9 Keys to Delegating Successfully

9 Keys to Delegating Successfully

For any entrepreneur, particularly when you are starting a new business, there is a danger of trying to do everything yourself. If you like to keep the world under control you may need to improve your delegation skills.

Delegation provides opportunities for people to feel empowered, supported and encouraged. It gives entrepreneurs a chance to reduce stress by spreading the work and sharing responsibilities amongst the team.

Here are my tips for improving delegation and gaining the benefits as your business grows:

1. Get to know your team.

If you have a new team – don’t go in like a bull in a china shop. Get to know your team, understand their ways of working, rules of engagement, foibles, and preferred styles of communication and you’ll be able to appreciate their world as it stands – before you add to it. Really get to grips with their deliverables and their concerns and challenges. These small steps can pay off over time.

2. Share the vision.

Be really clear about your vision and mission and share it with your team. If they understand the direction the team is going in, and the objectives that need to be achieved they will start to think about how they can contribute.

3. Ask for help.

A good saying is that “your success is only achieved through theirs” – and you have to mean it and let your team know this is how you operate. There’s no room for insecurity or game playing if you want to be an effective leader who delegates easily. If they can see your vulnerable side, where you are not perfect, where you make mistakes and don’t have all the answers, they will know that you value consulting with them and leveraging their knowledge and experience when solving problems. Ultimately, they will feel respected and valued.

4. Share and develop skills.

By ensuring that you have no silos (individuals with special skill sets that are potential single-point-of-failures if absent), delegating tasks across the team will upskill them and ensure that no-one, when they return from holiday or other absence, is faced with a pile of work – as it will have3 been absorbed by the team. This can create a harmonious team working environment where everyone has each other’s back. With this mindset people should be ready to take on other initiatives to help.

5. Give useful feedback.

If you can’t give great feedback that is useful and useable then it will become very challenging for you to delegate a second time. You need to give them specific examples of where things went well and why that was great.

If things didn’t go so well, help them articulate how they might mitigate that in the future so that the issues melt away. Reward them, in a meaningful way, for their efforts.

6. Encourage ideas.

You can build a culture of problem solving by being genuinely approachable and easy to work with. If you don’t want people to bring you problems to solve – ask your team to bring you solutions and ideas instead. They will likely feel empowered to try to figure out how to fix things before approaching you for approval to go ahead; thereby discouraging whinging and moaning about problems which they then expect you to solve.

If a team member comes up with a good idea ask them to lead on it, with you as a consultant (so they don’t feel vulnerable). This raises their profile, makes them feel respected and gives them a specific deliverable.

7. Be specific and say ‘why’ before ‘how.’

Humans are not robots – they need to understand why a task has to be done to understand the value they are delivering. Only then will they be able to absorb the policy, process and procedures.

When delivering instructions for a task – start with the end in mind and be specific about the desired end result. Clearly outline the lines of accountability, responsibility and authority. Be extra clear on touch points/milestones and deadlines – get them diarised. Organise a review once the work has ended so you can give feedback. Don’t be tempted to focus on how they got there – focus on the results achieved.

8. Play to their strengths.

Getting to know your team will help you to build mutual rapport, trust and respect. Its these things that help you decide whom to delegate to as you’ll know if they are able to cope with the work, or if it’s too much of a stretch. Take time to get to know how they like to be rewarded and why they come to work every day – then you will understand what words to choose when you are being persuasive and encouraging to them. It’s important to get to know your employees’ limitations so that you can push them a little but not drown them.

9. Improve self-awareness.

As an entrepreneur, its important to understand your impact on others. It will improve your ability to delegate effectively and your listening skills. Listening is the most useful skill you can cultivate. It validates the person speaking and makes them feel heard. It allows you to be a safe sounding board for the team. Ask for feedback from your team (it’s not a one-way street) and respond to that feedback if you can so they know you are paying attention and adapting.

As an entrepreneur your role is to lead the team as you build the business. You can’t do everything so learning about your team and delegating can help you avoid burn-out and become successful more quickly.

By Sam Warner

Source: 9 Keys to Delegating Successfully

.

.

More Contents:

LEARN HOW TO DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS | FREE E-BOOK
0
HOT JOBS & COOL JOBS: PROJECT/TASK MANAGER OKLAHOMA CITY OK USA
[…]  In addition to knowing when and how to delegate tasks effectively, does so in a way that  […]
N/A
Goals Setting & Time Management Skills – Euston College
[…] and tricks for managing stress and a heavy workload Explore strategic planning methods and learn how to delegate work  Who is This Goals Setting & Time Management Skills course for? This training course is fo […]
0
For Women Who Love The F-Word | 87: Anik Singal Founder and CEO of Lurn Inc, Psychology Of Webinars
share.transistor.fm – March 1
[…] CEO of Lurn Inc, Psychology Of Webinars Free Resource: “Soul Why: Soul Rich Woman Blueprint” and “How to Delegate 80% of your to-do list” —> https://be […]
0
Cleaning Out Abandoned Carts With Nice Laundry
mailchimp.com – February 28
[…] “Our greatest has been understanding what to outsource, what to keep in-house, and how to delegate,” Phil says […]
N/A
Triple Z Threadz and Limbo Jewelry’s Date-Based Automation
mailchimp.com – February 28
[…] However, knowing when and how to delegate, and getting help from Mailchimp’s date-based automations has made the business more manageable […]
N/A
Delegating With Ease
ttink6.leadingthebest.com – February 28
[…] My goal is to help you learn how to delegate project tasks to manage effectively and successfully […] If you’re ready to learn how to delegate like a boss, sign up now! I Can’t Wait to Share with You on Tuesday, March 9th at 10:00 am CST!
0
Delegating With Ease
leadership123.leadingthebest.com – February 28
[…] My goal is to help you learn how to delegate project tasks to manage effectively and successfully […] If you’re ready to learn how to delegate like a boss, sign up now! I Can’t Wait to Share with You on Wednesday, March 10th at 12:00 pm EST […]
0
Nicolás Cortés Gallery and Dolce & Gabbana | by Jessica de Pomar | EscapadasUK | Feb, 2021
medium.com – February 28
[…] do is fundamental, surrounding yourself with people who have more expertise than you and knowing how to delegate, is essential […]
1
Delegate permissions using Recovery Delegation
http://www.veeam.com – February 28
Recovery Delegation implements security by limiting access to web management website features and data, based on user roles. This option empowers administrators to delegate permissions on an as-needed basis, via the Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager. Watch this demo video to learn more about: How to delegate permissions to recover files What are the benefits of using this feature? Duration: 7:04
N/A
Letting everyone work from home forever isn’t good for teamwork
gerald-pilcher.com – February 28
[…] many, as one Microsoft survey found: 61% of managers feel that they have not effectively learned how to delegate and empower virtual teams […]
0
Managed Data Backup Service Project Plan
For organizations that are considering outsourcing data backups to a third-party provider, this detailed project plan can help you through the various stages of planning and implementation. There are valuable steps, metrics, and examples of how to delegate the tasks to various members of a project team.
N/A
Delegation: Helping New Nurses Transition into Practice – General Career
allnurses.com – February 28
[…] How To Delegate Effectively and Safely STEP 1 This is a test […]
4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: How trust helped GM Jason Licht build a champion
bucswire.usatoday.com – February 27
[…] this in his own personal journey as a coach, and I’ve learned from him that you have to learn how to delegate, and you need to learn to trust your assistants […]
3
Can your business run without you? | Zapier
zapier.com – February 27
[…] Here’s how to delegate on a budget—including some tips on what to delegate […]
N/A
Jumpstart – A Virtual Experience – for Entrepreneurs
jumpstartyourbiznow.com – February 27
[…] hold sales conversations with more ease and success! Get clarity on what technology you will need, how to delegate things and get more systematized and focused […]
2
Governance Elections | Farm Credit Services of America
http://www.fcsamerica.com – February 27
[…] Also, with SDARL, I learned how to delegate responsibilities for my farm and business, so I can leave and be fully committed to the Board […] In the church, I have found how a committee structure is a crucial part of how to delegate responsibilities for narrower decisions […]
N/A
How Beauty Leaders Interview for Job Openings –
wwd.com – February 26
[…] I want to know that you can motivate and inspire a team, work collaboratively, understand how to delegate and coach at the same time […]
N/A
How to Nail the Art of Delegation
[…] Related: How to Delegate Better and Become a Great Leader Create a collaborative culture My company was only a few month […]
10
FTSO Inflation Rewards Walkthrough
[…] the first day of the Flare Network, so he needs to see how everything works in action to determine how to delegate his detachable FLR votes in the future […]
N/A
Transcriptions for Busy Professionals
[…] Click here to find out how to delegate your transcribing tasks to us!
79
Does payroll processing fall under the HR department? – Zoho Blog
http://www.zoho.com – February 26
[…] If you want a better idea of how to delegate payroll tasks between your HR and finance teams, we’ve got you covered […]
1
Freducation: Trainer or Syndicator? —
[…] yard at one time so if your horse has 30+ owners, the syndicator should have a fair system on how to delegate ticketing and race day privileges when your horse gets to the races […]
1
Letting everyone work from home forever isn’t good for teamwork – Dynamic Business
dynamicbusiness.com.au – February 26
[…] many, as one Microsoft survey found: 61% of managers feel that they have not effectively learned how to delegate and empower virtual teams […]
N/A
CCTP-Business Management Professional Program | Ed4Career
ed4career.com – February 25
[…] We will also discuss team members’ roles and responsibilities, how to delegate assignments and effective management techniques […]
N/A
How contractors can mold strong leaders
azbigmedia.com – February 25
[…] Challenge your team to step up their leadership game A good leader knows how to delegate and you as the owner of your company should take every opportunity to challenge your contractors to […]
N/A
IBM’s Victoria Pelletier: How To Delegate Effectively and Be Completely Satisfied With the Results | by Jerome Knyszewski | Authority Magazine | Feb, 2021
medium.com – February 25
IBM’s Victoria Pelletier: How To Delegate Effectively and Be Completely Satisfied With the Results Jerome Knyszewski Follow Feb 25 · 9 mi […] As part of my series about the “How To Delegate Effectively and Be Completely Satisfied With the Results”, I had the pleasure of interviewin […]
2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offseason Media Availability Transcript 2-24-21
http://www.buccaneers.com – February 25
[…] this in his own personal journey as a coach, and I’ve learned from him that you have to learn how to delegate, and you need to learn to trust your assistants […]
0
– All-Female Minority Organization Thrives in Trucking and Logistics Industry.
[…] Advanced Transport Solutions, LLC What have the highlights and challenges been as a CEO? Learning how to delegate is definitely a challenge because it’s hard not to be in control and making sure someone will ru […]
285
What Is Zero-Based Budgeting? –
blog.pocketbudgeter.com – February 24
[…]   Tips Here are a few tips to get you started: If you are having trouble knowing how to delegate your expenses, you can use the 50/30/20 rule as guidance […]
N/A
Prioritization is Critical in IT —
[…] seminar and they were stressing that delegation is the most important skill to have and explaining how to delegate well […]
0
Core facility management: corporate partnerships, efficient time management, and getting your message across
[…] only a few) requires good time management skills and clear guideline how to prioritise tasks and how to delegate them effectively […]
N/A
Soft Skills for Effective Leadership
thriveglobal.com – February 24
[…] leaders should be able to recognize when delegation is beneficial, and they should also learn how to delegate tasks in effective and efficient ways […]
1
How to Manage by Delegating (So You Can Achieve Your Goals)!
http://www.udemy.com – February 24
[…] by Delegating (So You Can Achieve Your Goals)” introduces you to the process of what, why and how to delegate using a proven 3 step template process used by Chris Haroun, who is a seasoned and successfu […] learn: What to delegate so you can spend more time focusing on your professional and personal goals How to delegate so that you can develop your employee(s) and teach them new skills What feedback to provide and how […]
253
Learn How to Delegate Tasks to Scale Your Real Estate Business | EPM Tips by Elevating Property Management • A podcast on
anchor.fm – February 23
A short clip from a full interview with Austin Linney where he talked about how to construct your life and business. In this episode, Austin talks about how investors can learn how to delegate tasks in order to scale their real estate businesses faster.
N/A
How to delegate successfully in your bookkeeping firm
Learning how to delegate work is essential if you want to scale your firm profitably […]
1
How To Delegate Effectively, So The Job Gets Done On Time & To The Standard You Want :pduOTD – PDU Of The Day
http://www.pduotd.com – February 23
[…] Click to register for: How To Delegate Effectively, So The Job Gets Done On Time & To The Standard You Want 0 1 […]
0
Control in leadership and facilitation
http://www.linkedin.com – February 23
[…] Knowing how to delegate control has helped me on my leadership journey and made me into a better facilitator […]
N/A
FAQ on Staking $AKT. This is a short article addressing… | by Johnnie Red | Feb, 2021
johnniecosmos.medium.com – February 23
[…] If you need a full guide on staking on Cøsmos chains check: For a guide on which wallets to use and how to delegate your tokens please visit:
0
| Cambridge Network
[…] and beat procrastination Set achievable goals Work more effectively with others; when and how to delegate   I found this course very refreshing […]

 

How People Analytics Can Help You Change Process, Culture, and Strategy

It seems like every business is struggling with the concept of transformation. Large incumbents are trying to keep pace with digital upstarts., and even digital native companies born as disruptors know that they need to transform. Take Uber: at only eight years old, it’s already upended the business model of taxis. Now it’s trying to move from a software platform to a robotics lab to build self-driving cars.

And while the number of initiatives that fall under the umbrella of “transformation” is so broad that it can seem meaningless, this breadth is actually one of the defining characteristic that differentiates transformation from ordinary change. A transformation is a whole portfolio of change initiatives that together form an integrated program.

And so a transformation is a system of systems, all made up of the most complex system of all — people. For this reason, organizational transformation is uniquely suited to the analysis, prediction, and experimental research approach of the people analytics field.

People analytics — defined as the use of data about human behavior, relationships and traits to make business decisions — helps to replace decision making based on anecdotal experience, hierarchy and risk avoidance with higher-quality decisions based on data analysis, prediction, and experimental research. In working with several dozen Fortune 500 companies with Microsoft’s Workplace Analytics division, we’ve observed companies using people analytics in three main ways to help understand and drive their transformation efforts.

In core functional or process transformation initiatives — which are often driven by digitization — we’ve seen examples of people analytics being used to measure activities and find embedded expertise. In one example, a people analytics team at a global CPG company was enlisted to help optimize a financial process that took place monthly in every country subsidiary around the world. The diversity of local accounting rules precluded perfect standardization, and the geographic dispersion of the teams made it hard for the transformation group to gather information the way they normally would — in conversation.

In core functional or process transformation initiatives — which are often driven by digitization — we’ve seen examples of people analytics being used to measure activities and find embedded expertise. In one example, a people analytics team at a global CPG company was enlisted to help optimize a financial process that took place monthly in every country subsidiary around the world. The diversity of local accounting rules precluded perfect standardization, and the geographic dispersion of the teams made it hard for the transformation group to gather information the way they normally would — in conversation.

So instead of starting with discovery conversations, people analytics data was used to baseline the time spent on the process in every country, and to map the networks of the people involved. They discovered that one country was 16% percent more efficient than the average of the rest of the countries: they got the same results in 71 fewer person-hours per month and with 40 fewer people involved each month.

The people analytics team was surprised — as was finance team in that country, which had no reason to benchmark themselves against other countries and had no idea that they were such a bright spot. The transformation office approached the country finance leaders with their findings and made them partners in process improvement for the rest of the subsidiaries.

It’s unlikely the CPG company would have been able to recognize and replicate these bright spots if they had undertaken transformation with a top-down approach. And, perhaps more importantly, it involved and engaged the people on the ground who had unwittingly discovered a better way of doing things.

In bottoms-up cultural transformation initiatives, the how things are done is equally or more important than what is done. Feedback loops and other methods of data-driven storytelling are our favorite way that people analytics makes culture transformation happen. Often times, facts can change the conversation from tired head-nodding to curiosity. One people analytics team in an engineering company was struggling to help develop the company’s managers, for example. Managers often perpetuated a “sink or swim” culture that didn’t fit the company’s aspirations to be an inclusive, humane workplace.

The data analysis found that teams whose managers spent at least 16 minutes of one-on-one time with each direct per week had 30% percent more engaged direct reports than the average manager, who spent just 9 minutes per week with directs. When they brought that data-driven story to the front lines, suddenly a platitude was transformed into a useful benchmark that got the attention of managers. In this way, data storytelling is a lightweight way to build trust among stakeholders and bring behavioral science to culture transformation.

Top-down strategic transformation is often made necessary by market and technology factors outside the company, but here people analytics is a critical factor for execution. A people analytics team can serve as an instrument panel of sorts to track resources, boundaries, capacity, time use, networks, skill sets, performance, and mindsets that can help pinpoint where change is possible and can measure what happens when you try it.

One people analytics team at a financial services company was trying to help the CEO manage growth while he worked to instill a new culture in which departments would be asked to run leaner and more competitive in the market – “scrappy” and “hungry” were terms that often came up. As the transformation accelerated, teams were asked to do more with less, generate more data, and make decisions faster. Amid this, department leaders began to hear anecdotes about burnout and change fatigue and questioned whether the pace was sustainable.

To address this, the people analytics team provided their CEO with a dashboard showing the number of hours that knowledge workers were active for in different teams. When an entire team is over-utilized, he knows they can’t handle more change, while under- or unevenly utilized teams might be more receptive. He can also slice the dashboard by tenure, to learn whether recent hires have been effectively onboarded before approving new hire requests to absorb extra work.

As organizations increasingly look to data to help them in their transformation efforts, it’s important to remember that this doesn’t just mean having more data or better charts. It’s about mastering the organizational muscle of using data to make better decisions; to hypothesize, experiment, measure and adapt. It’s not easy. But through careful collection and analysis of the right data, a major transformation can be a little less daunting – and hopefully a little more successful.

By: Chantrelle Nielsen & Natalie McCullough

.

.

AIHR – Academy to Innovate HR

What is People Analytics and how is it different from HR Analytics, Workforce Analytics, or Talent Analytics? What has made it so popular all of a sudden and why should you be excited about it? What is the ROI of People Analytics? These are the questions that will be answered in this video!

For more, related information, check out our HR analytics + digital human resources management courses and certification programs: 🎓 Learn everything you need to drive data-driven decision-making in HR (certificate program) 💥 https://bit.ly/3c6UQN8 🎓 Get the skills you need to use technology to make HR more effective (certificate program) 💻 https://bit.ly/2VjsdGm Have a greater strategic impact with data as an HR Business Partner 🎯 https://bit.ly/2vZou6a

Can’t decide? You can access all our courses and certificate programs with our full academy license 👩‍🎓 https://bit.ly/2w4k9P1 👋👋 P.S. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest HR Analytics developments! https://www.linkedin.com/school/aihr/

More Content:

HBR Store
About HBR
Manage My Account

What Does Your Content Say About Your Company Culture

It’s more important than ever before to build a positive and inspiring company culture. The culture of your organization affects the talent you attract, how engaged your employees are at work, and also the customers who choose your brand over others.

Your company culture is a reflection of your core brand values and mission. And those values can be an important factor in the decision-making process when someone chooses to spend their money or do business with you.

According to a 2020 survey of consumer behavior, over 70% said it was important that companies they bought from aligned with their values.There are many factors that go into your company culture. It’s important to mold the working environment and the sort of business you do around the type of culture you want to cultivate.

But have you considered how the content you are publishing affects how your company culture is perceived?

Quick Takeaways

  • Expressing your true company culture is critical for attracting the right talent and the right customers.
  • The content you publish can be a valuable way to demonstrate your brand culture.
  • Get your brand values and mission statement set in stone to create a solid base for all your content marketing efforts.

Why Your Content Is a Reflection of Your Culture

Have a think about the brands you regularly consume content from and how the content has a unique personality that affects how you would describe the brand.

For example, take a look at this tweet from smoothie company Innocent Drinks:

Even if you’d never heard of the company before, you’d probably start forming an impression of their company culture just from seeing this small piece of content.

Some things that spring to mind include:

  • Young and fun
  • Friendly
  • Caring about the environment

A quick look at the Innocent Drinks page shows that this first impression aligns pretty closely with the brand’s stated values.

How about another example?

Social media automation tool Buffer actually dedicates a whole section of its blog to the importance of “open” culture.

You can see that Buffer values transparency, sustainability, and work-life balance from their blog articles on subjects including calculating the carbon footprint of remote work, moving to a four-day workweek, and why their transparent email policy stopped working.

Buffer is a brand that really understands the importance of content marketing and makes the effort to ensure that all content reflects its core values:

  • Default to transparency
  • Cultivate positivity
  • Show gratitude
  • Practice reflection
  • Improve consistently
  • Act beyond yourself

Does Your Content Promote Your Company Culture?

Take a look through some of your existing content online with fresh eyes. Does it really reflect your brand and values? If your content was all someone had to go on, would they have an accurate picture of what it might be like to work for your company?

Some brands naturally do a great job of creating values-focused content. The ones that do succeed not only because they have a talented team of marketers and content creators working for them, but also because they have a clear idea of the company culture they want to cultivate and promote.

So if you don’t yet have a clear handle on how to describe your company culture, or you’re waiting for it to develop organically, you must focus on building a positive culture first.

Your people are one of the cornerstones of your company culture so make sure they’re involved. Getting together to officially nail down your brand values or mission statement can be a great starting point for an official company culture to flourish.

But when it comes to brand culture, actions matter more than words. There’s no point in claiming you have an open and honest culture and care about the environment if this isn’t true.

Developing your true company culture will take some time, but it can be helped along by working with people who share your values.

Hiring the right people is essential, of course. But marketing to the right audience is equally as important. If you can create content that attracts an audience that shares your brand values, you’ll be well on the way to success.

Creating Content Around Your Culture

Once you’ve put the hard work into building a great brand culture, you can use your content to show off what a great company you are.

If you’ve come up with a list of official brand values, this can be a great way to get started with your content plan, as you can make sure any new content you create falls into one of these “buckets”.

Make sure to take advantage of content to tell the story of your brand. When working through your content strategy, it’s natural to want to make sure that each piece of content is fulfilling a specific purpose and aligning with the customer journey.

But not all content has to or should funnel a potential customer toward a sale. Your content should also work to build your brand slowly but consistently with each piece you produce.

Great authors don’t have to work to market their books. People eagerly anticipate them and buy them automatically because they know they like their style and subjects.

If you approach your marketing content in the same way romance novelists tackle their books, you’re sure to be well on the road to building a dedicated audience that is interested in what you have to say.

Activating your employees to create their own content is another fail-safe way of creating authentic, engaging content.

Nobody knows your company and its culture better than your employees. Utilizing their knowledge, expertise, and passion is often the most effective way to tell the world about your company culture.

At the very least, make sure your employees are involved in your content process, whether that’s by brainstorming ideas for content topics or sharing your content on their own social media accounts.

Ready to Tell the Story of Your Brand Culture?

If you are ready to get more traffic to your site with quality content published consistently, check out our Content Builder Service.

Set up a quick consultation, and I’ll send you a free PDF version of my books. Get started today–and generate more traffic and leads for your business.

By Michael Brenner

Marketing Insider Group

The Marketing Insider Group provides content marketing workshops and content development services. Scale your content and start showing Content Marketing ROI today. Free Consultation

Services

What kind of corporate culture is your organization emblematic of? Let us know in the comments, and hit that like button, too. Subscribe to Eye on Tech for more videos covering the latest in business technology, including security, networking, AI, DevOps, enterprise strategy, storage, devices and more: https://www.youtube.com/EyeOnTech Stay up to date on the latest HR software news: https://searchHRsoftware.techtarget.com/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@TTBusinessTech Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TechTargetBu… #CorporateCulture #EmployeeRetention #EyeonTech

How To Help Your Clients With Website Content Strategy

For small and medium-sized organizations, content is usually the trickiest part of putting together a website. That often results in it being the one thing web designers are left waiting for when trying to finish off a project. Even if the overall design and functionality are a go, a lack of content halts progress.

Over the years, I’ve found myself asking why this is such a challenge. But after seeing it time and again, a few things have become clear.

First, clients are generally not content creators. Most don’t sit there and write on a daily basis. Therefore, they don’t necessarily know what to say. Or, even if they have some talking points, they might struggle in articulating them.

Then there is also the obstacle of time. People who are busy running their business or non-profit may simply have trouble finding a few hours to concentrate on writing. Content strategy takes a back seat to other tasks.

This presents an opportunity for web designers to come in and save the day. With a little help, we can get the processes of creating and organizing content moving in the right direction.

Focus on the Most Important Details

If you’re redesigning or completely rebuilding an existing website, some of the hard work may be done for you. You can look to that content for clues regarding what’s important.

Even if that existing content is messy, it can still be useful. Search out the key selling points and discuss them with your client. Present them as a means to achieve their goals for the project.

Each organization will have their own unique message to share. An eCommerce shop, for example, may want to talk about their attention to detail when it comes to customer service. Meanwhile, a medical practice will want to concentrate on their expert staff and specialties. This type of information can prove vital in content creation.

The goal is to help your client to narrow their focus. Having a better understanding of the task at hand can provide them with confidence. They’ll be better positioned to produce compelling content.

Provide Visual Guidance

Another way to help clients develop a successful content strategy is through visualization. We do this by providing templates or prototypes that outline the various sections of a page.

This offers an immediate form of guidance that your client can reference when writing. They’ll have a better idea as to the desired length of content, along with how to make it easy to digest. It takes a lot of guesswork out of the process.

Of course, they may not exactly stick to the standards you’ve set. But that’s not the point. It’s more about getting them to think in terms of how that content will be seen by users. Even if they’re not initially thrilled with the mockup, you can work together on finding the right balance.

Another side benefit is that this trains clients to take a more consistent approach. In practice, this means that although the content may change from page to page, the format doesn’t. Users won’t be treated to succinct descriptions on the Services page while being expected to read a meandering, 20-paragraph opus on the About Us page.

By providing visual guidance, clients can simply fill in the blanks. It’s more efficient and less stressful.

Promote Common Sense and Ease-of-Use

When it comes to organizing content, things can get out of hand in a hurry. And they often become extreme.

Some clients may insist on cramming a massive amount of information onto a single page. Others could be just the opposite, with secondary pages that contain no more than a sentence or two. Neither of these strategies is likely to be a hit with users.

Thankfully, a little education can go a long way. When discussing content organization, focus on these fundamental questions:

  • How easy is it for users to navigate?
  • Is all the content on a particular page truly relevant?
  • What is the overall point of the content, and, is it obvious to the user?
  • Should a long page be split up into multiple sub-pages?
  • Are we missing any key information?
  • What’s best for SEO?

By asking these questions, you have the opportunity to fill your clients in on the finer points of a user-first approach. The answers should lead everyone in the right direction.

Write It Yourself

There are certain clients who may never become comfortable with writing and organizing content. Or they may just be unlikely to get around to doing the work. This is not only fine, but it’s also an opportunity for web designers.

By offering to write the content yourself, you will take some pressure off your clients – not to mention make some extra money. It could be a win-win situation.

You may find clients who are very happy to delegate this responsibility and pay you for it. In addition, it allows them to act in more of an editorial role. They can review what you’ve done and then collaborate with you to make the content the best it can be.

However, your work will likely be better received if you put in that initial research. As mentioned above, have a discussion about the most important messaging points. This will ensure a smoother process and better end result.

A Proactive Approach to Content Strategy

As with other areas of web design, being proactive with content is often key to a successful project. Keep in mind that your clients are most likely looking to you for some guidance. Therefore, your expertise and leadership may be just what they need to move forward with confidence.

And, just maybe, it means you won’t have to wait around nearly as long for that content to arrive.

By: Eric Karkovack

Related Posts

Related Tags

The Digital Project Manager

How to get website content from clients without a headache? This is an age-old question that a lot of DPMs in our community are asking. Today, Alexa and I break down the approach we use to get the right files, on time, in the right format, when we manage website projects. Related Resources: When you’re done with this video, make sure you check out these related resources: Podcast: How To Get Website Content From Clients (With James Rose From Content Snare) https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/… Podcast: How To Project Manage A Corporate Website Build (With Rich Butkevic) https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/… Article: Deliver Your Next Website Project On Time With These 5 Tricks https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/… DPM Membership: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/ Follow us on social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedigitalpr… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalpm/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1809… Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedigitalpm

Is This The End For Consultants?

In his recent book The Interim Revolution, business transformation expert, Pat Lynes interviews executives about their perceptions of consultants and the results are damning. The majority believe the primary concern of management consultancies is “landing and expanding”–not actually solving the problems at hand.

Cynicism around consulting is nothing new. That adage about a consultant “borrowing your watch to tell you the time” didn’t come from nowhere. But the problem is now stark. According to research by McKinsey, 70% of transformations fail. The irony of a consultancy sharing that statistic is delicious. The only reason anyone would need a consultant is to speed up transformation. If the business world doesn’t believe consultants can do that, why do they exist?

Why do consultants have such a bad reputation? 

Philosopher Matthew Stewart in The Management Myth tracks the roots of management consulting. He describes how in the late 1800s Frederick Taylor set out to analyze company performance and was the original advocate of the first maxim of management consulting: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” This belief gave rise to time and motion studies–the practice of analyzing systems of work to identify efficiencies and improve profit. It turbo-charged consulting. The product-market fit was good as in essence most businesses of the 20th century were production lines meaning there was no shortage of efficiencies to be identified.

Cut to today and what drives business success is very different. According to Harvard Business Review, the world’s best organizations compete on differentiators other than price and prioritize increasing revenues over decreasing cost. In other words, a firm’s ability to out-think and out-innovate its competition is the primary driver of success. This requires imagination and ingenuity on a daily basis. It’s a team game. And it’s hard to measure in a time-and-motion context.

High-performing businesses have a secret. They focus first on helping people perform at their brilliant, imaginative, imperfect best. They prize revolution not routine, conflict not comfort, variety not predictability. All of this points to a simple truth: these days, people equal competitive advantage. But traditional consultants and their calculators were not developed to cope with this reality.

The new generation of consulting 

The picture for consultants may look grim but there are reasons to be cheerful. In business, objectivity will always be valuable: it is hard to perceive problems from within. Top talent is hard to find which will continue to drive businesses to outsource. In the end, consultants are smart and are reinventing themselves now market forces demand it.

So in this people-first environment, how do you spot a consultant that will be the right partner? Here are just three things to look for. They should:

  • Start small. They should never over-reach or try to land and expand, instead starting by solving one identifiable problem.
  • Embrace an inside-out ethos. Your business already has all the capabilities and answers it needs and it’s their job to help tease them out.
  • Enable you. Humans are deeply resistant to being told what to do. In the immortal words of Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “No involvement, no commitment.” At every stage, the right consultant will create and hand over the tools for you and your people to go it alone.

At Corporate Punk, I help leaders transform their organisations by improving agility and embedding better, happier ways of working. I spent 20 years in creative agencies and consultancies before founding this management consultancy that isn’t: we don’t slash for efficiency but build for innovation, resilience, and growth. We have made a lasting impact on global businesses including Sony Music, the BBC and KPMG, as well as high-growth firms.

Source: Is This The End For Consultants?

%d bloggers like this: