Month: January 2012

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Technical Writers = Business Analysts = Usability Expert

Analyzing a current business process

I am seeing a trend here, where TW=BA=UX. Multitalented Technical Writers are now becoming more involved within organizations. They must know the business as well as a Business Analysts, and they are also becoming our Usability Experts. They are a versatile, adaptable, resourceful group of writers, mainly because their function is in knowledge transfer. They have become so involved in the business processes that they are now our Knowledge Managers with sub-titles of Technical Writer, Business Analyst, and Usability Expert

Let’s first define a Technical Writer (TW), a Business Analyst (BA), and a Usability Expert (UX). Checkout this comparison chart:

Tasks required TW BA UX
Understand the business Writes about business models Analyses the business model Uses business models
Transfer knowledge Ability to communicate Ability to communicate Ability to communicate
Work across various functions/disciplines Gathers information Gathers information Gathers information
Information Architect Designs a user interface (UI) structure Designs a interface (UI) structure Designs a user interface (UI) structure
Governance of information Handles data or information Handles data or information Presentation of data or information

The TW translates the business terms and technical information into simple easy to understand terms and guidelines so that the project can be accomplished.

The BA translates business policies, strategies, or regulations into system requirements for a project and takes a course of action to ensure the completion of the project.

The UX translates business requirements into information retrieval by ensuring the right data is captured or presented through an defined process.

All three roles have to:

  • Analyze and document the current business processes to ensure that the content is understood by the project stakeholders.
  • Create and present process flows, information architecture, site maps and prototypes for complex applications.
  • Identify and document future business processes including opportunities for process improvements.
  • Understand the features, functions, and capabilities of applications or services or products in order to achieve high performance goals.
  • Gather business requirements using different requirements gathering techniques (e.g. interviews, surveys, meetings, etc.).
  • Analyze and document business requirements using specific modeling or case tools.
  • Partake in tracking changes to the project.
  • Work with the business stakeholders, i.e., graphic designers, web developers, business analysts and software engineers.
  • Translate business requirements into technical and functional specifications.
  • Collaborate with the technical resources or any subject matter expert to gather specific (data or design) information.
  • Conduct, coordinate, and perform user acceptance tests, user walk-through sessions, and other ways to test the designs as well as create test plans to ensure adherence to specifications.
  • Act as a liaison between the IT project team and the business stakeholders.
  • Translating client goals into user-centered designs.
  • Write user-friendly text for on-screen instructions, headings, button labels, link text and other matter that have an effect on a user’s experience .
  • Create guidelines and sharing best practices.​

The role of the technical writer is ever evolving and becoming more relevant every day.

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PART III-Twelve Lessons I Learned (or Re-Learned) This Year

Hr-managers-interviewing-female-applicant-

HR is full of different roles and responsibilities and there are a ton of buzzwords that we love to throw around in organizations. We also love to use creative titles for people in HR. Companies do this for a variety of reasons, but mostly is a marketing campaign. We need some good marketing in HR, but we also need to realize the best marketing is providing a service that people want and need. Results happen and a key to HR success is tying all that activity we do to business impact. Below are some of lessons I was reminded of this year tied to the importance of HR and what we do. There a few buzzwords and rhymes thrown in for fun.

Lesson Eight

Ask don’t Tell. Guide don’t Provide. A key part of the job for an HR professional in the trenches, is coaching. We handle scenarios and issues from managers and employees at all levels. For many mid level HR professionals, this may take up 90% or more of their workload. Coaching in the HR world is the epitome of the old proverb, Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime. It would be so much easier to give the man the fish. It would take less time to just give them the answer. But if you keep giving them the fish, they will keep coming back for the answer.

Lesson Nine

Synergy is the Key. Oh synergy is one of my favorite buzz words. While there are those who advise removing it from the language of the corporation, the message is still important. The different people, departments, unit, areas and however else you lump them together groups in organizations need to be working toward the same goal. And the culture in the organization must support this. This in one of those things that we all already know. We all know it is good, but how do we live it? How does it become part of the everyday? How do we make people feel comfortable enough, safe enough to share what they are working on with others to ensure alignment with bigger picture? I have seen it over and over. Everyone attends those meetings (you know the team ones to help us all be synergistic) and as soon as the attendees are out of the room, they are already thinking, “Enough of this BS, I need to get back to work.” They aren’t comfortable enough to share anything of real significance in the meeting because they are fearful that someone won’t agree or they are trying to avoid an argument. If you want alignment, build a culture of acceptance and questioning without the erosion of self-esteem.

Lesson Ten

The newest technology isn’t always what you need to fix your problems. New technology is fun. It can be a great time saver. Especially for those of us in HR responsible for the administrative work as well as the strategic stuff. If I could only automate this, I would have so much more time to work on the important stuff. However, be cautious. As mentioned in some of the earlier lessons, change is hard. New stuff takes time to learn and in the beginning it will likely cause a decrease in performance. Will the savings be worth the cost? Does it make sense for your organization? You have to figure that out first. Start with the analysis. What do you want to accomplish by the change? is a great question to start with. (Analysis should be a lesson on its own; I believe it is a very often missed step.)

Go ahead share your lessons and check back in a few days for the conclusion of this series.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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From A-Z What God Is

light shinning from the heavens

The entry is a perfect transition that links my last series, with the A-Z theme, along with my new upcoming series focused on growing closer with God.

The idea for this poem and some of the names of God were inspired from one of my son’s lessons in his family formation program from our church.

God is…

Awesome and awestruck with us

Blessings which overflow

Creator of all good

Devoted to us

Everywhere we are in everything we do

Faithful to our greatest dreams

Glorious and grace filled

Holy, holy, holy

I am that I am

Just and just wanting to be with us

Kindhearted, giving us hearts of kindness

Loving us deeply and devoutly

Marvelous in all his acts of goodness

Never-ending is his quest to love us

Open-minded extending open arms

Patiently and persistently pursing us

Quietly waiting for us

Righteous, showing us the right way

Soulful, wanting to fill our soul

Teacher of our most important lessons

Understanding, always seeking to understand us

inValuable gift of heart and hope

Wise beyond us and wise within us

eXcellent at helping us excel

Yours truly who wants to be truly yours

Zealous for our love

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.

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Avoid That Creep

Our topic today has nothing to do with an eccentric or detestable person, happily. Although some project managers may not agree, a more prevalent pest to be avoided in projects is “scope creep”: additional scope that creeps in, without anyone in the project team noticing. Before you know it, there is an expectation that the project will indeed deliver this additional scope, leading to extra stress on your resources and your timeframes. At the request of students who have often asked for suggestions, here are four strategies I have found useful in the past to ‘avoid the creep’:

1. Change Control
Assuming the project scope has initially been agreed, the best option to avoid the dreaded scope creep is vigilant change control. This involves (a) keeping a change log for the project which is stored in the same repository as other important project plans; (b) timely assessments so that each Change Request is settled in a reasonable amount of time; and (c) discussing the change log with customers and performers at regular status meetings.

2. How About ‘No’
Sometimes it is difficult to perceive that a change has just been introduced into the project environment, as it may be framed like an innocent question. Example: “Surely this training can be translated and taught in French when we install the Morocco location?” Someone in the project team, probably guided by a lecture they heard on “Delight Your Customer”, answers “Yes, I’m sure we can manage”. Scope creep alert! Instead, the project manager might try jumping in, with some variation of ‘No’. Good examples: “I wish we could”; “I don’t think that’s in scope”; or (one of my favorites) “Our budget is already so stretched”.

3. Train the Project Team
There are a few steps and processes that your project team will have to be trained on during the project. Why not make “Change Control” part of another topic, and use this discussion to make them comfortable with the statement “We’ll be happy to do an impact assessment on that change request”?

4. Better Late Than Never
Maybe, and in spite of your best attempts, a crafty customer may get a project performer to agree to the extra work. We should remember that good project management is about progressively elaborating plans, and re-opening any items which now need to be discussed, even if they were previously closed. In the case of the extra work, we could say, for example: “I know Bob had been trying to accommodate this change but, regrettably, we don’t have the funding to do it. Let’s open a change request ”. Better to reset the customer’s expectations a little late than to make the project miss its agreed timeframe and budget. So let’s actively avoid that creep.

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For more resources, see the Library topic Project Management.

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State of Social Enterprise: 2012

Business-people-discussing-on-social-enterprise

Following President Obama’s State of the Union speech last week, we thought this would be a good time to evaluate the state of the social enterprise sector. So here is the npEnterprise Forum’s official, revised* State of the SE Sector 2012 address.

Emerging Private Sector SEs

Private sector SEs are now gaining momentum and recognition. Truth be told, the private sector started thousands of social enterprises in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, long before a large number of nonprofits “discovered” the field in the ‘90s. Today, there’s a return to the private sector, as many social entrepreneurs prefer the legal flexibility and access to capital found in for-profit business models. We’re also seeing new strategies and partnerships between the sectors to build on each other’s strengths.

SE Surge on Campus

SE has become a “hot” academic topic, with an explosion of courses and degree programs in social enterprise and related topics, including social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Last year, we created a list of graduate school SE programs; today, more programs could be added to list, including many at the undergraduate level.

SE Gets Younger

As SE becomes more mature, the practitioner is getting younger. That’s a good thing, on campus and elsewhere. Many young people are graduating today with a strong desire to start their own social enterprises rather than work for a corporation. And going even younger, there are programs like SAGEGlobal, which works with high school social entrepreneurs in 21 countries.

The Resurgent Practitioner

While the modern SE movement was founded and initially propelled by consultants, it is now being driven more and more by SE practitioners. Sure, consultants, lawyers, and academics have an important role to play in this work (and, hey, I’m one of them), but the SE movement needs to be about SEs, not service providers or anyone else. The good news is that things are moving in that direction. For the first time in its history, Social Enterprise Alliance now has a practitioner as its CEO. Here in the Rockies, SEA Colorado requires a majority of practitioners on its board, as is its chair and vice-chair. Most SEA chapters include a healthy mix of practitioners in their leadership teams. Similarly, a number of recent SE books have been written by practitioners.

Mapping The Sector

New efforts to catalog the sector are emerging, in ways designed to drive sales to existing SEs. In previous blogs, I’ve written about Buy With Heart, the online guide for Rhode Island, the SE Dining Map, and the Directory of SE Directories. There is also now an initial map of Colorado SEs. This new focus on driving sales, by increased visibility and ultimately by attracting corporate and government contracts, is designed to increase sustainability and growth of existing SEs, as well as encourage new ones to form.

Global Movements Gets Local Boost

There is now much more going on with SE at the local level than just a few years ago. There arethirteen SEA chapters across the US, with more on the way. Each one is bringing together local social enterprisers, academics and support providers, to build communication networks and share information among existing SEs and to encourage the creation of new SEs. Similarly, SEA is planning a series of local conferences in 2012, rather than one-big Social Enterprise Summit.

Less Rhetoric, More Market-Focus

One thing I’ve noticed in the workshops I’ve presented recently is an increased understanding that SE’s need to compete in the marketplace like any other business. That they must be approached with the same kind of flexibility and market-savvy that private sector companies have to carry out every day to survive let alone prosper. Mission does not sell products; only good products can do that. Also, I’m hearing less hyperbole about SE replacing the need for grants (for nonprofits), but rather as a strategy to increase impact and gain greater sustainability.

Hybrid Organizations

There are now more and more L3C’s and for-benefit corporations, with some of them having years of experience under their belts. While the expected availability of special financing (especially program related investments from foundations) has not been realized so far, these companies are blazing the trail on how private sector companies can focus on both financial and mission bottom lines. They are also writing the book on how to measure social impact, an essential but difficult topic that needs to be addressed to attract investments in the future.

Social Capital/Social Impact Markets

Finally, numerous alternative forms of financing are emerging for social enterprises through social venture funds and crowd sourced financing strategies. Recently I wrote a blog about the proposed Entrepreneur’s Access to Capital Act, which, if approved, would dramatically increase small business access to individual investors. Also, the federal Social Innovation Fund supports social impact markets by funding organizations that actively invest in high-impact solutions to a social problem, including social enterprises. Catalyst Kitchen, for example, is now an Innovation Fund grantee and able to re-grant funds to members of their collaborative. Incidentally, these kinds of collaborative networks (SEA is another one) play a significant and growing role in increasing impact and sustainability of SEs.

[*Special thanks to people who offered suggestions to an earlier version, specifically Jerr Boschee, David Carleton and David Weisberger]

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Define Your Goals for Social Media

colleagues-discussing-on-company-goals.

What do you want out of social media?

Every successful voyage needs a defined goal that justifies the inherent risks. Similarly, when embarking on using social media to bolster crisis management, your organization must establish specific goals. These goals can be social, economic and political in nature.

In the course of our practice we have encountered companies that are using social media without having taken the time to integrate social media into their strategic goals. This approach is bound to result in a less than satisfactory outcome because the use of social media must be in alignment with relevant business objectives.

This quote, from a Disaster Recovery Journal blog post by Gideon For-mukwai, should be mandatory reading for every exec hatching a social media plan. While it is vitally important for businesses to have a social media presence, blindly stepping out there will often lead to frustration and wasted money.

Now, we’re not saying that you need a ten-page plan for this, not at all. What you do need is to sit down with your organization’s leadership and determine your goals as far as social media goes. A typical list might read:

  1. Improve customer service
  2. Protect our reputation from negative conversation
  3. Marketing new products or services

With your priorities straight, you can determine how to accomplish your goals. On this list customer service is number one, so you would likely want to designate specific employees to monitor and respond to direct messages and mentions of your organization. Although obviously things can get as complex as you want, this is plenty to get a solid start.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. , an international crisis management consultancy, and author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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Going Over The Head Of A Foundation Program Officer

A grant seeker discussing with a program officer

Recently, a disgruntled grant seeker I know told me that he was so upset with what he said was a “blatant” turndown from a foundation Program Officer that he was going to go over that official’s head to appeal to a board member of the foundation — someone whom he knows.

My immediate reaction was that he needs to know how to take “No” for an answer. By not doing so, he increases the likelihood that he will poison that foundation’s “philanthropic well.”

The rejection should be followed by a gracious acceptance of that program officer’s decision.

It’s best to leave the grantor better conditioned for the next time the organization wants to go back to that “well” for funding — which will probably be sooner than later. To do otherwise risks burning that “funding bridge” beyond repair.

Going over the head of a program officer promises nothing but trouble. My rule of thumb is never leapfrog over anybody. In general, woe befalls the fund-raiser who goes around the program officers.

There could be double trouble, should the higher-level contact be displeased to be put in the middle of such a thorny issue – that of needing to rule on what a subordinate has already decided.

Consider that some program officers may zealously guard their positions of authority – even to ensure they are the last resort in the granting process.

For us not to accept that stance can imply that we question their expertise and judgment – even their integrity. Any instance of real or perceived criticism, or the suggestion that a program officer can do a better job or that they did not do the job at all, may well evoke the real risk of a seriously negative reaction to the next proposal we submit.

We should have it fixed in our minds that program officers always do a great job, even when they deny our requests for funding and we think they erred in their judgment.

Even if we think they made a major error, we should not be foolish enough to suggest that by going over their heads. We have got to be smart, and not to risk making an enemy of a person who could very well have a commanding position to decline our future grant requests.

A highly regarded foundation authority once said: “The grant seeker always comes to grantors, psychologically, on their knees. Most grantors work with care and diligence to find a way to lift them to their feet.”

To that I say, “While on our knees before grantors, even if we don’t like being in that position, we don’t bite them on their ankles.”

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If you have a question for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com

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Understanding Brand Loyalty

Laptop displaying brand on the screen

Guest Writer: Juliette Johnson

So you’re thirsty and you’re looking for a drink. You head to thee canteen and are offered a choice between Coke, Pepsi or a generic brand cola. The generic brand cola is the cheapest on offer but which do you choose and why? You need a new TV do you buy a Sony or a Panasonic?

These quick introductory questions sum up the importance of brand loyalty, and why we need to create it.

What is Brand Loyalty?

Brand loyalty is basically a scenario whereby a customer will always choose one brand over another – not because of price, not because of convenience but because of fostered loyalty to your brand.

Brand loyalty is the process whereby companies market their products and attach connotations to them so that customers become reluctant to purchase from anyone else. At the base level companies try to build a reputation through their products – for providing quality, convenience, reliability or safety. Whatever key targets a company employs the aim is always the same – to make consumers keep buying from your company.

How is Brand Loyalty Created?

Brand loyalty is created or engendered though a number of different avenues but the most crucial is through marketing. Marketing allows a company to portray a product in a certain way to influence customers into choosing their brand above all others.

Advertising is of course the primary means to this end and in recent years this has expanded to digital and online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. These platforms have become crucial in building 121 customer relationships and loyalties.

Most people are now on Facebook and companies are incredibly keen to engage with people on these sites as people spend an inordinate amount of time on social media sites and can be engaged with in increasingly new ways.

Building brand loyalty through personalized marketing, social “events” like competitions and online games has become increasingly part of brand marketing operations. However, other brand loyalty strategies are important – word of mouth spread, trust, price, convenience and utility all play a crucial role in ensuring brand loyalty is created and maintained.

Why is Brand Loyalty Important?

The reason brand loyalty is so important is simple. Brand loyal customers will avoid buying your competitors products wherever possible. This means that your company can have a solid foundation of loyal customers without the uncertainty of market shifts and competition. Working towards expanding your loyal customer base is therefore vital to successful business strategy.

Instilling your brand with qualities means that it is perceived as being of a higher class or order than your competitors but in order to instil these sentiments you have to engage with your customers in the correct ways.

The First Step

We have already explored marketing avenues briefly, but in terms of fostering brand loyalty, market research must always be the first step in preparations. Customer profiling and segmentation allows companies to build the foundations of effective brand loyalty strategy and to ensure that your target audiences will engage with your products and brand and that they will become loyal customers. Of course there is no exact science to whether a person will become a loyal customer but failing to evaluate this core principle can leave a company’s marketing untargeted and ineffective.

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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Juliette Johnson is a Marketing Researcher and Communications Specialist. This content was created through consultation with the International Brand Marketing company ICLP Loyalty.

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Basic Modes and Formats of Coaching

A-man-teaching-a-colleague-the-task-to-be-done.

One of the advantages of the coaching process is that it can be done in a wide variety of formats and still retain its powerful benefits. In this article, we acquaint the reader with the basic formats in which coaching can be done. We use the term “format” to refer to the physical configuration or context in which the coaching occurs. We use “mode” to refer to the medium of communication among participants.

We do not review the many different types of applications in which coaching can be done. For that information, see Some Common Types of Coaching .

First, a Reminder “What is Coaching?”

As the field of personal and professional coaching has grown, so have different perspectives and definitions of coaching. Many coaches might agree with the following definition:

“Coaching involves working in a partnership between coach and client(s) to provide structure, support, inquiry and feedback for clients to:

  1. Take a complete look at their current state, including their assumptions and perceptions about their work, themselves and/or others;
  2. Set relevant and realistic goals for themselves, based on their own nature and needs;
  3. Take relevant and realistic actions toward reaching their goals; and
  4. Learn by continuing to reflect on the inquiry and feedback, and on the results of their actions to achieve their goals.

For more perspectives on coaching, see All About Coaching

Informal and Formal Coaching Relationships

Coaching Conversation (or Session)

Coaching can occur as a one-time exchange between people – between a professional coach and client (coachee) or even between people who are not necessarily trained as coaches.

Coaching Project (or Program)

This occurs between a professional coach and coachee in a professional relationship (or project) that is highly customized to the nature and needs of the coachee. The relationship is formalized in a coaching contract and usually involves numerous coaching sessions. Sometimes a coaching project is referred to as a coaching program, however, a program is typically a series of activities to teach coaching, for example, a coaching program or coaching school.

Formats of Coaching

Self-Coaching

This is one of the most forgotten formats of coaching. Coaching teaches us that, when we get stuck, it’s often because of how we perceive a situation. One of the most frequently used coaching tools is asking questions to generate reflection, insights, and relevant and realistic actions to address a current priority. You can ask yourself powerful questions to examine your own perceptions, assumptions and conclusions about a current priority. Although it’s often best to involve someone else in that inquiry (because the other person can help show “what you don’t know that you don’t know), you can still learn a great deal about yourself and your situation by self-coaching.

One-on-One Coaching

One-on-one coaching (or one-to-one coaching) is probably the most common format of coaching. One-on-one coaching can be done between two peers or with a professional coach. The term “peers” refers to people who come together as equals to address a priority and learn at the same time.

  • Peer Coaching in One-On-One Format
    In peer coaching, people coach each other. Peer coaching can be done with two people or in a group. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for participating in coaching because you likely have many peers who could coach you, for example, a friend, family member or colleague.
  • Professional Coaching in One-on-One Format
    Professional coaching involves a person trained in a particular coaching model and who might have achieved certification from a coaching school. The coach might have strong skills, including in assessments, listening, inquiry, and moving the coachee forward to actions and learning.

Group Coaching

Although group coaching often does not quickly achieve the attunement, engagement and intimacy of a one-on-one coaching experience, group coaching can be powerful means for many people to benefit from the coaching process. (Many people would agree that an outcome from group coaching is “team building” and, thus, use that label rather than “group coaching.”)

NOTE: As the field of coaching has grown, so has the number of coaches who customize their own approach to group coaching, so has the different perspectives on group coaching, and so has the different names for the types of coaching groups.

  • Peer Coaching in Groups
    In peer coaching groups, one or more members might be coached by other group members. Facilitation could be the responsibility of one person or the entire group.
  • Professional Coaching in Groups
    In this format, a professional coach coaches one or more group members, while other members either observe or take part in sessions.
  • Action Learning Groups (“Sets”)
    In an Action Learning group (often called a “set”), members address a current, urgent priority (or priorities) by sharing inquiry and taking actions between meetings to address the priority. Action Learning does not often refer to this exchange as “coaching,” although many coaches would recognize it as coaching. (Action Learning often refers to an external facilitator as a “learning coach.”) Groups can be externally or self-facilitated.

Organizational Coaching

Organizational coaching aims to enhance the performance of a unit in the organization (a department or process) or the entire organization, and can include a variety of other domains of coaching. One of the outcomes from organizational coaching often is a “coaching culture,” in which coaching is a primary nature of exchange and development among employees.

Systems Coaching

Occasionally, coaches (especially in the field of Organization Development) refer to systems coaching, and associate various contexts of coaching, including, for example, gender coaching, team coaching and organizational coaching. However, many people would argue that all forms of coaching are systems coaching because a person, group and organization are each a system.

Modes of Coaching

Face-to-Face vs. Virtual

The coaching process can be done where people are directly interacting with each other or done by means of telecommunications (phone, Web, etc.). Many people might react that virtual coaching would seem less effective, however, much coaching is very effectively done virtually.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

Synchronous coaching is when the coach and coachee(s) directly respond to each other, for example, in a vocal exchange. Asynchronous coaching is when communications between the coach and coachee(s) can have even significant delays, for example, when each is reading and responding to emails from others.

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For many related, free online resources, see the following Free Management Library’s topics:

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, and Strategic Planning.