Month: October 2012

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S is for Storytelling Part Two

Man on suit presenting near a projected screen

Storytelling Do’s

Last time we talked about storytelling in presentations, and we named some of the benefits of doing so. If we are going to tell stories and enjoy those benefits, it is obvious that we will need to learn how to do it well. Accordingly, here are some of the best practices you will want to be aware of so you can tell stories effectively.

  1. Breathe and relax! You may be excited or a little bit nervous about telling your story. Be sure you aren’t holding your breath, which is very easy to do if you feel a little stressed. But you want your voice and face to be at their most expressive when you tell a story, so breathe and tell yourself it is going to be just fine. As you take that breath, relax your arms and shoulders. Let the tension go out of your tummy. Relax your hands. Much better.
  2. Be organized. Don’t expect the story to unfold gracefully without some advance planning and rehearsal. You may know your own story very well, but to tell it well is another thing altogether. Create a little map or write a script. Or rehearse it by recording yourself telling it. Listen and edit. Rather than an entertaining ramble, make sure your story is a well-crafted little gem.
  3. Share your passion. It was funny, or sad, or delightful. Otherwise you would not be telling the story. So get into it; feel the joy or the pain the story describes. Don’t hold it at arm’s length, but embrace the story and the emotion in it.
  4. Move around. The story gives you license to move around more than a typical formal presentation does. But don’t just wander. Step to the right to make one point, to the left to make a different one. Step toward the audience to go out of character for a moment, then back to your original spot to step back into character. Make the movement have meaning.
  5. Have an obvious ending. The beginning and ending are your most important parts to the story. Signal your ending with eye contact, a smile, a pause, and a verbal close. It might be a moral of the story, or a lesson learned. But do something to signal the end, rather than just wind down.
  6. Be animated. When telling a story, you have so much leeway to be dramatic. Act out the story in voices, accents, or inflection. Use sweeping gestures to describe the action. This is another great way to distinguish the story from the more formal parts of the presentation.
  7. Get to the point. The beginning is key; you want to catch and hold the audience’s attention. Don’t ramble around. Plan this part, rehearse it, and stick to your plan. Use just the right amount of detail to move into the story, and no more.
  8. Maintain eye contact. Don’t get so carried away by the story’s action that you forget about the audience. Use your eye contact to keep drawing them in, and to signal how important they are to you. Without the audience, you wouldn’t be telling the story at all.
  9. Keep it short. That means take out every scrap of material that does not move the story forward. This takes practice and editing skills. It takes discipline. But if you take too much time for your story, your business audience will likely become restless.
  10. PRACTICE. Practice out loud. Record and listen to your story. Video yourself and watch. Get a small audience to listen and critique. Tell stories over lunch or dinner. Tell an amusing anecdote at a social gathering. Take an improv or storytelling class. Read to children. Just get out and do it more often. Soon these new skills will feel comfortable and natural.

How about you? How are your storytelling skills? What do you like to hear when others are speaking? We would love to know.

Next time: more tips on telling stories well, plus a few don’ts.

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PRINCE2: The Most Popular PM Exam In The World – Guest Post by Simon Buehring

Why is PRINCE2® is the most popular project management exam in the world?

By Simon Buehring

During September 2012, APMG-International, the PRINCE2 accreditation body announced that more than 1 million PRINCE2 project management examinations have now been sat. This is more than any other project management method. In this article I want to explore the reasons why PRINCE2 has become so popular.

Firstly, let me explain what PRINCE2 is. PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments. It began life as a UK government framework for managing I.T. projects in the 1980’s and was known as PRINCE, but was redeveloped as PRINCE2 in 1996 when it became a generic project management framework. Since then the manual has been revised several times and is widely regarded as embodying modern best practices in project management.

Since 1996 more than 1 million examinations have been sat, approximately two thirds of which have been at the lower Foundation level and the remaining one third at the higher Practitioner level. Both examinations are multiple choice formats with candidates being tested for their knowledge of the framework at Foundation level, and their ability to apply this knowledge at Practitioner level.

Although the bulk of exams have been taken in the UK, the examination is becoming more popular in other regions, particularly in Europe. As the chart shows, for the period 2005-11, more than half of all exams were taken in the UK with a further quarter taken in the rest of Europe. Australasia was the next biggest region and North America the lowest region with less than 1% of all exams taken during the same period. So, why is the qualification so popular in the UK and Europe but less so in the US? I think the answer lies primarily in the labour market conditions of each region which is driving the requirement for job candidates to have project management qualifications.

PRINCE2, being based upon modern best practices in project management, has proven to be the project management method of choice for increasing numbers of organizations. Not only have the United Nations and NATO adopted PRINCE2, but increasing numbers of private sector companies have too. When world class businesses such as Rolls Royce, Visa and Vodafone adopt PRINCE2, it’s time to sit up and take notice. Driven by the need to remain competitive, more and more organizations are undergoing change, whether to business operations or through the development of new products. I think this is driving organizations to become more project-ized, and hence the need for more project managers and effective and proven project management methods.

Based in the UK, I am always struck by how many students are taking a PRINCE2 course and exams because they see PRINCE2 qualifications as important ingredients on their resumes. Employers are seeking increasing numbers of project managers and require the qualifications to match. The situation in North America is quite different in that most employers are likely to want candidates with the PMI’s PMP qualification rather than PRINCE2. This simply reflects the fact that the PMI’s PMP qualification and the PMBOK® GUIDE is more widely known and understood in North America, whereas PRINCE2 is better known and understood in the UK and Europe.

So, are PRINCE2 and the PMBOK simply two different choices in how to manage projects? Is the choice of which one to use simply a matter of personal preference? Well, I think that the PMBOK and PRINCE2 bring slightly different but complimentary elements and project managers can benefit from applying both. The PMBOK explains the knowledge required by a project manager to perform core project management practices such as time and cost management. However, it does not cover the responsibilities of other members of the project management team such as project sponsor, users, suppliers and team managers. Nor does it cover other important aspects such as project governance. Students who attend PMP training are often left wondering afterwards how they should actually start the project.

PRINCE2 on the other hand is a process based approach which clearly describes what needs to be done, by whom and when during a project. It doesn’t concern itself with the knowledge areas of the PMBOK and leaves it up to the project manager to choose appropriate techniques. PRINCE2 is a process framework for planning, managing and controlling any shape or size of project in a systematic manner. Having used PRINCE2 on many projects, I find its principles-based approach is extremely flexible in the way it can be implemented. Its focus on ‘management by exception’ can also save senior management time because there is no need for regular progress meetings. It is these benefits of PRINCE2 and the ease with which it can be used which I think is encouraging its adoption by more and more organizations.

So, if you’ve already studied and used the PMBOK and gained your PMP qualification, is it time to study and take a PRINCE2 exam? Yes. By attending PRINCE2 training it will help you understand how your detailed knowledge of the PMBOK can be complemented by the process clarity and project control elements of PRINCE2 and so help you deliver your project more effectively. Now, will you plan to take your PRINCE2 exam?

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For more resources, see the Library topic Project Management.

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Simon Buehring is based in the UK and is the founder and Managing Director of Knowledge Train which is a PRINCE2 accredited training company.

PRINCE2® is a registered trademark of the Cabinet Office. PMBOK® GUIDE, PMI and PMP are registered trade and service marks of The Project Management Institute, Inc.

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When Deleting Social Media Comments is OK

A-man-using-fis-tab-to-check-through-social-media-

What needs to be removed, and how to do it without creating a crisis

We often espouse the importance of allowing stakeholders to share their opinions and experiences, whether positive or negative, on your social media pages. Overprotective admins seeking to guard their company’s online image have sent more than one organization rushing into crisis management mode when hasty use of that “delete” button in reaction to a few agitated posters attracted the web equivalent of a torch-carrying mob.

Sometimes, however, there are completely legitimate, even compelling, reasons to wipe a post from existence. If you’re unclear on where that fine line lies, it might be a good idea to print and distribute the following list, from a Edelman digital blog post by Phil Gomes:

1. You Used Foul Language or Imagery

This one is pretty obvious, so I’ll get it out of the way first. It surprises me how shocked (SHOCKED!) people are when they find that their profanity-laden diatribe “goes 404,” that is, gets deleted. Too many drive-by commenters appear to confirm in the 21st century what Captain Kirk observed of 20th-century language in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: “Nobody pays attention to you unless you swear every other word.” Anger, though often persuasive, is not an argument.

2. You Spammed

That acrid smell wafting from Prineville, Oregon comes from the servers melting down at Facebook’s data center after you, a group of you, or a bot cut-and-pasted the same angry shot-off-the-bow over and over again. The community and the community manager got your point the first 174 times. Thanks.

3. The Audience is There for Different Reasons Than You Are

The members of the Facebook page for Gretsch Family Farms Rhubarb Co. are probably just there to talk about rhubarb, share recipes and maybe even snag a coupon or two. Granted, some community managers take the overly heavy-handed approach of deleting any such post that isn’t “on-brand” or responding angrily or sarcastically–an approach that certainly deserves some amount of ridicule. The best community managers, however, recognize a responsibility to the audience. They balance the ideal of maintaining an open forum with providing an experience commensurate with the expectations of the community members. At a certain point, the community will expect that the community manager will start to bring things back to “business as usual.”

4. You Violated Clearly, Narrowly Drawn Rules

For reasons ranging from regulatory matters to the lack of hours in a day, many community managers will post a series of guidelines that describe what will trigger a deletion, suspension or outright ban. Their page, their rules. Such rules might include prohibiting comments that violate the privacy of a non-public individual. For a health-related company, it could include any discussion of the off-label use of a drug or medical device, or even mentions of speculative science way outside of the mainstream. For a technology hardware company, it may be the description of activities that could cause physical harm or violate warranty terms.

5. You Violated Facebook’s Terms-of-Service

Superseding the company’s rules for its Facebook page are, of course, Facebook’s own terms-of-service. These terms have plenty of language around “Safety” and “Protecting Other People’s Rights.”

Realistically speaking, regardless of why you delete a post, the author will be upset about it. The difference is that if their post is really out of line, the bandwagon won’t jump on their cause and ignite a bigger scene.

One suggestion that we would offer is that when you know a deluge of upset folks are about to hit your page – as in any time a crisis goes public – throw some guidelines for discussion up in a visible location. Acknowledge the public’s right to comment and converse, and clearly indicate what type of behavior will call for deletion. Just as in other online reputation management situations, be up front, communicative, and use a good mix of brain and heart for judgement. It will show in your results.

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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, 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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How to Set Meaningful Professional Development Goals in Evaluation: Part 1.

-woman-having-a-conversation-with-friends.

I’m back after a hectic work period (my apologies for the sparse posts!) I return with a renewed commitment to this blog, aspiring to practice a lesson I’ve recently learnt: do less, plan and reflect more! Today I’d like to tackle the importance of reflection when setting professional development goals. Reflection, at least in my own experience, has led to goals, and goals have led to more reflection.

Really? But how easy is it for goal-setting to become more of an obligation and less about reflection? We all have had our share of the mandatory project goals and objectives. Am I pushing it, asking us to stop and draft more goals—this time, personal ones, for professional development? Let’s re-visit the value of the reflective process.

How to Get to Where You are Going: Look back

Yes, goals help get us where we are going. But how do we set meaningful professional development goals? Recently, I found—okay, I’ll I admit it—an unused, old graduation gift. A journal. Scrawled inside the front cover was a note, something to this effect: “Write down your experiences. Looking back will help take you where you should go.”

Reflection Helps to Craft Customized Goals

  1. Consider major events in the past: accomplishments/successes and set-backs/conflicts.
  2. Then match these up with your professional strengths and weaknesses: growth opportunities!
  3. Keep building on past experiences as you set professional development goals, until…voila! there it is, a customized goal.

It is so easy to compare ourselves with others and to try to make their goals ours. But as we, perhaps unconsciously, set out to out-do the goals of the Joneses of the non-profit world, might we be setting ourselves up for failure? Your professional development goals have to be yours—custom-designed for you and your work context.

Try not to be discouraged by set-backs or limitations. Last month consolation and insight poured in from discussing a set-back with a trusted friend and former co- worker—alright, maybe it also helped that she came bearing gifts— home-made raspberry preserves. I learnt afresh that mistakes, limitations and set-backs help me to learn and grow if I can let them go for a while and then turn them around to form tailored professional development goals.

First Stop for Setting Professional Development Goals: CES Competencies for Evaluation Practice

There has been an intriguing debate on EVAL TALK (the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) list serve) over credentialing for evaluators. But whether or not you decide to get credentialed, still check out the Canadian Evaluation Society’s (CES) credentialing requirements. Jean King, Professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota and Coordinator of the Evaluation Studies Program, stressed the importance of this resource during a past AEA Thought Leader discussion series. Pay special attention to the CES’s Competencies for Canadian Evaluation Practice. You might also find inspiration here at this CES webpage to craft a professional developmental goal or two.

So here’s a goal for this week:

I’ve been revisiting the CES Competencies and considering how I can hone these skills in my current work. Let’s look at the first competency domain: “Reflective Practice.” A worthy goal! Yet so hard to carry out in the frenzied and furious pace of the non-profit world (I exaggerate a bit). I’ve been guilty of do, do, doing and putting off reflection for later. But wouldn’t you agree that reflective practice is even more important in such an environment? One way I can weave “reflective practice” into my own evaluation work is by keeping a journal.

For example, this week my goal is to: 1. read the chapter on engaging stakeholders in Wholey and colleagues’ Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation, 2. apply it to my work by jotting down a lesson learned, coupled with a future objective for my evaluation practice. Simple, do-able, and measurable. The CES competency check-list also includes:

  1. networking and joining a professional evaluation organization and
  2. taking professional development courses.

Let’s tackle those topics in my next post.

So, any thoughts on professional development and goals? I’d love to hear from you!

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For more information about personal development, see the Free Management topic Personal Development.

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Priya Small has extensive experience in collaborative evaluation planning, instrument design, data collection, grant writing and facilitation. Contact her at priyasusansmall@gmail.com. Visit her website at http://www.priyasmall.wordpress.com. See her profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/priyasmall/

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Why Are Presidential Debates Useful to Trainers

Two-politicians-taking-part-in-political-debates

If I were grading political debates as I grade university debates, they would fail in general for lack of support. The biggest problems as I see in the recent Presidential debate were unsubstantiated facts and incredible paraphrasing that had to be rebutted just to make what the other candidate said clear and only somewhat truthful.

Believe it or not this means something to trainers. It means don’t always train so specifically with company in mind that there is no reason to look at other means of doing the same thing. Obviously what you are training is not the “only way it’s done.” If you are training salespeople only one side (the company side), how can they counter the competition. So, you need to also train them about the others in their field doing the same thing about how they are different, keeping in mind to substantiate and provide proof of what you say about your company and the competition. Saying is not enough. Showing is better. It should be in politics, too, but not this year.

We always see politicians in the long run as insincere, then history shows real character and what that particular achieved, whether he planned to or not. In general we view politicians as lacking in those things that make credible speakers, even though they have the qualifications. It is the business of politics to be nonspecific, but it doesn’t help voters. Voters will vote for a candidate because he or she supports one thing the voter supports or are party members and always vote the party line.

Although both candidates were both passionate, the debate was not designed to talk specific points. Well, actually it was, but I think everyone knew that wouldn’t happen. And that was true.

Often the debaters spent so much time trying to discredit the other rather than spell out what was asked.

Both debaters went over time limits and left the final topic only three minutes. Could the moderator prevented that? Not likely with the “powerhouses” he had in front of him.

Then the “journalists and party pundits” declare a winner. Real experts in debating? More expert at getting at stories and supporting their candidate, I’d say. It is doubtful voters who had already made up their mind didn’t change it and the election will show if new voters decided to get off the fence.

I’m thinking about that as I get ready to teach my night class in public speaking. Although we are doing group presentations, I am sure we will certainly discuss the debates and debaters. Both candidates were good speakers in this National election debate. It’ll be interesting if my students note unsubstantiated facts and unqualified answers besides the political maneuvering.

Happy training.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

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Cultivating The Grantor (Part 1)

Money cultivation concept

My previous posts provided a lot of introductory information on foundation and corporate grants, organizational readiness, grant management, and … on Step One of the four-step grantsmanship process: Prospecting For Foundation Funding.

I begin, now, to addresses the second step in the process: Grant Cultivation.

For those familiar with non-profit fundraising, grant cultivation is very similar to that for individual donors. According to majorgivingnow.org, “cultivation consists of all the relationship-building steps that lead to donorship – and cultivation continues as part of a stewardship program once gifts are made. Through cultivation, you learn more about donors, and they learn more about you.”

That same thinking can be applied to cultivating foundation and corporate grants.

The following are some of the most effective methods I have found to cultivate grants from foundations and corporations:


1. Involve your Board Members. As I wrote in my May 17, 2012 post, What Is Your Grant Win Rate? What Should It Be?, “the connections that your board members have in the community are vitally important.”

After identifying new prospects for foundation and corporate grants, you should always share the names of their leadership (the foundation manager and trustees and the officers and directors of the corporation) with your NPO’s Executive Director and Board Members. Ask if anyone has a personal or professional relationship with any of those “leaders,” and if they would be comfortable signing a letter of inquiry and/or making a phone call.

These relationships help get your letter read and your phone call answered … and they help you win the grant. Some statistics from a recent client will help illustrate this point: over the course of one year, proposals to new prospects with a board connection were funded at a 75% rate and those without a board connection were funded at 35%. That’s quite a difference !!

2. Start with a Letter of Inquiry/Intent. When seeking grants from new prospects, I recommend that you, first, send a two-page letter of inquiry (sometimes called a letter of intent) to the appropriate foundation or corporate “leader.”

LOIs are a very important cultivation tool, and they should be written by you, the Grants Manager, in first person.

One of your Board Members could sign them, if that person has a connection to the “leadership” that you are cultivating for new grant funding. Alternatively, your Executive Director could sign them, and should reference the “connection” your Board Member has with their leadership. These letters should be specific to your NPO AND to the foundation from which you are seeking funding.

The basic components include:
  •  Introduction. If your Board Member is signing the letter, include information on how long he/she has served on the Board, and why he/she believes in your NPO. If your Executive Director is signing the letter, indicate that your connected Board Member suggested that your NPO apply to this foundation for grant funding.
  •  Background. Include the mission and history of your organization, a description of who you serve, and a brief summary of your major programs/services.
  •  Pitch 2 – 3 Ideas. Include a short paragraph for each of two or three programs or projects that you think might be a good fit for funding from this foundation. Briefly describe why you think these programs/projects are a good fit with the foundation’s mission, and the impact their funding will have on the people you serve.
  •  Conclusion. Indicate that you will follow-up by phone to discuss your NPO’s fit for funding within the current priorities of their foundation.
  •  Include a Photo. I usually include a photo with a caption on page one. This helps to personalize the letter, and to connect the foundation manager/trustee to your service population or your mission.

Be aware that some foundations require that you submit an LOI as part of their application process. In these cases, follow their specific LOI guidelines.

You might also want to refer to the Foundation Center’s website (http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/faqs/html/loi.html) where they provide “resources with actual letters of inquiry or templates.”

Part 2 of Cultivating The Grantor (on November 1st) will outline three additional methods that I have found to be effective in cultivating grants from foundations and corporations.
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
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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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Make Your Apology Mean Something

colleagues-hugging-each-other

Don’t slack on this essential crisis management step

Crisis management has really come a long way in a short time. It wasn’t more than a few years ago that the standard corporate reaction to “at fault” crises was to zip your lips and lawyer up. Now, it’s pretty well accepted that one of the most important aspects of resolving a crisis is admitting your faults and delivering a meaningful apology.

Although author Chris Mittelstaedt used the quite-unlikely scenario of an escaped circus elephant destroying a citizen’s rose bushes in the following quote from an Inc. article, his suggestions are very much on point. How do you avoid having your apology feel like a vague corporate brush off? Read on…

Get specific about your actions. Affirm your commitment to a long-term positive outcome.

Immediately: Replacement of rosebushes. I would like to bring in a rosebush specialist to meet with you tomorrow and work with you on choosing replacement bushes to be installed next week. Our team of gophers are experts in digging and planting, and we are asking our ladybug department to stay behind for an extra week to make sure that no aphids take root after our planting.

End of the month: Follow-up. At the end of the month, after the bushes have had time to root down and become adjusted to your soil, I would like to send in a team of sparrows to conduct aerial viewings and to test the pliability of the rose stems as a final inspection. Once this is approved, please let us know that all is well in your garden.

Long-term commitment to customer happiness: If in the future you have issues with your roses, I would be happy to follow up with one of our experts to see how we can help make sure that your plants stay healthy.

Take a close look at those steps, because they go far beyond what pretty much anyone out there is doing. It doesn’t stop at “we’re sorry,” it doesn’t even stop at how they’ll set things right. When an organization goes out of its way to literally ensure that the crisis it caused will never create further stress for you, how could you stay mad? You won’t, and that’s the whole point. Give your apologies meaning, and even when you do mess up, you’ll leave people talking about how great your organization really is.

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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, 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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My Concerns About the Use of “Templates”

A-business-work-chart-on-a-laptop-screen

It seems that the use of “templates” in on the rise. I’m seeing them mentioned more often lately for strategic planning, Boards, marketing and fundraising We’re getting more calls from potential clients who want us to use a certain template.

Some Advantages of Templates

  1. They very quickly depict a certain approach to doing a seeming complex activity.
  2. They sometimes promise a very quick way of doing a seemingly prolonged activity
  3. They can quickly orient people to a certain way of doing that activity.

Some Potential Disadvantages of Templates

I’m concerned about some of the disadvantages, including that they:

  1. Might minimize the time needed for critically important strategic analysis, thinking and discussions.
  2. Can give the illusion that all planning and plans can be the same, regardless of the different purposes of planning.
  3. Might suggest a “quick fix” to the challenge of allocating sufficient time and resources to good planning.
  4. Indirectly suggest that a nonprofit should have certain structure and certain Board committees.
  5. They don’t orient planners to the different variety of models for planning, i.e., don’t enhance the internal planning capacity of planners.

Some Constrictive Assertions of Some Templates

For example, I’ve seen at least five templates in the past couple of months. Some:

  1. Specify which committees a nonprofit should always have.
  2. Specify the maximum limit of committees for all nonprofits.
  3. Specify certain procedures for solving problems and making decisions.
  4. Specify the time frame that a Strategic Plan should be.
  5. Specify that sufficient planning can be done in a certain number of hours.
  6. Of less concern, they regularly mention the roles of EDs, fundraising and volunteers.
  7. Assert that mission, vision and values must always be looked at first in planning.

Where Templates Can Go Wrong

However, the above specifications and assertions are not always true. They depend completely on the nature and needs of the nonprofit. For example:

  1. The number and types of committees might depend on the number and complexity of strategic priorities.
  2. The way that decisions are made and problems are solved depend on the culture of the organization, e.g., some prefer a highly rational breakdown of the issue, while others prefer a more unfolding, naturalistic, but inclusive approach.
  3. The time frame of a Plan should depend on, e.g., how rapidly the environment is changing around the nonprofit and the range of its resources.
  4. There are occasions where mission, vision and values are not the best to start planning with — if an organization’s programs and clients have not changed, but it has many internal issues, then address those first.

The role of templates has its advantages. But I wish that the authors of templates would do more to caution the users on the purposes, limitations and considerations in using those templates.

??? What do you think?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250

Read my blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, and Strategic Planning.

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How Good an Interviewer Are You? Part 1

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Have you ever hired someone who did not live up to expectations? Or have you seen how a bad hire can bring havoc to a team or department?

Then you want to make sure you are a good interviewer so that you can increase the odds for selecting the best person for your most critical positions. Don’t leave it up to first impressions, your gut or a recommendation from a friend. So how good are you?

Test your interviewing savvy by answering TRUE or FALSE to these 10 statements.

  1. You should study the application/resume before conducting any interview.
  2. It is your responsibility to maintain control over the progress of the interview.
  3. During the interview itself, you should do about 50% of the talking.
  4. An applicant with more than four jobs in five years should not be hired.
  5. Write down every thing the applicant tells you so you can remember it.
  6. A good way to commence an interview is to challenge the applicant to prove he can do the job.
  7. Specific interview questions should be framed to elicit “yes” or “no” or similar, simple responses.
  8. You should always review and update a job description before beginning your recruitment process.
  9. Applicants can be encouraged to elaborate on their answers by your use of silence or non-committal remarks.
  10. You can probe for more detailed information by asking behavioral questions.

ANSWERS:

  1. TRUE. By reviewing the application/resume, you will determine the focus of the interview.
  2. TRUE. If you don’t control the direction of the interview, it will get out of hand and become little more than a meaningless conversation.
  3. FALSE. Always remember you cannot learn anything while talking. The applicant should talk most of the time. Keep your part down to 20%.
  4. FALSE. Not necessarily. Determine the reasons for each change of job before drawing your conclusion.
  5. FALSE: It’s best to record only key factors during the interview. Too much writing doesn’t allow you to concentrate on their responses.
  6. FALSE. This will only antagonize the applicant and reduce your chances of building rapport. This often leads to the candidate becoming frustrated, defensive, and non-communicative.
  7. FALSE. Open-ended questions are designed to probe deeply and elicit more and better information.
  8. TRUE. Duties and responsibilities, education, experience and even technical and soft skill requirements can change. Without having accurate information, you set yourself up for potential disaster.
  9. TRUE. These non-directive techniques are very effective, when used properly. Candidates “hate” the sound of silence and often try to “fill the dead air” with additional comments.
  10. TRUE. Asking behavioral interview questions that probe for information and experience are highly effective and will assist in removing the “interview mask” from a candidate.

How many did you get right?
Do you need to learn or brush up on the keys to a successful interviewing? For example, writing comprehensive job descriptions, establishing job benchmarks, creating behavioral interview questions, developing a candidate scoring guide or refining your interviewing skills? If so,we can work with your hiring managers and human resources. Let’s talk!

Management Success Tip:

Never go into an interview unprepared. You’ll spend too much time talking about the weather or sports or job seekers hobbies – nice for conversation but hardly the basis for a sound hiring decision. Next post will be an additional 10 true or false questions. will our score go up or down? Also see Behavioral Interviewing.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

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Is Marketing on ALL Social Media Sites Necessary?

Social media marketing written on a brown paper

Guest Post by Carl Glasmyre

Streamline your Social Media Schedule

The big social media sites are great for both socializing and marketing. Marketers are often driven by instinct, with the urge to reach as many people as possible. Thus, setting up as many profiles as possible is tempting. You can spend all day creating profiles for your business, but this takes up time unless you plan and streamline your marketing schedule. Choosing from some social sites over others may be necessary.

The more profiles you set up, the more time it takes to manage them. Sooner or later you’ll find that an enormous amount of time is taken up just by social media. Study the top sites to see which ones are most appropriate for your business. By scanning user profiles, you can see if similar companies are marketing similar products and services. You can also look for an SEO company that offers social marketing services.

Top Social Sites

The big players are ones you’ve most likely heard of. Facebook and Twitter have the most diversity when it comes to users and a potential audience. Marketing on all social sites may not be necessary, but these two are a good start — both are the most popular in the United States.

A professional profile on LinkedIn is becoming an increasingly useful tool. Business owners and employees can benefit by including their resume and other professional qualifications. In addition, the site is a base for networking and sharing content, some of the most powerful tools in the online marketing world.

With content being so pivotal, Pinterest is a place to post business information. Blog posts, images, and information on products and services, in addition to news and trends, can be added to show authority in your field. Google+ is another social option that supports business pages like Facebook — don’t forget SEO best practices, especially since the search engine is most influential in terms of page rankings.

The Common Thread

If you are going to get set up on multiple social websites, there are several tips that can make your networking more effective. First, the name of your business and brand should be the same on all your accounts. Many people read and post on more than one site, so being consistent aids business growth, reputation, and loyalty. Your user name and URL should be consistent as well.

Beyond consistency, the length of your handle should be considered, which is usually better when kept short. Keep it simple by leaving out numbers and additional letters; abbreviations can make things confusing too. In planning your social media marketing strategy, determining if a chosen name is available on multiple social sites can help. The website namechk.com offers a tool for checking the major sites.

Establishing your identity means being consistent, even with images and logos. A professional image is best, but you also have to consider each network’s guidelines for size and shape. Your social profiles are all part of the bigger picture; you can link to them on your homepage, share links to each one, promote them on print advertising, and reach out by offering benefits, like discounts, to customers who join or link to your page.

Let ‘Em Know Where Your Are

Social media allows you to reveal everything about your business, including its location. Reveal the home city or state in your profile name, keywords, and possibly the URL on each site. A helpful tip is to also include full address details and abbreviations on all profiles, matching the information on your company website.

You can also emphasizing your location by using Facebook’s check-in feature. Customers and patrons can easily click on the button, and each time they do so serves as an advertisement for your business. Other social media sites like Foursquare and Scvngr also allow location check-ins, so you can consider these if the function is appealing. On Google+ and Yelp, people can also leave reviews, which are powerful forces in the marketing world as they often make or break consumer decisions.

Yelp!

Yelp has long been known for being a business-specific review site. Like many others in the genre, it is subject to changes which promise to enhance marketing. In late 2012, plans to integrate iOS 6 and Apple Maps into the site will go into effect, while Google, Bing, and Yahoo plan to add Yelp listings at the top of business name searches. Yelp is also being modified for the mobile market, so encouraging customers to submit reviews can be a good marketing strategy.

Think Big and Small

An effective social media strategy is marketing on the big sites, while thinking local. Be specific about where you are, no matter which social sites you select in the end. Integral marketing tools (location-based ones in particular) should also be factored into your decision. Most of all, plan ahead so you can reach the biggest audience and choose the best social websites for your business.

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

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About the Author: Carl Glasmyre is an aspiring writer who currently works for an SEO company. He loves everything about the Internet, and enjoys blogging about anything and everything related to marketing, social media, and technology. He’s constantly striving to strengthen his writing skills and is continuously grateful that the Internet allows him to share his thoughts with the world. His email address is carlglasmyre@gmail.com.