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Answer Upon - Hidden Consultants Within Your Organization
Phone Interview Tip“10 phone interview tips that will put you in the driver seat”Angela was devastated when a disastrous phone interview crashed her hopes of landing her dream job. The boss called just as she stepped out of the shower. Wrapped in her towel, dripping wet, and shivering, she struggled to be composed. The phone cord didn't stretch far enough to reach her notes, so she improvised. Then, her dog started barking, her toddler woke up screaming, and Angela came unglued.Don't let this happen to you! Since many employers are screening candidates using telephone interviews, it pays to be prepared for them. Here are a few suggestions for surviving the phone interview. Some of these tips apply to in-person interviews as well.Phone Interview Tip #1Be knowledgeable Make sure you know about the co
So what can you do to take advantage of these hidden consulting talents? Here are some suggestions:
1. Help your hidden consultants learn how to focus. Provide training for your employees and customers in techniques that help them find the root cause of a problem, determine possible solutions, and put together a plan to solve the problem.
2. Provide a way to get feedback from employees without you being biased by the source of the feedback. Create a method for employees to submit suggestions and ideas anonymously, but with a way to subsequently identify the suggester if you want to provide a reward.
3. Identify someone (internally or externally) who is good at summarizing and presenting. Have that person summarize employee and customer feedback and present it in the way that an outside consultant would.
4. Have a program in which selected employees can be “consultants for a week.” Having these employees think like consultants takes them outside the day-to-day process, if only temporarily, and gives the employees the opportunity to identify issues and recommend solutions. Sometimes this approach
Even if you don't love your job, there is something very comfortable about going to work each day. After a few months or a few years with a company, you know what's going on. You're aware of all the players, understand where the real power is concentrated, and know how to approach your coworkers and supervisors to keep everything running smoothly.When you lose your job, you are faced with the great unknown. While there is the potential for all kinds of positive developments, there is also a lost and alien landscape around you. The comfort zone that allowed you to move calmly through the day, without constantly checking your radar to try to figure out what's happening, has evaporated.How do we survive outside our comfort zone without stressing ourselves into a constant state of anxiety, nervous exhaustion, or unhealthy frustration?Here are some strategies
Why listen?
The best reason for listening to employees and customers is that they have a detailed understanding of your company's problems. They're close to day-to-day operations so they see what's happening and what's wrong. When you implement their ideas they’re committed to success because of their personal involvement. The result is a fast implementation of change, with a high probability of success.
So why don’t companies listen to employees and customers? Based on my own experience, here are the primary reasons why companies don’t take advantage of their hidden consultants:
No Clear Summarization
First, we don’t hear recommendations from employees and customers in a clear summarized way. We interact so much with these people that the recommendations aren’t separated out from everyday comments. A profound statement is dropped casually into a conversation on another subject, and we miss the importance of the statement.
When I'm working as a consultant doing interviews with employees and customers, I often hear significant statements, but I notice them because I’m listening for them. My brain is focused on gathering important information, and so I’m able to separate out the irrelevant stuff from the important things. Most people don’t listen that way on a day-to-day basis.
Then, after I’ve heard an important statement and verified it with others, I’ll figure out the best way to convey the statement to my client. Sometimes the issue with accepting a recommendation isn’t so much the recommendation itself; it’s how the recommendation is presented. Important truths have to be presented in a way that makes the client see the light without taking offense. Employees and customers don't often use appropriate summarization and presentation techniques, and so we reject their recommendations.
Bias
Second, we think employee and customer opinions are biased and therefore unreliable. We think they are trying to advance their own personal agendas. For example, an employee just wants to do that project because it would make his job bigger. Or a customer wants us to improve our service because she won’t take responsibility for problems in her own company. Sometimes personal bias will color an opinion, but we don’t take the time to sort out the motivations and get to the truth of the matter. Instead, we just tune out the employee and customer comments, throwing out valid suggestions because we think the source is biased.
Reluctance
Third, we have made it pretty clear to employees and customers that we don't want their advice, and as a result, they are reluctant to offer it. They see us criticize ideas and shoot them down, and they see us label idea creators as rabble-rousers and troublemakers. In such an unsupportive environment, they have determined that it’s best to keep their heads down and their ideas to themselves.
Other reasons
Here are some other reasons I’ve run across:
• Some managers don’t want to acknowledge that their own employees can be more knowledgeable about a subject than the managers are. The managers forget that the employees (a) are usually closer to everyday problems, and (b) have had a life before working for this manager, and so they have other experience to bring to the table.
• Managers sometimes feel that giving an employee a strong say in an issue will be viewed as “giving up control.” We forget that we aren’t in control anyway. At best we’re leading and steering, and certainly we’re accountable, but the employees who do the work actually have control over the process—not the managers.
• There’s a feeling of “you get what you pay for,” so we feel that a low-paid employee can’t provide as good an opinion as a high-paid consultant. This is a narrow viewpoint, but it feeds the families of many consultants.
How to use your hidden consultants
So what can you do to take advantage of these hidden consulting talents? Here are some suggestions:
1. Help your hidden consultants learn how to focus. Provide training for your employees and customers in techniques that help them find the root cause of a problem, determine possible solutions, and put together a plan to solve the problem.
2. Provide a way to get feedback from employees without you being biased by the source of the feedback. Create a method for employees to submit suggestions and ideas anonymously, but with a way to subsequently identify the suggester if you want to provide a reward.
3. Identify someone (internally or externally) who is good at summarizing and presenting. Have that person summarize employee and customer feedback and present it in the way that an outside consultant would.
4. Have a program in which selected employees can be “consultants for a week.” Having these employees think like consultants takes them outside the day-to-day process, if only temporarily, and gives the employees the opportunity to identify issues and recommend solutions. Sometimes this approach i
Many of us have heard of the current trend for businesses to become ‘customer-centric’, that is, to put the customer at the centre of our business in terms of our strategies, actions and processes. For most of us, old truths still hold good, such as it’s easier and more profitable to sell to existing customers than to find new ones. In practice, organisations are increasingly setting themselves strategies to measure and ensure customer retention, and charging their staff to be more customer-focused and service-oriented. Many organisations now approach the ‘lifetime value’ of customers (calculated as the typical number of purchases per year multiplied by the average purchase value multiplied by the expected number of years of the customer relationship) and seek to increase it.In the modern era building customer satisfaction and loyalty is a key we say to profitable busi
No Clear Summarization
First, we don’t hear recommendations from employees and customers in a clear summarized way. We interact so much with these people that the recommendations aren’t separated out from everyday comments. A profound statement is dropped casually into a conversation on another subject, and we miss the importance of the statement.
When I'm working as a consultant doing interviews with employees and customers, I often hear significant statements, but I notice them because I’m listening for them. My brain is focused on gathering important information, and so I’m able to separate out the irrelevant stuff from the important things. Most people don’t listen that way on a day-to-day basis.
Then, after I’ve heard an important statement and verified it with others, I’ll figure out the best way to convey the statement to my client. Sometimes the issue with accepting a recommendation isn’t so much the recommendation itself; it’s how the recommendation is presented. Important truths have to be presented in a way that makes the client see the light without taking offense. Employees and customers don't often use appropriate summarization and presentation techniques, and so we reject their recommendations.
Bias
Second, we think employee and customer opinions are biased and therefore unreliable. We think they are trying to advance their own personal agendas. For example, an employee just wants to do that project because it would make his job bigger. Or a customer wants us to improve our service because she won’t take responsibility for problems in her own company. Sometimes personal bias will color an opinion, but we don’t take the time to sort out the motivations and get to the truth of the matter. Instead, we just tune out the employee and customer comments, throwing out valid suggestions because we think the source is biased.
Reluctance
Third, we have made it pretty clear to employees and customers that we don't want their advice, and as a result, they are reluctant to offer it. They see us criticize ideas and shoot them down, and they see us label idea creators as rabble-rousers and troublemakers. In such an unsupportive environment, they have determined that it’s best to keep their heads down and their ideas to themselves.
Other reasons
Here are some other reasons I’ve run across:
• Some managers don’t want to acknowledge that their own employees can be more knowledgeable about a subject than the managers are. The managers forget that the employees (a) are usually closer to everyday problems, and (b) have had a life before working for this manager, and so they have other experience to bring to the table.
• Managers sometimes feel that giving an employee a strong say in an issue will be viewed as “giving up control.” We forget that we aren’t in control anyway. At best we’re leading and steering, and certainly we’re accountable, but the employees who do the work actually have control over the process—not the managers.
• There’s a feeling of “you get what you pay for,” so we feel that a low-paid employee can’t provide as good an opinion as a high-paid consultant. This is a narrow viewpoint, but it feeds the families of many consultants.
How to use your hidden consultants
So what can you do to take advantage of these hidden consulting talents? Here are some suggestions:
1. Help your hidden consultants learn how to focus. Provide training for your employees and customers in techniques that help them find the root cause of a problem, determine possible solutions, and put together a plan to solve the problem.
2. Provide a way to get feedback from employees without you being biased by the source of the feedback. Create a method for employees to submit suggestions and ideas anonymously, but with a way to subsequently identify the suggester if you want to provide a reward.
3. Identify someone (internally or externally) who is good at summarizing and presenting. Have that person summarize employee and customer feedback and present it in the way that an outside consultant would.
4. Have a program in which selected employees can be “consultants for a week.” Having these employees think like consultants takes them outside the day-to-day process, if only temporarily, and gives the employees the opportunity to identify issues and recommend solutions. Sometimes this approach
The time to start thinking about the ideal name for your new business is at the same time you start putting your business plan on paper. Yes, your business – no matter how small a start-up – should have a written business plan. But that’s another story for another day. For now, let’s look at the most important reason to pick just the right name for your business.If there’s one idea you want to carry with you always, particularly as you evaluate possible names for your business, it’s this: Perception is reality!.How would-be customers will think about your business starts with the impression its name creates in their mind. So think long and hard. Next, they’ll be impressed – or not – by how that name is presented graphically – colors, type style, any accompanying art, perhaps a “tag line” or “positioning statement” that describes or amplifies some unique asp
Bias
Second, we think employee and customer opinions are biased and therefore unreliable. We think they are trying to advance their own personal agendas. For example, an employee just wants to do that project because it would make his job bigger. Or a customer wants us to improve our service because she won’t take responsibility for problems in her own company. Sometimes personal bias will color an opinion, but we don’t take the time to sort out the motivations and get to the truth of the matter. Instead, we just tune out the employee and customer comments, throwing out valid suggestions because we think the source is biased.
Reluctance
Third, we have made it pretty clear to employees and customers that we don't want their advice, and as a result, they are reluctant to offer it. They see us criticize ideas and shoot them down, and they see us label idea creators as rabble-rousers and troublemakers. In such an unsupportive environment, they have determined that it’s best to keep their heads down and their ideas to themselves.
Other reasons
Here are some other reasons I’ve run across:
• Some managers don’t want to acknowledge that their own employees can be more knowledgeable about a subject than the managers are. The managers forget that the employees (a) are usually closer to everyday problems, and (b) have had a life before working for this manager, and so they have other experience to bring to the table.
• Managers sometimes feel that giving an employee a strong say in an issue will be viewed as “giving up control.” We forget that we aren’t in control anyway. At best we’re leading and steering, and certainly we’re accountable, but the employees who do the work actually have control over the process—not the managers.
• There’s a feeling of “you get what you pay for,” so we feel that a low-paid employee can’t provide as good an opinion as a high-paid consultant. This is a narrow viewpoint, but it feeds the families of many consultants.
How to use your hidden consultants
So what can you do to take advantage of these hidden consulting talents? Here are some suggestions:
1. Help your hidden consultants learn how to focus. Provide training for your employees and customers in techniques that help them find the root cause of a problem, determine possible solutions, and put together a plan to solve the problem.
2. Provide a way to get feedback from employees without you being biased by the source of the feedback. Create a method for employees to submit suggestions and ideas anonymously, but with a way to subsequently identify the suggester if you want to provide a reward.
3. Identify someone (internally or externally) who is good at summarizing and presenting. Have that person summarize employee and customer feedback and present it in the way that an outside consultant would.
4. Have a program in which selected employees can be “consultants for a week.” Having these employees think like consultants takes them outside the day-to-day process, if only temporarily, and gives the employees the opportunity to identify issues and recommend solutions. Sometimes this approach
Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have. --Brian TracyAct As IfSometimes, achievement is simpler than most make it out to be. You can act as if you are fully prepared and even very experienced at public speaking or negotiation or effective private communication, whatever the day requires you to do.Of course, this takes a measure of self-confidence, of belief in oneself; but so does just getting through the day for many people. Is this acting or fooling yourself into an attitude adjustment? For some it may be, but to act as if you can do what you need to do is really what is a big part of everyday life.When one is called upon to stand up and speak before a group and a flood of fearful thoughts intervene, yes, all the self-esteem and faith and belief in oneself that y
Other reasons
Here are some other reasons I’ve run across:
• Some managers don’t want to acknowledge that their own employees can be more knowledgeable about a subject than the managers are. The managers forget that the employees (a) are usually closer to everyday problems, and (b) have had a life before working for this manager, and so they have other experience to bring to the table.
• Managers sometimes feel that giving an employee a strong say in an issue will be viewed as “giving up control.” We forget that we aren’t in control anyway. At best we’re leading and steering, and certainly we’re accountable, but the employees who do the work actually have control over the process—not the managers.
• There’s a feeling of “you get what you pay for,” so we feel that a low-paid employee can’t provide as good an opinion as a high-paid consultant. This is a narrow viewpoint, but it feeds the families of many consultants.
How to use your hidden consultants
So what can you do to take advantage of these hidden consulting talents? Here are some suggestions:
1. Help your hidden consultants learn how to focus. Provide training for your employees and customers in techniques that help them find the root cause of a problem, determine possible solutions, and put together a plan to solve the problem.
2. Provide a way to get feedback from employees without you being biased by the source of the feedback. Create a method for employees to submit suggestions and ideas anonymously, but with a way to subsequently identify the suggester if you want to provide a reward.
3. Identify someone (internally or externally) who is good at summarizing and presenting. Have that person summarize employee and customer feedback and present it in the way that an outside consultant would.
4. Have a program in which selected employees can be “consultants for a week.” Having these employees think like consultants takes them outside the day-to-day process, if only temporarily, and gives the employees the opportunity to identify issues and recommend solutions. Sometimes this approach
The federal government number purpose is to create jobs. Everything you do is about jobs. Paying taxes is about jobs. Advertising is about jobs. Jobs are about earning money. Earning money is about food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, transportation and entertainment.What ever your passion may be, it ultimately leads to jobs. When you spend money wisely it creates jobs. When you invest money wisely it creates jobs. The more you learn the more you continue to earn and that creates more jobs.The world’s population has doubled in the last forty years. It is predicted that it will double again in the next twenty five years to twelve billion people. Forty thousand babies are born in China each day. Twelve thousand babies are born in the United States of America each day. Every minute the world’s population grows by two hundred and sixty seven new
So what can you do to take advantage of these hidden consulting talents? Here are some suggestions:
1. Help your hidden consultants learn how to focus. Provide training for your employees and customers in techniques that help them find the root cause of a problem, determine possible solutions, and put together a plan to solve the problem.
2. Provide a way to get feedback from employees without you being biased by the source of the feedback. Create a method for employees to submit suggestions and ideas anonymously, but with a way to subsequently identify the suggester if you want to provide a reward.
3. Identify someone (internally or externally) who is good at summarizing and presenting. Have that person summarize employee and customer feedback and present it in the way that an outside consultant would.
4. Have a program in which selected employees can be “consultants for a week.” Having these employees think like consultants takes them outside the day-to-day process, if only temporarily, and gives the employees the opportunity to identify issues and recommend solutions. Sometimes this approach is even more effective if the employees act as consultants for different departments than their own.
5. Help your employees to learn how to differentiate between a “reason” (why you are a certain way) and an “excuse” (why you stay that way). And make sure that you understand the difference yourself.
Conclusion
I make my living as a consultant, so I obviously don’t want you to stop using my services. But ultimately my goal is to help companies be more profitable and become better places to work, and most companies are missing a huge opportunity for self-improvement. By taking advantage of the ideas generated by your own employees and customers, and by focusing those ideas on providing benefit to your business, you can reserve the use of outside consultants for the things we’re best at:
• Providing skills and expertise that don’t exist within your organization, and
• Helping your organization develop better processes for optimizing your own skills and expertise.
You have a huge pool of hidden consulting talent within your organization. You just have to focus it and use it.
© 2004 MakingITclear, Inc. This article was originally published in the June, 2004 issue of the MakingITclear® Newsletter, a free monthly email newsletter published by MakingITclear, Inc. MakingITclear is a registered trademark of MakingITclear, Inc.
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