Digital Communication

This article, How to Avoid Virtual Miscommunication, by Keith Ferrazzi in Harvard Business Review (April 12, 2013) is a spot-on, powerhouse short-list of how to avoid miscommunication with a virtual team or project group.

Ferrazzi displays insight on challenges to virtual communication:

Think about the information you can glean just from the seating arrangement in a physical conference room — who sits next to whom, who’s at the head of the table, who has put a little extra distance between herself and her neighbor, and so on. All those cues are missing in a typical teleconference.

As well as unpacking a list of SIX best practices to achieve shared understanding in virtual communication. Here’s a favorite:

Avoid sloppy e-mailing. A new status symbol in today’s generally more egalitarian business environment has arisen: sloppy e-mails. One provocative study found that many executives have write terse e-mails with half-sentences, bad grammar, and atrocious spelling. The underlying message is that those individuals are far too busy to be bothered with writing perfectly polished text. Unfortunately, sloppy e-mails at best require wasting time trying to decipher them, and at worse cause workplace misunderstandings and costly errors. For offenders who claim they simply don’t have time to write better emails, researcher Jaclyn Kostnerdoesn’t mince words: “I tell them you have to find the time; otherwise, you’re not fit for the job and somebody else should be doing it. Or maybe you need to offload some responsibilities because there’s no excuse for sending people cryptic emails.”

If anyone gave attention to these 6 principles they would unquestionably avoid a whole lot of confusion, frustration, and unnecessary interaction. Do yourself a favor and read the full article here: How to Avoid Virtual Miscommunication – Keith Ferrazzi – Harvard Business Review.

[image courtesy of marketwitharedpen.com]

In 2000, Wayne Cascio identified five disadvantages of virtual teams, none of which have been resolved by 12 years of technological advances. Overcoming these obstacles isn’t about high-definition video conferencing; it’s about effective leadership that accounts for the nuances of the virtual environment.

Read the article here: How To Beat The Five Killers Of Virtual Working – Forbes.

According to Best Practices, LLC’s primary research study, “Building Global Capability: Creating and Maintaining Effective Global Teams,” even global teams with established common processes and online tools can still suffer from failures and disappointments. Despite this, virtual teams can ultimately provide a company access to diverse skill sets and expertise, knowledge and wisdom about emerging markets, and round-the-clock business hours for efficiency.

In order to determine which best practices global leaders are implementing in order to create successful virtual teams, Best Practices LLC drew from extensive primary research that was completed with 59 executives from 56 leading companies. The full 56-page benchmarking report contains more than 100 metrics and 10 executive narratives, providing executives with global responsibility the tools, practices and techniques to help virtual teams work better together and achieve strategically aligned objectives.

Key topics of this primary research include:

• Why companies establish global teams
• How companies measure progress toward globalization
• Tools and practices that accelerate progress
• Practices that facilitate working with other cultures, time zones and workplaces
• How progress of individual global teams is measured
• Top improvement objectives for global teams
• Key lessons learned for managing global teams
• The biggest pitfalls to avoid in global team management

To learn more about this report, download a complimentary excerpt at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr1016.htm.

Take a good look at any company or corporation that has been successful at doing business for any length of time and you will undoubtedly discover that they all had their own particular set of systems and processes for managing the daily functions of business: payroll, inventory, invoicing, general bookkeeping, HR and so on. Look a little further and you might even find step-by-step processes and rules in place that govern how they develop and launch new products or services or market themselves to the world.

Systems are a necessary part of keeping control and assuring quality within a business that has more than just a few employees. But when systems are allowed to become etched in stone, forever unchanging, a company is in danger of missing out on emerging technologies that could quite likely improve their bottom line and make them more competitive.

Here are six basic rules that every company, no matter what size, should follow to foster and promote an atmosphere of creativity without sacrificing consistency and quality.

It starts at the top - A company’s culture reflects the ideals and beliefs of the owner(s). Those at the top must continually give the message that change is good and that ideas for improvement are welcome. When top management embraces such a philosophy, it’s a sure bet that those underneath will also espouse similar beliefs.

Banish forever “That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It” – Having teams of people responsible for developing dynamic new products and services is only one way a company shows its creative side. Companies must also recognize that the old, tried and true way of doing something is often made obsolete by a new machine, program or process. Stubbornly refusing to even consider any changes to a ten-year old ordering or inventory system is just ridiculous. As new people join a company, they often bring with them ideas and experience gained from former places of employment. Managers need to welcome new ideas for streamlining basic systems, and not view them as a threat to the status quo.

Encourage and promote brainstorming and problem-solving round-table discussions – The power of the group mind is incredible; by sharing frustrations and successes, employees often discover new and even better ways of doing things just by tossing ideas back and forth in a casual meeting. Energize the boring staff meeting by setting aside 15-20 minutes for a no-holds-barred discussion of what’s working and what’s not, and possible ways to improve.

Have a system in place for submitting and reviewing suggestions and ideas – When a clerk has an idea for improving the payroll system that will save the company both time and money, he or she shouldn’t have to move a mountain to get that idea in front of the appropriate decision-maker. Have a well-documented system that is easy to use and make sure everyone knows how to use it. It could be as simple as the time-honored suggestion box on a wall or as elaborate as a series of forms on the company website. Assign a person or a team to be responsible for reviewing suggestions on a regular basis. If there’s a genuine fear that there will be too many off-beat and impractical ideas, make it a requirement for those making suggestions to also provide some facts and/or figures as to the costs and benefits.

Provide feedback - If someone has gone to the trouble to present their ideas logically on the appropriate forms with backing data, then they deserve a response, even if it’s brief. Perhaps they weren’t aware of some key facts that prevent their idea from being implemented, or the cost would be far greater than they calculated. Most people are understanding, and will accept an answer even if it’s not the one they wanted. To just say “no” without comment, or worse – no answer at all – then word gets round quickly that top management isn’t interested in what the rank and file have to say, and morale plummets as a result.

Reward outstanding ideas – Apart from having their suggestions totally ignored, no one likes to see someone else take credit for their idea. If your shipping and receiving team came up with an idea that will literally save tens of thousands of dollars or triples the speed in which your clients get their products, then these people deserve recognition for their cleverness. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a monetary or other tangible reward; sometimes, just a positive mention in the company newsletter, on the website, or in a large meeting can be enough. There is tremendous power in those two words: “Thank You.”

By following these basic guidelines, companies will create an atmosphere where employees feel empowered to make suggestions that they know will be given an honest evaluation, and where proper recognition is given when earned. Such companies are the ones to watch – they have taken extra steps to make their employees feel valued.

Author Biography: Erin Schwartz is a regular contributor to the blog www.123Print.com. The website offers customizable print products for business and individuals. You can get everything required to market a business, including the ability to make your own business cards and design other promotional items.

[image courtesy of jfimages.net]

Whitepaper: Effective Team Management A Challenge in the Virtual Workforce

Science-Based Behavioral Assessment Helps Managers Motivate, Develop and Coach Remotely

WELLESLEY, Mass., Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – The virtual workforce in the U.S. ballooned from 9.5 million in 1995 to 13.4 million in 2010, growing to an estimated 20-30 million people currently working remotely at least once per week. According to new whitepaper from global consulting firm PI Worldwide, despite more employees embracing—and even expecting—a distributed work environment, research indicates low levels of confidence in the ability of managers to adequately motivate, coach and develop employees within a virtual environment.

The whitepaper titled, Managing the Challenges of the New Virtual Workforce: The Use of Personality Data to Build and Develop High Performing Virtual Teams, examines the pressures facing leaders to manage and develop teams operating virtually and the benefits behavioral assessment data provides for enhancing communication, collaboration and efficiencies across different time zones and cultures.

“The most successful virtual teams are led by managers who understand what motivates and drives performance at the individual and team levels, assigning people to tasks in line with their natural behavioral styles,” said Nancy Martini , President and CEO of PI Worldwide. “Managers who apply behavioral insights produce teams that function with stronger working relationships, communicate more effectively and deliver on the team’s collective goals.”

According to a Forrester survey cited in the whitepaper, “effective communication” is a top concern for managers of remote teams (49%), followed by “managing projects and deadlines successfully (43%)” and “creating consensus during decision-making (43%).” Martini notes additional challenges of remote team management include:

• Difficulty in building a shared sense of purpose
• Over-reliance on electronic communications
• Low team cohesion and trust
• Less satisfaction with the team experience

In a remote working environment, it can be difficult for team members to build rapport or a sense of camaraderie which can jeopardize productivity. Through behavioral assessments (sometimes called personality assessments), Martini says, managers can uncover the natural behavioral characteristics of team members to better define high performance, facilitate workflow, reduce conflict and improve group synergy.

Read the rest of this article here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/whitepaper-effective-team-management-a-challenge-in-the-virtual-workforce-192330671.html 

See the whitepaper here: http://www.piworldwide.com/landing-pages/virtual-workforce-hmpg.aspx

This guest post was submitted to The Anywhere Office by Jay Ackers of safetyservicescompany.com

Fatigue at the workplace isn’t just a health and safety issue for office managers – it drains productivity. When you are healthy and alert you are happier and motivated to give your best efforts.

I lived this when I lost 60 pounds in the last year through better nutrition, exercise and yes better sleep. After looking at my personal situation, I moved to a quieter neighborhood closer to my office, invested in a sleep mask, ear plugs, white noise machine, regulated my sleep-wake schedule (even on the weekends) and stayed hydrated. I even bought a special alarm clock that gradually wakes me up with light and a phone app that monitors my sleep cycles and waits to wake me up when I’m no longer in deep sleep.

What I learned was my entire day hinged on having a refreshing night’s sleep. I would start working early and was more productive , no longer nodding off at my desk. When my work was over I was more willing to meet friends for a group run; which led to weight loss, a better diet, less stress and even better sleep.

Each positive change made other changes easier and more effective. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, look at your own situation and decide what changes you need to make.

Sleep Problems Cause Disease

The science is behind my conclusions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls insufficient sleep a critically under-addressed contributor of many chronic diseases and conditions such as: cardiovascular diseases, depression, and diabetes.

Not getting enough sleep contributes to the incidence of these diseases and makes them worse and harder to manage once you have them.

In fact 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep problems, which leads to deficient functioning during the day and even driving accidents.

Insomnia is difficulty getting or staying asleep or waking up hours early and not getting back to sleep. Insomnia can set in because of stress or be the result anxiety that you won’t be able to sleep.

Longer and better sleep can help diabetics control their blood sugar, contribute to metabolic changes preventing obesity and reduce symptoms of depression.

Recommended Solutions

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day in a dark, quiet bedroom without any distractions and with a comfortable bed.

It’s also helpful to eat well in advance of bedtime.

Keep a diary of your sleep habits to help find where sleep problems may occur. The diary should include when you go to bed and when you go to sleep, when you wake up and when you get out of bed. Also track naps, exercise and when you consume alcohol and caffeine.

Author Biography: Jay Acker’s Safety Services Company, is one of the leading providers of third party authorization services for prequalifiers like ISNetworld (TM) along with a complete set of safety training materials.

Once again Wayne Turmell has gotten right down to the core of a common problem. Sometimes it seems like most meetings are so dreadful because everyone is just smiling and nodding; that moves nothing forward and improves no one’s morale. As you know, these ‘time and energy suck’ issues are often exacerbated when taken virtual. And that can be enough to make you want to go, as Turmell would say, ‘full Captain Bligh on people’… lol.

This is not to say you go full Captain Bligh on people, humiliating them at will and whipping them into shape, but it does mean that both meeting leaders and participants have expectations on them that need to be met.

Read this excellent article at the link below.

How politeness can ruin your team’s meetings.

Can Social Media Marketing Work For Your Business (Or Is It Yet Another Service Marketers Want to Promote)?

The short answer  to both questions is, ‘YES.’ Social Media Marketing (SMM) can generate brand awareness (locally, nationally or globally), it can influence purchases (give your brand “social endorsements”) and can even generate a return on investment if set up and measured properly. The problem many businesses run into is they set the wrong expectations about SMM right from the start and then consider they have wasted marketing dollars paying for “fans”, “subscribers” or an “amazing Facebook app/game” that didn’t seem to do anything for sales. This is not only the marketer’s fault for setting the wrong expectations, but also the businesses’ for lacking the proper knowledge.

We have seen the expressions of many business owners who just don’t get what social media is (they call it the Twitter, the Facebook, the YouTube, and others like it), and the truth is that some authors or pseudo-experts can make any internet marketing subject too complex. This is why idea180 has prepared this article, intended for small or medium business owners who want to understand social media in laymen’s terms, and to help determine just how much social media their business needs.

Why Are You Considering Social Media?

If your interest in social media is to have the same high number of Facebook fans as your friend’s page, you can buy a few thousand fans from India or some other countries for a couple of hundred dollars and be done with it. This is not really cheating, it’s just plain stupid. A couple of hundred dollars used in Facebook ads can give your business a few thousand impressions from the right pair of eyes. You can choose if you want your promotional ad to be seen by males or females, specific age ranges, run it in specific towns, cater to people with specific interests, and based your campaign on any other demographic data Facebook collects. You can also decide if you want to create fans for your page or drive traffic to a landing page on your site. If you compare creating “fake fans” made in Pakistan to “targeting the right people”, the choice is obvious – social media is quality over quantity. The right people are more likely to buy than some “fake fan” that could care less about you or your products.

The example above shows how setting the right expectations in SMM matter a lot, thousands of fans means nothing – SMM it’s all about interaction. Some small businesses have only a few clients, not thousands, who generate 100% of their revenue; the relationship with these clients is based in quality interactions.

Social media has to be done for the right reasons, and the main reason is to “socialize” with your audience, whomever “your audience” is (customers, prospects, both, etc.). Creating social media outlets like a Facebook page, or a YouTube Channel etc., are like creating clubs or spaces for people who share a common interest. The interest can be your products or services, or maybe just information that relates to your products or services, or even people who share a common lifestyle or even set of beliefs (like “people who hate apple products”). Social media outlets can be about anything, and they actually are. There are millions of “new tribes” online; people who like to read, people who like to read in Latin, people who like to be fit, people who like fashion and have fitness, people who like cars, people who like specific brands of cars, people who like underground car racing using specific brads of cars, etc.  The only difference between a “real club” and a “social media outlet” is that one occurs digitally, which means it occurs anywhere, at any time – and virtually all the time.

Why is Social Media Important (why should your business socialize)?

Let’s back up a little and understand the impact of social media in digital marketing and why any business should care.

Remember the days when people said the internet was going to revolutionize communications and even commerce? Well, the change was progressive, it didn’t take one day, but it happened faster than was originally expected, to the point that if you don’t have website today (or some sort of web listing at least) you pretty much don’t exist (but you have probably built one already). Social media is also happening fast and it’s probably going to evolve like the internet did. The way social media works and how it’s integrated with other digital services will improve and will become a better service for commerce; just like search engines did (remember Google?).

More people are using online searches to find more information about your product or services or to validate the information they have received directly from you, your ads, or your website BEFORE they buy (and sometimes even after they buy too).

The truth is that today’s buyers just don’t trust you anymore. They don’t trust your newspaper ad, or your TV spot, your banner, your website or your radio promotion. Why? Because people are overloaded with information and human beings have started to filter out ads (perceived as noisy interruptions), and we have started consuming media in own terms. We can now watch shows when we please (on-demand); we buy online when we are ready (not when we are told). Consumers needs have become more complex because of we live in the era of customization and we are just getting harder to please.

So where does a consumer go to validate some company’s promise?  How do you and I know that company A or B are going to fulfill my expectations. Easy, in the old days shoppers would go to other shoppers for a referral of a product or service. Social media marketing is basically the same.

Example; you want to buy the services of a digital marketing agency. Anything you can read on that agency’s website has been written by the agency so you will take it as “marketing fluff” (world renowned, decade of expertise, proven results, etc.). If you did like what you read, your next step would be going to Google and ran a search for the agency’s name; you will find some nice reviews on the better business bureau, nothing on the rip-off report site, and you may even find some positive mentions on other sites. Then you think, “of course they have positive reviews, they are a digital marketing agency, they can craft their own reviews”. Who would you go to then? The only opinion that matters is someone who has used that agency’s service and that you may know. If you go to a social media outlet like the agency’s Facebook page and see a familiar faces from someone in your area, who perhaps is somehow connected to you through a third person connection you can safely approach them and ask him or her what was their experience with that agency.

All this has happened without the agency’s knowledge – but the value of an endorsement is much higher that the value of any marketing speech or sales pitch. The secret of social media is the secret of trust – or just plain old good reputation.

So How Much Socializing Does Your Business Need?

Search engines like Google have started to include “social factors” in their ranking algorithms. They understand that social media is going to play a bigger role and they need to take into account how social a business gets. The truth is, your business needs to become social soon; at least having properly set up social media outlets is extremely important. You need to secure a good name or user name for your company or brand and make sure some of your best “subscribers” (who are your best promoters) have been invited. Basic things are needed just like when you needed a website.

Your first website wasn’t probably that good and most likely you decided to re-do it. Your social media efforts will evolve too – the most important thing is to start and claim your space and set the tone for the right content to attract the right members.

The final lesson I guess is that as businesses we should learn from social media strategies: socialize and focus on quality over quantity – establish a relationship with your customers, not just their money. Focus on attracting the right type of clients, clients you know you can please and grow with, not just as many first time buyers as you can get who will then be dissatisfied with your company. Remember, social media is a double edged sword –  you don’t want your disgruntled customers writing how much your service sucked all over every social media outlet out there – this should only occur to your competition.

Author Biography:  Gean Biffulco is a principal and co-founder of idea180 - a full service web design and internet marketing agency.

According to an internal memo Yahoo believes:

“To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home.”

While I agree it’s helpful to work side-by-side with coworkers, this decision reaks of the knee-jerk, backward, “can’t do” thinking I see so many companies suffer from. They’re struggling with virtual teamwork and remote collaboration so they think they should just scrap the whole thing.

As a consultant helping companies make the shift to The Anywhere Office®, I can tell you first hand that virtual teams can be MORE effective and productive than co-located teams when instituted  properly, and that “speed and quality” can be unsurpassed. But it doesn’t happen by accident; it requires a strategy and training.

When I consult with companies I walk them through a process to take a step back and define team and communication guideline. We also take a look at what kind of tools they have in place already, to determine if they are the right tools, and if they are being thoughtfully applied. Even these simple exercises have helped teams transform into lean, mean collaborating machines.

The punchline of the Yahoo situation is that Ms. Mayer talks about wanting the company to be the “best place to work,”  but in the same breathe she announces they are taking away the ability to have a flexible work agreement. Workplace flexibility is highly valued by today’s smart young professionals; closing the door on it at Yahoo will ensure the best and brightest will look for work elsewhere. And don’t even get me started on the litany of other benefits virtual work provides:  increased productivity, cost savings, environmental benefits,  disaster preparedness….

I should be thanking Yahoo’s new CEO

In an interesting article I read in Fast Company they explained why Marissa Mayer and Yahoo actually did us a big favor:

“Over the years, I’ve seen many leaders and organizations follow the same path even though employees value the ability to work remotely, and there’s a solid argument that telework actually benefits the business.The difference is that those leaders don’t have a high profile and aren’t under the same public scrutiny as Mayer; therefore, their decisions go unnoticed and unchallenged. Rather than singling out and criticizing Mayer, we should thank her for raising the veil. Yahoo’s decision gives us the opportunity to expose and challenge the misguided, faulty reasoning many leaders follow when they decide to revoke their support for flexible work.”

That’s a very valid point and I’m delighted that the decision has generated so much discussion about telework, remote collaboration, and virtual leadership. The thing that really strikes me is Mayer’s claim they need to have everyone in the same physical location to communicate and collaborate effectively – this coming from a technology leader that produces a number of tools (such as mail, calendar,Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Groups, etc.) that are designed to help people work together regardless of time or distance!

It’s all virtual collaboration

What Yahoo, and so many companies, fail to realize is that despite having everyone in the same location – people will still continue to communicate and collaborate virtually. Modern business has evolved beyond working in a traditional workplace at set hours: every day people are working from virtual offices, client sites, home offices, coffee shops, airports, hotels, and any number of remote workplaces. Even if it’s not YOUR team that’s dispersed, you are likely working with clients, vendors, consultants, and outsourced departments who are are not co-located.

Beyond that, even when people ARE under the same roof they’ll still be communicating and collaborating virtually, as David Rolston points out in an excellent article on his Working Nowwhere blog:

A huge percentage of collaboration is now virtual, even for people who share the same office building. The Yahoo folk may be successful in “finding an office” but even if they do the majority of their interaction with other employees will be virtual. Employees today often use electronic communication to interact – whether it’s email, Yammer, Skype, Lync, blogs, forums, Sharepoint, Webex or any other application. Most importantly, they often use electronic communications to interact with people in the same room, much less the same building.

In my experience, if more than 90 feet separate two employees they are more likely to use communication technology than to interact face-to-face the majority of the time. No matter where you’re located – onsite or off – collaboration will most likely happen the same way. With affordable video conferencing and web meeting services, the “we’re not in the same place we can’t be a close knit team and collaborate effectively” excuse just doesn’t hold weight any more. All the tech you would ever need to overcome time and distance challenges already exists.

The true challenge is a shift in management perspective

The challenge isn’t the technology, it’s learning to make the shift to managing employees that are not on-site. Yahoo said that many of it’s remote workers weren’t productive. They claimed, ” …a lot of people hid. There were all these employees [working remotely] and nobody knew they were still at Yahoo.”

That’s ridiculous. This has nothing to do with remote working and more to do with a failure to teach your people how to manage a distributed workforce. A manager needs to know how to lead people and deal with productivity challenges – whether those people are on site or remote. To be successful a company needs to hire talented people who want to do good work, give them the tools they need, and create an atmosphere of trust and accountability.

As Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group said in his reaction to the Yahoo news:

“To successfully work with other people, you have to trust each other. A big part of this is trusting people to get their work done wherever they are, without supervision . . . If you provide the right technology to keep in touch, maintain regular communication and get the right balance between remote and office working, people will be motivated to work responsibly, quickly and with high quality.”

Too many companies, like Yahoo, fail to provide training for their managers and then are surprised when they struggle with virtual teamwork. Training and strategy are absolutely fundamental to embracing The Anywhere Office work or organizational style.

In the spirit of  ”show em don’t tell em,” instead of just criticizing I made Marissa Mayer and Yahoo a genuine offer: I sent her a message on twitter inviting all of Yahoo’s managers to attend my Art of Virtual Leadership on-demand workshop for free.

.@marissamayer training is the key to #virtual #teamwork. I invite all of your managers to attend my webinar for free ow.ly/i3N26

— Phil Montero (@philmontero) February 26, 2013

The workshop contains both strategies and concrete tips to overcome the obstacles of communicating, supervising, collaborating, and team-building across time and distance. So come on Marissa – lets not take Yahoo back in time, my offer stands.

What do you think of Yahoo’s decision and how they are handling this?  Have you had similar experiences at your own company?  Please leave a comment and join the discussion.

…we must remember that this technology facilitates rich connections to a network we might not be able otherwise to maintain. Much work remains on the research I discuss here; through future waves of the online study, a rich, academically sound understanding of how social media and mobile technology consumers use the technology, how they interact with their network, and how they make purchase decisions based on social media input will be developed. At the end of this project, I will defend my dissertation to earn my Ph.D. in marketing. But beyond that, the goal is to provide a rich contribution on how social media and mobile technology usage by “Connected Consumers” is associated with psychological and technology factors.

Read More:

Lin Humphrey: Mobile and Social Technology: Emergence of a Shared Consumption Experience.