Organizations waste vast amounts of time and money through poorly designed and implemented meetings. This article provides a template to ensure more effective and productive meetings.
By Ian Henderson
“Meetings bloody meetings!” Meetings, the place where people take minutes and waste hours! These are just two critical views of meetings as being an unpleasant and unproductive part of organizational life. Given that a meeting is important, and that’s not always the case, the following 9 steps are guaranteed to make your meetings more effective.
1. Purpose. Why are you having this meeting? If you are having trouble answering this question you might want to question the need to have it at all. So much time is wasted by people attending meetings to which they contribute little if anything and from which they get no value (perhaps other than to catch up on lost sleep).
2. Prioritized. If the meeting is essential, the next step is to make sure that the items on the agenda are prioritized in terms of their importance to those present. If the meeting does run out of time (see punctual, below), it will be the less important items that will be left off or rearranged to a later date.
3. People - Ensure that the ‘right’ people attend. This means those who are decision makers, key influencers or have a significant input should be invited. Most organizations have professional meeting goers, people who spend much of their time attending meetings in order to avoid doing any real work. Also, avoid inviting anyone looking to jump on a hobbyhorse as they will almost certainly hijack the meeting.
4. Prepared. Those who do attend should ensure that they are properly prepared and bring along copies of a report or a product that the meeting needs to have demonstrated. Many hours are lost by attendees being unprepared. It is inconsiderate and a waste of valuable time.
5. Punctual. Perhaps the most radical suggestion of all. Start and finish on time! Organizations develop a meetings culture and it often becomes acceptable to turn up late and expect the other attendees to wait for your grand entrance. Why not reward the attendees who have made the effort to get there on time and punish the ones who are late, not the other way around? But, if you do start on time you must finish on time (see prioritized above).
6. Process. How is the meeting going to be managed? Some meetings have a chairperson through whom all points are made. Some others have a facilitator or moderator who maintains a looser grip on proceedings but who still controls the meeting dynamics. Some effective meetings have delegates sign up to a set of groundrules.
7. Participative. To get the most from the meeting everyone present should be encouraged to have their say. There will doubtless be those who want to have more than their say and some who will not feel comfortable challenging for input. The Chair or facilitator must ensure that the quieter ones have their say as it is often the case that they have a great idea that can unlock a problem. Also, the meeting should not be swayed by those who talk loudly and confidently but who might well be incorrect in their assumptions.
8. Polite. The flip side of people being encouraged to participate is that they should also be encouraged to listen to the other members of the meeting and not interrupt or hold side meetings.
9. Plans. Finally, the output of the meetings in the form of action plans must be agreed and circulated. Ensure that anyone who has been tasked to complete an action but who was not present at the meeting understands what needs doing and why they have been selected.
Ian Henderson is a highly experienced trainer, consultant and speaker. In a 20 year career he has worked with thousands of people from a wide range of organisations in the UK, the USA, Europe and Africa. He is the director of training of Eagle Training Ltd, one of the UK's leading management and leadership training companies. For more information go to http://www.eagletraining.co.uk
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Obstacles and Keys To Effective Team Coaching
Learn about the common obstacles to effective coaching, and essential skills necessary for managers to build their authority and successfully coach their teams to great results.
By Rick Kirschner
The most common obstacle to building and projecting your authority in coaching others is the idea that coaching is about talking, that somehow talking takes priority over listening to understand.
I understand how this happens. In fast paced environments, it’s a natural tendency to put the pedal to the metal, to try harder, move faster, do more. The problem is that you wind up talking at your people instead of with them and to them. And the obstacle this lack of understanding creates is that without knowing what motivates your people, you can’t engage them where it counts.
When you understand what motivates your people, and it’s different for different people, you can speak with authority that is recognized as authority, because it is relevant and conveys experience and knowledge.
The next most common obstacle is the confidence problem. When managers come off as tentative, hesitant or uncertain, it tends to evoke these responses in the people around them. This problem is the side effect of at least two missing pieces: you first have to know your own motivation, and you must be prepared to speak when it’s time to speak. The fact is, people want to be led, not managed, and they need to get that sense of authority from you, because it gives them confidence to do what needs to be done. They believe it when you believe it.
Now, it’s a legitimate question, confidence in what? After all, in these changing times, nobody really knows what’s coming next. And some degree of introspection is prudent for anyone wanting to thrive instead of merely survive. But you can have confidence in your motivations. You can have confidence in what you do know. And you can have confidence that under the right conditions, people will want to give you their best, to do their best.
So, what are the key listening and communication skills that you can improve upon as you work to develop and strengthen others?
Fundamental to success in coaching are two essential skills. The first is blending, the second is asking questions.
Blending is the foundation of all successful relationships. It happens whenever you reduce the differences between yourself and another person. It happens whenever you send signals of similarity and commonality. And because nobody cooperates with anybody who seems to be against them, a failure to blend is the root cause of most conflict. If perception is everything in relationships, then sending blending signals is how you create the perception of partnering with your people in a process or project.
As for questions, I believe it was the stoic philosopher, Epicetus, who said “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Maybe this is the apt metaphor for the way we’re built, but I’ve observed that too many people just don’t get it. Although they certainly think they do. Ask just about anyone if they’re a good listener, and they’ll tell you yes. But most people do a meager job of it at best, instead drawing conclusions and then making statements instead of engaging people by asking questions.
Maybe the people who don’t ask very many questions are afraid of looking stupid. Maybe they think it makes them seem weak. Or maybe they think they’re supposed to have all the answers. Maybe it’s just a function of the fact that we can think faster, at 500 words a minute, than most people talk, which is about 130 words a minute. It’s not uncommon for our minds to wander to what we want to say when its our turn to talk, so it’s pretty easy to get ahead of what we’re hearing.
But a great coach understands the limits of his or her knowledge about another person, and explores that boundary to build the connection, rather than building the boundary and weakening the relationship. The key is curiosity. The less you think you know, the more you find out. The more value you place on what you can learn by listening, the less distracted you’ll be with your own thoughts.
Have you ever heard someone say “There is no such thing as a stupid question?’.’ That’s a great guide when it comes to everyone other than you! You can’t afford to ask dumb questions if you want to bring out the best in your people. When someone asks me a question, no matter how trite, simplistic or off the point, I welcome it and find the opportunity in it.
I do think there are dumb questions to avoid, when it’s me asking the questions. They’re dumb if they fail to take into account things people have said. They’re dumb if they’re closed ended instead of open ended, unless I intend to bring something to a close. I want my questions to serve an intelligent purpose. A person’s motivations and positions are in the deep structure, so that’s where I want to go. I want to learn about their goals and aspirations, their desires and fears. Asking questions is a great way of leading people to their own resourcefulness. Just as their answers inform me, I want my questions to inform them.
As a coach, the more you know, the more likely it is that you will know exactly what you need to know in order to elicit comfort confidence and credibility.
©Dr. Rick Kirschner. Dr. Rick is a bestselling author and speaker, coach and trainer, with clients that include Heineken, Providence Healthcare, and Texas Instruments. Author of 'Insider's Guide To The Art Of Persuasion.' Free for a limited time, a $49 value audio on Dealing With Difficult People. Go to http://theartofchange.com/promo for details.
By Rick Kirschner
The most common obstacle to building and projecting your authority in coaching others is the idea that coaching is about talking, that somehow talking takes priority over listening to understand.
I understand how this happens. In fast paced environments, it’s a natural tendency to put the pedal to the metal, to try harder, move faster, do more. The problem is that you wind up talking at your people instead of with them and to them. And the obstacle this lack of understanding creates is that without knowing what motivates your people, you can’t engage them where it counts.
When you understand what motivates your people, and it’s different for different people, you can speak with authority that is recognized as authority, because it is relevant and conveys experience and knowledge.
The next most common obstacle is the confidence problem. When managers come off as tentative, hesitant or uncertain, it tends to evoke these responses in the people around them. This problem is the side effect of at least two missing pieces: you first have to know your own motivation, and you must be prepared to speak when it’s time to speak. The fact is, people want to be led, not managed, and they need to get that sense of authority from you, because it gives them confidence to do what needs to be done. They believe it when you believe it.
Now, it’s a legitimate question, confidence in what? After all, in these changing times, nobody really knows what’s coming next. And some degree of introspection is prudent for anyone wanting to thrive instead of merely survive. But you can have confidence in your motivations. You can have confidence in what you do know. And you can have confidence that under the right conditions, people will want to give you their best, to do their best.
So, what are the key listening and communication skills that you can improve upon as you work to develop and strengthen others?
Fundamental to success in coaching are two essential skills. The first is blending, the second is asking questions.
Blending is the foundation of all successful relationships. It happens whenever you reduce the differences between yourself and another person. It happens whenever you send signals of similarity and commonality. And because nobody cooperates with anybody who seems to be against them, a failure to blend is the root cause of most conflict. If perception is everything in relationships, then sending blending signals is how you create the perception of partnering with your people in a process or project.
As for questions, I believe it was the stoic philosopher, Epicetus, who said “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Maybe this is the apt metaphor for the way we’re built, but I’ve observed that too many people just don’t get it. Although they certainly think they do. Ask just about anyone if they’re a good listener, and they’ll tell you yes. But most people do a meager job of it at best, instead drawing conclusions and then making statements instead of engaging people by asking questions.
Maybe the people who don’t ask very many questions are afraid of looking stupid. Maybe they think it makes them seem weak. Or maybe they think they’re supposed to have all the answers. Maybe it’s just a function of the fact that we can think faster, at 500 words a minute, than most people talk, which is about 130 words a minute. It’s not uncommon for our minds to wander to what we want to say when its our turn to talk, so it’s pretty easy to get ahead of what we’re hearing.
But a great coach understands the limits of his or her knowledge about another person, and explores that boundary to build the connection, rather than building the boundary and weakening the relationship. The key is curiosity. The less you think you know, the more you find out. The more value you place on what you can learn by listening, the less distracted you’ll be with your own thoughts.
Have you ever heard someone say “There is no such thing as a stupid question?’.’ That’s a great guide when it comes to everyone other than you! You can’t afford to ask dumb questions if you want to bring out the best in your people. When someone asks me a question, no matter how trite, simplistic or off the point, I welcome it and find the opportunity in it.
I do think there are dumb questions to avoid, when it’s me asking the questions. They’re dumb if they fail to take into account things people have said. They’re dumb if they’re closed ended instead of open ended, unless I intend to bring something to a close. I want my questions to serve an intelligent purpose. A person’s motivations and positions are in the deep structure, so that’s where I want to go. I want to learn about their goals and aspirations, their desires and fears. Asking questions is a great way of leading people to their own resourcefulness. Just as their answers inform me, I want my questions to inform them.
As a coach, the more you know, the more likely it is that you will know exactly what you need to know in order to elicit comfort confidence and credibility.
©Dr. Rick Kirschner. Dr. Rick is a bestselling author and speaker, coach and trainer, with clients that include Heineken, Providence Healthcare, and Texas Instruments. Author of 'Insider's Guide To The Art Of Persuasion.' Free for a limited time, a $49 value audio on Dealing With Difficult People. Go to http://theartofchange.com/promo for details.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Embrace Personal Accountability Or Choose Failure
Recently Dan Stamp the CEO of Priority Management Systems sent out an article titled," Ten Most Common Causes of Failure. " Number one on the list was, blaming other people for problems rather than accepting personal accountability.
By Ted Gulas
Twenty years in the professional development business can confirm that this blame game is indeed the road to failure. Here is a list of a few of the areas that lack of personal accountability, “blame game” creates failure in the workplace: sales development, time management, communication, emotional intelligence, project management, team work, goal setting, personnel recruiting, and change management.
Let’s explore three related areas where the” blame game” creates havoc for growing revenues. These areas are sales development, goal setting and time management. A typical sales person needs to grow revenues by maintaining existing accounts and adding new accounts to their portfolio. As a New Year begins some sales people realize just how time consuming it is just to maintain their existing accounts. They begin to rationalize that they can get no assistance from the corporation in the way of resources. This perceived lack of resources creates a feeling there is no need or no real sense of urgency to set meaningful goals for the New Year. In addition the last time they set some meaningful goals they did not happen, so why set themselves up for the guilt and failure.
The thinking is why should I break my back to prospect, I can just get the increases in sales from existing accounts so there is no need to face rejection and ask for new business. In fact if the company would provide me some training on prospecting and closing plus the staff to delegate too I could spend more time prospecting. The conclusion then is because they will not help me I now can blame them on my lack of success in opening new accounts in the New Year. This typical salesperson has just embraced complacency and failure for the next year.
Here are some reasons why complacency set in. Number one the sales person did not challenge their comfort zone by creating a dream to motivate them in a way to overcome any barriers to sales production. From that dream create a goals setting event with a action items, dates ,rewards and deadlines. Despite the lack of resources this sales person could use creativity and innovation to discover ways to leverage the existing staff with delegation and collaboration skills.
Pointing fingers and blaming the company will not lead to any new development skills in and around prospecting, delegation and time management. What if this sales person invested in themselves? For instance most banks now pays 1 to 2% return on your money. If the sales person would take some of their own savings savings and invested it in themselves to learn how time management could provide an additional hour a day of productive time. During that additional twenty hours a month the sales person could prospect for new business and set a goal to open ten new accounts per month for a total of 120 new accounts annually. Assuming the sales person receives a 20% commission an average sale of $5000 per account that is total revenue of $50,000 times twelve months for total revenue of $600,000 times 20% or $120,000 on this initial investment. By sulking and blaming the company for not providing the resources and not investing in you this sales person lost $120,000 Most of us would classify that as choosing failure.
What could you do in this New Year that is fast approaching to invest in yourself?
Want more information on classes that can make you more creative and innovative Working Smart with Microsoft Outlook Working Smart with Lotus Notes
By Ted Gulas
Twenty years in the professional development business can confirm that this blame game is indeed the road to failure. Here is a list of a few of the areas that lack of personal accountability, “blame game” creates failure in the workplace: sales development, time management, communication, emotional intelligence, project management, team work, goal setting, personnel recruiting, and change management.
Let’s explore three related areas where the” blame game” creates havoc for growing revenues. These areas are sales development, goal setting and time management. A typical sales person needs to grow revenues by maintaining existing accounts and adding new accounts to their portfolio. As a New Year begins some sales people realize just how time consuming it is just to maintain their existing accounts. They begin to rationalize that they can get no assistance from the corporation in the way of resources. This perceived lack of resources creates a feeling there is no need or no real sense of urgency to set meaningful goals for the New Year. In addition the last time they set some meaningful goals they did not happen, so why set themselves up for the guilt and failure.
The thinking is why should I break my back to prospect, I can just get the increases in sales from existing accounts so there is no need to face rejection and ask for new business. In fact if the company would provide me some training on prospecting and closing plus the staff to delegate too I could spend more time prospecting. The conclusion then is because they will not help me I now can blame them on my lack of success in opening new accounts in the New Year. This typical salesperson has just embraced complacency and failure for the next year.
Here are some reasons why complacency set in. Number one the sales person did not challenge their comfort zone by creating a dream to motivate them in a way to overcome any barriers to sales production. From that dream create a goals setting event with a action items, dates ,rewards and deadlines. Despite the lack of resources this sales person could use creativity and innovation to discover ways to leverage the existing staff with delegation and collaboration skills.
Pointing fingers and blaming the company will not lead to any new development skills in and around prospecting, delegation and time management. What if this sales person invested in themselves? For instance most banks now pays 1 to 2% return on your money. If the sales person would take some of their own savings savings and invested it in themselves to learn how time management could provide an additional hour a day of productive time. During that additional twenty hours a month the sales person could prospect for new business and set a goal to open ten new accounts per month for a total of 120 new accounts annually. Assuming the sales person receives a 20% commission an average sale of $5000 per account that is total revenue of $50,000 times twelve months for total revenue of $600,000 times 20% or $120,000 on this initial investment. By sulking and blaming the company for not providing the resources and not investing in you this sales person lost $120,000 Most of us would classify that as choosing failure.
What could you do in this New Year that is fast approaching to invest in yourself?
Want more information on classes that can make you more creative and innovative Working Smart with Microsoft Outlook Working Smart with Lotus Notes
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Public Speaking - Which Is Most Important, Delivery or Content?
When making a presentation, is it the content of your talk, or your delivery of it that will contribute the most to the success of your talk? In short, the answer is both.
By Bob Malloney
Many presenters have been misled by presentation skills trainers into thinking that delivery is all-important. This is based on a misunderstanding of research carried out by Albert Merhabian into face-to-face communication. Merhabian concluded that the impact of your message is delivered by:
Words 7% - Tone of voice 38% - Body language 55%
Taking this research at face value, many presentation skills trainers therefore argue that what you say is relatively unimportant compared to how you sound and how you look. Undoubtedly it is true that if you look very nervous and mumble in a monotone voice, the audience will probably not listen to what you are saying. However, if you want to give a presentation that achieves something and is valued by the audience, this is a dangerous conclusion. The research really applies to the emotional nature of communication. For example, if I told you I was happy, but I looked and sounded sad, you would not believe my words (7%), but would instead believe my tone of voice and body language (93%).
To be successful, your presentation has to provide value to your audience. If you audience does nothing differently as a result of listening to your talk, my argument is, what was the point of you giving the talk? If the world is the same at the end of your talk as it was before your talk, what was the point in giving it?
To provide value then, your talk has got to achieve something and to do that it must have the right content. It is no use just having a ‘subject’ to talk about, you need to have a mission! For example, don’t give talks just to provide information. So many presenters just tell their audience about what they do. No audience will be interested in this and consequently will do nothing as a result of listening to it. All the audience are interested in is ‘What’s in it for me’. So don’t just tell them what you do, tell them what you can do for them.
Once you have sorted out your content, you can then concentrate on the delivery. To keep people’s interest you need to vary your tone of voice, just as you do in normal conversation. If you feel strongly about something we need to ‘hear’ that it’s important to you, as well as take onboard the words. The answer to presenting with emotional variety is to keep your language very simple. If you use complex or formal language, you will become so concerned with getting your words out fluently that you will sound serious and lacking in emotional variety.
You also need to look and sound confident. Have a strong ‘mission’ for your talk and keeping the language simple will make it far more likely that you will be more confident in your delivery. To make it even easier to deliver your messages, try to wrap as many of your messages as possible into stories or examples. Don’t give abstract examples; make them real, add some human interest and if you can, some humour as well.
So, by keeping to a few simple messages that provide value to your audience, you give yourself a chance to deliver them with confidence and emotional variety and achieve something by getting the audience to do something as a result of listening to you.
Bob Malloney, a personal and business skills trainer for over 20 years, can help you to make a real difference to your working life, all from the comfort and convenience of your PC. Streaming video courses that replicate instructor-led training in Personal Organisation, Presentation Skills, Relationship Selling and Negotiating Skills. Register now for a free, no obligation 7-day trial at > http://www.videocoaching.tv
By Bob Malloney
Many presenters have been misled by presentation skills trainers into thinking that delivery is all-important. This is based on a misunderstanding of research carried out by Albert Merhabian into face-to-face communication. Merhabian concluded that the impact of your message is delivered by:
Words 7% - Tone of voice 38% - Body language 55%
Taking this research at face value, many presentation skills trainers therefore argue that what you say is relatively unimportant compared to how you sound and how you look. Undoubtedly it is true that if you look very nervous and mumble in a monotone voice, the audience will probably not listen to what you are saying. However, if you want to give a presentation that achieves something and is valued by the audience, this is a dangerous conclusion. The research really applies to the emotional nature of communication. For example, if I told you I was happy, but I looked and sounded sad, you would not believe my words (7%), but would instead believe my tone of voice and body language (93%).
To be successful, your presentation has to provide value to your audience. If you audience does nothing differently as a result of listening to your talk, my argument is, what was the point of you giving the talk? If the world is the same at the end of your talk as it was before your talk, what was the point in giving it?
To provide value then, your talk has got to achieve something and to do that it must have the right content. It is no use just having a ‘subject’ to talk about, you need to have a mission! For example, don’t give talks just to provide information. So many presenters just tell their audience about what they do. No audience will be interested in this and consequently will do nothing as a result of listening to it. All the audience are interested in is ‘What’s in it for me’. So don’t just tell them what you do, tell them what you can do for them.
Once you have sorted out your content, you can then concentrate on the delivery. To keep people’s interest you need to vary your tone of voice, just as you do in normal conversation. If you feel strongly about something we need to ‘hear’ that it’s important to you, as well as take onboard the words. The answer to presenting with emotional variety is to keep your language very simple. If you use complex or formal language, you will become so concerned with getting your words out fluently that you will sound serious and lacking in emotional variety.
You also need to look and sound confident. Have a strong ‘mission’ for your talk and keeping the language simple will make it far more likely that you will be more confident in your delivery. To make it even easier to deliver your messages, try to wrap as many of your messages as possible into stories or examples. Don’t give abstract examples; make them real, add some human interest and if you can, some humour as well.
So, by keeping to a few simple messages that provide value to your audience, you give yourself a chance to deliver them with confidence and emotional variety and achieve something by getting the audience to do something as a result of listening to you.
Bob Malloney, a personal and business skills trainer for over 20 years, can help you to make a real difference to your working life, all from the comfort and convenience of your PC. Streaming video courses that replicate instructor-led training in Personal Organisation, Presentation Skills, Relationship Selling and Negotiating Skills. Register now for a free, no obligation 7-day trial at > http://www.videocoaching.tv
Monday, April 26, 2010
Think About Networking In A NEW WAY
If networking isn't about collecting business cards, then what is it?
By Marsha Egan
Instead of thinking about a network, let’s envision a net.
If you place yourself at the center of this net, you can see how your direct links, or connections, extends outward. And each of those links extend outward as well. Yet they are all interconnected. This is what we want our net to look like, and even more, to “work.”
I meet too many entrepreneurs and business people who believe or act as though their selling efforts are all direct one on one transactions with their prospects and customers. What they don’t realize is that when they build a network, much of the selling and prospecting can actually be done by other people. A network helps you multiply yourself.
In my networking workshops, I ask the question, “ How many friends and acquaintances, conservatively, do you think you have?” The answer usually ranges between 200 and 500. My next question is, “How many people do you think each of those people know?” Then we do the math. Conservatively, if each of these people knows only 200 people, that person is “ connected” to 40,000 people, only one person removed! Just imagine the numbers with the second and third levels of connection!
So the first hurdle to overcome in building a network is to recognize how powerful connections can be. This is the very important people side of the business that many have a hard time acknowledging or understanding.
In any business, there are relationships to be built. These enable positive progress. We call these relationships a network. People’s careers rarely progress solely through individual work; there are usually several people involved in an individual’s successful career or business.
Many people cringe at the suggestion of “networking.” They feel that they may be building insincere relationships or compromising their true selves by rubbing shoulders with higher-ups in the organization. So, out of principle, some very capable people don’t network.
So, let’s set the record straight. Networking is not about collecting business cards. It is not about pretending to like someone that you aren’t. It is not about catering insincerely to a boss or potential clients.
Networking is about building reciprocal, synergistic relationships with people throughout your organization, your business community, and your life. It is caring about others’ progress more than you care about your own. It is establishing trustful, supportive bonds with people who share your goals, or your business goals.
The powerful side of building this network comes with your delivering excellent quality and service. As you build your network, and you provide great service, your network will start to work for you. People will talk to people. Satisfied clients will refer you to others. You are net will actually work.
So, when we look at networking as a sincere effort to build mutually beneficial relationships, it can actually be fun! When you take the focus off of yourself, and place it on others, your whole picture of building relationships can change. You become other directed, rather than selfish. You become caring rather than self—absorbed. You become interesting rather than boring. Doesn’t this sound better?
This approach puts a different focus or in how you can build and enjoy your networks. Instead of collecting as many business cards as you can, and writing the obligatory mail merge letter the next day, you can give yourself permission to have one or two more lengthy, other-focused conversations with people at a networking event.
“Other focused” is a key word in this equation. Many people make the error of trying to get the person to know about their business, as their primary objective of the conversation. People see through this immediately. If you show a true interest in the other person, and avoid trying to talk about yourself in the first several minutes of the conversation, you will go a long way to building what can be a mutually beneficial relationship.
The reality is that the strong majority of people will turn around and ask you about your business, after you have shown a true interest in theirs. This is how reciprocal relationships are built.
One word of caution. Reciprocal relationships don’t necessarily mean immediate benefits. You’ve got to be patient. A network is built over years. One person at a time.
And the more sincere, and helpful you are, and the better quality you deliver, the more mutually beneficial (and and fun) your network will be. Yours will be a net that works!
Marsha Egan, CPCU, PCC is CEO of The Egan Group, Inc., a Reading, PA based professional coaching firm. She is a certified executive coach and professional speaker, specializing in leadership development and can be reached at marsha@marshaegan.com or visit http://www.marshaegan.com .
By Marsha Egan
Instead of thinking about a network, let’s envision a net.
If you place yourself at the center of this net, you can see how your direct links, or connections, extends outward. And each of those links extend outward as well. Yet they are all interconnected. This is what we want our net to look like, and even more, to “work.”
I meet too many entrepreneurs and business people who believe or act as though their selling efforts are all direct one on one transactions with their prospects and customers. What they don’t realize is that when they build a network, much of the selling and prospecting can actually be done by other people. A network helps you multiply yourself.
In my networking workshops, I ask the question, “ How many friends and acquaintances, conservatively, do you think you have?” The answer usually ranges between 200 and 500. My next question is, “How many people do you think each of those people know?” Then we do the math. Conservatively, if each of these people knows only 200 people, that person is “ connected” to 40,000 people, only one person removed! Just imagine the numbers with the second and third levels of connection!
So the first hurdle to overcome in building a network is to recognize how powerful connections can be. This is the very important people side of the business that many have a hard time acknowledging or understanding.
In any business, there are relationships to be built. These enable positive progress. We call these relationships a network. People’s careers rarely progress solely through individual work; there are usually several people involved in an individual’s successful career or business.
Many people cringe at the suggestion of “networking.” They feel that they may be building insincere relationships or compromising their true selves by rubbing shoulders with higher-ups in the organization. So, out of principle, some very capable people don’t network.
So, let’s set the record straight. Networking is not about collecting business cards. It is not about pretending to like someone that you aren’t. It is not about catering insincerely to a boss or potential clients.
Networking is about building reciprocal, synergistic relationships with people throughout your organization, your business community, and your life. It is caring about others’ progress more than you care about your own. It is establishing trustful, supportive bonds with people who share your goals, or your business goals.
The powerful side of building this network comes with your delivering excellent quality and service. As you build your network, and you provide great service, your network will start to work for you. People will talk to people. Satisfied clients will refer you to others. You are net will actually work.
So, when we look at networking as a sincere effort to build mutually beneficial relationships, it can actually be fun! When you take the focus off of yourself, and place it on others, your whole picture of building relationships can change. You become other directed, rather than selfish. You become caring rather than self—absorbed. You become interesting rather than boring. Doesn’t this sound better?
This approach puts a different focus or in how you can build and enjoy your networks. Instead of collecting as many business cards as you can, and writing the obligatory mail merge letter the next day, you can give yourself permission to have one or two more lengthy, other-focused conversations with people at a networking event.
“Other focused” is a key word in this equation. Many people make the error of trying to get the person to know about their business, as their primary objective of the conversation. People see through this immediately. If you show a true interest in the other person, and avoid trying to talk about yourself in the first several minutes of the conversation, you will go a long way to building what can be a mutually beneficial relationship.
The reality is that the strong majority of people will turn around and ask you about your business, after you have shown a true interest in theirs. This is how reciprocal relationships are built.
One word of caution. Reciprocal relationships don’t necessarily mean immediate benefits. You’ve got to be patient. A network is built over years. One person at a time.
And the more sincere, and helpful you are, and the better quality you deliver, the more mutually beneficial (and and fun) your network will be. Yours will be a net that works!
Marsha Egan, CPCU, PCC is CEO of The Egan Group, Inc., a Reading, PA based professional coaching firm. She is a certified executive coach and professional speaker, specializing in leadership development and can be reached at marsha@marshaegan.com or visit http://www.marshaegan.com .
Monday, April 12, 2010
Quick Tips To Get High Powered Publicity For Your Business
Find out the insider secrets to using publicity to empower your business and corporate communications strategy. You'll learn how to stay visible to your target audience, build awareness of your brand and encourage interested prospective clients to take action.
By Annie Jennings
What can business learn from successful businesses that use publicity strategies to stay in front of their clients and customers? Plenty! Getting publicity on your business allows you to create a substantial and compelling competitive advantage for your business. Want to be at the top of your industry? Publicity is the key.
One thing many businesses may wonder about is if accessing the media for publicity and brand name awareness costs a ton of money. The answer is no. You can get publicity for your business easily and within your budget.
In addition to staying visible to your target audience using publicity on radio shows, in newspapers and magazines and on TV shows, successful business go the extra mile for their customers and your clients and customers love these businesses for it.
Clients want to make investments in services that provide a return on their investment and they want guarantees so they don’t wind up wasting financial resources.
Be center stage in your industry. Stay competitive in publicity and promotion and make sure it is you or your business commenting on the issues in the news and not your competitors.
Stay consistent in your publicity outreach as this is important to creating your company’s competitive edge as clients want to do business with the vital companies making a difference.
Get quoted expert media placements, publicity on your company, be seen and heard in media including Radio, TV, Magazines, Online and Newspapers.
Be engaged in the success of your target market. When your business becomes part of the success model of other businesses you have achieved a great goal. Ask yourself, what if I were the client, what woudl I want to see available in products and services to bring my company to its next level of success? Once you discover the answer to this question create products and services that your marketplace and your clients can use to add profits to their bottom line.
One of the best business strategies is to understand what your client needs to go to their next level of success and create these resources for them. Stay cutting edge yourself too so you are always one step ahead of the services your client will need.
As your clients integrate your products and services in their business model, be working on the next higher level product as soon these new products will naturally be in demand. Always strive to create the better mousetrap for your clients to ensure your success!
Business publicity secrets can be yours! Annie Jennings PR is an expert public relations firm that works with individuals, businesses and corporations who wish to stay visibile and create their competitive advantage with publicity. Contact Annie Jennings PR and a national publicist can let you know how publicity can help you achieve your highest level of publicity success.
By Annie Jennings
What can business learn from successful businesses that use publicity strategies to stay in front of their clients and customers? Plenty! Getting publicity on your business allows you to create a substantial and compelling competitive advantage for your business. Want to be at the top of your industry? Publicity is the key.
One thing many businesses may wonder about is if accessing the media for publicity and brand name awareness costs a ton of money. The answer is no. You can get publicity for your business easily and within your budget.
In addition to staying visible to your target audience using publicity on radio shows, in newspapers and magazines and on TV shows, successful business go the extra mile for their customers and your clients and customers love these businesses for it.
Clients want to make investments in services that provide a return on their investment and they want guarantees so they don’t wind up wasting financial resources.
Be center stage in your industry. Stay competitive in publicity and promotion and make sure it is you or your business commenting on the issues in the news and not your competitors.
Stay consistent in your publicity outreach as this is important to creating your company’s competitive edge as clients want to do business with the vital companies making a difference.
Get quoted expert media placements, publicity on your company, be seen and heard in media including Radio, TV, Magazines, Online and Newspapers.
Be engaged in the success of your target market. When your business becomes part of the success model of other businesses you have achieved a great goal. Ask yourself, what if I were the client, what woudl I want to see available in products and services to bring my company to its next level of success? Once you discover the answer to this question create products and services that your marketplace and your clients can use to add profits to their bottom line.
One of the best business strategies is to understand what your client needs to go to their next level of success and create these resources for them. Stay cutting edge yourself too so you are always one step ahead of the services your client will need.
As your clients integrate your products and services in their business model, be working on the next higher level product as soon these new products will naturally be in demand. Always strive to create the better mousetrap for your clients to ensure your success!
Business publicity secrets can be yours! Annie Jennings PR is an expert public relations firm that works with individuals, businesses and corporations who wish to stay visibile and create their competitive advantage with publicity. Contact Annie Jennings PR and a national publicist can let you know how publicity can help you achieve your highest level of publicity success.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
10 Lessons Learned From Using E-Mail Lists
How to run your lists and choose what to write about.
By David Strom
Last week's column showed you three different choices that you can use to create and manage your own e-mail list server. This week I want to talk about the "softer" side of things: how to run your lists and choose what you write about, what you send out, how you send it out, and why you bother doing it.
E-mail is the basic lifeblood of any small business communications. It is how you get and retain customers, how you find new prospects, and how you keep and motivate your staff. Even if you have a fairly non-Internet company, such as a hardware store, you can use e-mail to bring in new business and inform and amuse your customers.
Here are ten important lessons:
1. Self promotion is fine, but it takes a back seat to real information and advice. Limit the amount of self-promotional content to less than 20 percent of what you send out. Keep your e-mails information-rich and people will want to read them. This doesn't mean that you can't let people know about cut-rate specials, or certain accomplishments, or upcoming events.
2. Weekly is the best frequency. If you can't write something weekly, then every other week is also good. More than once a week is annoying, and less frequent e-mails tend to lose your connection. If possible, send out your e-mails on the same day of the week for consistency and predictability.
3. Brevity counts. Keep the e-mails to fewer than 1,000 words. About 600 words is optimal. People have short attention spans.
4. Make them original. Don't just cut and paste stuff that you have picked up elsewhere. Although it is fine to use a link as a jumping off point to provide your own point of view and commentary.
5. Don't pile on the web links. One or two links per e-mail is fine. Any more than that is annoying and doesn't prove anything to anybody, other than you have done a lot of internet research.
6. Good writing is essential. Have someone else edit your e-mails and check for spelling, syntax and grammar. Check the web links to make sure they bring up the right pages that you intended.
7. Check your facts, too. While your editor is at it, have him or her also check statements of fact and make sure they are accurate. Nothing dilutes your authority more than misstatements of fact.
8. Community counts. If you are going to start a successful web publishing venture, make sure you have a good idea whom your community is. This includes reader/viewers, information sources, and people and mechanisms for moving information around (other than yourself, that is). Are you talking to your customers, suppliers, partners, or staff? High-level management or in the trenches? Older or younger generations? Have a firm idea of who is on the other side of the e-mail and your messages will be more effective.
9. Notification is important. Use e-mail as a way to notify your list of what is new, what is different, what is on sale, what is something that you recommend. This is probably the best use of your list, and something that we often overlook. People appreciate hearing your news first from you directly, that is often the best way to build a community.
10. Have an archive. Think about archiving all your e-mails on your website. Mailman and Yahoo do this automatically, although both do it somewhat cumbersomely. You can also repost your e-mails to a blog format as well, which is one of the things I do with my Web Informant e-mails.
By David Strom
Last week's column showed you three different choices that you can use to create and manage your own e-mail list server. This week I want to talk about the "softer" side of things: how to run your lists and choose what you write about, what you send out, how you send it out, and why you bother doing it.
E-mail is the basic lifeblood of any small business communications. It is how you get and retain customers, how you find new prospects, and how you keep and motivate your staff. Even if you have a fairly non-Internet company, such as a hardware store, you can use e-mail to bring in new business and inform and amuse your customers.
Here are ten important lessons:
1. Self promotion is fine, but it takes a back seat to real information and advice. Limit the amount of self-promotional content to less than 20 percent of what you send out. Keep your e-mails information-rich and people will want to read them. This doesn't mean that you can't let people know about cut-rate specials, or certain accomplishments, or upcoming events.
2. Weekly is the best frequency. If you can't write something weekly, then every other week is also good. More than once a week is annoying, and less frequent e-mails tend to lose your connection. If possible, send out your e-mails on the same day of the week for consistency and predictability.
3. Brevity counts. Keep the e-mails to fewer than 1,000 words. About 600 words is optimal. People have short attention spans.
4. Make them original. Don't just cut and paste stuff that you have picked up elsewhere. Although it is fine to use a link as a jumping off point to provide your own point of view and commentary.
5. Don't pile on the web links. One or two links per e-mail is fine. Any more than that is annoying and doesn't prove anything to anybody, other than you have done a lot of internet research.
6. Good writing is essential. Have someone else edit your e-mails and check for spelling, syntax and grammar. Check the web links to make sure they bring up the right pages that you intended.
7. Check your facts, too. While your editor is at it, have him or her also check statements of fact and make sure they are accurate. Nothing dilutes your authority more than misstatements of fact.
8. Community counts. If you are going to start a successful web publishing venture, make sure you have a good idea whom your community is. This includes reader/viewers, information sources, and people and mechanisms for moving information around (other than yourself, that is). Are you talking to your customers, suppliers, partners, or staff? High-level management or in the trenches? Older or younger generations? Have a firm idea of who is on the other side of the e-mail and your messages will be more effective.
9. Notification is important. Use e-mail as a way to notify your list of what is new, what is different, what is on sale, what is something that you recommend. This is probably the best use of your list, and something that we often overlook. People appreciate hearing your news first from you directly, that is often the best way to build a community.
10. Have an archive. Think about archiving all your e-mails on your website. Mailman and Yahoo do this automatically, although both do it somewhat cumbersomely. You can also repost your e-mails to a blog format as well, which is one of the things I do with my Web Informant e-mails.
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