Working with a Micro-Manager

Hands up if you have worked with a Micro-Manager. You know, one of those folks who gets so involved in the detail of how we do the job that they might as well do the job themselves.

They wear themselves out questioning us closely on exactly how we are going to do each job and second-guess us at every turn... and by so doing either make us feel completely inadequate or steaming mad.

The delightful opposite is the macro-manager. This is the person who tells you the big picture; the why of the outcomes they need, then they leave us to get on with it. We are very, very welcome to contact them if we have questions, are uncertain about choices or if the world throws up a curve ball; but it is our job, and they trust us to carry it out.

As a lecturer I have two macro-managers. It is wonderful! As long as I acheive the desired outcomes, they trust me to manage the process. Actually, I have nearly always had macro-managers... the few times I have worked with micro-managers, I have moved on very quickly. I guess like all things though, it is a continuum.

From my informal observation, I think the average Kiwi likes 90% macro, 10% micro. In thinking about it, I prefer to lead 90ma/10mi, but prefer to follow at nearly 100ma!

People's preferences when leading depends on how much trust the follower generates. When I don't trust someone to be do a job, my ratio would drop down 75/25. However, there are some managers who start at 60/40 and it just goes downhill from there.

It is easy to think that people are the same the world over, but Geert Hofstede did some great work with IBM staff in the 1970s, questioning, collating and summarising data on the different cultural dimensions displayed by different populations (though not specifically on how we lead or follow). He found that our leadership style preferences changed depending on which culture we were from. Some cultures were very individualistic, others collective; some more masculine dominated, some more feminine; some could tolerate a greater power distance, some preferred a more fair culture; some liked more certainty, some could cope with more ambiguity. Together, these measurements added up to each nation's unique take on "how we do things around here". You can read more about Hofstede at http://vtaras.com/files/JAP_Taras_Kirkman_Steel.pdf

New Zealand is a culture that, I feel, doesn't cope well with micro-managing. The US is probably less tolerant than we are, as would Australia be. Germany and Japan would be more tolerant.

I find it really interesting to spot the differences so we can better understand those around us; even with something so insignificant as a micro-manager.

read more "Working with a Micro-Manager"

Random Acts of Kindness - dead or alive?

I have been reading today about Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) by Interflora (go to http://lnkd.in/izxY6W ); Interflora are crawling Facebook & Twitter to find people who have had bad days, then they send them flowers. 

Interflora's RAK is a nice idea, but I would rather get a live plant than a bunch of dead bits... what do you think?

read more "Random Acts of Kindness - dead or alive?"

Hello Mall

For those of you who remember the film "Shirley Valentine", you will no doubt remember Shirley uttering those memorable words "Hello Wall" in a monologue to the wall, which reveals her innermost spirit, and by degrees, how narrow, confining and boring her life has become. Shirley wants happiness, challenge and change.

Entrepreneurs and service workers have flocked to Dubai to get an economic bite of the wodge of oil dosh that is transforming this splinter of the East into the West. On the surface, the Dubai development looks like it could bring both the immigrants and the locals happiness, challenge and change, but Joe Bennett isn't so sure.

I have just been reading Joe's latest travel book - this time he delves into the UAE, in "Hello Dubai: Skiing, Sand and Shopping in the World's Weirdest City". As with "Where Underpants Come From" (2008), Joe's writing is most entertaining, with him gently poking his finger at both the Western and Eastern cultures.

However, I was most struck by a couple of paragraphs on pages 60 and 61 of his book, regarding consumerism, and our consumer society, which read:

“Malls are easy to despise, but they are merely covered markets and markets are as old as agriculture. But what a mall offers is far more than agricultural surplus. It offers the ideal fantasy world as seen on television and in magazines. And nothing is permitted to disrupt the fantasy: no weather, no thugs, no traffic, no dirt, no distress. There are security guards, piped music, and cooled synthetic air. Malls are the apex of the consumer society that Dubai has come to represent. And of all societies in history the consumer society is the least social. It emerges from Fortress Home only to make raids on stuff, to take that stuff home in a sealed car, haul up the drawbridge, drop the portcullis and then watch television in order to learn what to get next.

“It is so easy to forget how constantly we in the West are bombarded with a single lie. It is the notion that the things we buy – the cheese spread, the duvet inner, the all-in-one barbecue tool - will make us happier than we were before we bought them. The lie is bellowed from the radio, the television, the newsprint, the roadside billboards. Experience tells us that the lie is a lie. Yet some instinct continues to respond to its siren call, and the balloon of hope keeps re-inflating.

“In our world the call of advertising is as constant as the call of the muezzin. Commerce and religion use identical marketing strategies. The mall is effectively our mosque and, like a mosque, it is built to impress. Like a mosque it is a focal point, the place where people gather to do a culturally important thing. Like a mosque it confirms a belief and gratifies a need. And if Dubai had to choose between mosques and malls, it would choose malls. Indeed, though it would never admit it, it already has. Just as we have chosen them over cathedrals.”

Having not watched TV for fourteen months, Joe's comments give me hope that my consumer edge is becoming dulled. I certainly feel no pull to buy the latest supercallifragilisticexpialidocious goods. Mind you, that could be the results of building a new house and being poor, and having an intense aversion to malls. But I digress.

Buy Joe's book, and support a good, transplanted-Kiwi writer. It is a thought-provoking read.

Bennett, J. (2010). Hello Dubai: Skiing, Sand and Shopping in the World's Weirdest City. Simon & Schuster.

read more "Hello Mall"

Newsletter Issue 195, January 2011

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 195, January 2011

Hi guys,

This time we consider some of Joe Bennett's thoughts on blatant consumerism from "Hello Dubai" in Hello Mall below.

We check out the 2010 Characteristics of Good Managers, according to Leadership Management Australia's 2010 LEAD Survey. 

QuickLaunch Toolbar for Windows 7   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Hello Mall

For those of you who remember the film "Shirley Valentine", you will no doubt remember Shirley uttering those memorable words "Hello Wall" in a monologue to the wall, which reveals her innermost spirit, and by degrees, how narrow, confining and boring her life has become. Shirley wants happiness, challenge and change.

Entrepreneurs and service workers have flocked to Dubai to get an economic bite of the wodge of oil dosh that is transforming this splinter of the East into the West. On the surface, the Dubai development looks like it could bring both the immigrants and the locals happiness, challenge and change, but Joe Bennett isn't so sure.

I have just been reading Joe's latest travel book - this time he delves into the UAE, in "Hello Dubai: Skiing, Sand and Shopping in the World's Weirdest City". As with "Where Underpants Come From" (2008), Joe's writing is most entertaining, with him gently poking his finger at both the Western and Eastern cultures.

However, I was most struck by a couple of paragraphs on pages 60 and 61 of his book, regarding consumerism, and our consumer society, which read:

“Malls are easy to despise, but they are merely covered markets and markets are as old as agriculture. But what a mall offers is far more than agricultural surplus. It offers the ideal fantasy world as seen on television and in magazines. And nothing is permitted to disrupt the fantasy: no weather, no thugs, no traffic, no dirt, no distress. There are security guards, piped music, and cooled synthetic air. Malls are the apex of the consumer society that Dubai has come to represent. And of all societies in history the consumer society is the least social. It emerges from Fortress Home only to make raids on stuff, to take that stuff home in a sealed car, haul up the drawbridge, drop the portcullis and then watch television in order to learn what to get next.

“It is so easy to forget how constantly we in the West are bombarded with a single lie. It is the notion that the things we buy – the cheese spread, the duvet inner, the all-in-one barbecue tool - will make us happier than we were before we bought them. The lie is bellowed from the radio, the television, the newsprint, the roadside billboards. Experience tells us that the lie is a lie. Yet some instinct continues to respond to its siren call, and the balloon of hope keeps re-inflating.

“In our world the call of advertising is as constant as the call of the muezzin. Commerce and religion use identical marketing strategies. The mall is effectively our mosque and, like a mosque, it is built to impress. Like a mosque it is a focal point, the place where people gather to do a culturally important thing. Like a mosque it confirms a belief and gratifies a need. And if Dubai had to choose between mosques and malls, it would choose malls. Indeed, though it would never admit it, it already has. Just as we have chosen them over cathedrals.”

Having not watched TV for fourteen months, Joe's comments give me hope that my consumer edge is becoming dulled. I certainly feel no pull to buy the latest supercallifragilisticexpialidocious goods. Mind you, that could be the results of building a new house and being poor, and having an intense aversion to malls. But I digress.

Buy Joe's book, and support a good, transplanted-Kiwi writer. It is a thought-provoking read.

Bennett, Joe (2010). Hello Dubai: Skiing, Sand and Shopping in the World's Weirdest City. UK: Simon & Schuster.

LMA Characteristics of Good Managers

Leadership Management Australia has published their annual "Characteristics Of Good Managers" list, which is drawn from their Leadership, Employment and Direction Survey of more than 3,000 employees across Australia (86%) and New Zealand (14%). This survey is taken from the employee point of view.

This year, the following characteristics made up the top ten:

1. Is trustworthy and open in approach (last year; 7)
2. Clearly communicates where we are going (last year; 1)
3. Gives me the "space" to do my work, but supports me  (last year; 5)
4. Listens to and respects my input into decisions (last year; 4)
5. Gives regular and honest feedback on how I am going (last year; 2)
6. Is fair and even handed/makes reasonable demands (last year; 3)
7. Provides the resources I need to do my job (last year; =11)
8. Recognises me for extra efforts/results (last year; 10)
9. Coaches and develops me (last year; 9)
10. Trusts me with challenging work (last year; 8)

An item that didn't make it from last year, at number 6, was "Supports me in the decisions I make". This year that came in at #11.

It is suspected that the change of the top item is a direct knock-on effect of the global financial crisis. Check it out at the source at http://www.leadershipmanagement.com.au/Newsletter/dec10/trustworthiness-openness-jumps-to-top-of-list.html

QuickLaunch Toolbar for Windows 7

I rely on the QuickLaunch bar to access my most frequently-used applications. However, Windows 7 no longer has it.

Oh woe!

I can get QuickLaunch back in Windows 7, but in a "Redmond-knows-better-than-you-stupid-users" way. QuickLaunch can be turned back on, as part of the main Taskbar. This means that QuickLaunch takes up Taskbar space needed for open programmes, system tray and other activity indicators, and it is not separable from the Taskbar. Not a great fix.

However, TechRepublic are promoting a little application by Idris called "the App Launcher gadget". It does what QuickLaunch bar did, but from the desktop itself. Adding programmes is a snap - just drag & drop. You can also configure the number of display icons per row, chose alignment and change the background image.

Check it out at http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=7eb0c316-b3d1-416e-bff4-5b7ed53ebe11&bt=1&pl=1 and read the original TechRepublic story at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=1552

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for you:

• RAK, Random Acts of Kindness. A nice TLA to start the New Year on.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Function keys. This time it is F4:

• Excel, Frontpage, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Windows, Windows Media Player & Word "Quit or close open page/window/box" Alt & F4
• Excel, Word, PowerPoint "Repeat the last action" F4
• Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Word "Repeat previous Find (Find Next)" Shift & F4
• Frontpage, PowerPoint, Windows, Word "Close active page/window/box" Ctrl & F4
• IE "Display the Address bar history (display a list of addresses you've keyed)" F4
• Outlook "Open the Find text box when in an email" F4
• PowerPoint "Quit PowerPoint" Alt & Shift & F4
• Publisher "Open or close a list box" F4
• Windows "Open the drop-down list box on the toolbar. Pressing F4 again moves the keyboard focus back to the previously used item, or opens the Save In or Look In in the Save As or Open dialog box" F4

Hot Linx

To create email newsletters with a bit of pizzazz, check out what MailChimp has to offer at http://www.mailchimp.com/. To view some resources about what they can do for you, go to http://blip.tv/file/1741558

If you want the low-down on what is new in the slightly bizarre and unusual sense, check out http://portent.org/.

The webby awards have been and gone, and you can view the results at http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=14. I find the awards these days tend to go to websites that do not follow the accepted principles of design, layout and simplicity! Or maybe it's just me :-)

Sao Paulo's Clube Amostra Grátis (free sample club), allows members, for an annual membership fee, to sample up to five items a month in exchange for online survey participation on the sampled items. Go to http://www.clubeamostragratis.com.br/ if you can read Portuguese!

---

                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here

read more "Newsletter Issue 195, January 2011"

Emerging Nations & Markets

Trendwatching's newsletter (http://trendwatching.com/briefing/) had some very interesting stats on emerging markets recently:

1. Developing economies "have accounted for nearly 70 percent of world growth over the past five years". (Source: Carnegie, 2010.)
2. The GDP of Emerging and Developing Economies accounted for 20% of world GDP in 2000, 34% in 2010, and an estimated 39% by 2015. (Source: IMF, 2010.)
3. The global emerging middle class now stands at two billion people who spend USD 6.9 trillion a year, a figure which is expected to rise to USD 20 trillion - twice current US consumption - by 2020. (Source: McKinsey, July 2010.)
4. Developing countries will account for two thirds of world trade in 2050. (Source: Carnegie, 2010.)
5. The GDP of emerging markets will grow to be about 1.3 times the size of advanced economies in 2050. China will be approximately twice the size of the United States in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. (Source: Carnegie, 2010.)
6. India now has more rich households than poor, with 46.7 million high income households as compared to 41 million in the low income category. 62 per cent of Indian households belong to the middle class (Source: National Council of Applied Economic Research, August 2010.)
7. 700 million people will start using the Internet in Asia in the next 5 years (Source: McKinsey; September 2010)

So what does this mean for we Kiwis, tucked away at the bottom of the world?

New ideas, new markets, new consumers. As these emerging nations explore new opportunities, it creates opportunities for us to sell knowledge, expertise and innovation. In return we will gain inspiration and fresh ways of looking at what we do.

There is nothing like collaboration for fuelling creativity, and Kiwis are good at collaboration :-)

read more "Emerging Nations & Markets"

Mash-up: Ferriss & the Four-Hour Workweek

This article is about a mash-up. For those of you who haven't heard that term before, I guess we could call it 'confluence'; where some different ideas, taken together, create something more - or less - unique. It was a term originally used for a web page or app that combined data, material or functions from several sources to create a new product.

I was recently lent a book authored by Tim Ferriss (the 2009 updated version), called The Four-Hour Workweek. I read it, and found many of the ideas within it quite sensible. Probably not necessarily achievable, but certainly sensible.

Tim suggests that we need to focus on the important things in our work, and stop doing the other 3/4s of the junk (à la Stephen Covey); suggests only checking and responding to emails a couple of times a day so we are not continuously distracted (à la Time Management seminar I attended in 1995); re-promoting the 80/20 rule (à la Richard Koch); thinking laterally (à la Edward De Bono); a whole lot of lonely planet travel stuff; create some passive income (à la Lynn Terry); outsource all the ooky bits of your life to India or local specialists wherever possible (outsourcing and contract hiring has been around for a long time, but web-outsourcing has got easier this past decade); and some - my my view - dubious takes on setting and following rules of business engagement. That last part appears to be "all Tim". The outsourcing appears to be largely him too.

You may already have an inkling where this article is going. Tim's novel is a mash-up. What is more, he has cross-promoted the bejazus out of it on his blog, writing for lots of other blogs, got on TV - through lots and lots of hard work on his part - and as a result, has made mega-bucks from it.

The really interesting thing is that Tim says he only spends 4 hours a week working (note the title!). But in reading the book, he seems to define work as 'things I don't like doing'. As much of his income is created via successful marketing, promotion, speaking and writing, I am sure he spends far more than four hours a week on those activities.

Really what Tim is selling us is the dream; same old snake oil salesman, selling the "you too can be great" if you do X. However, Tim does help the reader stop to question their own routine. To make us consider what you are attempting to do with your life, and whether it is time for a change.

An interesting book, but not one that tells us anything new.

It does, however, pull a number of old narratives together into a new mash-up. So if you have a burning desire to travel and work independently, and to eventually create some passive income from running your life that way, buy it. If you don't, get it out of the library instead, then read the original authors quoted above.

We should remember that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or, to quote Google Scholar, is that stand[ing]on the shoulders of giants?

read more "Mash-up: Ferriss & the Four-Hour Workweek"

Newsletter Issue 194, December 2010

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 194, December 2010

Hi guys,

I have talked about this topic before, but I don't think we have really talked about what Level 5 Leadership is and is not. So this time we have a quick look.

How many times have you clicked on a link that said one thing, to find quite another string in your web browser, with that sinking feeling in your stomach? Here's one way to verify with the TinyURL Preview. 

Mass Updates in Outlook   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Level 5 Leadership

Kenn Butler (2010) discussed a Bob Gass UCB article (2010) in his December 14th newsletter. Kenn quoted Gass "Disraeli [... & Gladstone] accomplished much. But what [...] separated them was their approach to people. The difference can be best illustrated with a story told by a young woman who dined with each of the two rival statesmen on consecutive nights. When asked for her impression of them, she said. ‘When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.’"

What a wonderful comparison of the two men; and what a pity the woman's name appears to have been lost to history. The clarity of her thought is fantastic.

What Gass is illustrating in the retelling of that little story is that that Gladstone was more of a charismatic leader; when he was in the room, there was no one else there. He shone the spotlight on himself. Disraeli was what we would now call a Level 5 leader (Collins, 2001a); the quiet, humble person who has "a wonderful team" and looks through the window when there is a success, and in the mirror when there is a failure. Disraeli led by shining the spotlight on others, not on himself.

Level 5 leaders are rarely seen unless you look for them. They are not the grandstanders, the shouters, the shining, polished people. As Jim Collins himself explains them, they are not the "celebrity CEO, the rock-star leader whose deepest ambition is first and foremost self-centric" (Collins, 2001b).

Level 5 leaders are the quiet battlers who get out there and do things for their people. They are passionate, hardworking, and work for, in and with their team. And they form great teams. They get the best group of "who"s in a room and collectively decide the best "what." Level 5 leaders don't decide alone, they are truly participative. It is often not their own visions they pursue, but, using penetrating questioning to draw out the team's strategies, the best their team can come up with (McCrimmon, 2008).

That is a great skill set to have; that of recognising the unique abilities that everyone has, and being able to put them together in a team that allows each of them to work to the best of their ability. To smooth the path in front of each person; to guide them; and then to get every unique team member working in the same direction for the greater good of the organisation.

Jim Collin's list of US CEOs whom he feels (for a variety of reasons including performance; impact; reputation resilience; and ultimately longevity) historically fits the Level 5 leadership model (Collins, 2003; Crainer, 2006) are, in best-fit place order:

1. Charles Coffin, GE (1892+)
2. Bill Allen, Boeing (1945+)
3. Sam Walton, Wal-Mart (1945+)
4. George Merck, Merck (1950-1970s)
5. Darwin Smith, Kimberly Clark (1970-1990s)
6. Jim Burke, Johnson & Johnson (1970-80s)
7. David Maxwell, Fannie Mae (1980s)
8. William McKnight, 3M (1940-50s)
9. Katharine Graham, Washington Post (1960-70s)
10. David Packard, HP (1940-1960s)

"Level 5 leaders are a study in duality" notes Collins, "modest and wilful, shy and fearless." (Crainer, 2006). Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if all leaders were like that :-)

 

Bibliography & further reading:

• Butler, Kenn (2010). Week # 202 - Passion & approach to people. Retrieved 13 December 2010 from http://www.kennbutler.com/PUBLICATIONS/Newsletter/Read+Online/Week+202.html
• Collins, Jim (2001a) Good to Great. USA: HarperCollins Publishers
• Collins, Jim (2001b) The Misguided Mix-up of Celebrity and Leadership. Retrieved 13 December 2010 from http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/the-misguided-mixup.html
• Collins, Jim (2003). The 10 Greatest CEOs Of All Time What these extraordinary leaders can teach today's troubled executives. Retrieved 13 December 2010 from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/07/21/346095/index.htm
• Gass, Bob (5 December 2010). UCB: What's Your Approach to People?. Retrieved 13 December 2010 from http://www.ucb.co.uk/index.cfm?itemid=1442&wordid=3508
• McCrimmon, Mitch (2008). What Is Level 5 Leadership: The Real Meaning of Leadership. Retrieved 13 December 2010 from http://www.suite101.com/content/what-is-level-5-leadership-a40132#ixzz1827xK6wY
• Crainer, Stuart (3 January 2006). Interview: Jim Collins and Level 5 Leadership. Retrieved 14 December 2010 from http://www.management-issues.com/2006/5/24/mentors/jim-collins-and-level-5-leadership.asp

TinyURL Preview

If you have been sent a Tiny URL by someone who you may not quite trust, you can preview where the URL takes you, quite simply by adding the word "preview" as a prefix to the address:

Eg: Windows Secrets home page TinyURL link is http://tinyurl.com/6u5ba.

Copy that link into your browser address bar and change it to read "http://preview.tinyurl.com/6u5ba". Hit enter.

Now the link will bring you to a preview page that displays the full, expanded URL, so you can verify it was going to take you where you thought it would.

Build up that trust :-)

 

Mass Updates in Outlook

Have you ever been in the situation where a company name has changed, and you have had to change the data for several Outlook contacts?

TechRepublic just published a great tip at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/msoffice/?p=4232&tag=nl.e056 for doing a mass company change using grouping, and drag & drop:

1. Go to Contacts.
2. Click the View tab | Arrange By | Current View group | choose By Company.
3. Click the header "Company" to sort the list by Company.
4. In the Arrangement group, choose Collapse All from the Expand/Collapse option.
5. Scroll to the company you want to update, choose "Expand This Group" from the Expand/Collapse option.
6. Open any one contact in the group, update the Company field and save. This will create a new group.
7. Collapse the old company and drag that group by the group bar to the new company. When a "Change Company Name To" control tip text message appears, drop the old company into the new one.

For any common information that you can group on, you can do the same kind of mass update. It is so much easier to get Outlook to update your contacts!

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for you:

• HERO, "Highly Empowered and Resourceful Operatives". Term coined in the new book, "Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, Transform Your Business", by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

If you are working in a large Excel spreadsheet, and lose sight of your active cell, there are a couple of Excel shortcuts that will send you back:

• Excel "Return to the active, off-screen cell" - Ctrl & Backspace
• Excel "Return to the active, off-screen cell if you know the cell address or range name" - Ctrl & G, enter range/address, Enter

Hot Linx

If you like Kiwiana, you have to check out the tea towels for sale by Martha Craig (aka Wanda Harland) at http://www.dishy.co.nz/purchase.html. Love the hats too!

Scroll down to "Map of the on-line community" on http://sciblogs.co.nz/code-for-life/ and have a look at the Map - fantastic. You can also buy a poster-sized copy if it rings your bell at http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#OnlineCommunitiesMap2010

And if you are wanting a styley umbrella, check out the technology in these ones at http://www.bluntumbrellas.com/

Check out how corrupt your country is by heading off to https://papersowl.com/discover/more-than-6-billion-people-live-in-countries-with-a-serious-corruption-problem and viewing the country results. Makes for very interesting reading. NZ is at the top in a tie with Denmark, with Finland and Sweden in second place.

---

                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here

read more "Newsletter Issue 194, December 2010"

Draw Attention to your Presentation

If you need to highlight specific text or image in a presentation, there is a nifty PowerPoint function that allows you to draw a circle around it.

This is a two step process; firstly you create the thing you want to highlight, then secondly you need to draw an oval AutoShape over it.

Once you have created the item you want to highlight, then:

Click the Oval on the Drawing toolbar and drag it inside the slide. If you need a circle, hold down the Shift key as you drag out the AutoShape to create a circle, not an oval.

To format the oval, right-click and choose Format AutoShape from the pop-up menu. On the Colors and Lines tab, set Fill Color to No Fill, and Line Weight to 2 pt (or higher). You may want to change the Line Color to red, or another stand-out colour.

1. To animate your oval, right-click and choose Custom Animation.
2. From the Add Effect dropdown, choose Entrance.
3. Select Wheel (click More Effects if Wheel isn’t available from the short list).
4. From the Start dropdown, choose With Previous.
5. From the Spokes dropdown, choose 1
6. From the Speed dropdown, choose Fast or Very Fast
7. To view your animation, key F5.

Depending on your audience and the complexity of the info you want to highlight, you may want to play with the speed a bit.

Very simple but quite effective. Thanks to TechRepublic at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/msoffice/?p=3873&tag=nl.e056 for this tip :-)

read more "Draw Attention to your Presentation"

Serving is the New Selling

According to Trendwatching, it has "never been more important to turn your brand into a service". Their impression of consumers is that we are tired, don't have enough time to make good decisions, and really want some TLC. Trendwatching call it "Brand Butlers"

Well, that does sound like many of us after a long week at the salt-mines, doesn't it! Trendwatching feel that the time is right, now that web technology makes it possible to offer tailored and relevant services to consumers anywhere in the world, in any time zone - 24 hours a day, to offer a really FANTASTIC service to your clients.

The aspects of buyer behaviour that add up to the "Brand Butler" trend is that consumers feel they don't have enough time, control or independence, and they want more convenience. Customers also want the businesses they chose to deal with to truly care about them, and to show that care in every transaction.

For businesses, this means you need to change the focus behind many of your customer interactions into a service-oriented one. As Trendwatching put it, "from 'broadcasting' to assisting". It is a big shift, but, if done well, can reap huge rewards.

To read more, go to http://trendwatching.com/trends/brandbutlers/ 

read more "Serving is the New Selling"

Chairing Effective Meetings

Hands up everyone who knows what the duties of the Chair at a meeting are?.

Hmm. I can't see many hands. I had best fill you in :-D

As the meeting Chair, your duties are to strategise, plan, organise, lead and control. Does that ring a dark distant bell of remembrance from Management 101? I hope so :-)

• Strategising - ensure your meeting will get the team several steps closer to achieving their short-, medium- and long-term goals. You should have a strategic item that you discuss each month - such as Values | Mission | Vision | Strategic Plan | Business Plan | Budget etc
• Planning - think carefully about what needs to be discussed, in order to meet those goals. Set time limits per item, prioritise the discussion items, ensure the team has the required materials and schedule pre-meeting work which needs to be done.
• Organising - create the agenda based on your planning, ensure everyone gets the materials (including a repeat of the previous minutes) they need prior to the meeting, and know what tasks they need to complete before they come. Send - or delegate sending - reminders for the actions from the last meeting that were due at this meeting. Have a note-taker organised before the meeting.
• Leading - lead by setting the tone - be there early, greet attendees as they arrive. Host them, have a chat until time for the meeting to start. Perhaps have a 10 minute social time at the beginning to let everyone catch up initially. Check once the meeting starts that everyone is prepared. Postpone discussion on those items which are not appropriately prepared. Follow the agenda. Involve everyone, but give verbose people a time limit. Keep discussion relevant. Park ideas ‘for next time’ if not Keep sense of urgency. Be firm but fair.
• Controlling - Recap points & decisions. Ensure everyone is aware of what actions they have agreed to, and when they will deliver them by. Ensure incomplete items are carried forward for the next meeting. Set the time for the next meeting. Reward attendees by ending positively. Ensure the note-taker sends out the minutes to you within 24 hours of the meeting, check them (and correct if necessary) and forward on to everyone else. Ensure the actions | responsibilities | due dates in the minutes are clear so everyone understands their tasks.

If you have your finger on the pulse as Chair, your meetings will run well. Because you are clear about what you want to achieve, the team will have time to focus on the important things, and not get bogged down in detail.

Sam

read more "Chairing Effective Meetings"

Getting the Most out of Trade Shows

On the New Zealand branch of the Exhibitions & Events Association of Australasia, there are some very useful tips to remind us how to get the most out of going to exhibitions and trade shows. It is very easy to get caught up in the logistics of going, and forget about WHY you are going.

The EEAA website has some excellent little tips to remind us that we need to get the most bangs for our buck.

1. Set specific goals: Companies who exhibit with clearly stated realistic objectives achieve results.
2. Boldly state your business: Whether you're putting your stand together on a shoe-string or hiring a designer, do everything you can to create an eye-catching stand.
3. People buy people: It's vital to have the right staff. They need to be knowledgeable, energetic and focused. They also need regular breaks.
4. Entice visitors: Movement, entertainment, demonstrations, quirky giveaways all grab visitors' attention and give you the chance to engage with them.
5. Collect contacts: Have a systematic approach to gathering contact details. Design a lead collection form so you can collect the specific information you require from visitors.
6. Quantify outcomes: As with any marketing investment, you need to know if it delivered the right result. Measure the success of your objectives.
7. Follow-up leads: Post-show activity is critical for securing future business. Contact your visitors, reinforce your offers made at the stand and convert these leads into clients.

Go to http://www.eeaa.co.nz/ for more information.

read more "Getting the Most out of Trade Shows"

Newsletter Issue 193, December 2010

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 193, December 2010

Hi guys,

Do you feel like your manager is watching you through a sniper-scope, just waiting for you to put a foot wrong? Read Working with a Micro-Manager below.

Microsoft has finally tolled the death knell for Windows XP. Long Live Windows XP!

Quick Underline in Word   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Working with a Micro-Manager

Hands up if you have worked with a Micro-Manager. You know, one of those folks who gets so involved in the detail of how we do the job that they might as well do the job themselves.

They wear themselves out questioning us closely on exactly how we are going to do each job and second-guess us at every turn... and by so doing either make us feel completely inadequate or steaming mad.

The delightful opposite is the macro-manager. This is the person who tells you the big picture; the why of the outcomes they need, then they leave us to get on with it. We are very, very welcome to contact them if we have questions, are uncertain about choices or if the world throws up a curve ball; but it is our job, and they trust us to carry it out.

As a lecturer I have two macro-managers. It is wonderful! As long as I acheive the desired outcomes, they trust me to manage the process. Actually, I have nearly always had macro-managers... the few times I have worked with micro-managers, I have moved on very quickly. I guess like all things though, it is a continuum.

From my informal observation, I think the average Kiwi likes 90% macro, 10% micro. In thinking about it, I prefer to lead 90ma/10mi, but prefer to follow at nearly 100ma!

People's preferences when leading depends on how much trust the follower generates. When I don't trust someone to be do a job, my ratio would drop down 75/25. However, there are some managers who start at 60/40 and it just goes downhill from there.

It is easy to think that people are the same the world over, but Geert Hofstede did some great work with IBM staff in the 1970s, questioning, collating and summarising data on the different cultural dimensions displayed by different populations (though not specifically on how we lead or follow). He found that our leadership style preferences changed depending on which culture we were from. Some cultures were very individualistic, others collective; some more masculine dominated, some more feminine; some could tolerate a greater power distance, some preferred a more fair culture; some liked more certainty, some could cope with more ambiguity. Together, these measurements added up to each nation's unique take on "how we do things around here". You can read more about Hofstede at http://vtaras.com/files/JAP_Taras_Kirkman_Steel.pdf

New Zealand is a culture that, I feel, doesn't cope well with micro-managing. The US is probably less tolerant than we are, as would Australia be. Germany and Japan would be more tolerant.

I find it really interesting to spot the differences so we can better understand those around us; even with something so insignificant as a micro-manager.

 

Long Live Windows XP

Many IT professionals feel that XP is the most successful operating system in PC history. It had enough time from its inception in 2001 to eradicate most of the bugs. Because it was based on Windows NT, it was inherently more stable than the ghastly ME, or buggy Windows 98.

However, in October 2010, Microsoft finally halted Windows XP sales, after nine years. Support for XP will start to decline now that there is no more retail. Apparently most patch development ended in 2009, but extended support packages end completely in April 2014 for all XP versions.

What is REALLY interesting, however, is that XP still holds 60% of the market share, according to NetMarketShare.com, which tracks online operating systems in use.

"Figure 1. XP use is declining, but based on a recent NetMarketShare.com. chart, it's still the dominant OS by far". From Windows Secrets Newsletter at http://windowssecrets.com/paid/101111/

Quick Underline in Word

When you want to create a section break in Word, or to provide a logical end to a document, there are a set of three key strokes you can do to create a major underline right across the page.

Each of these lines will automatically become an underline for the last line of text you entered, and will have your standard 'after paragraph' formatting (eg, if your document has 6pts space set after a paragraph, that is what your line will have).

The quick strokes are as follows:

• - - - then Enter, (hyphen, hyphen, hyphen, Enter) for a light line
• ___ then Enter, (underscore, underscore, underscore, Enter) for a bold line
• ``` then Enter, (tilde, tilde, tilde, Enter) for a wavy light line
• *** then Enter, for a square dotted bold line
• === then Enter, for a double line, top light, bottom bold
• ### then Enter, for a double line, top line thick darkening from light grey at the top to black at the bottom, with a light black line underneath.

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for you:

• UI, User Interface. The 'customer face' of software applications - menus, tools, dialogue boxes, message boxes - that you use to run each programme.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Function keys. This time it is F5:

• Excel, PowerPoint, Word "Restore the program window size" Ctrl & F5 or Alt & F5
• IE, Frontpage, Outlook, Windows, Windows Media Player, Word "Refresh" F5
• IE "Refresh the current Web page, even if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are the same " Ctrl & F5
• PowerPoint "Run a presentation or carry out Slide Show command (View menu) or update the files visible in the Open or Save As dialog box (File menu)" F5
• Publisher "Go to page..." F5
• Publisher "Highlight the next page in the page navigation control" Shift & F5
• Publisher "Highlight the previous page in the page navigation control" Ctrl & F5
• Word "Display the Go To tab on the Find and Replace dialog box or update the files visible in the Open or Save As dialog box" F5
• Word "Edit a bookmark" Ctrl & Shift & F5
• Word "Go back to previous revision or to the location of the insertion point when the document was last closed" Shift & F5

Hot Linx

For those of us who need a laugh, check out this old clip of the comedy of Eddie Izzard, at YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEu0cJQYOIA&feature=related.

A list of customer service ideals can be found at http://www.cluetrain.com/Cluetrain_10/95theses.html. Read through the 95 Theses and see if you are remiss in any.

For an update on the doings of Uncle Quentin, Aunt Fanny, Anne, Dick, Julian, George and Timmy with lashings of ginger beer, head off to http://www.enidblyton.net/ and read about all of Mrs Blyton's creations.

Who would have thought that the evil twins of standard greeting cards would fly? Check out designer Julianna Holowka's collection of Mean Cards at http://www.meancards.com/

---

                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here

read more "Newsletter Issue 193, December 2010"