Synergetic International - Synergetic Community

The Always Changing Business Environment

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:06:28 GMT

Have you been affected by the recent events coming out of Washington, DC: government shutdown, debt ceiling crisis, public healthcare rollout and sequestration? Hopefully they have impacted you less rather than more, but nonetheless these variables and others have always been with us, even if we don’t focus on them as attentively as some economists, Wall Street, and policy mavens traditionally have.

If you were a student with an interest in business, you might study finance, accounting, statistics, economics, ethics, management, marketing and a host of other subjects designed to help you understand and succeed in the business world.

If you were starting or operating a successful organization, primary activities might focus on financing and cash flows, target markets and competition analysis, strategic planning and organizational development, product & service delivery, marketing and sales, talent management and organizational development.

Furthermore, with the exception of specific industries many legal, regulatory and compliance issues were considered secondary and often concentrated during startup and at ongoing periodic intervals. Activities related to taxes, insurance, licensing and other filings were perceived as fairly predictable and ancillary to an organization’s primary business operations.

But the reality is that government effects change, and change equates with risk. Judicial risk can threaten or alter entire industries with a single ruling. It has been speculated that the rise of computing and internet technologies may not only increase the tempo and complexity of future legislation, but the capacity lawmakers will have to assess its projected political impact.

All organizations deal with these political, legislative and judicial risks in addition to the more apparent financial and economic ones. If risk evolves slowly it can hopefully be less disruptive, but fast or slow, inevitable and unavoidable change is here to stay. How many of us are devoting a significant part of our strategic business activities to addressing unanticipated or inescapable change?

Editorial Note: This article was originally published on 11/01/2013 as “The Politics Factor”, but was removed due to inflammatory reader comments. The author, the Synergetic Community and Synergetic International neither maintain nor advocate any political or regulatory position.

By Christopher J. Shea
About the Author:
- Christopher J. Shea is Managing Partner at Synergetic International
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn and Follow @SheaChristopher or
Contact Chris directly through his website at ChristopherJShea.net

Circle Chris
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Ready – Set – Document!

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:05:28 GMT

In today’s ever-changing business climate businesses must be ready to adapt to the changing needs of their clients in order to grow. They must be willing to listen to what their needs are and be willing to meet them. I am not saying to constantly change the structure of your company but be sure you have some flexibility in your business model. It’s the ability to adapt that makes process documentation even more import especially for small business owners. I know what some people are thinking process documentation is designed to take away flexibility and make for rigid rules and systems. It makes robots out of employee’s right and it’s a way for the company to eliminate jobs. Well if that is your view let me clearly state you are wrong. It’s a common misconception that I am working to change. William Edwards Deming creator of the Deming system of Profound Knowledge described processes this way “if you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process then you don’t know what you’re doing”.

Processes are actually meant to allow businesses to focus on growth and can be used in a variety of ways. So let’s start changing the view and use process documentation to help you serve your customers better. When you look at some of the most successful large corporations such as McDonalds or Nordstrom’s one of the factors that makes them successful is that they have embraced the value of process documentation. They have created successful systems so that customers know what to expect. This consistency is what keeps customers coming back. This same consistency allows a business owner to be able to meet a change in what customers want more effectively. It’s hard to make a change or tell if it’s successful if you don’t know where you started. It also will help you to empower your employees when they do not have to focus always on the smallest details from memory they can instead use their individual strengths to improve what they do and how it impacts the company both internally and externally. From a sports view think of it like this once you have the basics down pat then you can really focus on how to improve and excel at what you do. By documenting key processes you can create this same atmosphere of excellence within your company.

Let me provide a word of caution though don’t just start documenting everything with no plan in place. This decision also should be a process and focused on the key areas that take the most time, have the most turnover or will most impact your clients or final product. In other words those things that will really help your company get to the next level, be fluid, scalable and stand apart from the competition. Using a personal example I want to show how processes documentation can help you in different ways. Since I work with processes I am always trying to think of how I can utilize them in my business more and also help my clients. One of the tools I have done this with is LinkedIn. Here is how the process I use for this tool led to a new client and a leadership position with the client:

Step 1: Made a new contact by email after joining a Professional Association For Writers

Step 2: Invited contact to join my LinkedIn network. I do this within 48 hours of meeting a new contact so they remember me and my business. In this case it was the Director of the Association.

Step 3: Once connected I send a follow-up email to connect more and learn ways we can help each other and share respective goals and missions.

Step 4: Look to meet by phone or in person. In this case I learned the Association was local to me so we arranged a meeting. As a result we realized the synergy with my company and its services and the growth of the Association. I was asked to help with their initial expansion, and worked with this Association for close to a year in a number of ways including presentations, technical writing and management. I was asked to join the Board of Directors as well.

Because I had a set documented process in place I could focus on the opportunity. This allowed me to be creative and ask the right questions. It helped me to build a real rapport and connect with a great association. So don’t wait start making your business better today - the environment is fast paced you don’t want to be left behind. Ready – Set – Document! It will make all the difference.

By Contributing Author Colette Releford
About the Author:
- Colette Releford is President & Owner
at Strive Business Solutions, LLC
Email Strive or phone them at 301-591-0940

Circle Colette
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Three C's for Benchmarking Your Business Strategically

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:34:18 GMT

If you are a small business owner, you've no doubt looked at your local competition to see what they are doing, or to see how your own business measures up - this is a form of benchmarking. That should have given you useful information that helped you adjust your product offerings, change pricing strategies, or take other steps to be competitive. This is a tactical perspective, because it's immediate and close to home. However, it might be time to take a more strategic look. Our country is so large and diverse that despite our dynamic online environment, it may take some time for business trends, ideas or innovations to propagate naturally through all geographic areas.   This means you may be able to find some useful and implementable ideas by seeing what businesses like yours are doing elsewhere in the country.

Here are the three C's for following a simple process to benchmark your business strategically:

Check
Check out the websites of businesses like yours in other cities and states. How do they offer or package their products services? What is their unique selling proposition and how do they position themselves in the market? How do you measure up and what might be useful in your own business?   What else can you learn? How do you find these other companies? Look in national business directories like manta.com and hotfrog.com. Another directory, yelp.com, has both business information and reviews by customers.   There are also plenty of local business directories all over the country that you can find by searching by city.

Compare
Compare your business with what those other business owners are doing in those other markets. Approach your research in a systematic way - target specific areas of your business where you may be looking for ideas, such as marketing, pricing, or product line.   What's similar and what's different from what you do? What new or different products or services are they offering that might work in your area? What are people raving about in the reviews for those other businesses? For example, if you own a restaurant, what different menu choices can you offer that people have enjoyed elsewhere? If you have a different type of business, what changes can you make that would add value for your customers and revenue for your business? You could even call that business owner in that other city or state to ask a few questions. After all, in most cases you are not their competitor and you may gain an important networking contact or even make a business friend.

Change
Once you've checked and compared, it's time for change.   What can you change in your own business to take advantage of what you've learned? Develop a simple plan, set some practical milestones, and get it done. And don't forget to measure the results and effectiveness of your changes and compare the results with what you were doing before.

Running a small business doesn't mean you can't benchmark.   You just need to be a little creative.

By Contributing Author Randall Reardon
About the Author:
- Randall Reardon is a Certified 7 Stage Consultant
at 7 Stage Turnaround
You may Email Randall directly

Business Process and Sourcing as Ongoing Organizational Culture

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:37:55 GMT

Some folks view management consulting as a “process practice”. The organization and outside consultant determine needs, prioritize, and set to work improving things, usually by means of studying the workplace, analyzing current business practices, making a lot of changes, and potentially disrupting how things get done during the process of “making things better”. One has heard anecdotes of how things “went from bad to worse” when business process re-engineering (BPR) efforts were mounted, sometimes concurrently with wholesale changes to an organization’s information technology infrastructure and implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. During these hectic periods, employees and stakeholders often report recurring nightmares that include flowcharts like the one pictured below:

While large scale BPR/ERP solutions and their associated headaches might be viewed as part of the established corporate landscape, there is a lot to be learned from the successes and mistakes experienced. One is the fact that improving business process cannot be a point solution to be implemented on an “as-needed” basis, but rather needs to be a continuous part of organizational culture and incorporated into your “best practices toolkit”, especially for small and medium sized business (SMB). Understanding, documenting and improving your business practices not only identifies internal focus areas - it can enable the organization to assess strengths and analyze internal capabilities, thereby determining optimal capture strategy for competitive business development efforts and winning bids. Who doesn’t want that?

Another benefit is the ability to identify functional areas (labor) which may be ripe for sourcing. Outsourcing is a well-known concept and is often seen as a cost-saving tactic, allowing a business to focus on its core competencies while offloading its non-core functions to outsourcing providers. Traditionally, outsourcing has offered an organization the potential of lowered costs coupled with greater efficiency and competitiveness. Yet much the same can be said of insourcing.

Insourcing is a more recent concept that adapts itself to better management control of people and processes. It can be used by companies to hire labor and services through an external entity in order to cut costs and decrease their tax, overhead and regulatory burdens. Examples are when contract workers or subject matter experts fill functions within an organization due to fluctuating requirements or the need for on-demand talent acquisition without a commitment of long-term employees.

Real advantages may be realized as a result of improved quality and response coupled with the depth of expertise that specialists can provide the client organization, thereby enhancing and improving overall effectiveness and competency within both core and non-core functions. Done well, insourcing can help you build a team of skilled people, and is a good fit when businesses need to manage costs while still requiring expert personnel and access to specialized skill sets, resources and processes.

How will your organization use continuous process improvement and sourcing to stay competitive?

Circle Chris
on Google+

QR Codes - Only for Tech-Savvy Hipsters or a Real Business Necessity?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:42:16 GMT

You may have noticed them on a marketing brochure, poster or sign. They can be found on billboards, merchandise displays, trade show booths and even business cards. Those small square boxes with rectilinear squiggles on them are called QR (Quick Response) Codes, and they seem to be springing up more frequently over the last few years. QR Codes (many are in black and white, but they can be made in color and incorporate logos - see below) are next-generation barcodes originally created in the early 1990’s by Japanese industry for internal use - but the patent was not enforced, allowing them to now be generated and used for free (in contrast with fee-based SnapTag technology).

QR Codes are designed to support the mobile community, and can be placed onto any flat surface where they may be photographed and scanned by smart phones equipped with a QR Code scanning application, thereby uploading the barcode content (URL, contact information, product and service details, promotional offerings, recruiting efforts, event announcements, maps & directions, etc.) automatically for further use.

There is a tremendous amount of information on the Internet concerning best practices and usage for QR Codes, as well as fantastic examples of how they are being used. But regardless of your strategy and application, there are a few things to keep in mind when employing QR Codes:

Size Appropriately - 1.5 inches may be fine for business cards and brochures, but a wallboard will need to be much bigger to be captured properly
Test Before Going Public - Make sure your QR Code can be read a majority of the time by multiple phones and apps at different angles and lighting
Don’t Get Too Fancy With Text or Design Elements - Use a short URL and concise message (think Twitter); QR Codes can sustain a maximum 30% error rate
Make it Mobile Friendly - Direct URLs to a mobile version of your website and place codes where there is good 3G/4G reception
Keep it Relevant - It’s fine for business cards and all-purpose marketing communications to feature website and contact information, but activity that is campaign and action-driven needs to reward the user for scanning your codes. Offer exclusive content or access, promotional offers, downloads and contests, and further engagement via social media. You will know you have succeeded when users are tweeting links to your scanned and uploaded QR codes, thereby extending your message and presence far beyond its original physical placement!

Are QR Codes as overrated or valuable your organization? Where will you use QR Codes in the upcoming year?

Circle Chris
on Google+

A Possible Future For Raising Investment Capital Through CrowdFunding

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:50:33 GMT

Venture Capital is a concept that evokes emotion in many people. Private equity, secondary and tertiary funding, angel investors, private placements, Reg. D and stock offerings - these are all terms that are familiar and comfortable within the investment banking community and to those whom they have traditionally served. But the process of obtaining investment funding is sometimes viewed as an option limited to somewhat sophisticated and established enterprises.

At the same time, much of the public is becoming aware of and participating in online fundraising efforts by charities and non-profit organizations. Direct solicitations and donations have been their traditional means of obtaining money. But increasingly through social media awareness campaigns and online outreach, these same organizations are obtaining funds through a newer process called crowdfunding. Organizations that promote goodwill micro-funding by facilitating loans between lenders in wealthy countries and entrepreneurs in developing countries is one such example. What if these two worlds were about to collide?

The landscape by which for-profit corporations in the United States obtain funding may change if new legislation is enacted. Late last year the House passed H.R. 2930 - Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act. The Senate version S.1971 - Democratizing Access to Capital Act of 2011 is currently in progress but essentially they both aim to modify existing securities regulation by providing exemptions for crowdfunding intermediaries to potentially (in current form) raise up to $1,000,000 for an company during any 12-month period, with annualized individual investments up to $1,000. And if passed by Congress there will still be potential SEC or State regulatory activity (such as a timeout period between a crowdfunding campaign and another financing action) that may have significant impact on the application and usefulness of crowdfunding as an adjunct to more traditional equity/debenture options and commercial lending. Nonetheless, stay tuned for more…

How do you feel about the potential of crowdfunding to positively/negatively impact your organization?

Circle Chris
on Google+

When Do Internet Discussions & Communication Become Online Piracy?

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:32:46 GMT

Recently there has been much discussion in the US regarding two pieces of proposed anti-piracy legislation, commonly referred to as SOPA and PIPA. The stated aims of SOPA “To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes” and PIPA “To prevent online threats to economic creativity and theft of intellectual property, and for other purposes” seem innocuous. However many intellectual property and online industry experts feel that the consequences of the proposed legislation might result in unintended harm. Internet creators and intellectuals issued an OPEN LETTER to that effect, various HUMOROUS and SERIOUS online articles were written, and some internet sites went dark on January 18th to draw public attention to the proposed legislation.

Online piracy is certainly a very real issue. Theft of creative content hurts those who invent in direct and immediate ways. When reflecting on piracy, we find ourselves conceptualizing about finished product – a turnkey item or service that is ready and/or optimized for commercialization (sales) by its creator. This finished product may be at risk of being stolen and either re-sold by another, or re-packaged/re-labeled by another as its own product. But what about piracy where a second entity has built or extended upon the work of an originating party? Academia and science have established guidelines regarding the extension of previous discovery, and intellectual property laws address trade secret, entertainment and media protections.

However, within the narrower context of internet discussion communities and blogs, those in the traditional creative and intellectual communities are now joined by experts, knowledge workers, thought leaders, the curious, and all manner of others – each with their own ideas and interpretations of ideas, willingness and methods by which they share with others, and internal resources/due diligence for self-policing what they interpret as infringement or piracy. This landscape is largely self-regulating and very hard to encapsulate fully, let alone police – even if all participants are in agreement as to what defines piracy and what would justify appropriate enforcement action. But all participants are NOT in agreement and may never be, especially on the subject of certain intellectual content. Legal definitions and protections are evolving more slowly than the spread of ideas. Who owns an idea, and where does the sharing and communication of ideas between entities constitute piracy?

Let’s create an example that might fall under future anti-piracy regulation. A person may possess a large body of knowledge in their area and be considered a subject matter expert. They keep current in their industry and benchmark competitors. The knowledge learned, insights gained and conclusions drawn (or created) by this person reside in their minds. Some of this expertise is transmitted to their employer and incorporated as a part of the person’s work. This work product is owned and paid for by the employer as part of the employment activity, and covered under traditional forms of non-disclosure. But the totality of ideas, thought, insights, perceptions drawn from one’s mind and experience still remain with the individual, and make up a part of their expertise. Who owns this? How is attribution given, or for that matter compensation?

Much of what we learn formally in school is attributed to its creator, but new online knowledge is often informal and organic, drawn from multiple places over time and sometimes hard to source specifically, except for its delivery via the Internet. This situation is much like giving typewriters and sufficient time to a group of monkeys and eventually/randomly producing Shakespeare. Has Shakespeare been infringed? People are communicating about specific ideas online and sharing technical how-to information on blogs to be helpful to the online community. Some are simply regurgitating knowledge gained elsewhere using words they hope will avoid infringement. Others are attempting to share (what for them) are novel ideas or concepts, or struggling collectively towards new levels of understanding via the internet. Odds are that someone else has done or is doing the same thing online, somewhere else...

What are your thoughts about anti-piracy regulation as it pertains to online discussion communities, and what steps are you taking to protect yourself?

Editorial Note: This article is in not intended to provide legal analysis, opinion or counsel, nor do we offer legal analysis, opinion or counsel in any form. There is information and analysis regarding proposed anti-piracy legislation available from many sources, and we do not take a public advocacy position for or against this legislation or any other regulatory activity. At present it appears that the passage of SOPA and PIPA in their current forms are somewhat diminished, but new or revised legislation will surely be developed and similar anti-piracy legislation such as the EU’s ACTA are still active. During the last two months we temporarily suspended our efforts to build the Synergetic Community until a better understanding of outcomes could be determined. After careful consideration and due diligence, we are resuming our online community with the hope that fully reasoned and carefully targeted anti-piracy legislation may be enacted in a coordinated and consistent manner globally.

Circle Chris
on Google+

Why The Right People Matter

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:47:37 GMT

Let's face it, when running an organization we tend to think first of the products or services we can deliver and the clients who will be best served by our offerings. We tend to think of ourselves as catering to a differentiated and unique niche, and of what we do as a company as somewhat special. After all, this is what our clients are buying from us, right?

Wrong! When asked why they choose a particular provider, clients again and again say that they "enjoy" working with that provider, that they "value" the relationship, shared goals and trust that they develop with them. In other words, they don't simply buy your product or service, they buy YOU.

And by "you", your clients include not just your "front line staff" from sales and marketing - they count your "delivery crew" (consulting staff, distribution and shipping personnel, technical support) and the folks on the "back end" as well: billing, finance, contracts, operations. The client's perception of what you deliver incorporates the people who bring your product or service to them.

We spend vast amounts of money and time developing advertising, branding and public relations - and further effort bringing these elements together to focus on our clients and drive sales. Are your staff presenting the message you want to your partners, current customers and future clients - what do your people "say" about you?

Circle Chris
on Google+