Improve My Business

Focus on your customers and what they need.
That’s it.
You’re welcome.

Technorati Tags: Business, customers

I am a student.  I read constantly to learn how others “do” what they do.  One of the things I like about reading from ‘gurus’ is when they tell us all how they’re not perfect.  How they made mistakes along the way.  What I LOVE about them is when they tell me what they’ve learned from making these mistakes.  Sure, telling me they’re not perfect is fine; and telling me they’ve made their share of mistakes is better; but telling me what they’ve learned from it, on the chance that I can have that same learning without that same pain, is awesome.

Who do you read, and what have they taught you?  Or better yet, what mistakes have you made (that you’re willing to share) and what did you learn from it?

Technorati Tags: learning from gurus, learning from mistakes, making mistakes

I’ve heard two different stories lately - both of which had me disappointed in the “Top Gun” in the story.

Story 1:  Two departments decide to meet informally to discuss how to deliver a message to their constituents.  Dept #1 invites Dept #2 to “stop by” and have a donut, then discuss the issue.  Dept #2’s new manager, Top Gun, also stops by - and notes who showed up and who didn’t.  TG then confronts an employee who didn’t choose to ’stop by’ in the hallway publicly, literally getting in his face to demand why he didn’t show up for the meeting, and ending with “If I invite you to a meeting, you had BETTER show up next time”.  Employee didn’t even know which meeting TG was referring to, since the invitation was phrased as a ‘drop in’ rather than a mandatory formal meeting…

Story 2:  Top Gun is expecting paperwork from a contractor, and doesn’t get it.  Instead of calling up the contractor and asking where the paperwork is, TG calls the contractor’s head honcho, saying “I’m NOT happy!” and making a huge fuss over the missing paperwork (which had been sent, but not received - email trail shows it had been sent).  Head honcho then reams out contractor, who now has to go work with TG.

In both stories, if the TG had ASKED what is going on, instead of throwing their weight around, the situation would have been SO much better:

#1: “Hey, I noticed  you weren’t at the get together - it was really informative - why did you decide not to attend?”

#2:  “Hey contractor, I haven’t gotten my paperwork - did you send it?  I haven’t received it - could you please resend?”

In both cases, resentment against TG would be non-existent… as opposed to now, when the ‘wronged’ party feels that TG’s reaction was WAY out of proportion, and therefore un-needed, un-wanted, and un-warranted.

Moral of the story?  Ask rather than assume that people are flaunting your authority.  ASK!  Really!  It’ll save a lot of headaches for all concerned…

Technorati Tags: management bully

I recently gave a presentation at a well-known conference in my industry - something that I enjoy doing.  I get to share new ideas (or ideas combined in a different way), interact with folks, and get a conversation going.  Most gratifying to me was to hear a colleague whose opinion I admire and respect say, “Mary gave me such food for thought - I had never thought to combine these two techniques before, and she not only showed us how she did it, but gave us some ideas of how we can do it ‘back at the ranch’ “…

The presentation went well according to feedback (did it have anything to do with the fact that the presentation included lunch?), and I’ve been able to hear some interesting talks on diverse topics, as well as meet some great new business contacts.

What are YOU doing to improve your skills/business? Please comment on how you ensure that you’re staying on top of your particular market… is it

- reading trade journals?

- attending seminars? conferences?

- in-house training?

- online webinars? teleseminars?

- etc.

Do tell - I’d love to hear how you’re staying on top of your game!

And, if you’re not doing anything right now - take a minute to search online for some form of professional development; type some keywords into a search engine and read some relevant articles; find and bookmark / RSS some key websites or blogs and set aside 30 mins every week to read (may I suggest improveyourbusinessnow.com, blog.efficiencydr.com, or blog.sustainabilitydr.com ?)

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, Business, communication, mcdonald consulting group, preparation, training

There are several key differences between being a manager and a leader. For people running their own business or acting as parts of a management structure in a larger business it is important to recognize the differences between managing and leading and use these different methods appropriately. The biggest difference between managing and leading is that managers push groups to achieve specific goals while leaders pull groups in a general direction, letting the group decide on the specific goals.

When you are managing a group you are looked at for direction and answers, you are the driving force or push behind your team. Managers are focused on individual contributions and making sure that everyone on the team is doing exactly what they need to be doing to achieve the specified goal. At critical junctures in the process the team will defer to the manager to steer them in the right direction. All major decisions are made by the manager of a team.

Leaders on the other hand let the team make their own decisions. Instead of pushing the team into specific solutions, a leader pulls the team toward the goal, letting the team figure out the best way to get there. As a leader your role is not to provide the answers but to facilitate the team in coming up with their own answers. Leaders are more concerned with the overall functioning of the team and the relations between team members then the individual tasks of each member of the team.

Clearly each of these styles has its place and it is important as a team lead to recognize when you need to manage your team and when you need to lead them. Typically as employees grow more accustomed to the business they need less management and more leading. As an employee grows comfortable with her daily tasks she no longer needs someone looking over her shoulder, however she does need someone motivating her and this is where a great leader will excel. On the other side new employees don’t need motivation and leadership as much as they need someone there telling them how to do their new job.

This is not to say that only new employees need management, or that experienced employees will always excel with great leadership. As a team lead it is up to you to figure out what the members of your team need from you, and typically this means walking a line somewhere in between managing and leading. At times it will be important to be the task master and manage the members of your team, however if you default to this mode you will stifle the creativity of your team members and will not be allowing them to achieve their best. So at time is it important to take on the role of the leader and let the team figure out the solution, again though it is important to not go too far in this direction. If left completely to their own devices employees may wind up off track or pursuing ideas that are not practical for the current situation, it is your job to step in and make sure this doesn’t happen.

I encourage you to take a look at your current management practices and skills and see where you fall, are you more of a manager or a leader, and then examine the effects this may be having on your team. Considering trying the opposite approach from how you typically interact with your team and see how they respond. It may be that some of your employees have been waiting for an opportunity to be more creative, or have needed more direction in the workplace. The important thing to remember is that, as a team lead, you need to always be monitoring your team members and tailoring your interactions with them to help them achieve their best. This is the true goal of any leader, whether she is managing or leading, she is always trying to bring out the best in those around her.

Technorati Tags: Business, communication, leadership, problem solving