Valhalla Business Solutions - Business Management Consultants

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

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.

Labels: Coaching Teams, development, employees, feedback model, internal customers, management, management expectations, small business, Small Business CEO, Small Business developing your team members

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 9:37 AM 0 comments

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

Labels: calendar management, Coaching Teams, Denver Broncos, effective manager, employees, management expectations, Small Business CEO, Sports Management

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 9:01 AM 0 comments

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?

Labels: Coaching Teams, development, economic crisis, effective manager, knowing your customer, making money, management, management expectations, Restaurant Management, revenue, Sales Coaching, team goals

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 6:49 PM 0 comments

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.

Labels: Coaching Teams, corporations, economy, management, management expectations, marketing, Restaurant Management

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 10:11 AM 0 comments

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.

Labels: banking, Coaching Teams, corporations, cross sell, development, economy, feedback, management expectations, relationships, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 10:08 PM 0 comments

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.

Labels: calendar management, Coaching Teams, corporations, effective manager, feedback model, management, management expectations, Small Business developing your team members

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 10:38 AM 0 comments

Monday, April 13, 2009

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.

Labels: Coaching Teams, conflict resolution, development, economy, internal customers, learning, management, management expectations, polotics, relationships, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 6:27 PM 0 comments

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.

Labels: banking, calendar management, Coaching Teams, corporations, cross sell, development, economy, management, management expectations, small business, Small Business CEO, team building

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 4:03 PM 0 comments

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Cross Sell, Expand Your Services

Consider Service Industry
Apply with your product

I had the opportunity to discuss someones business the other day and to be honest I had never encountered a business quite like it before. She had a type of pillow which was used to help a woman's skin avoid wrinkling. It was a product I had never heard of? I familiarized myself with her business and realized the pillow was the only piece of the business. One thing we work on with each company is your product is not your business. Your business is your product. Customers need a reason to buy the business. We explored at length what could help increase the sales of her business.

We decided she would put together a aging skin care wellness off-site. We discussed the resources she knew in the business and how to apply it. Here is what she came up with.

3 Day Wellness Trip (she knew a manager of a hotel)
Day 1-Skin Care (her product and a make up expert)
Day 2-Group therapy (her best friend the psychiatrist)
Day 3-Yoga (her yoga instructor)

When we were done with the conversation, she realized how much a product like hers lead itself to other opportunities to increase revenue by cross selling service and more importantly selling her product.

Labels: corporate responsibility, cross sell, economic crisis, economy, management, management expectations, off-site, small business, Small Business CEO

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 1:15 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Conflict Resolution

Identify conflict and form an opinion
Address immediately after or during conflict
Provide feedback (use Valhalla's SelfDiscoveryBH Model)
Gain commitment on future resolution behavior

Conflict is absolutely with out exception inevitable in any organization. However not all conflict is unproductive, in our organization conflict is channeled into the checks and balances which produce the must creative ideas or processes. It takes fundamental processes, but beyond having processes that set up appropriate communication in the work place there are ways too accomplish this. Conflict is a great opportunity to identify development opportunities in your staff. Always remember conflict is inevitable and a person is not bad for having conflict.

You must identify if the conflict needs you the manager to be involved, sometimes it is not necessary to give credibility to situations that don't warrant it. You the manager are a problem fixer, but it is not necessary to be a hero always.

Never ever wait 24 hours to address conflict, you lose the ability to address specific behaviors. Good or bad. Also please no matter what you do, do not bring both parties into your office together. It is unnecessary and you will not be able to deliver the feedback they deserve based on their behavior.

Provide feedback, individually address the specific behavior. i.e. "Jon when you say know to Jeremy's ideas, he feels as if your dismissing his input. You are one of the leaders of this team and the team needs you to be able to facilitate and engage the rest of the team."

Gain commitment on behavior going forward. i.e., "What can you do to manage this behavior in the future?" Follow up on commitment in their one on one. Ensure you get a commitment from each party on apologizing to the other.

Labels: conflict resolution, corporations, effective manager, management expectations, Restaurant Management, work relationships, workplace

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 3:15 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Valhalla's Effective Manager Calendar

Attached is my sample calendar to help any successful manager have the forums to communicate with their teams. I have followed this model with every team I have worked with and had beyond extraordinary results!

Effectivemanagercalendar.doc

Labels: calendar management, economic crisis, effective manager, employees, feedback, feedback model, management, management expectations, Restaurant Management, small business, Small Business CEO

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 9:10 AM 1 comments

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

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

Labels: Coaching Teams, management, management expectations, one on one, Restaurant Management, Sales Coaching, sales process, small business, team building

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 4:48 PM 0 comments