Ideas + change = innovation

Innovation has been on my mind lately. Why? Because frankly, no business survives without it.  And my partners and I want a great deal more than mere survival for academy!

As a business owner, I obviously have a very personal stake in managing innovation. But whether you own the business you work in or not, everyone should  passionately care about it.

The benefits for the business are inarguable, but for the individual too… wouldn’t you rather work somewhere where your ideas are valued and you are encouraged (and given time) to think about what you are doing?  I know I would.

An innovative idea about, well… ideas

One of my favourite examples of innovation is a recent one. It speaks to the educator in me and it has at its core the DNA of innovation…  a simple idea arrived at by thinking about something in a different way.

Chris Anderson, entrepreneur and owner of TED, connected the dots; curious people looking for ideas and inspiration, people with inspiring ideas they were willing to share, and a technologically and socially linked planet. Thus TED (in its current form) was born.  Anderson has now loosened the brand’s apron strings, giving rise to a multitude of TEDx events and ideas translated into many languages.

If you haven’t yet seen a TED – or TEDx – video, I’ll post my two favourites at the end.  If you’re not a ‘TED person’ already, I bet you will be after having a look.

Indeed, this whole blog post was originally going to be about how TED is a virtual university of life and business; one that encourages life long learning and also delivers it to people in a form that they control… but then I saw this excellent Fast Company article. Please have a read.

TED is a big idea; a simple one that has changed how many people spread ideas. It’s an innovation itself, but it’s also a cultural phenomenon that can help others to innovate, stimulating new ways of looking at things.

But you don’t have to have one big idea to create a culture of innovation. Sometimes innovation is merely doing better with what you have, doing something in a slightly different way because you took the time to think through a process that made more sense.

Supporting an innovation culture

Just a few of the actions academy takes to support an innovation culture in this workplace are (not surprisingly!) internal and external education and development programs for all staff; cross-functional (and self-directed) teams to manage new initiatives and training projects; and regular  ‘Velcro’ Days for trainers (so things stick!). Even more importantly, I hope we communicate the value we place of innovation across the company.

What happens in your workplace to support innovation? Could where you work be more innovative? What would you suggest to senior management?

P.S. Here are the two TED and TEDx videos I was talking about… one is Nigel Marsh on work / life balance and was presented in May 2010 in Sydney. And the other is Sir Ken Robinson on education and creativity – inspiring stuff.

Green can mean business success

Off the back of our recent launch of academy green, our new sustainable learning brand, I spoke with HR Daily journalist Emma Wilkins.  The green message is certainly not a new one, but I believe it is important to continually talk about it and improve our efforts (note to Australian political parties!).

Rather than rewrite our conversation, please click through to Emma’s article here.

I’d love to hear how your company is addressing environmental issues, what’s working and where more could be done.

My goal in writing these blog posts is to provide you with food-for-thought, and maybe even help you in your busy workday. So, naturally, the posts are outward looking, focusing on broader training and organisational development topics.

Just this once I’d like to tell you about some of the exciting changes we are celebrating at academy. Hopefully some, or all, of these will achieve the same thing… helping you do a great job.

New brand, new expertise

First, we have a new brand – academy green – offering training in waste management, transport and logistics. Not only does this grow our stable of expertise, it also adds full-time staff and an office in Melbourne.

But the thing that excites us most about it…? We seek to engage in sustainable business.  The added bonus of our ‘academy green’ brand is that, in our own way, academy can make a difference as we educate people about sustainability and managing waste.

Do have a look at the academy green section of our website for more information – or, please, get in touch with any questions.

There’s no place like a home page

As we grow, it becomes even more important that there are a number of ways we can stay in touch with you. If it’s easy for you, we want to be there. If we can provide you with content that helps you with new ideas or ways of achieving your training and learning and development goals, we will. That’s why we are spending time and energy opening up as many lines of communication as possible:

• You can find our new home page at www.academyol.com.au – it features links to many of our services, enables you to find basic information with just one click and you can also sign up to stay in touch with us via whichever form of social media suits you best.
• We have started this blog for people who love learning. If you would like to contribute a post, please do let us know. It’s a great way to get your thoughts out there and we are all for guest bloggers!
• Similarly, we manage a LinkedIn group for anyone who wants to access articles on organisational development, training, education and so on – all in one easy place. If you haven’t already joined, please consider it. It’s here.
• You can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/academyaus or join our Facebook page here.

We’d love to hear from you about content you’d like to see featured, any ways we can make these services more valuable and which type of communication best fits into your busy work day!

And the winner is…

We do a lot of work in the contact centre field and we were delighted to sponsor (what else?) the academy Awards on 6 August 2010 at Star City. The NSW ATA Contact Centre Awards of Excellence showcases individuals and teams who excel and we were proud to be part of the celebration of those achievements. You can see the winners on the ATA’s website here, plus we blogged here and here.

Well that’s it for our news and our changes at the moment. Please do get in touch to share any news or ideas of your own.

Old-fashioned fun = contact centre success

Collecting debt isn’t an easy job and is probably one of the toughest in the contact centre industry. You are exposed to people suffering extreme hardship through to those who just don’t like to pay their bills.

Through it all you need to keep your cool and focus on the objective – to provide a “win-win” for everyone! When you look at it that way, it’s also one of the most complex customer interactions in the industry.

Last Friday night, was the Australian Teleservices Association academy Awards for Contact Centre Excellence (yes, we proudly sponsored) and the collections team that won the Under 50 FTE category was inspiring.

Who are these people? They are the Collections team from FlexiGroup.  I was blown away by the sense of togetherness, teamwork and good old-fashioned fun that emanated from them as they celebrated their nomination – and then their win.

The business reasons they won (the numbers if you like) are truly impressive. Over the past year, the team has saved the company $4 million and increased productivity 25%.

It’s clear to see these results have been achieved through teamwork, support, training and people who care a great deal about each other. Indeed, the CEO was there on Friday night, celebrating the team’s success right alongside them. (The FlexiGroup New Business group also won their category of 50-120 FTE, no accident I am sure.)

While I don’t know the team members personally, I bet many of them are friends for life.  When you spend so much time at work, sometimes engaged in stressful activities, isn’t it fantastic to do it with people you like?

That’s what we aim for at academy.

FlexiGroup’s wins are a compelling argument for ‘people-first’ management and I, for one, would like to learn more about how they make this work so well.

Congratulations to FlexiGroup, iiNet (who won the 120+ FTE contact centre category), the nominees; and all the incredible individual nominees and winners. The contact centre industry is about people and service and it’s inspiring to see how you all ‘walk the talk’.

Applaud business successes, big and small

Bow ties are being tied (or at least clipped!), hair is being dressed and fancy clothes donned. It’s that time of year again… tonight is the academy Awards.

No, not those Academy Awards, rather the ATA academy Awards, celebrating contact centre excellence across NSW. academy is the proud sponsor of tonight’s event at Star City in Sydney, and very excited to see the 800 or so attendees in just a few short hours.

Tonight is a big deal and a perfect way to celebrate success. Individuals and teams are nominated by their managers, feel valued and celebrate their successes with their peers across the industry.

It’s going to be huge.

Celebrating success is vital in business. Both to help staff feel appreciated and valued and also for business leaders to take stock of how far they have come.

You can’t have an awards night every week though. Sometimes a handwritten note, or a shared email copied to all peers (or someone’s manager) is an equally effective way to applaud achievement. Take the time to appreciate someone today!

Congratulations to all the nominees for the ATA academy Awards. I look forward to celebrating with you this evening.

PS – I would love to hear how you acknowledge the successes of the people you work with.

Managing teams ‘by the letter’ too simplistic

The challenge of intergenerational leadership is often raised in academy leadership programmes. Over the last five years it has become something of a tabloid ‘pet peeve’: railing at the overweening ambition of Gen Y, the lack of humour of Gen Xers and the Boomers inability to “hand over the reins”.

But is the study of intergenerational leadership a useful model for the modern leader in Australia?  academy students of eastern European origin tell us that this type of generational politics is non-existent in their countries of origin.  Many of these people’s parents and grandparents were all but wiped out in global conflict.  Many Asian cultures automatically defer to their eldest, and approach the intergenerational discussion with a cultural, as opposed to marketing-oriented, perspective.  In the all the marketing hype, we just might have forgotten that intergenerational politics are a social construct specific to wealthy, western, English-speaking nations.

Australia is just such a wealthy, western, English-speaking nation so in that case the model has value here doesn’t it?

A recent report shows 44% of Australians were either born overseas or have at least one foreign-born parent.  Asia is fast becoming a rival to Europe as the dominant source of arrivals; of people who arrived in Australia between 2002 and 2006, six of the 10 most common birthplaces were Asian countries.

So based on these numbers, should the modern Australian manager make a judgment on a leadership issue while factoring the generational make-up of their team?  Considerations about people’s experience and knowledge may come into play, but with people having up to three (if not four) careers in their adult working lives, inexperience can be a feature of any demographic group.

Surely it becomes more and more unlikely that intergenerational leadership is the answer to good leadership practice.  Indeed it could be the source of some uncomfortable questions like “…..am I be judging people’s abilities based on their age?” ]]> http://www.academyol.com.au/articles/2010/07/27/intergenerational-leadership-a-marketing-furphy/feed/ 0 http://www.academyol.com.au/articles/2010/07/20/australias-next-mastermanager/ http://www.academyol.com.au/articles/2010/07/20/australias-next-mastermanager/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:30:18 +0000 lgcollard http://www.academyol.com.au/articles/?p=166

Adriano Zumbo's V8 cake: Perfect teamwork

As a manager you have to hope your team is not going to be as hard for you to wrangle as an Adriano Zumbo creation is for an aspiring MasterChef.

Did you see that angelic-looking V8 cake on the show last night? For those of you who did not, it was eight thin layers of cake heaven (well, Adriano’s was, anyway!)… eight layers of vanilla used in different ways, with more than 140 ingredients and four hours of cooking.  The picture is to the left and the recipe link is here.

The reason the cake is such a showstopper is that each layer builds on a theme and is very different from the others, but (and it’s a big but*), they are perfectly complementary and would not work nearly so well without the others. Hang on… isn’t that how a team should be?

It really made me think… if managers (and I am one) put as much effort and passion into understanding the ingredients of their teams, how they work together and how they work as a whole, many businesses may just be in even better shape.

I certainly can’t tell you how to do that in one blog post, it takes different combinations of training, personal development, mentoring and coaching, passion and plain old hard work, for different people. But if we think of Adriano Zumbo as manager and cake as team, we can better understand how important care and attention to each element is when you are creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

* Madly trying to avoid a joke about eating too much cake here

The yin and yang of sales

Some people may be able to ‘sell ice to Eskimos’ and others may be ‘born salespeople’, but I tend to disagree with the notion that great sales people are only born and cannot be made.

I believe that anybody who is passionate and believes in their product will inspire others to buy.

Furthermore, a natural ability to build relationships, through an empathic ability to identify people’s needs and wants (even when they cannot voice them!) will also close many a deal.

So all of these traits will bode well for a sales person’s potential to generate revenue.

However, I have also worked with many competent sales people who achieve solid results largely through hard work and discipline. These people may not necessarily be ‘naturals’ when it comes to relationship building and management, but their persistent dedication often gets them across the line.

I always hesitate to generalise, however perhaps we can conclude that there are at least two distinct ‘types’ of high achieving sales people. Leaving each ‘type’ with a variety of skills that can still be developed. Indeed, to be a truly great sales person, I believe people need to use tools from a variety of sources, with a range of leaders and mentors.

Sometimes this means training yourself (or being trained!) to go against a natural inclination. Good sales people who are strong on relationships can be coached in disciplined processes. And good sales people who rely on top notch systems can have their people skills developed, by good managers and training.

Having a mix of these natural skills sets in your sales team can only help. Companies that develop a range of attributes in their team may just elevate their sales from good to great.

What do you think makes for a great sales person?

Loyalty

Type “loyalty” into your favourite search engine and see what comes up.  It won’t paraphrase a line from Winston Churchill or reference the family pooch, but will instead focus on marketing methods associated with customer engagement. Any references to employee loyalty ultimately end up discussing share schemes and health programs, hardly the stuff of inspiration!

In all the leadership and management study I have undertaken and reviewed over the years, there is a ‘school of thought’ that appears to have been overlooked by even the most erudite of behavioural theorists.

While business embraces employee engagement strategies – connectivity, work/life balance and authentic leadership – these notions are all aimed inextricably at driving increases in productivity and profitability and ignore a critical intangible factor in the relationship.

You can see this in the response to an economic downturn, when the same businesses use the opportunity to “jettison the deadwood”, “lighten the load” and to “right-size” so they may continue unimpeded by less productive staff (and unfortunate euphemisms).

While the research tells us that people are attracted to working for (as well as buying from) strong and iconic brands that resonate with their values, it confirms that “once bitten people are twice shy” and are therefore less likely to share their heart with another employer in the future once that trust has been abused.

Team loyalty: The missing link?

The logical outcome of this cycle is that people become less loyal to their employers over time, and this is the idea that I am surprised has escaped the notice of even the most passionate of corporate motivators and people researchers.

So why has the idea of building loyalty amongst teams slipped from the leadership lexicon?

Building employee loyalty is a slippery concept, especially as managers and business leaders are often at the mercy of capital markets and head office decisions that they have little influence over.

Often it is the local branch manager who is left to deal with the unpopular decision of how to cut costs by removing the coffee bar, cancelling the Christmas party and who to ‘downsize’ when the going gets tough.  The even harder job for that person is how to rebuild trust and support in the team that remains, and how to continue to achieve the productivity outcomes expected when everyone is feeling flat and unmotivated.

And yet loyalty for authority figures, especially under adversity, is one of the qualities that has driven human experience throughout history. Sherpa Tenzing climbed Everest, and may have arrived first, but it was his loyalty to Sir Edmund Hillary that kept his mouth closed on the matter for the rest of his life.  When Nelson sailed into Trafalgar he asked that “England expects that every man will do his duty”, and the English sailors fell over themselves to die under the French canons as a result!  The essential concept of Australian ‘mateship’ is rooted in loyalty to the people who we find most dear and would trust above all others.

So what do we need to do to build loyalty in the workplace?

Is it simply about giving people the right working hours and regular pay-rises?

The following five ideas spring from my experiences in business over the past fifteen years, and while I don’t claim to be a guru on these matters, I certainly believe that we ignore that matter of employee loyalty at our peril.

1) Tell it like it is and be honest

Don’t gild the lily and use ‘management speak’ when bad (or good!) news needs to be shared with your business. Don’t avoid the issue, but speak directly and calmly on the topic and be ready to answer difficult and personal questions.

Even the appearance of dishonesty will give the game away. If it looks like you are dissembling then you probably are and people won’t trust you in any situation.

2) Be yourself

It’s ok to appear uncomfortable or awkward as long as people know you are telling the truth. People are highly attuned to spin these days, which is why the idea of authentic leadership has taken off. In essence, relax and be comfortable in your own skin.

3) Stand for something

Find what you believe in, make it your hallmark and stand by it. History’s most popular leaders had a clear agenda that was well communicated to their constituents. People understood what they stood for and they followed them as a result.

4) Share and invest

The more you hoard the less you will receive. Give freely of your knowledge, your competence and capability. Passionately commit to replacing yourself and be selfless in that mission. People will notice and give their support in kind.

5) Be clear and unwavering in your expectations

If people don’t understand what you need from them, then they will fail. If people aren’t aware of the consequences of their inability to achieve, then they will fail. There is no such thing as a free ride. It is ok to expect that everyone will do their duty and enact punitive measures on those that don’t.

Now I can’t say whether these five points will build employee loyalty in every workplace, but they certainly can’t hurt. I would be fascinated to hear what others have to say or think on this very old (yet new!) topic.

Sales skills, Japanese style

Despite its somewhat insular culture and on-and-off recession (mostly on) since the late 80s, Japan has a great deal to teach us when it comes to sales skills and techniques. It’s not the first thing that pops to mind about Japan, is it? Technology, yes. Quirky fashion, yes. Food, yes (yes, yes!). But a superior Japanese sales method? Really?

Yet the academy Business Sales training includes a discussion on the Japanese sales culture. Not the US sales culture. Not the UK sales culture. Not the Aussie sales culture. Although arguably the ‘Western’ sales culture permeates everything we discuss.

So why Japanese? Unlike some of the technology they offer the world, the Japanese sales culture is simple. It is simply that it’s all about the relationship. And both sales and service are extremely personal.  While the rest of the world perhaps relies too heavily on email and other timesaving communications, Japanese business people are still more likely to build and maintain a relationship face-to-face.  And this from one of the most digitally connected societies on the globe.

Customer relationship management

All this talk of relationship building sounds like it may cost in terms of time though.  I guess it needs a medium- to long-term view. If the person with the relationship gets the sale (sure in some cases, eventually!), then you end up ahead. Initial losses in time may mean eventual gains in productivity ratios or ROI.

Certainly it’s worth reminding ourselves of this next time we go to send an email.  You may not be able to meet everyone for coffee, but picking up the phone could be just the compromise you need.