Tip #590: Six Steps to Standing Out in Busy People's Inbox

Regardless of your role and rank within an organization, garnering the attention of busy people can be extremely challenging, especially via email.  Here are six steps to increasing the likelihood that an email recipient will not only open your email, but read your entire message and respond.

 

Start with a simple subject line.  A strong, simple subject line that instills curiosity or provides value has a higher probability of being read than an overwhelmingly long subject.  For example, a sales rep trying to gain a prospect's attention will have better success using a subject line such as, 'New Tool Enables Manufacturers to Increase Productivity by 8%,' vs. 'Your Availability to Discuss the Implementation of a New Tool that May Result in an 8% increase in Productivity." The latter contains a commitment which may delay the recipient's response and information better left for the body of the message.  The former subject line is simple and piques the recipient's interest.

Open with relevance.  To demonstrate why it is important for the email recipient to connect with you, start with the value proposition.  For example, if you are working on marketing and communications materials for your organization and need a testimonial from a very busy buyer, consider why she may be motivated to give you one. 

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Tip #589: Four Teamwork Lessons to Score from March Madness

Of the 68 teams who made this year's NCAA tournament, which ones will be matched at the championship game on April 4th at NRG Stadium in Houston?  Your guess is as good as mine.  What we know for certain is that whether in sports or business, there is no greater indicator of success than to have your team, or company, ranked at the top.

Here are four core indicators of teamwork success in the spirit of March Madness.

Trust     Each individual player brings unique skills and characteristics to the table, or game, and overall team strength is therefore a sum of all of the members' individual talents.  The key differentiator at play is trust because without it, the team will only be as strong as its weakest member.

After my six-year-old son's last basketball game, I asked why he didn't pass the ball after a rebound to which he replied, "I wanted to score the shot, but I should have passed it like we talked about."  My son did not trust his teammate to make the shot and instead was a ball-hog who ultimately missed the bucket.  No team can afford a ball-hog-on the court or in the workplace.  Trust is paramount to successful teamwork.

Empathy     In the final minutes of some of history's greatest upsets, you've probably seen coaches spewing commands at their players. 

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Tip #588: Four Ways to Get More Done

Dale Carnegie said, "If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done."

At times, it feels nearly impossible to get everything done!  We all share one common limiter-the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day.  Here are four tips to help you make the most of them.

Schedule Time - Being more productive boils down to this-if you don't block time off to tackle tasks, someone else will take that time.  If your boss or co-worker passes by your workspace and sees that you are free, he or she may stop and launch into a long conversation.  If they look at your calendar and spot your available time, they are more likely to schedule a meeting during your only un-scheduled time.  By blocking off specific time during each work day to get things done, you are taking the time you need before else does. 

Block Distractions - Once the scheduled time has arrived to get things done, there are additional barriers to productivity which must be blocked. Phone calls; instant messenger, email, social media and other notifications; background office noise and other sources of interruptions can rob you of precious productivity. 

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Tip #587: Make Mornings Easier by Ending Workday in 3 Ways

Walking into work leery of what will unfold on a particular day can be detrimental to your attitude, confidence level and ability to work well with others-especially if you are a leader within an organization.

Here are three simple ways to end your workday so you can start the next day off right.

Incorporate a daily afternoon stand-up meeting which is a brief touch-base meeting with team members to ensure their alignment and reprioritize tasks as necessary.  While working at an extremely busy interactive agency serving over 200 clients, we benefited from two daily stand-up meetings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Adding an afternoon stand-up meeting two to three hours before the end of your day is the fastest way to understand:

Everything that the team accomplished today

Which deliverables must be completed before the end of the day, and which can be addressed tomorrow

Any potential issues that may greatly impact project plans or processes and therefore require a specific, separate meeting with key team members

If there are any issues that need to be escalated within the organization

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Tip #586: Why Millennials are Leaving Organizations and 3 Keys to Solve It

The greatest talent challenge currently facing the world's employers is engaging the Millennial generation. Businesses run the risk of losing a large percentage of their workforces if they do not adjust to nurture loyalty among Millennials.

In Deloitte's recent 2016 Millennial Survey, they collected the views of nearly 7,700 Millennials representing 29 countries around the globe. All participants were born after 1982, have obtained a college or university degree, are employed full-time, and predominantly work in large (100+ employees), private sector organizations. The survey had a focus on Millennials' values and ambitions, drivers of job satisfaction, and their increasing representation on senior management teams.

Millennials are leaving.

Millennials have recently become the largest share of the US labor market. In this current survey, 12% of Millennials are either the head of a department or division or 7% have a position within his or her senior management team or board. Millennials are no longer the leaders of tomorrow but rather are rapidly becoming the leaders of today. Yet there is remarkable absence of Millennial loyalty and engagement that represents a serious challenge to the longevity of any business.

* 66% of Millennials expect to leave their organization by the end of 2020.

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