900 Greenbank Road
Suite 531,
Nepean Ontario
Canada K2J 4P6
(613) 860-1384 (Ph)
(613) 825-4895 (Fax)

Click here for your free monthly subscription  

Click here to return to the archives

Back issues 

##########################################
EXECUTIVE STRATEGIES

A free monthly newsletter for anyone who is interested in 
EXCEEDING their goals by RECOGNIZING OPPORTUNITY or IMPROVING EFFICIENCY.

To be added or removed from the list, or to access Past copies
see the information at the bottom of this message.

Copyright 2001 Wayne McKinnon. All rights reserved. 


Vol. 2 Number 3 - Sept, 2001
Publisher: Wayne McKinnon info@ITcoach.com 
http://www.ITcoach.com 
(C) ITcoach.com 2001
##########################################

==============================================================

Feel free to forward this FREE E-Zine to anyone you know 
 who is interested in BEING MORE EFFECTIVE 
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS and artificially imposed limitations 
or being RECOGNIZING for their efforts, 

If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and would 
 like to get your own free subscription, please
send mailto:join-executive_strategies@ITcoach.com  OR
visit http://www.ITcoach.com/ezinesubscribe.htm
==============================================================

******************************************************
* PRIVACY STATEMENT: *
* We will not distribute your address to anyone. *
* Period. *
******************************************************

=============================================
IN THIS ISSUE 
=============================================


1. CURRENT EVENTS: What does it mean and where is the opportunity?

2. LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: I thought I was wrong but I was mistaken...AGAIN

3. CONTRIBUTING TO THE BUSINESS: This month's reason Why you may not be 
getting the results your expect 

4. MARKETING TIP: Increasing market share in a cost effective manner

5. WEBSITES OF INTEREST

6. PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY TIP


===============================================================
1. CURRENT EVENTS: What does it mean and where is the opportunity?
===============================================================

With this summer's round of startup companies going "dot-bust"
I thought this would be a good opportunity to explore what might have gone wrong,
and what management could have done differently:

If you have ever been inside the walls of a startup company, you will realize 
that one of the most important job of the executive staff is to not only 
assemble the best teams to do the job, but also to motivate them.

I'm not talking about some shallow rah-rah pep talk 
(although that may have value on the darkest days), 
but truly motivating staff to be part of a team. Peer pressure is an
unstoppable force in creating internal motivation. No one wants to be the one
to let down the team. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs knew this well.

But one of the dangerous side effects of running a highly motivated staff
is that they will charge off in any direction you want them to, without question.
This is an ideal situation for a seasoned manager who simply has to pick
the direction, but just like driving too fast in the dark, you can overrun 
your headlight and get into trouble pretty quickly when you can't see far enough ahead.

Even worse, if you are heading in the wrong direction, you will get there awful quick.
Be sure to schedule some thinking time into the equation, and make sure that 
you know how to put the brakes on, and that the team understands why it
is necessary to slow down in order to navigate a turn or a bumpy road.


===============================================================
2. LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: I thought I was wrong but I was mistaken...AGAIN
===============================================================

I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of startup companies this 
summer, and many had a pretty impressive list of high profile investors.
To attract such investors, I deduced that the management staff must be 
seasoned professionals who knew the ins and outs of building a company.

What I wasn't prepared for was finding out that just below the surface 
often lurked a misguided group of somewhat motivated employees. 

Now these are good people, but 
It seems all too common that team members are hired to fill a gap, 
but with little direction or authority to make decisions. Few things move forward,
and as a whole, the company moves forward without the proper balance between
product development, marketing and sales. End result - products ready to go, 
but no one knows about you and you have no way to distribute your product.
(for more on this read my latest my web site article on positioning)

So what is a manager to do, and what can you learn from this if you don't work
for a startup? Focus on leadership, hire good people, and don't be afraid to
loosen the reins a little bit so that these good people that YOU have hired
can prove to everyone how smart YOU have been in assembling such a motivated team.
Sure it takes time, but you had better start now 'cause times running out. Weather you 
are in a start-up, fortune 1000 or even government, you will find out how quickly 
when you're company or division or branch goes dot-bust because you failed to 
meet your goals or deliver on your mandate.



===============================================================
3. CONTRIBUTING TO THE BUSINESS: 
This month's reason Why you may not be getting the results your expect 
===============================================================

Are you ready for it?

Here it is...

the number one reason why You are not getting the results you expect from 
your employees:

...When they do something other than expected, you tell them "this is not what I 
expected!"

People are not motivated so much by knowing what they did wrong, but rather what they 
did right so that they can continue doing things right while they look for other 
things to also do right.

Imagine one of your employees spends the entire weekend working on a report that you
need for your Monday meeting, and it is not what you expected.

You could get angry, tell them what they did wrong, and let that be a lesson to them,
but realize that they didn't spend the whole weekend trying to do it wrong. In fact
what kept them going through the night was their pride in their work and probably 
an internal desire to please you.

It is too late for you this time, so focus instead on how to improve the results 
for next time. 

-Did you set expectation clearly or did you expect them to "just know"
-Did you give them too much responsibility too soon, and thus set them up for a fall?
-Did you identify the things they did well, so that they can build on that base?




Here is one way

You - Bob, this report is crap. I expected better of you, did you check these figures?

Bob - I spent all weekend on that damned report and haven't even had time to eat!

You - Well you'd better get used to that. Unless you shape up you'll be looking 
somewhere else for your next meal, now go back and do it again. 
This time I want it done right!

Bob (to himslef) - Thankless no good so and so, that's the last time I'm bustin my butt for 
him.





$ Here is another approach to the same problem $

YOU - "Bob, I like the organization and layout of this report, and the graphs are very 
well done"

Bob - "Thanks, that was the hardest part, it took me forever to get it looking that way but 
I wanted it to reflect the quality others expect and that you so often demonstrate. 
That's why I haven't slept since Thursday."

You - "Can you save that format to use again later?

Bob - "Yes, that's a good idea"

You - "Great, with that out of the way you can dedicate your time to making sure that the 
figures are even more accurate. Besides the layout, that really reflects quality, 
and that is the quality I am known for."

Bob - "But you only gave me the weekend, I ran out of time..."

You - "I realize that, but we have discussed how your report template will save you time,
now here is what I want you to focus on for next time:
1).
2).
3).
"You could also keep a file on this type of information that you can keep
up to date so that you can pull the next report together without having to spend the 
weekend."

Bob - "Your the best boss I ever had :-)"


===============================================================
4. MARKETING TIP: Increasing market share in a cost effective manner
===============================================================

Make it easy for people to do business with you. Look for obstacles that
may make it more difficult to get the results they need. 

I just submitted a water test to ensure that the well at a new house I am buying
is ok. The whole deal hinges on this one condition so I need the results fast.
To speed things up I took the sample in myself and showed up a few days later
to get the results, only to find that the test wasn't processed because one piece
of information was missing ( common problem I was told).

From the form layout it wasn't clear that it was my 
responsibility to fill in that section (the type of information requested and 
its proximity to the "office use only" heading lead me to believe they would provide that).

A one week delay resulted, and I can guarantee that if a private lab
could provide the same service, I would go there next time.

The results I needed was a fast indicator of the quality of my well water.
The results the lab needed apparently was an accurately filled out form.

A more effective form would have provided both.
What results do you and your customers want, and What obstacles prevent those 
results from occurring consistently?


=====================================================
6. PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY TIP
=====================================================
When buying a new piece of technology, don't get caught up on bells and whistles.
Make a list of "must have" features, and equally as important, 
how you expect to use the product.

Technology drops in price very quickly so it is sometimes more cost effective
to buy what you need now, and replace it when another need comes along.

Two examples:
1).A digital camera can be quite inexpensive, or cost allot.
Price is mainly due to picture quality. Web pictures are 
usually no bigger than 640 x 480 pixels, while cameras capable of
photo quality prints can shoot images in the 2-3 mega pixel range
(mega=million). What do you plan to use yours for?
(Thanks for the example Randy)

2).Multifunction printers come in many configurations
-fax
-copy (colour or blanck & white)
-printing " " " "
-inkjet or laser (cost per page is higher with inkjet)

By listing your criteria you can make your decision easier
and you might realize that you missed two important criteria
-the ability to connect it directly to a computer network for sharing
among multiple PCs
-It has to work with your operating system (Windows 98 and 2000 require different 
drivers)