Growth and Improvement

It is easy to become sluggish and comfortable in your current position. The challenge is to keep getting better. Constant improvement and change. How do we get challenged?

Try these ideas -

• Read authors you disagree with. Write a retort and send it to them.
• Read books at your local library. Read about subjects you have no idea about. What about - Nursing? Bio-mechanics? Physics?
• Talk to others. Find people who are doing something and are getting somewhere. Get them to challenge you.
• Learn from the best. I quite like these series of videos being produced by the London Business School -

Creative Thinking

When leaders and teams are faced with making decisions often times it is easy for the discussion to become stuck in a rut. Old ideas keep flowing through, people can not agree and the process becomes bothersome and tiresome.

A great tool to get people thinking is use the mindmap. This is one example that is free to use online.

Similar to brainstorming the mind map helps to create definite lines and approaches to enable progress to be made in going forward.

The mind map concept works especially well for people who are creative in their thinking and approach to work.

Tony Buzan has written a number of very helpful books that share ideas on how to make the most out of your mind mapping experience. Check him out!

Customer Service

If a company or organisation wants to keep existing customers there are a few simple things you can do -

1. Communicate to your customers.
2. Provide rewards for loyalty.
3. Provide quality service.

Frankly - I get frustrated when a company that makes millions/billions in revenues every year can not answer my phone call within 10 minutes.

I get irate - when they can't answer within 30 minutes.

I switch companies - when they finally answer my call after 44 minutes.

Well done Telecom New Zealand! 44 minutes of waiting for a two minute password reset.

Hint - this is not a good way to retain customers.

What would be a good way?

1. Let customers reset their passwords online.
2. Hire more telephone operators and answer the phone.

It's easy when you try.

Technology and People

Technology exists but it does not replace people.

People need people and people respond best to other people.

A phone call is better than an email (for personal contact), a visit is better than a telephone call.

Technology can create buffers and obstacles between people that can produce more tension than release it.

Remember - even in the midst of all the technology that exists, people are still people who need people.

Positivity

I love the message of this video -



Life's too short to spend it walking around looking down. Look up, look up, look up!

Staff Rewards

If a person in your team does well - thank them.

Thanks can be given through a variety of different ways.

• Say thanks,
• Buy a gift,
• Give the person a day off,
• Give the person more responsibilities (not more work),
• Acknowledge the person in front of their peers.

One tool to help you decide what the appropriate method are the 5 love languages. Devised by Dr Garry Chapman the languages are broken down into five categories - words, time, gifts, acts of service, touch.

I thoroughly recommend all persons look into these!

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude." Albert Schweitzer

Career Advancement Principles - Politics

If you are ambitious, want to get somewhere in your career, or are looking for advancement it is easy to become frustrated when circumstances don't appear to go your way.

So what should the worker do? There are three basic options.

1. Leave.


2. Stay.


3. Improve.

All workplaces have a level of politics and operate around who knows who. Advancement when broken down is more often the result of relationships rather than ability. Rob Yeung writes a great post about the place of office politics. Here is an excerpt at the cosing of his article -

"You can use your understanding of politics to influence people and achieve goals that are good for the organisation as well as yourself. Even in the most friendly and supportive of organisations, people don't always agree – so having an understanding of politics and how to exert influence can help you to pull people together and achieve outcomes that are in the organisation's best interests too.

Try to manipulate and use people and you will probably get caught. You could be tarnished with the label of being "political", which can make people refuse to trust you or want to listen to you again. So effective politicking has to be as much about give as it is about take. So. Play the game. Or get left behind. Which are you going to do?" (Source: Management-Issues.com)

Mr Branson and Virgin

@TheEssentialOrange posted a fantastic post this week.

It gives an update on what Richard Branson and Virgin are up to.

Here's a brief overview -

• Screw the recession - attitude.


• Day in the clouds - creative marketing.


• Freefest - get customers by giving them what they want.

Personally I find Mr Branson to be a lot more appealing than Mr Trump. He is fresher, has more attitude and writes great books!

Essentially Mr Branson and Virgin understand their customer, listens to their demands and gives them what they want.

Attitude is everything. Be it negative or positive - it determines your mood, your thoughts and those around you.

I also like this quote - "attitude = altitude".

Building Customer Loyalty

Adobe know all about customer loyalty - how to win customers AND how to keep them.

1. They win customers by products that integrated, seamless and work together to achieve what the customer wants (c.f. what they want). They make their products easy to use and accessible. They keep the features the professionals want to use while still making sure the average Joe can achieve their goals as well.
2. They teach their customers how to use their products through online seminars. This is how they keep customers. Customers are constantly able to learn new tricks and ways of doing their work. Customers can constantly increase their knowledge so the product they bought doesn't become redundant.

How about your business or organisation? You may have won some customers but how do you ensure they keep coming back to you for more - more services, more upgrades, more teaching, more haircuts?

Often time's it's the little add on's that make the difference. Putting time and effort into making sure people come back to you and your organisation is time and money well spent!

Being Accountable

Quote "The finance person in a company of any size plays a crucial role in supporting management and their decision making." (Source: David Irving, unlimited.co.nz, Feb 08).

The finance person is a critical cog in the wheel to ensure the smooth running of an organisation. They may not always have all the right answers but they should be providing all the right data.

Knowing how accountants get their data isn't as important as understanding what the data says and applying it.

Here is an extract - "The monthly accounts are a more comprehensive picture of the company performance, covering all costs in revenues and any other activities. Quarterly reviews typically capture seasonal fluctuations where monthly numbers are too arbitrary a period. Ice cream sales may be crucial in the first quarter of the calendar year while soup sales lead the way during the winter months. Annual accounts, of course, have a very traditional layout but need to be written in a form that give value to the reader when comparing this year to previous years and seeing the consequences of any changes resulting from management decisions made during the year."

These are basic principles that can be the making or the breaking of a business, organisation or group.

Note - Interestingly the article was originally published in February of 2008 - just 5 months before the start of the global financial crisis.