Month: June 2012

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Ready to Take the Plunge into Self-Employment?

A man siling after giving a notice of quit

Have you ever thought of starting your own business or becoming self-employed? Almost everyone has wanted to be his or her own boss at some point in a career. But what does it actually take to make a success of it? And is it really the route that you should take?

If you’re seriously considering taking the plunge, here are three things to consider before making this very important decision:

1. What’s your motivation? Is it because:

  • You’ve had a brainwave about a new product or service idea, and you’re certain it will take the market by storm.
  • You’ve acquired certain skills, know-how and contacts in your current area of operation that make for a winning combination if you strike out on your own.
  • The industry has some untapped potential you can exploit, given your special talents.
  • You’re not satisfied with the way your career has been shaping up so far.

Whatever the reasons, make sure you make the change for positive rather than for negative reasons: The grass is not always greener on the other side, and you need to make sure that this isn’t just a way of “running away” from situations you really should deal with.

2. What assumptions are you making?

When you decide to move from a regular office-going career to full-time self-employment, it’s easy to gloss over the reality of what that entails. Here are a few insights into the world of self-employment that you may have overlooked in your enthusiasm.

  • I’m not accountable to anyone but myself. When you run your own business, you still are answerable to a number of people – your customers, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders, like bankers or government authorities. As an owner, you have much greater responsibility thrust on you.
  • I’ll have more control over my time. Many people who work from home or have a start-up business find that they work much longer hours than their office-going counterparts. You’ll spend time with both details and major issues that crop up. Be prepared to work very hard!
  • It’s easier to run your own business than to work for a company. Working in an organization usually means that you’re responsible for just one of the functions of the business, whether in sales, marketing, accounts or production. But when you’re on your own, you have to manage the whole show down to some of the smallest details (until you can hire others.)

3. Do you have what it takes to succeed?
There are certain key personal qualities for success that you, as the owner of the enterprise, must possess. They are:

  • Self-motivation. If you work alone, you can drift aimlessly without a boss or a team motivating you. Therefore you need both drive and discipline to stay on track and not get side-tracked.
  • Business acumen. You must understand everything about your business – the products or services their applications, the realities of the market, the finanacials, etc. You need facts and figures plus good instincts to make wise decisions.
  • Manage multiple priorities. You’ll be wearing many hats and will need to know how to plan, organize your work, manage your time and deal with the unexpected. You also will need to let go of certain things by delegating or by outsourcing.
  • Risk taking. When you give up your existing job, you run the risk of not being able to get it back if you need it later. You also may lose the capital you’ve invested to get your business off the ground. How much of a risk taker are you?

Career Success Tip:

Weigh the pros and cons of your business idea and the realities of self-employment before jumping onto the bandwagon. Make your decisions and preparations wisely, and if self-employment is really for you, work hard and enjoy the success you deserve. Also see Career Change: Don’t Jump From the Frying Pan into the Fire.

Do you want to develop Career Smarts?

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Naming Opportunities and Bequests

Two women laughing in front of a whiteboard

This posting is based on an email exchange asking about the relationship between bequests and Naming Opportunities (NOs). I have expanded on my responses in that exchange:

With regrets, I do not have a set of generic naming policies that I can share. I would, however, be happy to suggest how you might structure such for your organization.

First, you need to have policies in place to “regulate” what your organization will do with bequests, whether all or only certain (types or percentages of) bequests will go into endowment, capital needs and/or operating expenses.

Then, you need policies for what you would be willing to name, and what you wouldn’t – and whether the naming would be permanent and/or if some/all would have terms of a specific number of years.

Once the policies are in place, and there is a list of naming opportunities approved by the board, they shouldn’t need to be involved in approving each naming.

Typically, the Development Committee of the Board, in conjunction with the Chief Development Officer, make the decisions as to who will be offered which “opportunity” … at what “price.”

One caveat, the organization should also have in place policies specifying from whom the organization will/will not accept support.

Naming Opportunities (using the term broadly) for support of operating expenses tend to be of the names-on-a-list or on-a-plaque variety. NOs for endowment, depending on the size of the gift, can be names-on-a-list, names-on-a-plaque, or the naming of a (part of a) program that the gift endows.

NOs for capital projects range from names-on-a-plaque to names on equipment to names on (parts of) buildings.

NOs based on bequests, since an NPO doesn’t receive the gift until the donor is no longer with us, must be discussed/negotiated with the donor before they die !!

Those discussions/negotiations tend to be very business-like, and focus on what’s important to the donor. After all, s/he is not going to name you in his/her will unless:
1. S/he already feels strongly about your organization (or one of it’s programs) and/or;
2. Through the process leading to naming you in his/her will, develops that strong feeling for your organization (or one of it’s programs).

If you’re going to “sell” a naming, just be sure that the price is commensurate with the value of the “opportunity.” Remember, the “price” of a “naming” is based on the market value of that naming – a price that has little-or-no relation to the cost of creating/building/purchasing whatever is being named.

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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

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ASUS Fails at Social Media

A social media concept on a phone

Editor’s Note: If you don’t want to see an un-PC and offensive-to-women image that we didn’t create, don’t read further.

Who left that guy in charge?

It only makes sense, if you’re launching a new product at a major industry expo, you want a nice shot of it on Twitter. This is commonplace, and indeed a highly recommended practice. Not only that, but it seems pretty tough to screw up, right? Not if you’re computer hardware specialist ASUS. Here’s the post that kicked off the organization’s crisis management troubles, from Computex 2012 in Taiwan:

Did someone let the local college frat run the ASUS feed for the event? This is just so mind-blowingly unprofessional that it’s almost unimaginable that someone actually posted this to a corporate Twitter feed. Of course, if you read this blog with any regularity you may not be as shocked. It does seem that organizations pull off the impossibly dumb on a regular basis.

The post immediately spawned a torrent of negative sentiment across the Web (summarized nicely in this Storify by Mashable) that led many customers to announce that they had scratched ASUS products off their list of potential next-buys.

ASUS caught the issue fairly quickly, deleted the offending post, and sent the following Tweet:

We apologise for the inappropriate comment on Twitter earlier. We will take steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Tim Smalley, digital marketing manager at ASUS’ Global Corporate Marketing Division, also sent this statement directly to Mashable:

First of all, please accept our sincere apologies for causing offence to many of Twitter’s users – it was never ASUS’ intention to offend anyone, let alone be sexist.

We have spent some time investigating this since it came to our attention and, due to the hectic schedule around Computex and the fact a number of third parties had access to our social media accounts during this period, we realize that someone has made a deeply regrettable mistake. We have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again.

The problem with this statement is that it leaves one asking, “what steps??” It’s easy to make a generic statement, but this is going to come back and bite the organization right in the ASUS if anything from the company Twitter draws the ire of stakeholders in the future. To really make this a strong statement, ASUS should have explained what steps it has put into place to prevent offensive posts and avoid kicking off another crisis management situation.

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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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The Technical Writer Project Manager

Cheerful colleagues having a meeting while going through a document

The Technical Writer Project Manager (TW PM), has to be organized, analytical, detail-oriented, possess common sense and patience, and be an excellent communicator. The TW PM must plan, control, maintain, and be persistent in bringing the project to completion.

To plan each project, the TW PM will have to:

  • analyze the project requirements,
  • set milestones which indicate the critical dates,
  • estimate the budget that is required to complete the project,
  • identify the types of documents (as well as format) required for the project,
  • select the appropriate resources (in source, outsource) to gather data, research, and create the content,
  • ensure that the right tools are available, and
  • determine whether or not the writers require training or need to be re-trained.

To control the all the projects, the TW PM has to:

  • meet with all stakeholders to ensure that all requirements have been gathered,
  • interview subject matter experts (SME’s) and developers to ensure understanding of the new projects,
  • select appropriate team leaders to work on each project,
  • maintain communication between the team leaders or members,
  • maintain communication with all stakeholders to keep them informed of the projects status as well as to ensure that all required information has been gathered,
  • ensure that each team stays focused and on target to ensure delivery dates are met,
  • plan ahead and creates contingent plans for any unexpected delays and bottlenecks, and
  • ensure that all problems are resolved.

To maintain management of the project, the TW PM has to:

  • generate reports on the projects, budgets and overall status of the projects as well as reporting any unexpected issues,
  • coordinate and manage the documentation (establish overall knowledge management processes and procedures which involve content taxonomies, styles, sharing, and distribution),
  • interact with other departments for process improvements,
  • perform final review/edit/proof reading prior to being published, and
  • ensure establishment of style guides (definitions, metadata, processes, etc.) to ensure accuracy and consistency.

The TW as a PM has to focus on time, budget, and quality, as well as establish the high-level Project plan. One of the most important jobs of being a PM involves planning. Planning requires the PM to:

  • plan out the projects (determine the work breakdown) and set milestones (critical dates, as to when the project has to be delivered),
  • make sure that each team is informed of critical dates and ensure that team members will be available on specific dates, and
  • establish backup plans for unforeseen developments or circumstances.

The TW PM has to also possess good judgment in selecting the right technical writers (or team leaders) for specific jobs. Once all of the necessary tasks have been prioritized, organized and under control, the project will be brought to fruition.

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PowerPoint Debate Continues

A black woman giving a power polint presentation to colleagues
It’s an essential skill. What do you think?”

He is a financial manager, whose his job typically means supervising other salespeople and involves extensive use of presenting materials to people.

He says, “As a manager or employer, I want people who are good at PowerPoints. It’s an essential skill. What do you think?”

The above quote is from a colleague on Gov Loop. I am always caught when someone tries to make PowerPoint more than it is: a tool to enhance communication.

“I personally consider Microsoft PowerPoint presentation development a unique skill. To be an effective PowerPoint jockey, you must be able to structure content, develop clear and persuasive messages, and integrate relevant and meaningful graphics/visuals. It’s not as easy as you think. And it’s critically important because it’s a near fact that business is done on PowerPoint.”

I consider myself a communicator and I teach communication–even using PowerPoint. The famous presentation’s tool should never be an excuse for what we can say with authority but highlight and emphasize what we want people to go away with. There are people who can manipulate PowerPoint to an art, and indeed, I tell students hitting that button at a particular time will enhance their presentation. I’m good at it; I’m also a good speaker.

Can I manipulate sure and I will to make my presentation get the attention it deserves. But it’s not about me, it’s about the right mix. Some speakers need PowerPoint to even be heard. Everyone needs training in good communication and that includes the tools we use. Some will always be better than us, but there’s experience and others to helps be the best we can do. It is a unique skill and I am appalled when people are expected (and in my case graded on their ability to use it).

What we need are classes that make communicators experts at it.

My discussions include both. I teach college classes in public speaking and creative thinking these days. What we need are classes that make communicators experts at it. If it works the other way, fine–a PowerPoint expert who can be a master communicator, but sell that to the schools for accreditation.

PowerPoint in the right hands can make a poor speaker a better one, a good speaker an excellent one, but in itself, it is no excuse for bad presenting or bad communication, or bad writing or bad organization. I have found it a tremendous help in what I do. I don’t grade the quality of the PowerPoints; I probably would–if they were a serious part of the curriculum, which they are not, but it seems a required or preferred way of presenting material.

Teaching school is always an eye-opener. We certainly didn’t use PowerPoint when I was going to school and I am self-taught out of necessity. I became one of the experts in my organization and ironically the reason I was hired became secondary as I helped others develop presentations.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

Today I teach communication, both written and spoken, and write books. I have an E-novel out now that is available with coupon code MF47C until June 19 for $0.99 called In Makr’s Shadow, which I assure you is not a religious book, but a science fiction adventure of tomorrow.

I also have a short non-novel called The Cave Man Guide for Training and Development. It, too, is available for a pittance, but it is designed for beginning or non-trainers to the most experienced ones who may be interested in a different view. Hope to see you again on another fine training related topic. Happy Training.

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Caribbean Cops Get Crisis Communications Training

Group-of-male-managers-discussing-their-managerial-problems-in-a-meeting

Practice makes perfect

Police forces the world over are embracing the importance of communication for crisis management, reputation management, and community building. Here’s one example, out of far-off Trinidad & Tobago, from a Guardian Media article:

Senior officials of the Police Service embarked on an intensive three-day training workshop yesterday on how to communicate better during a crisis and improve media relations as they seek to enhance the image of the organisation. This was revealed yesterday by ASP Joanne Archie and public information officer of the Police Service, Sgt Wayne Mystar, during yesterday’s daily media briefing at the Police Training Academy, St James.

Not only are they training (and gaining reputation points in the community for announcing the fact, no less), but they’re also being smart about it, ensuring trained leadership brings the lessons they’ve learned back to the rest of the troops. Check out this quote from Archie:

Archie said the workshop was in keeping with the 21st-century policing initiative “to make the Police Service a more competent, caring, professional and committed organisation.” She said the training would go a long way to prepare senior officials on how to better communicate with the media, as well as ensure the timely delivery of accurate information. Archie said succession planning would be used to ensure other junior-ranked officers also were trained on how to communicate with the media, once that initial workshop was completed.

All in all a pretty solid effort. One important step that’s missing is communication directly with the public. In case you didn’t know enough about Trinidad & Tobago to realize just how Internet-connected its residents are, SocialBakers.com lists 37% of the total population as using social media, with a whopping 94% of web users engaging in social media use. Social media accounts have been used to great effect to increase community participation and reduce crime in cities large and small, and the stage is certainly set here. Put that in place, with the proper support, of course, and you’ve got a strong program that will help the police force better serve their public.

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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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Winning Back Those Lapsed Donors – Part Two

A BUSINESS WOMAN

Continuing (from Tuesday) to devise/structure the process for rebuilding our relationship with our lapsed donors….

Our next step is to design our solicitation strategies based upon how “major” the lapsed donors’ gifts were … and might be again. That helps us decide whether we just send solicitation letters with return gift envelopes enclosed; if we send letters followed by phone calls; whether we just call for decisions over the phone; or, if we write or call to seek meetings to discuss their renewals in person.

We also give serious (sensitive) thought and consideration to deciding if we’ll ask that they renew their previous/last gift, or if we see potential for seeking an increased contribution.

Consider using one or more of the following statements sometime during your lapsed gift renewal contacts as you seek to convince those lapsed donors to reinstate their gifts:

• Your support has always meant so much to us. May we count on you again this year?

• We missed your participation in our campaign last year (or specify if it’s been a longer period). Please join us for another year.

• We take great pride in having your name associated with our institution. We have missed that association, and I hope we can count on your participation again this year.

• We are aware that you chose not to renew your gift to us last year (or in the year it ended). We welcome this opportunity to ask if that was because of something we did that we can now remedy, or if it is something out of our control. We will soon contact you to ask what we can try to do to win back your important support.

• I was reviewing this year’s list of important contributors, and could not help but notice that your name was missing. That’s why I wanted to contact you, to respectfully ask that you consider renewing your gift for this year’s campaign.

• There is a good chance we will establish a new record of gift support this year for our institution, but only if important contributors such as you continue to invest in our institution. Can we count on your support again this year?

And, an added note: We always looked to connect the renewal of lapsed gifts to a current matching or challenge grant program. which tends to be a compelling “selling” point. And we found, more often than not, that the “challenger” allowed us to use those renewed gifts as “new” money when that was a requirement for matching funds.

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If you have a question or comment 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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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

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Soaring To New Heights

A-person-moving-up-an-escalator-rising-new-heights.
You could say this is part two to the eagle reflection I shared earlier called Flapping of Wings.
A friend sent me a devotion today by Mary Southerland that was focused around eagles. The eagle this year continues to be an amazing teacher and guide in my life. I went on a special trip with my mom a few weeks ago and at one point there were three eagles soaring above us (two of them pictured). This devotion speaks so much to me and I hope you’ll relate as well. It even talked about how the important change of rebirth an eagle must make in its’ 40’s, which I’ll be turning in Sept. May this give you the faith and rebirth you need to soar to the greatest heights of your life!

Devotion Insights

Below is part of the devotion mentioned earlier from Crosswalk. titled Time for a Change?
Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
When it comes to change, we have a decision to make – just like the eagle. The eagle has the longest life-span among birds. It can live up to 70 years, but to reach this age, the eagle has to make a hard decision. In its’ 40s, the eagle’s long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey, which serves as food. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent and its old and heavy wings, covered with feathers that have grown thick over the years, become stuck to its chest, making it difficult to fly.
The eagle is then left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change, which lasts 150 days. The difficult process requires the eagle to fly to a mountain top and sit on its nest. There the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until the beak falls off. The eagle will then wait for a new beak to grow back and use the new beak to pluck out its talons. When the new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking out all of the old feathers. After five months, the eagle takes a famous flight of rebirth and lives 30 more years.
Change is sometimes needed to survive. God may be asking you to step out in faith and make a change in your life. He has already been where He is asking you to go and prepared every step of the way for you. You don’t have to be afraid of the unknown. It is unknown only to you. God is well aware of where you are and of every step He is asking you to take. He may be asking you to get rid of old memories, eliminate destructive habits and forsake lifeless traditions. He is waiting for you to take one step. Faith in God does not come all at once. Faith is a step-by-step process that begins with one small step and increases as we go.

My Reflections

Yesterday, I took a step of faith in regards to paying for this transformational author program and entering a writing contest for my next book. I know that this book is a symbol of the rebirth I’m going through with my work and focus in life. After the small step of faith that I took later that night I had an author who I’ve been wanting to talk to for months, emailed me offering her support with my new book. I was in awe that it happened right after I took the first step showing my commitment to this rebirth. One small step in faith allows God to bring us to the next level we need, and so it goes step after faithful step.

Your thoughts

Share with us the rebirth you are preparing for and what steps of faith you’ve taken or are planning to take.

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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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A Panel Interview: Create a Great Impression

A-woman-interviewed-by-a-panel-in-an-office

You’ve wanted this position for quite a while and you’ve now been invited to interview for the role of your dreams. There’s just one catch you’re not going to be facing one interviewer, you’ll be facing four all at the same time!

A coaching client contacted me recently asking for help. He just found out he was one of three candidates vying for a position that he really wanted. And a panel would be interviewing each one. He’s confident doing one-on-one interviews but was concerned about how he should handle a panel.

If visions of being put in front of a firing squad leap into your mind, you’re not alone. Panel interviews with three, four, even seven people are becoming the norm. This process allows those who will be directly involved with the new hire to give and get input. It also cuts down the cost and time associated with several rounds of traditional interviews.

So what I told my client is that a panel interview is really just an expanded version of the one-on-one interview. So keep in mind the success factors for traditional interviews – be prepared, show enthusiasm, connect your experience to the job qualifications, answer questions clearly and precisely, etc.

However, there are some differences. You will be facing a variety of different people, all of whom have different interests and different ways of evaluating you. Therefore,

1. Find out if possible who (name and position) will be part of the panel.
Will it be your boss and other managers? What about peers – people or the team you’ll be working with? Will HR also be represented? Then do research and each person so you can connect better with them.

2. Identify the leader and pay attention to him or her.
The person who brings you to the room or first greets you in the room may not be the leader. The leader is typically the one who explains the process and gets the interview underway. Give this person extra deference when answering the questions.

3. Build rapport with each person.
If comfortable, shake every one’s hand when you are introduced or at least smile and say something like “How do you do, I’m glad to meet you.” Listen carefully when you are introduced so you can use people’s names when you answer their questions. Continue to make eye contact with each one during the entire interview.

4. Don’t focus just on one person.
When a specific panel member asks a question, address your answer to him or her first and then the others. Realize each interviewer has his or her own issues they want addressed but you need to continually ‘work” the group.

5. Link questions together.
If Joe asks a question that touches on what Ann asked earlier, acknowledge how the questions, and your answers, are interrelated. The more you can address the needs of all panel members the better!

Career Success Tip:

A panel interview is an opportunity to impress many different people in the organization. It can be a great advantage if you get the job. You’ll have a head start in building relationships within the organization that can propel your career. So seize the opportunity with confidence and make the most of it.

Do you want to develop Career Smarts?

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Winning Back Those Lapsed Donors – Part One

A female donor

It’s an old saying in development, that your best prospects for the next time are the people who gave to you last time … or the time before that, or the time before….

Based on our best knowledge and understanding of the people who’ve given to us before, we should be making case-by-case judgments on how to bring our lapsed donors back into the fold.

Of course, care should be taken to avoid asking lapsed donors to reconsider their support if they previously made it explicitly clear that they wanted to be removed from the donor list and that they did not intend to give again. And, also of course, that depends on the quality/accuracy of our records.

If we kept good records, we would know why they did not want to be asked again.

But, through my rose-colored glasses, I always look for some hint that some of those “don’t ask me again” lapsed donors could now be thinking otherwise — especially if the reason for the halt in their giving was something which has changed in our institution, something we could fix, or that they might now be in a better financial or personal position to renew their support.

In those very special instances, we would say to the lapsed donor, “I know you said no to our request in the past, and we did take you off our regular solicitation list as you requested, but I wanted to determine that we did that because you were unhappy with something that we did or did not do at the time … or if the reason was something out of our control.”

(Since they once felt good about their relationship with our organization, they would, invariably, appreciate the call and would tell us if they had, indeed, wanted to be taken off the list because of a grievance.)

The purpose of our call was to find out if we had done something wrong and, if possible, restore our relationship with those donors. Sometimes it was something we could now fix. Sometimes, even though we never asked, they would even reconsider and make a gift.

So, our first step was to determine how far back is “lapsed.” Maybe three years with no response is a good cut off point. Some institutions go back five years.

Then we calculate a minimum donation level, based on what is practical, relative to good use of time and effort vs. potential dollars. (With an eye on those below the minimum cut off who are thought to have greater giving potential than their last gift.)

— This post continues on Thursday of this week —

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If you have a question or comment 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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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.