Ceptara

Running a business or organization is hard work.  It can sometimes seem like all we do is react to the next crisis and hope that we're making money and making a difference.

There is a better way!  There's no magic wand that you wave, no silver bullet.  Running an organization takes passion, focus, diligence and faith.  And it takes a systematic approach in making sure that you're building a better stronger business.

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Ceptara's Organizer is an Outlook 2007 or later add-in designed to help you achieve greater personal effectiveness by focusing attention on your personal objectives through the creation and management of projects and tasks.

A FREE fully functional 45 day trial can be downloaded.  A registration screen will be presented periodically until the end of the trial period and then every time Outlook is started until the add-in is purchased or uninstalled.

Established in 2002 and headquartered in the Greater Seattle Washington area, Ceptara is a private, employee owned business focused on providing management consulting, coaching, training and tools to organizations and knowledge workers to help them achieve their goals effectively.

In business since 2002, Ceptara has helped product and services companies find and implement creative solutions that control costs and drive higher revenues. Let our seasoned managers, lean six sigma experts and certified project managers help you hone your focus and create stronger ROI for your company.

Download our Fast Facts to get a glimpse at everything Ceptara can offer. [Link]

The definition of S.M.A.R.T. is:

Specific...Measurable...Attainable...Relevant (or Realistic) and...Time-bound

Most of us have seen this mnemonic many times and know it to be a simple and effective decision making tool.  Occasionally having the definitions as a handy reminder helps with better planning and goal setting.  By utilizing this simple one page handout you can:

The Getting Started Guide for Ceptara's [Organizer] Outlook Add-in discusses new organizational habits implemented in the tool.  It supports the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People helping people scope projects to describe the "End in Mind" and focus on "First Things First".  It also embraces David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methods supporting processing your collection points using the 5Ds and creating Focuses (contexts) for tasks.

Summary

• The rules for effective leadership have changed and strong leaders need to be able to adapt
• Both companies and employees are facing new challenges that will make or break many organizations
• The leaders of tomorrow will be the people who helped usher organizations through the turbulence of today
• By embracing some new ideas, the recession can be turned to your advantage and you can prepare yourself, your company and your people for greater success

Ceptara is presenting some tips and techniques for creating a small business website to a group of entreprenuers participating in a business planning class via Edmonds Community College.

We will talk about how to use the web as a way of communicating with customers and the community.  The presentation is centered on setting the foundation for selecting the type of web presence a small business owner 'needs' and using the appropriate technology to get their web site realized.

Selecting a new vendor for onsite or offshore work can often be a difficult and arduous task.  How to choose from the myriad of offerings,  determining who is best in class, how to gauge what the sales reps are telling you are all common questions.  Selecting a vendor and ramping them up for your project while maintaining a budget and schedule can seem impossible.

Process management is at the heart of an excellent quality system.  If you're interested in reducing defects and waste, and building an organization that can scale as you're successful, process management needs to be a tool embraced and practiced by everyone in the organization. 

This presentation is used as part of the Process Management Introduction class which provides a summary and introduction to the Process Management Workshop.  The deck covers an introduction to a quality system, why process management is important and an introduction to managing processes.