From a corporate or business point of view, how do you respond to a negative blog post or comment? Well, of course there are right and wrong ways to do that – and we’re here to tell you the right ways to respond.

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It’s sure to strike fear in the hearts of the most seasoned sales staff.  It’s guaranteed to terrify all but the most courageous and self-assured executive.  And, what it does to clerical and lower level management, production staff, and almost everybody else is simply too gruesome to describe.  What is it you ask?  It can be summarized in a single word.

Change.
Nothing else, save a pink slip or an order to give the keynote address at the next corporate convention is so likely to reduce even the most confident employee to a quivering mass of jello.  Yes, change is inevitable, but it should be handled carefully.   One important element of successful change is certainly how you communicate it.

First, never forget that major change will be tough.  No matter how much you prepare; how much you gather outside information, solicit stake-holder input, or offer reassuring speeches or even grand reassuring gestures, there will be stress and resistance.  Old habits are hard to break, even for key employees.

Second, know where you’re going.  Why is it necessary to change?  What’s going to be different?  Who will be affected?  Avoid buzzwords.  Sure, the company needs to be “lighter on its feet” and “more flexible” but know exactly what that mean to the organization communicate it in understandable terms.

Third, listen.  Tell you employees the drivers that compel change and what you hope to achieve.  Offer a range of possible solutions and solicit their input.  At best, you may develop some effective strategies from the responses you get.  But, regardless of the responses, you will achieve an associate force that feels involved and empowered.  By explaining, soliciting input, and listening you will be a long way down the road to achieving critical buy-in.

Fourth, act early and often.  The worst thing for morale would be change that’s “sprung” on your associate force.  They feel bushwhacked; because that’s exactly what’s happened.  Start the change process well before the target date.  Communicate often, and never confuse process with results.  Just because you have a smashing power-point and have formed a series of transition teams, don’t think the communication battle is complete.

Fifth, reach people any way you can.  That powerpoint given in transition team meetings is a good idea; but it shouldn’t be your only idea.  Frequent personal conversations are a key part of transition management.  If you have a company intranet site, use it.  Have an easily accessible and easily understandable page devoted to the change.  Use Email, your managers, and drop in on the work floor yourself.  People absorb information in different combinations of ways.  Some people are predominantly visual learners, some need to write things down, others need to hear it.  Do all these things.

Change is required to keep pace in the modern marketplace; but change is the dreaded word.  The key to effectively managing the transition is the same as the key to ultra-motivated employees:  encourage buy-in.  Make everybody feel they’re an integral part of the change and that, perhaps, they even contributed to the shape of the things that will come.

photo credit: stephenphampshire

In the information age, proprietary secrets don’t last long.  Best practices are quickly spread throughout the market.  Improvements in production and process become common knowledge very quickly.  Because advantages in efficiency and production will be so fleeting, every other element of quality management becomes even more vital.  One important way to stay ahead of the competition is to focus on your relationships; particularly in the area of customer service.  The Internet, and particularly social networking, offers you new tools to help.

Since the onset of the social networking revolution, suits in the top floor corner offices have either ignored the social media as useless pop culture, or demanded instant measureable return for time invested online.  Despite that resistance, visionary PR and management leadership insisted a presence in the burgeoning world of Facebook, Twitter, You-Tube, and the rest was not optional.   They began pioneering creative uses for social networks.  Some of the most interesting applications of social media can be found in its use in customer service.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself lost on some company’s customer support phone tree.  After interminable waits, and no fewer than three or four menu’s, you think you’ve finally arrived where you can be helped…and are disconnected.  I know phone trees are supposed to be efficient and cheap.  Here’s the truth though: everybody, and I do mean everybody, hates them.  They are impersonal, inflexible and unfriendly.  Customers believe, rightly or wrongly, that businesses hide behind a labyrinthine phone tree.  They feel abused.

Stop hiding.  Put a face on your company and add a personal touch to the customer service experience by building relationships in new ways, using social media.  Several forward thinking companies are already showing the path out of the phone tree forest.  Best Buy has been a leader in developing Twitter as a customer service environment.  Hundreds of their employees are online offering customer support and complaint resolution through Twitter.  In this program Best Buy answers questions and addresses problems directly with the clients involved; and they do it in a way that publicly broadcasts a message of commitment to customer service.  And the Twitter environment has an added advantage.  It’s very cheap.

Zappos, an online apparel retailer, has more than 400 employees with Twitter accounts.  With this program, Zappos moves customer support to the front line, makes it a direct relationship-building communication, and offers real time assistance.  It’s a win win…for everybody.

Social Media can make you fast, flexible, and friendly.  And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the ideal application to make senior executives finally take notice.

photo credit: WallTea

It’s not necessarily what you pay…it’s what you say!

The professional communicators at Communication Steroids keep repeating it, like a mantra chanted over and over again, that it’s the quality of relationships that determine the level of your success in the modern marketplace.  Every entrepreneur and manager knows the importance of a good relationship with your client, and most know that a positive, responsive relationship with vendors can spell the difference between triumph and catastrophe in an emergency.  Just as important, in many respects, is your relationship with your employees, your reports and your associates.

Communicate effectively with your employees and you encourage them to take ownership of their work and your success.  Communicate effectively with your employees and they will be less resistant to necessary change.  Communicate effectively with employees and they will be more receptive to instruction and direction.

Here are a few tips for productive communication with your subordinates:

1. Have a message and keep it consistent.  The management team should always understand the mission; and communication with employees, wherever possible, should be framed in keeping with that mission.  Even periodic goals (quarterly goals, for example) should be framed to reflect the mission statement.
2. Listen.  Active listening is at least as important for you as it is for your employees.  Use active listening skills to gain insight into what is troubling them and what inspires them.  Use that information to shape motivational messages and stress-reducing tools.
3. Pick the appropriate time and place.  A team meeting is never a good place for a discussion that only affects one team member.  I have been to a thousand meetings where the workflow was interrupted by a question leading to a discussion unique to only one team-member.  A public location is never a good place to criticize a subordinate; or to discuss disciplinary action.  And choose a vehicle appropriate to the conversation; individual meeting, team meeting, phone, or email.
4. Communicating with subordinates solely by annual performance review is usually a terrible idea.  Feedback should be common and, if necessary, should escalate gradually.  Focus at least as much on what is going well as on what needs improvement.  Feedback should always concentrate on real action items and mechanisms for improvement.  The annual review should be just that, a review, of conversations held throughout the reporting period; and it should end with goals to be pursued during the next reporting period.
5. Be available.  An open door policy may, or may not, be appropriate for your circumstances, but making yourself available to your employees is important.  Even if it’s only over the phone be in touch with your employees at least a couple of times a month if not weekly.  And make sure they understand that the time you spend in one-on-one with them is theirs.  Listen, and make sure there aren’t any interruptions.

Money isn’t the only reason people come to work every day, and it isn’t the only, perhaps even not the most powerful, inducement to achievement.   Studies show that employees most often cite poor management as the reason they leave a job.  It may not show up on the resume, or even in their next job interview, but people quit when they’re dissatisfied with their boss.  Have a communication strategy that encourages your subordinates to “buy in” to company strategies and goals.  Use that strategy as the basis for your business communication.

And improve your skills.  Get better as a communicator.  Learn to talk effectively to groups and teams.  Find out the ways language can be used as a motivator as powerful, and sometimes even more powerful, than money.

photo credit: ncaranti

There’s trouble.  A company product is in the news and tomorrow’s headlines could be telling readers of potential liability.  There’s blood in the water and press is circling like a bunch of sharks…hungry sharks.  You are in the middle, facing a bevy of microphones, all wearing the flags of TV and radio stations.  The cameras are on and the light’s in your eyes.  You alone will speak for the company; now and in the days ahead.  It’s the press conference from hell.  Are you ready?

I won’t pretend that a few paragraphs now is all you’ll need to handle yourself calmly, professionally, and successfully.  But, I can give you a few tips to get you started.  I used to be a shark myself.

The single most important thing to bear in mind when facing the news media is that YOU ARE IN CHARGE.  Reporters will leave that press conference with only the new information that you provide.  A good investigator will try to make it seem like they’ve got the advantage.  They’ll frame questions in a way that implies they’ve already got the answer and are just looking to you for confirmation; or that your failure to give them what they want will result in devastatingly bad press.  While there is usually some truth to these scenarios and, occasionally, a lot of truth, you can’t let that dictate how you respond.

Do not comment on topics for which you are unprepared; or when a reporter takes you by surprise.  Take time to think, a pause is never out of place while you consider your answer.   Never make things up.  Never.  If you haven’t prepared for an issue or the latest rumors, do not try to finesse an answer.  If you’re not certain you can speak for senior management and legal, tell the reporter you need time to familiarize yourself with new developments and that you’ll get back to them.  Don’t speak in anger, but, on rare occasion, there is a time for outrage.  Some of the most persuasive moments can come when you know, KNOW, a charge is patently false and foolish.  Then you can effectively exhibit justifiable outrage.

Keep your answers short and succinct.  Stay calm.  Watch your pitch, rate and volume.  It is important you are reassuring and confident.  Those qualities are not projected with loud, staccato delivery.  Don’t allow reporters to cut your answer short, but remember only a line or two in the press, or 6 to 20 seconds in broadcast, will be quoted.

Do not say “no comment.”  It just sounds guilty.  There are a number of alternative approaches depending on the situation.  One alternative in a liability matter might be, “there are sensitive issues here and we want to make sure we’ve covered this from every angle.  We’re working hard to produce the best outcome for all concerned.”

Don’t answer a question you haven’t been asked.  And, when you do answer, put the important stuff first.  Reporters tend to lead their stories with the most critical information.  So should you.

As the company spokesman, you need to get things right when things go wrong.  It isn’t easy and it isn’t simple.  That’s why many business leaders hire professionals to do the job.

photo credit: Goddard Photo and Video Blog

Mission oriented, goal oriented, project specific.

You’ve put together a cross-disciplinary team to accomplish an important task.  And, man, do you think you’ve got it nailed.  These professionals bring to the table exactly the right skills for the job.  You’re smiling as you blast out the E-mails letting each appointee know they’re on the team.

But, will they mesh?  Will there be personality conflicts?  Will there be dominators who monopolize the discussions?  Does everybody, in the words of the old grade school report card “play well with others?”  Here are some tips that should be passed along to EVERY member regarding how to make the most of face-to-face team meetings.

Of course, the first way to ensure a smoothly operating team is in the selection process.  Skills, of course, are paramount, but, if you can, avoid both the loner and the dominator.  One will hoard his ideas while the other will drown out contributions from any other member of her team.  Interaction can be also be fostered by considering the design of the meeting itself.  Something as simple as a round table, for example, can encourage participation by placing everybody on an equal footing.  You can also bring various viewpoints to the fore by tasking specific team members to make meeting presentations.  I’ve even assigned the job of meeting facilitator, on a rotating basis, to various team members.  Finally, participation can be encouraged by guaranteeing the meeting is meaningful.  Don’t call a meeting where E-mail communication will do as well.  Face-to-face brainstorming IS a legit reason to have a meeting.  The quick give and take can often produce breakthrough insights.  But, even if brainstorming is the only item on the agenda, make sure that agenda is distributed in advance so teammates can have a chance to gather their thoughts (some people are better extemporaneously than others).

Presentations at meetings can be vastly improved if both presenters and audience follow a few simple guidelines.

*When You Are The Presenter*

–Know your audience:  Make a note of teammates who might need a gentle reminder of meeting time and place.  Know which members might object to something out of hand or who might need prompting to contribute once the presentation reaches the discussion phase.

–Be Organized:   There’s not a lot that will lose the attention of your audience so fast as a mishmash of ideas that fail to follow a logical order.  Find a pattern, develop your organization, and stick to it.  Follow the rule of three’s if you can, organizing your points around three major ideas.  I know it sounds artificial, and it is, but the rule of three’s is well established as a psychological touchstone.
Having three main ideas gives the impression of weight while, at the same time, doesn’t overburden your listeners with too many main points to remember.

–Be Prepared:  Memorize the main points of your presentation and practice it a bit.  Avoid jargon unless it’s indisputably a shared language.  Remember the differences in the ways people learn.  If it’s appropriate, have slides for your visual learners and worksheets for those who get it best when they write it down.

–Be Patient:  Not everyone will understand immediately.  Remember, the reason you’re on the team is that you are expert in your field.  There will be knowledge you think is common to the group, but isn’t.  Expect to be questioned.  What’s more, expect to get the same question more than once.  Don’t let that bother you.  Instead, answer and explain, without condescension.

–Be Humorous:  Don’t try to do a stand-up comedy routine.  They pay Robin Williams big bucks for that.  But, now and then, try to drop a little humor into what otherwise might be tedious and technical.  Self-deprecating humor generally works well in these situations.

–Be Aware:  Monitor your body language.  Don’t let your bad day influence the team even through body movement you barely notice yourself.  Keep tabs on your audience too.  Eye contact will pull them into your discussion AND it will allow you to keep tabs on how things are going.  Are you losing them?  Are they eager?  They’ll give you signs if you look.

–Be In Control:  Don’t let minor disagreements dominate the discussion phase.  On the other hand, don’t let decisions be made off-the-cuff; without adequate discussion.  Make sure the presentation ends with takeaways or action items.

WHEN OTHERS PRESENT:

–Be Attentive:  Listen for meaning.  Understand what is being said.  This is a place where your active listening skills become very powerful.  The idea is that you make sure the content is clear to you.  Ask questions.  Preface those questions, if you can, with the presenters statement which, for you, needs clarification.

–Be Aware:  Make sure your body language represents you well.  Make eye contact with the presenter.  Sit forward with an engaged attitude.  Don’t tap your pencil or glance at your watch.  For the love of the almighty, turn off your cell.

–Be Constructive:  When that discussion phase rolls around, and you have issues, there are ways you can present them that minimize negativity.  USE THEM.  Compliment what you can.  When you do object, restate the original thesis (which proves you have been listening attentively) and establish exactly what it is about the idea that troubles you.  “That’s just stupid,” is never, ever, under any circumstances, an acceptable criticism; nor is any statement that targets the presenter rather than a specific element of what is presented.  Explain yourself (don’t be a knee-jerk hater); and never express an opinion as a fact.  For example:  When discussing colors on your next product brochure, you may despise the color red and think it is the most ugly part of the good Lord’s rainbow, but, if you state that, make sure you call it a personal opinion.  On the other hand, red text has been studied and researched.  Experts conclude that, while it is eye-catching, it is much harder to read.  In fact, readers might abandon the effort altogether.  That is fact.

–Be Responsible:  Make sure you understand the takeaways.  Make sure you complete any action items you’re assigned, on time.  And make sure you’re ready to report progress on those action items when asked to do so, via E-mail or in the next meeting.

Lewis and Clark were a team of two.  They shared command–equally–with neither considered the final authority.  Almost any manual of leadership will call that a recipe for instant disaster.  Yet, while they could not find an all water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific (none exists in North America), still, they succeeded.  Spectacularly.  As for me, I have, sadly, been part of teams that were little more than gripe sessions.  I have also been part of teams that proved, beyond doubt, that committee’s can produce amazing things…that they can lead.  In the end, the keys were respect between team-mates, a focus on action, and a singular passion for results.

I hate to sound “new age.”  I mean, I really hate it.  Touchy-feely is fine in many contexts, but seems tragically out of place in the competitive world of business.

Except…Sometimes we get good advice where we least expect it.

“Feng Shui” has come, these days, to mean the way we arrange our living space to achieve harmonious balance. To its original practitioners, it was even more than that; encompassing not just the objects in your living environment, but, more broadly, WHERE you lived and where you planted your crops.  In the art and science of team building, where you meet and how you arrange that workspace, will help determine your productivity and success.

Meet offsite or onsite?  In the plant or at headquarters?  Schedule the same meeting space every time, or change things up?  Where you go has an impact on the mind-set and character of your meetings.  For example, meeting at the plant has the advantage, obviously, of being close to the action.  Team members in the production end don’t have to travel and are in a familiar environment.  On the other hand, meeting in the plant and away from the corporate HQ could mean misunderstandings that make it more difficult to gain approval for key decisions or delays getting specialized input (from the Exec. or Legal departments, for example).

Some meeting facilitators will schedule sessions at a “neutral” site; away from company property altogether.  This option, though it makes interacting with senior management, or production staff, problematic, offers the advantage of emphasizing the importance of the team’s work.  Away from the work environment, many people feel less territorial pressure and are therefore more able to think “outside the box.”  It places them in an ivory tower and can foster innovation.

Choosing the place is only half the battle.  Arranging the meeting room itself can make or break a meeting environment.

Sometimes the little things, which seem so obvious when emphasized, escape us entirely when our mind focuses only on agenda.  It may seem elementary to note here that a rectangular table arrangement will give authority to whoever sits at the “head.”  Or that a round table will foster interaction by creating the impression that, like the Knights of King Arthur’s court, all on the team are equally valued and that all input is important.  Personally, I almost always use a round table if possible, even in team environments with a clear chain of command.  If a round table is unavailable, a perfect square (or as nearly as possible) works almost as well.

Now and then, some specialized seating arrangements are required.  If a particular meeting will focus on a speaker, a rectangular table arrangement works well.  If team members are to receive specific technical instruction, a “classroom” arrangement, with tables in rows facing the podium or viewing screen is best.  When the group is to break up into smaller sub-groups, offering each sub-group it’s own table (or even small room) adds emphasis to each assigned task.

I’d like to say that any of this is new, or original.  But, it isn’t.  It is, however, important.  The key here, as always, is finding better ways to get the job done; and productivity can be influenced, positively or negatively, in a variety of ways.  If a little Feng Shui can grease the wheels of progress, then I’m all for it.