The first quarter of 2013 is coming to a close.  I don’t know about you but it feels like the New Year just started.  But,  it didn’t and here we are closing out Q1.  So how are you doing?  Are you on plan?  Are you hitting your goals and milestones?  Do you have a quarterly review session set up with your team to assess and analyze what’s working and what’s not working?  Did I just overwhelm you?

Quarterly reviews are important if you want to have a chance of having a successful year.  You may be right on track, ahead of the game or so far behind you don’t even want to talk about it but it’s only through a structured review process that you will know.

Brad Feld who is a brilliant entrepreneur, VC and author, to name a few, wrote a great blog about this at the beginning of March that inspired me to write this.  You can check it out here.

Here’s are some tips to help you prepare for and conduct a useful quarterly review:

Part I – Get the conversation started.  Give everyone on your team  a chance to do a 5 – 7 minute update.  (Keep track of time)

1. What went really well?
2. What was challenging?
3. What were the biggest lessons learned?
4. What might have been missing or lacking?

Part 2 - Evaluate Progress on Q1 Project & Maintenance Goals.

Put your goals up on the screen by functional area (sales, marketing, financial, operations, customer service, human resources) OR make sure everyone has a copy.

1. Did you hit the goals?
2. Why or why not? – Get real about this.  Don’t let anyone off the hook for not hitting goals.  Delve into this and figure out what structure needs to be put in place so it doesn’t happen again.  Treat it as a crisis.  If it’s not, the goal shouldn’t have been in there in the first place. If you are beating your goals, great.  Use this time to explore how you can leverage this and grow faster throughout the year.
3. Do you need to adjust any timelines?
4. Are there failures that needs to be evaluated?
5. Did you celebrate successes?

Part 3 – Prep for Q2

1. Do you need to re-forecast based on Q1 results?
2. What didn’t happen in Q1 that needs to go on the Q2 Plan?
3. How will you use the lessons learned from Q1 to improve in Q2?
4. What are your goals for Q2?

Part 4 – Plan for Q2

1. What actions need to happen to support each goal?
2. Who is responsible?
3. What are the deadlines?
4. What structure will you put in place to put the goals and actions “into existence”?  For example, we use a Project Management System called Teamwork where we detail every goal, milestone, task, etc. and assign a person and a date.  This is critical for turning great conversations and ideas into actionable plans that can be tracked and measured.  We use this as the foundation for our weekly meetings and daily huddles.

Depending how large your company is, this quarterly review process may be anywhere from 90 minutes to 1/2 a day.  Schedule it, organize it and do it.  It’s a great way to end the 1st quarter powerfully and begin Q2 even stronger.  Then Rinse and Repeat.

You can also bring in an outside facilitator to guide the process and make sure it happens.   This type of planning and review on a consistent basis is critical for any company that wants to grow and continue to get better.  Make it happen!

Last year I was working on an exciting new technology venture.  The venture started with great enthusiasm and early success but then, as it often happens with new ventures, we started to encounter some major obstacles.  Product acceptance had come to a standstill and I felt we were spending more time trying to convince our current customers to stay on board vs. being able to focus on generating new business.

I recommended we take a step back and focus on working out the product issues so we could deliver an exceptional product.  I thought our growth would come easier if we had satisfied – better yet ecstatic – customers who felt our product delivered on its promise.

One of my partners on the venture, who I respected greatly, was a more seasoned executive who had built several technology companies.  He saw it completely differently.  He thought losing customers was just part of business and we shouldn’t let that deter our efforts.  He felt strongly that if we stayed focused on generating new business the product issues would work themselves out.

While that didn’t quite sit right with me and went against my better instincts, I wanted to be open to the fact that my way wasn’t the only way and that perhaps my partner was right.    Plus this venture had initially been his vision and I trusted that his guidance was based on valuable insight and experience.  So I trudged forward and focused on new business development.  I did my best to stop worrying about the product issues and customer complaints.  Needless to say the product issues never went away and it became harder and harder to generate new sales while keeping any that we currently had.  It was a recipe for disaster.

Fast forward one year and I can say without a doubt that it was the worst business advice I ever got.  I take complete responsibility because I took the advice.  No one forced me to.  And the thing is I knew better.  I really did.  When I look back on this experience here are the key lessons I learned:

1. Focusing on delighting your customers is never a bad idea.
2. If the product you are selling does not solve a compelling problem for your audience that they realize they have, you need to rethink it.  You’ll get found out sooner or later.
3. It’s okay to have better instincts than someone older and wiser than you.  They don’t always have the right answers.  Conversely it’s also okay for someone younger and less experienced to have better insight.
4. TRUST your instincts.  If something doesn’t seem right and you know it’s not your ego getting in the way, then something isn’t right.  Don’t avoid it and deal with it sooner rather than later.
5. Don’t compromise who you are for the sake of a partnership.  It’s not a true partnership if you are put in a position to do that.

Needless to say, I found my way out of that venture and partnership.  Something I realized though, is that even if my partner had been right about his approach, it still wouldn’t have been the right strategy for me.  I’m not interested at all in trying to sell something that doesn’t deliver on it’s promise unless that is part of the sell.  Meaning, we are completely transparent with our clients that we are still working out some of the kinks.  Our product had amazing potential but it just wasn’t ready and unfortunately the goal for some was more about making money in the short term versus making a great product.  Another lesson learned.

What’s the worst piece of business advice you ever got?

The Path to Outstanding Marketing by Annique London, London Marketing Group

The path to outstanding marketing begins with a clear vision of where you are going—the plan.  Often times there is so much focus on delivering “the plan” that the people involved forget to recognize that equally important to the multi-page plan…is the PROCESS of getting there.   And, diversions along the way can send your team on fun-filled “creative exercises” which are definitely more “sexy” than the process.  But, with the right internal leader, or hired consultant/agency help—you can really move your organization to the next level.  Here are five things to remember as you are designing your company’s path to outstanding marketing:

1. Invest in the PROCESS, as much as the final PLAN.  The “marketing plan” is the goal, but, the PROCESS of making the plan is just as valuable.  In order to ensure the best process, the group needs a leader.  That individual can be internal or hired (i.e. consultant, agency, etc.).  Their role is to lead a small core group through a number of group discussions and exercises.    The final “marketing plan” document is ultimately pulled together by the leader of the group.  It should be a compilation of the input given and discovered during the PROCESS.  The “plan” is always a recommendation, open for discussion, and is never set in stone.  It is a living and breathing document that you should expect to change over time.
2. The marketing plan starts with business analysis.  Too often, business leaders think that when they are asking for a marketing plan, they are seeking fun creative ideas:  web-site design and colors, logo choices, fun events, social media plans, etc.  Often times, the marketing “team” also fails to recognize that the most successful marketing plans are designed ONLY after considerable business analysis has been discussed and debated.  The first questions and answers exchanged amongst the marketing team should be about the core business objectives, goals.  The team must discover and agree upon the business problems to be solved.
3. “Creative” and “fun” marketing ideas are the last step, not the first.  You will inevitably find that the creativity juices will flow easier, and the ideas will make a lot more sense when they come LAST.  The “heavy lifting” and investment into a business analysis and debate on strategic problems to solve will ensure your creative ideas make sense.   The return on investment will be significantly increased.
4. Think like an Iceberg.   Recognize from the get-go:  90% of time spent on marketing–your end customer never sees.  The “stuff” your customers sees is the creative marketing programs and ideas—but, that is only 10% of the job.  The foundation of all that cool marketing stuff is in the analysis of the business.  When the analysis is complete, you will have the strategic filter for which all the creative stuff will make sense—and, ultimately will drive the behaviors you want from customers.
5. YOU have all the answers.  The last and most important thing to remember is that YOU have all the answers.  Your marketing leader is your guide and your facilitator—not your decision maker.  The marketing leader should be able to skillfully guide a team through the process by asking a LOT of questions.  And, that person should very artfully help capture and write the marketing plan.  But, YOU as the business owner must be the final decision maker.

Annique London is President and founder of London Marketing Group in Minneapolis, MN.  To contact Annique, click here.  

Freedom has a high cost that most of us don’t experience because of the men and women who tirelessly serve and protect our country by serving in our armed forces.  On Veterans Day we take a moment to thank them for their unbelievable contribution.    It seems fitting to review how freedom is defined in the dictionary and how blessed we are to live in the United States of America – the land of the FREE!

The Definition:

1. Don’t combine your Brainstorming Session with other meetings.  In fact the word meeting shouldn’t be anywhere near the word brainstorming.    I see a lot of companies try to do a quick brainstorming session during a regular company meeting with less than stellar results  Schedule your brainstorming session separate from any other activity.  This is vital to creating a successful brainstorming culture in your organization.
2. Focus your Brainstorming Session on a specific problem that has been clearly articulated.  The problem should be clearly stated to all the participants beforehand in a written document and the moderator of the meeting should make sure the conversation stays in sync with addressing that problem.  It can be easy to jump around to other topics when you are in “brainstorming” mode and while that can generate some other great ideas, your session won’t be nearly as effective if you allow yourself to to get off course.  I find it helpful to create a “parking lot”.  This is a whiteboard or some other visual where you can document these other ideas that don’t pertain to the topic at hand so they are not “lost” and can be discussed at another time.
3. Hold your Brainstorming Sessions in an environment that is comfortable.  Don’t hold your brainstorming sessions in the same conference room as you hold your regular company meetings.  Go outside, use someone’s office, find a restaurant that has a private room.  Dress comfortably and have it on a day and timeframe where people can relax.
4. Set a goal for # of ideas and a time limit.  Brainstorming sessions don’t have to be long.  You can do a lot in 20 minutes or whatever time frame you deem appropriate.  Use a timer that everyone can see and set a goal for the number of ideas you want to come up with to address the problem. This works because people respond well to stress and in that last minute if you need 10 more ideas, you will get them.
5. Invite the right people.  It is so important to create a safe environment so you may need to filter some people out who others don’t feel comfortable with if you don’t have a brainstorming culture.  You also want to include people who are interested in participating and willing to give it their all.  A passionate intern is more valuable than a cynical VP.
6. Assign a Scribe.  This person ideally shouldn’t participate so they can make sure to document everything accurately.  You can also use videos or recording devices but then someone has to transcribe that.  I find it easier to assign a scribe who documents everything in real time so you have all the ideas shortly after the brainstorming session.
7. Assign a Facilitator.  This may be someone internal who is great at getting people to open up or you can bring in an outsider.  Don’t overlook this because if you don’t have the right person leading the meeting you will waste everyone’s time.
8. Have Fun.  You may have forgotten how to do this at work but I promise you, if you follow these tips your brainstorming sessions will not only be super effective but they will be FUN!  Make the environment fun.  Get people to show their personality.  Get up and move.  Start with an icebreaker that gets everyone laughing.  DRINK!  Just kidding.
9. DO SOMETHING!!!  One person, typically the one who organized the meeting, must be responsible for deciding which ideas will be implemented as a result of the brainstorming session.  From that an action plan with timelines and accountabilities must be put in place with a good communication system to update everyone on progress.  There is nothing worse than coming up with a bunch of great, game changing ideas and then doing nothing with them.  That will kill a culture of brainstorming fast.

The great thing about companies that have  a strong culture of brainstorming is they also benefit from having employees who routinely do this on their own which results in developing your team as creative problem solvers.  So be careful.  You may start something powerful here that has a life of it’s own.

Happy Brainstorming!

So what do you do when you feel uninspired?  I recently went through a major disappointment with a business partnership I had been working on for over a year that in the end, fell apart.  On one hand, coming to the decision to separate from something that clearly wasn’t working was a huge relief and very freeing.  But then in the aftermath, it left me feeling uninspired about what is next.   Rather than fight it I thought I would use this as an interesting learning experience.  So I embraced being uninspired for a couple weeks.  Needless to say once you embrace something it kinda goes away.

Here are some things that worked for me and helped me break out of my rut:

Put yourself in a new, different environment.  I was lucky enough to be in Manhattan for two weeks as I was in the final stages of making this big decision.  It’s amazing what different scenery can do for your outlook.  I relied on the energy of the city as my inspiration and it didn’t disappoint.  Working at a desk, or in this case a very comfortable couch, with a view of NYC gave me a “big picture perspective” and helped me realize that what I was dealing with wasn’t a big deal.  I ventured out on walks in the afternoon and explored different neighborhoods and noticed all the different businesses thriving.  I interacted with all kinds of people which was very interesting.  You don’t have to go to another city to benefit from this.  Go to a hotel on the beach or downtown and act like you are on a business trip.  Find a cool cafe.  Just change up your normal working environment and see what opens up.

Give yourself some space.  I am so used to being super scheduled out.  Every moment of my day has an action item next to to it.  This works for me and I thrive in a structured environment.  It drives my husband crazy that I even have to have an agenda for our vacations.  Sometimes what’s next to the time is chill out/do nothing.  But I schedule it and then I look forward to it.  As I was going through this “uninspired time” I just didn’t want to have a schedule.  I wanted some space, some breathing room.  So I took it.  And I didn’t beat myself up if I wasn’t being productive which is very hard for me.  I made a conscious effort to take deep cleansing breaths throughout the day.  I let myself wake up naturally.  I went to bed when I was tired.   Good sleep is an amazing healer of all things and sometimes we get uninspired because we are just exhausted.

Talk about it.  I’m not good at sharing about what’s not working in my life yet when I do it is usually the best medicine and much better than trying to do it in your head.  Authentically sharing with another human being is one of the most powerful tools we have yet it is often one of the most overlooked.   Now I’m not talking about complaining, whining and just being negative.  Ain’t nobody got time for that.  I am talking about sharing the experience with people who can help you distinguish what happened, take responsibility and learn from it so you can move on.  I’m blessed that I have such incredible friends and colleagues around me who want to listen to me and support me

Get back to work.  Take some uninterrupted planning time and get your ass back in the saddle.  Revisit or in some cases recreate your vision and plan and start implementing it.  Reconnect with your passions and the things you enjoy most and then create some actions you can begin implementing immediately.  Action is what moves the world so start moving.  I couldn’t be more excited about my business and what I’m working on right now.  My “rut” seems like a distant memory but one I know I needed to have to be where I’m at now and for that I am grateful.

My favorite billboard discovered while walking the Highline in NYC

I believe this philosophy costs us dearly and limits us from pursuing relationships with people who may not make great first impressions but are worthy of our attention.

I say this because I’ve met so many people in my life – business and personal – who I was mesmerized by after my initial meeting with them.  They were sharp, polished, interesting, informative – seemed like a well put together package.  But after spending real time with them, it became clear that there was no real substance to this outer polish.  Little by little I learned that their greatest attribute was in fact making a great first impression -  “Lots of frosting but no cake.”

And then there are those that I barely noticed the first few times of meeting them.  They stayed in the background instead of “working the room”, listened rather than talked, observed rather than trying to be the center of attention.  But over time, as I got to know them, it became clear that they were high quality individuals who through every encounter revealed another dense substantive layer.  They had a lot of “cake underneath the imperfect frosting.”

I thank my lucky stars so often that I didn’t brush certain people off who over time became important mentors, friends, colleagues and clients for me.  I also have far too many instances where I wish I would have delved deeper much quicker to those who dazzled me from the start.

First impressions are important.  So are gut, intuitive reactions.  There are actually brain functions that make it almost impossible not to make a lot of meaning out of a first impression.  It goes back to our caveman days where we needed that quick ability to assess whether we were in danger or not.  I think we need to be more aware of the emphasis we have put on too many superficial traits that over time don’t hold up and spend more time getting to the substance.  As we evolve as humans, we have to be willing to spend more than a few seconds instantly assessing whether people are “worthy” of our time.  Because, for the most part, aren’t they all?