Tuesday, January 23, 2007

An Eye on the Future

I've been really fortunate lately. I've been meeting with quite a few companies that are interested in improving their process or platforms before things flame. When I first started doing this type of consulting, I met with a few companies that thought they knew everything they needed to know about process. One of them stands out in particular. The VP emphatically insisted their process was great, even as his product fundamentally did not work, his customers were screaming, and his development team could not solve the problems. In this kind of situation, it’s almost impossible to focus on the root cause. Everyone is putting in 120% into putting out fires.

Maybe it’s the economy (I’m meeting many companies that are healthy and growing), or maybe our industry is finally maturing (even the small shops). It’s so much easier to be successful building infrastructure, process, or capability before you need it, and it’s so refreshing to work with clients that are interested in doing so. They’re much more likely to be successful and certainly more fun to work with!

Monday, January 15, 2007

Where does all the time go?

Are you doing what you need to be doing to be successful?  Is your organization?  I think those are important questions to ask.

Too often, we just go along, doing what we usually do.  Whether in life or business, a little self-examination is a good thing.  It's a great thing when it's combined with real changes.

I'm sure there are things that each of us would like to improve in our own organizations.  We know what these things are too.  Maybe they have to do with our efficiency, innovation, or internal processes.  In many cases, we have a pretty good idea of what needs to change.  So what's the problem?  We get so caught up in the day-to-day that we never seem to find time to make the broader changes that would make things easier, better, or more successful in the long run.  This is nothing new.  We all know we need to do this, but don't do enough of it.

Here's what I've decided to do.  I'm going to take one (just one) area and address it.  In my case, it's meeting efficiency.  For every meeting we call, I'm going to make sure we understand the objective and spend a few minutes thinking through how best to achieve that objective, or if we need to be meeting at all.  This one "tweak" could pay big dividends.  Stay tuned to see how it goes.

Why the world is not flat

We have been working with some of our clients primarily via email, phone, and IM. It’s certainly possible to have a business relationship this way, but recently we had the opportunity to meet a long time client face to face for the first time, and boy – what a great experience.

We spent an amazing 2+ hours talking about not much – industry, general business, a bit about current and future projects together, but really just a nice, general conversation. I’m sure the business relationship will be even stronger now that we have actually “met”.

Many of our clients have the option of working with firms that do their development remotely. One thing we hear repeatedly is how much they like the fact that we are local. Certainly most of our communication is electronic, but whenever possible we like to meet in person, preferably early in the relationship. One of our advisors is fond of saying “people do business with people.” In our business, this is absolutely true, and once you have the opportunity to shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye, the relationship changes.

"Speed Dating" for professionals

Last night I attended the most interesting networking event I've been to in quite a while – it was called “Power Match” but to me it was speed dating for executives. Now to be fair, I’ve never been speed dating, but I do have single friends that have, and this sounds very similar. You spend ten minutes with one or two other people, and then a bell rings and you switch. What a great way to meet a lot of people, if only for a few minutes.

I do a lot of networking, and most of it follows the same format – a bit of unstructured time followed by a meal and a speaker. I enjoy it, but being slightly introverted by nature I wind up talking to just a few people at each event - sometimes people I feel comfortable with, or sometimes people I get “trapped” with. In any case, I know I don’t always make the most of these situations.

Well, this format was great for that. I had the opportunity to meet almost everyone in the room, and there were some fascinating people there. The best part is that now I can follow up with those that are the most interesting contacts. For anyone that is new to networking, slightly shy, or just wants to try something different, I would highly recommend something like this.

Can a vacation really be a vacation

Remember when we used to go on vacation and not actually work?  Maybe you don't, but I do, back before the days of the Blackberry and even email (I know - I'm dating myself).

I've just returned from an eight day vacation, where I checked in via phone a few times, but did nothing more.  Did not check email, did not work, did not even read business books or magazines, which I do constantly.  I returned to 300+ emails, which frankly was less than I expected.  It took me all day Sunday to get through them, but for me it was worth it just to turn off work for a week and play.

My partner is now on vacation, and he has a different approach.  He's been on IM with me on and off all day.  He's also responded to almost all of my emails - even the ones that did not require an immediate response. The benefit to this approach is that he will not have the catch up that I had when I get back.

Now, I get that there are emergencies, and that client issues and opportunities need to be addressed, but for me personally, if I can spend the extra time up front to handle things proactively, arrange for coverage, and be somewhat available for the few things that can't be addressed by others, that's preferable.

I love my job, and I'm passionate about my business, but I also love my hobbies and my time with my friends and family.  I've tried it both ways - working every spare minute on vacation (my husband hated it!), and this last time not, and found this last vacation to be one of the most fun and relaxing I can remember in ages.  For me this worked, but I respect my partner's decision to do it another way.  At least he won't have hundreds and hundreds of emails to read on Sunday!

Monday, January 8, 2007

Results vs. Face Time

Every time we hire a new team member my partners and I have a conversation about whether or not, and how often, they should be in the office.  I'm of the opinion that as long as they get the desired results it doesn't matter. One of my partners feels strongly that they will not become a "real" member of the team if they are not in the office.  I understand this point of view, certainly it is harder to form a relationship with someone you don't see on a regular basis, but I don't think it's impossible.

We currently have a team member that works offsite more than 90% of the time.   This individual is a great communicator and has a TON of personality.  He calls and IMs all of us regularly (multiple times a day).  Even though I can count the number of times he's been in the office, I feel like we're all forming a good, strong relationship with him.  Sometimes I wish he was here more often, (he's an absolute riot) but I know he's more productive at home, and truthfully we're probably all more productive when he's not here.

Who knows what it would be like if he was here on a regular basis, but I really believe that with modern communication tools (VPN, IM, etc.) we can have the best of both worlds.