Meetings are an important part of communication in most businesses but it is a poorly understood discipline. For many people, a meetings is that it is something that is boring, takes a lot of time and has little value.
I suspect many people would say that meetings are dead or unnecessary, especially in a small business. Maybe it’s because many of us have been too exposed to traditional type of meetings which usually drag on for hours and seem to have little or no purpose.
I still believe that meetings are vital to improving communication and feedback throughout the business. However, we need to change the structure, timing and composition to suit our needs and help us become more productive, and the business more profitable. But we need a new paradigm for the humble meeting.
What do we need to do in order to create a new “meeting” paradigm?
The first thing we need to change is the name – MEETINGS. The mere mention of this name conjures all the wrong images in our minds. My suggestion is that you call your “new meetings” something else like: discussions, catch ups, toolbox talks, huddles, etc – anything but “meetings”. This will change the mindset right from the start.If you have any good alternative names then please post on the blog at the end of this post.
Get the structure right
Second issue to address is the structure. By this I mean 3 key elements:
Agenda
Duration
Attendees
AGENDA: Take the time to understand the purpose of the “meeting”. Why are we bothering? What are our expectations? Once you understand this, you can then create a simple agenda to meet these needs. Keep it tight and focused. Document only agreed actions arising from the meeting. The meetings should be about making decisions.
A simple Agenda could cover topics like: What’s going well? What’s not? How are we tracking on key KPI’s? What do we need to change? What is news? Previous actions. Agreed actions from this meeting.
DURATION: My advice, the shorter the better! Set tight timeframes for discussions on topics. Give everyone a chance to contribute within agreed timeframes. Don’t allow “time fillers” to waffle on. Establish rules around what and when a topic gets taken off-line from this meeting. (My general rule is anything that doesn’t involve 3 or more participants/departments should be taken off-line). You are better off to have more short, sharp, focused meetings with the right people on board than fewer, longer, less productive meetings.
ATTENDEES: This is a tricky one as you run the risk of bruising egos. However, if your business is to grow and develop you will need to address these issues at some point. Attendees need to be people who will add value and/or will be directly responsible for actions generated in the meeting. There should be no-one with “Observer” status. If you are part of the meeting you are expected to contribute.
FREQUENCY and TIMING
With today’s fast-paced lifestyle and dynamic businesses, most business owners say they haven’t got the time to meet formally, but will consider chatting over a cup of coffee periodically and hope that that will be good enough. They also use other forms of communication such as email and SMS in lieu of a quality meeting (not that these aren’t good tools for the right situation).
The problem is, although these people think they are saving time and money by having a fleeting meeting now and then, in reality they are wasting more than if they sat down with a proper agenda, and conducted a well-thought through meeting.
The basic rule for frequency is that – the bigger the challenge ahead of you and the quicker you need to deliver on that challenge then the more frequently your team needs to communicate. Meetings are certainly an important part of that communication process as they allow for fast fine-tuning of direction and activities to keep everyone on track to meet your business goals.
Set the frequency of your meetings to fit with the rate of change and the challenges being confronted.
Remember we are talking about short, sharp focused meetings not the rambling gatherings of old! You are better to meet more frequently for short periods than longer and less frequent.
Change your paradigm
Meetings of old are no longer relevant. Business and communication tools have changed but quality meetings are always an important part of business growth.
It’s time to upgrade to well-structured and short timeframe meetings (20 minutes or less) – short and sharp with clear outcomes and action plans. This way you get far better results, far better time efficiency and far better participation rates.
The number of people that I talk with who have a great idea for an iPhone app is incredible. The challenge for most of us in how to make it happen.
Too many of the online resources are superficial, high in hype and low in detail or aimed squarely at people with a high level of IT skills and experience. Most of the people I talk with are like me and have no programming skills and lack the time, drive and aptitude to develop them.
Despite my lack of skills, I have developed a 2 iPhone apps (Force Field Analysis & Competitor Analysis – both business apps) and have another 4 apps in development.
The process to get my apps developed was convoluted and challenging. Along the way, I have made plenty of mistakes but also found heaps of tools, tips and tricks. I have pulled all this together into a new 260 page eBook that explains the 9 Step Process of developing and marketing an iPhone app – in great detail.
The eBook also includes a listing of over 205 resources that you can use to develop your own iPhone application.
You know, I think that over the last few decades that “business” has lost the art of managing their people. (I say “business” because obviously there are some great managers out there – but, in general, management is a lost art!)
We’ve managed to pull through the GFC (“Global Financial Crisis”) and have emerged into a market that is very competitive, with tighter margins and that is far more globalised than ever before.
There are also significant opportunities for businesses that are have the capacity and capability to embrace them. But here lies the challenge…
I am finding that most businesses do not have the necessary “middle- management” skills and personnel to pull it off.
Why is this so?
Well, in an effort to become more efficient, we have “exised the fat” and removed layers of middle-management by pushing more and more responsibility down the “chain of command”.
“Delegation and empowerment” have been the buzz words of the first decade of this century. Now, this was fine when economies and businesses grew at unprecedented rates and that being an effective sales person meant that you were quickest to the fax to collect new orders when they came through.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, high profile CEO’s (“Chainsaw” Al Dunlap, etal) made a big impact with their “razor gangs” laying off hundreds of thousands of people, mainly middle managers, in the search for improved profits.
I believe this was short-term thinking and that the long-term effects were camouflaged by the huge economic growth from the late 1990’s to 2008.
“Money can paper over a lot of cracks” has been my mantra and since 2008, when the cash vanished, the cracks have been laid bare.
My colleague, Mike Boyle – the Sales Scientist (Mike is a leading sales consultant and if you’re having any issues with sales in your business – you need to contact him at www.banjargroup.com.au ) – has found similar issues in Sales Management and has expressed it beautifully.
Mike says “If managers are seen as by managing by results, they are actually managing by fear.
If they are seen as managing by activities, they are managing by pressure.
Neither of these management strategies will grow the capabilities of the team to meet future challenges.
They should be placing a large proportion of their time in developing and coaching their sales team to lift skills, improve knowledge and change behaviors” and he has the data to prove that this works.
I agree wholeheartedly with Mike. In essence, we have lost the art of coaching and mentoring our team members.
We are often very good at measuring the numbers and “cracking the whip” on activities but not very good at coaching our team to build skills, knowledge and change behaviours.
I believe it will be exacerbated in our changing workforce, as the “experience” of the Baby Boomers leaves the workforce and is replaced by the “enthusiasm” of Gen Y who have not been coached and developed to the same extent.
For me, this raises a couple of fundamental questions:
What are your managers doing to “grow” their people?
How will you move from a management culture based on fear and pressure to one based on mentoring and growth?
Your answers will be critical to your long term business success.
The Apple App Store is an amazing marketplace that has changed the way we interact with technology and how we purchase and deliver software solutions. It is a great business model. The strength of this model is in the way Apple has encouraged others to build product specifically for their devices.
As many of you know, I have recently developed a couple of iPhone apps for business users (Force Field Analysisand Competitor Analysis) and have become intrigued by the concept. The exercise is going well (I could always do with a few more sales!) but I’m not going to give up my day job just yet!
When I released my first app, I had so many enquiries asking “How do you develop an app as I have some ideas?” that I decided to write an e-book about my experiences and the knowledge I picked up along the way. The book is 75% complete.
I can honestly say that building an app “blind” (no knowledge or skills) was really challenging but I have learnt a lot along the way. The internet is full of resources that are applicable if you have some programming (coding) knowledge but pretty light on if you are technologically inept like me.
However, what I’m interested in is if so many people have so many ideas for apps – why don’t they just dive in and make it happen?
What are the barriers that are stopping you from developing a smartphone app?
You can comment below or send me an email or respond to my posting directly. I’d love to hear from you.
RSS Feeds – What are they? How can I use them in my business?
In this day and age, internet and mobile technology play a big role in everyday life. This is especially true for those of us who constantly search for new and efficient ways to disseminate information to our network of friends, customers and clients. Aside from the usual web tactics, RSS feeds make this possible.
What are RSS Feeds?
RSS (“Really Simple Syndication”) is a group of standardised data formats for news and headlines, blogs, audio and video. It is identified by name or symbols like this:
These formats, also known as “feeds,” allow publishers to publish content automatically via web, desktop and mobile RSS readers. Once published then content can be easily and automatically accessed by groups or individuals.
RSS also allows those who are interested to subscribe to the feeds that they like. These feeds are then delivered automatically to your RSS reader. There are stand alone RSS Readers but they are now built into the main email programs like Outlook, Netscape and Apple Mail.
The main benefit of using RSS to access the content that you like is that it is aggregated for you in one place – you do not need to visit a heap of websites to view the content that you like.
How can I use RSS in my business?
RSS is usually integrated as one of the basic functions of a website. It helps fuel traffic. And although it isn’t the only function that can generate traffic for your site, reaching as many people and getting them to subscribe to your feeds is one of the top ways to produce buzz and increase your site’s ranking and authority on the web. At the same time, you can connect and gather related info from people who think the same as you.
RSS feeds help spread the word about anything – for free. And it is for this reason, that a business owner—especially one who has taken his business online—should take advantage of it. Compared to sending emails or regular newsletters to clients or customers, RSS feeds are more effective as they are customized and specific. RSS subscription ensures that people get a hold of feeds that are only of their interest.
For businesses, RSS feeds are efficient forms of promotion and marketing that works in two ways. Aside from being a quick-share tool by supplying credible content to your subscribers on their computers and mobile phones in seconds, it also helps when business owners subscribe to or exchange feeds and gather info from related sites.
How do I subscribe to RSS feeds?
To subscribe to an RSS feed, you should have two things—an RSS reader and the URL of the feed’s website you wish to subscribe to.
RSS readers also known as “news aggregators” are free to download and easy to use. Almost all sites with RSS feeds offer links to where you can get one. But you can also choose to use a free web-based reader like Google Reader, My Yahoo or My MSN that features feeds that you’ve subscribed to in your browser’s homepage.
As mentioned above, most mail programs also include RSS Reader capabilities. There are plenty of RSS Reader apps for your iPhone, iPad, Blackberry or Android smartphone as well.
After downloading an RSS Reader, click on “Add RSS Feed” and copy the URL of the RSS then paste and add it into your reader. RSS readers allow users to customize the frequency of updates for feeds—daily, weekly or monthly.
Alternatively you can just click on the RSS icon on the blog or website that you would like to follow.
In summary, RSS feeds are truly effective info-sharing tools for businesses that will thrive and continue to find opportunities in the Internet era. They are also great tools for keeping up to date with blogs and websites that you are interested in.
Social networking has indeed changed the world. Since its introduction, this modern phenomenon, which is also referred to as social media, has provided a new and faster way for people to connect, interact and go about with their daily lives.
Social networking may have started out as a fad, but its massive appeal has transformed it to something even bigger. And today, almost 50% of the world’s IT literate population, under 30 years old, is on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and more.
Social networking has affected almost every person in the world in one way or another—good or bad. In fact, many people’s personal lives have changed because of it. Research shows that 1 out of 8 US couples have met through social networking sites. With things like this happening because of social media, the question is, is it only good for personal life? Or are there opportunities that businesses can take advantage of?
Social Media and Business
One of social networking’s strong points is that it gets news across—whatever it is—to millions of people—wherever they are—in real time. Gone are the days when people had to take time to find out about what’s going on in the world. These days, news is fed to people via social networking in minutes! This feature is one of the best opportunities businesses can and should definitely explore and take advantage of.
Another opportunity that social networking presents to businesses is its attractiveness or appeal to people. Aside from having a large proportion of the world’s population on it, studies reveal that social networking sites, especially Facebook, have topped other forms of media such as TV, radio and other popular internet sites like Google. This percentage ensures that business people who invest time and money to market their products and companies in social networking sites are sure to get the exposure and quotas they’re aiming for.
But with so much hype on social networking, many consider that the social media bubble is about to burst. The notion has been formulated by economists who think that all things that reach a peak will soon fall. And with this speculation, business owners ask whether investing in social media is still worth it or not?
Social Media is here to Stay
People might say that the reign of social media will soon end, and although it may be true, businesses should still take the opportunity to use it for marketing purposes because the social networking technology will be here to stay.
Yes, it is possible that Facebook and other popular social networking sites may become obsolete in a few years but it will only be replaced by something much more advanced.
Social networking sites, as the term implies, thrive on people’s natural instinct to socialize, to communicate and to interact with each other. So long as there are people in the world, social media, in whatever form will stay as a powerful tool to reach out, sell and convey a message.
Social Media is Relatively Inexpensive
With the global financial crisis, finding alternative solutions to high costs is essential for businesses to survive. And with that said, another reason why businesses should consider utilizing social networking is because it is inexpensive.
Most social networking sites are free to access by anyone, anywhere in the world. With no financial cost, businesses are able to build a profile in whatever way they want their brand to be introduced and made known to the market. But don’t be fooled. Social networking may be absolutely free, but in order for businesses to excel in this new media, hard work and patience is required.
Social networking makes businesses more vulnerable to the public eye. Just as in the “physical world”, establishing solid customer relationships and providing sincere customer service are important for business growth – they are just as important online. If businesses fail to invest the necessary time and effort in reaching out to their customers – they’re bound to fail in social media, as well.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that businesses that treat their social networking like any other physical networking opportunity are winning work from it. This requires a consistent focus and attention to the network. It will involve participation in the network, communication with other members, responding to posts, joining special interest groups and discussion forums. All things you would do in a physical networking group like a Chamber of Commerce.
Selecting the Right Network for your Business
Obviously, selecting the right social media platform for your business is important. Facebook, although the dominant player in the market, anecdotally appears to be more for Business to Consumer relationships than some other options.
LinkedIn on the other hand is one the larger Professional/Business networking sites and is much more suited to building Business to Business relationships.
Twitter, is a “micro blogging” network that seems to have appeal across both business and social networks. Some of the networks, like LinkedIn, allow you to interact with other social media like blogs, Twitter, etc such that a posting on your blog can automatically feed to LinkedIn which can then on feed a comment to your Twitter account. In this way, one activity can service multiple contact points and networks.
Choose the network that suits your business and concentrate your effort on this. This should give you a greater return for effort than spreading yourself too thin.
Countering the dangers of Social Media for Business
Like all things, social networking also has its disadvantages. One of the dangers of social media for businesses is also one of its strongest points—social networking delivers news, good or bad, in an instant. For this reason, businesses should be wary of what they say about their products and be very careful of their actions.
According to some studies, people are prone to believing what they’re friends say more than what they see on advertisements or press releases. A bad company or product reputation will easily spread via social media.
Another thing that business owners should keep an eye out for when investing in social networking sites is the possibility of having copycats. Competition can encourage anyone to do just about anything, and because social media sites are mostly free, it’s easy to copy and create false and rep-destroying profiles against a competitor. Because of this, social networking as a marketing tool is dangerous by itself.
Integration is the Key
Social Media is not the only platform for your marketing – it is one of many. And it should be integrated into traditional media and other marketing strategies such as word of mouth, relationship building and contact programs.
It is crucial for businesses to integrate social media activities with their existing marketing programs because the objective of using social media is to build relationships via an online community, just as much of your other marketing is about interacting with the physical community.
Overall, the advantages of social networking as a business tool outweigh its disadvantages. With larger proportion s of the business community involved in social media in one way or another, it is a strategy that business owners should definitely take advantage of.
