Operations
Workplace Fairness Act: set up grievance handling before end-2027
The Workplace Fairness Act is slated to take effect at the end of 2027. Use the time to write a grievance process and hiring records managers can follow.
The reading room
Ideas you can put to work.
Pick a challenge. Find a method. Take the next step.
AI & automation
IMDA’s agentic AI framework: checks before an agent acts for you
An AI agent that can send, change or buy carries different risks from a chatbot draft. Use IMDA’s 2026 framework to set limits, owners and stop rules first.
Operations
GST InvoiceNow requirement: plan backwards from your IRAS date
IRAS has begun telling GST-registered businesses when InvoiceNow becomes compulsory for them. Map your invoices, choose a route and trial it before that date.
Productivity
EDGE Grant 2026: scope your project before you apply
EDG, MRA and PSG cease on 29 September and the EDGE Grant takes over. Scope the problem, costs and evidence first; headline rates do not decide eligibility.
Sales & growth
IMDA chatbot transparency guidelines: draft your information card
IMDA’s July 2026 guidelines call for a plain-language card for customer chatbots. Draft one for your sales chatbot, then check PDPC guidance on reusing chats.
Productivity
An inbox triage routine that keeps follow-ups from slipping
Labels, priority rules, drafts queued for approval and a waiting-on list: a shared-inbox routine for small teams that works with or without AI.
Operations
Hiring an AI intern: onboard the agent like a new hire
The intern metaphor is a practical way to scope, supervise and extend trust to an AI agent. An onboarding plan, and where the comparison breaks.
Sales & growth
Automate customer enquiries without letting software make promises
Faster replies without new commitments: sort enquiries by what a wrong answer would cost, queue risky ones for a person and keep a usable record.
Sales & growth
Competitor monitoring for SMEs: a one-page standing brief
Decide who to watch, what counts as a change and where to look, then read a dated weekly digest that separates facts from guesses.
AI & automation
AI agent vs chatbot: decide what the software may do first
The label on an AI tool settles little. List the tasks, then decide which it may answer, look up, draft, do with approval or do alone.
Operations
Write the handover your colleague can use without calling you
A process document earns its place when it handles missing information, names the next owner and shows what a finished result looks like.
AI & automation
Your first AI pilot should survive a bad answer
For a Singapore SME, the useful starting point is a repeatable task, checked examples and an honest measure of the time spent reviewing.
Sales & growth
Send the follow-up that answers the unfinished question
A useful sales message earns a reply by reducing uncertainty—not by asking the prospect to repeat the conversation.