Tell Us a Story

Stories give our lives perspective. They offer context to concepts we share. If we present a new idea that resonates with the audience, it holds more credibility. If I share an idea with you, you don’t just digest what I'm saying; your beliefs, perceptions, and point of view come into play. Your experience and bias is always part of the equation.

The same happens with team culture. If you work in an environment that encourages sales at all costs but you prefer building relationships first, your time will be challenged. Those who measure success solely by financial gain may tell you to just make more calls because their perspective is relationships are a numbers game. 

That's not how we do it here 

If your leadership style is to give a good portion of your time to help the development of your people to in turn grow the bottom line; someone who tells you the best way to motivate people is through fear, will be a recipe for conflict. 

The stories we tell ourselves are powerful. They feed our narrative, perspective, and beliefs. They can become our truth regardless of reality or facts. It gets trickier when you have culture comprised of different demographics, psychographics, or points of view. 

What's your opinion?   

This is not to suggest teams succeed when everyone thinks the same way - just the opposite - but if we become rigid, we can close ourselves off from even better ideas. 

If you have a belief embedded deep inside you, it will require enormous energy for me to first convince you another stance and then share my view. Multiple that dynamic by hundreds or even thousands in an organization and you can quickly see how the power of story can morph into complication. The dangerous part is this bias can hide inside what some may mistake as company culture. 

Someone else's view might give us needed perspective. 

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Too Much Information?

We say it several times a day. We meet a client, see a friend, join a Zoom call, and the first thing we often say is; "How are you?" The reply is often;"I'm good, you?". And we move on. Why do we do that? Is it uncomfortable if someone said they were tired because their baby is sick or down because of their ailing father or upset due to their marriage having trouble?

I get there is a right time and place for personal stuff but without oversharing, how can we take that original salutation just an inch farther? I'm not suggesting fake compassion; I'm referring to the real stuff. Take just twenty seconds to see how someone is doing. You aren't there to solve their challenge but rather to simply be human. We're not robots and there might be much more going on if someone isn't "making their numbers".

Leave it at home

I am lucky to work in a company and with a team who does take a moment to see how you are really doing and let you know they actually see you as a person. It doesn't weaken relationships, it strengthens them.

I feel the core of teamwork is having each other's backsides not our own. Hopefully others feel the same way. If someone is missing deadlines or their work quality is waning, it's time for a check in and see if they are truly okay. Work is not a place to spend your time talking about your kids and home life all day. We are humans not robots and if we think people shouldn't bring their life to work, we may have another challenge.

They might stop bringing their work to life. 

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Freedom is a Privilege

Millions of women and men of all races and nationalities have given their lives for the freedoms we embrace. Those freedoms are not a right; they are a privilege we hold dearly in our souls. You and I may disagree but we both cherish our ability to do just that.

No one, no matter who they are, what office they hold, or how many names they call those who oppose them, has the right to unilaterally decide those freedoms simply by our faith, the country of our birth, or the colour of our skin.

No one.
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Humans and Technology Collide

As our world shrinks and advancements make it easier for us to connect without geographic or physical boundaries, there are some drawbacks. If you’re like me, you spend a considerable amount of your time on the phone or on conference calls.

These events can take the form of audio, video, file sharing, teleconferences, telepresence, webinars, and collaborative spaces. Last week, I was on a call with more than twenty people from over a dozen countries. This is great stuff but there can be some issues to deal with when coordinating the tools.

Leadership is not an office

We must be mindful of language and culture, the mix of in-person and virtual teams, and old fashioned phone etiquette. Dave Grady succinctly outlines the real world of global communication. This video remains just as relevant as it did when it was recorded a couple of years ago. You may want to share it with your team.

Please mute your phone and enjoy.


Kneale Mann

Dave Grady

Is Customer Service an Endangered Species?

If you work somewhere, you have customers. Even if you are eight levels away from actual paying clients, you are part of the equation. Which means you have a chance to improve or diminish the experience each and every customer has with your company. We are also customers of each other inside our companies. I call it internal customer service. Without it, external customer service will forever be a challenge.

We all want great service but clearly we don't always get it. Why is that? Is it because good enough will do for most people? Is it because the fear of actually stopping and doing a great job will cost you more than the profit made from that customer?

Money Talks

Perhaps most companies think we’ll be satisfied with what we get and keep coming back for more. Maybe we don't know any better. Maybe we just don't care. We all mess up, we all make mistakes, but when it becomes a pattern, there is cause for concern.

The best tactic is to vote with our wallet. But with some companies it certainly makes one wonder if customer service is something that should be relegated to annual reports, marketing collateral and coffee mugs.

If you want to establish a competitive edge, provide great leadership and service. Then you can take some chances.

Kneale Mann

cartoonchurch

Is Marketing Really Necessary?

Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication and business development. Wikipedia

We can explain away our behavior. We can justify anything.We can even view marketing as an expendable item on the ledger. If you run a business there are certainties no matter the size of your company.

Ring Ring

You have to have some sort of phone system. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It doesn't have to be wired to everyone’s smartphone, but you need phones.

Unless staff will be sitting on the ground, furniture is probably a good idea. It doesn’t have to be glass desks and Aeron chairs but you do need something to keep your stuff and your people off the floor.

Did You Get My Email?

You don’t need to get everyone a MacBook and Hermann Miller chairs but you need something that resembles computing devices to get the job done and apparently this Internet thing is quite the craze so you have costs involved in that service.

And there's also salaries, perhaps benefits, training, supplies, utilities, office space, running water, plumbing and other operational items.

Now What?

Assuming you have a great product or service and a business plan, you now have office space and people. But unless your company has self ringing phones, letting people know what you do is imperative to your success.

Marketing is more than advertising. It is how you cement relationships, build referrals and create long-term customers. It is in everything you do and is as essential as keeping the lights on.

Tighten Too Tight

Many have been through tight times and have had to look at ways to cut expenses. All too often the marketing budget is the first to see the knife. The perception is that it is money not yet spent - unlike phones, salaries, computers and furniture.

Imagine how your company would change if you didn't view marketing as a luxury, a channel or a department.  

Kneale Mann

image credit: chadestes
original post: Aug 2010

The Virtual Office Grows

Where Do You Work?

According to a report published back in February from IDC Research, one billion people will work in a virtual environment by December and 1.2 billion by 2013.

Through technology and social networking, we are creating alliances and partnerships across thought silos rather than geographical ones.

The notion of the office is changing rapidly. Companies are examining associate models and consultants are creating a home office/travel type work experience.

The adjustment continues as over a quarter of the world’s working population moves to home offices, web technologies and virtual work spaces.

Here are some details from the report:

• The United States has the highest percentage of mobile workers in its workforce. The U.S. will remain the most highly concentrated market for mobile workers with 119.7 million workers, being mobile in 2013.

• Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) represents the largest total number of mobile workers throughout the forecast, with 546.4 million mobile workers in 2008 growing 37.4% of the total workforce in 2013. At the end of the forecast, 62% of the world's mobile workforce will be based in this region.

• Western Europe's mobile workforce will enjoy a healthy compound annual growth rate of 6% over the forecast period to reach 129.5 million mobile workers in 2013, surpassing the total number of mobile workers in the United States.

• Japan's mobile worker population will total 49.3 million in 2013, representing 74.5% of its total workforce.

• The rest of the world, which is comprised of Canada and the emerging market countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America, will see its mobile worker population grow to 153.2 million by 2013.

The World Gets A Lot Smaller

I hear people lament all the time that their boss won't let them do some work at home or entertain a flexible work schedule plan. The boss doesn't think the job will get done without employees sitting in their office during office hours.

How is this affecting your career and business?

knealemann
strategy. marketing. media.

image credit: apeasternpower

Who Needs Marketing?

Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication and business development. Wikipedia

We can explain away our behavior.

We can justify anything.

We can even view marketing as an expendable item on the ledger.

If you run a business there are certainties no matter the size of your company.


Ring Ring

You have to have some sort of phone system. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It doesn't have to be wired to everyone’s smartphone, but you need phones.

Unless staff will be sitting on the ground, furniture is probably a good idea. It doesn’t have to be glass desks and Aeron chairs but you do need something to keep your stuff and your people off the floor.

Did You Get My Email?

You don’t need to get everyone a MacBook but you need something that resembles computing devices to get the job done and apparently this Internet thing is quite the craze so you have costs involved in that service.

And there's also salaries, perhaps benefits, training, supplies, utilities, office space, running water, plumbing and other operational items.

Now What?

Assuming you have a great product or service and a business plan, you now have office space and people. But unless your company has self ringing phones, letting people know what you do is imperative to your success.

Marketing is more than advertising. It is how you cement relationships, build referrals and create long-term customers. It is in everything you do and is as essential as keeping the lights on.

Tighten Too Tight

Many have been through tight times and have had to look at ways to cut expenses. All too often the marketing budget is the first to see the knife. The perception is that it is money not yet spent - unlike phones, salaries, computers and furniture. Marketing is so much more than money.

Is it wise to voluntarily lose your ability to show people how you can help?

knealemann
strategy. marketing. media.

image credit: istock

Strategy Is Boring

The eye glaze often happens soon after the question "what is your business plan?"

Instead of a strategic plan many want to hope last year's plan which was a variation of the previous year's plan will work out.

That is unsound thinking.

Building a strategy requires thought and work.

You need to map out objectives, write down realistic tactics, decipher roles and responsibilities, define target demographics, identify opportunities, exploit competitors' weaknesses, develop ideal customer profiles and execute a business plan.

Bored yet?

All too often you can hear the moans from miles around when the topic of strategic planning is brought up. There is fear that it will mean endless days locked in a boardroom hashing out the future of the company. After all, the world is changing so fast how can you keep up?

I actually had a business owner raise his hands to his ears and utter the "la la la I can't hear you" phrase which was my cue to escort myself out of the building. He was clearly not ready for a plan.

Strategy is Your Foundation.

Many find strategy unnecessary because it takes patience and time. What is more dangerous, some think they have a plan when it is clear they do not.

A common mistake is failing to grasp that it is an evolution, a process and something you refine constantly. But too many simply want to do the tactics without the strategy which might be the beginning of the end.

But who really needs a plan or a strategy?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: gawker