I recently read an article about what the world perceives as “cool,” and how that can affect workplace dynamics. People who get labeled as cool are often extroverted, independent and perhaps a little unpredictable. All these things certainly get attention. But do they make a team as successful as it can be? The author argues …
Over the years, communication means and methods have changed. We are now in a world where most everyone has at least a cell phone close by. While all these advances have made it easier to communicate and catalogue our work, we’ve unintentionally cut out some of the personal interactions that can make a team truly …
Marketing can feel like an easy line item to skip, or in times when the project list isn’t full, cut. My gut has always told me that marketing needs to have a core spot in our business, and a recent article I came across in Harvard Business Review gave me the research to back it …
You never get a second chance to start the right conversation with strangers. Most of us will tend to lead in with a typical, “How are you doing?” or “ How was your trip in?” These predictable questions, along with comments about the weather, may be in our comfort zone, but they are not the …
We’ve all been on the receiving end of written communication that can be interpreted as condescending, making us feel disrespected. Often, the communication intensifies the original problem, the opposite of the desired effect. Perhaps the sender’s attempts at being direct and straightforward were misinterpreted, or maybe they were in a hurry and didn’t consider the …
My team often hears me say that everyone is responsible for maintaining customer relationships, and thus sales. We are a mid-sized company, and we take pride in our commitment to involve our project management and field leadership teams in this process. Selling comes more easily to some of us, but I’m a firm believer that, …
Sometime ago, shortly after I read a book by Peter Drucker, I wrote a post about company culture. One of the most powerful quotes I took from that read was, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In today’s environment where we are hearing about employee shortages, high turnover and “quiet quitting,” that sentiment seems more relevant than …
One of the best things about a long-term customer relationship is the opportunity to grow, change and adapt with them. We’ve been building with the Target team for more 3 decades now and during this time, our retail division has built many of their store formats. There have been Super Targets, one-of-kind stores, remodels and …
We are in the “final approach” stage of a year-long project that’s set to open before Thanksgiving. It’s fairly substantial, high-profile and covers about 20 acres. As we all know, building this year is full of unknowns. To mention a few, we’ve had delayed packages, electrical panels shipped without interior guts, late refrigeration equipment, along …
Earlier this week, I was in Las Vegas for the 2022 ICSC conference. I’ve heard this referred to as the ”Super Bowl” of retail. It’s certainly the premiere retail conference for the U.S. and maybe beyond. The conference was on quarantine for a couple of years, so it was really nice to see colleagues again. …
Talking about yourself, or in our case, speaking up to promote your business, is easy. Stepping back and listening is much more difficult. To me, there is a delicate balance between being a good listener and sharing your own good news. Here’s what I mean. I would have to have many hands (and fingers) to count …
For the last couple of years, building and maintaining relationships has been harder than I have ever seen in my career. Zoom, along with its video conference first cousins, has been a bandaid for our mental health, but these have eliminated a lot of sidebar and casual conversations that use to take place while walking …