Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Premature Escalation?

A few years ago, I was finishing up a project at the agency where I worked part time. My colleague and I had been working closely with another internal team on this initiative for a while and fortunately, things were going relatively smoothly.

As the vice president overseeing the project, I always tried to be responsive to the internal team’s needs, knowing that they represented the best interests of the client. My colleague and I talked to members of this team at least every other day, and sometimes multiple times in one day. They had my cell phone number.  If I was not in the office, they knew where to find me.

Just after we launched the initiative, the vice president on the other internal team discovered that something was wrong.  Normally, he or someone on his team would have called my colleague or me on our cell phones. Instead, he called my boss.

It was my role on projects like this to provide my boss with information on a “need to know” basis. He was unprepared for a call like this and caught off guard, and understandably reacted with a bit of panic. I was fortunate that I didn’t get in trouble, because my boss trusted me and wasn't quick to place blame just because someone expressed displeasure.

I hate corporate hierarchies as much as the next person, but it burned me that someone I’d been working with blatantly went over my head.  My friend calls the phenomena “premature escalation” – referring to the fact that those who use it don’t even give the rightful people they’re working with a chance to respond appropriately.

In my opinion, you should reserve going to someone’s boss for cases in which that someone is not giving you what you need, and has been forewarned. Even then, you should be careful.  Behavior like this is not going to endear you to your co-workers, so you should make sure it’s necessary and that you have no other choice.

What is Your Advantage Really?

You probably already know that I am a huge fan of Pat Lencioni. I first met Pat when I wrote about him in the WSJ in 2009 and have devoured his various fables about executives jockeying for key positions and striving for self-actualization in fictional American companies. 

This week, Pat has released his first nonfiction business book, The Advantage.  In it, he argues that the difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are.

Organizations are healthy when they are whole, consistent and complete and when their management, operations and culture are unified.  Healthy organizations outperform their counterparts, are free of politics and confusion and provide an environment where star performers never want to leave.

In the book, Pat shares dozens of stories of his many years in the consulting world, along with advice for how we can conduct business in a new way that aligns the organization around a common set of principles and maximizes individual potential.  It's a must-read for established executives and up-and-coming large and small business leaders who recognize that the business world has shifted and want to build an empire based on traditional values like open communication, ethical behavior, trust, and teamwork. 

 

Pathological Lying at Work

I just called a colleague to ask him to participate in a third-party project I was working on.  I wanted him to join so that I‘d have an excuse to spend more time with him, and I found myself saying all sorts of things to get him to agree.  For example, the project wouldn’t require any time at all, and that it was the most meaningful initiative I’d worked on in years.

Some of my comments were half-truths, and some were pretty close to being outright lies.

Why We Tiptoe Around the Truth

I consider myself to be a pretty moral person, so it bothers me that I’m not always honest with co-workers.  It’s the worst when someone asks me my opinion and I don’t want to hurt her feelings.  Why can’t I just be straight with people?

According to Peter Bregman in his blog post for Psychology Today, the answer is that I don’t want to feel mean or rude, and don’t want the person I’m talking to disapprove of me for being mean or rude.  By lying to preserve someone’s feelings, I’m the one who feels better.

Lying Doesn’t Work

Subtly positioning things so they appear in a better light and massaging the truth to make it more likely to be embraced also makes me feel better too.  It also takes an exceptional amount of energy and apparently fools know one.

But even understanding that, I'm still one of Bregman's minions.  I still try to make things seem different than they are because it takes courage to be honest. I have to be willing to be vulnerable, and I’m not great at that.

Bregman says that honesty is much more compelling, powerful, and effective than the alternative. People want the truth.  They are willing to accept it far more often than we think, and respect other people and organizations for speaking it.  Truly honest people make it easier for others to identify with them, trust them, and ultimately value them as leaders.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

4 Reasons Why Social Media Use = Great Customer Service

If you’ve bought anything in the last few years, you’ve no doubt noticed that customer service is not what it used to be.  Most of us don’t dare pick up the phone because we fear hearing that dreaded phrase:

“To hear a menu of options, please press 1.”

Now, however, some companies are finally getting it right, and their training ground has been none other than the prolific world of social media.  On her Perspectives blog, Mila Araujo provides these four reasons why companies that invest in social media achieve better customer service:

Social Media Requires High Engagement

Companies that have committed themselves to social media listen to what their customers are saying and the buzz around the web that’s related to the company, and they respond in real time.  Because they are routinely engaging their audience one-on-one already, they are more likely to provide excellent service.

Social Media Requires Adaptation

In order to do well in social media, you have to be dynamic, motivated, and nimble.  You have to be able to change quickly in order to use social media channels to deliver products and services more effectively.  Companies who live in this mindset require employees who do as well.

Social Media Tools Use Public Conversation Forums

The fact that everyone can see what you are doing and how you are responding to an issue creates a higher standard overall.  Companies that use social media are confident in their approaches and are trained to respond so they can offer a high level of consistent performance. On the other hand, the nature of social media allows for quick identification of less desirable behaviors that must be corrected quickly.

Social Media Enables Viral Behavior

Anyone using social media knows that bad press can easily go viral, and it doesn’t have to be by way of a major news story.  All it takes is one person to make a negative comment and others may join the discussion. This kind of viral spread ensures that social media-minded companies pay special attention to operations so an online PR disaster doesn’t occur.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog. 

Watch Your Mouth: Office Gossip and Other No-Nos

Whenever you hear something juicy about a colleague, whether it is related to work or not, you have the immediate impulse to share it across the hall.  Why?

Frank T. McAndrew is a professor at Knox College in Illinois who has devoted part of his research on evolutionary psychology to the study of gossip.

Apparently, humans have an almost irresistible desire to talk about people who are not present. McAndrew believes that in the ancient past, gossip served a useful social function in bonding group members together. At a time when humans lived in small bands and meeting strangers was a rare occurrence, gossip helped us survive and thrive.  Thus, it appears that we are hardwired to be fascinated by gossip.

McAndrew’s research, as described in Scientific American, showed that we're keen to hear and pass along any bad news about our rivals or any good news about our friends.  Men are more likely to share gossip with their romantic partners, while women will whisper with their lovers and their friends alike.  Both men and women prefer talking about and hearing about people of their own gender.

Watch Your Whispers

Despite the genetic predisposition, however, it’s a good idea to censor yourself in the workplace.  Dishing the dirt at work is obviously fun, especially if you’re bored.  Listen all you want, but refrain from contributing to conversations that could compromise someone’s reputation.  Damaging stories spread like a conflagration, and being nailed as the source can be a career killer.  If someone shares a tasty tidbit, simply nod and smile.

Watch Your Language

Also, don’t swear at work. Nothing taints your professional reputation as much as foul language. There are people all over the business world who spew curse words, and maybe your boss is one of them. If you’re tempted to join in, remember where the phrase “potty mouth” came from. At work, you don’t want to look or smell like you were anywhere near the potty, so don’t sound like it either.

Watch Your Topics

When it comes to work conversation topics in general, talking about whatever comes to mind may not necessarily be appreciated, and could earn you a label you don’t want. I suggest avoiding any discussion involving sex, drugs, or politics, because even if you are sure all of your co-workers are on the same page as you, you’re probably wrong about someone.

According to Anthony Balderrama’s CareerBuilder.com article, 13 Things to Keep to Yourself at Work, other conversation topics to steer clear of at work include:

•  Your medical history
• Your religion
• Your life of privilege and how you spend your abundance of money
• Your emotional issues and/or therapy sessions
• Your compensation details or other confidential HR issues
• Your job search or future work plans
• Your personal life

Even seemingly inoffensive topics can actually get you into trouble, so before you open your mouth, think about whether the listener really needs to hear what you’re about to say, and how he will react to it.

Here’s a story that took me by surprise when I heard it.  John Olson was an assistant manager at Publix Supermarkets in Florida, a workplace filled with golf-playing fanatics.  John, on the other hand, preferred to spend his time off in more adventurous pursuits.  Once, he took an airboat into the Everglades and spent the afternoon wrestling alligators.  When John bragged about it to his manager, the boss flew into a breathless rant about how John was an irresponsible manager and was setting a poor example for his hourly employees.  So, you never know.

In short, while you certainly don’t have to walk around the office bound and gagged, you should always ask yourself, “is this TMI (too much information)?” before sharing it.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

How to Get from College to Career: Advice from Lindsey Pollak

My good friend Lindsey Pollak recently released a terrific new edition of her well-loved book, Getting from College to Career.  In the midst of the craziness of having a new book and baby, she generously shared some thoughts about what college grads can do to improve their careers in 2012:

What made you decide to do a new edition at this time?  

We’re living in a time of such rapid change in the world of business and careers that five years ago, when the first edition of Getting from College to Career was published, feels like “the old days.” At that time the economy was good and we were at the very, very beginning of social media and smartphone usage. I decided to write a revised edition of the book to make sure that readers would have the most up-to-date, relevant and forward-thinking advice for their job searches and careers.

 What's the most important piece of advice readers should take away from the new edition?

The most important piece of advice in the new edition is the same as the original edition: take action every single day to find a job and build your career. More now than ever, the people who succeed are the people who take consistent action. Momentum matters.

The good news is that today’s job seekers have so many more tools they can use to take action – LinkedIn and Twitter have both grown tremendously over the past five years, more organizations are providing job postings by social media and text messaging and Meetup.com and other technologies make networking opportunities more plentiful.

 How has job hunting changed in the five years since you launched the original edition of Getting from College to Career? What new tips have you added?

The two biggest changes since Getting from College to Career was published five years ago relate to the economy and technology.

In 2007, there were plenty of available jobs for recent grads, so my advice focused on figuring out what you wanted to do and taking the steps to get hired into a full-time position. Since 2008, job openings are much more scarce so I added a lot more advice on alternatives to full-time employment, such as freelancing, post-college interning and taking on project work.

The recession has also meant that job seekers have had to become much better at marketing themselves to employers. I don’t think the phrase “personal branding” appeared once in the original edition and now it’s everywhere. Job seekers need to be able to tell a clear story of what makes them unique and how that uniqueness will benefit an employer. Generalists are out; specialists are in – even at the entry level.

In terms of technology, Twitter didn’t even exist when I wrote the first edition and now it’s a crucial tool for career research and networking. In this edition I also include recent grad-specific advice on using LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Apps, Skype and other tech-based tools for job seekers. Of course, technology is moving so fast (just look at the skyrocketing growth of Pinterest!) that job seekers need to keep an eye out for new tools that could help them stand out and get hired.

You interviewed a number of successful professionals and asked them to share what they wish they'd known before starting their careers. What answers most stood out to you?

I was really struck by the number of people who credited their success to two things – their relationships and their passion. Yes, a lot has changed over the past five years, but these are two elements of a successful career that are timeless: build and maintain authentic professional relationships and find a career where you’ll be doing work you love. I expect I’ll be giving that exact same advice five more years from now and fifty years from now.

In addition to being an author and speaker you serve as a global spokesperson for LinkedIn. Can you share your top LinkedIn tips for recent grads?

Absolutely! LinkedIn is a very important tool for recent grads and far too many of them are still not aware of how valuable professional online networking can be at the beginning of your career. Here are my top five LinkedIn tips for recent grads:

1. Write a profile headline that displays your desired career. Your headline does not have to be a job title. The best student headlines clearly promote who you are and what you want to do when you graduate. For example, "Honors Student & Aspiring Public Relations Associate." Or “Pre-MBA Finance Major Graduating in 2013.”
2. Include a ton of keywords in your profile. Recruiters search for candidates by keywords, so make sure your profile is full of them. Find relevant words and phrases in the job descriptions of the positions you want and then pepper them throughout your Summary, Specialties and Skills sections.
3. Connect with everyone you know. Build your network by sending personalized LinkedIn connection requests to everyone you know -- friends, family, neighbors, classmates, everyone. Next, send each personal a customized message (no mass emails!) to tell them you’re job hunting and to explain what position(s) you’re looking for. Request some advice or a phone call to talk further, or ask if they can refer you to anyone they know in your desired field.
4. Join your alumni group. Join the LinkedIn group of any college, university or graduate school you’ve attended. Once you’re a member, you’ll begin to receive updates on the activities taking place – discussions, job postings, event announcements and more. Jump in and start participating, just like you did in college!
5. Search the Student Jobs Portal. The Student Jobs Portal is a collection of all entry-level job postings on LinkedIn. Search by job function or check out postings from featured companies. When you apply for a job through this portal, the employer will be able to see your full LinkedIn profile along with your application.

7 Traits of Stellar Project Managers

Many of us manage large projects on a regular basis.  No doubt this is one of the more complex and stressful aspects of our jobs, so I’ve asked some of the best PMs I know about the traits that are essential to their success.  According to my sources, great PMs:

Possess unofficial authority

Often, the best PMs do not have formal authority over those working on their teams.  Instead, their natural charisma and infectious enthusiasm motivates people to follow and listen to them, and helps them develop an organization-wide reputation as a popular leader.

Are networking stars

The best PMs understand who they need to go to to get things done, and they develop strong relationships with those individuals so that cross-functional projects run more smoothly.  Also, should the project run into a snag, great PMs can rely on their network to find and implement a workaround.

Communicate constantly

A project cannot succeed without a PM who seeks and listens to the advice of experienced partners, and then puts processes in place for soliciting feedback on a regular basis.  They are clear in what needs to be done, by whom, and by what deadline, and they intuitively understand the questions to ask to ensure a project is moving in the right direction.

Have an obsessive attention to detail

When you’re leading a large project with thousands of components, it’s easy for small but critical pieces to get lost in the shuffle.  The best PMs use technology and frequent team communication to keep track of these details so that red flags are dealt with immediately – before they become deal-breaking issues.

Understand the big picture

At the same time, though, talented PMs can pick the areas to focus on by always keeping the end result in mind.  They align the goals of the project with the overall goals of the organization, and if a project element doesn’t further the big picture or impact the project in a significant way, it can be tossed out or at least back-burnered in favor of more pressing concerns.

Have a thick skin

In order to be able to sustain a complicated effort that places stress on all parties, PMs must be able to let harsh criticism roll off them.  They are able to take the brunt of the fallout when a client or higher-up is upset about a delay, and put themselves in the line of fire if the project does not deliver in some way.  They keep their cool and view failures as intriguing challenges rather than soul-crushing setbacks.  They can make decisions quickly, without worrying about what every individual on the team is going to think.

Are amateur psychologists

Great PMs are able to read between the lines when team members aren’t getting along, or when someone is underperforming.  They are able to effectively manage the expectations of internal and external stakeholders by intuitively understanding what’s important to each person.  They speak to others empathetically – as fellow human beings – and diplomatically resolve conflicts when they occur.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Should You Come Out at Work?

A recent Harris poll conducted with Out & Equal and Witeck-Combs Communications indicated that only 35 percent of bisexuals said that they are out to their co-workers compared to 60 percent of gay men and 62 percent of lesbians. The same pattern plays out for those who are open with their bosses and managers with 56 percent of gay men, 44 percent of lesbians, and 21 percent of bisexuals reporting being out.

There are many people who believe that all homosexual individuals should come out at work.  I’m not sure I agree. While I’m not going to tell people how to live their lives, I would like to encourage you to use caution when your career or well-being could be at stake.

Bob’s Story

Last year, I came across Bob Johnson’s story online.  A few years ago, Bob interviewed for a marketing and communications position with the Lebanese American University, a university chartered in New York with campuses in Lebanon.  He had some reservations about working for LAU as it didn’t have an equal opportunity employer notice on its website or job ad.  But he interviewed for the position anyway, not volunteering information about his sexuality.

Through the course of Bob’s tenure at LAU, which included listening to a speech from the Iranian president that panned homosexuality and traveling to the deeply closeted city of Beirut, Bob learned that openness about his sexuality would not be tolerated.  Despite using discretion, though, Bob received a 45-day performance improvement plan from his manager outlining deficiencies in his work performance. Forty-five days later, LAU fired him.

It didn’t make sense, as Bob’s job performance was stellar.  When he discussed his confusion with a colleague, he was told that he was not actually fired for job performance, but because he was gay.

Discrimination Laws Are Not All-Encompassing

The LGBT community has come a long way.  Many states now have laws that protect LGBT individuals from job discrimination.  However, there is currently no federal law that safeguards people from being fired because they are gay as Bob was, so think before you open that door.

Safeguarding Your Well-Being

I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but your first concern is making sure that coming out is safe.  If there is already anti-gay sentiment at your workplace, you don’t want to be the target of physical violence or emotional abuse.  If you need help assessing how your organization feels about LGBT employees, check out the Human Rights Campaign website.

Share with One Person at a Time

If you determine that your workplace will be receptive, start gradually.  Choose a person or two at work and think through how you want to tell them.  Observe how your heterosexual colleagues talk about their personal lives, and model your own behavior after theirs.  This might involve mentioning it casually in conversation in the kitchen, or inviting your partner to Happy Hour with the team.

Have Reasonable Expectations

Be prepared for negative reactions, including people who seem disappointed or offended at first, or people who say something stupid in a moment of awkwardness (link to awkward conversation post).  Hopefully, though, your confidants will get used to the idea and the information will be absorbed easily, without affecting how you’re viewed as a co-worker and friend.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

Would You Give Your Employees All Your Money?

Profit sharing is the new black. But one company, software training firm Agile Learning Labs, has taken it to the extreme.

Agile’s six-member team is paid the same share of the company's profits, regardless of title or role. Apparently, there are big advantages. First, since it impacts them directly and equally, all team members are constantly looking out for the bottom line. Everyone wants to do what they can to support the sales director, because it’s the customers who are paying for dinner that night. “Even those of us who would normally have no customer contact are more aware of our clients and their needs,” says Agile co-founder Chris Sims. “This helps the business.”

Digging in the dirt

Despite the increased loyalty, personal investment and productivity that profit sharing engenders in staff, the decision to move to this model was not made lightly. Every member of Agile’s team researched existing models and contributed ideas. The sales director based his concept on Eliyahu Goldratt’s theory of Throughput Accounting, and the novelist creative director wrote a narrative describing the company’s environment under a new profit sharing model a la Pat Lencioni.

Agile claims that the logistics of the chosen model are simple and elegant. Because his team was small, Sims wanted to avoid a structure that was too top-heavy and required loads of administrative time. Here’s how it works.

This system still pays out a low-end base salary to everyone–no change here. The profit share is calculated once per month and is paid as a bonus in the next pay period. The company has retained an accountant and HR firm to vet its practices and ensure that it is operating according to state and federal employment laws.

Not for the faint-hearted

For risk-averse individuals like me, however, profit sharing is a bit nerve-wracking. Sims admits that outcomes are variable. “When we start the month out, we can’t predict what the payout will be. In our few months' experience, it has ranged from fair to excellent. So far the average is acceptable, but there's always the possibility of a slump,” he says.

And what happens when the company gets bigger? How can everyone receive an equal share of profits when the firm grows to 100 or more employees? Fortunately for Agile, Sims has already thought that through. “We may restrict the model to the core team at some point, but right now we’re experimenting with extending it to some of our independent contractors and it’s working well,” Sims says. “We intend to revise our methods as we go.”

Getting down to business

If profit sharing sounds palatable to you, there are a few things you’ll want to consider. The U.S. Department of Labor recommends that you first decide whether to set up the plan yourself or to consult a professional or financial institution. Then, you will want to create a written document that outlines how the plan will work day-to-day, arrange a trust fund for the plan’s assets, develop a record-keeping system and provide plan information to participants.

Sims suggests figuring out the simplest model that could possibly work and give it a try, remembering that the primary benefit of profit sharing is a sense of shared investment in the health of the business–not the cash. “Once you have that kind of buy-in, where people feel like pulling together in lean times as much as they do celebrating the flush times, the cash will begin to take care of itself,” Sims says. “And don't make instituting a profit sharing plan a cumbersome project, because then it will either never happen or you'll design something no one can understand or administer.” Sounds like good advice!

This post was originally published at the AMEX Open Forum.  Have you checked out my Culture Beat column yet?