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Secret Spoon, Free Advertising, and Valentine’s
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007

On the way home from school, I heard a radio station giving rave reviews to Secret Spoon.  Someone had sent an employee of the radio station some hand-dipped strawberries.  The radio station employees loved the fruit so they commented on the fruit on the air.  

This actually happens quite a bit, at least in the US.  When I was working on my MBA in 2000, one of the students worked for a radio station and said that people sent them food all the time.  Sometimes, it actually did get discussed on the air.

 Having looked at Secret Spoon’s website and heard the reviews on the radio, I would probably try it for my Valentine.

Posted in Gifts & Recognition, New Ideas | 1 Comment »



Interactivity in Training
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

When one is selecting management training, the amount of interaction peer-to-peer and between participants and the instructor is critical.  With successful training, participants should be engaged.  At the end of the training, it is important for the participants to know how apply the training.  This is more likely if the participants have been engaged and invited to think about what the training means for them. 

Encouraging people to talk about the training, rather than accepting it at face value increases the likelihood that they will also think about what it means in other contexts.  It helps them synthesize the ideas and information.  Training is supposed to provide tools to help with this.  A few questions that can act as tools include:

  1. How does the training relate to your job?
  2. Why is it important to ____________?
  3. What would happen if someone was extremely busy and, as a result, the person ___________?
  4. What might this concept mean for a person who _____________?
  5. If a person was faced with _______________, how might this approach be used?
  6. How might this approach be improved?
  7. Is this approach consistent with what you have found?
  8. How is this approach inconsistent with your experiences?
  9. Let’s think about what this means for us in the context of _________.
  10. Please help me understand what benefits you see in this approach.

Asking too many questions at a time can overwhelm people or make them feel attacked.  As a result, it is important to understand the audience and to make the dialogue reciprocal.  Instructors and facilitators can learn as much as or more than the participants when they make training a conversation.  How do they do so? 

For me, training is like any other negotiation when one is trying to build a relationship.  As a result, I try to do the same things in training that I do in important business negotiations.  These steps include:

  1. Defining a goal up front is important and making sure that my goal is acceptable to the other parties, in this case, students or participants in the training.
  2. Helping participants understand why the goal is important.  How will achieving the goal help participants be more successful?  How will missing the goal hold participants back?
  3. Inviting people to participate in the training.  Explain how they can best participate.  Sometimes, this is through questions.  In other cases, it may be through scenarios and role playing.  Encouraging people to think about what one says, rather than accepting what is said as ”the” answer is another very effective approach.
  4. Make it safe for people to express their views.  It is difficult for many people to disagree or to express opinions that may be unpopular.  One option is to use disarming words like “please help me understand,”  “tell me more about,” and “I am not meaning to disagree, but.”  Many people define their worth by their ideas.  As a result, challenging their ideas can be seen as a challenge on their value as a person.
  5. Building rapport with participants.  Be yourself.  Allow participants to see the instructor or facilitator as a person.  There are many funny stories about people in negotiations bumbling and making mistakes.  Some of these involved people doing so strategically.  As Elizabeth, an attorney friend of mine, used to say, “I make enough mistakes that I don’t have to do this strategically!”  Elizabeth is right, I believe.  If one makes mistakes strategically, it seems manipulative and may cause questions about one’s suitability for training or negotiation.

What steps do you take?  Would you rather go to training where there is a lot of interactivity?  Some may prefer to go to training where they can sit in the class and be passive, by the way.  If you would prefer to go to training where you can sit in class and be passive, I am curious about the steps that you take during and after class to learn and apply the approaches discussed in the training.

Posted in Negotiations, Solving Problems, Training | No Comments »



Networking works
Monday, January 29th, 2007

A friend and former coworker, Jay, was given a 60 day letter in August.  Jay was 57 years old and he thought that he would have trouble finding another job. 

Jay let his  contacts know about his situation.  By December, Jay had a contract position.  Two weeks later, Jay was hired as a full-time employee at a major company for the compensation he had requested.

Often, one hears how difficult it is to get a new job, especially if one is over 40.  If one stays in touch and helps his or her network, many obstacles turn out to be blessings in disguise as this friend’s situation did.

Have you stayed in touch with your network?  Have you created relationships with people who genuinely care about your success and are willing to help you?  Do your friends know what you are interested in?

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Posted in Networking, Solving Problems | No Comments »



Negotiating by focusing on factors in one’s control
Sunday, January 28th, 2007

Often, people negotiate by trying to change another person.  This seldom works, and almost never works in the way that was intended.  As was suggested in this posting over a year ago, one way to deal with issues like this is to negotiate by focusing on factors within one’s control.

Rather than asking others to change, it often works better to ask what one can do to deal with the situation.   This approach:

<ol><li>Empowers one to solve the problem</li>

<li>Gives one control over the situation</li>  

<li>Helps one identify a path forward</li>

<li>Eliminates unnecessary conflict</li> 

<li>Reduces one’s frustration</li></ol>

Posted in Negotiations | No Comments »



Predictability in business
Sunday, January 28th, 2007

From time to time, I talk about the importance of being predictable in business, including this item about avoiding surprises. 

What happens if another party is unpredictable?  Think about this in the context of your business.  How do you feel when a supplier changes the price without notice?  What happens if a customer cancels an order, or refuses to pay for services after they have been delivered?  For many businesspeople, situations like these are seen as problems and, in some cases, they can cause significant financial challenges for customers or suppliers.

It seems to me that, trust is based on - or at least it should be based on - a variety of factors, including predictability, reliability, and knowledge.  To the extent that trust is important in one’s business, what steps might be taken to build trust?  From a training perspective how might these steps be encouraged?  How about from a process perspective?  From a human resources perspective, how can trust be encouraged?

To the extent that one believes that trust is important in business, one can build trust through steps like:

  1. Communication
  2. Following through on commitments
  3. Engaging others in helping address the issues
  4. Explaining the reason for changes, well in advance of the changes being made
  5. Explaining one’s perspective so that others understand why the changes are needed and what is to be accomplished by the changes
  6. Minimizing the changes that one makes, both in terms of number of distinct changes and the size of the changes that are made
  7. Creating options that will help others be more successful
  8. Finding ways to add value for the other parties to transactions
  9. Establishing clear plans, including approaches for dealing with problems that one might reasonably expect to occur

Suppose that these steps are important, how can a firm encourages these steps?  The answers vary by context.  A few possibilities include:

  1. Using a systematic approach for making changes
  2. Defining a clear vision and metrics for determining whether the goals have been realized
  3. Measure the results to decide if the goals have been realized
  4. Maintain a regular dialogue with key members of the value web
  5. Listening to concerns that customers or suppliers raise and seeking opportunities to work with them in ways that better meet their needs
  6. Seek a managed evolution of business, rather than radical transformations

Taking the sort of approach described in this posting helps businesses manage the risk associated with making changes.  Most changes will be seen as natural progression and draw little attention because they are perceived as “boring.” 

Boring is a compliment, when one looks at the altenatives.  Think about the “excitement” of not knowing how one will make payroll, being uncertain if customers will be interested in one’s products, promising products that are still prototypes, or pushing the limits of one’s financial reserves.

Posted in Business Acumen, Solving Problems | 1 Comment »



What tactics can improve management training?
Saturday, January 27th, 2007

Recent postings have talked about the efficiency and effectiveness of training.  This posting listed some factors that I consider in deciding if training is efficient and effective.  Of course, others might look at other factors.  Depending on the situation and the needs of the business, other factors might also be suggested. 

One of the challenges that often arises in management training is that people often find it difficult to identify actionable steps that people should take.  Instead, they decide to take the approach that they know good training when they see it.  While that approach may work, it relies heavily on the individual’s expertise.  This article will suggest another option.

Start by identifying the steps that people need to take.  Certainly, there is some discretion.  That said though, there are some standard steps as well.  Let’s look at an example of a couple steps that would be taken in the context of contract negotiatins as well as a couple steps that would be required in the context of team building.

In the context of contract negotiations, it is helpful to identify the products and services that are most likely to be purchased or sold.  One also needs to decide who will need the products and services. 

In the case of team building, it is helpful to decide the team’s goals and how success will be measured.  It is also helpful to think about who will need to be part of the team in order for the project to be successful.

Break the steps down systematically and identify all actions that are required.  Even it an action seems obvious, write it down.  Often, actions that are obvious to experienced individuals are much less obvious to others.  Beyond that, it is important to help people understand how the information they are being given fits into the steps that they are already taking. 

Talk a person who is unfamiliar with the subject through the process.  If the person is able to step through the process with the explanation, it is an indication that the explanation is thorough.  It can be a good idea to have someone who is in the target audience review the materials as well to be sure that the person is comfortable with the content as well. 

Identify the thinking and analysis, then make it visible.  State the assumptions that are made at each stage of the process.  Thinking be broken down and made visible by 

  1. Asking questions 
  2. Providing examples that walk through the situation with the student or emloyee
  3. Using scenarios, role playing, and case studies to reinforce ideas
  4. Asking people to share their experiences, then relate these experiences to the topic and use them as a platform to build to the next topic of discussion
  5. Encouraging people to look at the issue from other perspectives
  6. Sharing an idea, quote, approach, or opinion and asking people to analyze the approach and suggest ways to make it better

Have people practice the desired steps, thinking, and analysis in the training itself.  Practice helps people develop new habits.  If the goal is to change the way that employees do business, it is important to help them develop such habits.

What other tactics would improve management training?  Is management training adequate to meet the needs of businesses, in your opinion?

Posted in Planning Tips, Solving Problems, Training | No Comments »



Is Training Efficient and Effective?
Friday, January 26th, 2007

In this item, I said that traditional training was ineffective and inefficient. 

As an aside, while I see ineffective and inefficient training as a problem, others may see the situation differently.  It seems to me that each of us have different perspectives which are based on different experiences, priorities, and roles.  Having different opinions is an asset in most businesses, provided that people are able to work together to achieve the business objectives. 

When purchasing training, it seems to me that organizations have limited budgets and unlimited needs.  At least, that was my experience.  When I review training, I am interested in a variety of factors such as whether

  1. Training is delivered as actionable steps
  2. Students or employees have the chance to practice the steps in class
  3. Classes use a tell, show, do approach
  4. Delivery is tailored to the employees’ job responsibilities
  5. Pieces are delivered in small enough pieces that they can be absorbed
  6. Employees are encouraged to question the steps and to think about whether they make sense
  7. Training builds on current knowledge of the employees
  8. Adult learning methodologies are used in the training
  9. Tools and strategies are created to reinforce the training
  10. Results of the training are measurable

How can one say that training is efficient and effective without considering factors like these?  That is a question that I often ask myself.  If you have an answer, please let me know… 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Business Acumen, Training | No Comments »



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