Employees sluggish? Unmotivated? Need some ideas….

Has the momentum of the holidays, the new year, the candies and hearts worn off?  Struggling to find the next idea?  the next inspiration?  the next focus that will save your company money?  Economic times have you down?

Now is the time to gather employee input.  Get an idea of where everything stands.  No, it’s not a gripe session, but it is a chance to find out how your people are feeling and discover any new ideas they might have.  (If it turns into a gripe session, don’t simply dismiss it.  The gripe might be legitimate.  If so, put your people to work on a solution that pleases everyone.)

During these times it is incredibly important your team realize they aren’t alone.  They need to feel you hear them, and they need to see you taking action. 

You are not in this alone and neither are they.  Realize and embrace you’re a team.  Generating their ideas, generates their buy-in, generates its own inspiration!

Filed under: Business, Employee Inspiration, Feedback, Follow-Up, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, employee motivation, teamwork

Motivation, Inspiration…Barack Obama Rally under the Arch St. Louis, MO

100,000 came to listen

Some were Senators

Some were Gold Medal athletes

others were CNN news reporters

 

Most were everyday people

the Message... Change, Hope and Faith tomorrow can be a better day.

He motivated and inspired. We need to act. Nov. 4, 2008

Filed under: Barack Obama, Claire McCaskill, Inspiration, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Life, News, People, Time Management, politics, teamwork , Barack Obama, MO, Obama Rally, St. Louis, the Arch

User Driven Product Development… The New Business Model

While recently researching and looking for new ways to improve my current business and possibly start another, I recently began reading about a new phenomenon: User Driven Product Development.  Gone are the days of the old Research and Development models which were focus group and out sourced research based.  Welcome the new days, and it’s quite a novel idea; it’s simplicity is the key.  (Isn’t that the case with most great ideas?  It’s grounded in simplicity and it’s self propelling.)

The great idea is to let your customers decide what you sell.  Not only do they decide what you sell, they help design it.  It eliminates the agnst ridden launch of a new idea or product, wondering if you the customer will appreciate what you’ve done for them.  The nail biting as you hope the consumer looks favorably upon your invention.  Those fears are made obsolete when you take the guess work out of the equation.  If the person you’re targeting is the one telling you what they want and what they are willing to buy, then you’ve just avoided a lot of heart burn and many sleepless nights.

The question is, how do you incorporate this strategy into your current work?  It’s more than the old focus group, where the mom’s and teachers gather around to tell you the toys they need to develop healthy minds.  It’s more than that.  You cannot simply get their input, they have to be a part of the selling model.  Many companies are using User Driven Product Development in conjunction with User Driven Marketplaces.  What a glorious day when the person buying it is the one designing it, the one putting it on the market and then buying it.  You need not lose sleep at a product launch if all the guess work is gone.

It’s so simple it doesn’t require paragraphs of explanation.

Filed under: Business, Business Model, Business News, Customer Service, Exceptional Customer Service, Inspiration, News, Product Development, Research and Development , Business, Business Model, Business News, Economy, Management, News, Product Development, R&D, Research and Development, User Driven Marketplace, User Driven Product Development

eBay’s Controversial Feedback Policy Starts Monday

eBay, the on-line hot spot, will put into effect its new feedback policy this Monday.   The policy, announced last January, will remove the ability of sellers to leave negative (or neutral) feedback concerning buyers.

eBay maintains the change is a result of growing retaliatory comments from sellers who received negative feedback from buyers.  Market research, according to eBay, shows us buyers who receive these retalitory comments are much less likely to make future purchases.   Fewer future purchases mean decreasing sells which isn’t in anyone’s best interest.

Well at least not in everyone’s best interest.  Decreasing sales at eBay is a good thing for rival sites, such as OnlineAuction.com.  Sellers are looking towards local classifieds, self-owned merchant sites, and local sites such as Craigslist.com.  The defection, while currently only a blimp on eBay’s radar, could be a sign of things to come.

Filed under: Business, News , Business, Craigslist, e-commerce, eBay, internet merchants, OnLineAuction

Ronald Reagan Leadership Quote of the Day

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.”

— Ronald Reagan

Filed under: Business, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, quote of the day , delegate, delegation, leadership, Management, politics, quote, quote of the day, Ronald Reagan

Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management

Filed under: Business, Inspiration, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, Time Management, video , Business, Lecture, Life, Management, Randy Pausch, Time Management, video

IT (Information Technology) Videos

I recently added a few videos IT professionals might find interesting.  Fear not, those of us still managing human beings will still have plenty of great videos to watch.

Filed under: Business, IT, News, videos

IT Managers Find a Fix

In the increasingly IT dependent world we live in, we begin to see more and more managers who are in the management mix of reconciling people with software, hardware, systems, portals, drives, gateways, and about one billion more tech-savvy terms.  These managers not only have to work through the day to day questions of how to handle the human element of motivating and inspiring their staff, they also need to stay downloaded on the most recent versions of the systems which keep our businesses running.  Hopefully we get the the human element here at Management Lessons.  But where do IT professionals go to get the updates they need?  (I’m actually asking and hoping to get a responce.)

One site I’ve found recently is linked here.  While it isn’t an exhaustive resource, it does periodically provide insight and direction for which many are looking.  If nothing else, it allows you to post your own thoughts and questions and connect with like minded technicians.  Check out http://www.drehill.net and let the administrator there know what you think of the site.  For all your human needs, keep checking back with Management Lessons.

(If you know of another great resource for IT professionals, leave a comment.)

Have a great day!

Filed under: Business, HR, IT, IT Managers, IT Professionals, News, technology management

Employee Motivation Video

Be sure to have sound, the music is incredible.  And the video itself is just as relevant to anyone who wants to ask themselves, “Why settle for one of the best, when you can be Great?”

Filed under: Customer Service, Employee Inspiration, Inspiration, News, employee motivation, video

The Secret of Branding and Customer Service; the Whopper Freak Out Video

While watching American Idol recently, I saw a commercial for Burger King.  If you haven’t seen this Whooper Freak Out Video, click the name and watch.  It’s quite funny and insightful.  The reactions of the customers are varied but the center on one central theme:  the product they’d come to know and love, the product that WAS Burger King to them was gone.  And with the disappearance of this item, their impression of the company was changed as well.

The question is, what in your current business is the Whopper?  What would you take away that if you did, the customer would simply not stand for it?  What would get these reactions from your customers? 

The challenge is… Can you make exceptional customer service your Whopper?  Can you make exceptional customer service such a focus that if one day it were gone, the customer would not stand for it.  If you can, you’ll grow your business like never before.

Filed under: Customer Service, Exceptional Customer Service, Inspiration, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, Whopper Freak Out Video