Most virtual teams meet at their launch and during crisis times

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin If you’re something of a Harry Potter fan, as I am, you may find yourself on occasion wishing for access to some of the magical tools used in the stories, such as the Sorting Hat. If you’re not familiar with Harry Potter’s world, introduced in June 1997 in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novel, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” it revolves around the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. First Year students are assigned to one of Hogwarts’ Four Houses (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff) following a ceremony using the Sorting Hat, which is placed on each new student’s head, probes the student’s mind and psyche, and determines where the student will most likely do well. An incantation accompanies the ceremony: “There’s nothing hidden in your head, the Sorting Hat can’t see. So try me on and I will tell you, where you ought to be.” The connection to the world of work is in the words “where you … [Read more...] about Using Harry Potter Magic To Improve Your Meetings—Or Make Them Disappear

Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez. (Image source: Reuters/File) Argentina found itself in the middle of a brewing political shakeup recently with the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, abruptly announcing his exit from the government. Guzmán was a close ally of the ruling centre-left government of Alberto Fernández. Yet, despite close relations with the leader of the country, Guzmán consistently clashed with the current Vice-President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. These issues include spending cuts and tighter fiscal policy , among others. Political experts claim that Guzmán’s exit is just another step in the direction of an increasingly isolated President in the government as well as the country, with a 25-percent approval rate. Cristina Fernández has previously served as the Argentinian president for two terms, from 2007–2015. She continues to hold a relatively strong base of support in the country but had picked Alberto Fernández to lead the ticket with … [Read more...] about Argentina | Economic crisis looms large amid political chaos

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin There's an often used phrase in the world of franchising, "Franchising is being in business for yourself, but not by yourself" (Credit unknown). There are many reasons why investing in a franchise brand is an attractive proposition for many would-be business owners, as opposed to setting up a venture from scratch. By joining an established franchise, you're joining a business with a proven track record of success and with a product or service that is tried and tested, with all of the trademarking done and the processes and systems in place so that you can be up and running and generating an income quickly and efficiently. You also benefit from the franchisor’s training, reputation, brand marketing, experience, know-how and support from the head operational team. Coupled with that, there's also the fact that in the current economic climate, the availability of start-up finance may well be easier to secure for a franchise launch … [Read more...] about Franchising’s Superpower: The Power Of Team

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Let’s face it. The uncertain economic conditions we are in will put a great deal of pressure on CMOs and their teams to deliver results under less-than-ideal situations. To do that, CMOs must create and lead a high-performing organization. While this is not a new challenge, the urgency is increasing at many companies. Fortunately, new research from Forrester may help marketing leaders take steps that could improve the contributions of their function. According to the study’s author Jennifer Ross, senior research director for Forrester’s CMO Strategies, “In high-performing B2B marketing organizations, the marketing ecosystem revolves around a uniform organizational understanding of the company’s target audiences. In the age of the customer, Forrester believes that B2B organizations will outperform competitors only when the customer is at the center of the company’s entire operating model and all functions consistently deliver … [Read more...] about Building A High-Performance Marketing Team Is More Critical Now Than Ever For B2B CMOs

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Chris is CEO of Tercera, founder and former CEO of Appirio, and a serial entrepreneur with 25+ years of tech experience. If you’re a business leader in tech watching the stocks and valuations around you plummet, you might be tempted to hit the panic button—fighting the urge to lock down spending or pursue layoffs. Take a minute. Breathe. Some of those might be the right decisions, but making business decisions from a place of fear is a recipe for failure. Business leaders are heading into tough times, but those leaders who see this “crisis” as an opportunity for change will be those who thrive in the end. I put “crisis” in quotes because it’s only a crisis if you let it become one. A Little Context I’ve been (un)lucky enough to have navigated three downturns in my 30-year career in technology—some better than others. The first one was when I led global services for webMethods, an early internet … [Read more...] about The Best Leaders Turn Crisis Into Opportunity

As President, Ranil Wickremesinghe will serve the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term that ends in 2024. Sri Lanka’s Parliament is set to convene on Wednesday for the first session under new President Ranil Wickremesinghe and will approve the state of emergency imposed over a week ago to quell social unrest, an official announcement said on Tuesday. Wickremesinghe announced the state of emergency on July 17 after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka to escape a popular uprising against his government’s economic mismanagement. The veteran politician was appointed the interim president following Rajapaksa’s departure to the Maldives and then to Singapore amid unprecedented anti-government protests. Parliament on Wednesday elected Wickremesinghe, an ally of Rajapaksa, as the successor to Rajapaksa, who resigned after reaching Singapore. It was the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka’s Parliament directly elected a president. Parliament on Wednesday elected … [Read more...] about Sri Lanka’s Parliament to meet for first session under President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Equifax is providing business executives with timely reminders on how to communicate about a corporate crisis. This is not the first time the credit scoring company has responded to a crisis. In 2017, an Equifax data breach took place in which the private records of 148 million Americans were compromised. It was reported to be one of the largest cybercrimes related to identity theft. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that earlier this year the company sent lenders inaccurate credit scores on millions of consumers earlier this year which led to higher interest rates and rejected applications for consumers. Statement From Equifax In a statement on its website , Equifax blamed the situation on “a coding issue within a legacy, on-premise server environment in the U.S. slated to be migrated to the new Equifax Cloud infrastructure. This issue, which was in place over a period of a few weeks, … [Read more...] about What Business Leaders Can Learn From Equifax’s Response To Their Latest Crisis

People who are familiar with the story of Honest Tea may recall that I launched the company with my former Yale School of Management professor Barry Nalebuff. With Barry as board chair and me as the "TeaEO," we made a dynamic duo that built the idea from a startup with five thermoses and an empty Snapple bottle to a national brand acquired by the Coca-Cola Company in 2011. Barry, who kept his job as a Yale professor, is still a close friend and occasionally provides advice or helps edit our label messages. But as we mark Honest Tea's 20th anniversary this spring, there is another founder who didn't have her name on the label but has been the soul of the brand: my wife, Julie Farkas. In 1997, when I thought about leaving a promising job at Calvert mutual funds to launch a startup in an industry where I had no relevant experience (except that I drank beverages), Julie was the first person to support the idea. Even though we had three boys under the age of 6, including a … [Read more...] about Why My Spouse Was My Most Important Asset in Launching My Company

As someone who has quite literally built a career out of efficiency, I have no patience for unproductive meetings . When meetings go off the rails, people show up unprepared, or something gets canceled at the last minute, I get frustrated. Time is valuable, and these situations are easily preventable. Over the years, I've learned a few tricks to help keep these situations from occurring in the first place. And more recently, I've encouraged my executive assistant to think in the same way, so she can take steps to ensure that each meeting I attend will be a good use of my time. If you have an executive assistant, I'd highly recommend teaching them these four methods. If not, you can do them on your own or even set up some automations that will handle some of the work for you. 1. No agenda, no meeting I have a simple rule with my team: No agenda, no meeting. These agendas should ideally be made in advance of the meeting, and shared with attendees so everyone can … [Read more...] about 4 Calendar Rules to Avoid Useless Meetings

So you're a manager, and you're finding that your team has diverse personalities , egos and strong opinions. Your managing efforts under this daily scenario can be downright challenging. It's worse when people with opposing personal agendas, dictated by hubris , pull against each other. Political silos surface, people take sides, and morale eventually suffers. When it becomes about "you," you can bet that team progress, creativity, and productivity is about to be stifled. So how do you protect your team and team meetings from feeling like the drama in a bad reality-TV show? Set Team Agreements If your team drama has reached critical mass, it's probably time to set clear team working agreements. This sets the stage for the kind of team culture and values you want moving forward. For example, a team agreement might be something like "We all agree to engage the discussion fully with our mission in mind." It works because it's based on team … [Read more...] about This Powerful Meeting Hack Is One of the Best Ways to Inspire Great Teamwork