Au Contraire, it can lead to improved productivity and branding.
First and foremost, let’s get one thing clear about Social Media. It is not just a tool, or a tactic or even a strategy. It is simply a channel for having online conversations. Depending on if you know and intend to use it purposefully or not, it can increase productivity… or not. There are two kinds of stances organizations that do not believe in the power of Social Media take when it comes to using Facebook or Twitter, at work.
Employees will be distracted. They’ll spend too much time on these sites and it will be an impediment to the actual work. So, they should not have access to these at work.
Social Media is not useful at all. I don’t want to know when someone is going grocery shopping or cleaning his car.
The issue with the first stance is simply not about social media. It is about ethics. Just like you shouldn’t be browsing the internet for 7 hours a day in your 8 hour workday and you shouldn’t be chatting on the phone about your favorite football team with your buddy for the better part of your workday, you shouldn’t be using the different social media channels for extended periods of time. Blocking the websites wouldn’t do a lot of good if the people in your organization are looking to spend the majority of their working hours elsewhere. You might want to look at “Why are they distracted”? more than “What distracts them”?
The issue with the second stance is simply ignorance and a fixed way of thinking about social media. There are some Social Media Rockstars who have branded themselves impeccably using the various social media channels. It does not mean they have never got subjected to online conversations about grocery shopping from other folks. It simply means they have been participating and contributing to the social media space purposefully and with an open mind. They do not allow themselves to be led by popular opinion. They are in the department of changing the popular opinion… or even being a source of a new one! There is a reason why companies like CNN, BestBuy, Dell and JetBlue continue using Twitter and the reason is simply that were ready to experiment and they’ve found a way to make it work for whatever it is that they are after. Contrary to popular belief, these companies not only use Twitter as a channel to market their offers but also to have online conversations with their customers which, mind you, involves listening to the customer’s concerns and then engaging with them by taking action to best take care of them.
Regardless of your organization’s stance on Social Media, Social Media is here to stay. It’s not any different from any new practice or technology that is invented. About 30 years ago or so, with the advent of computers, we got a real taste of what machines can do from a small microchip. About 20 years ago or so, we got a taste of what connectivity means with the advent of the internet. Perhaps it’s time for organizations to give up their rigidity on Social Media and leap into this new decade with a sense of exploration and genuine intrigue to see what conversing online means with the advent of this dangerous opportunity (Social Media).
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This article was contributed by Himanshu Jhamb, co-founder of Active Garage and co-author of the upcoming book "ProjectManagementTweets". You can follow Himanshu on Twitter at himjhamb.
the speed of a train without validating the direction
In F1 racing, one of the primary challenges for a driver is to keep a close eye on speed and direction. One wrong move at a high speed and car bumps with the edge of the track. “Speed” when combined with direction is termed as “velocity”.
One of the rules of management is, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” But an obsessive focus on metrics can prove harmful for organization’s health because:
You may be measuring wrong things that do not directly relate to organization goals
You may only be measuring outcomes without focusing on qualitative aspects.
You may be using measurement as a sole base for decision making without considering the variable/unknowing aspects of your business.
A lot of resource managers in technology and business area narrow their focus on hardcore metrics that reveal volume but not quality. Examples could be number of hours logged during a day (versus tasks achieved in those hours), number of modules completed in a day (versus quality of those modules), number of cold calls made during the day (versus quality of research and depth of communication in each call). This list can go on, but you get the point. More, in this case, is not always better.
Metrics are important to evaluate process efficiency, but not sufficient. Quality system of an organization should have processes to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of work. How can this be achieved? Here are three most important pointers:
Hybrid approach with focus on good management: Measuring productivity solely by units produced could be a great way to manage in manufacturing world. In knowledge world, where the raw material for products or services is a human brain, qualitative approach combined with common-sense metrics is a great way to ensure balance between quality and productivity. Key to higher productivity in knowledge based industry is ‘good management’.
Quality as a part of process, rather than an afterthought: Quality is not an afterthought. Quality has to be built through process by people. Process should have necessary activities defined at each stage of product to ensure that a quality product is being built. These activities can then be measured and improved upon. Process also shapes up culture of an organization and hence due care must be taken to ensure that quality system does not form a wrong culture. Process has to take care of softer aspects of work including trust, commitment and motivation levels of people.
Measure to help, not to destroy: Metrics are like a compass that shows direction. In order to move forward, you have to walk the direction. Metrics can give you important trends, but these trends need to be analyzed and worked upon. Key challenge of any process manager is to ensure that metrics are used to evaluate process and not people. If you start using metrics as a base for rewards, you are not allowing people to make mistakes. When people don’t make mistakes, they don’t grow. As an organization, you don’t grow either.
Process can be used to gain “speed” or to gain “velocity”. The choice is yours.
In modern day sports, players and their coaches have sophisticated facilities to learn from recorded versions of the game with some great analytical tools. When reviewing these recorded versions with the team, an important job of a coach is to tell the player:
What is going right? How can we consolidate that?
What can be improved further? How will it help the game?
What needs to change?
Process improvement is all about improving your game with a thoughtful consideration to critical aspects of business.
You can do a lot of improvement in non-critical areas (and feel good about it). Just because you are improving something does not mean you are improving the right thing. The key to success of any improvement initiative is to pick the right areas. To get driven by operational nitty-gritty is one of the biggest mistakes most improvement managers commit. Process improvement can become an important business enabler provided all improvement initiatives are business oriented.
Do a quick reality check by answering following critical questions to gauge return-on-investment of process improvement initiative:
1) If a particular area of operations is improved, will it have a direct impact on customer’s satisfaction level or customer’s experience? (Focus: External Value)
2) Does the improvement in a particular area directly improve the productivity of team and enable them to execute faster? (Focus: Productivity)
3) Does improvement in a particular area directly have impact on revenues and business? (Focus: Revenue)
4) Does improvement in a particular area make it easier for people to generate qualitative outcomes and improved job satisfaction? (Focus: Internal Value)
How do you find out what “really” needs improvements? The answer is – by collaborating. You can never identify broader improvement areas by isolating yourself in a comfortable cabin. You have to actively collaborate with the following stakeholders:
1) Customers : In a customer-centric process culture, feedback from customers are carefully assessed to identify customer’s expectations on what can be improved. Your customer can be your strongest ally in improvement journey. Seek feedback.
2) Business Development Folks: They are the ones who have maximum face time with customers. These could be project managers, account managers or client relationship managers. They can give improvement areas that directly map with business.
3) Middle managers and team: They are people on floor who get things done. They are best candidates to give suggestions on what can be improved operationally to deliver quality upfront and improve productivity.
The famous 80:20 rule applies to process improvement initiative as well. 80% of improvement happens by focusing on continuous identification of 20% improvement areas. It helps to adopt a clinical approach in identifying the 20% that really matters – yes, that much (20%) does make that much (80%) of a difference!
Our world has been continually evolving. With the advent of globalization, technology and internet, we are now embarking on the phenomenal growth of the virtual worlds. So, what are Virtual Worlds? Virtual world is a real-time, multi-player 3D environments in which the user takes on a specific role, represented on screen by an avatar. Obvious example is SecondLife. People who live in virtual worlds can buy homes, go shopping and play games with friends – this is the social networking element of it. With the current economic recession, companies are finding it cost-effective to hold meetings, recruit candidates and do promotions in virtual worlds. Offline events require hotel, travel costs and lost time in productivity – so why not meet your potential clients, employees and colleagues virtually – Afterall they exist both in the real and virtual world.
Here is a brief intro of a what is a virtual world?
Where is the MONEY??
Virtual worlds reshape the real-life Retail:
With the rise in Virtual world, many small businesses are using it to interact with their customers. Many businesses are marketing their products and services in virtual worlds – you can hold events, do strategic placements for audience development and building relationships with their customers:
Where is my LOVE? Virtual worlds are all about experience and community.
Want a cool girlfriend? Who needs a real deal? She is exactly what you want and is gone when you log off.
Our world has expanded – it has multiple dimensions….ARE you present Virtually?
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Contributed by Deepika Bajaj, President and Founder, Invincibelle, LLC. Invincibelle helps women who live and work in a multicultural world to accelerate their professional growth.
Deepika is also the author of the book DiversityTweet: Embracing the growing diversity in our world.
You can follow Deepika on Twitter at invincibelle
What is the likelihood of a small startup being successful if its members don’t take their health seriously? In small companies it is known that everyone has to wear multiple hats and it usually takes all hands on deck just to keep things going. So if you have an unhealthy1 person or organization can you afford the cost?
There are numerous studies and statistics on how much health affects the performance of an individual. It is also known that in business people have to work in social networks in order to get tasks done and the mood of one can often lower the mood of a group. Often the findings of health studies on employees or employers environments with poor health shows up with increased absence, lower work-rate, mistakes, minimal teamwork and poorer customer service. All of these are expensive costs to any size business.
Who do you want out there in front of your clients and prospective customers – your lean healthy employee that got up and exercised before work, is energized and in a great enthusiastic mood for the day ahead or your overweight and unkempt employee that no one in the office will work with? Choices like this are easy but we don’t always find ourselves in a position to choose, often this degradation of health takes place over a period of time. The answer lies in not trying to avoid the issue – and that is by both the employer and employee – but to make a conscious decision to act to take care of it.
A company in the UK – Parcelforce – in a bid to improve employee motivation and attendance, introduced health screening clinics, gym memberships, bicycle loans and health education support covering stress, smoking and nutrition. Absence reduced by 33%, employee satisfaction improved by a similar amount, workplace accidents reduced by 45% and the program contributed towards productivity and customer service improvements.
As individuals our bodies are the one source of god given power that we all have by virtue of being born – How we take care of our health over our 40 odd year careers is likely the most powerful daily decisions we will make!
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1Unhealthy being anyone not respecting their bodies like illness, weight problems, poor diet, smoking, alcohol and drugs abuse, physical fitness, mental health, work-related stress, tiredness, irritability
This article was contributed by Guy Ralfe, co-founder of Active Garage and co-author of the upcoming book "ProjectManagementTweets". You can follow Guy on Twitter at gralfe.
I just got back from a 3 day conference where I met some of the most accomplished individuals in the business world. Many of them were successful entrepreneurs who had started companies, failed time and again… and then succeeded. Many were leaders in executive roles in their organizations. The conference had a few break out sessions which were led by some of them. I couldn’t help but notice how they moved around and conducted themselves. Here are some of their actions and what they meant to me:
They made every effort to be On time – Indicates to me a deep respect for my opportunity cost of meeting with them, (i.e. they cared about the opportunities participants had to forego to attend their session).
They came Prepared for the sessions they led – This gave them an opportunity to produce high Returns (increased productivity, learning) On Investment (Time, Money, Energy) for the participants.
They opened with a question ‘Why are you here?’ – This gave them an opportunity to generate relevance for the participants.
They kept the session interactive – This kept the participants engaged & interested.
They closed with an actionable request – This gave the participants an opportunity of putting into practice (in real life) what they learnt.
Imagine the increase in productivity in whatever you do, if all the meetings and sessions were run with these fundamental tenets in mind, regardless of if you were a participant or the leader.
Imagine the ROI!
…I’ll leave you with that thought to reflect upon!
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Au Contraire, it can lead to improved productivity and branding.
This article was contributed by Himanshu Jhamb, co-founder of Active Garage and co-author of the upcoming book "ProjectManagementTweets". You can follow Himanshu on Twitter at himjhamb.
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What is the likelihood of a small startup being successful if its members don’t take their health seriously? In small companies it is known that everyone has to wear multiple hats and it usually takes all hands on deck just to keep things going. So if you have an unhealthy1 person or organization can you afford the cost?
