Valhalla Business Solutions - Business Management Consultants

Sales Management Consulting Specializing In... Sales and service Systems, Managing younger generations, Management protocols Coaching effectiveness


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Delegation

Identify tasks/projects to complete

· What can be delegated

· Choose the right person

· Delegate

Delegation is rarely used as effective as it could be. Often managers are perfectionists, they prefer to take work home or work late. They will override decisions made by their team frequently. Consequently, managers teams struggle when they are absent from the office. Their teams don’t take initiative or accountability for the operations of their department. These managers when absent from the office come back to large piles in their inbox, email, etc.

If you don’t delegate, you are not a good leader. Delegating to team members provides empowerment, development and accountability to the team. Anticipate and be comfortable with mistakes, your team will display much more initiative if they feel they can learn from their mistakes.

How?

· Identify the task to complete

o Analyze your job function. What are you evaluated on? When you write down the things you do daily, weekly and monthly. Which of these things can be done by your subordinates?

o Choose the right person. Contemplate your team’s talents and hard skills. Also consider their interests and career ambitions. What exposure will my team member get? How will this improve their skills?

· Delegate

o Request help. “Chris, I need your expertise on this.”

o Communicate why. “You have the best relationships with our marketing department and design team!”

o Seek acceptance. “Would you be willing to take on the preparation for the sales teams trade show in Denver next month?”

o Describe the details. “Here is what’s involved…”

o Affirm deadlines and standards. “Design, materials and travel arrangements need to be coordinated by the Friday the 22nd at 11:00 a.m. Please have final complete for me to review on the Wednesday the 20th at 11am as well.”

o Discuss check in points. “This month let’s start your one on one 10 minutes early to review your progress on this specific project. How does that sound?”

o Acknowledge you are a resource. “What do you think you need from me on this? This is your show, but if you need further guidance don't hesitate to ask and I will direct you the right resource or show you how to complete.”

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Monday, March 1, 2010

Another Email? (Managing Email in a Corporate Environment)

· Use the technology of your email client

o Create Rules and Folders

o Utilize Junk Mail Folder

o Turn off auto preview and email notification

o Use signature function

· Change your email behavior

o Schedule specific time during the day to complete email

o Don’t take blackberry to meetings

o Utilize subject line effectively

o Keep emails short

Unfortunately today email has become the most used form of communication. Email is abused endlessly!! Emails from two cubes over, countless distribution lists, C.C.’s and even interoffice humor. I love hearing the term “urgent email” which in all senses of the phrase is an oxymoron. Of all the forms of communication it is the least effective form of communication behind face to face, phone and voicemail. Email is a handicap to the most talented people, it allows people who are less effective with oral communication to communicate on the same playing field. It also mistakenly becomes a to do list. Hundreds of emails will be saved as the next thing that must be done. Email is communication only! Not a to do list! Use something else to set your priorities.

I speak with endless managers who say their day is consumed by email. They check during meetings, while they have employees in their office, etc. Of course these managers are also sending out just as many. For every email they send, multiple come back. Consequently the less you send, the less you get!! How can you accomplish this?

Use the technology of your email client

Create rules and folders- First and foremost decide on categories to place your email, boss, peers, team, urgent, C.C.’s, customers and project headers. When emails come in, use your rules to forward these messages to the proper folders. It is easy to assume reviewing emails from your boss would be most important followed by your team and so on. C.C.’s being the least of importance. If you are working on a particular important project have a folder that contains the emails that reference the project.

Utilize Junk Mail Folder- How often do you find yourself on distribution lists that don’t pertain to you, etc. Add them to your junk mail folder.

Turn off Auto Preview and Email Notification- This is self explanatory, but is very distracting while completing other work, meeting with employees, peers and so on. Removing this will keep priorities in line with your to do list. Nothing is ruder than having someone in your office and you check your email notification.

Use the Signature Function- Include your phone number. Give the person you are emailing the opportunity to call you back!!

Change Your Email Behavior

Schedule Specific Time to Complete Email- Email is important so take the time to manage it. Peace of mind comes when time is set aside to complete it. Three times a day should be sufficient. Schedule sometime in the morning, before lunch and before you leave for the day.

Don’t Take Your Blackberry to Meetings- this will be unnecessary to bring after time is scheduled to check email. Remember to all execs, managers and employees. We can all see you checking your email under the table.

Use Subject Line Effectively- Put action items in the subject line. Put “Do Not Respond” when no response is required. Use this as much as possible. Use “Action Required” when your team needs to respond in action to the email. Here are some other examples “Call me,” “Please respond,” “Due by Date,” just to name a few.

Keep Emails Short- Your emails are not read if they are long. Keep them four paragraphs or less. Secondly put the bottom line first! This means tell the story backwards, always tell the ending followed by the details.

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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Pay it Forward

Be a Mentor

o Have a quarterly meeting

o Consider an agenda

o Be a confidant

o Choose someone who will give more than they take

o Consider someone in another department

o Observe them in action

Early in my career I had an upper level executive reach out to me. He had one motive, pay it forward! At first I had a hard time understanding why he reached out to me. This was especially true considering my perceptions of the corporate world. It had been, at least till that point every person for them self. His intent he made very clear! He communicated to go out of my way to share my knowledge with someone. He encouraged me to go out of my way to create opportunities for that person and so on. Unfortunately he left the organization shortly after that. Although he left, his message was clear be a helping hand too many

Although most books, articles, and personnel will encourage you to seek out a mentor, we at Valhalla consider becoming a mentor even more critical to your growth as a leader. Although having a mentor should not be discounted, you may gain more development from being a mentor.

Have a quarterly meeting- This relationship should be regular enough to create a frequent two way communication. Creating an atmosphere that encourages your mentee to reach to you. Most successful executives I witness schedule a one on one once a month. This should be easy to do if you are already calendaring your one on ones with your direct reports.

Consider an agenda- Although this time should be primarily about fielding the mentee’s agenda. It is critical to bring content that can help them grow. Concentrate on bringing them in on a project that won’t impact their current work production. Also contemplate their hard skill gaps? How can you assist in developing those skills? Their manager can be a great resource for skill gaps.

Be a confidant- This is almost needless to say, however a mentor is an escape from the political battles that may exist. It is critical to establish a trusting relationship where you can help coach them through those political battles. Too often a mentee may not have a relationship with someone where they can vent and brainstorm appropriate solutions.

Choose someone who will give more than they take- Find out who is talented within the organization!! I often get asked how they should approach this person. Consider the story above; reach out to someone under the pretense of Pay it Forward. This person is someone who will bring content and questions to your one on ones. This person is naturally a giver rather than a receiver. It ensures they pay it forward.

Someone in another department- Choosing someone outside your department allows the mentee to feel free to confide in you.

Observe them in action- Whether they are a sales person, customer service, technical worker or manager. Observe the mentee in action, performing their duties. The trust you have established with your relationship will add immeasurable feedback, they may not get elsewhere.


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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Now I am a Manager, What’s My Job?


I had numerous conversations with managers this week, so many struggling with the production of their teams, struggling with pressures from their superiors and so on. There are many common denominators to the adversity manager’s face, but one shadowed the rest this week. A manager so often believes they are brought in for their “Technical Work” strategies. This is not the case. What is “Technical Work?” Technical work would be the day to day work of a plumber or the day to day work of a sales person, realtor, and mechanic and so on.

A plumber installs piping. A sales person makes sales calls. A realtor shows houses. The mechanic changes oil.

How is a manager measured?

· Production of their team

A successful manager understands they are not measured by their great ideas or solutions, but the solutions created and implemented by their team. This statement may confuse many managers, but take a look back at how you are measured.

What does a manager do?

· Creates a learning environment

· Builds a team

· Emotionally engages their employees

· Recognizes the efforts and successes of the technical work being accomplished

· Opens the door to communication

· Welcomes ideas and solutions

· Promotes Self Discovery…

· Customer Service to employees

· Creates frequent communication forums for their teams

If a manager can immediately adopt a strategy of soliciting solutions from their team, then trust and encourage their employees to see it through. The successes will be endless.

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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Denver Broncos: Dear Coach McDaniel's

As an extremely avid Bronco fan, I found it very important I weighed in on what I witnessed with my team this year!! Countless management mistakes were made, but let’s focus on one.

*Earning the trust of your team

-Recognizing Individual Talents

-One on One communication

Often rookie managers have one idea in mind, "I must prove myself and my knowledge." In this case you (McDaniel’s) being a young coach this common mistake was exaggerated. New managers may have the best tactical ideas on how to perform the tasks at hand, (X's and O's) but lack the people management skills to help deliver their perfect strategy. Human nature is such that people deliver based on how they feel. A team member must be emotionally engaged to deliver.

To build the perfect team, recognizing individual strengths is one of the first tasks at hand! Although you (McDaniel’s) are absolutely correct, "No one person is bigger than the team." You went out of your way not to recognize the strengths of your people. Thus the loss of Cutler and the potential loss of other outstanding talents. Although tactically it may have made sense to rid Cutler, how it was handled was completely inappropriate. Football players or not, people need to feel special and gifted. And more importantly deserve it.

Although McDaniel’s you most likely have a great strategy for the football field. It 100% needs to be coupled with a people management strategy. This is obviously lacking!! "Why the 6-0 start then?" Well Josh, frequently when there is a need for a new leader and one is brought in, a team goes through a honeymoon period! Team members are engaged, motivated to keep their jobs, etc. The honeymoon period typically evaporates after six months, if not sooner. At this point it comes down to strong fundamentals, relationships and sound management practices. Josh over the next couple years you will make mistakes, we all do! However it is how you handle them that makes you a great leader.

McDaniel’s my advice to engage your team is know your people. Their strengths, weaknesses, desires, goals, motivators and so on. And more importantly than anything JOSH!! Confidentiality is a virtue so many managers lack. Build it into your management "system!"

Attached is an article link of one tactical management protocol you could implement into your system to know your people!!!

http://www.valhallabizsolutions.com/resources/Management-One-On-One-Meetings.pdf



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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Do What's Right For A Customer?



  • Genuinely know your client
  • Be a solutions based business
  • Follow up to ensure the solutions are correct

I am baffled at how often I walk into a customer situation to see a company not providing the right solutions for them. There are ways to ensure you do whats right, but are often skipped by company managers, sales people and execs. Below are some solutions to help you do what is right for your customer. Keep in mind a good organization at its root genuinely care about their customer and doing the right thing every time. If this standard is not at the forefront of your business philosophy, then make it and communicate it to your teams every day.

Genuinely know your client! Get to know what is important to the person or persons you will be working with. Ask simple questions like; What got you started in this field?, What do you like most about working here?, Tell me about your family? If the setting isn't appropriate for those questions, do some research about the company first and ask about a related news story an their opinion on it.

Be a Solutions Based Business! Set the standard with your organization to only make recommendations which makes sense for your customer. To do this appropriately you must profile! For techniques on profiling visit www.valhallabizsolutions.com/blog.html. Once you have a good understanding of what your customer needs, you have a moral obligation to match those needs. This creates loyalty and in turn more cross sell opportunities.

Follow Up! Sounds simple, but always make sure you follow up after any solution is given. If its installing signs, to a large consulting project, inquire about the results and ask if their is anything else they need from you.


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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

What Organizational Issues Do You Have?



Management Consulting Companies today can add so much value to a corporation, small business and teams within an organization. Some of the biggest issues in management today stifle companies from growing and furthermore attracting the right talent to their organization. This only translates into poor product to the customer.

Here are some of the issues that exist in businesses today...
  • Wasted expense
  • Improper Pricing
  • Goals
  • Communicated Vision
  • Values
  • Expectations
  • Consistency
  • Complicated Vision and Values
  • Infrequent Communication
  • Development

Management consulting companies take these issues head on, specifically Valhalla. The issues listed are problems Valhalla addresses head on.

Wasted expense- as a business owner or leader in your department, when was the last time you spend time auditing your credit card processing bills, telecoms, employee time sheets, insurance premiums, 401k, etc. Often when reviewing these monthly fixed expenses there is an opportunity to save as much as 30 percent on their monthly expenses. As important as this is, leaders accept it as an acceptable ongoing expense. Those opportunities to increase capital are critical, especially during economic downturns.

Improper Pricing- this is a direct result of not understanding competitor pricing and not managing your fixed costs appropriately. Management consulting companies work with thousands of companies and often can add immediate value to pricing based on revenue goals and reducing your fixed costs.

Goals- If you don't know where your going, how do you build a plan to get there? Truth is your can't. Organizations usually do one of two things. They don't establish goals or establish too many goals. When there are know revenue goals, strategy goals, timeline goals, etc. Your team has no chance of meeting the expectations that so frequently fill a leaders mind. On the other hand some companies establish too many priorities or goals and handicap growth and productivity because each employee is an expert nowhere.

Communicated Vision- Many times a company will have a vision, mission statement or sometimes both. Countless times as management consultants we walk into an organization and ask an employee the company vision and no one knows what their company cares about.

Values- Have a core to how you do business, something that sets expectations for your team without saying a word.

Expectations- many companies have too much room for discretion amongst their team. They often call it empowerment, etc. However this never seems to be the result. So often each and every issue that comes up in a organization requires the person handling it to make a educated decision. While this sounds great and often they take care of an issue appropriately, the door to inconsistency has been let in the door. Meaning every time the same problem arises it requires a new solution and worse yet the customer gets a different solution from the time before.

Consistency- this falls hand in hand with expectations. Management consulting companies help establish the proper systems to deliver what your customer deserves.

Complicated Vision and Values- So often companies will have a well thought out way of doing business, lists of ideals, etc. Yet if you were to ask anyone in the company what they are, would they know? The answer is no, the lists can be so long that employees don't read it or recall any of the information. Management consulting drives home the most important ideals, keeps it simple and helps managers cement it into a way of life with their groups.

Infrequent Communication- Management does not communicate with their people enough. Why? There is no expectations for managers on how to manage. So often a manager is put into a role and asked to do it his/her way. Which is great, however you may have 200 managers and they are all doing it different. Can you guess how consistent of a product your people are delivering in all 200 locations? Management consulting companies assist organizations on implementing management communication standards. This keeps messages flowing consistently to all levels of companies.

Development- How often as an organization do you have to recruit talent outside your organization? Organically developing your staff can be the most beneficial revenue producing strategy you can have. The more educated your team members are, obviously the better asset they are. What is your strategy for developing your people?

Management consulting companies provide a unique niche in today's business world. They address entire organizational problems such as the issues listed above or can address specific areas for development. As a leader, if you care about your organization and your people, hire help. Before you even hire your next employee, take the time and analyze what revenue opportunities am I missing short term and long term by not hiring a management consulting company?

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Financial Management Consulting

This day and age much of how a company cuts costs is by laying off workforce. It is a frightening time for so many individuals, corporations and even local municipalities. The last thing anyone wants to do as a leader is let go of people who have been such a large part of a team. Financial management consulting can help avoid ever getting to this type of situation. Specifically in new companies, there is an opportunity to set up their business for success and potentially avoid massive layoffs in the future. For a new business establishing a defined organization chart with detailed job descriptions. This may seem simple, but simple does not define easy to execute. Financial management consulting helps define organization charts, job descriptions and lastly the appropriate pay for the job description. Again this sounds easy, but we see many organizations pay way too much for positions and often pay for positions that shouldn't even exist. Financial management consulting focuses on other business needs beyond their biggest expense, employees! Their are investment strategies, distribution strategies, and cost saving strategies that must be implemented regardless of the businesses age.

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Monday, May 4, 2009

What to do in Uncertain Economic Times


In today's work environment the need for consulting and management from a third party is critical to an organizations success and development. What makes managers and owners want to figure everything out on their own? We are in tough economic times, with challenges still ahead. Some companies will weather the storm and excel during a recession and others will falter. Consulting and management services can bring vision and direction during these uncertain times. Services include cost management to control overspending where unnecessary. Growth strategies, how can you leverage your customers and employees in you distribution and sales process. Marketing budget analysis, consulting and management services bring new cost effective strategies and in house solutions to cut costs that already exist. Management effectiveness, coach your team to follow your vision and guarantee revenue growth going forward. Consulting and management services assist in culture change management, employees can often struggle through monumental shifts in philosophy specifically when there is a management change. Customer management solutions are also a must in today's world.

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Friday, May 1, 2009

Marketing Needs-Measure your Results



  • How much do you spend?
  • How much do you make?
  • Implement profiling


It is as simple as this. Often when we enter an organization and we analyze their marketing budget, there is no correlation between how much they spend on marketing and how much revenue it produces.

Recently I entered a company who was spending money in every magazine, lead list, direct mail campaign out there. When I asked them how much business they were receiving from these adds, they couldn't answer my question. First make it apart of your profiling process to ask what brought your customer to you. It may seem simple, but track the answers. Then track how much the traffic source spends.

For example a direct mail campaign...

You send 10,000 pieces and it costs you $6,000.

Measure how many people came in from your campaign. Lets say 30 people came in from your mail campaign and they averaged spending $300.00. Would that be worth your time and money? The answer is yes. You made a $3000.00 profit. Now if you average $30 per customer that comes in, was it worth your time? The answer is no.

Although this is simple math, many companies don't measure it that way. Now there are variables that cannot be accounted for nor should be factored into this equation. How much referral business you obtain from the 30 people who did come in. You can't measure this very effectively, we suggest you use the simple formula above.


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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Keep Your Employees

Keep you Employees

  • Hiring Process
  • High Expectations
  • Recognition
  • Feedback
  • One on one
  • Promotions


I felt compelled to write this after a conversation I had with a client. This manager was truly torn with the idea that one of his employees was leaving his organization to work for someone else. He really struggled with the lack of loyalty. When the truth is what process have you as the business owner done to create loyalty? You may as the manager emotionally feel it. You have invested time, money, etc. However that is what a business owner values in a relationship. An employee has different values.

Valhalla has many solutions for creating loyalty, however here is some simple steps...

Hiring process- Behaviorally determine if this employee has a track record for loyalty. Ask questions such as...
  • Talk about a job you were truly passionate about, why?
  • Tell us about a time you felt your loyalty was in question, what was the situation? What did you do?

These are questions that can assist you in determining loyalty. However loyalty absolutely cannot be your only basis for hire.

High Expectations- A manager often has really high expectations for themselves, but as they begin to hire folks, they begin to negotiate the standard to win over their employees emotionally. Never, ever negotiate a standard. In the long run your people will lose respect for you as the employer. Employees frequently need to be challenged and they deserve to have high standards. Your customers deserve the same.

Recognition- this may seem simple, however it is not done nearly enough. Valhalla believes a worst case scenario would be recognizing once a day. Recognition is NOT gift cards, time off, celebrations. Recognition is catching people in a behavioral act doing it right. Then providing feedback.

Feedback- your team deserves to hear what is correct and incorrect from you regularly. Team members want to know they are doing it right. Or what they need to do to improve. If they are not growing they are more likely leave.

One on one- this is just a piece of Valhalla's "Effective Manager Calendar," but its the most important. Your team members deserve their time with you. Time discuss successes, concerns, personal life, etc. It is another great tool for evaluating progression. This is where they need to hear about how they are progressing in their career. They need vision and goals to obtain.

Promotions- Promote good results, good behavior and good skills. Tenure means absolutely nothing. If tenure is your value I wouldn't recommend anyone work for you, nor would I patron your business. I want the best service every time! Setting performance as your standard encourages better performance.

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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Assumptive Selling (Don't DO IT!)



  • Profile
  • Patience
  • Listen
  • Recommend

So often I witness sales people in action and I have to be honest it is out right pathetic. Three times this week I have had the opportunity to witness some of the most ineffective behavior.

Truth is I watch ineffective sales people have to get 3-4 times the number of clients to reach their volume goals, compared to an effective sales person. Any business owner knows it is significantly harder to obtain a new customer than cross sell one. Most sales people struggle with both.

Sales people please profile, take the time to have targeted customer questions which turn your customers brain on. This will undoubtedly reveal potential needs your company may have solutions for. The number one rule hear is never, ever make a recommendation during this time. It changes the environment in the conversation. Quickly a sales person frequently makes this mistake and begins to discuss cost and provide numerous product information. This will require a lot of patience becauseintuitively a sales person has solutions to fix a customers issues. Make sure you listen and listen some more.

Lastly once you have listened to all their concerns, feelings, fears, wish lists, etc. Make a formal solution based recommendation.


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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

What Makes a Good Manager?

What makes a good Manager?

A good manager provides...
  • Expectations
  • Tools
  • Accountability
  • Development
  • Recognition
  • Solutions

In today's world, management skills often struggle to develop within individuals. There are many resources to improve a managers skills, but so many managers refuse to resource appropriately. This happens from the most senior management down to the floor managers. The bottom line is the production of your organization is a result of your management's effectiveness. Yet so often management's development is ignored. Valhalla's management development consulting invests a bulk of their services into managements development. Truth is, if your behind on your sales plan, projects, time lines, budgets, etc. its managements fault. When an employee becomes a manager, frequently it is assumed they know what they are doing. Then as their career progresses bad habits are formed from watching their superiors repeat and do the wrong things. Consistently we witness managers who manage by reacting to their environments. They have hot buttons or themes of the day. Strategy and proactive solutions fail to exist. They resort to gimmicky motivation techniques such as games and contests. Many managers give multiple priorities that result in their people not doing one of the priorities effectively. Valhalla's management development consulting focuses on the effectiveness of each manager. Managers deserve skill development and tools to make their jobs easier. We also provide ongoing foundational solutions for managers to be successful from the beginning of their careers on. For an organization to grow, the growth of its people, especially managers is the most critical piece.

Fortunately in my career I had the opportunity to have great mentors and leaders. In fact I was witness to one of the best managers I have ever seen. He is who I credit so much of what I have learned. Learned about process, systems, fundamentals and what it takes to a move a team on a macro level with measurement and accountability. When you witness a good leader you absolutely know. He brought direction, answers, frequent communication, resourcing, and most importantly development of his managers and an expectation his managers provide the same.

I have also witnessed great teachers. Peter Drucker stands out as one of the most influencial in forming the processes and coaching techniques we use today. Michael Hortsman also a disciple of Peter Drucker, brings great communication and step by step solutions to the management world. I have learned so much from them in my making companies successful.

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Monday, April 20, 2009

Sales Process (Manager)

Sales Process (Manager)

Establish what each customer interaction looks like...

  • Greeting
  • Profiling
  • Recommendations
  • Exit

To make things simple for a leader to coach, there has to be foundational processes to your customer interactions.

Greeting, solicit your team in your next daily kick start or team to explore what and how a greeting should look from your organization to your customer. How can use the greeting to impact your sales? What would it sound like? How can you use your greeting to transition into a profiling session with your customer?

Profiling, the most important piece of any sales process and far and away the most absent in almost every business I visit. I challenge you and your business to make this a central part of who you are as an organization. Why? If you really care about what your customers need and want, you have to ask them. In almost every business I patron nobody ask or cares. They jump straight to recommendations. How can you assume you know what your customer wants. Its arrogant and condescending.

Recommendations, this is what most sales people think they excel at. "They can talk to anybody!" There is no one good at this unless the profiling step has properly been executed. You as a manager have an obligation to your customers and your employees to help them uncover the needs of your client.

Exit, this can have a lot polishing as well when it comes to business. Again as a manager solicit your team for what this should look like. Probe around referrals, commitments in future contact and elevating yourself from the competition.

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Valhalla Introduces New Saving Money Program

Budget CC Program

  • Save money immediately on expenses
    • Analyze utility statements
    • Analyze telecom statements
    • Review advertising and marketing budgets
    • Review bank statement fees
    • Review credit card processing
    • Insurance
    • etc.
  • Marketing Solutions
  • Immediate cash flow
  • Budget Analysis

Valhalla is an expert in saving clients money, beyond the sales, service and management expertise, Valhalla brings an immediate value added feature to businesses. Truth is businesses can become complacent with their fix costs. Since they have already budgeted for the cost, they don't take the time to save themselves money and reallocate their budgets towards revenue producing strategies. Valhalla brings a team of experts to analyze and diagnose cost saving techniques which will immediately have a monetary benefit.

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Internal Politics 101

Internal Politics 101

  • Gossip with peers
  • Managing perception
  • Staying networked
  • Pursue a Mentor

Truth is politics are a main stay in every environment. Managing them is your responsibility, if success is important to you. This is a broad topic which can be very far reaching, so I will only touch on a few items here.

Understanding where you are on the totem pole is critical. Most people sit today in an environment which they have multiple peers and a ladder on the way up, sometimes 3-5 layers high. If elevating your career is important to you, then the number one rule is remove yourself from peer gossip. In a political environment everything you say and do will be used against you. To establish yourself as a leader elevate your empathy skills and turn those complaining, rumor milled conversations your peers engage in, into positives about the company.

Number two, manage peoples perception of you. This can be a very difficult thing to do, often someones self image is not a true reflection of the perception they illuminate.
Things to consider:
  • Appearance
    • how you dress
    • how often do you smile
    • how do you smell etc.
  • Taking notes
    • with your boss
    • with your employees
    • in meetings
  • Communication
    • consulting your boss on any upper management communication
    • talk with your boss daily
    • say yes to projects willingly
    • don't say yes to everything
  • Competency
    • know your department
    • numbers
    • forecasts
    • employees
These are just some things you should be conscience of on a daily basis.

Staying networked is important, stay proactive by using the Valhalla Effective Manager Calendar to assist in staying proactive. Which means have a network lunch frequently. Once a week with people of influence or who directly/indirectly impact your development and your department.

Having a mentor internally can do much for your career. Mentors often have been through similar experience which currently face or will face and can help you navigate the political waters. Or help you with tactical advice to make you more successful in your work.



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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Gaining Commitment From Employees

Gaining a commitment

  • Determine team goals
  • Brain storm appropriate tasks/behaviors
  • Assign time frames
  • Solicit employee regularly on progress
  • Schedule follow up

I have to opportunity to observe so many managers talk to their staffs and there are many reasons their employees don't commit to action. I also get to hear all the time from managers, "my employees just don't care about their work!" Or, "they just don't do what they know they are supposed to do?" There are so many reasons for this, but almost all the reasons are at the fault of the manager. Team members want to do well, they want to make their goals and they want to be recognized when they do. One effectiveness skill that could amplify a managers results today would be working on gaining a commitment from their team.

Determine team goals! This may sound easy, but can be difficult. In your next team meeting solicit your team for something they would like to accomplish over a period of time. Valhalla recommends at least a goal that requires a month to achieve, but can be longer. Once the team has something they are trying to achieve, it will be easier to have behaviors and tasks to deliver the required results.

Work with your employee to determine what their role looks like to achieve the team goals. A one on one is a great place for this. Details are important here. i.e. Every time a customer walks into our location I will say, "welcome, have you visited us before?" Depending on the answer I will then say, "great I am glad you have been here before, let me tell you about a special we have for returning customers!"

Assign a time frame, ensure you the manager set the bar on time line. It is inappropriate for your employee to ever guess when you want a particular task completed.

Solicit your employee regularly through out the task on what they are learning. Ask, "What things are you learning so far?" This is where they will critique their own work.

Schedule follow up, this is the most important to ensure anything gets done. Schedule frequent follow up to ask for progress. This ensures something does not get missed or skipped along the way. This also presents a forum for your employee to solicit your feedback and obtain your guidance.


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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Feedback Moments

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Feedback Moments

Who:
  • Catch team members doing things right
  • 5:1 Rule five positive feedback sessions to every one developmental
  • Identify specific behaviors
  • Feedback immediately after behavior

Where:
  • Entire location

When:
  • Daily
  • Schedule specific time

Why:
  • Encourages team to repeat good behaviors
  • Team member develops
  • Conveys to team managements willingness to get hands dirty
  • Opportunity for manager to model good behavior
    • Team sees behaviors done correctly

How:
  • Role play, practice doing things right
  • Feedback
    • Identify specific behavior observed
    • Associate it with a skill
    • Display how it impacted the team or customer
      • i.e., "When you followed up with that customer and remembered their upcoming vacation, you displayed again how important it is to you to do the right thing for your customers. Thank you for staying so disciplined to the sales process you have earned another lifetime customer! At this rate our team will have a great chance to meet our goal today. Thanks to you!"

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Team Meetings

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Team Meetings

Who:
  • Entire team

What:
  • Team builder
  • Share vision
  • Turn in calendar for the week
  • Brain storm around business priorities
  • Review team scoreboard
  • Recognize, recognize, recognize
  • Training
  • Internal customer presentations

Where:
  • Conference room (team should be sitting)

When:
  • Weekly
  • One hour

Why:
  • Stay abreast to internal issues
  • Direct communication with the entire team
  • Create team buy in
  • Better team relationships
  • More educated teams

How:
  • Team builder for the first 5-10 minutes to engage team
  • What does the our vision mean to you?
  • What are the team goals, and how will our priorities get us there?
  • Highlight substantial accomplishments
  • Have team members recognize each other for the last 10 minutes

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Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Exits

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Exits

Who:
  • Direct reports only

What:
  • Discuss what was accomplished for the day
  • Discuss the days learning
  • Review high impact priorities
  • Review scorecard
  • Follow up on Daily Kick Start commitments
  • Recognize specific behaviors

Where:
  • Area large enough to have all your direct reports

When:
  • Daily
  • 15 minutes

Why:
  • Team learns from each other
  • Increased accountability
  • More urgency from your team
  • Develops consistency which transfers to your customers
  • Reinforces the importance of the day's activities

How:
  • Ask
    • Based on your learning today what changes would you make?
  • Follow up
    • i.e., you talked about scheduling three appointments this morning. How did that go? What did you learn?
    • i.e., Paul you mentioned you needed three more presentations for next week. Where are you with your goal?
  • Celebrate
    • i.e., Kelly you surpassed your goals again for the third day in a row! What is working so well for you?

NOTE: The daily exit is critical to the management process, but cannot be the only activity. The Daily Kick Start is critical to making your Daily Exit effective

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Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Kick Start

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Kick Start

Who:
  • Direct reports, followed by entire team

What:
  • State vision
  • Ask team to review week's business priorities
  • Ask team to review team scorecard
  • Ask individuals to review team goals
  • Ask individuals how they are going to make it happen today?
    • What will it sound like?
    • What will it look like?

Where:
  • Room large enough to have your team standing up

When:
  • Daily
  • 15 minutes with direct reports
  • 15 minutes with the entire team

Why:
  • Set tone for the day
  • Have the entire team on the same page
  • Reinforces team goals
  • Reinforces vision for the team

How:
  • Deliver vision
    • i.e., "Our focus is growing and developing as a team. We believe we are only as strong as our weakest team member. We also believe we have a moral obligation to help our customers succeed, by always doing what is right for the customer."
  • Ask
    • What does our vision mean to you?
    • What are the business priorities?
    • What are we trying to accomplish as a team?
    • Walk us through how you will help the team meet its goals today?

NOTE: This activity should never be skipped, this is a foundational process to keep your team moving with a sense of urgency. Without this many of the other coaching expectations lose value

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Valhalla's Management Expectations -- One on One

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- One on One

Who:
  • All direct reports

What:
  • 10 Minutes about them
    • What do you wanna talk about in your 1:1?
    • Recognize specifics
  • 10 Minutes for you
    • Scorecard
    • Specific projects
    • etc.
  • 10 Minutes development
    • Work on specific skill development
    • Career progression

Where:
  • Private place on-site! (never off-site)

When:
  • Weekly (same time if possible)
  • 30 minutes

Why:
  • Removes lack of communication as a reason for failure
  • Prevent reactionary management
    • Solving crisis after the fact
  • Communication forum to keep goals at the forefront
  • Give employees the time they deserve
  • Anticipate unscheduled time off from your employees
  • Acknowledge what motivates your employees
  • Develop strong relationships with your direct reports

How:
  • What is your primary motivation for getting up in the morning?
  • Spiral for each employee
  • Talk about what you have been working on?
  • Talk about your scorecard?
  • What updates do you have....?
  • What insights do you have on the recent changes implemented?
  • What challenges are you facing?

NOTE: The one on one is the primary coaching protocol in Valhalla's process. Without this fundamental coaching expectation the rest of the coaching expectations are not nearly as effective.

www.valhallabizsolutions.com


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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Economic Recessions -- Understand Your Competition



Review the following...
  • Pricing
  • Competitive services and conveniences
  • What they are doing well
    • services
    • processes
    • marketing
    • social networking
  • Community involvement

Its amazing how much your competition can help you, most people don't look at it that way. Too often I run into business owners that refuse to use another businesses great idea. As if it is an admission of inadequacy? I can only challenge you as a business owner or manager look around you and see who is doing it the best. Use it to innovate processes in your organization.

As the President of our organization, I have yet to refuse advice from experts in their respected areas. I solicit advice from experts in each of the bullet points above. Its critical to build a network that can add value to your organization. (we will discuss networking in a future blog)

The truth is if you as a business owner go to your competition as a customer you begin to understand more of how your customer views your business. Adding value to your customer is your number one priority, be humble and learn from those around you!!

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

CEO Coach


Does a CEO Need a Coach?

Benefits of a having a skills coach...

  • Non bias feedback
  • Non political evaluation
  • Improved communication with the team
  • Safe environment to forecast the future
  • Improved leadership and coaching skills
  • Increased revenue

When you think of the fortune 500 companies, a good percentage of them work with a mentor or coach. Why does the number one golfer (Tiger Woods) in the world have such an intimate relationship with his coach. In business there is a general rule, if you are not growing, your dieing. You can see it across the country right now, companies are struggling. This same fundamental rule applies to personal growth as well.

With Valhalla Business Solutions I maybe the CEO, however that does not mean I don't have a coach. I have someone evaluating my performance all the time. He listens to my conference calls. He takes notes during presentations and then provides honest feedback on my performance with our clients. This way we can continue to grow as an organization. I have a core belief not only as it relates to business, but spiritually. Life is about evaluating your performance and developing as an individual. If you as a leader don't create a learning environment for yourself, my thought is your most likely are not creating it for your organization.

Note I mentioned self evaluation, this is key when it comes to growth. My coach sets up environments for me to learn. Asks me why I say certain things to clients, internal customers, etc. Really this allows for me to diagnose my process. He also evaluates my communication skills, from empathy to building rapport with a client. These may seem very small to improve on, however it is apart of a much larger fol-ossify. If you are not growing, your dieing. CEO's

Valhalla's Advice...
aren't challenged on their process enough. Do you think this could have impacted some of the larger banks and car companies who are failing? Truly how can you as a CEO say "yes" you can afford this home. You have to do what is right for your customer!! Every time!!! Lastly, don't your internal and external customers deserve the best. The best from you, the face of the organization.
  • Pick a mentor, no matter what level of an organization you are at
  • Hire a coach
  • If you don't hire a coach, recruit someone from human resources or your learning and development staff to evaluate you on a regular basis (this may apply for specific skill feedback, not recommended for challenging company process or fol-ossify)

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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Business Education: After You Designate your CEO



Determine...

  • CFO
  • Sales and Service Manager
  • Human Resources Manager
  • Marketing Manager
  • Learning and Development Manager
  • IT Manager
  • Compliance Manager

Above are sample management positions that can be critical to your organization. As we mentioned in the "Designate a CEO" in a previous blog, it is critical to weigh the responsibilities for each person in your organization. This applies even if there is two people in the organization.

Many organizations skip this step and begin to suffer, especially as they grow. It is a monumental benefit to have predetermined roles, so as you do grow it will be easy to hire the most critical positions. This will also prevent for owners or managers from duplicating their efforts.

Below is detailed responsibility for each position mentioned above.

CFO...
  • Managing risks
    • Company investments, etc.
  • Financial planning
  • Record keeping
    • Paying bills, etc.

Sales and Service Manager...
  • Sales and service planning
  • Sales and service effectiveness
    • Sales systems and processes
    • Order forms
    • Sales interactions
  • Sales tracking and forecasting

Human Resources Manager...
  • Selection
  • Performance evaluation
  • Counseling
  • Personnel issues
  • Record keeping of personal data
  • Confidential resource to internal customers
  • Compensation, pensions, etc.

Marketing Manager...
  • Creating
  • Communicating
  • Delivering
  • Exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
  • Advertising
  • Determining and tracking demographics as it relates to purchase

Learning and Development...
  • Training process for organizational systems
  • Educate new employees on culture and resources

IT Manager...
  • Determine cost saving strategies leveraging technology
  • Implementation of technological systems
  • Establish internal and external customer friendly technology

Compliance Manager...
  • Ensure the organization is operating within the boundaries of the law
  • Check and balance within the organization




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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Coaching Effectiveness


There are quite a few things that we have seen that will impact the success of your sales and service process, but one activity stands above the rest: Coaching! Unfortunately with many of our clients, when we first start working with them, coaching is a foreign concept. Often, there is a desire to coach but many just don’t know how to do it.

Up-front there are some things that you need to know about coaching. Coaching entails the observance of specific behaviors and activities. Now, what does that have to do with anything? This may seem very obvious but necessary to be said: In order for you to be a coach, you have to be amongst your team to “see” what their activities and behaviors look and sound like.

We have found the best and most effective managers are coaching their team-members in specific behaviors and activities. It is not just the numbers and results. For example a specific activity could be outbound phone calls. An effective manager in this case may identify a skill gap when the employee is making a phone call. For this case the employee may struggle with transitioning to profile the client.

Your job as a coach: To assess areas the team-member has strengths and weaknesses. Then determine the best way to guide them in those development needs and in leveraging their strengths. You and your team-member must set goals using the *“SMART” model.

Example for above scenario:

    1. Role play with the employee to illustrate how it should sound

    2. Determine a date when the employee will be able to profile perfectly

    3. Schedule observations along the way to assess progress

    4. Celebrate the completion date.

Key Insights from this:

  • You coach activities and behaviors not just results
  • Results can be part of the goal and generally the success measure
  • **Always set goals and use the “SMART” model



*S: specific, M: measurable, A: aligned, R: realistic, T: time-bound

**In a later blog we will discuss setting goals around the “SMART” model.

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