Posts Tagged ‘morale’
Difficult conversations: the longer you wait, the worse they get!
Posted by Jane Adamson on September 27th, 2011
You know the one. It’s the difficult conversation you need to have with an employee who isn’t doing the job, or causing a problem, or doesn’t play well with others. The one that keeps you up at night and causes your stomach to feel like the butterflies inside you are learning the Latin rhumba. The number of excuses you’ve come up with to evade the issue is a testament to your creativity.
That perfect set of circumstances that you’re waiting for is simply not going to happen. And you know that the longer you wait, the worse things get and the more difficult the issue becomes to address. So instead of procrastinating and suffering, have the conversation! The key is to prepare in 3 separate steps.
What are your odds?
Posted by Jane Adamson on January 4th, 2011
It’s easy to be confident that you’ll meet your 2011 goals – after all, you have 12 new months ahead of you. But in his book 8th Habit, Stephen Covey provides a sobering analogy: 37% of employees have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why, and only 1 in 5 employees has a clear “line of sight” between individual tasks and the team’s goals.
Now comes the sobering part: what if a soccer team had those stats? Only 4 of 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs, and only 2 of 11 would know what position they play and what they’re supposed to do.
Taming the Elephant in 2011
Posted by Jane Adamson on December 7th, 2010
2010 has been the year of the great stall. The world marketplace has shifted dramatically, and our society can’t stop talking, reading, and writing about it. Yet many of us haven’t gone much further than talk. We haven’t done anything yet. The decisions, changes, and actions needed to actually deal with the new marketplace have been [...]
The Opportunity Cost of that Special Deal
Posted by Rick McPartlin on August 3rd, 2010
Based on the conversations I’ve been having recently, I know you’ll recognize this scenario. Your star sales rep has uncovered an interesting revenue opportunity, but it’s off strategy for your company. It might require more customization than you typically provide. Perhaps it’s a new industry for you, or you’ll need to hire new people with different skill sets in order to fulfill it. It may also be a test program with promises of future business if the stars are aligned.
Whatever the case, during difficult times, a CEO is more likely to say yes to these kinds of deals — typically called “bluebirds” because they’re beautiful but very troublesome. After all, it’s revenue, right? Absolutely, and revenue is precious right now. Perhaps this bluebird is really a symbol of a real market trend, so you have to pay attention.
