Aussie Rules

As part of the BNET Australia official launch, we’re inviting all our readers to submit their best piece of managerial advice and go into the running to win some great wine prizes.

We’ve all heard great pieces of advice from the great business people we’ve encountered through our careers — and they’ll stay with us forever. Now we want to hear your advice.

Tell us what the best piece of business advice you’ve received or given below in the Participate comments section. Please credit your advice with name and company or you can remain anonymous if you prefer. Entries will be judged by the BNET Australia editorial team.

One winner will receive a magnum of 2000 Grand Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and three runners up will receive bottle packs of Reserve Range, all courtesy of Pepper Tree Wines. Click here to see the full terms and conditions.

If you’d rather not leave your contact details in comments section below, just copy your post and send it with your contact details to competitions-au@bnet.com. The competition will run until Friday, May 30, and we’ll post the winners’ names here on Tuesday June 3. Check back then to see who won!

Here are some examples:

• Under-promise and over-deliver.
• Define your business goals clearly so that others can see them as you do.
• If you think you can or you can’t — you’re right!
• I am grateful for all my problems. I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come.

Best of luck!

Now bear with me please, this is a tricky concept to introduce. I must start by clearly stating that I totally endorse the maxim “under-promise, over-deliver” as one that is essential to carry with us in our work.

There’s nothing like blowing a client’s socks off to really get attention and build a strong relationship. However, under-promise, over-deliver is open to misinterpretation, particularly by the slightly overzealous.

Let me explain.

Sometimes in the pursuit of new and exciting work, we get a little carried away with our response to briefs and requests. Fair enough?

Yet when we’re really busy and don’t get so carried away (because we’re er … really busy) we often enjoy better results and win more business. Go figure.

I have. Here’s the theory:

When we spend too long responding to briefs and requests we have a tendency to give too much away and/or go off in a direction that proves to be off the mark.

What’s more, by the time we’ve written, edited, rewritten, printed and bound our totally gorgeous presentation we’ve burned an alarming amount of time … speculatively (aka free).

These are ideal conditions for the little voice in our head to pop up and gently remind us that we’ve done it all for nothing. Welcome to the body language of Loser Inc.

There may be another way. I give you: The Discussion Document.

Serving suggestion: To be used when either you don’t really know enough about the project or the client, or when you’re concerned you’re showing all your cards way too early in the relationship.

The set-up: Don’t say you’ll prepare a document for presentation, say instead you’ll prepare a document for discussion.

What I do is write on a sheet or two of A4 all the headings that would normally be in my all-singing, all-dancing presentation. Then under each heading I list sufficient one-liners (with accompanying bullet points) to indicate the thrust of my approach.

As long as I’m clear what I want to say with respect to each comment, I’m happy. Often I’ll take my own notes along with me, but only hand out the summary sheets.

When I go to my meeting I talk through the points and elaborate as necessary depending on my client’s reaction to what I’m saying. If I’m on the wrong track, I’ll be brief. If I’ve struck a chord, I’ll expand.

The use of discussion documents won’t suit everyone, but in the right context they can be hugely beneficial. What say you? Leave a comment and let me know.

The legal risks associated with using social networking sites, like Facebook, at work are becoming a growing concern for many employers. With Australia having the fifth-largest number of Facebook users worldwide, the Web site is opening up a plethora of potential legal risks for companies who allow their employees to access the site at work. Benefits there may be, but these are a few of the possible risks employers are exposed to.

Productivity Loss
One major concern for most employers is the substantial productivity loss Facebook is causing when used during working hours. A report conducted last year by Internet filtering company SurfControl estimated that the site may be costing Australian businesses $5 billion a year.

Security and Privacy Concerns
Another growing concern is the potential for confidential company information to be disclosed or leaked online by employees. Although most employees primarily use the site to “keep in touch” with friends, there is the risk of employees discussing company business and corporate affairs online and leaking company trade secrets. There is also the fear that employees using the site at work may make company systems vulnerable to hackers to infiltrate company networks since many Facebook profile pages contain users’ current employment details.

Risks searching Facebook to make recruitment decisions
There have been reports that some companies use these sites to “validate” recruitment decisions when recruiting new employees. This can lead to discrimination claims being brought against them.

Inappropriate content and behaviour online
Another serious legal concern is that vicarious liability may be attributed to employers for the bullying, harassing, discriminating or defamatory conduct engaged in by employees online, since this type of behaviour is essentially occurring at work, during working hours and using company property. Employees who upload inappropriate content at work could also be breaching email and Internet usage policies already in operation at the workplace.

IT issues
Employees downloading/uploading video or photo content online while at work can also affect the overall performance of the computer network system at the office.

Some suggest it is only a matter of time before these types of cases are brought before the courts. If employers are concerned about being exposed to these risks, they should either block Facebook access altogether, monitor usage and moderate its content or at the very least implement policies regarding the usage of Facebook and other social networking sites at work to ensure employees are not putting their businesses at risk.

Is innovation about killer ideas — something big that will turn the world on its head? Or is it simpler than that?

Odds are we won’t be able to come up with groundbreaking innovative concepts like the Apple iPod or Cirque du Soleil every week. We need to keep looking for them, of course, but we also need to recognise that there are many opportunities to incrementally improve our businesses.

Areas of focus should include challenges to be met, things to improve, unmet needs, wishful thinking and potential problems to avoid.

The low-hanging fruit of innovation can be found in areas of opportunity where there is:

• a specific problem, fault, deficiencies
• further development required
• an emotional target (something that really annoys people)
• wishful thinking
• market gaps
• high cost

Opportunityisnowhere

Did you read this as “Opportunity is nowhere”? or “Opportunity is now here”?

Finding innovation can simply depend on whether you see the opportunities or not.

We spend a fair few hours in our offices don’t we? If your office is at home, the chances are you spend more time there than in any other room (save perhaps for your bedroom, where for a good chunk of time it’s presumably dark and you have your eyes closed). So how come so many home offices are in the dingiest, smallest, darkest room in the house? Where’s the sense in that?

If we are to work at our best we need the best possible environment. Great ideas rarely come from depressing surrounds. Trust me, I worked out of a damp shed for 18 months.

If you want this to be the year when things really move up a notch or two, try introducing noticeable improvement to your surroundings.

It’s a wonderful means of truly signalling change.

Look around your office now and if it doesn’t reflect the business you want try some of these tips:

1. Don’t be a junk magnet
   Start by looking at what junk you’re accumulating and figure out some ways of organising it, or better still getting rid of it. Visible junk and piles of paper translate into clutter in the mind. Where do you have your best ideas, walking along a deserted beach or amongst a pile of files?
2. Take a look at your furniture, colours and personality
   Take a long, hard look at your desk and other office furniture. Is it positioned as well as it might be? Does it look professional and tidy? Picture your dream customers or clients popping over unannounced: would you welcome them to your office with open arms, or torch the place and make a run for it? Consider colour schemes and artworks. This is your office remember, make sure your personality shines through.
3. Prepare for Monday
   Finally, give some thought to the beginning of each new week. Make sure your office is friendly and welcoming. Consider having a nice, neat action list prepared; bring in a bunch of flowers perhaps; buy some new music or add a fresh fragrance. You deserve all the support you can get and your office can do more than you may realise to ensure you perform at your best.

Recent penalties handed down by the courts as a result of underpayment investigations by the Workplace Ombudsman should serve as serious warnings to employers to comply with employee Awards. A Sydney meat market was recently fined $93,600 by the Federal Magistrates Court for underpaying one of its employees approximately $9,400 and breaching multiple terms of the Award that governed the employee’s contract.

The employee, a 21-year-old apprentice butcher, was not paid the correct wages, overtime, weekend and public holiday allowances, pay in lieu of notice, annual leave, sick leave, meal allowances and superannuation.

The severity of the penalty handed down was exacerbated by the failure of the employer to act promptly to remedy the breaches of the award. The initial investigation began in March 2006 following a complaint made by the employee, but the underpayments were not rectified until January 2008. The substantial penalty therefore pointed to the “significant and ongoing failure” by the responsible managers “to be properly informed as to the effect of the Award”. The breaches were considered “serious and inexcusable” by the Court because of the large size of the company (it employs approximately 9,000 employees across various retail butcher stores, abattoirs and smallgoods outlets) and its associated business structure in the industry.

In other recent cases, a Hobart hair and beauty business was fined $28,000 for underpaying one of its employees approximately $9,000. Another company was fined $66,000 for underpaying its employees’ approximately $14,000. Company directors have also been found liable and ordered to pay $40,000 relating to breaches of the Workplace Relations Act. It is imperative therefore, that employers are aware of their obligations at law and abide by the terms and conditions set out in applicable awards or instruments that apply to their employees.

The lifeblood of innovation is fresh perception and new ideas. How do we nurture new ideas into potential solutions?

As Brian Libby’s article explains, you need money, time, process, people and perseverance. I would like to add one more quality to the list — attitude.

Having an attitude of being open to new ideas and encouraging staff to keep looking for areas of opportunity is vital. Keeping your mind open to suggestions and having a process for them to be aired will encourage new thinking in your team.

When running applied creativity and innovation workshops one comment we often hear from participants is “It’s great learning how to generate ideas but they will be quashed as soon as we take it to the boss?” What is your attitude to new ideas?

An idea is almost never a solution. It is just an idea — so we need to support and nurture them and the people who create them.

I recently worked with a client who told me of a disappointing meeting she’d had with a cosultant who she was planning to use on a project. This consultant has a high degree of expertise in an area in which my client was lacking.

A meeting was set-up to begin exploration of a working arrangement. On both sides the set-up was way too casual. My client didn’t make it clear exactly what was wanted from the meeting and the other party didn’t ask any questions — he was probably just grateful to be invited in!

The result was a clumsy meeting that only really got started when their time ran out.

My client left feeling that her time hadn’t been utilised well, and she was certainly left feeling less than confident in the other guy’s ability to manage the project she had in mind.

As she said to me, “Hey, if this person can’t manage a meeting properly, what chance does the project stand?”

Harsh? Maybe so, but isn’t it likely our prospective clients think like this?

In my book, anyone involved in a meeting needs to know what the purpose of the meeting is and what outcomes are being sought.

In this instance I think the consultant was a twerp for not asking questions and between you and me, my client could have done a better job too.

It’s not like anyone has an excess of time these days!

Most managers would scoff at the idea that they are entrepreneurial — entrepreneurs are guys creating new businesses from their garages — aren’t they?

Actually an entrepreneur is anyone who takes a risk in creating something from nothing. While typically part of a new enterprise or a new venture, entrepreneurs can work within an organisation (intrapreneur) or work not-for-profit (social entrepreneur); in either case the emphasis is on innovation — doing things differently to add value.

So, if we are interested in creating new products, new markets, new production methods, even new forms of organisation, we are entrepreneurs.

Last week I asked 20 entrepreneurs (MBA students in a course I teach at Swinburne University) to create a Mind Map of key characteristics that define an “innovative entrepreneur”. Aspects they included were vision, leadership, risk taker, networking, persistence, strategy and opportunity evaluation.

More interestingly, they also included dreamer, explorer, creative, ideas person, problem solver and thinker.

The first list of responses deal with qualities one can hone in a variety of ways — right here on BNET, for example.

The second qualities are not so easy — or so many people feel. Well let’s bust that myth right now. Essentially, the foundation for accessing all of these elements is altering how you “think” — a skill we can easily learn.

Can you learn to be creative? Yes. What is the link between reading, memory, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship? These are some of the issues I’ll explore in Head First Innovation.