Top Performers: Are You Too Intelligent to be Effective?

April 28, 2008

What do top performers have in common?
They develop simple, easy-to-maintain organizational processes

The more moving parts something has, the more likely it is to break down. This basic premise from mechanical engineering holds a lot of wisdom for people in any field. Sometimes we are victims of our own intelligence; we decide that the complexity our brains are capable of is the level at which we should always operate. That’s why some software applications seem insanely complicated and it takes five hours to put up a singing Christmas tree.

Wynn Solutions studied 5,000 top performers in 323 organizations and 21 industries and found one major trait that the most successful had in common: They create systems that are simple and easily taught and that have consistent repeatability.

Sometimes we make processes complicated so people will think they have more value. (Our research uncovered a group we called “the strugglers” who used this approach.) Unfortunately, complex systems that are difficult to operate and explain make the people who created them look like they are not that good at what they do. That’s why the smartest people are often not the most successful or not in charge of the big projects. Something complicated may be the glorious brain child of the brilliant; it’s just kind of hard to tell if it’s working. I guess the key to creating a successful process is to be smart enough to not outsmart yourself.

There are some easy to use organization tools on the market today. Here is a new organization tool that provides a lot of flexibility that people are talking about. You might want to check it out.

Get organized with GTDTiddlyWiki:

Everyone has to find their own killer personal organizational app, and for me, it’s a single, free HTML document called GTDTiddlyWiki. The self-contained standalone mini-wiki is packed with features but it doesn’t dictate how you work – it provides a canvas on which you can design your own process improvements and workflows.

1 Comment | Success Qualities, Technology | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

Customer Service: What People Remember

April 28, 2008

You can provide the information customers need and have a great reputation for service and quality, but how a customer feels about the conduct or attitude of the person they deal with when they need service is what they remember and repeat to others.

Studies show 1 person will tell 11 people about rude behavior and that 11 will tell 55, so 67 people hear about the behavior. If that happened 25 times in 5 years, that’s 1,675 people; that’s a small town that doesn’t like you.

Here are some great ways to improve how a customer feels about their experience with a customer service representative:

  • People are much more likely to agree with those who agree with them first! Customers want you to agree with them. The person asking questions is in control of the conversation. Get them talking about the issues, you can let them know you agree and have a recommendation
  • Leaders set the tone for customer service. If you have employees, they need to see you doing the things for customers that you are asking them to do. Leadership by example: You set the culture for your organization.
  • Great customer service reps don’t hold their customers too accountable. A customer may be 100% at fault and now need you to help them out of their problem. You have to make a decision to be responsible and accountable as much as you can be. You keep customers by being accountable. The number one complaint customers have is that the service providers hold them accountable for their problem and they feel like they are paying for it never to be their fault.

I ran across a great example on the “Love Them Up and Keep Them Forever” blog

Who’s to Blame and Does It Even Matter? « Love Them Up and Keep Them Forever™:

What I saw was a customer service person who felt that he was being blamed for the situation and didn’t have the skills to manage his emotions. He didn’t “get” that when a customer is upset, it’s never personal. It’s always about the customer’s relationship with the company, not with you as an individual. As a representative of the print shop, we all would have been much better off had he simply calmed me down with a quick “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’m working on this as quickly as I can. Do you need me to hold on to the order for you and you can come back later tonight?”

Check our programs and articles for more information

Customer service is dying and I’m not feeling so good myself
Customer service training programs
Customer service keynote programs

1 Comment | Business Growth, Customer Service | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

Dealing with people we don’t like: Personality conflicts

April 26, 2008

Sometimes personality conflicts are based on the fact that we are a lot like the person we are in conflict with: “If you spot it, you got it.” It’s not always the case, but it happens often. If we can look at the role we play in the conflict, it allows us to communicate and motivate more effectively. “If you can only work well with those you get along with easily, you will have very little influence in the world.”

2 Comments | Communication, Success Qualities | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

Management and Leadership

April 22, 2008

Getting Great Results Turning Talent Into Performance:  If you did not see this program live, here are some brief presentation notes

The definition of leadership: Someone following someone because he wants to, not because he has to.

Do you want to be right or effective?
Have you ever been so right that no one would talk to you? If you criticize others’ ideas, they will almost never use yours, no matter how good they are.

Effective leaders drop their judgments:
Everybody knows something you don’t. “I disagree, but I am willing to listen.” Thinking you know everything is proof that you don’t.

Listening skills:
You motivate people by listening to them; compassion and attention create dedication. When people feel heard and not judged, they will do more than just the minimum.

Managing difficult personality styles:
A high percentage of employees with difficult behavior may be getting unintentional negative consequences for doing a good job. Don’t reward an effective employee with someone else’s work.

What great managers know:
People don’t change that much. Look for the value they have now. Don’t manage for the miracle; just because you found one diamond in the rough does not mean you are a magic manager. Some people just suck!

Hiring for talent:
Look for the naturally recurring patterns that are needed to do the job. Some people are very articulate and experienced and yet have no ability. If they ask you to further explain the question you just asked them in an interview, tell them it’s their interpretation that’s important. You will now find out who they really are.

Use attribute assessments:
Stop hiring the talent impaired!

You turn talent into performance by aligning goals with talents.

Management Skills Training Programs

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Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

Travel Tips for Business Travelers

April 17, 2008

As a professional keynote speaker, I speak at conventions around the country about 100 times a year.

Here are a few travel tips I have picked up along the way.

Tired of sitting between two big sweaty guys on an airplane? Wish you had that extra centimeter of space for yourself? If you’re not in first class, go for the exit row. The exit row is intentionally wider, giving you more legroom. Since everyone has to be able to walk out the emergency door, that little necessity allows you more space. By purchasing tickets on-line or printing out your boarding pass early, you’ll have a greater opportunity to select these exit rows. Travel agents can’t book them so you can only get them by calling the airline directly, booking on-line or checking in on-line. Traveling is stressful and uncomfortable enough; don’t you deserve the best seat you can get?

With all the travel restrictions, delays and lost luggage, checking your bags can be a nightmare. If you can, always pack your belongings as carry-on and avoid the headaches. But getting the right bag is important. First, make sure your roller bag is 22″ in length (or less) so it will fit vertically into most overhead bins. You will have a better chance of having space for your luggage on a crowded flight, and odds are that you won’t be forced to gate check. I don’t know why luggage manufacturers even make 25″ bags, but they do. Also, put the bag in the overhead with the wheels facing out to give yourself a better shot at getting the bin closed. This also reduces the chances of damage to your bag from that guy who packed like a Sherpa. You know, the one with his entire life wedged into a 300-pound duffel bag—including skis, a tennis racket and his beloved acoustic guitar with the huge pot leaf sticker.

1 Comment | Modern Society | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

How to deal with motivationally challenged younger workers

April 17, 2008

Do you find it difficult to motivate younger workers? Have you noticed that employees under 25 will quit their job to go on a ski trip? They will choose pleasure and friends over work every time — actions that indicate that there may be a different work ethic in place. What about people in their 30s? They seem to need more time off and value flexible schedules over money.

Whatever happened to dedicated, committed people who did what was right for the company, the customer and the wallet? Well, for starters, they grew up. Now at least in their 40s, many of them are managing the thirty-something and twenty-something workforce and realizing that these younger people cannot be motivated the same way they were. I don’t know about you, but I start thinking, “You know back in my day (I am now officially old enough to have had a day), we did what we had to do. We ate dirt and we liked it; we walked to work, up hill, both ways, in the snow — we had no shoes. Heck, we had no feet! We walked on our nubs everywhere we went…”

I admit, I’m taking it a bit far here. I never walked to work, I spent most of my life in Florida (no hills, no snow) and I do have both feet, but I think you know where I’m coming from.

How can we effectively motivate people who feel so differently than we do about their job? Wynn Solutions did some research on how some organizations get amazing results from their younger people. These top-performing organizations:

  • Understand that these people grew up in the most affluent time in American history and were raised to expect more out of life. They inherited not only a world of material abundance but also a workplace with perceived unlimited opportunity.
  • Know younger workers measure success not just in dollars but also in equality of pay; that is, they expect to paid as much as anyone who holds the same job.
  • Know workers in their 20s will not respect someone just because that person is older or holds a superior position; they will only respect those who show respect for them.
  • Create goals that work; younger people respond to small goals with tight deadlines and want a quick track for success with praise along the way.
  • Let younger workers know that the skills and training they are getting will help them in the future with other companies, not just with the job they have now. Younger workers believe that companies won’t take care of them for life so they don’t value long-term employment.
  • Know they want stimulating work; they grew up with video games and fast-moving, quickly edited movies. They like to multitask and can become easily bored with processes that move too slowly or have no flexibility.
  • Know that younger workers need to be shown that the boss (not just the company) cares about them. They want to know that their supervisor will give direct praise on a consistent basis for a job well done and will encourage and support them when they are not doing well.
  • Understand what they think about us: They believe our computers crash because we are old and that we have chosen work and money over fun and family, which makes us uptight and cranky as we multitask unsuccessfully.

For those who are thinking these people are just spoiled and should grow up and face reality … each generation would naturally be a bit more spoiled than the previous one as long as the economy continues to grow and parents keep scheduling play dates for their children, telling them they can be anything they want to be and driving them to soccer practice. That’s reality! It’s simply the result of an affluent society.

The good news is that, properly motivated, these young people are brilliant. We talked to many organizations that were implementing some of the strategies outlined above and achieving phenomenal results. The key to long-term organizational growth and change is knowing how to motivate the new talent that can take you into the future. The key does not involve wishing they were more like you. Remember that they are not living in our times; we are living in theirs.

Training program:
Effectively Managing Generation X and Y: How to work more effectively with younger people
Keynote speaker Garrison Wynn’s generation y programs

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Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

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