Tag Archives: Communication

How Do You Move from Early Adopter to Mainstream? Ten Thoughts

Interview with Russell Glass, CEO, Bizo, Inc.

Situation: A company has established market leadership in an emerging market. When you innovate in a niche, focusing on early adopters, eventually you run out of early adopters. The challenge is broadening the appeal to a larger mainstream customer base. How do you cross the chasm from early adopter to mainstream?

Advice:

  • The challenge is both messaging and cultural.
    • In messaging, you must support the new norm. This means convincing the customer that if they are not with you, they’re being left behind. You need to demonstrate that your established, proven solution is the new norm.
    • The cultural challenge is maintaining a culture of innovation and attracting the right talent while becoming a mainstream company. An attraction to new talent is that you are cutting edge – changing the world. This aura is critical to a start-up. You must maintain this innovative culture as you become the market leader.
  • How do you overcome these challenges?
    • Finding people who’ve been there and done that increases the odds in your favor. We hired a marketer who had helped take SuccessFactors through the same transition.
    • Hire for excitement, energy and enthusiasm. Quickly remove new hires that turn out not to fit.
    • Maintain a freedom to fail atmosphere. You need people who will take risks, but who will also step back and quickly change direction when the risk isn’t productive.
    • Decision-making speed is a great advantage of small companies.
  • Create an organization that celebrates innovation.
    • We have “Hack Days” when employees are free to work on projects of their choice. A new product that brings business audience targeting to social media came from a Hack Day project.
    • Keep everyone informed. We have company-wide daily stand-ups. Individual updates are quick – 30-45 seconds. This fosters open communication and awareness, and surfaces issues before they become problems.
    • Weekly, we send out full disclosure emails including key financial metrics, successes and failures.
    • Monthly we have executive-only stand-ups. These are longer, but updates are quick and focus on progress to goals, as well as next month’s goals.

You can contact Russell Glass at glass@bizo.com

Key Words: Market Leader, Niche, Innovator, Early Adopter, Mainstream, Crossing the Chasm, Messaging, Culture, Cutting Edge, Hiring, Decision-making, Communication

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What is an Agile Leadership Paradigm? Three Perspectives

Interview with Jorge Titinger, CEO, Verigy, Inc.

Situation: The environment has become more complex for leaders. Not only must leaders perform classic roles, they must also deal with increased uncertainty and change. How do you build a new leadership paradigm to address ongoing change?

Jorge Titinger’s Advice:

There are three challenges facing leaders today.

  • First, given that change is constant, what does the next likely settling point look like in your environment look like and how is this different from past settling points?
    • Everything starts with the people.
    • Once you determine the likely next settling point, do a capability inventory within your leadership team to determine whether you have the right people to handle the new reality.
    • Can current members be trained?
    • Do you need to bring in new talent?
  • Second, are your processes limiting or enhancing your flexibility?
    • Do current processes encourage adaptability and cross-functional connection and communication?
    • If not how will you change them?
    • Deconstruct/reconstruct all critical processes to make them more agile.
  • Third, how are you linking desired outcomes with rewards and incentives within the company?
    • Growth in the past focused on building up infrastructure – adding more people and capacity.
    • Knowledge management focused on tools and processes to make people more effective. Individualized assessment and reward structures became an obstacle and had to be shifted to emphasize the importance of collaborative versus individualized performance.
    • Agile leadership and management focuses on reaching outside the boundaries of your own company. To deliver differentiated value suppliers and customers must be included in the exercise. We must reinvent how we engage with suppliers and customers so that they are part of the collaboration.
    • The agile paradigm focuses on the unspoken needs of suppliers and customers. This takes the conversation beyond the transaction and includes quality, on-time delivery, and other differentiators that are mutually important. It can include competing for your competitors’ suppliers by being a better customer!

You can contact Jorge Titinger at jorge.titinger@verigy.com

Key Words: Agile, Uncertainty, Change, Paradigm, People, Training, Talent, Process, Communication, Reward, Incentive, Supplier, Customer

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How do you Manage a Multi-generational Staff? Nine Suggestions

Situation:  Employee pools are now multi-generational, with Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Echo-Boomers. Each group may have different expectations for work environments and careers. How do you connect with different generations? How have you set up mentoring programs?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • People may be of different generations, but they are still individuals. Ask what drives or motivates them, and what they would consider an ideal reward for hard work.
  • Some companies offer a sabbatical after several years of employment – the opportunity to work on hobbies, go on an adventure or use the time as they wish. This attracts employees and encourages retention.
  • Some employees don’t seek promotion but are good contributors. They may prefer an extra week of vacation over a promotion.
  • One company gives employees budgets to spruce up their work space – allowing them some control over their work environment.
  • What are good tips on working with younger employees?
    • Coach them to communicate thoughtfully and carefully – instead of shooting from the hip without considering impact or consequences. Younger managers may find that they need more patience communicating expectations to older staff.
    • Establish individualized performance metrics and enable them to monitor progress on their computers.
    • Bring them into the process; don’t tell them to wait. Let them start as an observer. Listen when they have questions or suggestions. Ask their opinion.
    • Break down job tiers into additional levels with more achievement incentives. Allow them to reset expectations frequently.

Key Words: Multi-generational, Boomer, Gen X, Gen Y, Echo-Boomer, Expectations, Environment, Career, Mentor, Motivation, Reward, Sabbatical, Incentive, Communication, Performance, Expectations                                   [like]

Creating a Client-Centered Organization – Six Guidelines

Situation: We want to make our company more client-centered. What are the most important considerations?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • One CEO transformed their company into a client-centered organization based on conversations with customers.
    • The new structure is based on client-market groups.
    • The core of each group is cross-trained professionals who focus on client needs.
    • These groups are supplemented with a cross-trained support staff who can shift between projects depending on market conditions.
  • Organizational structure must start from, and support, a strategic vision. The vision must be informed by the realities of your market and the products/services that you offer.
    • Once you have determined strategy and analyzed customer markets, develop an structure that allows you to adapt to market changes. Structure follows strategy and market.
    • Things to watch:
      • Flexibility within the structure. You want most of your staff to be flexible, so that you can move them among projects as market conditions change.
      • Cross-training is critical.
      • You need strong leaders who can develop market segments.
      • Create objectives and accountability that will tell you how the market segments are operating, and whether staff are meeting cross-training objectives.
  • As you implement a new structure, be aware that:
    • Any change is met with insecurity. Coach your managers to communicate with their teams.
    • The core message is assure employees that they are valued, that any change will be gradual, and that you will provide them with the appropriate training and incentives that they need to succeed.

Key Words: Customer Focus, Cross-training, Communication, Strategic Vision, Structure, Objectives, Accountability  [like]