Is Productivity Predicated by Work Environments?

In 1986, Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple, the child he had birthed. But, undeterred, he acquired a small computer manufacturer named Pixar. In 2000, the growth of the company prompted Jobs to move to a new space. Initially it was decided that there would be 3 separate buildings with separate offices for the key people. But Jobs decided to go with one single building with one huge open space and an atrium in the center.

“The philosophy behind this design is that it’s good to put the most important function at the heart of the building. Well, what’s our most important function? It’s the interaction of our employees. That’s why Steve put a big empty space there. He wanted to create an open area for people to always be talking to each other.” – Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar.

Jobs felt that this environment will be a catalyst for different cultures to work together and collaborate.

Brad Bird, the director of “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” said, “The atrium initially might seem like a waste of space. But Steve realised that when people run into each other when they make eye contact, things happen.”

Some of the key learning that can be derived from the wisdom of Jobs:

•       Team Building Training – There is tremendous power in teams but it is important to provide conducive environments
•      LeadershipTraining – It is the responsibility of the leader to ponder, plan and provide the needs of their people
•         OutboundTraining – Nature is a force to reckon with and when used appropriately, it can enhance productivity significantly

The Effectiveness of Blended Learning - A Case Study

We had a request from a leading consulting company to provide the training needed to enhance the communication skills of their senior management. The potential participants dealt with significant number of overseas customers and their communication skills often interferred with their ability to connect with the customers and close the deal.

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

We designed blended learning solutions that spanned a six-month period. This contained 4 different methods;

1.      Evaluation: Evaluations are conducted twice – pre-evaluation at the start of the program and post-evaluation at the closure of the program. This is done sitting face-to-face with the participants. This enables the trainer to have a greater connect and also the trainer to pay attention to the smaller details, like body language.

2.      Group Training Sessions: Group training sessions are conducted twice – once at the start of the program and then at the end of the program. After completion of the pre-evaluation, all participants are brought together for a two-day instructor led group training program in which all the important concepts of communication were presented. The agenda of the entire program (six months) is discussed and the expectations are set.

At the end of the entire program and before the post-evaluation, another group session is conducted where the concepts are reiterated, success stories are shared and their on-going development plans are discussed.

3.      Online Coaching Sessions: Every two weeks the participants have online coaching sessions with the coach. These are individual sessions with a duration of one hour per person. This gives the ability for the coach to give feedback that is specific to each person and provide exercises that address the idiosyncratic issues faced by each participant.

4.      Social Learning: All participants from a group on a social media platform where they exchange experiences of applying the learning in real-time situations, thus enabling them to learn from each other and establish a connect beyond the realm of the formal training and coaching sessions.

The results have been profound! We now conduct this format of blended learning for numerous corporates and for various topics. Clearly this result could not have been achieved if we had only used only one of face-to-face or online sessions.  The impact of blended learning can be significant if we use the approach that is conducive for each topic.

MMM Training Solutions conducts communication skills training, corporate training, soft skills training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.

Customer Service – The Dog’s Way

“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” – Steve Jobs

Click here to see how KLM, the Dutch Airline, has executed the above quote with elegance by using dogs to return to customers their belongings, like a mobile phone or purse, that they inadvertently left on the flight.

As soon as the passengers deplane, the airline staff check for items left behind. If  they find any items, a trained dog is deployed and he races to the plane. The staff allows the dog to smell the item and then puts it in his holster. He then is seen racing down the terminal following the smell. He goes directly to the passenger and hands the item over, sometimes even before the passenger notices it is missing. The passengers are pleased to get their belongings but they are euphoric about their carrier and they crouch down to demonstrate their gratitude. What an amazing way to connect to their customers!

Creativity has prevailed!

KLM has captured the essense of customer loyalty by demonstrating these three elements of customer service:

1.      Customer Delight: When customer’s recall this experience, they will have a warm feeling in their hearts. This is the feeling that will be evoked when they think of  KLM. This feeling is priceless and will always bring a smile to their face. These emotions are triggered even when this video is watched. Isn’t that what all organisations strive to create in their customers?

2.      Timeliness: No matter how great the flying experience was, if the customer is made to wait a long time to get back one of their belongings, this is what they will remember. By having a dog that uses its sense of smell to locate a customer, it can speed up things and reduce the waiting time.

3.      Brand Recall: The passengers might forget that they had left their mobile phone or keys on KLM but they will always remember how it was returned! This is a story that they will often repeat to others.

In customer service training, we as trainers should always strive to design and conduct our programs in a way that participants can deliver great customer service in a timely fashion, impact brand recall and create customer delight.

MMM Training Solutions conducts soft skills training, executive coaching and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad. Our training programs are customised based on the objectives, experience of the target audience and the type of industry. We have been in business since 2005 and some of our clients include Daimler, Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft, Novartis, Cipla, Deloitte, Caterpillar and many more. Please visit our website http://www.mmmts.com to know more about our programs and our trainers.

The Essence of Good Presentation Skills

We’ve all sat through those meetings. Meetings that make us wonder “how much longer is this going to last”, “is this meeting really necessary” or sometimes even, “Is this job really worth it”! The truth of the matter is that it may not necessarily be the content that gets us bored out of our skulls but rather the way it is being presented. Good presentation skills can make even the dullest of content sound invigorating and interesting. While there is a ton of material out there that has plenty of advice for what presenters should do to churn out a good presentation, there are also some key things that they must avoid to not jeopardize their presentation. In this article we will look at three such aspects:

Insufficient Preparation

It happens even to the seasoned presenters. Life along with all its challenges and urgencies can get busy and cut into preparing for a presentation. But presentations require hard work and foresight. They require thinking ahead of the listeners to understand what they’re expecting from the presentation. A poorly prepared presentation usually shows in the scrambled manner of output or the lack of flow in the content. And listeners are usually perceptive enough to pick up on it.

Information Overload

Once in a while the presenter can do quite the opposite of underprepare and fire-hose his listeners with too much information and data. During preparation tis can seem like a good idea because one tends to think that they’re giving the listeners whatever they can and that’s a good thing. But sometimes this can be so overwhelming on the receiving end that listeners may walk away without catching the majority of what was said instead clearly understanding a few things said efficiently. Just as we do better attempting to catch one ball instead of five coming at us, the brain handles few pockets of data better instead of large volumes of it.

Lackluster Delivery

It is a sad but true fact – some presenters can be just boring. It may be one or many factors that contribute to the dullness. Presenters must not make the mistake of assuming that interesting content will carry over just as interestingly regardless of the delivery style. Body language, voice modulation, eye contact, hand gestures and enthusiasm all play a vital role in communicating the message. But it goes deeper than this too. If listeners don’t see an underlying conviction or passion in the presentation, they’re not going to be inclined to ‘buy’ a message that the presenter himself doesn’t seem to have bought into.

Presentation Skills Training is an important aspect of training that companies want to invest in for the sake of their employees. This equips them to communicate the vision and agenda of the company in an effective manner.

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, soft skills training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.

Eliminating Obstacles to Training the Trainers

Management and administrative structures, just like machinery, need to be constantly assessed, monitored and maintained in order for it to run smoothly without setbacks and last long. Companies know this and realize that even their own trainers need to be updated on the latest trends in the market, adaptive changes that need to be made to keep up with the changes and ultimately sharpening their own skills in order to achieve all that. Unfortunately most companies find that they are not able to pull valuable staff off the floor in order to invest a couple of hours to train the trainers. And their reasons are generally the common three – Time (it takes too much time / there is not enough time), money (it costs too much / doesn’t fit within the budget) and people (cannot free up people to participate). In this article we will examine some trouble-shooting tips to dealing with these objections:

Time

This is the most common complaint. There is just not enough time in a working day to set aside couple of hours for multiple trainers to be attending training. But there is a way around this. While 2-4 hours on a given day might not be practically possible, that training time can be broken down into smaller chunks of 45 minutes spread over the week. This allows trainers to not be gone for extended periods of time while still giving them the frequency and continuity of training.

Money

This can manifest in two forms – either there is simply no allowance for such training in the budget or the program is just not considered worth spending that kind of money. In the former situation, and depending on the type of business, departments could partner with each other to allot a part of their budget to accomplish the training. Other creative ways could be explored to partner with local agencies or programs to minimize the cost of training. In the second situation, a clear and cogent case needs to be made to show the cost-benefit value of such training and how it can improve efficiency and reduce costs for the future.

People

People are emotional beings and an appeal must be made to show the long-term benefits of such training, especially in the realm of making their lives easier in the future. A direct correlation between the training benefits and improvement in the quality of their jobs (and life) will provide adequate incentive to motivate them to participate in the program.

Train the Trainer is an important program that companies must invest in to keep their trainers sharp with their skills and up to date on the changing landscape of the corporate world.

MMM Training Solutions conducts communication skills training, corporate training, soft skills training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad. 

5 Habits of Healthy Leaders

What is leadership?

Leadership is a role riddled with responsibility and those who were or are currently in it understand its weight. Leadership skills have multi-dimensional aspects to it and its complexities are as diverse as the personalities of leaders themselves. Successful leaders however do things a certain way but also do it consistently. It is this drive and conviction that makes them excel at what they do. In this article we will look at five habits that make leaders successful at what they do:

Expectations are well communicated

Good leaders are clear about what they expect from their subordinates or employees. They avoid ambiguous instructions or directions and balance the line well between communicating exactly what they want and enabling the employee to achieve it. This equips the team to focus but also helps them to stay on track because they know what terms, conditions, goals and parameters are expected of them in order for the project to succeed.

It’s all about growth

People-oriented leaders know that there are things that are significantly more important than simply getting things done or accomplishing goals. And that is to equip and enable people to become better persons in every aspect of life alongside helping them succeed in their endeavors. Such leaders are quick to identify hidden skills and talents and create opportunities for these to shine. Sharp leaders also don’t allow their team to get into a comfortable or complacent spot.

Create Accountability

Leaders realize that accountability is a key factor in maintaining a culture of duty and responsibility that is laden with initiative. They strive to push members of the team to think for themselves and be independent and interdependent, without being co-dependent on each other. This fosters a sense of teamwork but also fosters unity and harmony within the team, which helps to keep each other in line with their individual responsibilities.

Feeling the morale of the team

Perceptive leaders know that monitoring the progress or growth of an individual or team is vital to understanding the health and morale of the team. Good leaders don’t shy away from identifying problematic areas and weak spots but are also quick to affirm and encourage growth and development with positive feedback.

Teachability

Good leaders understand that every individual member of the team is a contributing member and may have something valuable and important to offer for the benefit of the whole team. These leaders don’t pretend to know all the answers and will often make room to ask their subordinates for helpful ideas or opinions.

Leadership Training  Programs seek to create good opportunities for their potential leaders, where they can develop and enhance their skills in multiple areas and be the kind of leader that the company needs them to be

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.

Email Etiquette And Its Impact on Business

An email says a lot about the person writing it. Business Email writing is an art. Sometimes friendships get forged through emails. I clearly remember when I was in HR in my previous organisation, I had to write mails to various stakeholders. One of them was from the Overseas Operations Cell. I always used to receive very courteous mails from one particular individual in the OOC. Every email used to start with a greeting and end with warm wishes. Email etiquette was followed to the T.I used to look forward to writing to her. Most of the mails which I received were curt one liners so this mail really stood out. I started looking forward to meeting the writer of these emails. One day I got an opportunity when I had to go to Bangalore to meet a client. I walked into the OOC office at Bangalore curious and eager to meet the writer of the emails and asked for Aparna, the person who had been writing those courteous emails to me. I was pleasantly surprised to meet her and we connected within a few minutes of our meeting. Her emails had already created a positive impression about her in my mind so forging a friendship with her did not take much time. She is one of my closest friends till date.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart!”  William Wordsworth

Most of us do not have the time or the bandwidth to write courteous emails. We often write curt one liners that do not get us a response most of the times. Based on my experiences I would like to share a few pointers to effective email writing-

1.      A strong subject line is an essential part of business email writing. It gives an insight into what the email is all about and peeks the curiosity of the reader.
2.      Always start the email with some kind of greeting. This creates greater connect with the reader.
3.      Reflect on the content of the mail by asking yourself these questions, “What do I intend to accomplish through this email”, “Who is my audience?”, “ How can my message have the intended result and what do I need to do to achieve that?”
4.      Be sure to provide the context clearly while writing the email. Do not assume that the reader knows.
5.      Be as crisp and concise as possible while writing the content

Email Etiquette training can help you learn the globally accepted etiquette and methods of email writing. With most people in business getting over 300 emails a day, learning how to get your emails read is an invaluable skill.

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.