Blog Articles by Making Business Matter Limited

Posts by Darren A. Smith

Darren A. Smith

Darren has been working in the world of soft skills training and coaching for over 20 years. He began his career as a buyer at big 4 UK supermarket and after 13 years he decided to leave to set-up Making Business Matter (MBM) because he wanted to help people to be the very best version of themselves. Connect with Darren on Linkedin and his Google Profile.

Coworkers writing on Sticky notes on a table during project planning

7 Reasons Why Projects Fail and How to Succeed

Darren A. Smith

March 11, 2016

Propel Your Projects to Success with These Game-Changing Strategies The alarming facts about project management and why projects fail are: High…

Big library room with a staircase going down in the middle, and two walls of books

70 20 10 Learning Model Explained & How it Applies to Learning

Darren A. Smith

September 23, 2015

70 20 10 Learning Model: What is it? How did it arrive? How does it apply to Learning and Development?…

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Check Out the Linkedin Pulse Posts Published by MBM

Darren A. Smith

September 21, 2015

LinkedIn Pulse Posts The team at MBM publish LinkedIn Pulse Posts about Learning & Development, Negotiations Skills, Time Management, and other soft skill…

Businessman in conflict with businesswoman

How to Have Tricky Conversations with Ease, Grace & Confidence

Darren A. Smith

August 20, 2015

Find out How to Have Difficult Conversations: Virtually everyone you meet has, at some point, faced with the seemingly difficult…

Male and two female colleagues having a discussion outside

The 5 Main Influencing Styles to Improve Your Influencing Skills

Darren A. Smith

July 29, 2015

Build Your Influencing Skills In business, you impact people every day. As a human being, you impact people every day.…

What's your score? written on a yellow paper next to a pen

Category Management Scorecard: Give Your Category an MOT

Darren A. Smith

July 29, 2015

How to Give Your Category an MOT in 3 Steps with this Category Management Scorecard Our Management Category Scorecard tool,…

Black and white chessboard with a hand moving a piece

I’ve Been Told to ‘Think More Strategically’: Strategic Thinking

Darren A. Smith

July 29, 2015

Improving Your Strategic Thinking I’ve been told to ‘Think More Strategically‘! We have heard this many times from our learners.…

Cartoon lady behind podium giving a presentation

Do Not Start with Powerpoint – 7 Pieces of Preparation

Darren A. Smith

July 29, 2015

Presentation Preparation ‘Do not start with Powerpoint – 7 Pieces of Essential Presentation Preparation’ is about sharing with you how…

7 Important Questions to Ask Your Current Training Provider

Darren A. Smith

July 29, 2015

Are you buying in training? If so, you should answer these seven questions when evaluating your current or prospective training…

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2 Ways to Quantify a Category Sales Opportunity in Category Management

Darren A. Smith

July 29, 2015

2 Ways to Quantify an Opportunity in Category Management is for Category Managers, Account Managers and Buyers to be able…

Male coach speaking with female colleague at a table outdoors

7 Facts to Help You Make the Case for Coaching in the Workplace

Darren A. Smith

July 23, 2015

Coaching in the workplace is a phenomenon that has seemingly crept up on us and now we talk about coaching…

Productivity spelled with scrabble tiles on yellow background

67 Time Management Tips to Quickly Increase Your Productivity

Darren A. Smith

July 22, 2015

Let’s skip the introductions and get straight down to the Time Management Tips to Quickly Increase Your Productivity. General section:…