Being Smarter

Everyone has pet hates don’t they? Well one of mine is to see websites and other marketing collateral showing copyright dates with anything other than the current year. This becomes even more tiresome when you’ve actually informed the owner (who you know!) and they still don’t change it! (The two companies I’ve talked to in the last month shall remain nameless).

It’s got me thinking – why does it bother me so much – and does it bother anyone else? It bothers me simply because of my expectations around the speed of information change online. If someone hasn’t posted on a blog for a month, you assume the site is out of business… if someone is quoted in an article with a date from more than six months ago – you start to assume that they couldn’t get anyone better… We are all starting to demand real-time information – anything more than a few hours old is simply not uptodate enough. Am I being fair?

So back to the copyright thing. If you discover a new site and are wondering whether it is authorative – look for the copyright notice – is it showing this year? If not – vote with your feet – the owner hasn’t bothered to update it – the information is probably out of date. I’ve just done my own (very random)  little survey (which took around 15 mins) and would suggest the following site owners take a look at the following:

• BT Global Services: Flicking through their product portfolio and downloading the first 5 brochures I could find – not a single one said (c) 2009. They were all 2006, 2007 and 2008. They were of course produced in those years and therefore technically are correct – however my first thought as a user was whether the product still exists, or whether the brochure is technically accurate.
• Ericsson’s UK site: Scanning the home page – I’m drawn to their events section – which proudly advertises an Ericsson Roadshow from 30/6 – 10/7. Today is 1/9. This is precious screen real estate and is being wasted, as well as showing Ericsson to be a sloppy company, which I know it isn’t.
• Balfour Beatty: (Homepage) Do you really wanting to be talking about winning awards from 2006, 2007 and 2008. Does this mean you’ve not won anything in 2009 and are going downhill?
• Marks and Spencer: A heinous crime – click on the ‘The Company’ link at the bottom of the home page… Page not found and it blames ME for using an outdated link! Worse than a copyright statement problem which shows 2008!! Come on M&S – you are better than that.
• Severn Trent Water: Corporate social reponsibility seemed to stop in 2007 – that’s the last date mentioned on that page – despite the fact it has a page rank of 4 – ie many, many sites are linking to it. What does this say about you?!

All the above are top European companies, who almost certainly employee dozens of people to run their websites. How are you faring?

We are pleased to announce our second guest blogger signing to the Being Smarter blog – from a CEO who’s company is all about helping businesses to become smarter. Aaron McCormack is the CEO BT Conferencing and will be joining us regularly with his thoughts on being smarter in business.
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So who gives a @$£%@ about the Tweeting and Blogging and Facebook updates of anyone, when we all have jobs to get done? I was much quicker to adopt social networking tools in my personal life. Although many Facebook friends are now professional contacts and it is hard to tell the difference nowadays.

Even Twitter (the “domain of twits” I used to say) has recently become an entertaining place for me (@aaronirish) following the updates from all the various riders in the Tour de France (#tdf)

But do these tools have any role to play in helping us, or anyone else, get our work done?

There is a view that companies enabling social networks for internal use will simply end up helping their people spend more hours gossiping and sharing pictures online, rather than helping people get things delivered.

I tend to agree.

Many of my colleagues disagree. They think that corporate social networking tools (those we know, and some that are yet to be invented) will be the way that people do business going forward. People point to the way that these tools help folks build stronger relationships, find the right resources, enhance knowledge management and gain wider perspectives. Books like the Wisdom of Crowds tell us that if we can find a way of sourcing everyone’s input in a group, then the group makes better decisions.

Because you are here reading this blog, you are more likely to believe that social networking tools are useful. But would you bet your own money on it?

Let us know what you think…

Aaron McCormack is CEO of BT conferencing http://www.conferencing.bt.com/ a division of BT Group plc, one of the world’s leading providers of telecommunications services. For over 20 years, BT Conferencing has specialised in the delivery of robust, reliable and innovative conferencing solutions – backed up by high quality service and support.

If in doubt, call a meeting – that’s right isn’t it? Over 25 million meetings take place in corporate America daily. I suspect there is a proportional number in the UK too. Almost certainly half of that time is wasted.

According to a 2007 Microsoft survey, the average time a worker spends in meetings each week around the world is 5.6 hours and 69% claim these meetings are unproductive. Were you interviewed? because I bet you are in the same boat.

How many hours do you spend a week attending meetings? Is there a better way – would a phone call suffice? Would a quick chat over coffee get the job done? It’s always worth considering.

There are always times however, when it is absolutely necessary to have a meeting whether it’s to get a decision made or to review a business case. Want to know how to run a successful meeting? Then there’s some tips below and watch out for a post on ice-breakers coming soon.

1) Know when and when not to call one

• Ask “Why are we meeting and what do we want to accomplish?”
• Determine if a different activity could be resorted to other than a meeting.

If there are no clear-cut answers to this question, don’t hold it!

• There can only be four reasons can’t there?

• Brainstorming
• Delivering information
• Gathering information
• Decision making

2) Get inspired before you start

• 50 Ways to Liven Up Your Meetings
• Meetings – how to waste time at work
• Extreme meeting techniques by Gina Trapani (Lifehacker founder)
• How to run a meeting like Google

3) Preparation is key

• Identify the place of the meeting (obviously).
• List participants and guests.
• List the participants’ roles.
• Define the objectives and desired outcomes.
• Determine topics.
• Determine the length of the meeting.
• Plan books, speakers, or videos to make it creative.
• Use a variety of tools and activities to make it fun – see our forthcoming ice breaker post
• Create an agenda that is carefully scripted.

4) Focus on three areas beforehand:

• Content. Focus meetings around key issues. Never lose sight of the “what” of your meeting.
• Design. Figure out how you want to approach each agenda item, as well as how deeply or thoroughly you want to discuss each item.
• Process. Make sure that one idea is discussed at a time, and that everyone is in agreement as to how decisions will be made.

5) Rules for chairing

• Review the agenda and set priorities for the meeting at the start
• Work through the agenda, addressing each point in turn
• Ensure that all team members contribute and feel able to disagree
• Remember – two of ‘these’ and one of ‘those’
• When the group encounters a problem, confront it openly and attempt to find a solution
• Use a flipchart – it helps express ideas
• Ensure that all people are heard from
• Let the people carry the content; make sure that the moderators just guide them through the process
• Vary the pace: speed up, slow down, and take breaks
• Keep the group aware of where they are in the process
• Help the group reach consensus and reach conclusions

7) Don’t let these things happen

• An argument starting about an established fact
• Opinions being introduced as if they were facts
• People intimidating others with real or imaginary ‘knowledge’
• People overwhelming others with a proposal
• People can becoming angry for no good reason
• Promoting your own vision at the expense of all others
• People demanding or offering (far) more information than needed

(8) Action points – the whole point of a meeting

• For goodness sake make sure actions are agreed verbally at the meeting and then followed up!