Tag: relationships

Interactions

FabrizioLeave a comment

In a period in which everyone (rightfully) promotes remote and flexible work, and in which technology is at such a stage to make these things very possible, let’s not forget the importance of having a face-to-face chat, of getting to know the people you work with on a personal level, of being able to sit at the same table with others to crack a problem that’s preventing you from moving forward.

Human beings need these types of interaction, and it is strongly correlated to their motivation, engagement and to the quality of their work.

A whole lot more

FabrizioLeave a comment

I can find all the praises for your product or service easily.

I can talk to one of your reps in minutes.

If I prefer so, your chatbot will guide me to the content most relevant to my situation.

I can painlessly answer a survey to help you improve your website, and with one single click give you consent to using (and share) information about my interests.

Your marketing will seek me out to offer more, for free, as long as I stay engaged.

That rep is still trying to schedule a follow-up call to offer a discount if I sign now.

And then, once I am finally your customer, if I need some information, I have to dig them out of an overly complicated help center page, or pray for a telephone number to appear below one of the folds of your website and wait in queue.

And if I decide that, for any reason, I do not need your service anymore, you frustrate the hell out of me with rules, counteroffers, bundles, and eventually a cold goodbye.

There’s no balance in the way companies allocate budget throughout the customer journey. Or perhaps it’s just they think the journey ends when the customer has paid.

There’s a whole lot more to it.

Three ways to manage

Fabrizio1 Comment

Three different ways to manage people.

Here is how you do it – This is the way of (micro)management, telling people what is the right way to do their job. We like to think of this way as a way of the past, a way of the age of manual production lines and repetitive tasks. The objective of this way is to achieve more with less, and for this reason jobs are highly scrutinized, controlled and standardized.

Here is what to do – This is the way of project management. There’s a job to do, the manager splits it into discrete tasks, and assigns the tasks to those who report to them (or sometimes those who report to them get to pick the task they want). There’s usually some sort of performance review attached to this way, and it’s fairly straightforward, as the tasks need to be ready on time, on budget, and on scope.

Here is what to figure out – This is the way of leadership. We know we have a problem, we have identified the problem and agreed on a fairly broad definition of it, and now let’s bring our expertise, knowledge, skills together to attempt to solve it. Measurements do not really fit well with this way of management, and that’s perhaps why so many people feel uncomfortable with it.

Chosen

FabrizioLeave a comment

When choosing someone for a task, make sure you clarify the reason why they’ve been chosen.

You were the first one entering the door this morning.

Everyone else is very busy at the moment.

We’ve already purchased a license for you.

I allocated the tasks so that everyone has a fair chance to show their value.

Sure, these are reasons, and they are used more often than one thinks. But if we leave these decisions to chance or rationality, chances are the person chosen will not really feel motivated to do the task. After all, if anyone can do it, why give that little bit more, why deliver your best game, why bother in the first place.

We consider this a critical task for the company, because of X and Y. You have shown you can deliver fantastic job in this area, for example when Z. You have also told me that you are passionate about A and would like to contribute. This is why I could not think of anyone better in the team to take on this challenge and really turn things around. What do you think?

On the other hand, if the decision is based on a real knowledge of the other person, of their job, of their strengths, of their passions, of what they care about. Well, you can expect the outcome to be a whole lot different, can’t you?

Let feedback go

FabrizioLeave a comment

When we give feedback, in the same way as when we offer our help, the next best thing to do is to let it go.

Clinging to it is counterproductive, and most likely only the person receiving it knows if it’s going to help them or not.

By all means, give feedback. And then let it go.