Month: September 2013

Posted on

How to Find the Right Coach, Part I

A-man-excited-after-talking-with-a-possible-client-with-his-laptop
Voiceover Artist Meredith Peirick
Visiting Voiceover Artist Meredith Peirick

Website Demo

Realistic expectations.

Is it the same for finding the right business coach as it is for any other kind of coach? Only if you want one that will work.

I just came from the world of a voice over (VO) coaching professional group on LinkedIn. The social network for professionals seem to give me a lot of ideas. I happened to look into one of my groups: Voiceover Coaching Professionals. As a former actor and voiceover artist, I am familiar with media; however, not ever having used a VO coach, I am a little befuddled as to their real purpose. I suppose it is to supplement income, while they profess to be quite successful; or, they are quite successful and they want to be more successful and richer, too.

At any rate, they may be like the writers who edit books to pay the bills or actors who wait on tables until their next job. Or, they are the lucky ones, doing what they love, and in their spare time teaching how they do it to novices–a noble undertaking. I’m sure everyone likes the last, but while I covered almost everyone some variations remain. However, I do suggest that no one get uppity when someone asks the question: “what makes you the one I should use as my coach?”

To clarify: a VO artist does voiceovers for commercials, PSAs, automated services, training films, e-learning and other online training products as well as ebooks. I won’t quote any of the comments. Allie (not her real name) asked the question, since she was new to the business, how to find the right VO coach for her. I should mention that Allie is one of us, a trainer, who I will presume to be a communicator already. She felt she needed her VO coach to be dependable; he didn’t have to be on her schedule everyday, but because she worked, appointments were important to keep. She wanted to know what she should expect from such a coach.

Doesn’t her scenario work for any client? Are her expectations reasonable? There are some differences with business coaches or consultants granted.

Most of what you will be reading here are my responses to the VO coaches who to responded to a newby who wanted to be a VO artist. She had the “voice for VO and nothing else,” she said. (I would never buy that and neither should she, but that’s for later.)

I didn’t copy the coaches’ responses, just mine. I’ll try to give you the jist of their comments, but they may be obvious to you and you will be able to make connections. The early comments were several coaches jumping in offering their programs, through Skype, without mentioning cost, of course. So I asked:

“I’m just curious,” I said. “Having gotten into the business without a coach: where did you all come from? What is your background? Education? Training? Acting experience outside of voiceovers?”

I thought it was an innocent question. Instead I received a rant on how qualified this man was in something else, but had experience in VO.

What? You can’t ask for qualifications? Even actors’ coaches know training alone is not going to get you the customers you need to survive. Your bonafides have to include professional roles, especially on Broadway–especially if you are located on the East Coast.

Bonafides of some sort give people a place to start. Why does that strike a nerve here? When it does, that is cause to rethink this particular coach. A professional knows that qualifications can be simply a client list at least (or if it has to confidential, say so), years of experience, or tons of the right credentials. Push back is a con artist ploy.

js-beard
I studied with an acting pro in LA in the beginning, but I knew the basics.

My general suspicion lies with a guy I met whose only claim to fame as a professional speaker was that he was the TV weatherman. He made his living “teaching Public Speaking 101” to the general public. I could only shake my head when I saw a video of his where he was telling the group to relax and he takes up what I point out to my students as “the fig leaf pose,” a nice relaxed pose with your hands crossed over your groin, the mark of an amateur.

I suspect though push back in the VO area is because it involves voice talent, and not necessarily if you went to college at all or what you majored in if you did. Acting training outside of voice overs was probably the spark to unnerve them. These VO coaches should learn how to handle…

…the competition. The actors who do voiceovers and do not use voiceover coaches. They have agents who send them to auditions or directly to clients. Most are hired by the client and go to a studio. I know several who have a small studio at home and do both stage acting, commercial on-camera and voice over work, including audio books. I’ve had client’s themselves call me back for work, and I would then call my agent so we got the numbers right.

I studied with an acting pro in LA in the beginning, but I knew the basics. Every actor needs to stay sharp so actors see “coaches” along the way if they do this for a living. I’ve written several articles on education, training vs experience. I do voiceovers among other kinds of acting, and I do teach. My pro career in acting was full early on and sporadic later on with family, and I liked my day job. Retired from government, I pursued a position related to both acting/speaking and my day job: coaching corporate executives in speech. I made my living. A couple years I was unemployed from my day job and I made more in acting. Scared me. Now I do other things.

Still, it is a matter of experience and references in many cases. That’s all I was asking these coaches. I have coached stage acting, voiceover acting (not the technical side), commercial acting, and speech. That does not make me better or worse as a VO coach; however, because of my diverse background I can offer options, something beyond what they initially ask for. I am qualified to send them off in another direction.

People seldom ask for money-back in a service-oriented position–especially one that depends on your talent to succeed as well.

Asking for some kind of qualification to hire anyone is not irrelevant–be it education, training or experience: they are all valid. So is asking for references.

Here’s the bottom line, find out how much risk the coach is willing to take. Don’t abuse the risk he or she is willing to take to get the job. If it feels like a fit and he or she seems consistently right in the course of action, then draw up the contract and welcome him or her aboard. In a talent-oriented business, acting or voice overs, it’s about trust. If you and your coach work well, and you are doing your best, there will be no question of value for the money. If you want to set yourself a time-limit for success, that’s your business, and it’s also how you define success. Is it all you thought it would be? Constantly marketing and sending demos–exciting or a pain. But if it’s truly your path, go for it!

Always remember there are always other ways to get the same information. To keep your body fit, there’s Wii Fitness, Jane Fonda videos, the local gym or a personal trainer–each in its own way helps to do the job, but with varying costs and various amounts of commitment by you.

As with a VO or a Personal Trainer or Business Coach, a lot may be at stake here. Venture off the internet and find other ways that what you want can be done. In business, a trainer may be what you really need, or a consultant in the short term to get you on track, or a motivational specialist. People will tell you what you want to hear. There are some of us who have nothing to gain, who you can ask for feedback anytime.

Be sure to read Part II. Happy training.

This commentary is my opinion alone and The Free Management Library is not in anyway responsible for its content. I have written several articles of a similar nature. I tend to look at training, the workforce, business management, leadership and communication from a slightly different perspective than you might expect. I published an e-book called The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development in which I explain my reasons for looking at training and development in a different way. I look at it from the outside looking in, from the worker side, from the management side, from the trainer’s, and sometimes from the psychological side. I encourage you to talk about what you think about certain aspects of training on this website as long as you keep it generic. We’ll link to your site, and I hope you will comment here.

Please take a peek at my blog site, Shaw’s Reality, and you’ll find out more. By the way, I have an e-novel, Harry’s Reality, published by Amazon. It’s a scary look at what the future could be like if we stopped talking to one another and let the devices take over.

For more resources about training, see the Training library.

Posted on

10 IssuesTo Avoid For Better Documents

Businessman going through a document sitting on the floor
  1. Not knowing your audience and stakeholders – not knowing your audience could mean not only presenting unnecessary and non-essential information, but possibly also presenting it in a manner that the audience does not understand. If a document presents unfamiliar or foreign terms to the audience, then the material is not helpful nor constructive.
  2. Ignoring your SMES – find your SME’s (Subject Matter Experts) – listen to them and find out any information you need to complete your documents correctly. Not gathering the right information and not paying attention to updates is not an option. Any misguided information can be disastrous to your audience.
  3. Not preserving privacy – not understanding nor maintaining confidentiality of information can be detrimental to an organization. Make sure you know which material has to be handled with discretion.
  4. Lacking organization – stay organized, methodical, and in control. This will help you keep your documents organized as well. Make sure there is some logical order to the material as a whole. Do the same within each section of the document. Provide indexes and a table of contents so that pieces of information can be easily located.
  5. Underestimating time – not estimating the right amount of time for writing can make you rush and produce a sloppy document.
  6. Not being consistent – too many styles and fonts can be confusing for the reader and be visually tiring to the eyes, respectively. You want them to see and absorb the information; not ignore it because it is visually unappealing. Also, be consistent in writing and in how you present your information. The same goes for images and pictures as well – label figures consistently so they can be easily located and followed.
  7. Ignoring comments or feedback – do not ignore any comments regarding your writing and presentation. Listen and understand what they are saying to you. They are only trying to help make a more useful and better document. The suggestions may help to provide better readability, flow, or layout.
  8. Being too verbose – documents provide a clear and precise presentation – the audience does not determine if the document is good or bad by the number of words that are written. Write what is needed.
  9. Lacking images – provide images whenever they are needed to enhance what is written; these are especially needed when giving instructions to perform a crucial task. When describing a whole system, create a system with a top image and then break it down to the most basic components – like a hierarchy.
  10. Most importantly not creating backups – forgetting or not creating backups is a disaster to everyone; especially the creator. Make sure you add it to your checklist as one of the essential items to do. Not only is it tiring and frustrating to recreate your work, but it never is the same as the original that was created.

What other fundamentals should be avoided when creating documents?

 

Posted on

Employee Recognition: Are You Rewarding the Right People?

boss-approving-congratulating-young-successful-employee

As a manager, you know it’s important to recognize contributions individual team members make toward the success of the team.

However, many times in our efforts to recognize and reward successes, we may overlook “behind the scene” contributions which were necessary to achieve that success.

Consider this:
As Joe was watching Diane receive her achievement award from the team leader, he was feeling very uncomfortable. Diane’s objective was to decrease the amount of time required for processing between billing cycles. She had coordinated the efforts of many people and had exceeded the expectations of the team. Joe agreed that Diane deserved to be recognized for her outstanding leadership ability.

Related: Rock for Employee Recognition

At the same time, however, Joe was aware that Diane’s objective could not have been met without his significant contribution to the work effort. He had spent the last three months pulling double duty, doing his work as well as covering Diane’s regular assignments. It would have been nice for someone to at least say “Thank You “for his additional effort.

Have you ever been where Joe is standing?
How did it feel? No matter how strongly we identify with the team or how proud we are to be a member of the team, we still need to be recognized as an individual.

Individual recognition in a team environment also helps build a sense of involvement, ownership, and commitment. This encourages team members to help each other whenever possible. And this type of commitment will make your business more successful.

Take a look at your current procedures for rewards and recognition. Use the following questions to help you improve.

  • What types of achievements do you recognize and reward?
  • Are you, aware of the many ways to recognize folks besides money?
  • What action have you taken to ensure all team or department members feel valued?
  • How can you ensure that contributions of the people like Joe are recognized and rewarded?

Management Success Tip:
Create a reward and recognition plan that is easy to use and spontaneous. Rewards don’t have to be expensive, but they should be timely. Make a big deal out of them. Demonstrate to your team members that each and every one of them is important to your business success. Here are 50 ways to reward your people and not break the bank. Which ones would work best for you? Also see Employee Recognition: A Unique Way to Show It

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

Posted on

How to Get out of the Evaluation Report Writing Slump

A-man-sitting-and-thinking-while-working-on-his-laptop

We have all fallen into a writing slump at one point or another. Though evaluation report writing does not involve the same kind of creativity as writing a novel, report writers can experience the same type of writer’s block. Here are 10 tips from my experience and reading that have helped deal with the evaluation report writing slump.

1. Visualize Positive Outcomes
Athletes spend time visualizing themselves performing successfully. Spend a minute visualizing yourself successfully working through that report. Convert this vision to positive self-talk.

2. Just Do It
Tell yourself to stop thinking too much about the report writing, and just start writing. Just the process of writing and arranging my ideas on paper has helped to beat writer’s block.

3. Break the project into smaller steps.
Write your report one evaluation question at a time. Break up your report into smaller sections, and don’t address other sections until you have finished the section you are working on. Make a checklist of sections to complete, and check them off as you go.

4. Focus on Quantity versus quality
Often writer’s block is caused by perfectionism—trying to get the first draft perfect. For your first draft, focus on quantity versus quality. Time yourself and force yourself to write as much as possible in that time period. Then for subsequent drafts, revise, revise and revise!

5. Find your most productive time of day
Determine your most productive time of day. When are you most free of interruptions? When can you focus on your work the best? If possible, arrange your schedule so that you can write during this time.

6. Make it a habit
Incorporate report writing into your daily routine. Write at the same time every day whether you feel like writing or not. Writing something everyday will help keep you motivated to write.

7. Discuss report writing with stakeholders.
Brainstorm ways to involve stakeholders, from sharing completed reports to involving them in drafts. Before data collection, write up a mock results section with the actual numbers missing and ask stakeholders to fill in the blanks according to their expectations. This is a strategy that Michael Patton details in the third edition of his book, Utilization Focused Evaluation. This helps to establish whether the expected outcomes match actual evaluation results. This also helps to engage stakeholders in the reporting process.

8. Ask Colleagues for feedback
Set intermediate deadlines before the actual report is due, to submit drafts of sections of the report to colleagues for review. This can help you stay motivated to write and will help elicit valuable feedback. Two heads are always better than one. This strategy will also help beat procrastination.

9. Read Other Evaluation Reports
Read other evaluation reports to help get into the report writing mode. This can also help you get a better idea of how much detail is necessary in reports. Be careful though that you don’t spend your time procrastinating by reading other reports instead of writing your own report.

10. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Even when you don’t have to write reports, stay in the habit of writing by keeping up a professional blog. Read journal articles and textbooks in your field, and collect key points and nuggets of wisdom. Then practice paraphrasing these key points. These can be incorporated in your blog too.

Posted on

Add Hutzpah to your Life – Follow your Dream

Group-of-workers-celebrating-their-career-sucesses

In my first book, Path for Greatness: Work as Spiritual Service, I provide a framework to share your gifts in loving service. When you align your gifts, passion, and purpose, the glory and radiance of who you are shines through.

Here’s a wonderful video of a young man who did just that. Michael had the hutzpah to ask Billy Joel if he could accompany Billy Joel on stage. Michael just blossomed. He played the piano with such grace, composure, and style it blew everyone away, including Billy Joel.

So what are you waiting for – what gifts do you have to share with the world?

You don’t have to be a virtuoso to share your gifts. You simply need to have the courage to show up as the authentic you.

You never know when you take the chance, step past your comfort zone, or simply dare to shine, the impact you will make. You demonstrate new ways of showing up.

And when you align your gifts with your passion and larger purpose, your greatness radiates.

Watch this inspiring video and Go for Your Dream!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p04TYk4j0zQ

******

Linda J. Ferguson, Ph.D. shares her gifts of job coaching to help her clients experience the magnificence of their life. If you want extra guidance, encouragement and support to share your gifts at work, in your community, and in the world, work with Linda as your job coach. Simply email Linda to schedule a free coaching session to get started – ljfergusonphd@gmail.com

Buy Linda’s book – Path for Greatness: Work as Spiritual Service for more inspiration and practical tools. Available on Amazon, iStore and Kindle.

Path for Greatness: Work as Spiritual Service

Posted on

Developing Financial Information for Grants: A Team Effort – Thank Goodness! (Part 2)

A team reviewing financial information needed for a grant

In my June 6th post, I discussed the preparation of financials for grant proposals and introduced the team members integral to this effort.

This month’s post will continue with a review of budget templates, and details on what to include in budget narratives and budget justifications:

Budget Templates:
The Missouri Common Grant Application budget templates are available for download on the Gateway Center for Giving’s website.

These line item program and operating budgets include both expenses and revenues, and are identical except that depreciation is included as an operational expense and not as a program expense.

Expenses: Salary and Benefits; Contract Services (consulting, professional, fundraising); Occupancy (rent, utilities, maintenance); Training & Professional Development; Insurance; Travel; Equipment; Supplies; Printing, Copying & Postage; Evaluation; Marketing; Conferences, meetings, etc.; Administration; Depreciation (operating budget only); and Other.

Revenues: Local Government; State Government; Federal Government; Individuals; Foundation; Corporation; Federation (such as United Way or the Combined Federal Campaign); Membership Income; Program Service Fees; Products; Fundraising Events (net); Investment Income; In-Kind Support; and Other.

These templates are very detailed, and I have found that many foundations request both program and operating budgets in simpler formats. These simpler line item budgets include the following categories:

Expenses: General and Administration; Program; Fundraising; Property, Plant & Equipment; and Other.

Revenues: Individual Gifts; Foundation; Corporation; Government; Events; Program Service Fees; Interest Income; In-Kind Gifts; and Other.

I recommend working with your team prior to the start of your next fiscal year to develop budgets in these formats for your organization’s annual operating budget and for programs that you plan to include in grant proposals. Determine which budget format to submit in your proposals based on the level of specificity the grant maker requests, and if they don’t specify, then stick with the simpler format.

Budget Narratives:
Many foundations require a budget narrative in addition to your line item program budget. These narratives should include a description of the long-term viability for your program, how the program will be supported after funding from the foundation ends, and your organization’s fundraising strategies. In addition, this section usually includes a list of other foundations and corporations to which you have requested funding for this program, the amount, and status of each request, and future grant opportunities for this program.

Budget Justifications:
Some larger foundations (and certainly most, if not all, government grant applications) also require a justification for each item included in your line item program budget. If required, you will need to include a description of each line item expense listed in your program budget and why it is needed. Indicate whether the expense is new for your program or if funding is being requested to cover a current/existing expense. If possible, also explain why the expense is cost-effective.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship.
It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap 🙂
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

Posted on

How to Protect Employees from the Anti-Leader

Team-leader-preparing-a-crisis-speech-with-teammates

leaderw
This is a tale of the anti-leader…

If only this were a fairy tale, it would begin “Once upon a time…” but it is not and has to begin and end differently. Hopefully, with some proactive training we can help employees to not get into this situation, and provide help if they do.

Keep in mind that no matter how dreary this sounds, there is hope. Of course, timing is everything, I know, and I’ll get to that.

I have recounted this view in other blogs, probably in snippets, most likely incognito, but let’s look at leadership (and its antithesis) and the training of an outgoing employing. It’s impossible to know, no matter how much human resources and leadership on this end know what lies in the position ahead.

Leadership may even know the other leadership where the transfer is taking place and are personal friends; he or she may trust the other implicitly. Even if it is a shift from headquarters to a regional office or vice versa, regional to another regional office or to another company, it may not matter. Why?

  • Because dyads aren’t always successful.
  • Because personal agendas exist.
  • Because the leader’s vision has become disrupted.
  • Because the newcomer is perceived as a spy.
  • Because the newcomer doesn’t fit exactly now as the leader’s “opposite” thinks he or she should be.

This is a tale of the anti-leader, and as horrible as it sounds, he or she is the worst a leader can be to this one employee, assuming the leader is fair and reasonable to the other employees and doesn’t set them up to fail, but rather to succeed.

All fairy tales begin once upon on a time, but how do nightmares begin. With a leader in charge, your heart soars and you feel like you can do anything. In business and military terms: “someone has your back.” With the anti-leader, the opposite is true. You feel that the person who should be supporting you, even mentoring you, grooming you for better things, is undermining you. So, it’s once upon a horror–a long harrowing tale–especially if you aren’t independently wealthy with a family and you need the job.

Unfortunately, there may be nothing you can do unless you have made friends and in-roads in other agencies. So, the best bet is to find another job where the leadership does see you as part of his or her vision, but that, too, is harder than you think. At first thought, you would think the anti-leader would want to get rid of you. The anti-leader is in your eyes–not his or hers. The anti-leader may feel in all honesty that you do not fit in, that you are incompetent based on his or her preconceived notions (the vision or future hiring plans), but as a leader refuses to dump you on some other agency by saying you have “a personality conflict, but that you are capable.”

leader-creative
You become ostracized in the unit. No one will talk to you–at least no one you can trust.

No, remember the anti-leader sees him or herself as a real leader who would tell the “truth” as he or she sees it, insisting on working it out in his or her unit, per HR and Union directions. Pardon the cliche: you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Essentially, if you have not made those earlier in-roads I talked about earlier, you will face re-training, demotion, humiliation and any other form of redress the anti-leader can do, consciously or subconsciously, to force you to leave on your own, but at no expense to his or her own reputation.

Sometimes, private calls or office visits, become very personal with no witnesses present, where his or her fears of your reaction to her actions or his or her sentiments about not wanting to supervise you become blatantly clear only to you. You become ostracized in the unit. Either intentionally or not, the word leaks out that you are persona non grata. No one will talk to you–at least no one you can trust. You continue down the road to despair. If you stay too long your health suffers–depression, psychosomatic illness, a weakened immune system, predisposition to other illnesses, etc. It’s the same with any stressful situation over time. If you’re young enough, you quit and take your chances; it may be too late for your family anyway. If you’re old enough or have resources enough, you retire. For employee health reasons, it is a serious problem.

It may not be a great move for the transferred employees financially (the employee already has questionable side), but the right of return to the previous station upon request would remove a tremendous burden from the employees. Initially, they won’t feel the need for a return and they’ll fight to fit it, but it is oftentimes a losing battle, and that employee could be an asset elsewhere, and by no means should that be not an option to save the company money. The idea of preventing an employee going “postal” aside, the company is better served offering an escape plan to the employee; keeping a disgruntled employee in a place that only magnifies an issue of alienation and distrust is not good for the company or organization, its mission or the people involved. For both parties, antagonist and protagonist.

What can we as trainers do?

  1. Educate Human Resources on this issue. Then HR can help during the checkout process. There should be an escape hatch.
  2. Include in the exit instructions or training, information about this particular phenomenon, emphasizing, of course, that the escape clause isn’t always needed, but to ensure unity and human dignity is necessary. It seems to happen more often when the employee is reassigned rather than recruited. How rare is the phenomenon? I don’t have statistics. They would be difficult to compile with any accuracy, but it seems to me even one employee caught in this phenomenon is bad enough.
  3. We need, of course, to make our leaders aware of this so they don’t become so wrapped up in their vision or possibly their egos that they fall into this category with even one employee. Not all employees are stellar, but there is a place for everyone. Leaders help employees succeed, and when they get off-track they get them back on. Great leaders don’t assume at the beginning their workforce is flawed.

This commentary is my opinion alone and The Free Management Library is not in anyway responsible for its content. I have written several articles of a similar nature. I tend to look at training, the workforce, business management, leadership and communication from a slightly different perspective than you might expect. I published an ebook called The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development in which I explain my reasons for looking at training and development in a different way. I look at it from the outside looking in, from the worker side, from the management side, from the trainer’s, and sometimes from the psychological side. I encourage others to talk about what they think about certain aspects of training on this website as long as they keep it generic. We’ll link to their site, and I hope you will comment here.

Take a peek at my site and you’ll find out more. By the way, I have an e-novel, In Makr’s Shadow, published by Amazon. It’s a scary look at what the future could be like if we stopped talking to one another and let the devices take over.

For more resources about training, see the Training library.

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Culture Clash Means Crisis Management for Dunkin’ Donuts

An-employer-stressed-with-how-to-resolve-crisis-in-her-company

Business as usual in one country can create a dangerous backlash in another

The U.S. headquarters of Dunkin’ Donuts has apologized for a Thai campaign that depicted a woman in blackface makeup after it raised a ruckus here in the US. While a campaign like this seems to be an obvious no-no, the Thai Dunkin Donuts operates independently from its parent company, and racial stereotypes in advertising are no rarity in Thailand.

Check out this quote, from a Miami Herald report on the Dunkin’ situation:

The campaign hasn’t ruffled many in Thailand, where it’s common for advertisements to inexplicably use racial stereotypes. A Thai brand of household mops and dustpans called “Black Man” uses a logo with a smiling black man in a tuxedo and bow tie. One Thai skin whitening cream runs TV commercials that say white-skinned people have better job prospects than those with dark skin. An herbal Thai toothpaste says its dark-colored product “is black, but it’s good.”

Hours before the apology was issued by Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters, the company’s chief executive in Thailand dismissed the criticism as “paranoid American thinking.”

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” the CEO Nadim Salhani said in a telephone interview. “We’re not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don’t get it. What’s the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?”

What this is, more than anything, is a culture clash, created by what appears to be a lack of forward thinking on Dunkin’ Donuts’ part. Thing is, considering how our borders have been eradicated by the Internet, organizations that operate in multiple regions and span different cultures need to have guidelines set as a sort of preventative crisis management. Sure, Dunkin sales may be up in Thailand, but the actions that branch of the organization takes can, as we see here, create negative situations for the brand as a whole, and especially those in regions that don’t hold the same values or beliefs.

Fact is, your average consumer is not going to research and see that Dunkin Thailand is pretty much its own company and takes no orders from Dunkin U.S., what they see is that Dunkin Donuts made a racist ad, and maybe they’ll talk with their wallets by heading over to Starbucks for their coffee tomorrow instead. Whether it’s, “no racial tones in any advertising,” “our employees will wear region-appropriate uniforms,” or any number of other topics where cultures quite clearly differ, when you enter a new market, or allow your name to be used in said market, taking control any factors that could reflect badly on the organization as a whole is a vital part of the crisis management process.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[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]

Posted on

“Let’s Put On A Show!”

During a board meeting, many years ago, an influential and highly respected trustee declared, “What we need is more endowment. We ought to have a $20 million endowment campaign.” Being a trustee of influence and affluence, all heads nodded in agreement with him.

Hearing that declaration made with no justification, and no warning, I was in no position, as Director of Development, to show any reaction as to whether we could and/or should raise that large an amount.

My emotions were another thing … as I groaned, inwardly, and said to myself, “Oh no!”

But it was to be, “Yes!” The suggestion was made, after all, by a trustee that no one was going to question. So, off we went: Big Goal, No Plan.

That experience brought to mind those great old movies with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The ones in which the “kids” had a money-raising dilemma that perplexed them. Then, Mickey would light up with youthful exuberance and optimism. He’d turn to Judy, and say, “I know, let’s put on a show! We can do it!”

An hour and a half later, after a liberal dose of movie magic, they’ve put on a production worthy of Broadway, the problem is solved, everybody has had a good time, and Mickey and Judy are in love.

Shamefully, there are organizations that operate in much the same way. Faced with the dilemma of growing financial need outstripping static resources, officials of those nonprofits will turn to one another and say, “I know, let’s put on a new fundraising campaign! We can do it!” Another case of big goal, no plan.

Unfortunately there is little movie magic in the non-profit world. Too often the campaign fails, the problem is still there, nobody has a good time, and love isn’t exactly what the campaign officials are feeling for one another.

It’s not that fundraising campaigns aren’t the answer to financial need. In the end, where else is a non-profit organization to turn than to generous givers? The problem is that, unlike Mickey’s and Judy’s show, the current campaign isn’t the first or the only one the organization will put on. It has to fit into the context of an overall development plan.

Today’s campaign, follows yesterday’s, and precedes tomorrow’s. The trick is to make sure that each and every one of an organization’s campaigns is successful. That’s the job of a general development plan.

The general development plan identifies how and from what sources an organization will acquire and maximize contributed income. It communicates that information to the organization’s staff, volunteers and supporters. Specific fundraising campaigns are then planned and carried out in accord with the general development plan.

The leadership of the organization, in concert with the development department, prioritize financial needs and agree to common fundraising goals. Within the context of the general development plan, they create an environment for achieving those goals and for planning, initiating, and producing annual, endowment, capital, sponsorship, and underwriting campaigns. Each type of campaign has key issues and components that an organization must understand when it considers implementing any one of them as a contributed income program.

In summary: All fundraising campaigns must work from within a General Development Plan … a plan that comes from the initiatives (and their costs), as stated and directed by your organization’s Strategic/Long-Range Plan.

Any fundraising campaign that is not in accord with the General Development Plan may make its goal, but it may also impede or damage other fundraising efforts … and relationships with donors.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have a question or comment about the above posting?
You can Ask Tony.
There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website:
Raise-Funds.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have you seen
The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.