6 Suggestions on How to Work From Home and Stay Productive
December 10th, 2009 by Cris Hagen
More and more I see companies embracing “work-at-home” policies, not only as a way to be more “green” by keeping cars off the road, but as a way to reduce the real estate “footprint” in the office. Some companies estimate the cost of maintaining office space for an employee at around $9,000/year. These same companies are offering as much as $1,000 for work-at-home employees to purchase the necessary office equipment to set up and maintain a home office.
So as the economic drivers for working at home seem to be well established and as companies define the appropriate policies and procedures for determining which jobs lend themselves to “working-at-home” (not to mention the question of how managers will measure the productivity of employees working at home), the question is, how does the “work-at-home” employee stay productive?
Speaking from experience, I would like to offer the following suggestions, and then invite the reader to contribute their own ideas. Read the rest of this entry »
Six Ways to a Passionate Soul: An Interview with Steve Cady
November 30th, 2009 by Jeremy Lurey
Dr. Steven H. Cady is a Graduate Faculty member in the Organization Development Program at Bowling Green State University. He also researches, writes about, and consults to individuals and organizations about passion. Beyond that, Steve is an inspiration to me because he lives a life of passion and in doing so brings out the best in me whenever we are together – and more often than not, when we are thousands of miles apart! Read the rest of this entry »
Meet our office pets!
November 6th, 2009 by Samantha Lurey
We practice what we preach here at Plus Delta Consulting and work hard to create a fun place to work. One of the things we promote is a pet friendly atmosphere. Yes, we bring our dogs with us to work (almost) every day. There are a few exceptions when there are clients or other VIP guests coming into the office, but generally the pets get to come to work. Who are these furry friends? Read below to meet our office pets and see the cutest 25-second video clip! Read the rest of this entry »
Juliette Powell Interview on Social Media in Organization Development: Part 1
October 27th, 2009 by Michael Liskin
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I recently conducted a two-part interview with Juliette Powell (author of 33 Million People in the Room) at the OD Network Conference in Seattle, just after she delivered the final keynote speech, titled “The Technology of Relationships: Social Networking and the Future of Human Communities.” This first interview gives you a behind-the-scenes look into Juliette’s take on the field of OD after delivering the keynote and meeting with OD practitioners for several days. You’ll especially want to watch if you were at the keynote or you plan to watch it on YouTube when it gets posted by the OD Network. I highly recommend you watch that keynote address when posted; her points are crucial for OD practitioners to remain relevant in the shifting organizational and media landscape.
You won’t want to miss our upcoming blog post featuring the second interview. There she clears up the misconception from the keynote address around her provocative comment regarding the demise of traditional conferences. She also further elaborates on her upcoming Leadership Engine project – an exciting new development for OD.
Here is a quick glimpse of that comment regarding the future of conferences during the keynote address
Community – Online and Offline: A guest post from OD Network Conference 2009
October 21st, 2009 by Michael Liskin
We have a strong commitment to provide the Organization Development community with a series of conversations highlighting the use of social and collaborative media within organizations. We believe that these technologies can be an empowering and enabling force for human potential. We have asked Jackie Alcalde Marr to write a guest post from the OD Network Conference 2009. Her new book, along with authors Arthur Jue and Mary Ellen Kassotakis highlight the use of new communication technologies in the workplace. After reading her post, please share (in our comments section) your experiences with these technologies in the workplace, or what you wish you could do for organizations with them.
This week at the OD Network Conference, organization development consultants – -seasoned and newly inspired – gathered to hear one of our favorite thought leaders, Peter Block. Block spoke of the “collective possibility” to “create a future distinct from the past.” This conference, like so many others, lives off of this premise – that people come together to share experience, debate new ideas, learn from each other in order to move their cause, profession or passions forward.
Are we Tour Guides or Expedition Specialists?
October 18th, 2009 by Jeremy Lurey
Last night, several of Plus Delta’s team members attended a reception hosted by Geoff Bellman in Seattle. It was designed to be a warm welcome to kickoff this year’s OD Network annual conference, and boy was it ever! The food was excellent, the wine was superb, and the conversation with our OD brethren – some long-time friends and colleagues, and others new acquaintances – quite delightful. The high point of the event though was a presentation by Rob Fijlstra and Harry Wullings, two seasoned OD practitioners from the Netherlands (click here for more on them).
In their talk, Rob and Harry posed the question of whether or not those in attendance were “Tour Guides” or “Expedition Specialists”. To paraphrase them a bit, a tour guide is someone who leads his/her client group on a safe and well-planned journey to sites that he/she has probably experienced many times over again. While the metaphor may sound reasonable for many – and even necessary at times – this type of OD guidance may never get a client group out of their comfort zone or beyond something that might be called incremental change.
An expedition specialist, on the other hand, takes his/her client group off of this somewhat traditional path. In essence, he/she would say, “You know, I’ve never been down this road before, but I think you’ll enjoy the journey. Just trust me. Everything will be OK!” And the right type of client with ample trust in his/her OD guide might just agree. That’s the type of relationship and type of work I aspire to. Realistically though, I’m still committed to meeting my clients where they’re at and believe that incremental change is better than no change as long as it puts them on the path.
Are you a Level 5 leader? Jim Collins reminds us why you need to be
October 12th, 2009 by Samantha Lurey
As I mentioned in my other post on the Inc. Awards, we had the opportunity to hear Jim Collins speak at the Inc. 500/5000 conference in September. It was amazing to hear him speak about what makes good companies ‘great’. According to Jim, great companies are not made by accident, but by careful planning and flawless execution. Here’s what else he had to say during a Q&A session:
Tony Hsieh of Zappos tells us about importance of customer service at Inc. Conference in DC
October 10th, 2009 by Samantha Lurey
Another great speaker at the Inc. Conference in September was Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. Tony came to talk with us about customer service. I decided to sit up straight and listen because this guy took a small-time internet company with less than $2 million in revenue to generating $1 billion (yes, with a ‘b’) in sales in less than 10 years. His main philosophy and road to success? Great customer service. Now many companies say the same thing, but here’s what makes Tony’s company different:
• All new employees – no matter what level – work in the call center and shipping docks for at least two weeks. This gives them a solid understanding of the needs of the customer.
• Zappos doesn’t spend a lot of money on direct marketing (magazine ads, billboards, etc.). Instead they put their money into the ‘wow’ factor for customers. This may take the form of free overnight shipping or other enhancements.
• The company doesn’t have restrictions on their customer service call centers. Customer service reps can talk as long as needed to ensure that the customer gets their needs met. According to Tony, the longest customer service call was over 5 hours!
• Lastly, Zappos has very easy access to customer service. The customer service hotline is on every page of their website (instead of buried at the bottom of a ‘contact us’ section) and they boast a 365-day return policy.
Way to go Tony! To learn more about Zappo’s culture and how Tony is leading the charge in customer service, check out their website.
Customer Loyalty: The formula for success
October 7th, 2009 by Cris Hagen
Customer loyalty. It’s critical in every business and every industry. In the consulting service arena, it is often a “make or break” proposition for independent consultants, small firms, and even the large consulting houses.
What creates customer loyalty? Clearly, delivering promised results is an essential ingredient. But what are the essential qualities of the consultant who can nurture the kind of partnership with their client that leads to a steady stream of work, project after project. And, better yet, does their work lead to unsolicited referrals to other clients? What does the client look for when hiring a consultant, or more importantly, what does the client receive from a currently engaged consultant that makes them want to “hold on” to that consultant for the next project, and the next, and the next, etc.?
Social Networking Sites in the Workplace: Generational Divide?
October 3rd, 2009 by Cris Hagen
A current Yahoo news story reports:
“A new survey developed by Robert Half Technology suggests people who like to use social-networking Web sites while they’re at work could be violating company policy. Fifty-four percent of the companies surveyed said they prohibit the use of social-networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook.”
“There are some places that allow social-networking, but not many. About 20-percent allow employees to use social networking sites for work purposes only. Only 16-percent allow personal use.”
I attended a conference on Talent Management about a year ago, and a panel discussion debated whether or not such social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Second Life should be allowed in the workplace. The consensus?
