Category: Organization Development

Funders often require a grantee to get at least 3 proposals from consultants before the funders will fund a project for the grantee. That approach is meant to help ensure that the grantee selects the best and most cost-effective consultant for the project.

As we know, some grantees already have their favorite consultant, and so they “game” the system, i.e., they keep seeking proposals until they have at least two that don’t match the quality of their favorite consultant’s proposal.

Here’s the conversation that I very recently had, almost word -for-word. I thought it might be amusing to you.

Carter: Authenticity Consulting, may I help you?
Caller: I need a quote for strategic planning.
Carter: Sure, I just have a few quick questions first.
Caller: I just need a quote.
Carter: Well, you’ll get quotes from consultants that are between $500 and $20,000, depending on your situation. I can narrow my quote if I can ask you some questions.
Caller: I really just need a quote.

(Carter’s suspecting she just needs any old quote so her funder gets the required 3 quotes.)
Carter: Have you used a facilitator before?
Caller: Yes, and she worked out quite well.
Carter: Is she giving a quote to you, too, now.
Caller: Yes.
Carter: Does your funder require 3 quotes?
Caller: (laughing) yes, it’s such a pain.
Carter: Then I’m really not interested in giving a quote, just to satisfy your funder.
Caller: Can you just give me a number and we won’t get back to you?
Carter: (smiling to himself, because he’s going to low-ball their favorite facilitator) Sure, $500.
Caller: Thank you! (and she hangs up).

(Carter knows the caller will have to call him back, because she didn’t get a proposal from him.)
A few minutes later, the caller calls him back.
Caller: I guess I need a written proposal from you.
Carter: That would require a lot more information from you.
Caller: Can’t you just send any proposal?
Carter: Sure, but if I make my quote to be $500, that’ll be cheaper than your favorite consultant, and your funder will want to hire me instead.
Caller: (By now she’s getting irate) Then just increase the quote. Look, we really just need one more quote.
Carter: (Playing with her, by now) So what’s in it for me to take the time to do a proposal for a project that I’m not going to get?
Caller: Do you know any other consultants who could give us a quote?
Carter: I wouldn’t do that to any of my colleagues. I’m going to hang up now.
Caller: Goodbye.

Wow.

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See these topics in the Free Management Library:

Organizational Change

Organization Development

Consulting

What does a new Board member of a non-profit or for profit organization do to achieve change and growth. There are three main keys to success I discovered. The story first.

I’ve just been named to the Board of Directors of a non-profit organization and want to move the directors in a direction beyond what they are used to for some 40 years. Of course, the Board hasn’t had the same directors that long.

In fact, to invigorate the lackadaisical situation, a few new board members were named and the stone-wallers (those members that didn’t do anything) asked to leave; however, the attitude remains about the way things have been done have been for as many years.

I was asked to come on board to change attitudes about production and take charge of that aspect, while working for the Board president and other members of the Board as applicable.

Now, the question is: how do you change attitudes?

You can only change an attitude by getting someone to accept change. Accepting change is hard, but it is the only way. You can provide as much of your background and experience as possible with the hope the Board would want you to suggest changes or introduce new ideas. That may come with a cost.

To the Board, it may make you appear more of an egotist than someone that really wants to work.

There are three basic tactics to bring them to your side and actually accomplish why you took the job.

• Woo them. Try to be seen as a team member rather than superman who can do anything. Be a helper. Don’t try to change too fast. I hate slow but it’s necessary. Listen a lot and don’t judge. This requires patience, but you’ll gain followers not enemies who always shut down your proposals.
• Wow them with work you do your way. Don’t broadcast it–just do it. Give the team credit for the job done well. You’ll be giving credit to people who are seeing positive results to the way you wanted them to in the first place.
• Work them. See if it’s time to modify the bylaws. Wait for someone else to suggest it. With your latest success or successes in mind, the president of the Board may do it. Even better. Be quiet at first (look like you’re deep in thought). Let other Board members look to you now for so some of processes and techniques to put in the by-laws.

Congratulations. You are now one of them.

Maybe it wasn’t as fast as you like but it works.

Next, is expand into new areas in the new business with the Board on your side.

Much of the work may be being done by the Board members themselves; the Board should work, but it should also be making sure others are recruited to work for or with them in specialized areas, having able assistants who can attend meetings in their places. In other words, a single Board member may be responsible for ensuring meetings are scheduled consistently, and if time and place have to changed, word can be sent out as soon as possible.

I have seen Boards where people have been named to the Board to give the company credibility, not enhance the company with its advice and oversight. There is a lot of information on building a Board, however, I think you can put it simply. Think what you need and assign people to make it happen.

The first question I asked the Board members when I was introduced formally was why and how they came to be on the Board. No one said they were to enhance the image; they genuinely seemed to care and everyone seemed forthcoming, but it seemed I was the only individual Board member who had an agenda; this Board’s agenda seemed due for a facelift.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

Editor’s Note: The following apology email, sent by GoDaddy CEO Scott Wagner after customers lost service for some six hours earlier this month, is the second seriously high quality piece of online reputation management that we’ve shared with you recently. His plain language, paired with a more-than-generous full month’s credit for GoDaddy’s web hosting services, far surpassed stakeholder’s expectations and stopped complaints from upset customers in their tracks. While it may not be entirely surprising coming from an innovative firm like GoDaddy, fact is that millions of dollars in revenue are lost every year by companies who refuse to take the steps necessary to protect their most valuable asset – reputation.

Dear XXXX,

We owe you a big apology for the intermittent service outages we experienced on September 10 that may have impacted your website, your email and other Go Daddy services.

We let you down and we know it. We take our responsibilities – and the trust you place in us – very seriously. I cannot express how sorry I am to those of you who were inconvenienced.

The service outage was due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables. Once the issues were identified, we took corrective actions to restore services for our customers and GoDaddy.com. We have implemented a series of immediate measures to fix the problem.

At no time was any sensitive customer information, including credit card data, passwords or names and addresses, compromised.

Throughout our history, we have provided 99.999% uptime in our DNS infrastructure. This is the level of performance we expect from ourselves. Monday, we fell short of these expectations. We have learned from this event and will use it to drive improvement in our services.

As a result of this disruption, you will receive 30% off any new product or renewal.* This offer will be available to you for the next 7 days. Simply place source code Apology4a in your cart or mention the code when you call 480-505-8877.

It’s an honour to serve you. As always, please call us 24/7 at 480-505-8877 – anytime, for any reason.

Sincerely,

Scott Wagner
CEO
GoDaddy.com

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Editor’s note: Author Rick Amme’s own words best sum up the focus of this important guest article – “Unpleasant as this is, it is something you have to think about in a position of leadership: prevention, not just response, when it comes to shootings in the workplace.”

Worried About Mass Shootings? Think Prevention

As a leader, you worry that your employees can respond to a disaster, especially a mass shooting. Active shooter responses such as, in priority order, RUN – HIDE – FIGHT can save lives. But you may overlook something terribly important when it comes to planning for these rare, but awful, events: prevention – a fact made frighteningly clear in a seminar led by August Vernon, operations officer for the Forsyth County (NC) Office of Emergency Management.

Get this. According to the FBI, 81% of the time before a mass shooting the shooter gives clues to others of what he is planning. Vernon says there is NOT a single profile that fits the shooters, but there IS one thing they have in common: similar behaviors. If your organization knows this pre-shooting conduct then you have a better chance of identifying the attacker before he acts. That takes on added importance when you realize that most of these shooters plan their assaults and do not act impulsively.

Common behaviors of potential shooters in the business world are these:

• Problem employee
• History of violent behavior
• Intimidates others
• Substance abuse
• Open or veiled threats
• Obsessed with the job but is not a good employee
• Loner
• Us vs. them attitude
• Can’t take criticism
• Holds a grudge
• Preoccupied with guns and gun publications
• Shows weapons to friends
• Interested in past acts of violence
• Tends to be a white male between 30 and 50 years old

The characteristics are similar for school student shooters and, like adults, 8 out of 10 of them plan to die during their attack. Vernon said they tend to strike during the first hour or period or at lunch.

Post-incident interviews reveal many are mistaken about the shooter:

• “He just snapped” – rarely is that so
• “No one knew” – almost never the case
• “He didn’t fit the profile” – there is no profile
• “Most kids have issues” – true, but shooters have severe difficulty coping
• “We did everything to help him” – no
• “He never touched a gun” – most shooters’ weapons come from home
• “He planned it alone” – others often help
• “If only the SWAT team had been there or we had a metal detector” – most shootings are over before SWAT arrives, metal detectors have not deterred determined shooters.

August Vernon said that the best deterrence of violence at schools comes from having School Resource Officers, armed officers, and a zero tolerance for bullying. He questioned the automatic tendency of schools to lock down when there’s a threat report. He said that if his own children were aware of shooting in their school he would want them to run for their lives and not hide under desks where they’d be sitting ducks.

Finally, why do these mass shooters do it? Vernon says it’s usually anger or revenge over perceived persecutions, slights, and injustice combined with the desire for fame and recognition.

In the years I have worked in crisis management almost all the comments by clients about shooters have been about how they would respond. Unless I brought it up I can’t recall anyone talking about how they would try to avoid violence in the first place. After this seminar, prevention is going to be on my mind more than ever. After this article, hopefully yours.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Rick Amme is president of Amme & Associates, a media/crisis management company in Winston-Salem. He is also a member of the Business Journal’s Editorial Board of Contributors. Reach him via www.amme.com, rick@amme.com or (336) 631-1855.

Leaked video raises reputation issues for presidential hopeful

The tape of Mitt Romney slamming Obama supporters at a private donor dinner is one of those situations that there really is no explaining your way out of. Full of reputation-wrecking quotes like this one, discussing his own father, “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this,” and the following, in reference to the 47% of the U.S. population that supports Obama, “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility,” it’s a crisis management nightmare of epic proportions.

Besides providing plenty of fodder for The Daily Show, the viral rampage of this video serves as a reminder to anyone seeking to maintain their positive reputation. It doesn’t take a trained spy or experienced journalist to capture video of you in your most candid moments. Whether you’re discussing bribing the safety inspector or how wild the company party was last night, the prevalence of cell phones and easy availability of Bond-esque cameras made to look like everything from pens to designer watches, means that your “private” conversation could be on the web mere minutes after you leave the room.

When literally anything you do could be caught on tape, what can be done to protect your reputation? Well, the easiest part of crisis prevention for this risk is to not say or do things that you’re ashamed of, or that violate company policy/legal boundaries. In addition, if you’re a business, ensure that all employees are properly educated regarding company policies on recording devices, as well as consequences for sharing confidential information or conversations.

If you do get caught with your figurative pants down, the best choice is to fall back on Crisis Management 101. Admit your mistake, deliver a heartfelt mea culpa, and explain how you will work to prevent a similar situation from happening again. This doesn’t mean your video won’t still be the topic du jour, but with a proper apology the public can be surprisingly forgiving. As far as Romney, he’s chosen to embrace the comments and plow ahead as if he had planned the leak all along. Now, there is the possibility that his choice was the right one, but with overwhelmingly negative sentiment surrounding the video sweeping the nation we’re guessing that it’s not going to help come November.

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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, and co-host of The Crisis Show. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

At my blog Marion Conway – Nonprofit Consultant I have just written about conducting a Nonprofit Lifecycle Analysis at a Board retreat. Frequently, I write complimentary articles at the two blogs, but this subject really lends itself to one article. So here is a summary and the link to my blog article.

I was working with an excellent, engaged Board and the lifecycle analysis was very helpful for them as a springboard to beginning their strategic planning process. The analysis brought into focus issues that should be in their plan that might not otherwise be there. It was important that the board was engaged because they were able to take an honest look at their strengths and which areas needed improvement to bring their organization to the next level. I used Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity by Susan Stevens (2002) as a foundation for the discussion and Building Nonprofit Capacity: A Guide to Managing Change Through Organizational Lifecycles by John Brothers and Anne Sherman (2011) to provide a more modern framework with an updated picture of priorities for the infrastructure stage with growth and sustainability as the focus.

See the whole article and view the slides here.

Marion

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

Astute PR moves from both sides in a contemporary crisis

Savvy parties have been using the court of public opinion to sway disagreements to their side for years, so why not the two sides facing off in the Chicago Teacher’s Union strike? With both teachers and city leadership jockeying for position with what could only be carefully planned and coordinated moves, they’ve got a real war of reputation on their hands.

A PRDaily article by Michael Sebastian and Matt Wilson shared a bit of the tack each side is taking:

“I think they’re both playing their cards right,” Jamie Izaks, president of All Points Public Relations, told PR Daily. “It’s remarkable how savvy both sides are at this.”

On Monday morning, teachers established picket lines outside of their schools before thousands of them gathered in downtown Chicago to march alongside parents and other supporters. They vowed to stick together until a fair contract is reached.

“[The union] has a good sense of what the media wants,” said Wes Bleed, vice president of Mack Communications in Naperville, Ill., and former WGN radio anchor. “They know how to tell their story. At the rallies, they’re getting big numbers. They’re organized.”

While teachers’ marched, the mayor held a press conference at one of the churches where students can gather during the strike.

“Don’t take it out on the kids of Chicago if you have a problem with me,” Emanuel said while standing in front of a group of children—a savvy PR move on his part, according to Thom Serafin, CEO of Serafin and Associates in Chicago.

Indeed, the sometimes abrasive Emanuel, who’s known to square off with reporters, seems to be gaining points with the public.

“I think he’s becoming a little more of a sympathetic character in this whole thing,” said Bleed, who also noted one failing of the mayor. “I don’t think he did a great job of explaining why they couldn’t come to terms.”

As with just about everything else these days, the battle also spilled over into social media, complete with celebs Tweeting their support of one side or another and a whole slew of hashtags allowing the public to track the conversation.

This situation, perhaps the first truly modern teacher’s strike, should serve as a warning to employers of all kinds. No longer will there be quiet picketing that goes unnoticed by all but a few local media outlets, gone are the days of low-attendance meetings at the local head office.

To be successful, contemporary crisis management for labor disputes will have to embrace the reality that the entire drama can and will be played out across social media, and in this way (if the story is juicy enough, at least) gain a reach that could only be imagined a few years ago. In order to navigate the crisis and return to business as usual, employers will have to not only appease disgruntled employees, but also convince the public that they’ve done the right thing. No easy task, to be sure.

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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, and co-host of The Crisis Show. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Google squashes rumors of coming Apple clash

Apple’s $1 billion legal victory over Samsung didn’t just raise Apple stock, but also questions about the future of the operating system that poses a direct threat to Apple’s (thus-far) dominant iOS, Google’s Android.

After all, the Samsung devices Judge Lucy Koh determined to be intentional copies of Apple products were powered by Android, as are the vast majority of popular non-Apple phones. With industry speculators, well…speculating about the potential negative impact on the future of Android, now was no time to let the rumor and innuendo fly. So, did Google step up to the crisis management plate? Check out this quote, from a Motley Fool blog post by Rita Chattaraj:

Google has been very clear about the entire incident and said the features in dispute are not a part of the core Android operating system, thus making Android complication free. Samsung, Motorola, Sony, HTC – all players add new distinct features, widgets, apps to the Android platform and thus Samsung being accused of patent infringement does not necessarily mean trouble for others since each player offers different add-on features. Still, just the way Samsung’s product offerings were scrutinized by the jury; Google’s Android offering will be further analyzed. This, however, isn’t a matter of concern as the offering is likely to come out free from disputes. Unlike Samsung, Google has made sure that it keeps its offerings distinguishable from that of its peers. May be the reason is Google never wanted consumers to confuse its products with that from the others.

In just one paragraph, you can see both Google’s solid reputation management strategy and the fact that it has had the desired effect of convincing stakeholders that there is no cause for concern. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that if Apple does decide to go after Android in a court of law, the court of public opinion will already be tilted to Google’s side. By biting swirling rumors in the bud before they have a chance to create a crisis of reputation, Google has helped ensure the continued success of its platform as well as preventing possible financial losses.

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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, and co-host of The Crisis Show. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

This week on The Crisis Show, hosts Jonathan Bernstein, Rich Klein, and Melissa Agnes combined talents once again to cover the biggest stories in crisis management. From shootings in Montreal and Jersey, to earthquakes in the Pacific, to a massive leak of Apple user info (via an FBI agent’s notebook, no less!) the headlines were crawling with dangerous and damaging incidents.

It wasn’t all bleak though, Sears did earn itself one of our first #CrisisWins for its impressive use of a crisis management “war room” to keep things under control as Isaac bore down on the Gulf region.

If you can’t catch The Crisis Show when it airs live on Wednesdays at 4 PST/7 EST, all past episodes are available on our YouTube channel.

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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, and co-host of The Crisis Show. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

When lawyers write the corporate apology

Editor’s Note: The following guest article by crisis management pro Tony Jaques is the perfect companion to Jerry Brown’s post, “Skip the Spin,” which you can find on the Bernstein Crisis Management blog. Combined, they present a powerful statement on the dangers that emerge when we indulge the temptation to spin the truth.

It was another one of those “what were they thinking” moments. For more than 50 years the German makers of Thalidomide, Greunenthal, remained silent about the ten thousand plus babies born with severe deformities after their mothers took the morning-sickness drug.

In an extraordinary move, Harald Stock, CEO of Greunenthal, then rather bizarrely chose the unveiling of a statue symbolising a child born without limbs erected at the company’s German headquarters to issue what the BBC called the drug-maker’s first apology in 50 years.

It was a critical moment in a prolonged crisis. But the company statement showed every sign of having been carefully crafted by lawyers concerned more with legal liability than compassion.

“We ask for forgiveness that for nearly 50 years we didn’t find a way of reaching out to you from human being to human being,” Mr Stock said.

“We ask that you regard our long silence as a sign of the shock that your fate caused in us.

“We wish that the thalidomide tragedy had never happened. We see both the physical hardship and the emotional stress that the affected, their families and particularly their mothers, had to suffer because of thalidomide and still have to endure day by day.”

It was statement sure to annoy and certain not to satisfy, especially when the company restated its long-held position that damage to unborn fetuses could not be detected by tests carried out before thalidomide was marketed from 1953 to 1961.

British Thalidomide campaigners called the statement insulting and insincere, and declared that an apology should also admit wrongdoing. And from a strategic perspective one obvious question is why the company made the statement at all.

The most telling response probably came from Australian mother Wendy Rowe, whose daughter Lynne recently received a multi-million payout from distributor Diageo.

“It’s the sort of apology you give when you’re not really sorry,” she said.

“I suspect he (Mr. Stock) might not know what shock is. Shock is having your precious child born without arms and legs. It’s accepting that your child is not going to have the life that you wanted for her.”

“Our family couldn’t have gone into silent shock. We had to get up and face each and every day and cope with the incredible damage that Gruenenthal had done to Lynne and our family.”

Mrs Rowe’s eloquent statement should stand as a reminder to corporate communicators and lawyers that apologies should actually be apologetic.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Tony Jaques manages an Australian-based issue and crisis management consultancy and writes the regular newsletter Managing Outcomes