Israel Tannenbaum

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Even the most experienced of leaders can struggle when it comes to managing several different priorities. Between catering to the needs of customers, ensuring employees are engaged, remaining true to the values of the organization and staying compliant on changing laws, running a business naturally requires entrepreneurs to balance several different priorities all at once. No matter how experienced a leader is or how top-notch their juggling skills are, any person would struggle with these responsibilities. Stepping outside of the mindset that they have to handle everything alone is a key first step for many leaders. Below, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members each share one additional approach leaders can take when managing multiple projects and priorities.

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Developing a process to manage your sales pipeline helps ensure the business is constantly operating at maximum efficiency. The management of a business’s sales pipeline is continuous work that never really finishes. From prospecting potential customers and closing deals to checking in with customers and generating new leads, sales is a process in which leaders must take care to ensure there is a set structure in place for both finding new prospects and retaining existing ones. Investing time and effort into improving sales process management is a great way to increase efficiency, but knowing where and how to implement changes that will make a difference isn’t a simple task. To help, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members share strategies for how leaders can effectively approach managing a business's sales pipeline.

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As burnout continues to negatively impact employees on all levels, it's essential to build in processes to mitigate it. Accepting a leadership role comes with the recognition that managing others will not be an easy endeavor. Between ensuring business goals are continually being set and met and taking care of the personal and professional needs of the employees working with you, being a manager can take a heavy toll. Combine these duties with the stress of the last few years and you’ve got a recipe for manager burnout. To help these leaders tackle and manage their burnout, 12 members from Newsweek Expert Forum each offer advice on how managers can reduce the stress and successfully get back in the game.

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  In business, a “leader” is typically defined as the person in charge. This can range from executives at the top down to the managers who preside over individual departments or teams. However, having an official leader position isn’t what makes someone a good–or even an effective leader. Great leaders are those who are able to balance the big picture of the company mission with the finer details of how employees contribute to the achievement of business goals. Developing that balance means leaders need to actively acquire and refine their skills. As experts, Newsweek Expert Forum members know that refining those skills is an ongoing process, so below, they each share one skill every manager needs to effectively lead and coach employees.

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For a business to succeed, entrepreneurs have to know how to effectively pitch and get stakeholder onboard with every new initiative. No matter how good a business idea may seem, every new initiative will not have complete buy-in from stakeholders at the start. No matter whether it’s investors, employees, partners or consumers, the onus is on the entrepreneur to present a worthy pitch, gain support and address concerns that may arise from the audience.  While this process may seem straightforward, the challenge lies in devising a plan to put any and all doubts from stakeholders at ease. As leaders, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum know that full support for business ideas is critical to success. To help, they offer strategies entrepreneurs can use to approach changing someone's mind and gaining buy-in from stakeholders.

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In order to keep up with the amount of fresh online content needed today, businesses need a defined content creation process. From blog posts and photos to TikToks and Reels, businesses today have a lot of options available when it comes to engaging with clients and consumers online. However, with so many platforms to create content for on an ongoing basis, content creation can eventually start to feel like a never-ending process that no longer sparks joy like it used to. For leaders not directly involved in this aspect of the business, this problem may not be taken as seriously because they don’t see the value content provides, but current and prospective customers will be able to tell when a business is only interested in getting something out. That’s why it’s essential to implement a creative process that keeps content fresh and valuable for consumers. To help, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum offer recommendations to help business leaders navigate the seemingly endless grind of creating content.

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Now that websites and social media have become vital for businesses, leaders must develop an effective strategy for engaging their audiences on these platforms. Regardless of the industry an organization operates in, the marketing channel a leader chooses to use to contact current customers and prospects will have a direct impact on the success of their business. This is especially true now that websites and social media networks have become important components of interacting directly with stakeholders. With online interactions becoming essential to operations, learning how to contact and build relationships with customers is a hurdle business owners have to overcome. As experts, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum all have experience testing various channels for outreach and marketing purposes. Below they share how they best reach their target audience on their preferred marketing channel and why that method works so well for them.

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Feel awkward when you network? Try these tips to make it feel more organic and even fun. Many people network with the intention of trying to sell a business leader on their product or service, whether to get seed money or to try and create a partnership. Because of this, networking events may end up feeling awkward and uncomfortable when it's all about the hard sell. However, networking doesn't have to feel like you're "schmoozing." Business leaders can use these events to make real connections and build solid foundations for future business relations, all without pitching an idea. Below, a panel of Newsweek Expert Forum members offered their best advice for making networking more natural and fun to build long-lasting connections. 

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If you're having trouble staying on task, these actionable tips can help you refocus your attention. Everyone has struggled to focus at work at one point or another. Whether you're feeling tired, burned out or you're just too excited about an event later that week, sitting down at a computer or sitting through a meeting can sometimes be challenging. While feeling a little unfocused every now and then can be easily overcome, it's more problematic if you're constantly struggling to focus or losing interest in the work that you're doing. Luckily, there are ways to help you dial back in and find the focus you need to get the job done. Below, 15 members of Newsweek Expert Forum shared their best tips for someone struggling to focus.

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Before moving your business to a new industry, it's best to get a full understanding of that current market. Moving your business into a new industry can bring with it the opportunity to expand your current business offerings or go in a completely different direction. However, before jumping into a new endeavor, it’s important to carefully think through each move and fully understand the potential consequences of what you do. While an entrepreneur may have experience in a given field, that experience may not translate well to a new setting. To help entrepreneurs make a successful change, a panel of Newsweek Expert Forum members share common mistakes entrepreneurs encounter as they attempt to pivot into a new industry.

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If you want a loyal customer base that keeps coming back, you need to put consumers at the center of everything you do. Many companies claim that their customers are their highest priority. While this is a nice thing to say, there's a difference between simply delivering what a customer asks for and truly being a consumer-centric organization.  Today's consumers expect that the businesses they buy from will go the extra mile to ensure an experience that exceeds their expectations. To help your company become more consumer-centric, 15 members of Newsweek Expert Forum members offered their best tips below.

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Taking the time to understand client needs can guide efforts to reconnect and maintain connections with customers. After a customer has paid for and received a product or service, it's natural for them to disengage if a business isn't working to actively hold their attention. The natural instinct for some entrepreneurs may be to leverage every communication channel available to pull the customer back in, but these efforts may have the opposite effect of pushing the customer further or completely away. That’s why it’s important to stop and take a moment to think about the situation from the customer’s perspective. Developing a better understanding of customer needs can aid in determining the best path forward for reconnecting or maintaining a connection. To help, a panel of experts from Newsweek Expert Forum each share one effective strategy for reengaging inactive customers.

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When choosing a technology solution for your SME, it's important to understand the business value you'll be getting for your money. Technology can certainly be an investment, especially for small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many programs cost a lot of money upfront and may not end up serving the needs your business has. That's why it's so important to carefully choose which technologies your business invests in. This often entails doing some market research and understanding exactly how a tech tool might be able to solve your business needs. Below, 15 Newsweek Expert Forum members shared their insights to help SMEs optimize their technological investments.