Archive for 2009

To Friend, Link, or Ignore

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 by:David Zahn
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Being a business person in contemporary society often means blurring the distinction between being at work versus away from work. For many entrepreneurs that work out of their home, the challenge to return to a work assignment or project is often magnetic – no matter what the time of the day or night the urge strikes. However, even for those with a physical store or office or other place of business; the ability to transition from work to home or business to social has become much harder.

Whether it is emails that are now accessible by cell phones, Wi-Fi availibility becoming ubiquitous and with it the ability to be connected in almost any coffee shop or gathering place documented on the world globe, or the latest blurring of work from pleasure time – the social networks.

With the popularity of LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social networking sites, many business people are having to make decisions about where to draw the line on sharing their personal life with business associates. When asked to link or friend someone only known through the business – is it insulting to ignore the request? What are the implications of refusing to friend someone and claiming you want to protect your personal life? If accepted, how does it change the dynamic of the relationship when photos, comments, or other communications that are truly meant for those closest to us are now available to be viewed and possibly even shared with others?

How do you decide whether to link with acquaintances on LinkedIn? What is the criteria for deciding to friend someone you met through a business function on facebook?

Contract Conundrum

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by:David Zahn
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Recently, two colleagues of mine called me to discuss their independent business opportunities that had stalled and wanted advice on what steps to take to get things back on track. After talking to them, it appeared that the mistakes were not in their abilities, their products or services, or even their pricing. What had caused their projects to lose momentum was their view on contracting.

In one example, the business person had agreed to do a project with one scope or parameters that had been agreed upon only to find that the client then expected additional work without additional pay. Wanting to be the “good guy” and not cause waves; he agreed to do the work. When it came time for the contract to be renewed, the customer balked when the business person attempted to recoup fees for the previously completed work that had not been compensated. The business person felt it was appropriate to charge for the work after the fact because he was entitled to be “kept whole.” When the contractual terms were challenged, the business person expressed surprise and could not understand why the customer was acting in such an unfair way.

The other situation was a business person who is in a creative business and was under the belief that the delivered product would be seen by a wide base of members of an association at a national conference. Unfortunately, the association management did not view their commitment as including that and therefore, did not provide the level of exposure desired by the business person.

The mistakes all get back to how the contract is written, and what each party was prepared to do in the execution of the project. It is essential that a business person spend time working on contracting portion of the relationship to avoid these or related issues from cropping up.

What have been your experiences with contracting mistakes?

Deceiving Appearances

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 by:David Zahn
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We have all heard about the perils of and been cautioned against judging a “Book by its Cover.” And yet, we all do it continuously.

Research shows that tall people are viewed as being more authorative and are paid more than their shorter colleagues. People who are heavier are seen as less reliable, untrusthworthy, and unable to exhibit self control, never mind likely to be successful in managing others. Depending on the industry, hairstyles, clothing and jewelry options may hinder how seriously someone is taken in their career. Often, the gender of the business person will color how they are viewed – earrings on a woman is acceptable, on a man, however; can still be seen as less professional. The performance of the person is not judged; it is purely based on appearance.

Attaching a performance expectation based on how someone looks is clearly a shortcut that we all occasionally take – but it is based on an assumption or set of assumptions that may not be accurate. For example:

1) An obese physician may be well educated in counseling patients in weight management, but will likely not be taken seriously.
2) An Attorney with a mohawk or her hair dyed pink is not going to engender confidence in her ability for most prospectives clients no matter how skilled she is in the law.
3) A graphic artist that wears clashing colors will be seen as a poor choice for a business looking to pick a new logo, website, or stationery.

What have been some of the ways that appearance has caused you to choose to do (or refuse to do) business with someone?

Say What?

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 by:David Zahn
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As a veteran of business meetings, conference calls, emails, and telephone conversations it is always amazing to me how often the words we use to express ourselves serve to confuse and not clarify the message we intend to send. How often have the following been said without regard for whether the listener(s) share the same understanding of the phrase as the speaker:

1) That product is a home-run
2) The competition threw us a curveball
3) In this turbulent economy, we have to keep our eye on the ball
4) We are going to take the gloves off
5) That product’s feature is a real knockout
6) To unseat the competition we are going to have to throw a Hail Mary pass and drop our 7) Getting to the decision-maker will be a slam dunk once we demonstrate the new product

While among fans of sports, the above may help to illustrate the points being made; for those that are less interested in sports, they represent confusion in interpretation and are off-putting. Yet, as much as clear communciation is stressed, these trite phrases continue to infiltrate every day business communication.

While I only shared some of the sports examples used, the same can be said for military examples (salute the flag, blitz, march to the beat of a drummer, fly in formation, etc.). The same outcome exists – without the shared context, the message is garbled.

What have been some of the expressions you have heard that served to muddle the message instead of clarify?