It sounds like corny advice from your mother, but I have been reminded twice this past week on the power of saying thank you to those who you depend on.
It doesn't have to be big, elaborate, or expensive, but sincere and delivered in an appropriate time frame.
They carry more weight than we really ant to admit.
Start writing.
Peter
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Top Shelf
Being really good at what you do has two advantages:
If you are in a crowded space, being the best grants you some separation from the commodities, and allows you a price premium.
If you are creating a space, you will automatically scare off competitors as they can only compete on price. Claiming the top end makes the whole category less attractive.
Being really good might be more work than being a commodity, but there are greater rewards in it.
Peter
If you are in a crowded space, being the best grants you some separation from the commodities, and allows you a price premium.
If you are creating a space, you will automatically scare off competitors as they can only compete on price. Claiming the top end makes the whole category less attractive.
Being really good might be more work than being a commodity, but there are greater rewards in it.
Peter
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Advantage Through HR Competency
Thirty years ago Michael Porter wrote about how companies can gain competitive advantage through every part of the company, including HR. Excellent HR starts with its ability to recruit and retain talent, and appearing to have your act together goes a long way.
In other words, don't send an email telling an applicant they have advanced to the next round on Friday, followed by a flush email on Monday. It doesn't leave the best impression, and makes an applicant question the competency of the whole operation.
Little things can carry enormous weight.
Peter
In other words, don't send an email telling an applicant they have advanced to the next round on Friday, followed by a flush email on Monday. It doesn't leave the best impression, and makes an applicant question the competency of the whole operation.
Little things can carry enormous weight.
Peter
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Scope
A friend sent me a link to a live video stream of a conference he had gotten on his corporate website. He was very proud of it, as it required changing many policies within IT, finding funding to pay for it, and convincing the conference operators that a live stream would be good for their event. The stream represented several firsts for his organization.
The stream also looked like streams I had worked on- back in the 90's.
There is often a gap between a first for your group and a first for the industry. My friend was making the mistake of promoting a first for his group as some kind of cutting edge service. Since his perceptions didn't match the perceptions of the market, he appears a bit clueless. The better message would have been to not mention that the stream was a first for your organization, but simple tell the interested that it was available- since they may have assumed it was anyway.
Peter
The stream also looked like streams I had worked on- back in the 90's.
There is often a gap between a first for your group and a first for the industry. My friend was making the mistake of promoting a first for his group as some kind of cutting edge service. Since his perceptions didn't match the perceptions of the market, he appears a bit clueless. The better message would have been to not mention that the stream was a first for your organization, but simple tell the interested that it was available- since they may have assumed it was anyway.
Peter
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Dilligence
I spent some time at an expensive boutique hotel last weekend, and enjoyed both the stay and watching the place at work.
Waiting for a friend in a side lobby I was able to watch the staff tidy up after a social hour. This was more than the cursory pick-up-glasses-and-wipe-down-tables exercise. Each chair had an exact position to return to, as they were as much a part of the architecture as the windows and doors. Most were moved, then checked, adjusted, and checked again before moving to the next one. The staff took their work seriously, and they were meticulous.
This required two things: staff who were willing to be extraordinarily diligent, and the time to be diligent. You must have both.
The room only took about 15 minutes to fully reset to its perfect default, but could have been done in 5 if clean was the only goal. Some would think that's a poor use of manpower, taking three times as long to do everything as the minimum, building inefficiency into the system.
I suspect for that hotel, serious margins come mostly from those inefficiencies.
Peter
Waiting for a friend in a side lobby I was able to watch the staff tidy up after a social hour. This was more than the cursory pick-up-glasses-and-wipe-down-tables exercise. Each chair had an exact position to return to, as they were as much a part of the architecture as the windows and doors. Most were moved, then checked, adjusted, and checked again before moving to the next one. The staff took their work seriously, and they were meticulous.
This required two things: staff who were willing to be extraordinarily diligent, and the time to be diligent. You must have both.
The room only took about 15 minutes to fully reset to its perfect default, but could have been done in 5 if clean was the only goal. Some would think that's a poor use of manpower, taking three times as long to do everything as the minimum, building inefficiency into the system.
I suspect for that hotel, serious margins come mostly from those inefficiencies.
Peter
Monday, May 23, 2011
Follow Up
I followed a sponsored link to a product that I was interested in, looked around the site, and inquired through the provided link on the price.
Nothing. No follow-up. I was 80% sold, but now I will continue looking.
If you aren't prepared to follow up on leads, why advertise?
Peter
Nothing. No follow-up. I was 80% sold, but now I will continue looking.
If you aren't prepared to follow up on leads, why advertise?
Peter
Friday, May 20, 2011
Skills
I wish there was a way to put college Freshmen in actual "This is what the job is like" situations to weed out those who aren't going to like the real job four or five years later.
If you don't like calling people up to ask them a bunch of questions, you should get out of journalism.
If you don't like heavy math, engineering or finance probably aren't for you.
Often finding a career you like involves learning what you hate, then eliminating related careers. Choose from the remaining options. Too many of us (including the author) learned these lessons well after college.
Peter
If you don't like calling people up to ask them a bunch of questions, you should get out of journalism.
If you don't like heavy math, engineering or finance probably aren't for you.
Often finding a career you like involves learning what you hate, then eliminating related careers. Choose from the remaining options. Too many of us (including the author) learned these lessons well after college.
Peter
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