slots, you need buzz and reality about how you engage, empower, and recognize your support staff.

You also don’t want your current admin staff to lose heart and think about moving on with the new year.

That starts with you..as a lead, manager, supervisor, or peer on the admin team whether you are in operations, human resources, or any other unit in your organization.

How do you create an environment where your receptionist or your officer assistant or your customer service reps feel great about their work, love their team, and support the business goals as the A-Team?

If you are in Hampton Roads, we want to help you with that on Tuesday, November 1^st.

Jamie Vanek, author of Buried in Business, and I are going to show you…

• Why admin is often overlooked and undervalued
• The strategies to build expectations, mentoring, and provide meaningful admin contributions
• How to dismantle current admin functions and gain clarity in hiring, collaboration, and purpose
• Workflows, passion projects, and communications which will get you unburied
• How to change your own communications style and practices to engage your admin team!

And…you will have templates to help you make major changes right away. Learn more and register at Move your “just admin” to your A-Team Workshop Tickets, Tue, Nov 1, 2022 at 9:15 AM | Eventbrite

Download Flyer

In February 2021, Managing Communications’ President, Susan Long-Molnar decided it was time to create a forum for leaders to discuss their own growth. Finding a way to connect was difficult for our leaders, burdened with employee and health issues still facing us due to the pandemic. Fast forward to 2022, a time for new opportunities for women to expand leadership roles while learning to lead differently, often remote or with employees who for the most part continued to be remote.

Today, Southeast VA Women in Leadership Roundtable meets monthly to network and converse about leadership challenges, equity, collaboration, and mentoring. The Roundtable includes introductions, brief presentations, and discussions between CEOs, Business Owners, Officers, and Directors. Our focus is on topics that impact women. We have explored many topics such as leaders setting high expectations, financial decisions, conflict management, and so on. We also focus on our personal visions, missions, and goals, asking questions like “How will my leadership define who I am in five years?” and “What three to five realistic and essential goals do I need to support my leadership vision and mission?”.

Though our focus over the past 15 months has been on issues directly impacting leaders and their impact on our community and business organizations, we are going to periodically invite our members to bring their promising managers and supervisors to the sessions. This will give us an opportunity to build their leadership skills as well.

We are planning a face-to-face session in August. This may be a quarterly initiative, but most members feel there is a great advantage to continuing primarily remote sessions. We are also excited about potential collaboration of the Roundtable to develop a women’s leadership conference.

If you are interested in learning more about the Roundtable, please reach out!
susan@managingcommunications.com

Leadership- https://managingcommunications.com/about/
Remote- https://managingcommunications.com/four-leadership-skills-important-in-reopening-
successfully/
Presentations- https://managingcommunications.com/training-presentations/frequently-requested-
topics/
Managers- https://managingcommunications.com/strategic-planning/internal-communications/ 

By Courtney Rosenfeld

Starting a business can be an exciting and profitable venture, particularly when you’re passionate about your work. Of course, to be successful requires addressing a number of not-so-glamorous elements of being an entrepreneur, such as developing a business agenda, ensuring you have all of your regulatory compliance issues well in hand, and thinking about operating and succession plans. Let’s break it down.

Business Startup Basics

Before launching your business, you’ll want to develop a comprehensive business plan. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), this will be particularly important if you’re seeking funding of any kind. A business plan helps you think through and articulate the operational elements of how your business will work. Things to consider include forming a limited liability company (LLC) to protect assets, and making a determination about how you’re going to handle financial elements and functions, like payroll, taxes, and accounts payable and receivable. You’ll also want to address financial elements around recordkeeping. Of course, you’ll need to ensure you have the appropriate business license and insurance, especially if you’re operating an e-commerce business.

Targeting Your Market

It’s important to identify your target demographic before you launch a marketing and advertising campaign. In other words, who is most likely to buy your products orservices, and how are they best reached? Once you know the type of customer you’re trying to attract, you can develop a targeted strategy. Social media can be an effective tool , as can creating a website and marketing your company through trade or industry groups. You can also start generating early word-of-mouth advertising through friends, family, colleagues, and any social or business groups you’re involved with. E-mail marketing can also be a smart approach, particularly if you’re operating an online business or have online components.

Creating an Operating Agreement

In conjunction with your business and marketing plans, you’ll want to develop an operating agreement to protect your assets, describe your business rules, and outline your business succession plans in detail. This will help ensure your financial assets are protected. The operating agreement may be built into your business plan or be a stand- alone component, but having such a document in place can help with seeking funding because you’ll be viewed as someone who has thought through all of the financial implications of how your business will run. Visit Zenbusiness to secure an operating agreement template.

Where To Get Funding

Small business loans can help a startup business secure the necessary elements they need to be successful. This might include a website domain, website design, buying equipment and supplies, and purchasing inventory or other products necessary to fully launch and operate your business. Before you can seek funding, you’ll need to have your business plan completed. Many banking institutions offer personal loans, while small business banks specifically service entrepreneurial-type endeavors. Other places  to look for funding include the SBA and state grants through microenterprise initiatives.

Where to Get Help

Depending on the type of business you’re launching, you might find it beneficial to consult a tax attorney, a small business accounting firm, or an employment law specialist. Joining industry associations like chambers of commerce or Rotary clubs can also provide a means for networking, promoting your business, and participating in small business development programs — all of which can help you advance your company.

Starting a business can be immensely rewarding and has the potential to be very lucrative, as well. Ensuring you’re going about everything the right way before startup can help you devote more of your time post-launch to delivering exceptional service and building your customer base.

Managing Communications serves start-up businesses with marketing strategy to help you identify your targeted audiences and services or products which will be important to them. Then, we help you build a strategic plan to realize your goals. Often, we identify a service or market you had not even considered! We also implement as needed for digital and traditional content, ongoing consulting and a host of other services. Let’s talk soon! susan@managingcommunications.com.

Many organizations around the world have one thing in common; they are run by men.
These organizations do not see female promotion into senior positions as a strategic business
imperative. Thus, leaving women stuck in mid-level positions while the men in the company
promote upwards. There are a few reasons that this bias exists whether the organization is
aware of it or not.

Reason #1: Limited Focus Initiatives
Organizations may have programs in place to develop leadership skills, but they are often not
fully executed, or they are enormous and difficult to follow. They may also have a limited focus
or train employees on lower-level tasks that mid-level employees may have already mastered.
Another issue with some initiatives is that they are not properly communicated as employees
move from entry level to mid-level positions. Therefore, employees are not aware of the
opportunities that exist.

Reason #2: Accountability
The organization is not “walking the talk” or following through with their promises. Women are
shown opportunities to excel in the workplace, but the opportunities are never actually
presented. This happens many times when an inside hire for an upper-level position is given
directly to a man and not opened to other qualified employees, including women.

Reason #3: Power Struggles
Research has shown that women struggle with delegating tasks. Recent studies have shown
women see delegation as more aggressive and assertive, which many think will hurt their image
in the organization. Women are much more empathetic towards their colleagues, whereas the
men are assertive and dominant to get things moving. Men, who are often in the higher
positions, allow this power to be seen as their dominance in the office setting, whereas women
don’t always have the same thirst for power and often seem much more civil with their
subordinates. This is a good quality and one which women can mentor to their male peers!

Reason #4: Risk Takers are Favored
Women have been taught not to advocate for their positions and themselves because society
has taught them to be docile, quiet, and kind. They have been taught to be more accepting.
The women of the organization then feel oppressed, as if they cannot take the risk to bring up
ideas during meetings or take on assignments due to this lack of power and worth to the
organization.

Reason #5: The Full Plate
Along with execution, women are expected to multitask, taking on a multitude of projects at
once because they multi-task well. Unfortunately, with a large number of projects, the
organization often avoids including a woman who has multiple projects already in a leadership
role on new initiatives. Women often use collaborative influencing to aid in the large
multitasking operation and are perceived as not taking a stance on changing the way
production is handled or pushing for new initiatives.

Organizations have much work to do to help women evolve into leadership positions. Some
organizations like Enspire Energy, in Chesapeake, Virginia, are on the up-and-coming women
lead business lists. The opportunities were presented and taken by Mary Hensley and Julie
Hashagen, with their vast experience and knowledge, they decided not to be oppressed
anymore by large organizational life and start their own business to strive.

By Courtney Rosenfield of Gig Spark

Hoping to make a change? Leading your community into a better tomorrow is a serious
challenge, but it’s a necessary one. We need people willing to take charge and help us imagine
how the world could be. We’ve gathered these resources to help you find great books you can
borrow and read for inspiration, get into the habit of reading regularly, and unlock your
potential:

Inspiring Individuals 
These memoirs and biographies can help you figure out what kind of leader you want to be: 

– Here’s a list of biographies from Forbes to help you develop leadership in the
workplace.
– These books about women who changed the world challenge our ideas about
who can lead well.
– Memoirs like these help you to learn more about the activists who sparked
change in our nation’s history.

Unlocking the Leader in You 
Check out these guides to finding and using your greatest strengths:

– Start with these books on discovering and recognizing your strengths.
– Then check out these books on developing leadership skills at work and in your
community.
– These books on networking can help you build relationships that lead to effective
change.

Developing a Reading Habit
If you’re not already in the habit of reading regularly, these tips will help:

– Start small by reading an especially gripping book or re-reading an old favorite.
– Set a goal to read a certain number of books each month, and track your
progress.

Other Tactics for Reaching the Next Level
We live in an age where information is at our fingertips. Tap into some other opportunities for
growing and developing your inner leader:
– Could you use a consultant? Managing Communications Consulting offers
leadership support through business development services, marketing, and
strategic planning.
– Educational podcasts are a terrific tool for stretching your mind and learning new
skills.
– Online learning programs offer the opportunity to expand your education and
capabilities at your own pace.

Altogether, these resources give you more than a hundred books to add to your reading list.
Dive in today and learn all you can about becoming a leader. Reading will give you the chance
to learn, reflect, and unlock your true potential.

For leadership strategies and communications services, call Managing Communications
Consulting at 757-513-8633, email susan@managingcommunications.com, or fill out our online
form.

Photo Credit: Pexels