Learn to streamline from customers

Customers appreciate simplicity, but figuring out how to streamline can be difficult for many companies. Research has found that the most important factor in creating customer “stickiness” is “decision simplicity” - i.e., the ease of getting credible information in the midst of marketing noise. Engage your customers in simplifying your business — and make it easier for them to work with you — with these tips.

Figure out what your customers do all day: What do they think about first in the morning? What’s the toughest part of their day? Try giving your customers a diary to track their activities, or spend a day shadowing a customer, to understand their unmet needs.

Listen to your critics: Consider asking noncustomers why they don’t do business with you. Intentionally including people who dislike your product or service in a focus group can lead to more provocative conversations. Better yet, invite naysayers to join planning meetings to discuss which enhancements could change their perception of your organisation.

(Source: “Let Your Customers Streamline Your Business” by Ron Ashkenas and Lisa Bodell.)

Use note-taking apps to prioritise

With the remarkable retrieval capacity of digital note-taking apps, you can always find (and remember) your records of important conversations and meetings. Better still, thoughtfully organising your notes will help you focus on your top priorities and drive your energies toward your most important work. In Evernote (OneNote, Springpad and Simplenote are other popular apps), create notebooks that are as broad as possible while still reflecting specific projects and responsibilities; rather than “XYZ account,” for example, use “Key Industries” or “West Coast Prospects.” Evernote automatically organises notebooks alphabetically, but any notebooks that have names beginning with punctuation or symbols (“!Management Tips”) show up at the top of the list, followed by names beginning with numbers. Use this to your advantage: Name notebooks to keep key priorities, projects and responsibilities on top so that you’ll see and think about them every day.

(Source: “Work Smarter With Evernote” by Alexandra Samuel.)

Master the 3 M’s of motivation

Smart leaders can turn change from exhausting to exhilarating by asking employees to open their imaginations.

This type of strong work motivation stems from the three M’s: mastery, membership and meaning. (Money is a distant fourth.)

MASTERY: Help people develop deep skills. Even in the most seemingly routine areas, when people are given stretch goals and difficult problems to tackle, they can do things faster, smarter and better.

MEMBERSHIP: Foster community by honouring individuality and encouraging employees to bring outside interests to work. Create frequent opportunities to meet people across the organisation to help your team get to know one another more deeply.

MEANING: Reinforcing a larger mission and purpose can make even mundane tasks feel significant. Discussing how your products or services can improve the world affects employees’ priorities and decisions.

(Source: “Three Things That Actually Motivate Employees” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter.)

Make camaraderie a competitive advantage

Not surprisingly, workers enjoy their jobs more when they have friendships with colleagues. But camaraderie is more than just having fun; it’s also about creating a common sense of purpose. Companies should create and value camaraderie as a competitive advantage for recruiting top talent, retaining employees and improving engagement, creativity and productivity. Many companies engage in corporate challenges such as bike-to-work day, wellness competitions, community service events and other activities to build a sense of teamwork and togetherness. Help foster a culture of camaraderie by being clear what you want the culture to be within your organisation. Model the culture: Spend time with employees and treat people with respect. Leverage your employees’ talents by encouraging their ideas; your people must feel proud of the products and services your organisation provides.

(Source: “We All Need Friends at Work” by Christine M. Riordan.)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 18th, 2017