Horizon Point Consulting

Author: Mary Ila Ward

  • Drop Lots of FYIs to Communicate Effectively

    Drop Lots of FYIs to Communicate Effectively

    I was mad. Really mad. I had an appointment with a client. He asked to reschedule because he said he would be out of the office all day the day we had scheduled to meet. I showed up at the company the day we were scheduled to meet in order to meet with one of his colleagues and out he walks. He’s there. I felt lied to and intentionally blown off.

    He said nothing. I said nothing. I expected an apology or at least an explanation e-mail or phone call to come from him. I got nothing.

    In inquiring about his presence at the office when he said he was going to be gone, I found out he was waiting on another person to leave for the day. He hadn’t lied, but he hadn’t clarified anything with me. I’m glad I did some inquiring before I blew off the handle at him, and I was embarrassed that I got so worked up about the situation. But it all could have been diffused if he had just informed me about what was going on, instead of leaving me assuming.

    I often find that with business communication, we assume a lot. We assume people know certain things are happening, or we assume they have the information they need to complete a task, or we assume people think the best of us. More often than not, our withholding information by assuming leaves people, well mad. Like I was.

    Taking on the mindset of informing others helps to steer communication in a way that does not leave unanswered questions.

    Are you informing people enough? Consider this list from the coaching tool, For Your Improvement(maybe it’s not a coincidence that the book is referred to as FYI). If you find yourself thinking one or more of these statements describe you, then you’d be well served dropping a few more FYIs every now and then.

     

    Unskilled Informer:

    -Not a consistent communicator

    -Tells too little or too much

    -Tells too late; timing is off

    -May be unclear; may inform some better than others

    -May not think through who needs to know by when

    -Doesn’t seek or listen to the data needs of others

    -May inform but lack follow-through

    -May either hoard information or not see informing as important

    -May only have one mode- written or oral or e-mail

     

    For more on improving communication:

    Saying too much is like saying nothing at all

    How to combine communication with teamwork

    Team communication: It’s not what you say but how you say it

  • 6 Steps and Tools for Better Networking

    6 Steps and Tools for Better Networking

    Last week, we discussed the importance of networking because Computers Don’t Give People Jobs- People Do. If you still aren’t convinced of this based on the data presented last week, then here is another tid-bit of data for you:

    5D79972C-1628-4D1D-BA78-AE0DF976C1F6

    According to this chart, networking encompasses almost half of the way that companies fill job openings.

    So the proof is there. If you want to get a job, the best way to do it is to network. But how do you do it?

    Here are some steps along with a Networking Log to help you track this process:

    1. Set a networking goal. Our Networking Log has a baseline goal for you.
    2. Identify your network. Who are you already connected to and who are those people connected to?
    3. Develop a plan to reach out to your network. Target who you will reach out to, by when, and how (in-person meeting, email, phone, social media).
    4. Request that the network contacts you reach out to send your information to anyone else in their network that might be in need of your skills and expertise. Many of them won’t do this, but for the few that do, this method may lead to promising job leads. I know one job opportunity I’ve had and accepted was a result of this type of networking.
    5. Follow-Up. You have to stay in front of people who you are networking with and continue to reach out to them. Create a schedule to follow-up with those network connections that are most promising.
    6. Track the leads and results achieved from each contact. This can help you identify the best methods and networks to tap into for further results.

    But I’m not looking for a job you say? Whether you’re an active job seeker, passive job seeker, or not a seeker at all, networking is critical to seen and unseen opportunities. This same method can also help sales or business development professionals as well as recruiters (there are two sides to the job networking equation after all!). Taking the time to have a networking game plan and follow through on that plan, no matter where you are in your career, can help you take advantage of relationships. And relationships are what lead to the best possibilities in work and life.

    Image source: Lou Adler (@LouA) is the Amazon best-selling author of Hire With Your Head (Wiley, 2007) and the award-winning Nightingale-Conant audio program, Talent Rules! His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring and Getting Hired, is now available on Amazon.

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  • The Key to Motivating Others: Make Them Want to be Better by Buying them Bloomers

    The Key to Motivating Others: Make Them Want to be Better by Buying them Bloomers

    I ran into a professional contact at a local conference last month. She’s an attorney with experience in HR and has provided me with some legal advice related to a consulting project I had last year. I hadn’t seen her in about six months and we have probably interacted two or three times over the last couple of years.

    We caught up, talking about family and work. Being 38 weeks pregnant at the time, she asked about our growing family. It is always a pleasure talking to her, and I left our conversation being thankful that there are professionals like her who are serious about their work and their family, not compromising either for the sake of the other. She was genuinely interested in what I had to say, and I left our conversation a little bit more fulfilled than when it began. But my thoughts about her and our conversation were just that- fleeting. Our conversation hadn’t crossed my mind again. Not until five days later.

    Five days later, and three days post delivery- the baby decided to make an appearance a little early right after the conference- my assistant brought me the mail from the office. In it was a package from this contact (how did she even still have a record of my address?) for the baby with monogramed bloomers for her. She remembered the baby’s FULL name. Enclosed was a sweet and genuine note.

    While I had thought about how nice it was to talk to her, she had been deliberate in expressing her care and thoughtfulness towards my family and me. She remembered my baby’s name, and if she were I, because I can’t remember my own name half the time, went and wrote it down with the intention ofacting on the knowledge. She then went and bought bloomers, got them monogramed, found my address, and mailed them. And she had to have done this in less than a day or so. She is a busy, successful attorney with a husband and young child herself.

    So what, you may think? It’s just bloomers. But it is so much more than bloomers. It’s putting People First by expressing our ACTIONS, not just our thoughts, that others are important.

    What matters even more is that her thoughtfulness made me want to be a better person. Her gesture made me think about ACTING in a way that expresses the same value to others whether I’ve seen them two or three times in the past two years or I see them everyday. She, again, demonstrated our company’s Give Back value. She ACTS and did it in a way that truly showed me she cared by her listening, personalization, timeliness, and ultimate action.

    That’s how you motivate others.You motivate them through demonstrating the actions you want to see take place. Not because you are trying to manipulate them into action, but because you care. People are first. You demonstrate this and your results are multiplied because they, in turn, take on the People First mindset as their own, turning to more and more action.

    Who makes you a better person?

    More on being a better person and motivating others….

    Are you a LEGO Leader?

    Leadership Lessons from College Football

    Mind On, Hands Off

    Usefulness as an Employee Satisfaction Tool

  • Computers Don’t Give People Jobs- People Do.

    Computers Don’t Give People Jobs- People Do.

    A recent LinkedIn group posting by a job seeker asked the question, “Tons of  applications vs. networking (in a new place) – Which might work best?”


    While applying online for openings is a necessary component to job search, I think this chart and table answers the job seeker’s question clearly:

    wherejobopportunitiescomefrom

    Mark S. Granovetter, a sociologist at Harvard, investigated how people get jobs. His study included professional, technical, and managerial workers who recently found jobs, and the chart shows the methods by which jobs were obtained.

    Granovetter’s data also indicated that of the people who found jobs through personal contacts, 43.8% had new positions created for them.

    Granovetter concludes: “Personal contacts are of paramount importance in connecting people with jobs. Better jobs are found through contacts, and the best jobs, the ones with the highest pay and prestige and affording the greatest satisfaction to those in them, are most apt to be filled in this way.”

    Recommended Job Search Effort Allocation

     

    Priority

    Method

    Recommended Effort Allocation

    1

    		 Unpublished Sources

    70%

    2

    		 Advertisements

    10%

    3

    		 Executive Search Agencies, Job Fairs

    5%

    4

    		 Present or Former Employer

    5%

    5

    		 Targeted Mailings

    5%

    6

    		 Other

    5%

    So if you are searching for a job, spend the majority of your time focusing on networking to find out about most of the jobs- the unpublished ones.

    Next week, we’ll give some recommendations on how to network and provide you with a tool for planning and tracking your networking efforts.

  • 5 Steps for Managing Upward

    5 Steps for Managing Upward

    In my first “real” job out of college, I had no idea what managing upward was and had no idea how to do it. More importantly, I didn’t know why it was necessary. In hindsight, I got passed over for a job opening in the department that I wanted because I didn’t manage upward, I got more work than any other person in the department thrown on me because I didn’t manage upward, and I ended up being pretty miserable because I didn’t manage upward.

    In my personal experiences and in coaching middle managers, I’ve learned that the topic of managing upward, or the act of realizing that you have a responsibility in managing the relationship with your boss and thus your career just as much as he or she does if not more, is an issue that comes up quite frequently.

    If I had followed these steps for managing upward, who knows, I might still be with the same organization I was with 10 years ago. (Or maybe not, but that’s a post for another day).

    1. Know your career goals. Write them down. Where do you want to be in one year, in five, in ten?
    2. Communicate your career goals to your boss. Request feedback from them on how you might be able to make these goals a reality with their help. Communication is critical in any type of relationship.
    3. Be open to your boss’ feedback and implement their suggestions.
    4. Ask or volunteer for assignments that help contribute to your goals.
    5. Realize that sometimes, your boss wants you to do stuff that you don’t want to do or that you do not see how it would add value to the organization or your career goals. And sometimes, you have to realize, just like we tell our three year old, “Because I said so” is a good enough reason to follow-through on what is asked (as long as it isn’t unethical). Following through on assignments on time, on budget and with solid results can lead to quicker career growth regardless of the assignment.

    How have you been effective in managing upward relationships?

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