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Misapplying Psychological Solutions to Practical Problems

Employee Productivity – Are you searching for psychological solutions to practical problems?

As an executive, have you fallen into the trap of looking for psycho-emotional solutions to issues of employee productivity? If so, you may need a fresh lens.

“I just don’t understand these people!”

While this is a common complaint in management ranks, it’s a bit of a racket. The complainer is going down a dead-end…a little like blaming one’s extra pounds on the abundant choices in the supermarket or juicy mangoes on the trees.

To wit, if you were to become magically capable of understanding your employees’ psychological drivers would you be able to motivate or better lead them? The answer might still be no, if the findings of reports such as Why Workers Won’t Work: A Case Study of Jamaica by Kenneth Carter are to be believed. Their performance has much to do with your actions, not their psychological state. Furthermore, due to COVID, we know that staff emotions are a roller-coaster.

Instead, try this: look for practical structures you are failing to craft. What are some actionable steps you should attempt? Here are 3 suggestions.

1 Construct Games at Scale

Many executives mistakenly believe that their employees won’t give discretionary effort. For them, the only thing that wakes them up is more money. Here’s a different twist: top leaders ruin engagement by diminishing gamified structures.

For example, on her way to the MD position, Rose had a mentor who helped her set one goal after another. Their regular meetings kept her on track, especially when she didn’t feel like giving an extra effort.

While it’s impossible to assign everyone a mentor, that’s not the point. The gamified approach to working unknowingly provided that added push Rose needed to stand out from her peers. In retrospect, she finds this hard to see, until she becomes a student of gamification.

Now, the game mechanics which she was lucky to benefit from are easier to appreciate: the measurable goals, the useful, timely feedback, the repeated challenges to hit the mark. And it’s not hard to notice where they are missing for employees, and where opportunities exist to insert them at will. In this context, luck plays a smaller role; intentional design becomes a tool.

Fortunately, in 2021 employees love gamified structure. When surveyed, they might not report this fact. But the most interesting parts of their lives are filled with the mechanics of good games: whether via sports, Instagram, or the church they attend. As such, they are living increasingly gamified lives, except for one place: their jobs. In MBA programmes, managers aren’t taught to manage a workforce of gamified employees.

As the CEO, teach your leaders how to set up games without using psychological language. With some creativity and commitment, they could become just as “sticky” as gambling addictions and video games.

2 Test Games

Managers who try gamification for the first time often adopt examples found in other environments. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find initial success being a copycat. Each corporate culture has its own dynamics which you must respect. But that’s no reason to surrender: instead, gamify your own gamification.

In other words, treat your effort to engage staff as a game for managers to play at the individual and collective levels. For example, within a particular department, encourage employee engagement experiments by supervisors. Reward the one who makes the most attempts, and the ones who succeed.

At the corporate level, promote games between departments to engage employees. But the intent here is not to crown a winner, but to determine which techniques work best. The fact is, the way to discover the handful of successful approaches is to learn from lots of failed experiments.

At a loss for what to gamify? Look for aspects of your work such as meetings and email that are hated across the board. When you construct your games around such public defects which affect everyone, you’ll be starting with areas of high commitment. They should sell themselves and have an impact because they are actually well-disguised improvement programmes. (Definitely don’t focus on pastimes or distractions such as dominoes, which are not included in business processes.)

If this all sounds like it’s easy, I assure you that this is not the case. In Caribbean companies, the challenges around engagement are deeply embedded in our region’s history and culture. However, the solutions do not require additional psychological insight, just strong doses of courage and creativity.

Why? In this case, the pathway to discovering what works runs through a thicket of things that don’t. You must be brave to deal with lots of failure in this area on your way to success. The good news is that if you endure, you’ll be creating practical solutions.

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Scheduling an Ordinary Strategic Planning Retreat? Cancel It.

Is your company preparing to conduct it’s customary annual retreat? You may want to scrap it and instead create a breakthrough event.

In the best of times, companies fall into a strategic planning rut. They follow the same routine each year, lulled into complacency by their accomplishments. The company’s leaders go through the motions, staying well within their comfort zones. Maybe this approach has worked for your company until now.

Consider the following: what if your pre-pandemic success occurred despite your lack of strategic planning? In other words, there could be other reasons your organization was successful. Perhaps the founders made smart choices, you exist as a monopoly or your competition is incompetent.

If you are “winning” over your competitors, there could still be a problem. Your entire industry might have lost its way and be under an invisible threat. Therefore, you could be renting video-tapes or making buggy-whips when the world is about to turn away from your offerings.

A very different approach to your strategic planning would be to start with the disruptions that COVID-19 has wrought. While it’s easy to fixate on the enormous obstacles on the road back to business as usual, here’s a thought experiment.

What if the pandemic were a room you have always lived in, with several doors? Suddenly, a number of them have opened while others have slammed shut. A few have remained the same.

Most companies are likely to treat this once-in-a-lifetime disruption as an obstacle to overcome. But what if you were to see it as a collection of doors: opportunities and dead-ends? If you were to do so, you may seize to chance to plan a new strategy in the following two ways.

1. A breakthrough event

Companies whose leaders long for a return to the “good old days” are the least likely to get themselves out of a strategic planning rut. They are probably accustomed to treating the activity as an everyday, low-stakes ritual. If this strikes a chord, use the opportunity to declare your next retreat, the one that creates proactive, game-changing plans.

While this may not be possible to achieve every year, there should be a clear distinction between major and minor opportunities. When there’s a big disruption, as there is now, go for a breakthrough retreat. If nothing much has changed, cancel the event. Pull out last year’s plan and perform some minor adjustments, showing your executives that there is a difference. But above all, make the decision early.

In the case of this particular pandemic, you probably may not have a choice. When multiple disruptions (e.g. health and economic) coincide, you must act differently. By design, move your leaders into a fresh zone of discomfort by putting them together in breakthrough planning sessions. Carefully arrange the activity so that a business-as-usual strategy becomes the most unlikely result.

This teaches your executives that all plans are not equal, and there are moments when a fresh initiative must be launched.

2. A technology refresh

Many executives prefer to have cozy, collegial retreats on the North Coast that resemble mini-vacations. However, important planning involves a series of difficult, high-stake conversations. They can be stressful, purposely throwing a spotlight on simmering disagreements.

When companies give in to the temptation to keep the peace, important decisions are just not made.

For example, many local firms still need to be convinced that the IT department should play a vital role in strategic planning. But this is understandable. Their ordinary IT employees may be preoccupied with issues such as laptop security. Big challenges like digital transformation remain out of reach. Consequently, it’s often difficult to incorporate IT, and doing so makes leaders uncomfortable.

However, today most agree that breakthrough strategic planning must include a view of technology. Unfortunately, it’s awkward to have digital transformation discussions at this level. Board and executive members are usually uninformed. But these vital discussions cannot be avoided.

In fact, the future will include more explorations of hard-to-understand technologies. Not less. And designing retreats to emphasize this reality has become mandatory. As such, your company must use long-term horizons of 10-30 years to take into account the full effect of new innovations.

This requirement frustrates many executives who find it painful to think in such terms. But planning for the distant future is essential in smashing the status quo with immediate actions.

If your organization doesn’t intend to produce a breakthrough plan at its next retreat, cancel it and modify your old one. Save your energy for when it’s really needed: a game-changing meeting of the minds that rethinks your company and industry. This activity could be the one that takes you into a new, unprecedented future.

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How to Say No and Become More Productive

Is there a way to turn down requests from other people and thereby increase your productivity? In the changing world we live in, you may have to say more No’s.

“If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.” This old saying has an element of truth: there are certain people who are able to manage scores or hundreds of tasks at a time, without a single one falling through the cracks. If they agree to add your task to their list, consider yourself privileged: there’s a high chance it will be done with quality.

However, experience suggests that the quote should be changed slightly to add a coda: “…but they are likely to say ‘No’.” The fact is that these busy people are black and white with their Yes’s and also their No’s. In order to reliably deliver, they must say “No” to many requests. Even worse, as their reputation grows, they turn down far more tasks than they accept.

As such, their calendar might be full. But what is it full of? Carefully curated tasks which they juggle with precision. They have balanced all the demands in their life and chosen the right blend of commitments. How are they able to pull off this trick?

1. Manage Tasks Using a List or Calendar

As you imagine, they don’t use memory to manage their tasks: there are too many. Instead, they have a system set up using lists and/or a calendar. They treat their tasks with importance and their time as a limited and precious resource. When someone asks them to complete a task, they don’t accept right away…they pause.

Their pregnant pause is not meant to be rude, but to consider, as a serious professional, what they should commit themselves to. Which prior commitments should be denied or postponed?

It’s a bit like visiting the doctor. Your medical practitioner doesn’t just tell you which medication to take based on your (supposed) list of symptoms. Instead, he/she performs a trained diagnosis. Their professional code of ethics guides them.

If there were such a code for the rest of us, it could be: “I don’t dispense time without careful consideration of all my commitments”. With a boss, for example, you may include the requestor in the decision, while showing him/her your calendar: “What should I put aside in order to complete this new task?”

This code-driven pause separates the novices from the practiced professionals.

2. Build Relationships

However, most of us are afraid to say “No” because we are taught, as children, to be nice or good, giving away our power to adults. We still fear the supposed fallout.

I have worked with top executives who routinely tell their ill-tempered bosses fake “Yes’s”. The result? Chaos. Eventually, the boss adapts by asking several people to do the exact same task.

To get past the fear at the root of the problem, author William Ury suggests the following approach to decline requests from anyone.

Step 1 – concretely describe your interests and values, while being as positive as possible

Step 2 – explicitly connect your “No” to your values/interests

Step 3 – explore other options to satisfy the request

For example: “This year I have committed to living a balanced life and making sure my son passes his GSAT’s. Tonight is set aside to help him, so I can’t be at your Zoom call. How about another night this week?”

For those who are productive, either a “Yes” or a “No” can build relationships. However, it takes skill to bring this off in real-time, under pressure from someone who is in power.

A long-term commitment to deliver better quality “No’s” only leads to more skill in this area.

3. Disavow Lesser Channels

In today’s remote environment, we receive requests via a number of channels. How do we respond effectively via text, video or audio when face-to-face communication is impossible?

The answer is to use the most interactive medium possible. If it means a video-chat or phone call, take the time needed. More interactive channels allow the opportunity to react in real-time.

However, if you must use text (the least preferred option), follow Ury’s formula. Do so and you’ll not only be protecting your calendar, but showing the respect that demonstrates your professionalism.

When they return to you with a future request, they’ll remember: you don’t play around with your commitments and you take care of people who approach you for help.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To search prior columns on productivity, strategy, engagement and business processes, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

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Secrets of Task Management

How can you manage your tasks in a way that allows you to escape overwhelm? There are certain invisible principles you need to use to stay on top of an expanding workload. When known, they dramatically change your career for the better.

However, no-one teaches us the importance of managing our tasks skillfully. It’s usually discovered in the breach: when life isn’t working the way we want and we scramble for answers. Instead, most live on auto-pilot, never questioning why they do things the way they do. Let’s make some of these secrets conscious.

Secret 1 – Tasks Come from the Inside

What is a task? In its purest form, it belongs to a class of “psychological objects” that can’t be touched or seen, but still have an emotional weight. That’s because they come from within: each one is born when you quietly assign yourself an action to be completed in the future.

This is a self-taught practice. Around the age of seven, someone teaches you how to tell time. You realize it’s a great resource and start to create tasks which can only be executed later.

At first, all this takes place in your mind. Before long, you have developed a daily habit of creating mental commitments, even though the initial number of tasks is small. After all, that’s what a child’s parents and teachers are for: to remind them what they need to do.

But as you enter adolescence and adulthood, things change.

Secret 2 – Only Kids Should Be Using Memory

If you have ever worked with a full adult who regularly fails to do the tasks they intend, you may agree that they have a “bad memory”. This is probably true.

But it obscures a bigger problem: they are using the memory-based techniques of a child, rather than the grown-up methods of an adult. Here’s why so many get stuck.

As I mentioned, you are a self-taught task manager. However, as you grew out of your teenage years, the number of tasks increased, but your approach remained the same: to habitually use your memory.

Before long, you started to experience problems. Overwhelm crept in as you struggled to prevent promises from being broken and appointments from being missed. The harder you tried to remember, the worse things became.

Perhaps you got lucky and a parent or friend intervened, or maybe you figured out the changes you needed to make on your own. Instead of relying on memory, you began to write down all your tasks on paper or a smartphone. In either case, you stopped trying to use a Band Aid to heal an amputation, and switched your approach for the better.

The fact is, most adults have lives which are too complex to be using their memories for task management. However, most of us still complain about having a poor memory for our tasks, long after we should have given up that method.

Pro Tip: you can evaluate the capacity of a teammate by observing his/her reliance on memory for important tasks.

Secret 3 – Migrating to Better Tools

Most professionals understand the need to switch from memory to the use of written commitments (or even the employment of an administrative assistant). However, they don’t realize that this should be the first of many transformations. Research shows that your appetite to manage more tasks is insatiable: successful solutions lead to greater task loads.

These volume increases inevitably make you hit new limits. Consequently, whenever you experience symptoms of overwhelm and other task management problems, you should analyze your current combination of tools and behaviors. They must be upgraded to keep up with an increased number of tasks.

Unfortunately, this is simpler than it sounds. For example, you might recall the age when you shifted to writing down your tasks on an aid like Post-It notes. Since then, you moved on to using digital tools, but let’s imagine that you recently started noticing that familiar feeling of falling behind.

You may be tempted to believe that a return to Post-It notes would help, but here’s the surprise: it won’t. That approach was useful at a lower task volume, but cannot fit your adult life.

Now, you must perform a fresh analysis of your entire self-taught system. Look for small changes to make which together can give you brand new, added capacity. Do the research and experiment with different suggestions and technologies before settling on an upgraded approach.

But the best benefit is that now you’ll know that whenever you feel overwhelmed, the answer is never to revert to what worked for you in the past. Instead, you must go forward to adopt behaviors which are suitable for a future of even more tasks, and less overwhelm.

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Overcoming COVID’s Communication Gaps

As a leader, has the advent of “working from home” distanced you from your employees? As a result, have you witnessed unwanted behaviors? Perhaps you have even realized the unexpected: workers who are actually worse off.

In some companies, we have noticed a surprising phenomenon: Employees who had a good relationship with the organization’s leaders before COVID are now becoming fearful of the same executives. In other words, a certain anxiety has arisen.

It’s led to many staff members working longer and harder, but this added effort doesn’t come from a healthy place. Ultimately, this behaviour does more harm than good because it’s being driven in a way that’s just not sustainable.

The Problem

The average Jamaican worker operates in a perpetual state of low anxiety. The proof? Managers who arrive here from other countries notice talented individuals acting like victims. Furthermore, many of our workers thrive when they migrate to more supportive environments.

On a daily basis, local staff members cope with their fears by developing a heightened sensitivity towards the “Big Man” or “Boss Lady”. Outsiders are shocked to see the deference our employees give to powerful people, going out of their way to elevate and “Big Them Up”.

For example, staff members in some organizations know exactly where the top manager is at all times: when she is absent, work comes to a halt. In others, people scan the CEO’s demeanour to understand his mood. If he is on the warpath, they broadcast the news internally, and warn their colleagues to act accordingly.

But these are all just survival techniques. Our workers developed these habits because executives embody a threat to their well-being. As in slavery, the wrong word from the wrong leader can lead to dire outcomes: public shame, disrespect and separation.

While the exact coping mechanisms vary, their intent is the same: to relieve the state of anxiety. And to some degree, they succeed.

The Pandemic’s Impact

Enter COVID-19 and the mandate to work from afar. Some are thriving: they have escaped the scrutiny of micro-managers and enjoy a fresh freedom to be productive.

However, most are not accustomed to the new disconnection from their organization’s leadership. Now, they are left to their own thoughts and worst fears: a bad thing. Here’s why it happens.

The fact is, the average worker is a social creature: closely linked to other people in the workplace with whom they can share informal interactions all day long. Any scary news or rumors were (before COVID) moderated by the presence of their colleagues, even if no words were passed. At a glance, one could gather critical information by simply observing the environment.

Furthermore, if the CEO happened to walk through the company, staff could feel comforted by her proximity, reducing their anxiety. The quality of her “Good Morning” and the quickness of her pace communicated valuable messages. Questions like “Will I be fired today?” dissipated with her smile.

With new work from home norms (such as Zoom) all these emotional supports have disappeared. In fact, staff is spending more time in meetings than ever before. Perhaps it’s all an effort to compensate for the lack of informal communication which has fueled rumours and driven up anxiety.

Creating the Contact People Need

In a radical departure from the past, some are suggesting that the physical workplace should be retained…but only as a place to socialize. By contrast, an employees’ focused, productive efforts should occur at home, where they are free of distractions. The original purpose of the two locations should be swapped.

But that’s futuristic, post COVID thinking. We can’t follow this prediction today because of the pandemic. What can be done in the meantime?

Some companies have responded by creating informal gatherings between employees. These are opportunities for their people to enjoy each other’s company without a business agenda. Apps like Remo and Airmeets are built for these kinds of interactions, offering far more possibilities than the average meeting software.

However, the most important chats are not with peers, but with superiors. These can be implemented to prevent a rise in anxiety. In spite of busy schedules, some companies are including executives in game nights, cocktail hours, joint training and other gatherings. These are designed, scripted activities (not just random hangouts) which are meant to reduce the emotional distance from bottom to top.

In this context, these informal, but intentional, interactions between leaders and staff serve an important purpose: they help compensate for a cultural challenge in the Jamaican workplace. Together, they provide a way for companies to avoid a predictable spike in employee anxiety in pandemic times. It’s a corporate tactic suited for the distance we’re forced to maintain.

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Is Your Company Pivoting Fast Enough?

While no-one thinks that business-as-usual will take you through these tumultuous times, how can you tell if your organization is transforming quickly enough to earn a place among the survivors? Are you watching for signs that reveal the truth about the pace of your digital transformation?

Recently, my wife and I visited the optician. Unfortunately, buying glasses was the last thing on our minds. We only needed prescriptions because we intended to try an online service: Zenni Optical.

Together, we ended up spending about two fun hours on their website, trying on 20-30 frames each. How is that done virtually? The company takes a short video of your head as it moves from side to side. Then, it superimposes whatever frame you choose from its vast inventory, as you vary the colour and fit. All you need to provide is your prescription to place the order.

They offer a 30-day return guarantee, and added features such as sunglass clip-ons, tinting and various coatings. Not only did I spend more time than I ever have trying different options, but I also ordered two pairs. The total price? Less than US$100. My package arrived yesterday and with it, my first new glasses in over a decade.

If I owned a local store, or made a living selling glasses, I’d read the above story with a sense of dread. This particular digital transformation delivers the same product at the end of the day, but disrupts the traditional choosing and ordering experience. Will the optician’s office of the future consist of a doctor, a computer screen, and a MailPac account?

Arguably, if an owner of a store selling glasses doesn’t already have a strategic plan that involves a dramatic pivot, he/she should prepare to close up shop. It may be too late.

But how about your industry? Are you planning to deliver superior value to your customers at dramatically better prices? Or faster? Here are three simple steps to take in 2021 to ensure that you end the year as a survivor.

1. Drive a Specific Vision, Not a Mad Scramble

Granted, in 2020 we were all caught in a harem-scarem dash to save our companies. But now that the dust has settled, don’t sit back and wait for the next disruption to come along.

In fact, if you haven’t defined a detailed mid to long-term destination such as the 25-year vision Grace Kennedy crafted in 1995, you could be in trouble. Perhaps your stakeholders, tiring of the non-stop drama, may already be asking: “Why bother?” or “What’s the point?”

Reacting to one crisis or opportunity after another is exhausting, even if you do so successfully. Eventually, customers, employees and shareholders start looking for alternatives. In fact, you should reject their blind “loyalty” as a temporary glitch. It only lulls you into complacency, while delaying their inevitable withdrawal. Keep them engaged by redrawing and communicating your preferred vision of the future.

2. Find the Best Role Models

Companies often relax their efforts to hit world-class levels, arguing that Jamaican customers are willing to accept a lower standard. The truth is, my optician’s customer service has been falling for years, evidenced by the sour looks we received when we informed them of our intentions to purchase elsewhere.

My advice? Forget about local competitors. Instead, find the world-leader, then push yourself to believe that it’s coming to Jamaica soon. Now, build your transformation plans around that presumption, aiming to pivot your business more quickly than others can.

This may mean adding capabilities few understand or appreciate. For example, not a single person knew how to operate a SIM card mobile phone before Digicel’s entry. However, the value became apparent, so everyone learned; even those who couldn’t read or write.

3. Use the Best Pivot Process

I recall working with a board of directors which decided, in its wisdom, to reduce its average age over time by 10 years. The logic was brutal: it desperately needed young blood.

This kind of tough approach might not fit your company, but it’s not enough to say “No.” You must create a change plan that works for your environment, and delivers the result you want. In other words, you need to manage the transformation in all its dimensions so that you don’t miss a step.

Consider: if your organization is lacking the right vision, outstanding role models, and a credible change process, then you are sewing the seeds of your obsolescence.

The harsh logic is that people are seeking value from wherever it may be found, just as they always have. New technology simply fast-forwards their search, disrupting everything.

Today we are witnessing the destruction of industries at an unprecedented rate. You must pivot fast to keep up.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To search prior columns on productivity, strategy, engagement and business processes, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

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Signs of an Unhealthy Probation

Years ago, I mistakenly worked for someone I shouldn’t have. Since then, I have wondered: could I have foreseen what transpired? Were there early warning signs I overlooked?

Abundant research shows that employees don’t leave companies; they leave bad managers. We need look no further than the outgoing White House, with its record high turnover, to find an outstanding example. Many high-profile staffers depart (and have left) amidst a storm of tweeted insults.

I had a manager who did the same: publicly bad-mouthing me to others long after we had parted ways. Since then, I have scoured my memory to determine what the predictors of an unhealthy relationship with a boss might be. After all, if I could see them happening in real-time, I could confront them, knowing that they never go away by themselves.

Anyone who is considering a new position can do the same. For most jobs, companies offer a probationary period to test an employee’s suitability. In their eagerness to please, few new hires consciously realize it’s also a unique opportunity to ask: “Are there early warning signs of an incompetent manager who will eventually make my life miserable?” While these aren’t easy to pick up, here are three red flags you should look out for on your next assignment.

1. Being Liked

Arguably, it’s a natural desire to want to be liked, but becoming a competent manager involves outgrowing this everyday tendency. Over time, good managers learn to place the welfare of others and the mission of the company above their own need to be accepted.

In this context, a probationary period is a chance to see what your manager does under stressful situations. Will they stick to principles, or give in to the weakness to say and do things which are popular, or avoid getting themselves into trouble…all in order to be liked?

If you witness your manager “throwing people under the bus” i.e. blaming others in order to be liked or accepted, watch out. It’s safe to assume that the worst treatment meted out to others will one day be directed at you.

But this doesn’t mean that your manager is a “bad” person. They may be very well-intentioned…and completely clueless. Your task in this phase is to uncover the raw truth about their competence and act accordingly, setting aside any wishful thinking so you can take decisive action.

2. Looking Good

Another faulty behaviour to watch out for are those intended to make a manager look good…at all costs. There are many variants of the theme: some focus on physical objects such as their clothing, cars and houses. Others try to show off using their kids or spouse. A few lord their intellectual or artistic achievements.

It all amounts to a relentless campaign to compete with, defeat, and dominate those around them. As a new employee, if your manager uses you as a tool to further his/her ego-based objective, it’s corrosive.

Why? The moment will eventually come when you make a mistake. If your manager’s reaction under pressure seems bombastic (i.e. out of proportion), he/she may be putting the welfare of others in the back seat. Instead, their efforts to avoid looking bad include a tendency to become abusive.

3. Not Stepping Up as the Owner

As a new employee, perhaps the most difficult (but important) trait to detect in your manager surrounds taking responsibility. It’s a skill many managers struggle with, finding it to be unnatural. After all, it flies in the face of self-protective human behaviour which is so essential to our basic survival.

In fact, holding oneself publicly accountable equates to putting oneself in harm’s way…at risk. The act of doing so on a continuous basis is the very definition of a capable manager.

Yet, it remains a tricky behavior for employees to flag, especially early in their careers. Here’s a useful shortcut: observe if your manager apologizes sufficiently when he/she makes a mistake. You’ll be able to know by measuring the degree to which the apology restores the trust and goodwill that existed before the error was made.

In fact, if you work for a manager who publicly apologizes for a mistake you (not him/her) made, pay attention. Their resistance to the temptation to hang you out to dry, may indicate that you have a true winner.

This positive “warning” sign may mean that you shouldn’t leave. However, if all you can sense are the other incompetencies listed above, consider your probation a success: you have detected a manager you should probably quit.

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Are you falling behind on LinkedIn?

To many, LinkedIn is just another social network like Facebook and Twitter, with a bit more business emphasis. This view understates its importance. COVID-19 has helped make the very opposite true today: as a professional you cannot afford to either be outdated on, or missing from, the platform.

To whit: around this time last year, I viewed LinkedIn as an annoying requirement of modern professional life. I didn’t like using it, but reasoned that I needed to do so in order to keep up. Now, by contrast, I engage in regular weekly practices I simply couldn’t imagine doing a few months ago.

But these aren’t routine tasks I could do elsewhere. In fact, they can only be done on LinkedIn at scale…nowhere else. This exclusivity means that you must consider the app to be part of your professional arsenal. Here are a few examples why.

1. Online Advertising as a Novice

In 2020, I discovered that, contrary to my US experience, advertising to Caribbean audiences on LinkedIn was quite inexpensive and effective. For example, if you want a way to promote your services to “female technology VP’s in St Kitts”, paid outreach on LinkedIn is by far the best way to reach this narrow segment.

I also learned that the platform’s ads do more than “sell” – they build relationships, an all-important ingredient in the

Caribbean. In other words, these promotions allow you to create bridges to people who don’t know you personally, and construct the “weak ties” research shows are critical in business.

During COVID-19, this method has become a requirement.

However, there’s catch. Online advertising on social networks is no easy task. While I had done some testing in the past, this year I finally invested the time needed to move beyond the novice stage.

I experienced a painful learning curve. For example, I had to figure out how to focus on the handful of features which are required vs. those which are nice to have. This is a big challenge given the barrage of options you face as a beginner.

2. Events and the Changing Limits

In 2019, I couldn’t say if LinkedIn offered event management. Fast forward…and by the new year, I will have sent 10,000+ individual invitations to webinars and conferences.

What happened?

By a stroke of luck, I stumbled across the platform’s revamped event feature, which at one point allowed me to invite as many connections as I wanted. Now, the company has caught on and imposed a limit of 1,000 people per occasion. While this has cost me dearly, they have added a new element – bulk invitations – which makes the task easier.

This free function is perfect for these pandemic times in which all of us need to up-level our skills, via online methods of learning. Today, we just don’t have a choice if we hope to remain relevant.

As such, through its events feature, LinkedIn offers a unique, scalable business service.

3. Networking

Old-style networking involved meeting people in person and handing out business cards in the hope of being remembered. COVID-19 halted this approach.

Today, there’s no easier way than LinkedIn to build a trusted network. Furthermore, exchanging useful information for mutual benefit becomes a fruitful game to be played over decades, leveraging the platform’s ability to create relationships at scale.

Unfortunately, if your account is out of date or you don’t even have one, you risk sending a silent message: “I don’t care about building relationships.”

While you may think that the way you use LinkedIn is a matter of style, the effect of your actions has now moved out of your hands. Whereas a preference not to employ that platform could have been a personal quirk a few years ago, today it’s fast becoming the digital equivalent of “never carrying my business cards” or “not believing in resumes.”

In other words, it’s weird.

The fact is, all the practices I have mentioned above are new norms over which you have little influence. Everything you do online (or fail to do) sends a message. Consequently, I have personally declined to refer colleagues for opportunities with serious people due to a missing or mismanaged profile. I just pick someone else and keep moving.

My fear is that if you have decided LinkedIn isn’t important, you may not be paying attention to the latest developments. If so, stop falling behind and get into the game, setting aside any tired pre-conceptions. Instead, adapt to an emerging reality you can’t afford to ignore and take the necessary actions to bring yourself up to date.

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How to Persuade an Audience Productively

Do you have the challenge of persuading an audience in either a speech or the written word? Here’s a useful outline I have adapted for use in the background of my talks and articles, including this one.

Psychologists tell us that when people are being influenced by ideas, it’s just not a random activity. Instead, they follow a rather predictable process, especially in live gatherings. The core notion is that a group being influenced journeys from one psychological space to another, almost like running around the bases in softball, hitting each of them in sequence. Following this theory, here are four major phases to use, inspired by speaker-trainer Pete Vargas.

Hearts

The first phase of persuasive communication is designed to address an emotional need. Usually, at the very beginning, an attendee is preoccupied with a “Why should I listen?” question. While it can be logically explained, the best speakers/writers evoke an emotional response, starting with their very first words.

Some begin with a question designed to spur curiosity. Notice that I used this approach in this article; it happens to be the one I use most often. Others give a startling statistic or quote. A few are brave enough to tell stories.

Unfortunately, too many stammer out irrelevant pleasantries to “break the ice”: thanking various people, introducing themselves, dropping anecdotes. They mistakenly believe that it’s impolite to start with a bang.

Yet, this is the best moment to make a heart-to-heart connection, before phones take away people’s attention. If you can follow your opening by evoking their experience of the problem, and how you have struggled with it, all the better.

Finally, Jamaican listeners and readers yearn to connect with each other. Find a way to bridge the gap between members of your audience, taking away the anxiety of feeling as if they are alone.

This first phase ends when the emotional connection has been made. It could occupy 25% of the time available.

Heads

The next question people ask is related to your Big Idea – the “how”. This is the logic behind your thinking – the new approach you are advocating that they have never heard.

Here, you are building a fresh case. Use research data, historical facts, and stories to share ideas that can pierce their logical minds. Assume that they are usually a bit cynical: quick to dismiss your message to the “same-old-stuff” category.

Try to spend about 40-60% of your speech in this phase – it’s the one people will share with others and use to justify their future course of action. They may not mention how you made them feel, but they will remember data such as the percentages I have quoted in this article.

This phase ends when their heads are nodding with understanding, showing they are ready to move on.

Hands

Arguably, your call to action (which takes place in this phase) is the most practical part of your communication. Here, you appeal to your audience to act to fulfill the promise of your Big Idea.

As such, this is not the time to be subtle or obtuse. Instead, create a picture of their future selves and ask them to make a concrete, visible commitment. It could be an altar call, a book purchase, a website download or something that doesn’t involve you at all, such as a sequence of steps.

Once they have been asked to act, you have set the stage for a powerful ending.

Hearts

The final 10% is a return to emotions. This is where you can continue a personal story or ask them to envision the person they’ll be once they take action. If you are able to create a connection to the feelings evolved at the start, even better.

The point here is to summon the emotional commitment needed to be successful going forward. After all, you are setting them loose to try your Big Idea in the real world full of resistance, resignation and cynicism – even if it’s their own. They’ll need to be strong to avoid the friction and distractions involved with the introduction of anything new.

Consider this to be a serious challenge. At the heart of your need to persuade should be an authentic commitment to make a life-changing difference. As someone who has stepped up, hold yourself accountable and be a contribution.

In other words, don’t commit the error of “just” giving a “small speech” or a “few remarks”. Every time you stand in front of a microphone, or put pen to paper, you have a sacred duty. You are not just a noisemaker.

Instead, honour your wildest dreams in which your words help people transform their lives, even if you’re only delivering a wedding toast. After all, you only need a single person to respond postively to know that it was worth the effort.

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Will Your Church or NGO Survive the Pandemic?

Are you concerned that your church or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) may not survive the combined punches of a pandemic and a recession? You should be. But there’s much you can do to intervene and turn things around.

Most of us can appreciate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on industries such as education, entertainment, hotels and restaurants. But there are other effects being felt in two sectors which have traditionally drawn strength from live gatherings of volunteers. Now that large assemblies have been banned, churches and NGO’s are threatened as never before by recent, unstoppable trends.

The Threat to Churches

While your church is primarily seen as a place of worship, let’s assume it’s also an organization subject to the same requirements as others: it needs manpower and funding to maintain its operations.

In particular, the Saturday or Sunday morning service plays not only a spiritual role, but it also serves a commercial activity: fund-raising. Traditionally, this has been driven by donations from live attendees.

In any recession, its elders would expect a dip but this one is different. Their primary channel of creating value has been severely and indefinitely curtailed.

This has led to a dramatic change in behaviour on behalf of would-be congregants, particularly those who are lukewarm – the majority. Now, instead of putting on their Sunday best and sitting on a pew for the better part of the day, they are engaging in alternatives.

Some are watching their home church’s services online. Via Google Search, others have switched to more fulfilling broadcasts in other parts of the world. More than a few are simply distracted by social media, the news, exercise, giving the children extra lessons and other activities.

The fact is, they are all picking up new habits which will become quite hard to disrupt once the ban on assembling is lifted. Consequently, your church’s recent drop in donated income may not be temporary. Neither is the reduction in attendance. And, even when the bans lift, your elders will still have a recession to contend with.

The Threat to NGO’s

The challenge many NGO’s face is a bit different: it includes their leaders. They don’t have the benefit of a permanent pastor and probably elects new executives every year or two.

Traditionally, each incoming leader body learns its function from the one prior, primarily via face-to-face meetings. Its regular activities and fundraising events have also always been in-person. So has its AGM where dues are collected and elections are conducted.

COVID-19 has taken all of these away. Now, the leadership must engage using unfamiliar online tools like Zoom. In many NGO’s, retirees play an important role but they are least likely to use such tools.

Unfortunately, the sum of these shifts threaten the existence of many churches and NGO’s. Some have not responded well, going into hibernation; a wait-and-see approach. Their hope is that things will return to “normal” someday soon.

Hopefully, your organization realizes this urgent, existential threat and plans to devise a new strategy. Here are some steps to take.

1. Craft New Commercial Strategies, Abandon the Old

While your church or NGO may have built its existence on long, stable traditions, consider this a call to re-think everything. A mission of “Continuing our Tradition” might need to be replaced.

Now, you must define a fresh destination, one that will appeal to a highly distractible audience wary of in-person gatherings. This should mean looking 5-10-30 years to the future to craft the details of a vision in which you are unique in meeting your followers’ needs.

Once your end-point has been defined, fill in the steps to be followed over the time period. On the commercial side, use metrics such as members, donations and special event income to show where your growth will come from. Include milestones along the way which describe the path to follow.

2. Draft New Skills

If your board lacks the skills necessary, co-opt younger persons who have them. For example, if none of your leaders have regularly attended a range of virtual services, include someone who has. Ask them for help in defining new ways to add value which appeal to Millennials and successive generations.

Time is of the essence. Don’t delay because of pride. Instead, assume the worse: that Jamaica won’t have a vaccine or achieve herd immunity until after 2021.

To save your organization from extinction in the meantime, forsake any wishful thinking and embrace the fact that there are irreversible trends at play which are moving against you. Rally your members and show them that this isn’t about a temporary convenience but an entirely new way to fulfill your mission.