My head swiveled at the sound of my name. “That woman Ann was just FABULOUS!” I was walking down the hallway after presenting “Sometimes a Great Project – 8 Uncommon Secrets for Repeatable Excellence.” I am accustomed to enthusiastic audiences but that outburst was pretty special. So what caused it? One of the things I know this group really appreciated was that I did not tell them to do more of the same – a little better, a little longer, a little faster, and a little harder. Instead, I gave them eight ways of looking at things differently so they could join the mere 5% who actually finish projects on time and on budget. Since that day, I’ve talked to several attendees and the response is universal.
Our local paper discussing racism in public school quoted a source saying: “If students understand that ‘This teacher has my best interests at heart, this teacher believes in me, and gives me the benefit of the doubt, and if I fail, the teacher will bring me up to speed, and if I’m out, the teacher will miss me,’ they will feel challenged.” Makes it sound pretty simple, doesn’t it. Almost as simple as good management. Do you believe in your employees? Do you help your employees succeed? Is your relationship with them a win-win deal? Do you give them the benefit of the doubt? Help them improve? But managers have an advantage over teachers. Managers get to choose their employees. If an employee proves to be unworthy of the trust and support, you can help him find a better fit. In the meantime, help your employees succeed.
I am trying to place an order online for duplicating a video of a speech I did. I am on a roll – great speech, happy audience, excellent videography, nice DVD, great label design, simple order process – and ready to press the “Submit Order” button when a little red note pops up admonishing me to submit a single layer DVD only because they can’t duplicate multi-layer DVDs. I have no idea how to tell if my disc is single layer! Screeching to a halt, I wonder how to get an answer to my question. I click on the Help button. It reveals chat, email, and phone options. Good! I like options. The chat option promises service beginning at 8:00 am EST. I’m in luck; it’s 7:55 am. But instead of waiting, I send an email.
There is much talk these days of engaging employees. Businesses hire consultants to increase employee engagement. HR departments develop programs to engage employees. What the heck are they talking about? I say don’t waste your money or your time. Engaging employees for the sake of engaging employees is ridiculous. Like team building, the approach often involves a lot of funky exercises, many of them dreaded by the employees, the vast majority of them resulting, at best, in temporary enthusiasm. And then everyone returns to their desks, to the daily grind, to their old habits, to existing constraints. And absolutely nothing changes. Why do you think you need to increase employee engagement? What problem are you trying to solve? What bar are you trying to raise?
If you are a small business owner, you learn early that regardless of your business, marketing is your business. Not only must the quality of your products and services drive referrals, repeat business, and word of mouth advertising, every word and every action becomes a part of your marketing package. While marketing is the most important thing you do, you must not confuse marketing with sales. If you do, every word and every action becomes all about selling rather than marketing. There is no better way to hurt sales than to let selling become the only dance there is. When selling is the focus, people dance. They dance around answers. They dance around questions. They dance around objectives. And they dance while potential business dances away.
I called Apple to resolve a technical difficulty. I knew exactly what I had done, was pretty sure that restoring some files would undo the damage but didn’t know which files I needed to restore. The (second) technician I spoke with directed me to the correct folder and I was up and running quickly. Well, almost. When I logged in to my Apple Care package to figure out how to contact them, I was informed that I was entitled to some 500 days of support. If only I could figure out how to get that support! A wonderful little online utility asked me repeatedly to identify the source of my problem and provide an explanation. After several iterations of reading irrelevant solutions, I started searching elsewhere for a phone number. When I finally found a number I hoped would work, the recording told me it would be 15 minutes and that I should try finding my answer online. No way! Been there! Failed at that! Please let me talk to a competent, knowledgeable resource who speaks English!
Welcome to the Clarity Quiz! Before reading any farther, jot down your answer to this question: Where Would You Hide An Elephant? You might be surprised to know that your response says something about your clarity!
Buying a Kindle book on Amazon as a gift is a wonder and a joy. The recipient receives an email and clicks to accept the gift. Before they know it, the book is downloading to their Kindle. If they don’t want to accept the book, perhaps because they already have it, they can easily choose something else instead of choosing “accept.” The entire process is fast, easy, and magnificent. After sending a Kindle book as a gift to one daughter, I wanted to do the same for the other daughter who has a Nook. I searched Barnes and Noble’s website for that option and instructions, but found nothing. Not to be deterred, I called technical help first and then sales help. In both cases, I was told I should just send an electronic gift certificate. I pointed out that a gift certificate is not the same thing and explained the beauty of Amazon’s approach and then encouraged them to pass the word on to the powers that be so Amazon doesn’t eat their lunch, and their Nooks. What would a smart response sound like? What would prevent me from walking away and telling everyone to buy a Kindle instead of a Nook?
I just heard about another business that is seeing almost weekly resignations. The economy is improving and people unhappy with their jobs are finding alternatives. It started slowly but the trend is pretty obvious now. This company has no idea how many of their people have been looking or who could be next. They could be crippled soon if a few more critical employees give notice. Furthermore, the toll these resignations is taking on those who remain will encourage others to join the parade. They are likely suffering from more work, broken routines, and missing camaraderie. How fast might this ship sink? Fast!