Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X V I I J U LY 2 7 , 2 0 2 0 8 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E Protection $3.2 million to support a variety of environmental programs through the Performance Partnership Grant program to administer environ- mental programs for air, water, and toxics throughout the state and direct resources to address environmental and public health concerns. The Maine Department of Labor's Registered Apprenticeship Program received $450,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration to serve, improve and expand the program model by broadening registered ap- prenticeships to include health care, mental health care, addiction treat- ment and alternative pain manage- ment occupations. SoPo condos proposed near tank farm e South Portland Planning Board will consider a proposal to build a dozen condos next to an oil tank BEFORE 10 400W Metal-halide Fixtures 458W (Wattage) x 4,380 Annual Hours of Use = $3,000 Annual Operating Cost (at $0.15 per kWh) Sample Project AFTER 10 300W LED Pole-Mount Fixtures 306W (Wattage) x 4,380 Annual House of Use = $2,000 Annual Operating Cost (at $0.15 per kWh) ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS: $1,000 Sample Project START SAVING NOW Limited-time promotion to upgrade parking lot and exterior pole lights. Find out more at efficiencymaine.com/at-work/lighting-solutions/ or by speaking with your lighting contractor. Q: How do I to communicate successfully with a team? ACE Advises: Communicating effectively with teams is challenging, particularly for busy managers. A key compo- nent in building and maintaining an effective team is the communication of appropriate information consistent with team members' skill sets and job responsibilities. Whenever planning to share new information, a man- ager should take the time to first consider this question and encourage her team members to do the same: "Who needs to know?" Then the message must account for these other questions: 1. What are your team member's job description and pri- mary responsibilities? Is the information relevant to her primary function? 2. What is each team member's skill set in relation to the information to be shared? Information not directly related to a team member's job description or responsibilities can be helpful if the information is a challenge appropri- ate to existing skill sets, furthering his experience and career; or it can be helpful for the team member but cause loss of the focus on his primary task. 3. Which communication tool will be the most effective? 4. Coach the team to think about "who needs to know" when they are preparing to disseminate information. Finally, to pull it all together, hold periodic team meet- ings in which each member provides a brief summary about what she is doing so all are kept informed. With information flowing across the team at appropriate times, team members are appropriately challenged, job expectations are fulfilled and the team is made stronger and more efficient. A S K AC E A n s w e r e d b y F e l i c i a G a r a n t o f G a r a n t C o n s u l t i n g , L L C The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a non-profit association of inde- pendent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industr y experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Felicia Garant, owner of Garant Consulting LLC (garantconsuling. com) in Portland, can be reached at 207-232-4832. With information flowing across the team at appropriate times, team members are appropriately challenged, job expectations are fulfilled and the team is made stronger and more efficient. S O U T H E R N

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