Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Consensus: A Warped Perspective

Consensus … it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. In a world where we seek to gain input, feedback and consensus on many business initiatives, using mediums like focus groups and opinion polls, decisions by committee still leave a lot of room for error! While the concept of a collaborative approach on determining the most effective means of delivering a product or service can be a real advantage, testing just about anything using the opinions of your peers can create a kind of regimented or stilted response no matter how broad the sample of key stakeholders is. Often the environment or the unseen benefits of a particular product or service are not considered. They are measured against the norm and for those of us seeking to “think outside the box” or create something that is distinctive and unique the norm is not what we are trying to achieve.

Uniqueness or innovative thinking by their very nature are often unrecognizable to those whose opinions we seek. Moribund by their comfort zone, dedicated to the predictable and locked into their hermitically sealed views, opinionated influencers and focus groups can hardly offer real insight into the potential success of a product, or, the preferences of any group of people. The timelines that frame such opinion gathering mediums typically reflect the now, the immediate window of opportunity. This, in my opinion, is often short sited and a general approach that has produced a societal focus on the immediate dividends of any initiative and not the long term value.


Take for example the introduction of a new design in office chairs introduced in 1976 by Herman Miller Inc. in the US. The first ever ergonomically designed chair was developed for the North American marketplace. These were heady times in the design world, what with free speech, flower power and new creative energy of the 60’s and 70’s. It was during this unique time, when modern design was King or Queen, if I am to be politically correct, that Herman Miller introduced the Ergon chair. Working with Herman Miller Inc., designer Bill Stumpf conducted 10 years of research into how people really sit when they work. Stumpf's research focused on consultations with orthopedic surgeons and cardiovascular specialists to understand the effects of chairs and the seated posture on the body's circulatory system, muscles, and bones, examining the human behaviour of sitting -- the motions, activities, and posture patterns of people performing various tasks and explored how work chairs can be designed to effectively support a wide range of body heights, weights, and shapes.

The chair was unlike any chair ever seen up to that point. This new sleek, black chair, with controls for adjusting tilt and height were unheard of. The chair was subjected to a focus group review before being introduced into the marketplace and in each instance the group reviewing the chairs showed a marked dislike for the design. A number of follow-up focus group tests were conducted and in each case the results came back the same. The product was ugly and would not be successful in the marketplace. Fortunately for us, Herman Miller, ignored that feedback and proceeded with the launch of the chairs in 1976 … and in fact you are probably sitting in a chair modeled after this design, as you read this article!

The Ergon chair revolutionized office seating because it was designed for both comfort and user health. For the first time, businesses could provide their workers with seating designed for the way they really sit -- not for the way someone thought they should sit. With the Ergon chair, Herman Miller established the reference point for comfortable, healthful, and visually appealing ergonomic seating.

The moral of this cautionary tale is, that while, consensus building is an important part of understanding the user’s needs for any given product or service – sometimes their distinctive nature and their usability are far more convincing over the long term. Do your homework – but remember evaluating the success or failure of any product or service is more than achieving short-term objectives; it is often understanding the long term outlook and championing this in a workplace.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Building Good Marketing Habits

Make Them an Important Part of Your Business Process

Ever hear of the saying – “Deep water covers many stumps?” The essence is that when times are good, real problems can appear not to exist. It’s only when the water recedes that problems are revealed. When you are busy earning your income from existing business, it can be easy to forget that marketing is critical to your success. You can delude yourself that into thinking everything is fine since you appear to be achieving  your goals.But you want to ensure that  this  mental slip does not overtake your good sense? Gravy trains eventually end. If you are not prepared, you can find yourself at the end of the line. Marketing planning should be an ongoing process that is considered year round.

Habitual Marketing Practices
To develop healthy marketing habits even when you are busy delivering other products or services,  allocate a certain amount of time per month. Theoretically, you have 2,080 working hours a year. Setting aside 10% (208 hours a year!) may seem like a lot - especially if you are hourly billing or already doing more with less. Invest wisely, however. Divide your marketing time into two categories -- strategy and execution. Use your knowledge of your business cycle and allocate how much time per month is required. Budget it. Calendar it.

Strategy: Develop Annually
Before you gear up for the particularly busy  periods, put aside  a portion of your allocated marketing time and  determine which tactics are going to best serve your objectives in the coming year. Use the time to update your marketing plan.
  • Review your existing strategy - are you reaching the right target audience?
  • Has a new development internally or externally caused a shift? Check out existing tactics.
  • Marketing  materials - do they fit the bill or are they old?
  • Are the colors, images or information in need of an update? 
  • Advertising – did it reach the amount of people expected and generate leads?
  • Website - hs it been checked lately and are recent changes reflected?
  • Look at alternatives marketing/advertising strategies - change it up
  • Business Cards – can they be designed to be more effective?
  • Print advertising -  are you advertising in the right one for your clients?
  • Participation - are you involved in activities which impact or influence your clients?
  • If you have a fixed budget, determine which tactics of this year’s marketing campaign worked
  • Look even closer at strategies that did not work
  • Use that knowledge to adjust for next year.
Execute: Deliver Perennially
While you must be flexible, don’t allow distractions to decrease the amount of time required to make the strategy a reality. Remember, marketing is a habit. Create an action plan and decide how and when you will take on the marketing projects.
  • How many networking events will you participate in?
  • How many business cards will you hand out?
  • How many times will you refer people to your website for information?
Make marketing goals and take the time you allocated monthly to get out there and spread the word about the superior work you do.
  • Does that make you uncomfortable?
  • How will prospective clients know about you unless you tell them or do excellent work for others and get referrals?
  • You are performing a valuable service.
  • Go tell others what value your company can provide. 
Conclusion

An annual planning habit and monthly execution habits are ways to insure that marketing stays in the viewfinder. While it’s simpler to stay with your day-to-day process, it’s shortsighted to think business will jump your way without you jumping towards it. Make time for setting your strategy and marketing your organization or business. Whether you are an institution, a company or an organization your members, employees, the public and suppliers are all potential customers. 

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Three Dimensions of E-Learning

The promise of E-Learning has been around for a while, unfortunately the peace – love generation of the sixties, now firmly in control of administration in the hallowed halls of learning in public and private enterprises have been very slow to adapt.  For some unknown reason organizations continue to favour  more costly solutions such as conferences, seminars, workshops;  and all supported by low-tech legacy solutions such as DVD’s,  print, web pages built largely on  static content  buttressed by the commitment of travelling to a single location from every corner of the country.
 Apparently, the social aspect of meeting in person far outweighs the financial consideration of engaging in E-learning.  Now if you ask the participants and administrators, you would get various rationales for this luddite approach; ranging from networking or lateral learning opportunities to, “this is the way we always do it.”  While these explanations may have a kernel of truth, the vast majority of learning can be mirrored or encompassed within the E-Learning scenario; and if organizations take a collaborative approach, E-Learning can provide solutions to complex long term learning problems, very cost efficiently. Perhaps one of the most telling indicators of the potential for E-Learning is the fact that senior decisions makers are already significant users of mobile communications devices to interact and share information.  
Today, as has historically happened , many companies new to the learning process  simply transfer their development skill sets,  from one medium to another  and in this case from web sites to E-learning  in the mistaken belief that this is simply the next evolution in online interactivity. E-Learning at its most effective is more of a three-dimensional   solution utilizing a variety of media such as video, animation, simulations, live interaction, audio and print in an instructional context that mimics the exploratory nature of learning through interaction and feedback.  E-Learning can be very much like a live event where participants can learn from structured content, explore ideas and hear the thoughts of visionary leaders.
This is a lot more than just the next evolution in online information of knowledge – it is a three –dimensional mirror of the learning process. E-Learning, as a technology solution seeks to mimic the process of learning by using the best practices of a classroom and removing the social aspect of learning that often bogs down the learning process. As young adults social interaction in learning scenarios is important in that we are learning a set of skills above and beyond the content.  As we age and the content is more specific and we are more focused on absorbing the outcomes, social interaction becomes less important in absorbing the content and becomes more on the exchange of ideas, interaction among peers, and access to up to date knowledge.
E-learning is becoming increasingly important in a world where the validity of any web content can be called into question and the market for E-Learning is increasing exponentially each year. Organizations have a unique opportunity to become the brand in their knowledge category by developing and maintaining an evergreen approach to their knowledge base through three-dimensional E-Learning.  The three dimensions of E-Learning are: 1) interactive content, 2) knowledge sharing and 3) comprehension. Currently, companies new to the E-learning scenario do not have the skill set to develop the interactive learning content in a way that allows for full three-dimensional E- learning.
Three-dimensional E-learning requires a unique skill set that includes the ability to conceptualize and produce a narrative story. This experience e is often gained through production in traditional mediums such as videos, documentaries, theatre etc. It also includes an understanding of the web medium, the tool sets used for E-learning development and how best to use them to emulate an interactive learning experience. The final tool set understands the administration/communications required to implement it effectively.
The current tool set is relatively mature and will allow for the development of three-dimensional E-Learning but do you have the creative skill sets, instructional design and technical expertise to work with an organization to implement  three-dimensional E-Learning effectively?