Category: Work and Office

Posting at The Daily Muse

On By ashleyfausIn Guest Posts, Work and Office, Work-Life DecisionsLeave a comment

I’m excited to have another article at The Daily Muse, discussing how to deal with taking time off of work for religious observances. You can check out the article here.

I’ve written a few pieces for The Daily Muse, and you can view them in the education and career sections of the site. You can also see all of my articles by clicking on my picture in the “Meet Our Talented Writers” section of the homepage. The Daily Muse offers great articles, advice, and perspective for young female professionals, so I encourage you to read through the posts by the other talented writers!

Talking So They’ll Listen

On By ashleyfausIn Advertising, Selling, Work and OfficeLeave a comment

I just came home from a sales training session in Atlanta, GA, and we discussed some tips for talking so they’ll listen. In particular, we discussed the results of a brain dominance test that measures how you prefer to make decisions, receive information, and generally deal with people. This is similar to many different personality tests, but the results of this particular session really hit home for me.

First, I found out that I’m basically completely different than all my colleagues. Well, I already knew this! A few differences that I am well aware of: I’m a girl, I’m young, I’m “creative” instead of “technical”, I’m fast-paced and “hyper”, and I have no experience in the industry instead of 15-25 years’ experience in aviation. These obvious differences present their own challenges, but the brain dominance test revealed that I prefer to look at the big picture, instead of focusing in on every detail. Literally ALL of my colleagues are more detail-oriented vs. considering the entire picture. Neither way is right or wrong, but it sheds a little light on a particular challenge I’ve been facing with the implementation of the CRM.

To me, implementing the Customer Relationship Management System is a strategic move to improve data collection, analysis, and sharing at all levels of the organization, and across all functions of the organization. To my sales reps, it’s an extra 20 minutes each day doing data entry. I see reports of aggregate data that tell a story about the market and our place in the market, and my reps see customers’ names and phone numbers, completely unrelated to the market as a whole. Thus, while I’m hammering home the point about how great it is for everyone, they’re tuned out because they don’t see the value for their day-to-day operations.

It’s not rocket science that people think differently, learn differently, and make decisions differently. But talking so they’ll listen is pretty difficult, and if you’re not even sure what language they’re speaking, you’ll have miscommunications. Now that I know what language makes them listen, I’m going to start giving more detail about how the CRM provides value to them on a day-to-day basis, instead of painting such a broad picture. This is just one area that I’ve missed the mark in communicating benefits, and business requires you to move out of your communication comfort zone on a regular basis. So, next time you’re making your pitch (not just the sales pitch, but the “give me a raise” pitch, the “lower my rate for advertising” pitch, or the “my department needs better software” pitch), do you know what language your AUDIENCE is speaking? Do you know what words will make them hear you? Dig into their heads a little, and dig into your head a little, and use the information to find a way to talk so they’ll listen!

Morale Boost

On By ashleyfausIn Work and OfficeLeave a comment

Last week, I showed you some options for picture arrangements in my office. I’m nearing completion on my task to decorate the office, as requested by our Big Bosses. It’s a little funny how it’s all worked out, as many people in the office found it to be a really low-priority project. But now that things are starting to go up on the walls, the response has been great! People are dropping by my office to see what goodies were delivered for their corner of the office, joining me to stare at the wall and contemplate arrangements, and asking if I’ve got anything coming for that one wall right by their office. It’s turned out to be a great morale boost, and several people have told me that they appreciate the new art.

Sometimes you don’t realize how much something matters until you actually have it, and the little things make a huge difference in work and office satisfaction. Many companies do “morale events”, from monthly birthdays to certificates for good work. These events may seem a little silly, but they make a huge difference. Think about it: do you feel better or worse about your efforts if someone tells you “thank you”? Do you enjoy the office more or less with pictures on the wall? These boosts help motivate a dejected employee, inspire a bored employee, and make an under-appreciated employee feel like someone notices, and someone cares. I know I’m inspired when I walk into the office in the morning and see a gorgeous 30″x30″ engine staring at me! And all the compliments on my choice of decor? It’s a nice boost to my self-esteem.

So, if you’re a boss, do something nice for your employees… bring in donuts one morning, and your productivity might just sky-rocket. Say “thanks” to a colleague today, and let them know you appreciate their work… you’ll be surprised how much better their work on your projects becomes.

Groupings

On By ashleyfausIn Advertising, Selling, Work and Office2 Comments

Almost immediately after yesterday’s venting post, I noticed an interesting idea (well, maybe just to the marketing nerds!). Sometimes you just need to let the stress out and things will come to you! Anyways, my inspiration came in the form of trying to hang pictures around the office. I’ve got three photos of engines in one company’s product line, and I wanted to hang them together in a group. Here’s my version of the arrangement:

Arranged by color: silver, blue, silver

I tend to notice colors and crops first, so my initial grouping placed the photos with the “odd” color in the middle, just to keep things even.

My boss, and industry veteran, suggested this arrangement:

Arranged from largest engine type to smallest engine type

He felt that the engines should be arranged from the largest engine type to the smallest engine type. Based on his experience and viewing of photos from aviation, planes, engines, and parts were always arranged either smallest to largest, or largest to smallest. There was some order to the arrangement based on hard data, not color or crop.

And finally, another colleague suggested this arrangement:

Arranged with engine fans framing the non-fan engines

Her assessment was based on factors similar to mine, thinking that you should have the two engines that look like fans on either side of the engine that does not look like a fan. Again, she was going with symmetry that made sense to her mind as her eye saw it.

So how does this relate to marketing? The first application that comes to mind, is grouping things together in a grocery store. Cross-selling is a basic concept in marketing that basically says you should put complementary products together to increase the sales of both items. For example, putting salsa in the same aisle as the chips makes sense, because people eat chips and salsa together. However, salsa could also be placed in the hispanic foods aisle, the condiments aisle, or the sauces/gravy/mixes/marinades aisle. Groupings are an integral part of a store planner’s job, and as my picture example shows, people often group things differently. What happens if I associate salsa with chips, but your brand of salsa isn’t on the chip aisle? If I’m only looking for salsa as grouped with chips, you lose out on me even looking for your product!

Groupings are extremely important in marketing, and how your customer makes connections to your product can make or break the sale. Are they looking at color, hard data, or pictures to determine which things “go together”? Have I missed any other groupings of my pictures?

Thoroughly Uninspired

On By ashleyfausIn Work and Office, Work-Life DecisionsLeave a comment

Well readers, I didn’t do well on my Stats exam. Let’s take a moment for the shock that the professor managed to grade that exam overnight! Further, our biggest tradeshow of the year starts in less than a week, so the stress is piling on. Add to that a paper that’s due in about 2 weeks comprised of content that has yet to be submitted from some group members, and I’m thoroughly uninspired. I keep trying to find the cool marketing tactics in day-to-day life, or the really interesting MBA ah-ha moment, but quite frankly, I’m too stressed to see the interesting things right now. This is nose to the grindstone time, and it’s a little disheartening to feel like I have no creativity.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I leave for Las Vegas in just a few days, and some GORGEOUS prints arrived for the office. I feel like I’ll snap out of the funk after an invigorating walk around the tradeshow floor. For now, I’m taking Seth Godin’s advice about writing to relieve writer’s block.

On another note, I’ve been asked about my workout habits by several different colleagues today. The questions are generally phrased as, “You must work out, you walk fast, ” or, “Wow, you have a lot of energy… do you workout a lot?” This is usually said while trying to keep pace as I make my rounds between the offices, or trying to follow the words racing furiously out of my mouth. I tend to think that I walk at a normal speed, and everyone else is just slow, and maybe it’s not that I talk fast, but others should listen faster? 🙂 Either way, I’m apparently determined to pass my frazzled state along to anyone who crosses my path.

So, any other tips for getting my inspiration back? I’d contemplate for an answer on my own, but I’ve got to run!

Tests and Grade Inputs

On By ashleyfausIn MBA Degree, Work and Office1 Comment

I had coffee with a friend the other night, and we started discussing college readiness and testing. She teaches AP US History at a local high school, and she said the standardized testing requirements are killing her opportunity to teach and test in a way that will prepare her students for college. Going back for my MBA has been a big change in testing and grade inputs from what I experienced in undergrad, and I feel that high school grades and tests were somewhere in between. In theory, all of this education will prepare you for your career, but I’ve noticed some pretty significant differences between academic tests and real world test.

There’s a pretty big discrepancy between the number of grade inputs in undergrad, grad school, and the real world. For my first two years in undergrad, we had multiple-choice tests, essay tests, homework assignments, and short papers or case studies, similar to high school. So, if you bombed one test, you weren’t too bad off. However, my last two years, which consisted of upper-level classes in my major, were solely case studies, papers, and presentations. There were fewer grade inputs, but still enough to ensure that bombing one case study wouldn’t kill you. I feel like it’s pretty similar to the real world, with lots of projects contributing to your overall “grade” at your performance review. It was a pretty big shock to the system to enter graduate school and find out that most of my classes have only two grade inputs: a mid-term and a final. A few have an additional grade input in the form of a case study or presentation. But still, only two grades, for a whole semester? So if I’m foggy on test day, I’m in trouble! I don’t feel like this minimal number of grade inputs corresponds well to the real world, at least not at the entry level. Very few of my projects are deal-breakers, based on the performance for 2 hours, once a quarter.

There’s also a pretty big discrepancy between academic testing and the real world, in that you rarely have to go completely without notes in the real world. Even on the deal-breaker presentations, I’ve got my notes to refer to, or a PowerPoint to jog my memory. It’s rare that I have to stand in a room and use only the knowledge in my head. I never have to forgo a calculator or Excel spreadsheet when I’m working on calculations, and I can Bing the formulas if I forget them. So, it’s a little odd, particularly in business school, to be forced to only use my head knowledge for a test every 2 months. I feel like the presentations and group work in undergrad was much more representative of working in the corporate world. I think grad school will move in this direction once I finish my basic classes, but I think it’s odd that colleges still use these old testing methods. A lot of research says that US education is terrible because we focus so much on standardized tests that require memorization and regurgitation, instead of critical thinking. You’d think by the time we reach college, we’d be able to handle testing in a way that mirrors real-world critical and creative thinking in the long-run, instead of fact cramming in the short-run.

Finally, academic tests and grade inputs are measured differently than the real world. Most colleges grade on a curve using single numbers to measure performance. There’s not really a degree of success, particularly in the case of multiple-choice tests. This, again, does not mirror the real world. I can complete a project at work with a number of different solutions that result in a number of different outcomes. It’s possible that we were aiming for outcome #1, but ended up with a superior outcome #2. Current testing and grade inputs don’t really allow for different outcomes, and don’t take into account that the “correct” test answer may not be the best answer in the real world. It’s a little frustrating to deal with tests and grades when you know they aren’t correlated to real-world scenarios.

It’s interesting to think about our educational path, and what we’re actually striving for. In high school, it seems like the only goal is to get into a good college, and in college, you are looking for a good job upon graduation. But, if we’re not teaching, testing, and grading in ways that improve our skills and knowledge for the job, what’s the point of all this extra schooling? If you’re considering a graduate program, I highly recommend taking a look at how they test and grade, and look for a program with an emphasis on cases and presentations, as I feel they are much more indicative of what you’ll experience in the real world.

Payoffs, Pain and the Little Things: Lessons from the Trail, Part 3

On By ashleyfausIn Work and Office, Work-Life DecisionsLeave a comment

This is the final post in my 3-part mini-series on lessons from the trail. You can view the first post here and the second post here.

 

 

Lake Conroe, the "big" payoff after two days of hiking.

 

Gorgeous scenery on the ENTIRE Half Dome trail.
Much bigger payoff was worth the pain!

 

I’m a fit person, but my feet were killing me after just a few miles. We’d planned to camp for two nights, but mid-way through the second day of hiking, we determined that it was best not to stay a second night. The biggest factor, was that we felt the payoff wasn’t worth it. Honestly, hiking with a 30 lb. pack, eating freeze-dried food, and going to the bathroom in the woods isn’t all that fun! It’s the scenery and the quiet connection to nature and each other that makes it worth it… but the scenery wasn’t amazing, and the wind was picking up to the point of discomfort. Our feet were in terrible shape during our Half Dome hike, but standing on top of a mountain is pretty good at melting away the pain. I also figured out that the 30 lb. pack was killing my feet more than any other part of my body, but my standard-size backpack during the Half Dome hike didn’t have nearly this kind of impact (even though the load was not well-distributed like it is on a backpacking pack). Basically, the little extras in my pack for a few days had way more impact than the one-time stress of the standard backpack.

So, I have to ask, is your payoff worth it at your job? Is the money, work, and sense of accomplishment actually making the pain worth it? Does the “dream job” measure up? I know we all have bad days at work, and sometimes it feels like we’re ready to retire at 30, but for me, I’m generally happy and satisfied when I’m working at my job. The pain in the job is usually a long commute, boring work, low pay, or long hours, as opposed to aching feet (although, I’ve had my share of aching feet after trade shows!). It’s these “little things” that end up making the payoff less than stellar. For me, a long commute is a pretty big impact on my payoff, as the cost in gas, time away from my husband and my hobbies, and stress of traffic makes me hesitant to accept a job that requires more than 30 minutes on the road (traffic included, hate it!). I’m terrible about rationalizing that the stress isn’t that bad, but the little things add up. And, if you’re waiting for a payoff that never comes, you need to re-evaluate your career path. The “little things” take a mental, physical, and emotional toll, and you need to know when to pack up and head home.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first backpacking trip, but it taught me quite a lot about what is and is not worth it. A little pain is acceptable for the right payoff!

Dealing with Obstacles: Lessons from the Trail, Part 2

On By ashleyfausIn Work and Office1 Comment

This is part 2 of my 3-part series on my insights from my backpacking trip over Labor Day weekend. You can view the first post here.

Overcoming Obstacles... Over, Under, or Around?

The Lone Star Hiking Trail is full of huge, towering trees. Sometimes, these trees fall down, right over the trail. You can see by my face that I’m a little dismayed at this particular tree, as the light wood at the base indicates that it fell recently (obviously, a little disconcerting when you plan to sleep in a flimsy tent beneath these timbers!). This wasn’t the only tree we happened upon, and I climbed over, under, or around many obstacles in our path.

Business is the same way, with a seemingly straight, easy-to-tread path, that often ends up being twisty, hard-to-see, or filled with obstacles. The real question is: how do you view the obstacles? Are obstacles a reason to stop the project entirely, or an issue that needs to be fixed to make the project better than before? I’ve run into my share of projects that use obstacles as a reason to keep the project from moving forward, instead of using them as an opportunity for improvement. Here’s how I’ve managed to overcome some of the obstacles:

Climb over. Sometimes, the trees in our path were clean, and the brush was over-grown around them. Thus, it made the most sense to just climb right over the tree to reach the path on the other side. I’ve found that sometimes it helps to get a little muscle behind your projects at work, and climb right over the obstacles. I’m not suggesting going over your boss’s head, but I am suggesting that you talk with a decision-maker if you’ve come to an impasse on a project. For example, when working on one company’s website, we had several key players at the same level who couldn’t agree. By involving a decision-maker one level up, we were able to come to an agreement and keep the project moving toward completion.

Go under it. Going under a tree branch with a large backpack requires some flexibility, and sometimes, work projects need a little flexibility as well. Don’t get so stuck on one idea or one strategy that you forget that there’s other ways to solve a problem. For example, I’ve had to be flexible in my approach to designing our CRM system at work. I use the system for a different purpose than our sales reps, customer service reps, and management, so I’ve had to re-work some fields and policies to accommodate the needs of the other members of the team. Had I stubbornly adhered to my own perspective on the system design, many of my team members would not be able to use it effectively.

Go around it. Sometimes, the tree was too big or too over-grown with brush to effectively climb over it or under it, and the same is true in the office. If you can’t overcome an obstacle by taking it up a level, or re-working a solution, it’s best to evaluate the project for value, and find an entirely new strategy to deal with the problem. Some obstacles indicate flaws in the foundation of a strategy or project design, so if you’ve exhausted all other possibilities, you might need to go back to the drawing board. For example, I work on a lot of mock-ups for design projects at work, and sometimes I have to scrap entire concepts. It seems frustrating at first, but once the final project is settled, the results are much better than the original ideas.

Try not to take it personal if your ideas aren’t working, and view the obstacles for your ideas as a way to improve the project. With a little flexibility and muscle, you’ll be back to the path in no time!

“Internships” and “Administrative Support”

On By ashleyfausIn Work and Office, Work-Life Decisions1 Comment

I think I’m grumpy today, so this post may sound a little sour. However, the sentiment is spot-on, so I’m going to attempt to write about it in a balanced, professional manner. We’ll see how it goes!

First, let’s talk about “internships”. I’m not talking about the legitimate, paid, really-gives-you-a-hands-on-look at the business internships, I’m talking about requests for free labor disguised as internships. As a marketer, I possess a soft skill, which means that my role and abilities are often hard to quantify and measure. This makes my role much more susceptible to offers for “internships”. The postings usually go something like this: “Seeking a Marketing Intern for a great opportunity! We can’t pay you, but we’ll provide a fun, passionate environment to help you grow your skills! You’ll learn from some of the industry’s best, with talented mentors and a variety of projects. We expect everyone to pitch in around here, so we’ll need someone who doesn’t mind a little administrative work when it’s needed. Are you ambitious? We’re the company for you!” They proceed to require something like 3-5 years of experience in Marketing, a bachelor’s degree, and several special skills in design software, social media management, event management, and PR or advertising. I’m sorry, but with those credentials, you better stinkin’ pay me! If I’m a freshman in college with a complete lack of experience, you might get away with this, but years of experience and a degree? This is not an internship, it’s a request for free labor. Don’t fall for this, and don’t under-value yourself. You have valuable skills and expertise that this company needs, and you deserve to be compensated for it. Internships should offer some form of compensation, and many will offer college credit as a form of payment. However, be aware that many colleges, particularly for Business majors, require that the internship be paid. Why? Because the whole point of majoring in business is to learn to make money… so there’s a fundamental flaw in working without pay. Don’t get suckered in to an “internship”, but harshly evaluate any opportunities that pretend that a “cool workplace” is a valid form of compensation. (Note that volunteering or pro bono work is completely different. It’s categorized as such, and you know that your compensation is your own personal fulfillment for helping others).

Second, let’s talk about administrative support. Again, I recognize that my skills may be hard to measure and quantify (I make sure that I include specific goals and a “measurement” piece in all my projects to combat this), but they are special skills nonetheless . No, a Marketing Coordinator should not double as a secretary by inputting expense reports and taking phone calls for the boss. If you need someone for these tasks, hire an office manager. It’s not a marketer’s job to keep the white-out and staples stocked. Again, I get frustrated when I see postings that require multiple years of experience, a bachelor’s (and sometimes master’s) degree, specialized skills in a particular area of marketing, and then mention that it’s also the marketer’s job to do admin work. I know that sometimes the lines are a little blurred, as sometimes a marketing role includes activities like “scheduling travel” or “organizing presentation files”. However, the Tradeshow and Event Coordinator should not be required to book random travel for executives and do data entry for their expense reports. This person is responsible for travel related to a trade show, and accounting is responsible for processing expense reports. Individuals should be responsible for collecting their own receipts and putting them into the Excel template that’s given to accounting. Organizing presentation files should not spill over into “filing” random items that have nothing to do with my projects. Again, let each department file their own papers, or hire an “Archival Specialist” to do the filing for the whole company. From a business perspective, it makes no sense to pay a marketer’s salary to someone who is just going to file papers or do data entry (and no, the solution is not to just offer a marketer an admin’s salary, see point #1 about “internships”). If you don’t have enough work to hire a full-time marketing person, just say so, and tell them you need someone for 15-20 hours a week! Just like you need someone with special skills in accounting, engineering, and operations, you need someone with special skills in marketing. Don’t waste your time or money on marketing if you think it’s something that “anyone can do” in between filing papers and ordering office supplies.

All this grumpiness to say, marketers have valuable skills. Experienced professionals with degrees deserve compensation. Your expertise is WORTH something, so be selective in your job hunt and career path. This economy makes people feel desperate, but don’t succumb to an employer’s lowest expectation. Challenge yourself to make the right choice to showcase your skills and expertise, and don’t waste time with dead-end “opportunities”.