There Is A Real Dynamic

  • Stopping micro-management

    Lately I tried micro management, and it was not a major success.

    I experience some flaws in a colleagues work, mistake and oversights, on matters wich concerned my unit. I asked around to find out if that was common in his work for other teams and it appears that it was. The lad was overworked, overstressed and in a few weeks from his holidays. Everyone was hoping of a quick recovery after this break. I then chose to micromanage him until the break. This entailed:

    • Checking various times a day that he has done what he promised, to guarantee on time delivery,
    • Booking time slot reminder in his diary for missions he was supposed to execute with my team, to guarantee fulfillments,
    • Reading the correspondance he sent in my teams name, to ensure clarity and exactness,
    • Pulling him off any non priority projects, to release some pressure on his shoulder;

    Despite my efforts, I missed a major misunderstanding of my colleague, leading to larger problem that the client did not appreciate. We could resolve the problem before anything major occurred. I had the feeling I wasted a lot of time in supervising to avoid the unavoidable. I face criticisms despite my every efforts which had a taste of injustice but they were actually right in a sense.

    I was completely mislead – as we sat in the same briefing and received the same next steps – to believe we both understood the outcome. Micromanaging made me believe I was on top of things, where I was not as the problem was already there before I started. No one can rewrite the past, so i took on the lesson and make sure I understand the most important parameters before managing the execution.

    Now, I am working on my method, involving a step by step approach :

    • Preparation first to ensure deep understanding,
    • Assessing the knowledge necessary to execute the task,
    • Brief the team to get them to comprehend the whole picture,
    • Assign an owner to deepen
    • Make sure the team has the elements to move forwards owing their mission,
    • Be present for the team to help with decisions when experience is needed
    • Support workload to guarantee timely delivery.

    Changing is hard, even for an adaptable person. I am keen on efficiency and I do hope people will crave understanding which would force me into explaining every single details, but they don’t always have this level of natural engagement. I need to ground myself to be meticulously sharing details and cues for my team to feed on. At the same time I am afraid of information overload which could lead them to more confusion, hence my habit of not giving too much at a time.

    I would love to have your experience on how you manage the project setting in a complex environment with limited ressources, I am sure some around have useful tricks and solutions which would apply to all. Do not hesitate to share.

  • Time Management

    As a kid, my dad always says : “we all have 24 hours in a day, you cannot say you did not HAVE the time to do this. You are the one to choose your priorities”

    Being repeated this often anchored it into my heart and soul: we choose what we do of our time!

    Time is the only commodity we cannot trade, save for the future, or buy back.

    So what is the link with priorities? Now that we acknowledge that time runs and can’t be influenced, how come Bill Gates is him and I am me and not the contrary?

    Focus vs multi-tasking

    The more task you do simultaneously, the more time they take. Be conservative in estimating the time you need to do each action then add a good 30% when you try to do it at the same time as another time. Is that worth it? Only multi-task actions that require none of your attention.

    For instance, I set « offline time » during which I do not refresh emails while producing content, this avoids loosing focus. I allow distractions while replying to communications which require little attention.

    Procrastinating vs deep thinking

    My sister always says that you are faster and more efficient when you know you have built a clear vision of the outcome. Then she says that one can use time to think through what needs to be done before starting.

    I believe that – instead of dwelling in front of a blank sheet – it is a better use of your time to do any brainless tasks while thinking about your next mission: many studies says that repetitive tasks free mental space and relax the brain… You won’t feel like procrastinating anymore – and forget the guilt that goes with it – as you are moving the work to a new dimension.

    Be careful though, this does not work for taxes.

    Money vs time

    How much is your time worth ? I really mean money wise… Do you feel that you could make more money out of this time than do your current task, maybe you should delegate it then.

    What one doesn’t buy with money, one pays with your own time.

    Some moments are priceless, these are the ones you wish to keep most of the rest can go. Your definition of priceless is unique : maybe that is organising a party for your family or be the key speaker at TED, what is important is your conscious choice of investing in these moments.

    For instance, accounting is not my thing, I would hire someone just to sort my invoices and keep track of payments. This blog is also my priceless moment, I do it for me to create space for others as well.

    Obviously, that list can go on ! Do not hesitate to comment on your way to build priorities.

  • Asking questions

    Man should rather spend an hour with a wise man than ten years in books.

    A Chinese proverb

    As an unexperienced adult, I was not afraid to ask questions as I did not have much to loose. It was easy to ask but it did not always mean that young people have the right questions just yet. When one grows old, one may have the right questions but not always the will to risk anything to obtain an answer.

    Everyone should believe in its own right to become a better person by learning something new everyday – the easy way to do this is actually to ask questions.

    By asking questions, I realised that the majority of my surroundings were happy to share answers, experiences, information and even personal wisdom. This can create a virtuous circle that give again more will to ask, but also accept when there is not a positive feedback. I am grateful everyday for the chance I have to be so well supported and equipped with others knowledge to move forwards.

    Spanish are pragmatic, they have a proverb which reads “el no ja lo tienes “: the “no” you already have. I have to admit that it came in my life as a revelation of something I know deep in my heart but had not yet put words on.

    Go ahead – ask – nothing is to be lost anyway.

    If you need one extra reason for asking questions, remember that it keeps the conversation going between you and your network.

    « What to ask? » one might say.

    In a professional context, there are 4 simple starting points:

    • Example: when explained a theory, one can believe it is clear, but examples are never useless to picture clearly.
    • Context: when describe a situation or told an experience, the teller do not always provide context and usually have one angle of view. Do not hesitate to question context to understand better where the story comes from.
    • Outcome: what happen after the end of the story ? What were the consequences or learning to take out of the story.
    • Resource: if the topics interests you, do not hesitate to request extra material and ressources to get a deeper understanding of it.

    In a personal context or during networking events or ice-breaking exercise, you may need to include other types of questions.

    Check the following lists as fun to read as it can be awkward to use, but it gives you some good examples.

  • Receiving feedback

    If you wish to develop your business and select the right new products to put on the market it is usual to know how to read the trends and listen to your customers, every good business books would tell you that.
    We are now more than ever requested to provide feedback on about everything we are using, reading, hearing, tasting or living. Why some are better than other to leverage clients experience? Obtaining useful feedback from clients current or past is not always as easy as it looks.

    Transparency is key in building trust.

    Here are a few tricks to get you started on the right path:

    • Ask the questions you plan to act on but be open to suggestions:

    If you do not plan on updating your advertising campaign, do not question your clients about it. Be clear about the objective of the questionnaire, for interviewee to have full visibility and understanding on what they are expected to talk about and do not deviate from it. Leave an open field for extra comment.

    • Define clear order to avoid bias in writing the questions:

    As in Journalism, if you survey your client asking them first what are the worst experience they had with your brand they may end up use it as the thread to your whole questionnaire. Build your questionnaire from generic to specific.

    • Find a format that is comfortable for the interviewee not for you:

    Clear questions alternating open and closed options with no space for interpretation helps the interviewee to feel useful in it feedback. it is also important to provide an easy to fill format – for example an online questionnaire which work on mobile, over the phone or a face to face interview where the interviewer record the answers to avoid time wasted waiting for him to write.

    • Offer a real space to give honest / negative feedback:

    Anonymising a questionnaire, orchestrate it by a person with no relations with the interviewee or reward any feedback with a donation to your charity of choice is the best way to improve honesty. No-one wants to hurt a relationship by being brutally honest to a known face or leaving its name behind that could damage business relations.

    As customers we are always more willing to share along negative comments, less when we are satisfied, it is essential to encourage feedback at all time, and a good way to start is to clearly state how long it will take the interviewee.

    And as always, you may offer to provide the person with general information on how this is going to be used.

    Please do not hesitate to share your feedback in the comment space below, anonymously or not. It is useful, appreciated even when critics are offered when are they constructive, and will be acted upon!

    Thanks 🙂

  • Writing for corporate

    I created a piece of corporate comms eight years ago – for a former employer – to promote well the doers in our field in a qualitative format: a well designed magazine sent to our database (5000 people) was chosen. This was a success so it was maintained as an annual rendez-vous of the sector. Eight years later this format is too crowded and cluttered.

    They lately asked me how to improve it, It made me realised how easy a successful editorial rendez-vous can loose its impact with time.

    Corporate editorial here is about what the company wishes to convey not advertising to the masses. There are three basic tricks in this areas that can quickly make the difference to set something up and successfully sell it to the board:

    • Assess purpose within context

    Keep track of the objectives behind any piece of communication that goes to the public – when the universe involves the tools to communicate should evolve with it in the flow when you do not wish to disrupt or disruptively when you wish to.

    • Define relevant audience and how to attract them

    One should ask oneself : Who should read it? What should expect to get out of it? vs. who reads me and what do they want to read or see?

    • Structure content in the relevant format to ease memorisation

    How do you read best a data heavy piece of content? or a visual representation? Are the key messages analytical or deductive? What is the way your desired audience is used to receive this type of information? do not hesitate to split on different formats.

    Assessing the impact of a format has become easy with the development of feedback app and web-based survey software to obtain unbiased and useful feedback that would serve your purpose. It is paramount to act on, not only consult. If one spend time in advising you, you must at least let one know what you plan on doing with it.

    The magazine format is very efficient, but the content have to be purposed to have its traction with people who wish long and deep reading. It is a matter of working out whether it make sense for what the company wants to convey, and be established it back where it belongs.

    If you feel your corporate communications tools needs a revamp, do not hesitate to get in touch, we can help.