Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Building Circles - Leamington a Success!

The Leamington Circle was a success last night and thanks to Pelee View for hosting the event!

Many of us go to lots of networking events and some of us are just starting to network.   The Circle events provide a welcoming atmoshphere to network.   Many first time networkers attending the events are having positive experiences and learning how to meet others.

Successful networkers genuinely like to help others.   When we see someone new or someone not part of a conversation, we gravitate towards them, start a conversation and introduce them to others.

One key first impression is the firm handshake.   Remember to look the person in the eye as you shake their hand and introduce yourself.   Focus on the moment, the person and the conversation.   Challenge yourself to eliminate all the background distractions for each conversation.

Share your experiences for networking etiquette, successes and things not to do.

Looking forward to connecting with you soon.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Goals for Networking Events

What are your goals when attending networking events?

Some of my personal goals are to show up early, introduce myself to at least two new people and listen to their story and introduce people to each other.

Walking away from a successful networking event means two new business contacts and understanding what they do.  

Post-networking events I like to send an e-mail thanking the person for their time.   Most of the time I send an invitation to continue our discussion in the near future.

Of course, I always invite everyone to connect on LinkedIn, check out their profile, see who they are connected to and what groups they belong to.

Happy networking!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Striving for Excellence

All teams need to strive for excellence.   Don't settle by accepting mediocrity.

It takes time, patience, strategic planning, the right people with the right processes to always strive for excellence.  Some say you can never achive excellence.  It's the "striving" to always achieve excellence and raising the bar as you get closer which drives the best teams.

Great companies are always looking at improving and doing everything better.   They do no accept mediocrity and keep moving forward to achieve better results on a continuous basis.

Don't forget to reflect on where you were, what you have accomplished and what you have yet to achieve.

What does your team do to strive for excellece?

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Have a Sense of Urgency

Does your team have a sense of urgency?   Does your team move along at a slow, complacent pace?

Successful teams are associated with members who possess a sense of urgency, not panic, in how they perform all their responsibilities.   Sense of urgency can be seen as setting proper priorities especially when interfacing with customers.

Imagine being complacent when a customer contacts for an inquiry or support issue.   Now imagine the same customer reaching a team member with making the request urgent ensuring the customer is a priority and will be taken care of.   See the difference?

It is a tall order whan all requests are all priorities all the time.   The key is to focus on the current request, provide the attention it needs at the moment and move on to the next request.

At what pace does your team move?


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Maintaining High Standards

How do Managers set and maintain high standards in their organizations?

Successful managers set high standards for performance and have accountability in place.   The key to setting the bar is a balance between high enough standards for team members to successfully reach.

Managers with low or no set standards most likely result in teams with low morale and low success rates.   Allowing employees to dictate policies such as time off and work pace levels usually move toward the non-productive and negative end of the spectrum.

How to achieve setting high standards and accountability by not micro-managing every detail of the team?

Look at your processes for recruiting, hiring and onboarding of new team members.   Take a look at current members and invest in each one to achieve the standards set.   Create better policies and accountabilities to achieve success.

Several business associates have indicated I have set the bar too high.   Instead of lowering the standards we have invested in coaching each team member to reach the standards set out.

You know I will continue to raise the bar as the business pendulum keeps swinging forward!

What are you doing to manage a successful team?