• Being bold, ruffling feathers and owning your voice
• How to approach difficult conversations
• Why curiosity is the foundation of transforming ourselves

Stephanie has such an incredible way of finding opportunities in all sorts of situations. You will find this very interesting and inspiring.

The post Nicci Chats to Stephanie Wright about transformational leadership first appeared on The Why Effect.

If you would like to access the video recording of this and the template, please click here to receive them.

Relationships used to happen organically. People gathered in the same physical space, they were able to connect (whether they wanted to or not) with others in a seamless way. Talking while making coffee in the same kitchen. The proverbial water cooler chat. Bumping into each other in the passages. Walking into the office from the car park. The opportunities for informal chats were endless. Most of these opportunities no longer exist. Remote, or hybrid working environments, have changed the way we build relationship. But we still need to build relationships. So how?

This is one to areas I’ve consistently heard people express concern about. Not just with new team members who were on-boarded post March 2020, but even with existing team members and other people within the organisation relationships need to be maintained.

Think like an entrepreneur!

Entrepreneurs are known for finding creative solutions to problems. Opportunities within the difficulties. While this may look like a natural and easy skill. It isn’t. We rely on different tools, mentors, support structures to achieve this. Here’s a tool, adapted slightly, that can help you work towards building relationships intentionally in a remote or hybrid working world.

The humble sales funnel!

The sales funnel is a process that takes potential customers through a journey. It starts with creating awareness about your product or service through to purchase and retention. Have a look at the image to get the idea.

Using a sales funnel to build relationships

Approach your relationship building like a business approaches business development. It’s time to get intentional about who you need to create relationships with and how you’re going to do it. This will not happen by accident anymore.

Relationships are centred around three key phases; know, like and trust. Once you know me, what can I do to make you like me and then how can I build your trust. Taking it one step further, how can I maintain that trust?

Step 1 – Who needs to know you?

This is your target market. It could be your colleagues, superiors, people in other departments, any who is key for you to build a relationship with. This could be a list of 2 people or 22. It doesn’t matter. Write their names down.

Step 2 – How am I going to connect with them?

Connect with people in a way that makes both you and them comfortable. It could be as simple as scheduling an informal cup of coffee. Perhaps the person doesn’t have time for coffee or prefers engaging online. Could you perhaps connect with them on a platform like LinkedIn or another social media platform? If they are in the office on specific days of the week, this could also be a good time to connect with them.

There are unlimited opportunities available to connect with people. The trick is to work out what works best for them but also what you would like to achieve with this connection. Getting a superior to notice that you’re a thought leader requires a very different approach to building a relationship with a colleague.

Step 3 – What will make them like me?

“Like” is a tricky word in this context. Perhaps a better word would be respect and being able to work together as a functional team. You may not have a common area of interest with everyone (and sometimes common areas of interest outside of work can be difficult to manage). But finding out what information your “target market” need from, when they need it by, how they like to receive it etc could go a long way to helping entrench the relationship. You could even go beyond this and find out how they like to work, when they prefer an email or a text message.

Get creative with this process. Keep thinking about other options and opportunities. Asking questions never did any harm either.

Step 4 – What will make them trust me?

Trust is built up through consistency and integrity i.e., doing what you say you will, when you say you will. And if you can’t, how are you communicating about not being able to meet requirements?

You’re probably doing a lot this unconsciously all ready. But by becoming conscious about it will give you the opportunity to tweak how you do things. You might also go truly entrepreneurial and find more efficient ways of delivering what you need to. Another word for this is systems and processes! Can you create micro systems and processes for yourself?

Step 5 – What will make them keep trusting me?

Trust can often be like a debit and credit system. If you have a lot of credit i.e., have a good reputation and become known for doing things well and on time etc. when you need to make a “withdrawal” (also known as making a mistake) it’s ok because you have the credit to do so. But trust can also be broken with one single action. Everyone has their absolute no no’s. These are the things that no matter how good your credit score, if you do this all trust will be wiped out. But if you’ve done your homework properly in step one you should know what these are, and you’ll be able to avoid them completely. Or just think about what single actions would wipe out years or months of trust for you? You can probably apply these to most people.

Discomfort is ok

Following this process might feel uncomfortable initially, like all new things. But keep working at it and have fun with this process. It will become more comfort and easy and your relationships and career will benefit.

The post Think Like an Entrepreneur: Building relationships in a hybrid working environment first appeared on The Why Effect.

In this interview Nicci chats to Andy Coppin about using the art of storytelling to become a better presenter and public speaker.

Click here to access to interview.

Andy shares his tips on how to:

• Overcome public speaker nerves (hint: it involves lots of practice!)
• Incorporate storytelling into your day-to-day meetings
• Find your story

For more information or to be a part of Nicci Chats To… click here to contact me

The post Nicci chats to: Andy Coppin about storytelling first appeared on The Why Effect.

Hello my name is Nicci. I’m a business owner. I help other business owners achieve growth through operational excellence. Now you know me. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and love connecting with other entrepreneurs from around the world to share our stories of success and, sometimes failure. Maybe we can support each other and grow together. Now you like me… I hope! But let’s talk about trust. Bit more complicated, isn’t it?

Building relationships with people can be tough, both personally and professionally. But this isn’t about personal relationships. This is about professional relationships and creating a connection with your audience or target market. (In my case that might be you.) It’s a crucial part of building and maintaining a business. Think about creating these connections in three phases: know, like and, finally, trust.

Know

We get to know people in various ways. We meet them at events or conferences. We actively network through various groups or on social media platforms. We reach out through different sales tactics. We produce content that will appeal to them. The list is endless. This is how people get know us.

Who do we want them to get to know? We want them to get to know a respected, credible businessperson (remember we’re talking business here not personal). Someone who can help solve their problem or add value to their lives.

But getting to know people – or getting them to know you – is just that. I know who you are. Nothing more. To create a genuine connection, I need you to like me.

Like

How do you build “like”? How can you create a strong connection with someone who is a complete stranger? Here are some of my thoughts:

1. An open mind

Approach people and situations with an open but discerning mind. Strive to expand your views and challenge yourself. Connect with people you wouldn’t normally connect with. But understand that time is precious, so remain discerning. Especially when it comes to creating business connections.

2. Curiosity

Without curiosity there can be no empathy. Empathy is one of the main drivers of creating connection. How can you understand people if you don’t get curious about them? Ask questions and be genuinely interested in their answers. And remember introverts are often better at this than extroverts. They tend to ask more and talk less. So, there’s no excuse. Extroverts – learn something!

3. Empathy

This has been identified as one to greatest traits a leader can have. And the best way to connect with someone. The ability to put yourself in their situation and understand the problems they face. The trick with empathy is that is must be real. It’s one of things you simply can’t fake it till you make it. But if you care about people and really want to help them (isn’t that why you started a business in the first place?) this shouldn’t be too difficult.

Trust

This is the hardest one of all. It takes the longest to build and can be wiped out in an instant. First you need to get to a point of trust. Once you have this the most important thing you can do is keep it. Don’t blow it!

I often see trust as being a debit and credit system. What we have or haven’t done in past counts for or against us in the present. The best way to top up your credits is by delivering on your promise and being consistent. Consistency is hard! (I’ve written about this before you can read that article here.) Doing what you say you will, when you say you will…. ALL THE TIME!

The promise

Firstly, we need to understand what our promise to our clients or audience is. Does this deliver value to them? Does it resonate with them? If you’re comfortable you have this right, please move along. If not do some work on this before you continue.

Tried and trusted – with a twist!

Being the operations nerd that I am, I have discovered the best way to build and maintain trust is through a good ol’ process. To achieve this, I dug into my trusted toolkit and discovered two frameworks I had never considered to achieve this.

Framework one – the sales funnel

This one was pretty obvious. Sales funnels are designed to get us thinking about how we create awareness for our businesses. Where do people search for the kind of information we can provide? What does the initial contact look like? Etc etc. What I have never considered was how to use this to drive the type of content I produce and where that should be published. Maybe you’re smarter than me but when I looked at this from a getting to know me/getting to like me perspective it changed my whole view of how this system could benefit me. Try it. Let me know how it works for you.

If you need a sales funnel template here’s one. I like this one because it gives action points, goals and deadlines.

Framework two – customer journey mapping

This one was less obvious for me (but as I said maybe you’re smarter). This particular customer journey map works hand-in-hand with the sales funnel (you can access a template here).

I found this exercise so useful because it forced me to consider things I hadn’t thought of before. All of which would contribute towards building and maintaining trust. My client’s (or potential clients) emotions at each stage of their customer journey. What the specific moments of truth are and how to handle their critical interactions. This was a real eye-opener for me.

A new lens

Both frameworks are not new. They are not new to me but when I looked at them through the lens of know, like and trust a new world opened to me. A perspective that I have never considered before. A tried and trusted framework with a twist that changed the way I viewed my client interactions. And more importantly has helped me build and maintain the trust of my existing clients and given potential new clients the chance to know me, (hopefully) like me and ultimately trust me.

The post Know, like and trust first appeared on The Why Effect.

In honour of the theme for International Women’s Day 2021, I have asked some of the amazing people in my network what ideas they choose to challenge. The amazing (and very brave) Nicci Stewart would like to challenge women to be brave.

These are Nicci’s answers to some of the questions I posed.

Click here to read the full article

The post Appeared on Instinctive Living: Challenging Women to Be Brave first appeared on The Why Effect.

“If we’re going to get paid nothing. Let us choose what we do with our time. Is it this?” I said this! To my business partner. About 8 years ago. I’ve changed my tune over the years. I’ve realised this is not a black and white scenario. There are a lot of grey areas. When is it ok to work for free or less money?

When I made the above statement, we weren’t earning a huge amount of money. We definitely had capacity. But in my defence, my thinking was along the lines of; by giving them a discounted rate now, would they expect this to be the norm moving forward? I never found out.

But let’s look at this objectively. Because I have no doubt, you have found yourself in a similar situation more than once. This is where you must weigh up your options – the income-value scale. The income-value scale is the method I use now to evaluate free or discounted work. I ask myself (or the people I’m working with) these five questions:

1. Is earning some money better than earning no money at all?

Of course, this would be in the case of a discount – not a freebie. Do you have the capacity to take this work on? If you have no capacity, you’re in a much stronger position to negotiate or walk away. Then it’s a no brainer. But which is better working and earning some money or Netflix and nothing? The choice is yours.

2. Will the work be good for your mental health?

This can be a bit tricky because you might end up resenting work that you’re not being paid your full price for. But on the flip side, staying in “work mode” might help you keep a good momentum going. You know the old adage: ask a busy person to do something. The more you have to do, the more you’re able to do and all that. Slipping into Netflix mode can be equally as dangerous.

3. High or low maintenance?

Let’s be honest. Some clients are easy. Some aren’t. Some are good payers. Some aren’t. I take these things into consideration on the income-value scale. This has a big impact on the actual amount of time you spend on a project. It can also affect your state of mind (see point 2 above). If you’ve never worked with a client before this can be difficult to gauge. But you’ll get a sense during the initial discussions and quoting or proposal process. If the client asking for a discount has a history of high maintenance and bad paying, it’s no go for me.

4. What are the benefits?

This is an important question when especially when you’re asked to work for free. Let’s use TEDx Talks as an example. Not only do you not get paid. But you must apply. And people do. In abundance. Why? Because it’s a great brand to be associated with. The kudos you get for doing the talk are worth it.

It might be the same scenario for a particular client. It might be really great work that you can use for a case study to get other clients. Think about asking for non-financial benefits, like a testimonial or some PR. Get creative with these types of negotiations. TEDx Talks get a fantastic video and you get featured on their website.

5. What are your long-term options with this client?

Long term, you have a choice. My biggest fear was that this client would never pay us what we were worth. Maybe this is true but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options. Can you use another cheaper resource to do the work? Maybe outsourcing will reduce costs? Can you negotiate and up the price? You also have the option to walk away if all else fails and there is no further value.

As a business owner, you’re responsible for the decisions you make. Choose wisely. Choose slowly. Choose objectively. If you don’t feel you can be those things, get a second and trusted opinion.

The post The Income-Value Scale – When is it ok to work for free (or less) first appeared on The Why Effect.

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Companies and their culture generally fall into three categories: the ones who spend a fortune to create and maintain it, those who have all the right documents and words but somehow it just doesn’t quite happen and, finally, those where the culture just kinda, sorta happened and no one is quite sure why or where it came from nor can they really articulate what it is. Regardless of which category you fall into, right now your company culture, in all likelihood, is gone! Never before, and probably never again, will your team members be so split up over such a long period of time. How you – as a leader or manager – behave over the next few weeks will determine your culture going forward.

Maintaining culture

Maintaining a company culture in a distributed team is difficult when it’s planned, intentional and all the right mechanisms are in place. Who had time to set this up (unless you already had a distributed team) before we went into lockdown? Who even knew how to do this? No one! There are guidelines, rules if you will, for maintaining a culture in a distributed team (you can read more about that here). But right now, you aren’t working with a normal distributed team. Right now, you’re working with a team under stress. Regardless of what you company culture is (or was), now it needs to be one of kindness and empathy.

How managers and leaders behave and treat their team over the rest of lockdown will determine the culture people bring back with them when they return to work. Your team are working in extreme situations. They might be sharing very small workspaces with other people. They might have children they are not only taking care of but educating as well. They might have elderly parents to look after. And no one has any external help at the moment. How each unique situation gets understood at the moment, will determine how each individual team member feels post-lockdown. Relationships could get soured or strengthened. It’s up to you! If you mess it up, will you have a bunch of resignations post-lockdown if your team is unhappy? Probably not. The state of the economy will be a reality check for anyone thinking of leaving a job. But what you will have is a group of disgruntled and disengaged people on your hands. And while your company is trying to recover, that’s the last thing you need.

Yes, we’re all under pressure. I’m not for one moment saying that as a leader you have things easy. You’re trying to keep a company or department alive and financially viable. You’re trying to communicate with clients who are feeling very uncertain. You’re also in a state of flux too. But you’re the leader and you need to think about your team and the messengers you’re putting out there. Even if you’ve messed it up so far, it’s ok, there’s time to fix it.

Culture checklist

Think about the following things:

• Have you taken the time to check in with people individually just to see how they are doing? Are you doing this regularly? And no, this is not and HR function. You need to do it yourself. A quick text message might mean the world to someone who’s feeling lonely.
• Have you taken the time to understand the outcomes required from each individual? Are you focusing on outcomes-based performance or time-based performance? This is a tough one. Because the only way people can check the time-based performance boxes successfully right now is through video conference or conference calls. Are these all necessary? Or are people just trying to prove they are working by tying everyone up in calls all day? This mindset will be driven from the top! You might need to re-examine your own beliefs.
• When is the best time for people to make these conference calls? Have you asked? Is there a potential compromise? Which team members are in a better position to make a compromise? A single mom might need some flexibility around working hours, whereas a couple with no kids who each have their own home office might be able to negotiate around what time calls are made. When a leader shows up and makes that compromise, others will follow.
• A lot of people are feeling very pressured and having high levels of anxiety by the “make your lockdown time productive” movement. Are you making people feel better? Or are you sharing the “Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb during the bubonic plague lockdown, what are you going to do?” memes and making people feel like if they don’t end lockdown speaking German, having read War and Peace and with a new degree, they’re just underachievers. You could be connected to your team members on social media – what messages are you subtlety or unintentionally putting out there?
• Are you sharing daily motivational messages? I know this might sound very cheesy but it might really help someone who’s feeling down.
• Have you tried just saying thank you and letting them know that their support during this time is appreciated? Never underestimate how far appreciation goes.

If you focus on creating a culture of kindness and empathy this is what people will carry with them. It’s what you do right now that counts. Think about it and make it intentional. It no longer matters that you threw your team an awesome Christmas party, paid bonuses and everyone got flowers on their birthday. What matters is how you respond and behave right now. Make that count – not whether people learn to speak German

The post Company culture: you’ve got a few weeks! first appeared on The Why Effect.

I’ve seen a lot of articles, blog posts, videos etc sharing tools that help remote work. These have all been great and very useful but there is something missing. The underlying, softer – if you will – things. While the right infrastructure is key, have you thought about: how you maintain a company culture when your workforce isn’t in the same physical space? How do pick up when someone “just isn’t themselves” and needs a quick chat over coffee? If a team is not in the same room will they fully understand what is required? Or do communications break down?

A lot of the research I did around this suggested that remote working be tested over a period of time. People work from home a couple of days a week, give feedback in terms of their productivity. The framework gets tweaked and tried again next week to see if things are better. Then maybe, just maybe, in about 6 months the company would have a viable working framework that can be implemented. But only with specific people and eased in over the next 3 – 6 months. Then suddenly we had a week to make things work! We got locked down. Maybe your company was one of those that glided into this and hasn’t noticed any difference. Or, and my guess is this would be most likely, you’re banging your head against the wall and the moment you can have everyone in the same room you will! This has probably affected everyone’s productivity. At a time when you can least afford it.

How can you fix this? What can be done now?

There are three C’s you need to focus on; culture, communications and commitment. This is what you can do right now, today, to help improve your remote working situation. Firstly, think about your language. How does the word “remote” make you feel? By its very definition it’s distant, it’s unconnected, it’s lonely, it’s far away. You team is distributed across a city, country or even the world. Far away but still connected. Let’s start talking about distributed work or teams rather than remote. Doesn’t is just sound warmer? Feel better?

Culture

In short, a company culture can be defined by “how we do things around here”. Perhaps this was something that you created intentionally or perhaps it was something the evolved over time. It kinda happened without anyone really noticing. Either way this is a great time to revisit your culture, get rid of the bad stuff and keep the good. It’s time for reinvention, but that’s going to take a bit of time. And we need solutions today. Think about this:

• When last did you have a team chat or huddle? Not a meeting. Not a discussion about a project. Just a chat. A chat to check in and see how everyone’s doing. A quick 15-minute morning online coffee.
• When last did you have an individual conversation with one of your team? Just a check in to see how they are doing. This could be done via a WhatsApp message or quick phone call.
• Have you thought about offering external psychological support (if you’re able to)?
• Are you sending out daily motivational messages? This may sound a bit cheesy but never underestimate the power of an inspiring quote.
• Are you and your team still having Friday afternoon drinks? Just because they might need to happen online doesn’t mean they can’t happen.
• Encourage water cooler/in the kitchen-type conversations between team members. They might not happen at the actual water cooler or in the actual kitchen. They might not be spontaneous like they used to be, but they can still happen. People can still have tea or lunch breaks together.

Your team have also found themselves in very difficult situations. Let them know that you care. Keep connected to them. Keep them connected to each other. Culture no longer happens by accident. It happens on purpose.

Communication

Body language is said to comprise about 60% of how we communicate. This will vary from one individual to the next, but let’s take this as being as average. If we’re not able to see each other, we can probably safely assume, that we’re losing about 40% of our understanding. If we’re talking to each other we still have the benefit of tone. Let’s assume that makes up 20% of communication. In written communication we’re losing the full 60% – no body language, no tone.

But… In distributed working written communication is key. It’s how you make sure every team member understands what is required. You must be intentional about your communications. They can no longer just happen, as they did when I could pop into your office for a quick chat.

As far as possible try and have video conferences. That’s right camera on. You’re going to have to shower and get out of your pyjamas! Being able to see people creates a stronger connection and, because of this, a stronger understanding.

Assign someone to take notes. Rotate this responsibility between team members. So people can see how different individuals understand things. Notes should be taken in a way that is visible to the whole team in real time (Google Docs or Evernote etc). If everyone can see the notes being taken, it will make sure everyone has the same understanding. If they don’t it can be addressed immediately. The notes (or minutes) are the backbone of a meeting or interaction. It’s not only the proof, it’s what we take away. It’s our shared understanding. Never underestimate the value and role notes play in determining an outcome. Encourage written communication after each interaction. This may sound pedantic and bureaucratic. But the focus is on creating shared understanding. It’s necessary!

Create a Slack channel or WhatsApp group so team members can communicate easily on an ad hoc basis. I can see your eyes rolling at the thought of yet another WhatsApp group. But this one isn’t going to be set up and allowed to manage itself. It’s going to be managed.

1. Agree, as a team, what the rules of engagement are around this group.
2. What can and cannot be shared.
3. If a team is working on multiple projects, how each project message will be linked in group conversations? Perhaps create a list of hashtags for each project and/or each conversation topic. This makes messages easier to find later and helps manage the flow of communications. Agree on these hashtags upfront to avoid confusion and people creating their own hashtags that no one else understands.
4. If messages are directed to a specific individual use a hashtag or @<name>. So, everyone knows what is directed at them and it’s easy to find. Once again, agree on and define these up front.
5. If you’re over the age of 35 you might think emojis are very Millennial or Gen Z, but they can be a very effective communication tool. Decide what emoji’s can be used and what they mean. A picture speaks a thousand words and all that. Leverage this to improve communications.

Commitment

Commitment happens on two levels. Your commitment to your team, as the leader, and their commitment to you and the company. Many leaders are stuck in what I call the visual work mindset; if I can’t see you working, you’re not working. Sometimes with good reason, sometimes not. One of the biggest benefits of distributed working is autonomy. Autonomy has been identified as one of the biggest drivers of job satisfaction and decreased employee turnover. But, it’s one of the most difficult things to get right.

Lockdown has put people in a position where they might have to work flexibly. They must have a certain amount of autonomy over how they manage their days. Parents are looking after, and educating, children. Without the normal external help. People might be sharing a workspace (like the dining room table). While showing empathy to these situations will go a long way, there are some practicalities you can manage as well.

Work needs to be outcomes based, not time based. Every team member needs to be very clear on their expected outcome. (This gets back to good quality communication.) Projects, and their implementation, need to be thought through and communicated. Perhaps this level of clarity hasn’t been necessary before, it is now. If people are clear on their outcomes it allows them the flexibility to work when it suits them best. Can you answer these questions?

1. Who is responsible for what?
2. What exactly is expected?
3. By when?
4. From whom?
5. What are the milestones in this project?
6. What is the final result we are aiming to achieve?
7. We all need empathy and compromise. Understand that people are all working and living under very different, and difficult, conditions. While it might be impossible to accommodate everyone, at least try. Make an effort. Think about when it might be easiest time to schedule a meeting with a single mother.

Think! That’s the key to surviving Covid-19.

The post The Three C’s of managing remote teams first appeared on The Why Effect.