Leads 2 Business Blog

18 Nov 2019

5 Ways to Stay Motivated at Work

by Sherina Shawe | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 0

So let me paint the picture: you’re into the final weeks of your work year, Christmas posters are going up, the days are getting warmer, your Christmas tree is threatening to make an appearance, and you pretty sure you have caught yourself humming a carol or two already. Now if you are anything like me all this excites you very very much! I LOVE the Holidays!

There’s just one minor problem, there is still 3 or 4 weeks of work to go. So how am I going to stay focused and motivated?

Well, this is what I’m going to try and my 5 tips to you.

Reflect

“So what do you mean Sher?”

What I mean is, surely you had some goals or aspirations coming into this year? Perhaps you reached them? So congratulate yourself! Be proud of the things you achieved this year.

On the other hand, maybe you didn’t reach them? Perhaps you are still an overweight smoker who curses too much and still spends way too much time on social media?

Well, it’s not too late… and that brings me to point number 2.

Make a to-do-list

Decide how many days you still have to accomplish a few of these goals you have left for this year, and maybe make the goal now, just to start these things, no one is expecting you to perform miracles and lose, say 10kgs in 30 days, but maybe just start eating a little healthier, go to the gym or simply just start drinking more water.

Maybe you had planned to spend more time with your kids this year and less time taking quizzes on Facebook to find out what kitchen appliance you are?

Well then, firstly stop doing that immediately! Set out 15 minutes a day and just have a chat with them, read to them or whatever. You know what your kids need, and what they would appreciate, and of course, this could go for a partner, family member or even friend. I promise this one will make you feel way better about yourself like no kitchen appliance ever could.

Take time out

Now, this is important, so listen.

Take your tea time. Take your lunch time. Take a walk. Take a nap.

Listen to your body. We all know this year like all years has been a long one and yet it has gone by so fast. We also know work doesn’t slow down because you have taken a sick day perhaps, or tragedy hit your family, so now you a little behind on a project or deadline? Well, you are no good to yourself if you are tired and miserable. So look after yourself first, then take a deep breath pumpkin, and make that to-do-list I just spoke about!

Get excited!!

If you are anything like me, finishing something gives you a huge sense of accomplishment. So once you have reflected, and made your list of things that need to be done – Get Them Done! And feel the excitement of clearing your list, nearing the end with a clean slate and what next year may bring. This is the end of a decade people! Let that sink in!! Next year is a whole new beginning, and I for one cannot wait to start a new work year (after a ton of sun and a little gin of course), set new goals, break new boundaries and achieve, achieve, achieve!

Now, this next one is not really something you can do for yourself to stay motivated, but rather a little advice to help keep the people around you less motivated to want to kill you in the work place.

Work Consideration

I’m not sure what it is about us humans, but we always seem to think our load is heavier, our hardship is more severe and we are more tired or broke than the next.

Yes, you know what I mean. Well, quit it! We are all tired, we all have daily struggles and most importantly we are all in this together  so be kind, smile at each other, complement each other and just be less annoying. Try crunching, slurp, pen click and foot-tapping less at your desks. Keep your eye on the prize.

We are almost there, let’s get stuff done and be awesome doing it!

And on that note, I would like to wish you all a wonderful end of the year and holiday to follow, enjoy the parties, the family, the trips, trees, prezzies and carols and stay safe!   

See you next decade!

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About Sherina Shawe

I am a strong believer in "What you put in , is what you will get out" and this drives me every day, whether it's at home with my gorgeous family or at work where I get to fuel my competitive spirit. I love who I am and who I'm becoming. I love where I am , but more importantly where I'm going.... #EternalOptimist #Aspire2Inspire

14 Nov 2019

10 Best Android Apps for 2019

by Ryan Esterhuysen | posted in: Did You Know, General | 0

Trello

Trello is a simple and flexible tool that enhances productivity and collaboration. It can easily be used in different contexts, from tracking your aspirations, day-to-day work and those pesky to-do lists, to being used as a project management tool to manage your team’s projects and provide a mechanism for effective communication and collaboration between team members.

The building blocks of Trello are Boards, which are built up of Cards and are arranged into Lists as you see fit. Kanban boards are easy to create in Trello and most boards I have worked with have been based on them.

You can also form Teams, which perfect for setting up an environment for a project team or department to work in. Trello provides Power-Ups that extend the app with add-ons and integrations with external apps.

The Android version gives you all this in a compact, easy to use App. It comes with two widgets for your home screen! that allows you to add cards on the fly, perfect for when inspiration hits you and you are away from your desk!

Slack

Slack is an instant-messaging application that is immensely popular in the Software Industry. It provides all the functionality you would expect from any messaging application, with several twists and great features. One simple but helpful feature is the ability to seamlessly upload files in chat from a device or Google. Users can be tagged in messages and there is a built-in markdown language for formatting messages too.

Slack has Channels, which are similar to chatrooms, that can be linked to integrations with external applications. Each integration provides a set of commands that allow users to run tasks in an external app from a Channel. This is very useful when you are performing tasks based on a Channel discussion. I regularly use the Trello integration to add new Cards based on feedback and discussions in Project related Channels and assign them to team members.

G Suite

G Suite is actually a range of apps, but they seamlessly integrate to form a single app experience! If you have ever used Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendars, Google Docs or Sheets, you have used G Suite.

These android apps give you the power to work anywhere, anytime, and are versatile. Furthermore, many third-party applications provide integrations with G Suite products, so you can access them from third-party apps without interruption.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a project management and team communication tool that centralises access to tasks, documents, schedules and discussions amongst members of project teams. Without centralisation, information is often scattered across different sources and finding it becomes difficult and chaotic.

Basecamp allows provides To-Do Lists, Message Boards, Schedules, Document Storage, Group Chats and a feature called Check-Ins, which are an effective way of getting feedback on progress/status from team members on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Microsoft OneDrive

This is the android version of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite. It offers the same benefits as the G Suite range, such as easy access to documents and easy integration into third-party applications.

Asana

Asana is yet another project management tool. It provides different views of a Project, such as a List view which lists all tasks, or a Board view (a Kanban board) that groups tasks into lists for each available status. Each task can be assigned a team member, due date, status and priority.

Skype

Skype is an application that offers video and voice call capabilities as well as instant messaging and is great for connecting with friends, family, colleagues and customers alike.

Evernote

The Evernote app allows you to capture and organise notes into virtual collections called notebooks using your android device. Like the other apps listed in this post, Evernote is great for personal and business use.

Tiny Scanner

This app turns your android device into a mobile scanning machine and is ideal for individuals or businesses alike without access to a scanning machine. It can convert a scanned document into an image or PDF document and gives you the option to upload them to a cloud storage service of your choice.

Google Calendar

This app integrates well with your Android device, giving you all the functionality of the web-based version in a more convenient format and the power to make the most of every day.

About Ryan Esterhuysen

I'm a Software Developer at L2B. I joined the team in April 2019.

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7 Nov 2019

The Development of Communication

by Genevieve Smith | posted in: General | 0

Communication where did it all start and how did it get to where and what it is now?

The earliest form of communication that we are all familiar with of course are drawings and paintings. Even though speech had already been around before that, it had not completely developed as yet. Drawings and paintings were used one of the earliest ways of communication, around 30 000 years ago.

As time moved on and the human race continued to advance, so did their communication. We moved from drawing on cave walls to rock carvings, or as this is more commonly known as rock art or Petroglyphs. Statutes and sculptures are also often seen or known as petroglyphs and these too convey a certain message.

The next form of communication came to use in the year 9000 BC, this was known as pictograms. Pictograms were more commonly used to tell or rather, depict a story.

Pictograms eventually evolved into Ideograms. Ideograms mostly used by the Native Americans, Egyptians & the Chinese. This form of communication was ideally used to depict an idea in a certain language.

Finally, writing became part of the development of communication, the early stages of writing where not as you may think by using the alphabet. It was actually what we now know as Hieroglyphs. Each of the symbols used to represent a certain letter, per se.

In 2700 BC the world was introduced to the Semitic alphabet. This is the alphabet that we are most familiar with now.

Communication has developed so much over the years that it would be difficult to name them all. To name but a few, we can look at the spoken word, where there are currently about 6500 different languages spoken all over the world. Other forms of communication also include writing, drawing and let’s not forget smoke signals!

Whatever your choice of communication enjoy and do it well.

Sources:
Google
Wikipedia

About Genevieve Smith

Genevieve Smith, I have been working at Leads 2 Business for just over a year now. I work in the Johannesburg office as an account coordinator.

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4 Nov 2019

Black Friday: Your Ultimate Guide

by Sasha Anderson | posted in: Did You Know, General | 0

Black Friday

Two words synonymous with buzzwords like deals, sales, countdown and ads to name a few. Have you already started receiving deal sign-up notifications, some which offer early access and even opportunities to win vouchers? Black Friday officially signals the start of the holiday shopping season globally.

Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving in the USA, Black Friday, falls on the 29th of November 2019 and will no doubt be characterized by the same midnight-alarm-setting, queue-camping, quick grabbing, elbowing and epic statistics like those that came before.

Let’s not forget Black Friday’s equally anticipated partner Cyber Monday; for those of us who prefer using their quick clicking skills over physical queuing stamina. I, myself fall into the record-breaking eCommerce category no matter the day.

[crowdsignal poll=10444846]

Black Friday: Your Ultimate Guide

Research is key: don’t be caught by ‘fake’ specials and don’t lose out on possible bigger savings
Make your list (and check it twice): this will prevent unnecessary purchases while also ensuring you tick off all your items.
Hydrate and Nourish: You need to be in tip-top shape if you want to gain that edge
Plan and Prioritize: optimal route planning will save you time and money.
Budget: remember those oh-so-exciting monthly expenses don’t magically disappear
Bonus: Sign up to all the Black Friday Alert emails

To obtain Black Friday’s ever-elusive specials shoppers will go to (sometimes fatal) extremes as illustrated in Black Friday Death and Injury Count. Use Your Ultimate Black Friday Guide and don’t become a statistic.

Want some visuals? Click below for Black Friday by numbers as published by Black Friday Global.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Reach out if you want to talk: L2B, social media, construction, technology, marriage, parenting, popular culture and travel. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

31 Oct 2019

Building Relationships: One Construction Project at a Time

by Nirasha Rampersad | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 2

More importantly, is that everyone can build strong relationships no matter what industry you’re in or what your title may be. It’s important to build the right relationships with the right people. Strong relationships between general contractors and subcontractors are important for a successful project. These relationships don’t mature overnight, and it takes time and effort from both parties to build a level of trust that evolves into a strong working partnership.

Main contractors
When a client hires a contractor to build or renovate a property, the company is legally responsible for completing all of the required work. Main contractors are thinkers. They work with you through the entire project, from the idea phase to the finished product. By contrast, subcontractors come and go. They specialize in certain areas of the construction process, like large equipment operation, concrete formulation, plumbing, electricity and carpentry. They enter a project to do a particular task and leave when that task is finished.

Subcontractors
If you’re bidding to a general contractor for the first time this is your opportunity to make a strong first impression.
Communicate! Keep in contact with the site supervisor and project manager with updates on your progress and advise them immediately of any issues or potential delays that might impact other subcontractors on the job or the overall project timeline.
Choose the right team for the job. Make sure your workers act and perform their duties safely and professionally. Be organized. Practice good housekeeping and clean up after every workday, picking up tools and equipment and disposing of any construction waste as you go.
Show up to the job site every day with the tools, equipment, materials, and workers you need to get the day’s work done. Subcontractors may be tempted to take on a job that is outside the scope of their capabilities allowing the subcontractors a window of time at either end of the project will ensure all their work will be finished within the project time frame. Preparing for delays will prevent the project from running overtime and therefore going over budget. Following these suggestions will lower the chances for disappointment and maintain a positive relationship between you and your subcontractor. Partnerships between contractors and subcontractors are vital for any business. In fact, this relationship is beneficial to both parties involved.
A subcontractor agreement usually exists between a contractor and a subcontractor. It outlines information similar to the conditions detailed in a contractor agreement. In most instances, the contractor will be responsible for compensating the subcontractor and the subcontractor is required to complete certain tasks for the contractor. Both a contractor and subcontractor work together to complete specified duties for a company or an individual.

Vendor/Suppliers
Main contractors and subcontractors often tend to ignore one thing: supplier relationship management. Effective supplier relationship management increases profitability and drives efficiencies for businesses.
Leads 2 Business has a service called Leads 2 Quotes and Open Quotes. (www.L2B.co.za) Vendor/Suppliers receives RFQ from main /sub-contractors as a preferred vendor via email, submit your RFQ’s (request for quotes) online. Easy access to vendor/suppliers within the area of work. You will be able to view which contractors prefer your business and interact directly with you regarding your service and product offerings.
This is a professional platform to enable anyone to build a solid relationship between Contractors and Suppliers.
As much as company culture is important to your business, it should also manifest in your supplier. Values such as speed, quality, excellence, innovation, and reliability are existent in trustworthy companies and you want to be sure that the same can be said about your own suppliers

Available Cash
You have payments due to subs, employees, vendors, materials suppliers, and equipment renters but you don’t get paid until the project is complete. If you want to have a solid relationship with your subbies, treat them how you would want to be treated, and pay them on time, every time
Nothing will ever run a 100% smoothly in construction at any given time. When there is a bump in the road, fingers start pointing. If you have a positive attitude and are working with subcontractors you trust; it will be easy to establish a good working relationship
Good business relationship management can lead to loyalty, which is important in terms of finding suppliers and subcontractors that can be trusted. This applies to tender bids as well as project delivery. Professionalism should be demonstrated at all times, as well as open and honest communication, efficiency and consideration when dealing with their needs and requirements

There are plenty of tools and online resources out there to help keep you and your business organized

Whether you are a “leader” or a follower, you can build a community of friends, colleagues, associates, allies, partners, and buddies around you. Together, there is no telling what you can do. Building Relationships: One Construction Project at a Time

Sources:
ProjectSmart
GenieBelt

About Nirasha Rampersad

I started working for Leads to Business June 2017 as Support Assistance in L2Q.

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24 Oct 2019

15 Ways to Renovate on a Budget

by Lorna Krause | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 2

Everybody wants a beautiful living space, a space in which to unwind and relax and shrug off the stresses of day-to-day life.
Your home should be your sanctuary, your place to escape and just be.

Here are my 15 Ways to Renovate on a Budget.

First and foremost:

1. Establish a Budget and Don’t Budge
It is so easy to get caught up in the beautifying process that one can easily go over what has been budgeted for.

2. Pay Cash
You are wanting to create an environment that allows you to come home, kick off your shoes and relax after a long day, not one that causes you to pull your hair out while you are number-crunching until the wee hours of the morning because of credit card debt. As far as is possible, buy your materials with cash.

3. Check Your Prices
Don’t just go into one store to find all your prices, if you are going into a large store, there is every possibility that you might get caught up in some slick sales talk and wind up going over your budget, go to a few stores, get quotes and compare prices.

4. Clean Up
Before starting a project, clean up. Be ruthless with yourself if necessary. I tend to suffer from sente(mental)ity, there are dozens of keepsakes that we are given by children along the way and they get hung up on the fridge and such, in the pursuit of cleaning up, if it isn’t going to serve a purpose, take a photo of it and then chuck it.

5. Set a Time Limit
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if there wasn’t a time frame to work within, it would still be under construction. Again, because time is precious, you don’t want to lose precious time with your family.

6. All Hands on Deck
When you take on a renovation project, instead of employing a company to do the work for you, why not get the whole family involved, this creates friendship and most of all, ownership.

7. Recycle, or upcycle.
There are so many good ideas of how to transform “junk” into useful items on Pinterest, so, get pinning!

8. Feature Walls
Instead of painting out a whole area, consider painting a feature wall. The idea behind this is to create the illusion of space, it’s also a great way to allow yourself to have fun and to get creative with colour and also cost-effective when purchasing paints.

9. Consider LED
LED lights need not be BRIGHT, there are different shades to choose from, depending on your needs, a cool white would better suit a kitchen or bathroom, where a warm white would suit lounges and bedrooms, as older globes go, consider changing up and save on your electricity costs and doing your bit for the environment.

10. Consider Skylights
This is a great way to add natural lighting to your home in strategic places and also to cut your daytime electricity costs, work out the pros and cons of adding a skylight and as far as possible try to calculate what you would save in lighting up those areas.

11. Do It Yourself.
If you can build shelves, lay tiles or even paint, then you have already saved some money that can be utilized elsewhere.

12. Add Plants
Well placed plants have a way of lighting up spaces, you would do well to consult with your local garden centre to obtain some advice as to which plants are best suited to which areas, for example, it would not be a good idea to put a cactus in the bathroom.

13. Go Green
There is a lot of focus on the environment and lessening our footprint, If you are updating your bathroom, why not look at going green, Low flow toilets and low flow showerheads will not only help you do your part for the environment, but it will also help you to save money.

14. Work Party
The community my family belongs to believes that it takes a village….not only to raise a child but to do things like this. An old-fashioned work party is a great way to get a large part of the job done and an after-work braai is a great way to connect with one another after the work is done.

15. Have Fun!
You are doing this to give you a space to make amazing memories with your family and friends, don’t lose yourself in the mess, you are making memories as you go, it might be hard work now, but the payoff will be better.

About Lorna Krause

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17 Oct 2019

Solar Cities

by Stephanie Hull | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 2

In 1839, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered electricity could be generated by sunlight. He claimed that “Shining light on an electrode submerged in a conductive solution would create an electric current.” Solar energy is now utilized and recognized all over the world.

Solar cities would be very beneficial in South Africa due to our current restraints with Eskom and the load shedding each one of us has had to endure on and off for the past 12 years. Solar Energy is free and being a third world County, this would be viable and It would be great not having to depend on Eskom for electricity. Utilizing Solar panels will save you money and reduce your lights account.

Many South African are currently utilizing solar energy to power the following:

Watches
Calculators
Lighting
Water pumps
Water heaters

Solar energy hold’s the most potential in South Africa due to the fact that we receive a large amount of radioactive energy. Solar Energy is renewable, meaning we will never run out of sunshine. Wind energy could also be unitized in South Africa, especially around our coastal areas.

Counties that make the most use of Solar power would be:

China
United States of America
Japan
Germany
India
Italy
United Kingdom
Australia

The initial cost of setting up a solar running house or city is at a high rate, however, the saving, in the long run, is thousands of rand.

Sources:
Feedspot
Google
HomeInsulations

About Stephanie Hull

10 Oct 2019

How Factories are Constructed

by Shanita Peens | posted in: General | 0

A factory is an industrial site, usually consisting of buildings and machinery, or more commonly a complex having several buildings, where workers manufacture goods mostly in bulk or operate large machines processing one product into another.

Factories are normally large buildings with a lot of empty space to work with as well as your different sections with different machinery for the different stages of production

When building a factory there are a few points to keep in mind. Factory layouts and designs require detailed coordination between the manufacturing process, production line and building facility.
The floor load, headspace, bay size and more all depend on the type of machines and equipment to be used.

5 common types of factories

Chemicals
Food Production
Electronics
Paper
Metal manufacturing

The first factory was built in 1790 by Samuel Slater in America

The largest factory in the world is the Boeing Everett Factory situated in Washington, with a surface area of 398000m2 and was built in 1966

Daily technology, as well as the designs of factories, are developing and changing. In the near future, we will see people working together with intelligent machines, also factories who are highly contributing to our environmental pollution are changing their ways for the environment and these are the factories of tomorrow.

Sources
Wikipedia
Bizfluent
WorldAtlas
Raconteur

About Shanita Peens

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3 Oct 2019

Tallest Buildings in South Africa

by Candice Van Aswegen | posted in: Did You Know, General | 0

Tall, Taller, Tallest… The 5 tallest buildings in South Africa.

South Africa is one of the most structurally and economically developed nations on the African continent.

Let’s have a look at the top 5 tallest buildings in South Africa.

Interesting Facts:

1. The Leonardo is a 55 Floor mixed-use property development reaching 234m.

Its completion in 2019 has made it South Africa’s tallest building, taking over from the Carlton Centre which was the tallest building since 1973. The development will include street-level shops as well as an above-ground podium, where a swimming pool, restaurant and several other facilities will be located. The tower portion of the development will be built above this 4 level podium. An alternative name for the development was 75 on Maude. However, it will only hold that title for a short duration, as Kenya has plans to build the tallest building in Africa within the next three years.

2. The Carlton Centre is a skyscraper and shopping centre located in downtown Johannesburg and reaches 223m and 50 floors.

The Carlton Centre was designed by the US architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Anglo American Properties began construction in the late 1960s by demolishing the old Carlton Hotel and the closing roads to form a city superblock. Excavations for the Carlton began in January 1967 and took two years to complete. Although occupation of the Centre began in 1971, construction was not finally completed until 1974. The building officially opened in 1973 at a total cost of over R88 million

3. The Ponte City Apartments is a skyscraper in Berea, Johannesburg.

It was built in 1975 and is 173m and 55m, making it the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa. The 55-story building is cylindrical, with an open centre allowing additional light into the apartments. The centre space is known as “the core” and rises above an uneven rock floor. When built, Ponte City was seen as an extremely desirable address due to its views over all of Johannesburg and its surroundings. The neon sign on top of the building is the largest sign in the southern hemisphere and advertised for the Coca-Cola Company prior to 2000. It currently advertises the South African mobile phone company Vodacom.

4. The Marble Towers is a skyscraper in the CBD of Johannesburg.

Built-in 1973 and is 152m and 32 storeys tall. The structure is made out of a mixture of concrete and marble and has an eight-storey parking garage attached. The building was originally known as the Sanlam Centre. It is located on the corner of Jeppe and Von Wielligh Streets.

5. The South African Reserve Bank Building is a 38 storey skyscraper in Pretoria.

It was built in 1988 and is 38 storeys tall. The structure is made of concrete and glass and was the first flush glazed glass tower block in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sources:
Wikipedia
BusinessTech
Commons.
Flickr

About Candice Van Aswegen

I started working for Leads 2 Business in May 2012 as an Account Co ordinator and more recently the Deputy Head of Department for the Telesales team. I schedule appointments for the Account Executives with potential clients.

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30 Sep 2019

CIDB Tender Value Limits Increase

by Sasha Anderson | posted in: General | 12

The revised tender value ranges across all CIDB grades come into effect on 07 October 2019 and will display as such on Leads 2 Business from that date.

Please see the below press release for detailed information.

Regulation Amendment Notification 15 August 2019

Source: CIDB

About Sasha Anderson

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