Creating Innovation at Work

According the Hippocrates, every living system is either growing or dying. If that is the case, your living, breathing business (or career) is either growing and improving ... or not. Too often, companies reach a certain size or level of success and innovation stops. One of the key secrets of companies that consistently grow and improve is the willingness to try new things, to nurture innovation in their product, service, or process. Getting adventurous with your business can be external or internal. Externally it may mean a new product line, a new sales approach, or a new marketing campaign. Or, it can be as simple as a new paint job for your company vehicles. Think of cutting edge companies ... they are typically companies that looked a their industry and said "we are going to do it differently." These are businesses that looked for new, adventurous ways to approach an old problem. Internally, companies can be innovative and adventurous with their staff, their workspaces, their hours, their social options. I worked at a company with a foosball table and the Friday afternoon tournaments made it more interesting than most offices. Beer fridays (just 1) made the end of the week enjoyable. Being able to decorate your cubicle is easy and impacting (as a rule people don't like plain cubicles, or cubicles in general). Looking for more concrete steps to get adventurous in your business? Watch for the release of my newest program, "Creating Adventure to Create Results." I will be hosting a free teleseminar to help you nurture change and innovation. Coming this June! In the meantime, here is my tip this month: Each month look for at least 1 innovation to bring to your business (or your job) both externally and internally. Start a list of items from the team on innovations and adventurous changes they want to see. What is going to make people laugh more, buy more, cheer more and brag about the place they work?! A great way to improve the morale of a team is to take their innovations or new ideas and select a 1-2 month term to implement them. This shows that you listen and support them, it gives them what they want, it creates accountability by involving them in decision-making, and it usually helps the productivity and bottom line of the business.

7 Signs That You Need Outside Help

Many business owners and staff members ask how they can know when it's the right time for training, coaching or external support. The easy answer is, right now! The more correct answer is based on where in the marketplace your business is found , the time of year, the level of innovation and the clarity of your goals. It is also based directly on your team's skills, attitude, openness and time commitment.

Here are some great ways to know when you need to get outside help from a coach, trainer or consultant ...

1. When you look at the problems in your business and the solutions are always the same.
2. When you think of your last innovation and you need to flip to last year's calendar.
3. Your internal process is the same as it was in the first year of the business, or on your first day of work.
4. There is no focus put on new tools, information or innovation for your people. Either that, or they don't take advantage of what is offered.
5. The limits of the business match the limits of the owner or managers.
6. The team or owner needs a fresh set of ideas, new approaches or insights into the industry.
7. Apathy has become one of your key culture words.

Evolve Business Group offers coaching and training programs for performance and growth. We will help to transform your performance, grow your business and take ownership of your marketplace. We focus on growth areas of each client's business: strategy, leadership and innovation for ownership and management; sales, customer service and personal development for teams.

Email us for a questionnaire on what your business might need and we'll send it to you right away. Don't wait to grow your team, your business or your personal performance!

Where does Training fit in?

We have likely all been on training courses - good ones and bad ones. Training is typically designed to give new ideas, processes or tools to people at any level of an organization. At Evolve, we typically use coaching with the owner or the executives. Training services are used with the team.

Training is effective when you need to get a consistent message or program out to multiple people - like a sales team or a customer service department. Training is also great for interaction with a group - when you want people to share, collaborate and learn from each other.

Keys to good training programs:

1. One of the keys with good training programs is the type of follow-up they implement. It has been proven time and again that, when placed in a classroom-style training program for a day or more, people retain a very limited amount of information. This means it is essential for the follow-up component of the training to be extensive and to reinforce the content repeatedly.

2. Good training also impacts the processes of a business so that people can use their new information easily. Ensure that the new information works with the business policy and process so that integration is smooth and immediate.

3. Pre-work is another great training tool. With every training program, it quickly becomes apparent that not all participants are in the same place or posess the same skills. Knowing the starting point of each person can make training dramatically more effective and interesting. Knowing the audience creates a chance to really engage them - personally and directly.

4. Measurable results - if you haven't figured out, in advance, how the training should impact your team, the biggest opportunity is being missed. Choose metrics in advance that can be monitored for results and upswings from your training program.

Consulting versus Coaching

Having been in the coaching industry for the past 8 years, I still run into people that were consultants yesterday and are coaches today. Does that make them the same thing? Not in my experience. Let me outline my definition and the distinct characteristics of both.

Keep in mind that this is my simple list of the most distinguishing features I have found. This may not represent ALL consultants or coaches.

1. Traditionally, consultants come into your business or office to solve a problem for you. They are hired as an outsourced solution provider. They roll up their sleeves and get working (usually on an hourly basis). A coach, on the other hand, typically has the client do the work. The coach provides guidance and ideas but has the client work on the solution directly, so they know what is being done, they learn through participation and they can take pride in their results.

2. Consultants tend to be shorter-term engagements. Much like my accountant, they come in during a specific season or for a particular project. Once it is done, they send a bill and move on. Coaches tend to be longer-term participants and will often oversee a variety of projects. Consultants could be on a two week project while coaches are often with a client anywhere from 2 months to 2 years or more.

3. Consultants often come in to solve a problem, but don't necessarily share every step of the solution with a client. They may give an overview of the process, but knowledge transfer is limited. Coaching tends to be more of a knowledge transfer to the client, perhaps because there is more time and interaction in coaching. The coach often walks a client through each step, so that the client ends up with full working knowledge of what they need to do when they are faced with future challenges.

Both consultants and coaches have their place and effective use.