Dodo Loves Marketing

Law firms are rarely considered cutting-edge organizations, but with their use of graded levels of achievement, they are far ahead of most companies. Although all lawyers are free to choose more conventional career paths—moving into the management of other lawyers, perhaps, or becoming a legal generalist for a corporation—these levels of achievement provide lawyers with an alternative, but equally respected, path to growth. It is a path that offers them both the opportunity to become experts and a simple way to track their progress. ..more

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These levels of achievement will certainly help redirect an employee’s focus toward becoming world class. However, the manager’s efforts at career redirection will be forever hindered if all of the pay signals are telling the employee to look upward.

Although each of us is motivated by money in different ways, the fact of the matter is that few of us are repelled by money. All of us may not hunger for it, but only a tiny minority of us find money positively distasteful. Therefore the simple truth is that it will be much easier for managers to redirect employees toward alternative career paths if some of those paths involve a raise in pay. ..more

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Great managers have to survive in a hostile world. Most companies do not value excellence in every role. They do not provide alternative career paths for their employees. And they do not give their managers the leeway to design graded levels of achievement or broadbanded pay plans. If you find yourself living in this restricted world, what can you do? ..more

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The conventional career path lacks forgiveness. As the employee climbs from rung to rung, the rungs are burned behind him. If he climbs onto a rung and struggles, he knows that his reputation will suffer and his job will be in jeopardy. There is no turning back. By punishing career missteps so severely, this path discourages everyone from taking bold career steps. In conventional wisdom’s world, taking bold career steps in order to discover a latent talent or to refine an existing one is almost as foolhardy as volunteering to learn the trapeze without a safety net. ..more

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1. MAKE SURE THE TALENT INTERVIEW STANDS ALONE

Recruiting can be a complicated process. The candidate has to learn about you, the company, the role, and the details of his compensation. You have to check his résumé, make him an offer; he may counter, you then resubmit your offer; and so the negotiating continues until finally you both feel comfortable enough to commit. This process is important, but all of it should be handled separately from the talent interview. ..more

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Sooner or later you’ve got to begin someplace. Why not with Your own group? Sometimes, because of organizational constraints, the only meetings you can affect are the ones in which You participate. It makes sense to test these ideas in your own back yard. There is no better place to develop your skills and gain experience. If you’re going to spend valuable time and energy participating in meetings, why not make them more productive and enjoyable? Here are eight steps you can take as manager/chairperson to introduce the Interaction Method into your meetings. ..more

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However skilled you are at the work you plan to do from home, your primary consideration in setting up your new business, must be to establish your market. Quite simply, that means finding your customers. In any business, whether you are a plumber, consultant or counsellor, you need customers to succeed. Tracking customers down — and holding on to them — is one of the most difficult challenges for any new business. If it is remotely possible, it is best not to leave your current job, if you have one, before you have at least one or two leads. ..more

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Shyness affects just about everyone under certain situations. While most people cope reasonably well with occasional shyness, there are some who live in a personal prison, unable to reach out and make friends or relate positively to others. Being shy at work can severely limit work effectiveness, unless of course, you work generally on your own with little or no contact with others.

Shy people present themselves at work in many varied ways. There is the quiet wallflower who fades into the background and is not often noticed. At the opposite extreme, there is the raging extrovert who can be loud, aggressive and abrasive, but who finds it difficult to relate on an intimate level to others. In between, there are many other people, such as the knocker, the person who knocks or degrades others. ..more

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Once you’ve done your market research and worked out if you can make a profit from the business, the next step is to take advice. This will not only confirm whether your calculations are realistic, but can take a lot of the pain out of setting up. The good news is that there’s lots of advice available - and much of it is free. What’s more, experts on small businesses reckon that over 60 per cent of small business failures could be avoided if only people took advice in three areas - money, management and marketing.

1 TECs/LECs A good place to start is your local Training and Enterprise Council (TEC), or Local Enterprise Council (LEC) . These can also put you in touch with other helpful agencies; such as your local Enterprise Agency and Business Link. You can find them through your telephone book, Yellow Pages or local library. The Department of Trade and Industry also has a hotline. ..more

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• First, do your homework. Find out if anyone else in the organization is working — or has worked — from home. Your union as well as the personnel department may know. If so, arrange to have a drink or meeting with them, to find out how they tackled the subject, how the arrangement works or, if it has stopped, why it ended.

• When I decided to move to the Isle of Bute, in Scotland, I thought I’d have to leave the bank,’ says Kevin Attwood, Strategic Planning Development Officer for Nat West who now works two days from home, and three in London. ‘In fact, I kept the move so quiet that when I told my boss I’d moved to Scotland over the weekend, he was flabbergasted. When we had lunch I said flippantly, that if I’d got my act together I would have come up with a strategic plan for teleworking. He told me to come up with a proposal. I rung up people in the bank who were already working from home some of the time and talked to them extensively before coming up with my plans. Listening to their experiences helped me make a convincing proposal.’ ..more
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1 Is where you work an important part of the job?

If clients always expect to see you at your place of work, it may be difficult to transfer to homeworking. A doctor working in a casualty department, for instance, is unlikely to be able to work outside the hospital for any length of time, since patients expect to be treated at the hospital and that is also where support staff are based. On the other hand, if much of your work is location independent, i.e. can be done anywhere, you are much more likely to be able to work from home for some of the time. ..more

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With reference to a particular person X at work, do you frequently

• Wake up in the morning and immediately think ‘Oh no, I’ve got to face X again today’?
• Store anger throughout the day about X?
• Find yourself frequently in conflict with X?
• Experience jealousy about others‘ ability to get on with X?
• Back away from confrontations with X and then get angry at
  yourself because of your inability to act appropriately?

• Disagree or have arguments with your boss, who unfortunately is X? ..more
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Problem people frequently create turmoil and dissension in the work group. Being able to stand aside from strong emotions and think logically and creatively is a most critical skill, but one which will require preparation and practice. Let’s look at a series of steps which you might try to sort out a problem with a person at your workplace.

1 Treat the person with respect

Just as it often takes two people to make a problem, frequently requires participation of the same two to reach mutually agreeable solution. Threat and intimidation can hinder problem solving, so be certain to approach the person with sort out a very sticky and difficult work problem by approaching the other party firmly and positively. Jennifer’s opening words were particularly impressive: ‘There seems to be a spot of bother in this matter and I’m calling to ask for your assistance in sorting out the problem.’ By asking for the other person’s help and assistance, there was little or no threat and a mutually agreeable solution was readily negotiated. ..more

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At risk of dwelling upon the negativities of relationships, it is important to consider two very strong and most upsetting emotional states—hate and jealousy.

Most of us have experienced hate (many loving relationships have a subtle or not-so-subtle hate component). As for jealousy, you will most probably know someone, if not yourself, who is predisposed to this strong emotional state.

Let me briefly mention the case of Michael, an architectural draughtsman who is married to Lisa. Michael comes from a close-knit Southern European family and married Lisa, an attractive Australian lass, when they were both in their early twenties and when both were socially and sexually inexperienced. Even though Michael is bright, well-qualified and successful in his job, he nevertheless is pathologically jealous of his wife and any association she might have with other men. ..more

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The end of a relationship can be accompanied by despair, despondency and even depression. You will probably know at least one person whose work performance plummeted after a relationship breakup—if you haven’t experienced this misfortune yourself.

William, a product manager with a large manufacturing firm had been seeing Caroline on a steady basis for nine months when she told him one evening that there just wasn’t enough in their relationship to warrant any further contact. This news came suddenly and unexpectedly and William was devastated. He did not arrive at work the next day and rang in to say he was sick and would not be at work for a week. When he did return, his colleagues remarked about how ill he still looked. William said he had a severe case of influenza and hoped to bounce back quickly. In reality, it took William months to overcome the trauma of his severed relationship. During that period, his work performance was most decidedly down. His confidence and general outlook on life were also at low ebb. Fortunately, he had the good sense to see a professional about his emotional state, a move which facilitated his recovery. ..more

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Love and hate are potent feelings which can overwhelm you, often just when your emotions can least afford the upset. For example, how often have you experienced the following situations?

• Feelings of love interfere with your concentration at work.
• You love (and sometimes hate) a person who doesn’t love you.
• You hate your boss or a colleague.
• You’re jealous of the attention given to a person you love.
• You love a person working nearby, but fear acting upon your feelings.
• You were in a relationship until yesterday when your partner said, Enough! ..more
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10. Wait for the call to come through

Stay at your desk until the call comes through. If you disappear the call charge is still ticking away. Nothing irritates the person at the other end more than hanging on for an incoming call.

11. Make maximum use of operator time

The operator is probably very busy at peak times but not so busy at other times. He or she may be busy for only 50 per cent of the time and may like to take on additional work for off-peak times. ..more

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Employ more than one travel agent

Some firms get locked in to one travel agent, but by giving them a monopoly you could be the loser. Go to several travel agents to get comparative quotes for the same journey. Then you will see just how complex air fare structures can be and how a travel agent with a competitive spirit can save you a small fortune. In-house travel offices give good service but are they working as competitively as they can in a non-competitive environment?

Plan overseas trips

Overseas travel is so expensive that the maximum amount of planning should go into each trip. How often have you seen export sales executives sitting around waiting in the hotel foyer for their contact to arrive? Perhaps the reason for his delay is that your agent is out making last-minute appointments around town — a job which should have been done weeks ahead. ..more

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Markets are becoming more international, distances are shrinking, more and more executives travel more frequently on overseas trips; travel expenditure is an area of potential waste that once brought under control, can significantly reduce your cost burden.

Check the necessity for the journey

Check the reason for a journey, check that it has been planned properly and that there are clear new objectives. Check that existing objectives cannot be attained by means of cheaper communication such as telex, telephone or fax. ..more

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Working Absenteeism

Absenteeism continues to be a major industrial and economic problem. The causes are numerous, but where worker satisfaction is high, absenteeism is generally low. The problem is all too frequently dismissed by workers as a fault with the system, but management generally takes a far more serious view. Absent workers put a strain on their workmates who are generally required to take over the duties of the missing person. With less than the required number of workers available, the work process can be significantly retarded causing serious declines in productivity.

If you, the worker, are aware that you are taking time off work for sickies or because you are feeling just a bit off, then you should ask yourself what is wrong with your work situation. What is prompting you to be absent when you are basically fit for work? We can all have grey to black days. However, if these days occur every week or so, there is a problem somewhere. ..more

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