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Innovation in the face of adversity

Across the globe different families, businesses and individuals have all had to cope with extraordinary circumstances which could not really be planned for or anticipated. In this challenging climate it is all too easy to focus on the negatives and the restrictions thrust upon us.

However, as a ‘half full’ type of woman I think there are lots of positives too that have been born out of necessity that will change things either for ever or certainly for a long time to come.

FLEXIBILITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Who knew so many businesses and roles could manage working from home? Employees and their managers have had to be flexible and empathetic to those juggling shielding, home schooling, sharing office space and lack of IT resources. 9-5.30 has (thankfully!) been replaced with ‘get the job done’ attitudes. Some of the rules have had to be flexible to reflect the challenges presented to us by Covid-19.

PHYSICAL PRESENCE COMES AT A COST

Now that people have adapted to virtual business meetings and social gatherings, many are questioning just why did we always waste so much time and money on travelling to be physically present. Personally, I would like to see the return of some physical meetings as I believe building those vital relationships cannot always be done online (I know, an odd thing for a Virtual Business Manager to say!)

TECHNOLOGY ENABLERS

Working from home has meant new technology has had to be embraced. Many had not even heard of Zoom previously, for example. I think in some cases this area has been overlooked. We are perhaps now used to DropBox, OneDrive and Zoom but what about security? Does everyone know how to make their hub secure, why should you have a VPN, how robust is your anti-virus and what about back ups?

RETAIL HASN’T ADAPTED (YET)

It has long been a frustration of mine that retail in our High Streets has slowly been suffering a lingering death, which Covid-19 has not helped at all! One thing I have seen in other industries is a fantastic energy to adapt and innovate…but not particularly present in retailing. I have long called for clothing shops to just stop one colour and one size of every garment purely for trying on. If you like it great – use the QR code on the tag and it will be delivered to you the next day. The system will pick up that you have ordered a garment and on a display above where you are standing a video will show what you might like to put together with the garment to make an outfit. My idea of heaven!

A MORE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Many of those with challenges – either a disability or difficult home arrangements have found lockdown a great leveller. On a zoom call it’s not so obvious that someone is using assistive technology, has mobility issues or is trying to cope with the care of generations above and below themselves. How great is that?!

INNOVATIVE REINVENTION

Finally, businesses have had to rethink how they operate, and I welcome this. The rulebook has been torn up, all bets are off! Just because something has always been done the same way absolutely does not mean that it is the right way…forever! Our local deli is selling veg boxes outside the shop, a local café is delivering treat boxes and Macmillan are fund raising by selling virtual murder/mystery party packs. Love it!

So, let’s celebrate some of the good things that have come about that we would never have done if it had not been for Covid-19.

Stay safe, stay sane….and innovate!

We are all different

I have worked from home on and off since the late nineties and for me it is a blessing. But I have in the past seen companies be blinded by the glint of cost cutting and impose this on less willing employees.

For many companies their employees are their main asset and so to create an environment where they will not be working to their optimum productivity is counterproductive. However, today we find ourselves in enforced ‘WFH mode’ and many will struggle.

There is lots of advice online about “Make sure you get dressed every day”, “Ensure you have a designated space to work”…and so on. What I want to share with you is the need to understand that we are all different and that over time our needs may well change…and that is OK.

Extroverts

This group will dearly miss the water cooler banter, going out to meet suppliers and/or clients and the social lunches. For them tools such as Zoom, Skype, MS Teams and Slack will be OK but will lack that immediate interaction they seek. Managers are more likely to get more from them if they regularly call – not to check up on them but to chat and work through plans, progression and overcoming challenges.

Introverts

Employees who like to get their head down and just get on with the job in some ways may be better suited to WFH. However, they present different challenges as they are more prone to isolation, worry about the future and potentially depression. For this group it is important that colleagues and managers do not leave them to their own devices but keep in regular contact by text, phone or messaging. They are easy to overlook but do still need interaction.

Stressed

Although this category can cut across the two groups above and more, it is important to remember that many are having to cope with beyond extreme circumstances. Colleagues or managers may not be aware of the challenges at home they are trying to cope with. Being stuck in a small home, no garden, home schooling or babies at home, no ‘normal’ contact with families and friends, challenges of caring for older relatives, fear of unemployment, worrying about paying bills, flaky wi-fi….the list goes on. Because you may not be aware of who is struggling and who is managing, be kind and thoughtful to all colleagues. Go out your way to compliment on good work or volunteer to assist with projects. If someone is short with you on a call, don’t bite back – just pause politely and ask if it would be better to pick up the conversation another time.

We can all provide support to each other in so many ways. Normal rules no longer apply: flexible working patterns are often required, measuring on behaviours and outcomes rather than clocking in/clocking out, roles and responsibilities being fluid to adapt to the tasks in hand and making a conscious effort to be human!

Tools

In this new way of working we find ourselves in, there are some tools which can help – but bear in mind that some will take to these better than others…and that is OK!

Here are some of my recommendations:

MS Teams – https://products.office.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software

Slack – https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/

Zoom – https://zoom.us/

Skype – https://www.skype.com/en/

WhatsApp – https://www.whatsapp.com/

Toggl – https://toggl.com/

DropBox ­- https://www.dropbox.com/

Doodle – https://doodle.com/en/

GoogleDrive – https://www.google.com/drive/

Touchnote postcards – https://touchnote.com/us/

Summary

We are all having to adapt, normal rules no longer apply but it is also imperative that businesses are agile and open minded in order to keep productivity as high as it can be in order to emerge in a strong position to start their recovery. We are all different and all struggle with different things. This may change over time but with a human approach we stand a better chance of long-term success.

Key things to start your New Year off on the right foot

The start of the New Year is normally a good time to reflect on how the past has gone and whether any improvements are required. Running your own small business means that often you are so close to things that you don’t take the necessary time out to review the situation during the year and consider if you could be running things differently. Now is the time to take stock!

Question is what should you be focusing on?

Here are some ideas on common issues and quick wins to improve your business.

Capture once, use many times

I often get called in as a VA for a task where a product update, change of address or even Christmas cards are needed to be sent out but there is no central point where this information can be accessed. It hides in various devices and documents in different formats making it a major task. The longer you leave capturing this in one place the harder it will get to rectify it. I recommend that the data be captured in a CRM or spreadsheet. It doesn’t need to be fancy, complicated or costly. It just takes time initially to set it up but then should become a habit to add or amend it as you go along.

Don’t let expenses pile up

We’ve all done it – you get various receipts and even with the best of intentions they end up in pockets, bags, on the car floor or accidentally in the bin. Before you know it….you can’t be bothered to track them down as it has become too big a task. Most accountancy apps now let you capture these really easily on the go. So next time you grab a coffee while hot desking – make a point of taking 2 minutes to capture it all on your phone directly into the app.

Play to your strengths

Especially when you are a relatively new start-up you wear many hats: accountant, marketer, HR, researcher, salesperson, technical adviser, support, van driver, coach, etc. But stop for a moment…do you now need to be all these things? Are you playing to your strengths? Are you spending time on the tasks that you are best at or are you getting drawn into things that don’t interest you and are not really the best use of your talents? Sometimes by outsourcing certain tasks you will free up your time to spend on the things you love and probably will make you more money. Maybe you have just got into the habit of doing everything yourself?

Self-improvement

When was the last time you invested in improving your own skills? If you could do just one thing better than in 2019 why not invest the time, effort and maybe the money to find a way to upskill. It might be attending a coaching workshop, taking a typing course to speed up your keyboard skills or even buying a session with an expert to pick their brains on how to carry out a certain task in a better way. Life and business doesn’t stand still – and neither should we!

Capitalise on your existing contacts

This is linked to point number 1 in many ways. It is 5 times more cost effective to work with the contacts you have than to keep going out and finding new ones. If you capture the right details (particularly in a CRM) you can create a communication plan that is relevant to certain segmented sectors of your contact base on an ongoing basis. Too often sales are made and then forgotten rather than a suitable follow up made to see if they need more/an upgrade/complementary product or service.

Hopefully this is food for thought! If you need help with admin, marketing, project management or business support, please do get in touch, don’t struggle!

One year in – lessons learnt

Incredible though it may seem a year has passed since I left the comfort and security of a corporate job to set up my own business. During that time there have been highs and I would be lying if I did not confess that there have been lows too. For all those interested in starting their own business I thought it would be useful to share 5 reflections on lessons learnt.

Lesson 1

Business plan. I did not need to create a plan as I was not looking for financial support or have a business partner but felt it would be useful to have something to measure my progress against. I created a short, visual plan which I pull out from time to time to measure my progress against my projected targets and adjust as necessary. I have found it really useful to revisit this regularly and to keep me focused on the back-end of my business.

Lesson 2

Trust comes at a price. Coming from a compliance background I am always keen to comply with the various regulations. Registering with the ICO, secure, offline backups, VPN, robust anti-virus and complying with the GDPR regulations all come at a cost which can very easily for some, be batted away…at your peril! In addition to this is the trust that you are executing the clients’ budget correctly and for this a tool called Toggl comes in very useful to track the time spent.

Lesson 3

Make it personal. For my business I get the most interesting discussions, leads and clients through building personal relationships. Right at the start I invested in networking and it has really paid off. It is something I enjoy but for those that don’t, I would recommend you find the group(s) you are comfortable with, prepare well and try to learn from others.

Lesson 4

Make it work for YOU. On a few occasions I have been drawn into carrying out work that I am capable of doing, but just really hate doing (sounds like maybe I need a VA, LOL!). I have been relatively strong on this and invested in training to make me more confident, given additional effort in completing the task, but also knowing when it is not working and walking away.

Lesson 5

Lumpy workflow. I was lucky enough to be very successful at recruiting clients right from week one. However, there have been times when I have been down to a few hours of work a week, which is mainly down to me not being more disciplined at keeping the flow of marketing and networking steady in busy times as well as quiet times. Moving forward I am planning on more discipline on steady promotion to even out my lumpy cashflow.

Hopefully this will help some new starters or those standing on the edge of launching their own, new enterprise.

If you want a sounding board – you know where I am!

The power of praise and positivity

In this day and age, we often do not feedback our thanks and appreciation to those that may have helped us or gone the extra mile to provide a good service.

I believe that praise and positive feedback (where due) is highly valuable and do not see enough of it. I am not just talking about big gestures, but the small ones that can often lift a person’s spirits and make their day.

Associated with this is the Random Acts of Kindness movement which first came to my attention in 2014 when teenager Stephen Sutton went viral when dying from cancer but displayed an amazing positive attitude that went way beyond his years. He posted a double thumbs up and his mourners were then asked to perform Random Acts of Kindness in his memory.

So what I would ask is that in the next week, make a conscious effort to provide some positivity where due:

  • Post a great review on Google, LinkedIn or FaceBook for a product or service you have received
  • Give a personal ‘thank you’ by telling someone directly how you appreciated their effort. (Especially if they are often overlooked – how many of us make a point of thanking networking event organisers for all their time and efforts, for example!)
  • Let someone with a few items go before you in the queue at the supermarket
  • Offer the change if someone is struggling at the car park machine
  • Thank those that are regularly around us such as colleagues, friends or family who we forget help us every day

Just think of the difference it makes to you when you receive thanks or a surprise positive gesture. It feels great…and you are more likely to pass it on!

Let’s make the world a smilier place!

Work Smarter, not Harder!

Continuing my theme of Marginal Gains, in this post we will look at a few tools that will save you time which can then be put to better use. Some you may be using already but hopefully someone will benefit from these.

Finance

An obvious one is an accountancy app such as Xero or Quickbooks. These allow you to keep on top of your receipts, invoice payments and outstanding bills in a user-friendly and ‘instant’ fashion. With Making Tax Digital now in full flow they are also required for VAT returns.

There’s now no need to try and remember your car journeys or try to keep track of odd notes in the car. With MileIQ it automatically tracks your mileage and with a swipe you can classify each trip then send the monthly report directly into Xero, for example.

Communications

Two tools that come to mind (although I appreciate there are plenty more not covered here!) are Slack and Zoom. Slack is like a private Facebook platform for your organisation providing a single place for messaging, tools and files – helping everyone save time and collaborate together. Zoom is a video-calling platform which helps to build relationships without the hours in traffic.

Productivity

Working efficiently with a team on a project when the parties are in different locations can be a challenge. In today’s world where we expect next day mail deliveries and instant chatbot responses it is increasingly important to be slick with our workflows. Trello is an online collaborative Project Management tool which gives internal teams and clients access and visibility to progress on the job in hand without the headache of trying to schedule in regular update meetings.

Where documents are used collaboratively OneDrive which is part of MS 365 helps that eternal cycle of track changes and circulation of documents by email. Selected parties have access to and the rights to view and edit shared documents.

The above is only a tiny snapshots of how you can gain some valuable time by working in a different manner. That time over the days, weeks and months can then be used for more interesting and/or profitable use.

Little things add up to a big deal

We hear a lot about agility, innovation and disruption but what do they mean in real terms on the ground? I have a belief that collaboration, sharing and receptiveness are key to individuals who are working towards making their organisation progressive.

One element of this is knowledge sharing which might take the form of formal scheduled sessions where ideas are exchanged, explored and actions agreed. On the other hand, it might be more along the lines of what turned around our Olympic cycling performance.

Sir Dave Brailsford, a former professional cycler who holds an MBA, applied a theory of marginal gains—the team broke down everything they could think of that goes into competing on a bike, and then improved each element by 1%, anticipating it would achieve a significant aggregated increase in performance….and it worked!

This can be applied in the office too and if enough tiny improvements are made, surely your bottom line will also reflect the benefits?

My thoughts are that if everyone thinks about just 5 ways to improve everyday working and shares it with 5 people on condition that they too pass on 5 tips to 5 colleagues the workforce will become more productive and feel better about their achievements. How about extending the ‘5 to 5’ approach and making an effort to do it on a Friday – fifth day of the week?

Take some time this week to think about your tips and communicate the idea by sharing this article with colleagues.

Here are my 5 for to get you started:

1.       If you don’t use shortcut keys but rely on using a mouse to navigate it is worth exploring this. For example, shortcuts on a PC such as Ctrl+P for printing, Ctrl+Alt+E for the Euro symbol, etc

2.       When checking documents doing the review round, use Word’s Compare document feature in the Review tab just to be sure no one has sneaked in changes and not tracked them visually

3.       Keep your PC/laptop ‘Desktop’ free from clutter and large files to speed up the start-up process

4.       Format Painter in MS Office is a great way to replicate font type, size and colour from one part of a document to another. Highlight the chosen item, go to format painter on the Home toolbar at the top and then highlight the item to be changed.

5.       When using PowerPoint and creating graphical slides, switching on the Gridlines in the View tab can help with alignment and save time moving items around manually.

In themselves these are not earth shattering but to some people one or more of these over the course of a year could make that ‘Theory of Marginal Gains’ difference.

Let me know how you get on with these and with the spirit of sharing your top tips. We all have something to learn…me included!

Please see the resources area for a crib sheet – www.vivava.co.uk/resources/

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Tiny improvements add up to more than the sum of their parts

When reading lots of official and authoritative articles on business improvement you can all too easily be defeated or put off before you’ve digested the messaging because the information looks like it does not apply to you as an entrepreneur or small business. It’s fine if you have multi-million budgets and hoards of people to turn ideal methodologies into amazing new methods of working.

However, one theory I feel is worth looking at is Sir Dave Brailsford’s marginal gains approach. He was responsible for turning the fortunes (somewhat dramatically) of the British cycling team who won seven out of 10 gold medals at Beijing and again in London.

Sir Dave was interested in process improvement and the Kaizen methods but he realised that there was real traction in not thinking big but quite the opposite. By thinking small…very small, he gambled that if the team broke down everything they could think of that goes into competing on a bike, and then improved each element by 1%, they would achieve a significant aggregated increase in performance…and it worked!

But how can small businesses capitalise on this and ‘Go for Gold’? By taking time out and examining all the elements such as Marketing, Sales, Finance, team motivation/goals, premises, logistics, packaging suppliers and so on, break each of these areas down even further…and again, and again to get down to each tiny element to see how they can be improved in some small way.

For example, ask yourself….

  • Would your team benefit from an online typing course to speed up the processing of orders?
  • Could you go for cheaper plain cartons rather than 2 colour printed ones without any negative impact with customers? Does it even need a carton?
  • Do the sales team need Excel training to get more out of their analysis?
  • Is it more cost effective to outsource at times when you need those skills/manpower rather than employing someone full-time?
  • Would there be real benefits of sharing files on a G Drive or DropBox in the cloud to speed up access by SmartPhone to important ‘Just In Time’ information while with a customer?
  • By learning to use Word more effectively could you make ‘Wow’ proposals in a shorter length of time?

For the full benefit of this marginal gains approach (or 1 % rule) it needs to be embraced as a culture, not a quick fix, by the whole team from end to end which might take a while but as Sir Dave found out it can be the path to victory over your competitors.

Don’t make things harder than they need be

 

You are busy running your own enterprise, doing what you are best at but there comes a point when there’s not enough of you to go around but you cannot justify employing an FTE to help. Sound familiar?

That is where Viva VA! comes into play!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

We can help with a range of services such as sales enablement, sales operations, marketing and admin that will then leave you free to do what you are best at. And the good part…you don’t have to spend time recruiting an FTE. You can buy anything from half a day a month, a bank of hours to use over the year or just the resources for a project.

Feedback includes:

“…a safe pair of hands.”

“…continually thinking of innovative improvements…”

“…I would not hesitate to recommend Fiona…”

“Hard working, knowledgeable and enthusiastic…”

Contact me today to find out more…I am happy to talk through the best ways I can help you, without obligation.

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