Work Re-Worked

 

The world is learning to live with Covid and some employers are learning new tricks to turn the significant fallout from the pandemic into an equally significant opportunity to create more, build more, sell more to healthier, happier societies.

Some have been keen to embrace a shift forward with new and hybrid working structures, while others are still grappling to find their comfort zone somewhere between their old school regimes, TWT work weeks (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) and the changes imposed on them by governments or shrinking talent pools.

Yet, there is a key component to any work structure or system… the Human element.

I am referring to the workforce that we have neglected, abused and anonymised in the name of efficiency and bottom-lines and yet here we are again agonising over what to do with our Human Resources and wondering if we should hire $10k/day consultants to come up with yet another mash-up of what hasn’t worked before.

A friend advising a major insurance group recently asked if I knew a ‘Millennial HR Specialist’… I first laughed before quickly realising that hiring and retaining certain age groups has become a ‘thing’ and somehow age has created whole new species of humans… Gen X, Y, Z and then I guess Gen Z 2.5…? Not so sure.



Life is a struggle. Work needn’t be.

From our first steps on planet earth, humans have worked around life’s relentless challenges whether from a desk, a cave or up a tree. There’s nothing new about working to help meet our needs from finding safe shelter all the way up to finding nirvana.

Human genius is what got us down from the tree to work in groups to hunt and gather, it got the Mesopotamians to read and write all the way to walking on the moon. Our greed also led us to treat others as fair game and send millions to war, down mine shafts and into sweat shops.

I believe it is human ingenuity, and not greed, that can make us work better and struggle less. We can earn more and live more without the manic panic of spilt Latte Mylk on the way to work, or shouting at a white van that crossed into your cycle lane.



Two Built-in Fundamentals

I believe there are two built-in fundamentals that should underpin whatever new way we choose to work better for a happier and healthier life for us, our families and our communities:

# 1 Fundamental – We are Social Animals.

Let’s rewind; for the last 300,000 years, we homo sapiens (yes, that is us humans) have been and will be for some time, social animals who need to engage face to face, shake hands, rub noses, share food together and dance.

Everything else we do over social media and within the virtual bubble is nothing more than coping mechanisms we have adopted in the absence of physical proximity to achieve the same objective and meet our built-in need to establish social connections! Nothing more and nothing less.



# 2 Fundamental – Life is not Work.

The second fundamental exists in the tired adage of Work vs. Life Balance and the very blurred lines where the boundaries were supposed to be… Covid lockdowns couldn’t come any sooner for many to help re-establish those boundaries. While others found themselves slipping rapidly deeper into office hours that stretched more than their new Lycra home-office uniforms.

The balance within the Work vs. Personal Space can always be tweaked to suit the job in hand. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that such balance in inherently built into the work structure. Stunts such as Pyjama Fridays and annual charity cycle is not for everyone and hardly touches the sides of what really matters to people’s everyday lives; walking the dog or picking up kids from school.



In a nutshell.

People want to earn more and play more and with the least effort. Yet, life comes with struggle and work should help us to mitigate it; not compound it.

We have always had the brains to recognise our DNA-rooted need to explore, question, collaborate and progress. This is done by real communities through genuine social connections, organised hard work and lots of playtime.

Our point of discussion is not just how to work but how to live.

Is your business 'user-friendly'...? 😃

First, here are some typical answers you hear...

"Absolutely. Never had a complaint..."

"Customers seem to be happy as they keep coming back..."

"Yeah, but the market is so bad, it makes no difference how friendly we are..."

"Customers expect efficient service, not a red balloon!"

Now, let's go back to the question... what do we mean by "user-friendly"?

As long as you provide products and services and you can expect customers to evaluate the experience of dealing with you and your team just as they do every time they open an App on their iPhone or visit Amazon's website.

Agree? then here are a handful of tips burrowed from the world of User Experience (UX) to keep in mind and keep you "user-friendly" towards greater customer loyalty.

>>Accessible
Answer the phone... and reply to emails on the same day and be nice! customers and prospects need to be able to reach you easily and as directly as possible and irrespective of how big or small they may be or what they're calling about.

You may not have all the information they need straight away but you can at least acknowledge their call/email and offer a reasonable but definitive lead time to respond in full.

Culturally, we have moved a long way away from writing letters or listening to lift music for 20 minutes to speak to someone who may or may not help with our queries.

The point here is to remove barriers where possible and engage with a potential sale before someone else does. If you have to, certainly invest in Bots and other online tools such as webinars to engage with your market and let people access you wherever they are and at the time of their choice. 


>>Useful/valuable
Make sure your services and products are relevant to your market's needs and in line with customers' expectations. Just because you've had a good run of it so far, that doesn't mean you will continue to be current and as useful as you were last year.

Give yourself a reality check every so often to see where you stand within your field and your market. What are you offering? and why is that useful to whom? is that enough...? or can you do more...? when was the last time you asked yourself those questions or, more importantly, asked your clients? (testimonials from friends and family don't count!)

>>Credible
Be consistent and transparent with your brand, your identity and what you do for a living. A business that chooses anonymity and hides behind generic websites, for example, are not serving their best interest credibility.

Customers need to know who you are, see your team and trust in the work you have done for others; they need to know that you exist in the flesh and not some off-grid outfit selling vapourware.

Oh and please be consistent... Still can't believe how lackadaisical people can be when sending out information or providing a service with different formats, duplication, lead-times, and prices.  Imagine using the calculator on your smartphone and every time you get a different result to 2+2... if you're promising a '4', then stick to that and keep well within your customers' expectations. Give them a different result and you've lost them for good. 

>>DesirableSpend time to understand what drives people to choose you over others. This is different from 'useful/valuable' and is all down to the image you project and how that sits with your clients or those who you'd like to be your clients.

A dirty beaten up van will not inspire people to use you to move their furniture...

Need to learn more? I am happy to chat further and see how I can help to ensure that your business is as 'user-friendly' as possible. Please contact me on hayder@fekaiki.com.

Business Shouldn't be a Roller Coaster

Not many of us actually operate amusement parks or make roller coasters, yet many business leaders love to talk about market conditions, Brexit or customers for turning their business into a daredevil ride. Going from the highs of all-hands-on-deck to the lows of 're-structuring' or getting a new logo...; because that's somehow going to bring more business...?!

Yes, world economies have caused us all a rougher ride in recent years but equally, business owners can always do more to maintain better-qualified prospects, more active sales pipeline, and a healthy order book.

Put it simply, better management controls and greater strategic focus will significantly improve your chances of success without worrying too much about macroeconomic factors, a fall in the Yen and, of course, running out of cash because your client's MD went on her annual leave before signing off the cheque run for this month...

So, here a fistful of nuggets...

Business Development is NOT sales!

Before you kickup about how you do things, just humor me for now as I'm trying to make a broader point 😅

It is commonly believed that BD and Sales are one and the same which is understandable from a layman's point of view. But business leaders need to treat them as separate roles/functions before they start having unrealistic expectations and get the whole team coming up with excuses for failure or worse, leave.

Let's explain. Business Development is the job of accurately identifying prospects (person and company), making the right approach, qualifying them for needs, decision-making, and budget before handing over to the sales team to negotiate and close the deal. 

Sales teams objectives would be to negotiate, upsell and seal the deal soon after being briefed by the business development team. Sales gets the job done!

This distinction probably is more relevant to B2B businesses yet it is still important to make it even with a single team given different tasks to achieve more sales.


Build your Pipeline
No kidding. You'd be surprised how many businesses think they're too small to have one or talk about having a sales pipeline but a closer look shows data that is sketchy, littered with duplicated, out of date or otherwise not answering the simple question; where will the next deal come from? and when?

This is not about which platform you use or how cool your dashboard looks... it's about applying diligent and programmatic management of your prospects and deals with accurate data, realistic assumptions, lateral thinking to cultivate and nurture cold leads and, crucially, brutal culling of deadwood. 


What's your Strategy...Really?
Clear and strong strategies sell. They sell because you can show your strengths, methods and values without ambiguity and achieve 'fit' straightaway with those who genuinely need you and would want to buy from you.

Whether you're Amazon or a cafe, you must do something better than the competition... sure you do. Defining that strength, the way you go about your business and why you believe in that is the foundation of your strategy.

Think it through and spell it out as clearly and concisely as possible.

So, up your game and start thinking seriously about refining your strategy to reflect who you really are and what you're really capable of... it's not the aspirational waffle that most have on their websites or brochures.

Start with these and you'll care far less about Brexit... surely that's worth the hassle!?

The Art of Failure

Failure can be such taboo that even I had doubts writing about such a fundamental element of success. Yet it is imperative that we understand and embrace the concept of failure as a means to success and how well we must fail. 

Therefore, let's not waste time chasing rainbows on unicorns of our past successes or, even worse, those of our pied piper role models. Rather, let's better understand failure and the true value of risk we sometimes avoid in the pursuit of success. 

Have a vision, plan with diligence, assess the risks, jump! ... and if you fail, live long enough to know why and how you failed.

Failure and how well you recover from it is your true tested capacity and ability to succeed. Your strength resides within the knowledge, skills, and insights gained from experiencing failure, not success. 

Failure inoculates and empowers you to leap forward rather than tip-toe your way with 'baby-steps' while clutching self-improvement manuals and repeating vacuous mantras by business guru's... most of whom are busy writing, yet, another recipe for success from their veranda in Fiji...

Nobel-Prize winner and my preferred guru on the subject, Daniel Kahneman, wrote on "Delusion of Success..."  and the factors that lead to, sometimes, epic failures. As a thought-leader in Behavioural Economics, Kahneman warns entrepreneurs against 'optimism bias' leading to unrealistic expectations founded largely on previous successes rather than diligence in assessing current market conditions or own abilities and resources to repeat triumphs of yesteryears.

God forbid, you have a 'serial winner' in a leadership position forging forth with a cloak of invincibility taking even greater risks on-behalf of his employers and employees. The bigger their successes, the greater potential of bias clouding every decision they make and, worse, every decision others endorse and follow at board level and beyond. This was also identified by Psychologist Edward Thorndike as the 'Halo Effect' where military leaders were left unchallenged by subordinates who believed in the invincibility of their charismatic and 'could-do-no-wrong' heroes. History is full of examples which I shall leave to you to research.

Failure is not an option but an inevitable fact of life which. If approached correctly, failures are your best self-help book or seminar... it is our best source to listen to on everything we need to know about us and the way we operate with the elements... 

In business, we need to instill a culture at ease with itself and diligent in analysing failure with intent to learn, innovate and grow with resilience, courage, and intelligence.

So..., if we fail... let's fail well.

Behavioural Economics; We Buy Emotionally and Justify Intelligently

This may sound like pop generalisation but one cannot ignore the science behind it and the debate since the 18th Century. We all liketo think that our buying and selling is mostly driven by careful rationalisation and well-carried out due diligence... but the facts show other hidden, and quite irrational, forces at work.

Mere mortals like us tend to rely heavily on 'rules of thumb', stereo type and perceived value of discounts or 2-4-1s to spend our money... before working on protecting our decision from buyer's remorse or, worse, criticism from those who we allow to judge us..

Nobel Laurette Daniel Kahneman imposes...

“The confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence but of the coherence of the story the mind has managed to construct.”

This made me question what drives our choices as individuals and as institutions and ultimately as an economy? 

In searching for the answer, I found myself in a world that combined psychological with economic sciences to deliver conclusions under the title of Behavioural Economics.
So imagine, if we choose to buy and sell under the often irrational influence of perceived benefit and value then imagine whole economies driven that way... what does that mean in terms of predicting the market if it rained tomorrow?

Change: What got you here won't get you there...

Always easier said then done and, sorry but, change is the only constant in business and in life...to burrow yet another cliché. Business needs to keep up or die in a fast-moving markets and in the case of retail, the change could not be more evident and significant. Just take a cursory look at our high streets and count the number of cafes and charity shops replacing national chains which not so long ago had replaced our beloved corner shops and other independents.

So what's new?Well, nothing really especially when it comes to the business of change management. SMEs and multinationals alike appear to be left behind as they fail to crack the code of change. No amount of developmental seminars, change consultants or armies of dew-eyed MBAs armed with manuals could prevent Kodak, Dunlop and 1000's of others lesser known but long-successful businesses go to the ground with a thump.

And?To survive is to accept the need for change yet we must equally figure out the answers to the what, when and how to demystify all that is involved in the process. As a business coach, it is my job to first work together with my clients to build the business case for change and help them adopt a clear, realistic and iterative approach that delivers change they want where impact is practical and significant. It is very attractive for business owners and coaches to rush to the other side of the hill where new technology, business processes and structures promise to deliver windfalls of customers or double-figure productivity gains. Seen it way too often and have been guilty of the same as a business owner and consultant... many lessons learned.

DIY Change?Change from within is tough. It is also unrealistic to expect the same team running the business with the same mindset to bring about real change as the title of this article suggests.

You just have to refer back to your last decision to change your diet or start working out every other day... how's that working out for you? It is possible but even if you're a model for discipline and commitment, you can't speak for the rest of your team.

A Business Coach not only offers you an independent and expert support to help with your analysis and decision-making but also the framework to maintain direction and pace towards the finishing line.

Readiness for ChangeChange is not for everyone. History is full of battle cries towards progress but with few or no followers who preferred the comfort of doing nothing. Establishing your team's readiness for change and removing resistance along the way is detrimental and can be done relatively smoothly with a number of proven approaches.

Many change programs get planned in conference rooms without consultation before being announced to the 'shop-floor' via a memo or at best with balloons and a few cupcakes! Change must allow demonstrable benefits to all participants with a good level of measurability to help everyone measure their relative position along the way.


Cost/Benefit

This is down to a simple question. What's it worth to you?
How much would you be willing to invest into a new market for your products or services which can deliver a potential 25% to your current revenue? What would you pay to save 30% on your current inventory levels? Did you know that your team is only 60% utilised? what is it worth to you if some are selected and trained to improve operational productivity throughout the company?

To end.. a couple of case-studies... 
(names and locations changed)

> Ray, our friendly local grocer would love to start delivering fresh produce to local millennials who embraced a vegan lifestyle but prefer to place their order online on the train back from work. Ray is happy to pay for an online shop and engage professional management and online marketing...

I asked Ray;
Who is going to fulfil the orders? deal with complaints?
What numbers support your assumption that online orders will pay for the website and maintenance?
Have you looked at other markets or offering that the website could deliver to drive sales? such as exclusively local organic produce? a loyalty scheme?

>Marco, a progressive CMO just came back from SXSW(South by SouthWest) conference and festival feeling excited and determined to offer an Augmented Reality App to promote his Ski Travel business. According to Marco, the app would offer users a more entertaining way to explore the resorts and the deals on offer. It also offers the business a far more intelligent method of engaging with the market.
Marco did his homework, presented a fantastic plan to the board and yet his proposal got vetoed by the board on the basis of cost and doubt over the adoption of the app by customers.

I asked Marco;
How many on the board have used an Apps before? were they with you at the festival?
What is demographic of your customer-base? Have you market tested a similar app with a similar demographic?
How did the idea come to you? were you inspired by another product? how similar is it to your business?
Can you market test with a similar app to demonstrate benefit to the board?

Please feel to contact me (hayder@fekaiki.com) with your thoughts or questions

Eurika! You've got a great idea, but... is it a business?

My 27 year old son, Ally, and I have long relished in crossing swords over ideas or that 'stoke of genius' that one of us so forcefully wanted the other to rate more than the discovery of gravity or far more useful than electricity. 

We do this at least once a month... and I'm always the one with more to say... because I'm dad.

So far... those ideas have been 'archived' for that day when one of us would say... 'I thought of that first...'as my best friend always says once he's done ordering with Deliveroo or whenever I board a flight equipped with Bring Your Own Device (BOYD) entertainment system.

I bet there is an entrepreneurial gene in us (and please quote me when some clever spark gets the Nobel Prize for the discovery) but a few weeks ago, Ally decided to go beyond the "dad! got an idea"and properly test his concept for employee benefits platform, Juno, and make sure he's got a viable investable business and not just "a great idea that 'everyone' would love to buy into...". He was kind enough to use my Startup Assessment Tool as a quick litmus test and seek out any red-flags before leaping forward with Juno. The tool is a 10 minute quiz I have carefully designed for my clients to test their startups or new enterprises for suitability of their team, bias in their decision-making, understanding of their market, financialand legalreadiness.

However, the project needed deeper expert input which at this stage of the project would mean pitching to investors after you've exhausted the patience and interest of your family, friends and, perhaps a few fools along the way.

This is 'grownup' time when you must truly own and defend your idea, your baby, your passion and, sadly sometimes, your obsession against the diligence of those who's job is not to waste other people's money on another SearchMe.com ($43m up in smoke) or Boo.com ($135m up in smoke)

Professional investors are only interested in one thing, and don't believe any other spin... A successful veteran investor has seen it all before and would only be looking for a healthy and sustainable return on his/her clients' money; as any bank would. Yes, expert investors would be looking for other spin-offs and synergies but only after they've established that your idea is an opportunity they can put in front of the board of other hardened veterans.

Stop wasting your time on 'features and benefits' or how much you 'love' your idea, or worse, how 'everyone' loves it but then 'everyone' turns out to be mostly your family and friends... as an investor, I would worry that you're the only one who knows how to debug the code if the software crashes... or that you've forgotten to include the extra cost of hosting video content for your new media platform that you say will grow by 200% in Q3.

Yes, investors are very interested in you, your passion and your idea but more interested in what else you've done before, your successes and, importantly, how you recovered from failures. They want to see a well-constructed argument for the risk you are proposing.

Whether you've come up with a fun idea for a beach towel or a cure for the common-cold, you will still need to satisfy yourself (before anyone else) on;

Your decision is not inherently biased; i.e. why are you doing it? ask yourself at least 3 times as if you're a 5 year old in the back of the car asking your mum about the point of wearing seat belts... You need to be clear as to why you're starting up on your own and why your idea will be such a hit.

Your market has been diligently researched for competition according to sciencenot late night chats with friends; keep in mind that most startups fail, not always because they're bad ideas but because they're not good enough compared to the competition. It's fierce out there and no matter what idea you may have, there's always the risk of someone else doing the same but in a bigger market or started a few weeks before you with funding from their father-in-law...

Your skills, are you/your team up for it? do you really have the skills for the job? are you all fully committed or are there other projects that could critically sideswipe you or your team?

Your numbers; have you done your homework? what happens when you run out of money in 6 months time? is your monthly cash burn rate accurate and realistic? have you included cost of your contractors, staff and other overheads?...and at every stage of development? Business plans and financials won't ever predict the future but are essential for anyone risking their time and money, starting with YOU!

Your home; if you're truly committed to an idea, you will be spending your time and money for months before seeing pay-back and, sometimes, never. Do you have a decision point when you switch to Plan B? can you get a job if you run aground? what about your loved ones or family? What support network do you have for and from them?

Do yourself a favour, park your passion for a moment and stop reading Mother's-Kitchen-to-My-Yacht biographies or spending your savings on a jolly to Burning Manor SXSW, none of it will get you far if you haven't invested in getting you and your idea ready for business!

If you feel like a chat or have questions, please email and we can arrange free consultation by online or phone.

All SaaS and No Idea!

Software as a Service (SaaS) is an innovation and an economy that has been nothing less than a seismic shift in the way we work and do business. Many will find reasons to debate the features and benefits of specific platforms but the basic fact remains that SaaS has found itself a permanent and ubiquitous presence in our lives.

My argument, however, relates to the all-too-often neglected role of market expert management and the need for continuous analysis to make the best out of SaaS and to distill information in terms of intelligence, insights, and ultimately, growth.

There's a tendency, especially amongst SMEs, to adopt the most basic of out-of-the-box features provided and, unfortunately, businesses also tend to use SaaS platforms as dumping grounds for their data assets without gaining from valuable insights and relevant Business Intelligence (BI) that lay within their hoard of information.

Leading Content Management System (CMS) such as Box.com or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system Salesforce.com or the specialist sponsorship evaluation and management system PerforMind offer endless capabilities that, if utilised, could offer users a significant advantage for innovation, productivity, agility with real sustainable growth. This is enabled through a consultative collaboration between managers and their market experts or analysts to line up technology with their own management structures, management control systems and, crucially, organisational strategies and goals. The Best of Breed CRM platform is only 'best' it is in line with your company's culture and vision.

“Organizations that do not have a high-level cloud strategy driven by their business strategy will significantly increase their risk of failure and wasted investment.”- David Cearley, Vice President and Gartner Fellow, Gartner Research

Whether we're referring to the 'Cloud' or be more nuanced and mean SaaS, to the user and manager, it is about getting things done, shared, reported and targets met with efficiency and reward. Technology adoption is a real challenge for managers, their CIOs, CTOs and BI experts to prove tangible value to each and every stakeholder group within their organisation. This is not a one-shot exercise but a continuous cycle of innovation and development. It is a core business function as important as marketing or sales.

Over the last 25 years or so, I have led and delivered many IT and software projects including SaaS roll-outs, development or both.

In each and every case, my clients required additional consultancy at every stage from analysis, planning, development, roll-out, and maintenance. But of course, some decided that all they really wanted was a 'turn-key' project and for us to 'park it and leave' but only to be called back to 'drive' it as well or, sadly, a couple opted to write-off their investment and go back to the old way they knew how.

Managers should answer for their failure to consult, internally or externally, for better-informed decisions and to secure the best outcome from investing in SaaS or other IT improvement.

Likewise, consultants should answer for dishing out textbook how-to guides and manuals to 'make it happen' rather than adopting a discovery approach and maintain the best interests of their clients at heart; regardless of the outcome or the tenure of their engagement.


So, before your next SaaS project, make sure you have a clear idea about;


A. What problems do you need to solve and why?


B. What is the true value of solving (A) against the cost of new technology and its adoption?


C. How you will sustain the benefits gained in (B)?

The above may seem obviously elementary to most but often-not understood nor applied in terms of the diligence required in answering each question. To consult is to ensure that you have an unbiased, thorough and practical answers to the questions and hence a far lower risk of failure.

Regardless if those you consult are internal or external resources, they are potentially the catalyst to the success of your SaaS project. They are the guardians whom you entrust to realise the full potential of your investment.

Managers should take a good look at their past projects and re-evaluate them against the above criteria. I'm sure that would be revealing, yet transformative, exercise.

For comments or questions, please contact me via LinkedIn or hayder@fekaiki.com