Here are five questions you should ask yourself if you are a manager. Only if you can say ‘Yes’ to them all can you be sure of being on right track.

1.Are you in control?

This question concerns what you and your team are doing, not your status in team. You are giving orders and they are receiving them, that is true. But real meaning of this question lies elsewhere.

The real question to ask is this. Are you just reacting to events as they occur or are you directing them? Are you solving problems as they happen or are you anticipating and avoiding them? In other words, are you reactive or proactive?

To achieve more, to be more effective, and to end up with results you want you need to be proactive. As a side effect you will at same time dramatically reduce your level of stress.

2.Are you sure of your goals?

Do you know where you and your team are headed? Are you sure of what you should be doing? Do you really know what you are trying to achieve? If you don’t know it is a certainty that your team doesn’t know either.

Find out. Decide for yourself. Remove all doubts. Be one hundred percent sure.

3.Is your team with you?

Do you have to drag your team with you where you want them to go or are they willing to follow your lead? Have you convinced them that your way is best? Are they motivated? Indeed, are you yourself sufficiently keen, motivated, and enthusiastic for it to show and to rub off onto your team?

If you have been considering benefits of implementing VoIP, you are certainly not alone. In its just-published "2005 Telecommunications Report," Harris Interactive found that 87% of business decision-makers are familiar with VoIP and, of that number, 12% currently use it in their organizations.

So what's big attraction?

Cost mainly. But lowering company telecom expenses is just one aspect of lure of implementing VoIP solutions. Other advantages include potential for value-added services and capability of more advanced features made possible through integration of voice and data (e.g. videoconferencing, advanced voicemail features,etc.)

Sounds good, but here's rub...it's also been estimated that up to 85% of corporate networks are simply not ready to handle VoIP.

Combining voice with data is a tricky proposition. After decades of getting used to near-perfect sound quality delivered over traditional voice networks, even slightest delays in voip can be very annoying.

Before diving in to a full-blown VoIP solution, it is advisable that you conduct a voice over IP readiness assessment of your existing network. This assessment will provide you with two very important pieces of information:

1) The capability of your existing data network to deliver high-quality voip calls, and; 2) ability to evaluate quality of these calls during a wide variety of traffic scenarios. Keep in mind that most data networks were not designed for VoIP, so chances are that some upgrading of your existing network will be necessary.