Understand the difference between the decision maker, influence, and gatekeeper.

Introduction

B2B sales calls come in all shapes and sizes. You might be reaching a single buyer or trying to get through to several people in an organization. Regardless of whom you are talking to, your pitch must be tailored to them and their role on the team. In this article, I will review the players you’ll likely encounter during your B2B sales calls: decision makers, gatekeepers, and influencers. I will also advise on how best to approach these different roles so you can most effectively sell your product or service!

All B2B sales calls have at least one decision maker and at least one gatekeeper.

In B2B sales, it is essential to understand the difference between the decision maker, influencer and gatekeeper.

All B2B sales calls have at least one decision-maker. The decision maker is the person who makes the final call about whether their company can use your product or service.

All B2B sales call also have at least one gatekeeper. A gatekeeper controls access from others in your organization to a person/department/group in another organization that has not yet bought from you (but may do so). Gatekeepers are often internal—for example, a marketing manager might be your gatekeeper if they control communications between you and their clients or prospects on behalf of their company. Porters can also be external—for example; an account executive might function as a gatekeeper because they know all of his client’s information, including what other vendors they use, how much they spend per year and where they spend it – information that could help him convince them that using your services would save them money!

The decision maker pulls the trigger on all sales decisions.

The decision-makers role is central to the sales process. They have the authority to make a purchase decision and have a budget to spend on your product or service. Their job is often high-level, so they do not need a lot of day-to-day operational details. They mainly care about whether you can solve their problem and how much it will cost them.

They often work alone in an office without any other people around them. They might not even speak with anyone else about what you are selling except for their assistant or secretary (a gatekeeper).

Suppose your company does business B2B (business-to-business). In that case, chances are you will need to contact a decision-maker at one point or another during your sales cycle.

Gatekeepers guard access to the decision-maker. They can be buyers, but they may not be.

Gatekeepers are not always buyers. They may be peers or usually a subordinate. They control access to the decision maker, who is typically an executive or decision maker with authority to buy whatever you sell.

Gatekeepers can be hard to identify because they do not always want their identity known—they may not want their boss to know they are stopping them. They prefer that you contact them directly rather than going through their superior. Gatekeepers also like saying “no” to people without anyone knowing about it (or having any record). This means that gatekeepers are often extremely careful about whom they allow into their inner circle, so if you do not fit into their social circle out of the gate (i.e., when trying to get in touch with them), then your chances of getting through are slim-to-none unless you’re very lucky or persistent enough

Influencers are the people who influence the decision-maker to buy a particular product or service.

Influencers are the people who influence the decision-maker to buy a particular product or service. They can be buyers or not, and they are the people you need to understand and influence to get your product or service sold. They can be anyone close to the decision maker whose opinion affects their decisions.

The influence may not be the person you usually talk to. They can be anyone close to the decision maker whose opinion affects their decisions. Influencers can include colleagues, friends, or family members. You need to identify these people when working with B2B salespeople because they are often highly influential in buying decisions for their company.

Conclusion

The buying team comprises three roles: decision-maker, gatekeeper, and influencer. The decision maker pulls the trigger on all sales decisions and usually takes responsibility for budgeting and authorizing purchases. The gatekeeper guards access to the decision-maker by filtering out unnecessary sales calls from people who do not fit into their organization’s culture or business model. Influencers can be anyone on your list which has some influence over the potential buyer’s decisions about what type of company they work for or what products they should buy from you (or not!).

#closing #comfort #negotiation #negotiation #negotiationstrategy #nonverbal #nonverbalcommunication #sales #salesnegotiation #salesnegotiationstrategy#salesstrategy #silence #trialclose

After reading hundreds of books and thousands of articles – here are the 10 laws to becoming a Pro at Productivity

1)   Take A Break – Pomodoro

If you work non-stop beyond the 25^th / 30^th minute, your performance starts to dip drastically. And it a slide downhill on productivity. So, this is what you should do – Work in 25-minute intervals. Take a break for 5 minutes and do something fun – call a friend, talk to a child, speak to a parent or roommate, enjoy some music – something that is the reward for the 25 minutes of hard Work. Now go back to the next 25 minutes slot and finish the task. Keep repeating, and you will be amazed by this magic! Your efficiency is near 100% consistently. Most people work longer and longer without a break, and they do not realize that their productivity dips rapidly to even 20%. Hence, they now take much 5x longer and make much more mistakes. The frustration and exhaustion only compound. All this without their knowledge. So, the trick is simple – keep a timer/ work for 25 min/ take a break for 5 minutes/repeat.

2)   80-20 Pareto Principle

This Pareto principle says that 80% of results get done with 20% effort. So, it would help if you had figured out that 20% is the driving agent of your 80%, and you can ignore the rest. Practising Pareto consciously allows you to focus only on the critical 80% in a short time.

3)   Newtons First Law – Start Somewhere – Keep Moving

Newton’s first law of motion says that an object is at rest or in uniform motion until an external force act upon it. So why not kick off something into kinetic action and START doing it? The momentum will take off. For example, if you want to start running for 45 minutes each day at 7:00 am, all you need to do is have the discipline of wearing your running shoes at 7:00 am. Automatically your momentum takes the song for the next 45 minutes. On the contrary, not wearing the shoe will build inertia and send you might not even step out for the entire day.

4)   Sleep Well

Oh, well, you may belong to the 5 am club. Or maybe you belong to the Night Owls club. Or you may pride yourself on sleeping 3 hours a day for months. And still, you are busy. Well, one of the reasons why those = who do 18-hour workdays are not productive is that they do not sleep well. Sleeping well, say 6-8 hours is what the body needs to function optimally and be productive. Mounting evidence suggests that a good night’s sleep seriously boosts productivity. Sleep deprivation leads to “significantly lower productivity, performance, and safety outcomes”. Well, this one should be easy to sleep well, well enough to recharge and nourish your mind and body.

5)   Buridan’s Ass -You Can’t Do Two Things at The Same Time

Buridan’s ass refers to a hypothetical situation wherein an ass (donkey) equally hungry and thirsty is placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox assumes the donkey will always go to whichever is closer, it dies of both hunger and thirst since it cannot make any rational decision between the hay and water. We often do nothing because we cannot choose what to do first. We want to do both simultaneously and cannot decide what should be. Start –pick any choice and keep moving. You will have finished the task.

6)   Do Important / Not Urgent Things First – The Q2 Quadrant

We do a lot of things every day. Do the laundry, cook, clean, email, and make phone calls. Each day you check everything off your To Do. That is efficient. Great. But to be ‘effective’, you need to do essential things. You may not do as many things, but you do one thing that makes a substantial difference. The Q2 quadrant is about doing things that are Important but not Urgent. This is where you should spend most of your time—planning, prevention, capability improvement, relationship building, recognizing new opportunities, etc. Spending time on these important things should lead to an unclouded vision, balanced life, discipline, control, and fewer and fewer crises.

7)   Work Expands to Fill Time

Work expands to fill them if you want to get things done in a sustainable fashion here\. Parkinson’s law says Work expands to fill the time we allocate to it, so if you get something attractive giving us less time, allocate less time to it. Try to time-box it into smaller and smaller time capsules instead of giving yourself a liberal ‘evening’ or ‘post launch’ to do your task – slot yourself 230-255p or 415-440p. You will see the Work magically take a short time and contracts into that time.

8)   Tame Your Mind Towards Infinite Leverage

We live in an age of infinite leverage. Your actions can be multiplied 1000-fold by writing helpful content, podcast, investing capital, having people work for you, or writing code. The impact of good decision-making on what can give the best multiplier effect now is that you can influence thousands or millions of people – through your decisions, your code, and your start-up. So, clear your mind to better judge the ‘infinite leverage’ you do with your mind. You will also be happy and calm with better decisions, peak performance, and outcomes. You must learn to tame your mind just like you train your body.

9)   Visioning with Absolute Goal Clarity

Why do you see your car everywhere after you buy it? Science has an answer for this, and it involves the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. There has not been an increase in similar cars around you — you rarely noticed it before.

Your subconscious can be quite powerful and yet be selective in what it gives attention to or ignores without you realizing it. The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, more commonly referred to as frequency illusion, triggers your brain into a goal-seeking function. Where subconsciously, it will nudge and strive towards your goals. Now imagine visioning your definitive version of what you want multiple times; you will subconsciously start achieving the same.

10)       The Magic Formula

Yes, the 10^th is just consistency and following the above – take a break, follow 80-20, start and keep moving, sleep well, do not get stuck like a Bourdain’s ass, do important things first, time-box your Work, tame your mind for infinite leverage, follow visioning with absolute goal clarity, repeat.

Employee retention is the most important topic for managers and management in 2022.

INTRODUCTION

Post-COVID, companies are reporting extreme rates of attrition. According to one of the most extensive surveys of the global workforce, one in five workers plans to quit their jobs in 2022. Of course, some of those happen because of demand and supply and the force multiplier of salaries. But 90% of the other attritions are fixable and can be fixed with a focus on a few areas.

Each company has a different way of retaining employees. For example, some companies pay well but don’t give freedom and flexibility; some give freedom but don’t pay well; some respect their employees but don’t provide training or tools needed for success; some provide training and tools but do not give freedom/flexibility, etc.

In short, there are many moving parts because of which an employee can feel demotivated. Here are the ten areas that can address 90% of the scenarios.

1. Have role clarity for each member of your team
2. Respect the individual irrespective of their job/ level
3. Skill each team member for role and success
4. Shift to remote working/ flexible work arrangements
5. Provide requisite tools to succeed
6. Build a culture of trust and positivity
7. Give employees adequate freedom
8. Have formal reviews monthly/ quarterly
9. Help them build their career plan
10. Build positivity and abundance

EACH MEMBER OF YOUR TEAM

Role clarity is the foundation of a successful team. It helps each member understand their role in the group, what they are responsible for, and what their teammates are doing. When they have role clarity, there are clear expectations about how to do their job and where they fit into the bigger picture. This reduces stress, leads to better communication, and helps avoid misunderstandings or confusion among team members.

It also means providing clear guidance on who’s responsible for what tasks so there aren’t any surprises when an employee has a question about their responsibilities at work—or if they need help with anything.

RESPECT THE INDIVIDUAL IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR JOB/ LEVEL

Everyone is a human being. Each human being expects respect. Each of those in your company – the ones with less education or experience than others, those on a different pay scale, those who do their jobs differently than others—are all human beings with feelings and emotions like you and me!

For us as leaders to create an environment where employees want to stay, we must stop seeing people solely as job titles or salary levels. Instead, we look at each employee as an individual with their unique background and personality traits that make up who they are as an employee (and as a person).

It will become easier for us to keep them engaged and retain them long-term as necessary. The key here is respecting employees irrespective of their role/job title within the organization; showing them that they matter regardless of whether they’re “at the top” or “at the bottom” should be something we emphasize continually for this approach to work properly.

SKILL EACH TEAM MEMBER FOR BOTH ROLE AND SUCCESS

To stay competitive, you need to focus on building the skills of each of your team members. Skills are the foundation of a career; without them, an employee cannot succeed at their job – here or anywhere. And unable to do their job well leads to stress and frustration.

Skills can be broken down into two categories: hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills can be taught in a workshop or through on-the-job training. These include technical training such as computer operation or job functions like managing a restaurant or performing surgery.

On the other hand, soft skills are those learned through coaching and often require practice to become effective in the workplace. Examples include communication skills (both written and verbal), teamwork, problem-solving ability, and adaptability.

SHIFT TO REMOTE WORKING/ FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS

Research shows that remote workers can be two to four times more effective than office-based employees. Employees are more productive. Employees are happier. According to a recent study at Winona State University[1], “employees who work remotely report having significantly higher job satisfaction and engagement than in-office employees.”

Employees are more engaged with their work tasks and company overall (because of increased happiness). They also report feeling less stress about juggling their responsibilities as parents/family members/spouses when they can take care of these things at home. Employees have better work-life balance

PROVIDE REQUISITE ‘TOOLS’ TO SUCCEED

Tools are vital to helping your employees succeed in their roles, careers, and lives. These can include:

• Providing training on how to do their jobs well
• Giving feedback, so they know what they’re doing right or wrong
• Mentoring or coaching that helps them meet their goal

BUILD A CULTURE OF TRUST AND POSITIVITY

Trust is the foundation of every relationship. If people don’t trust each other, they can’t work together effectively. If you want employees to communicate openly and honestly, everyone needs to feel that their voices are heard.

The best way to foster trust is through effective management. That means making time for coaching sessions, offering constructive criticism without being critical, and not holding employees back from reaching their goals because they’re “not ready.”

Focus on positivity rather than negativity; focus on solutions rather than problems; celebrate successes instead of dwelling on failures.

GIVE EMPLOYEES ADEQUATE FREEDOM

When you give employees the freedom to make their own decisions, they’ll feel more ownership over their work. They’ll also appreciate that you trust them with the ability to accomplish tasks without oversight.

Giving your workers opportunities for growth is one of the most important things you can do as a leader (and it’s especially effective when it involves letting them fail). For example, you might try giving employees projects requiring them to take on new roles or responsibilities or simply giving them autonomy in performing their jobs. This gives people ownership over what they’re doing, improving how well they do it—thus reducing attrition rates!

HAVE FORMAL REVIEWS MONTHLY/ QUARTERLY

It would help if you had formal reviews with your employees at least once a month. Good managers will do this, but many don’t. You can also use quarterly reviews to check in on progress or give feedback on how things are going.

The purpose of the review is not just to grade them but to share information and express appreciation for what they’re doing well while offering suggestions for improvement. This also helps you understand their strengths, weaknesses, and goals as individuals so that you can help them grow as employees and leaders within your organization (more about this later).

Reviews should be done by managers both individually and collectively: one-on-one with each employee; in team meetings with everyone present; or even during board meetings if there’s enough time allocated for such discussions

HELP THEM BUILD THEIR CAREER PLAN

• Help them build a career plan. Help your employees understand what they need to do to develop their careers and how you can support them. Ask them to define their brand, and identify the skills they need to build and areas where they want to grow professionally.
• Could you explain what you expect from them? Make sure that your employees have a clear understanding of what is expected of them at work, how they will be evaluated on their performance, and how this tie into the larger goals of the organization.

BUILD POSITIVITY AND ABUNDANCE

Positivity, abundance, and gratitude are the unspoken foundations of a workplace environment that will keep employees feeling valued and stimulated. To ensure your team stays happy, fostering a positive mindset in all aspects of your business is essential. While there will always be adverse events in the current dynamic world,  there is still room for hope and positivity within your organization. People want to feel appreciated and supported by their coworkers and their jobs to be fun!

Celebrate accomplishments often—and make sure everyone knows about them! Even though employee attrition may seem inevitable at times because of external factors like increased pay,  there are things you can do as a manager to reduce these problems before they get out of hand.

CONCLUSION

It is essential to understand that these steps are not an end, but a means to develop an organizational culture where employees will feel empowered and want to stay with your company. The key takeaway is that employee attrition can be avoided if organizations recognize their role in creating a positive work environment for their employees.

[1] https://openriver.winona.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=leadershipeducationcapstones

I have written about selling and its charm a few times – the last time it was in 2015, titled – http://peoplefriday.xyz/selling-being-proud-of-the-oldest-profession/.

Here is a 6-point article on Selling and why every salesperson should be proud of their profession

Sales is an essential profession that is often overlooked and undervalued. Every salesperson should be proud of their profession for several reasons.

First, sales is the lifeblood of any business. Without sales, businesses cannot survive and grow. Salespeople are the ones who bring in revenue and keep the wheels of the economy turning.

Second, sales is a challenging and rewarding profession. It requires a unique combination of skills, including the ability to communicate effectively, persuade others, and overcome objections. Those who excel in sales are often highly successful and well-compensated.

Third, sales is a profession that offers a great deal of flexibility and autonomy. Salespeople can work in a variety of industries and can often set their own schedules and work from anywhere.

Fourth, sales is a profession that allows individuals to help others. Salespeople provide customers with solutions to their problems and help them make informed decisions. This can be incredibly fulfilling and satisfying.

Fifth, sales is a profession that is constantly evolving. With the rise of technology, new tools and strategies are constantly emerging, allowing salespeople to stay on the cutting edge and continuously learn and grow.

Finally, sales is a profession that is essential to society. From the products and services we use every day to the jobs and economic opportunities that are created, sales plays a crucial role in our daily lives. Every salesperson should be proud of the important contribution they make to society.

Frequently Asked Questions from Readers

If you have any questions please feel free to write to me at peoplefriday@futureshift.com.sg. You can also subscribe to http://peoplefriday.xyz/the-first-30-days/ or bookmark http://peoplefriday.xyz .

1. Hiring people is essential, yet I have heard it is an easy way for a manager to get into trouble. Is this true?

You are correct. As a manager, it is your responsibility to hire the best-qualified candidate based on a total assessment of each applicant’s qualifications within the framework of your organisation’s diversity programs. To get the best and make sure you do it right. Speak to your HR partner on hiring external candidates, as well as policies and practices to guide you through the entire process.

• Besides the recommended meetings with my predecessor, manager, and employees, are there others I should schedule meetings?

Yes. Successful managers rely on a network of colleagues outside their immediate organization who can provide the much-needed information and share best practices on how to get work done and solve everyday problems. To learn more, read Business Networks in your organizations.

• How should I handle employee requests, such as letters of reference and employment verification?

Employment and income verification requests should be referred to the Human Resource Function

• If I have more questions, where should I ask? Or Where do I find more information on managing in the first 30 days?
• Subscribe to http://peoplefriday.xyz/the-first-30-days/
• Visit http://peoplefriday.xyz

Traps – First 30 days

1. Do not assume that you know what motivates your employees.
2. As you are undoubtedly aware, the workload is the biggest issue in your organisations, based on our employee surveys. The following is easy to say, but hard to do: Be a role model for your employees’ work/life balance.
3. Do not try to solve difficult personnel issues by yourself. Draw on the expertise of the HR staff and your manager for advice and counsel.
4. Do not ignore your “best” employees while dealing with those who need more attention. All employees need to know that you appreciate their contributions, even your top-flight performers.
5. They also can help by mentoring those who need help.

Tools

As part of our best practices review, we have provided a few links for New Leader Assimilation. More links and updated content is available online. You can subscribe at http://peoplefriday.xyz/the-first-30-days/  We have a resource section on that URL. These and many such links to new will be updated continuously.

“Management isn’t what it used to be. Chaos has replaced order, mobility has replaced security, and cynicism has replaced trust. Men and women entering business or government today need to be savvy in ways quite different than their predecessors.”

Rajesh Soundararajan

Six Things to Remember While Receiving Feedback

As any leader would say – receiving feedback is far more comfortable than writing feedback (the right way). Receiving feedback is much simpler, though it requires discipline. Once mastered, you will be amazed at your ability to convert any interaction into an opportunity.

So, What Is the Secret of Receiving Feedback?

Receiving feedback is an easy process that can be cultivated with intention and discipline. It is crucial for building one’s own career. The secret of receiving feedback is less to do with the content than about the method you receive one.

The six points below can help in all scenarios. The right recipient of feedback will get to know more about how others perceive him/ her and take appropriate steps to correct or build that perception.

1. Be Open-Minded

Listen to all content in the feedback; suspend judgment about its value. This adage is perhaps the toughest to follow. As humans, we come with our own biases and egos, which affects how we are open-minded. The more you are aware of this trait, the easier it is to fix. When the mind is closed and judgmental, any feedback that goes against your natural inclination tends to trigger emotions and expressions that can be detrimental to benefit from such feedback.

2. Treat feedback as an Opportunity

Feedback – good or bad is an opportunity. This is your opportunity to understand your reviewer’s thinking process. You will miss that opportunity to improve if you interrupt. When the reviewer gives their feedback, be an active listener and try to understand more about the context and what they are saying.

3. Clothe with Receptiveness

Adopt an attitude of 100% receptiveness. Don’t begin to defend or even justify your action. If there is one way to kill your chances of making your point heard – it is defending or justifying. When you are receptive to the other person’s point of view, the same will be reciprocated when it is your turn to put your point across.

4. Ask for Clarification. Always

Clarifications are to improve your understanding, and not to defend or negate the feedback. Clarifications make for active listening. You can and should politely ask for more information if you’d like to understand the context. A clarification is to help your own understanding of the feedback and not to put up your case.

5. Do not Debate

Whether or how you use the feedback is for you to decide, later. Do not debate. Any argument will only worsen your chances of getting your point across. The idea is not to take positions. You can listen in and note down the point. To act or when to act on such feedback is for you to listen later.

6. Finally, Let silence do the Heavy Lifting

Silence is a potent tool. Every good negotiator would vouch that that people tend to underestimate the power of silence. “Saying nothing is way more powerful than spoken words.” Silence during feedback defines alpha roles and builds the readiness to assimilate, process, and draw on an action plan in the receiver’s mind. You must recognize the five signs that indicate silence is needed

• Interrupting by talking over someone else
• Formulating your response while someone is talking
• Using a break in the conversation to create a distraction to change topics
• Talking in circles
• Monopolising airtime

Bonus: Chapter 9 – Six Things to Remember While Writing Feedback

If you are a manager or a team leader — you are solely responsible for the feedback you are giving your team, both on content and method. So, what is the secret of giving/ writing feedback?

Feedback giving/ writing is both an art and a science. It is an extremely critical component of team building and as much as it is for developing one’s own career. I have condensed the feedback process into six points that can work in any situation. Good feedback will help your team be high on energy and ideas, become extraordinary in execution, and develop a great attitude.

The secret sauce, ironically, is not about the receiver of the feedback. It is about asking yourself (feedback giver) these six vital questions.

1. Am I being specific?

It is incredibly critical to be as specific as you can be. It is easy to get carried away with analogies and incidents related to the point being discussed. Such meandering, however well-intentioned it may be, often leads to dilution of the message. It may even lead to a defensive mindset being triggered for the receiver. State facts and give examples in support of the feedback being given—nothing more, nothing less.

2. Am I showing the way to grow and develop this person?

Your job as a reviewer is to develop and grow people. Pointing to shortcomings does not help in any case. It would work counterproductive as the receiver pulls up the defenses and closes their mind to any suggestions.

3. Can this person do something about this?

Think before if this person can do something about this or help change this behavior? If the answer is not that specific feedback is best left unsaid. Yes, think about it. What is the purpose of feedback on which the person cannot act?

4. Will this add value to this person?

Focus your feedback on its value for the receiver. If your feedback does not add value to the receiver in the current state, resist even saying it. Often, it is for us to offer some advice because it is dear to us and (however well-intentioned) do not think of the value it would add to the other person.

5. Does this represent facts?

Write feedback promptly when the incident is fresh in your mind. Do not let other unrelated incidents influence your feedback. Good managers maintain a small notepad, to jot down incidents when they occur. This small notepad is worth terabytes of data that may be residing in our memory. Maintaining and referring that small notepad, will always bring us back to the facts at hand.

6. Finally, let silence do the heavy lifting.

Silence is a potent tool. Any good negotiator would tell you that people tend to underestimate the power of silence regarding sales and social dynamics in general. “Saying nothing is way more powerful than spoken words” they would vouch. Silence during feedback defines alpha roles and builds the readiness to assimilate, process, and draw on an action plan in the receiver’s mind. You must recognize the five signs that indicate silence is needed

• Interrupting by talking over someone else
• Formulating your response while someone is talking
• Using a break in the conversation to create a distraction to change topics
• Talking in circles
• Monopolising airtime

With these six simple steps, you will see yourself a lot more effective and sought after by your team, and people try it out!

Bonus: Chapter 8 – Meet Key Customers and Partners

What should be covered in my meeting with my key customers and partners?

If you have a client-facing role or a partner-facing role, the first 30 days offer you an excellent opportunity to have an outside-in view of your own organization and your priorities.

Your organization depends on the revenue coming in from your customers and partners. It is, hence, crucial that you address this audience comprehensively and clearly before you take any significant decisions.

I would suggest that you spend your days on the road and planes for the first 30-90 days. You should make it a point to meet all your top customers and partners and some of your second-level clients and partners.

The earlier you do this; you can understand the reality from the field. It is also crucial that you are well-versed with your teams, your people, and your business unit’s priorities before meeting your customers and partners.

When you meet these as external entities, your clients and partners would expect you to come prepared and even may raise issues a few pending issues for resolution. You should not find yourself to be sounding helpless or clueless.

As a manager, you are expected to address the issue comprehensively with alacrity. Too many statements like “I will get back to you after checking”, would not auger well for the first impression.

1 – Prework Before the Meeting – Status of Work/Projects:

In your new role, you are already seen as a capable replacement of your predecessor. There will always be, as in all relationships, open issues that your customers and partners would raise in your very first meeting.

You should also not be surprised if your predecessor had not met the customer or the partner for a long time. Your predecessor may also have consciously taken a step back from meeting your customers and partners in the last few months.

Hence, your customers and partners would have a few pending issues ready for you in the first meeting. To help create the right first impression, you must have a complete understanding of the history of engagement with the client or partner, from your sales or account teams. You must take stock of the current projects, pending orders, and future projects in the pipeline. You would need to quickly understand the critical milestones and the essential items to focus on.

2 – Review Your Mission and Aims.

This would be one of your first conversation starters with your customers and partners. Towards, this end, it is a good idea to have your account manager or relationship manager in the meeting and allow them to drive the conversation. Here are a few things you may address in your first meeting.

• Your background and understanding of their business and how you are willing to take the relationship to the next level
• Being new, it allows you to ‘listen’ to their issues with a fresh perspective, and you may encourage them to open up
• Reiterate the key objectives of the relationship and your assurance to maintain any previous commitments, if any.
• Reiterate your organisation’s mission and aims.

3 – Clarify Expectations.

Setting and meeting expectations are essential for the relationship between an organization and its customer. Having clear expectations from your customer or partner helps you start your path to have a better plan of action with your team subsequently. 

Establish some basic ground rules for how you will work together. Discuss topics, including the most effective way to communicate with each other.

4 – Show Your Openness to Be Available at Any Time and Schedule Any Checkpoint Meetings.

Regular checkpoint meetings, help clear the air and continue to refine expectations. If you want your customer to have direct access to you for escalations, you can share your contact. While the half-yearly or annual one on ones or an excellent way to go about it, you may want to choose the frequency of meetings

Source: http://krishiyengar.in/and-the-winner-is-the-confidence-vs-knowledge-debate/

The Confidence vs Knowledge has been there since eternity – And here I am reproducing the writings of an 11-year-old on the subject.

My take – The last line sums up a lot of scenarios where a confident speaker may pass off as being knowledgeable – but that again is a representation of the audience’s ignorance – not the speaker’s knowledge.

Confidence stems from knowledge.

If you know about something about a subject well, you would be confident – say for a test. There are some cases of #underconfidence, meaning you understand the material but feel that you don’t, but that differs from person to person.

The corollary that knowledge comes from confidence is not necessarily true. Confidence may be overconfidence at times. That is, you feel that you know the subject when you don’t.

On the other hand, knowledge is more critical since a lack of confidence doesn’t matter if you have subject expertise. Sure, you might forget what you’re supposed to remember. Yet, I don’t think that would happen much if you have a thorough grasp of the subject.

Let’s take the example of a pop quiz. You could be confident you know the material, but in reality, you don’t. So you end up getting, say, an 8/15. Alternatively, if you know the subject extremely well and are still unsure, you will still score, say a 14 /15.

What’s more, as you start answering the questions right, your confidence builds up. Needless to say, knowledge builds confidence and not the other way round.

Yes, without knowledge and with confidence, you might wing your answers and sound knowledgeable, but it can only take you that far – and only where your audience is ignorant as well.

Krish’s Verdict: Knowledge trumps Confidence

Chapter 7 – Meet Your HR Partner

What should I go over with my HR partner?

Your HR partner is a member of your team and is available to work with you throughout your career as a manager. Find out who these Topics you may want to review could include:

• earlier personnel issues you should be aware of
• any unit HR history that could be helpful to you
• HR processes and tracking
• earlier Employee Survey results
• current HR plans in place

Chapter 6 – Meet Your Employees /Reportees/ Associates

1.1       What should be covered in my meeting with my employees?

The Group Meeting:

As soon as possible, plan to meet with your unit as a group to get acquainted. It is crucial in setting the tone of your relationship. Some points to cover in the group meeting:

• Discuss your first order of business and ask for their help.
• Tell them that you will meet with them individually.

Individual Meetings:

Individual meetings provide an excellent opportunity to prove that you are interested in each employee as a unique person. These individual meetings may be done after the group meeting. If the team is large, you might want to pick your team’s critical members and start having one-to-one meetings. If you have a small group, make it a point to meet all the members individually.

• Focus your attention on understanding their key roles, responsibilities and assignments
• Enquire about their business and career aims, specific areas of interest,
• Be curious about any critical issues they may be handling.
• Look for any issues or problems on which you can take prompt action.
• Remember to listen, suspending your judgement

This can start your reputation as a responsive leader.

1 – Review the Department’s Mission and Aims.

Akin to your manager’s meeting, you would review with your department’s aims and the KPIs. This would be a formal way in which you be communicating your objective and outcomes with the team

• Give all your employees a copy of your KPI to stress the unit’s aim and to enable them to align their KPI commitments.
• Stress the organisation’s area of focus.
• Ensure that every employee is aware of the organisation and unit financial commitments.

2 – Review the Employee’s KPIs.

As we saw in the earlier chapter, KPIs are central to your success. Similarly, you may want to ensure that your employees have absolute clarity on expected outcomes and what they need to do.

Their KPIs must be aligned with yours.

• In the first meeting, discuss KPIs, in general, to understand each employee’s assignment and help set up a rapport.
• In a later meeting, ensure that each employee’s KPIs is aligned with the unit’s aims.
• Establish boundaries of authority for responsibilities, assignments, and tasks.
• Discuss any personnel issue.

3 – Review the Employee’s IDP.

This is one of the most crucial steps that a new manager must focus on in the transition. Akin to you having the individual development plans that help you chart your career, every employee in your team too aspires and has personal development goals.

Your predecessor may or may not have focused on them. You will do an excellent service to yourself if you help your team in their development plan.

Ensure that each employee has a current Individual Development Plan.

• IDP is critical to both the company’s and individual’s success.
• Individually discuss their short- and long-term career goals with your employee and ensure that their IDP is aligned with their goals.
• Discuss the employee’s assignment and the skills needed to do that job.
• Ask the employee to design a plan to develop those skills and close any gaps identified by a skill assessment.
• Show your support. Inspire a shared vision, encourage individuals to set high, yet attainable goals.
• Have clarity on how their development plans to align with business and individual objectives.
• Enable them to achieve their goals by providing meaningful work and development opportunity and always ‘walk the talk,’ modelling how to ensure a continuous learning environment.

4 – Clarify Expectations.

Establish ground rules for how you will work together. Chart out on:

• the most effective way to communicate with each other
• how to manage work/life balance issues
• preferences for handling recognition and reward
• feedback requirements
• individual motivations

5 – Schedule Regular Employee/Manager Meetings

As you would with your manager, you would need to schedule a regular one and one or checkpoint meetings with your direct reports. Such regular meetings help you see if your team is aligned and do a course correction when all other checks and balances in the system fail. Usually, these meetings with clear the blind spots.

• Schedule regular employee/manager meetings over three months.
• Decide on the mutually agreeable frequency and content
• Including time for KPI and IDP updates and Fit for You discussions.
• Be conscious of the frequency and duration of these meetings. While meetings are essential, they must not become a mundane routine with no value add. If you see less value, decrease the frequency. If you see more blind spots in each meeting, increase the frequency.

Chapter 5 – Meet Your New Manager

What should be covered in my meeting with my new manager?

Your new role’s success will depend significantly on the relationship you establish with your manager. Both of you need to begin by establishing a shared understanding of expectations and goals.

1- Review Your Mission and Aims.

Review the organization’s mission and aims and how your objectives fit within the context of your manager’s overall objectives.

• Ask for a copy of your Manager’s KPI to help you understand these priorities, measurements, reporting requirements, etc.
• Understand the department’s focus area and how it aligns with the organisation goals.
• Understand the department’s financial situation and your fiscal responsibilities.
• Ask about any critical situations or current concerns.
• Establish authority boundaries for your responsibilities, assignments, and tasks. In which cases would your manager prefer to be consulted.
• Discuss the HR Processes and how they are managed and tracked:
  • resources and headcount
  • executive resources
  • ranking and rating
  • hiring
  • contracting
• recognition and rewards
• Discuss any personnel issues you are aware of.

2 – Clarify Expectations.

Setting and meeting expectations is an essential step in a relationship between a manager and an employee. Having clear expectations from your manager helps you start your path to have a better plan of action with your team subsequently. 

Establish some basic ground rules for how you will work together. You must discuss the following topics:

• the most effective way to communicate with each other,
• preferences for handling recognition and reward,
• how you each can give the additional feedback
• the frequency or cadence of your regular meetings

3 – Review and Agree on Your KPIs.

KPIs are the bedrock of any organization. They give you absolute clarity on the expected outcomes and what you need to do to achieve those outcomes. Review your KPIs to ensure they are aligned with your manager’s.

It is crucial that you also understand the 2nd-line manager. Usually, the HR policy that describes that role. I would suggest that you also read up and discuss with your manager to have a mutual understanding of your 2nd-line manager’s role.

• Agree on the priorities.
• Determine the local orientation programs available to you as a new manager.
• Close-out your evaluation with your previous manager. This evaluation will be used to calculate your variable pay or salary increments.

4 – Review and Agree on Your IDP.

Most organizations have individual development plans (IDPs) to chart goals and work towards every employee’s personal development. That includes yourself as a new manager. You might need to fortify your skills in certain areas and learn specific competencies.

You must add them to your individual development plan and work to watch the same. Your meeting with your new manager can open the areas where you can build your development plan. Based on those discussions, you can update your Individual Development Plan (IDP).

Besides, consider other technical or functional education you need in your new assignment.

5 – Schedule A Series of Checkpoint Meetings.

I am personally a big supporter of regular scheduling one-on-one or checkpoint meetings. These meetings help clear the air, continue two refined expectations, and have direct access to your manager to align on your job.

Monthly one-on-ones are an excellent way to go about it, though you can choose some more frequent meetings as well. More important in this aspect, is scheduling a series of sessions upfront so that both of you are prepared for that conversation.

• Agree on how often you should meet and use that time to your mutual benefit.
• Schedule these meetings for the next few months. Be sure to include meetings for the department’s HR
• assignments and KPI reviews.
• Tell them about yourself, including something personal. In most cultures, this tends to build trust and confidence.
• Discuss your goals and values.

Chapter 4 – Meet Your Predecessor (Part 2)

What should be covered in my meeting with my predecessor?

5 – Communication Procedures:

Every business unit and the team will have its unique communication procedures and methods. It is good to understand what was working in the past and the department/organisation’s culture. These wouldn’t be written in stone, and you need to follow them.  It will be a good idea to understand these new answers from your predecessor. Determine how your predecessor communicated with

• on-site and remote employees
• contract personnel
• key customers
• suppliers
• other key contacts

6 – Key Contacts:

While this might seem too trivial and straightforward, most new managers struggle of not having the list of critical contacts when they start on the job. They start reaching out only long after they settle in. They then seek the information in bits and pieces, which delays their decision-making abilities.

As a manager, it is vital that you control things and reach out the right people and have the contact details at the tip of your fingers. New managers often miss the step and then spend the rest of the next few months, trying to get hold of the contacts and reach out multiple times to the predecessor for specific contact details. That does not show professionality in your approach. The predecessor would have moved on to the new role and might be caught up in their new role and forget the earlier contacts making it difficult for you to do your job.

Here is what you need to compile as a list of critical contacts. These may include:

• project contacts
• internal/external vendors, key customers
• your HR advisor, or Human Resource operations manager
• Local security,
• Legal, (HR and Business)

7 – Folder/ Folio and Mail Procedures:

Familiarise yourself with your predecessor’s routines and procedures so you can maintain continuity and have minimum disruption.

• Ask your predecessor to forward ‘notes’ folder/ folios.
• Determine what mail requires immediate action.
• Sort and sift through any operational folder/ folios and organise them to suit your needs.

This is an effective way to learn about the background of your area.

8 – How to Collaborate with Your New Manager:

Your predecessor has a good understanding of the styles and methods of working of your new manager. Each manager has their quirks, and it is vital to be aware of some of these key aspects before you meet the person. Here are the few things you can ask about:

• working style
• level of detail and information preferred, “hot buttons,” and any outstanding commitments
• communication preferences
• pre-set meetings
• anything that may help you quickly build the relationship

Note: Check the status of each employee’s KPI ratings in your group. As a thumb rule, you should not conduct a KPI rating session until you have been a manager for at least three months. Ratings that are past due, now due, or will become due in the next three months should be conducted by your predecessor. Verify this plan with your predecessor and your new manager.

Chapter 4 – Meet Your Predecessor (Part 1)

What should be covered in my meeting with my predecessor?

The very first step is to meet with your predecessor. For every manager, this step is critical to providing continuity in how employees are managed.

Below is a checklist you can use to ensure you cover the critical aspects of your new role. If you do not have a predecessor, cover these topics with your manager.

1 – Status of Work/Projects:

When you take on a new role, your idea is to hit the ground running. This means you need to quickly take stock of the current projects and work on the pipeline to understand the critical milestones and essential items to focus on. This should be one of your first conversation starters with your predecessor.

• Assigned roles and responsibilities
• Key objectives
• Previous commitments
• Critical personnel issues
• High-priority business issues
• Action items in the first 30 days

2 – Personnel Folder/ Folios:

Good managers typically keep a ” folio ” for each employee. It carries information that varies, depending on your organization’s requirements and a manager’s discretion. Review all such information to determine what should be kept.

You may not find all this information in a structured fashion in some cases and new start-ups. There may not be an existing process that will give you all this. However, it would be a good idea and precedent for you to set by initiating some of these good processes into the new business unit or organization.

This folio would, at the minimum address:

1. a current profile dockets
2. current and two previous KPIs and Individual Development Plans (IDP)
3. payroll, vacation, and attendance records (depending on the organisation and country requirements).

It may also contain:

• Documentation related to the condition of employment
• Performance improvement programs (PIP) if any
• Medical condition alerts [note: medical information is confidential]
• Performance appraisal
• Recognition and award information
• Letters/notes from customers, colleagues, or other managers

3 – Other Planning Documentation Should Include Current Year:

Apart from the above documents mentioned earlier, there may be other planning documentation in physical or digital format. Do not underestimate the ‘plans in mind’ or ‘between the ears’ of your predecessor. You would need to get a dump off the thought process, the written and unwritten plans.

• salary plans
• award plans
• promotion plans
• certification plans (if applicable)
• vacation plans
• Compensation Administration Manual (if required at your location)
• remote or temporary assignments

4 – Staffing and Hiring:

A clear understanding of staffing and hiring is key to building your star team. The current team may be understaffed, overstaffed, or right staff. Since your success is primarily dependent on your team, this becomes a crucial conversation.

• Review any open positions in your department
• Discuss internal candidates under consideration and any transfers who are joining your department
• Discuss external candidates under consideration and any new hires who are entering the department
• Understand who your predecessor has been working with on external hiring

Chapter 3- Schedule Key Meetings

The first thing you need to do is schedule meetings with the four stakeholders to make your job successful.

1. Your predecessor
2. Your new manager
3. Your employees
4. Your HR partner

Think of these initial meetings as fact-finding sessions. In each case, explain that your intention is to learn and understand. Be prepared to ask questions — and to listen. While you are waiting for these meetings, determine.

Get acquainted with the HR partner for your new team. They will be a valuable resource for you throughout your career. They have seen many a manager like you come and go into the group and seen team members join and move out. They may have been involved in staffing the team, including possibly the discussions where you were shortlisted for your new role. A good relationship with your HR partner would help go a long way in understanding many hidden dynamics that may not be visible first.

Similarly, you may want to talk to other reportees of your new manager. While you need not take their inputs at face value, it will give you a good background and contextual understanding of your new manager.

Chapter 2 – 6 Key Questions to Ask

When you start a new role as a manager, these are the six questions that you must be answering yourself addressing in your first 30 days. These six questions relay the foundation to your subsequent interactions. This will mean you will have meetings with your predecessor, new manager, employees, and with your human resources function. Here is what will get you started.

1. How do I schedule my meetings?
2. What should be covered in my meeting with my predecessor?
3. What should I discuss in my meeting with my new manager?
4. What are the key things to ask in my meeting with my employees?
5. What should I go over with my HR partner?
6. What tips will make me successful; what traps do I need to be aware of?

Chapter 1 – Becoming a New Manager

Congratulations on becoming a new manager!

The first 30 days of taking on a new role as a manager will be the most defining thirty days for that job and lay the foundation for your success on that job and possibly the next.

This Fight or Flight – 10X Leader Series is designed to help you get started quickly in your new role and become successful. This book is intended to help a new manager. And then some of you may want to use this as a guide every time you move into a new role as a manager into a new team, department, or new organization.

This book outlines the necessary steps to help you during your first thirty days as a new manager. Working on those steps, you will gain insights that will help you pursue your department’s mission and business objectives. You will build a productive working relationship with your employees.

The bonus resources section at the end allows you access to online resources that are specifically available for readers of this book. This section consists of up-to-date resources across the internet. It will make you familiar with the many management tools available for you.

I am happy to share with you one of my books absolutely FREE. The idea is to help nurture young leaders to be successful today and with practice make successful transitions a habit. Hence this!

The idea for this book started decades ago. Yes, literally decades ago.

Over a career spanning 25 years, from my first job to the last, I have meticulously been observing and taking notes on the job’s challenges in the first month. Over the decades, I have coached and mentored hundreds of people, including first-time managers or managers in a new role. Over time, I saw myself sharing tips and suggestions that will make them successful.

The names of organizations changed; the job roles varied; the backgrounds of candidates were diverse. Yet, over time, I realized that the steps required to succeed were straightforward. There were very few things that differentiated a successful manager from the rest.

The trick was all about scheduling the right meetings in the first thirty days. Meeting the right employees in the first thirty days and doing a few things well was the key. The primer sets the ground. Yes, as simple as that.

The central essence of this book is the simplicity of what one needs to do. Everything that needs to be done is just a few specific things and, wow! You will be sailing your way to success.

Towards the latter part of the book, I have added some cool bonus chapters on receiving and giving feedback, traps, and tools that will help you chart your individual path.

Those tools can also be used as a workbook which we are working on for the next version. We have also created a universal resource weblink – http://peoplefriday.xyz/the-first-30-days, where we will share new approaches with some incredible online resources. As the reader of this book, the secret is available to you first-hand.

I encourage you to bookmark the above URL and visit the website regularly. Do sign up for the resources, newsletters, and updated content. They will help you in your ongoing journey towards success.

I love feedback. I appreciate if you can share a line or two on what you think and include it in the upcoming versions. The URL link above also allows you to write to me directly.

I am looking forward to being engaged with you! Please do give your feedback for the second edition.

Time Management has become more crucial than ever before. With Work from Home options, employees and managers alike are more stressed and more time strapped than ever before. How can you master this – here are the Time management hacks.

Writing performance feedback is one of the most demanding tasks for many, but then with these simple tips, you can make it enjoyable for yourself and the employee.

What does being ’fair’ really mean?

How can you ever be fair to both sides? It will always be an eternal argument.

Here I’ll share two life stories, 25 years apart and how fairness can be achieved.

When we were young, my sibling and I used to fight for the larger piece of the cake. We accused the other of not being fair and taking the bigger slice for themselves. This happened each time.

Most parents would know that a straightforward rule fixes this forever. One child gets to cut the cake, and the other child gets to choose the piece. As you would guess, the cake gets cut with laser precision each time, and the problem solved forever.

Twenty-five years later, in one of the large American tech organisations that I worked with, our contract negotiations (C&N) team drew up a services agreement for our client. Once, one of our large Japanese customers – was handed over a voluminous 30-page services contract to sign.

The client requested for an editable word document and returned it for signing in 48 hours. My C&N team was shocked and angry at the ‘massively edited’, ‘totally one-sided’ version of the contract. In a subsequent meeting, their CFO said they just did ’find and replace’ of the and interchanged the two organisations names. They wished to highlight how one-sided company’s contracts were. They asked us to re-draft an agreement that was ’fair to both’.

My company learnt a lesson, but for me, it was a complete revelation on what can be fair in business and still a guiding principle as an entrepreneur.

Being ’fair and honest’ to both sides is not a difficult thing to do if the ’intent’ is to be fair and have win-win thinking. The problem arises only, and only when that ’thought of fairness’ is corrupted. Even a trace of corruption, the big idea of being fair goes out of the window.

What are your experiences?

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https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/leadership-lessons/id1520396721

I was recently engaged in a heated debate on ‘learning’ and ‘failure’, and how failing in public is the mark of weakness in professional and social situations. For one’s own good, it was argued that it is best avoided to even talk about failures in public. A logical extension is that one avoids asking questions in order not to demonstrate ignorance. Since they do not ask questions. My argument was. Hence they learn lesser – and so the case goes.

Personally, I learn all the time from all types of people. I can not comment for others, but the more I learn, the more I know that I do not know much. I am never too old to learn or too young to ask questions.

Yes, we live in a society where asking questions means either ignorance or arrogance—but seldom associated with learning as a process.

We live in culture where failure is mocked upon. Failure is discouraged and hence people stop trying. One may not hold ‘failure as a badge of honour’ as the Silicon Valley adage goes, but not failing and hence not learning and that is a bigger dishonour.

As a life -long learner, who tries, who fails regularly and learn from those failures, I have no shame in saying if I am learning, I must be doing good. I make mistakes all the time, and I accept the mistakes and learn and try and become better.

I own my mistakes, and no one is responsible for my failures. No one else. Yes, it may be fashionable for larger than life leaders for whom projecting infallibility is a virtue. They do not accept a mistake and claim that never made a mistake, and they are the best and even blame everyone else but themselves for all the failures. Good for them. Their life choices. That is not me.

And I am happy I am not them. I fail, and therefore, I learn. And that makes me me.

*Watch this 40 second and your life will never be the same again. *

I always quote in my talks on how most people have a corporate career that seems like running in a treadmill. You start running, and you cannot stop. You keep running, often faster, sometimes slowing down, yet you realize that you remain in the same place after all the running.

For an entrepreneur, life is, however, a different experience. It is like running outdoors in the open. You can choose any path, unchallenged and uncharted trails. You can go the beaten path, yet no two runs are the same. You observe new things and get distracted, slow down smell the flower. However, then, it is not routine, and it is not for everyone. The journey can be bumpy, traffic or an oncoming truck might kill you, much as you may enjoy. The best part is when you run, you move forward, move around, and have fun.

But then, how do you work in the comforts of the corporate life and yet not fall into the routine?

However, then how do you work in the comforts of the corporate life and yet not fall into the routine? For that, you need to be creative, crazy. You need to love what you do or learn to do the routine the way you like to do. How do you do that they ask? I usually struggle to give a straight answer. However, then I stumbled on this video, and this guy summarises how you can and must have fun when things are boring.

Watch this 40 second and your life will never be the same again.