Tribe, Inc.

Are creative people motivated by different things than other people?  A recent post on 99%, one of my favorite blogs, reminded me of Daniel Pink’s take on motivating thinkers in his latest book “Drive.”

But it also reminded me of a question a business acquaintance asked me today. He wanted to know what I was most excited about lately, work-wise. It made me realize that I can get excited about almost anything, as long as it’s making something. What gets me out of bed and into the office is knowing that we’re moving forward on some creative project.

The traditional motivators of rewards and recognition aren’t always as effective with creative people. What seems to really motivate us creative types  is seeing progress in our work.

If you’re creative for a living, you’re probably not easy to manage. Creative people can quickly develop a reputation for being idealistic or naive or just plain difficult. The best way for a boss to get the very best work out of you is to remove any obstacles and give you what you need to do your job — and then leave you alone to do it.

I am a big fan of traditions. It gives me something to look forward to and allows for creating different memories in the same place at different times. Throughout my 25 years of life, I’ve come to acquire many traditions, most of which I hope to continue for years to come.

One of my favorite traditions is Buck’s Coffee Shop. Located in the heart of Highlands, NC, my boyfriend Ben and I enjoy coming here every morning of our long-weekend stay. Having vacationed in Highlands 4 times a year for over 2 years now, we’ve grown to know the staff, our favorite table and of course, the famous cappuccinos.  There is something comforting about a small town; the familiar faces accompanied by southern accents while locals are greeted by their first name.

It’s so nice to sit at my favorite table across from Ben with either a good book or my laptop and either talk or people watch. In fact, that is what I am currently doing as I write this blog. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on this rainy Friday morning.

The ambiance is romantic with low light and art lining the walls crafted by local artists and available for sale to the public. The decor has a modern yet rustic feel to it, and of course it wouldn’t be called Buck’s without the buck’s head hanging on the wall behind the counter!

If you’re ever in the area, stop by Buck’s for a cappuccino or just to visit with the friendliest folks in town!

Any major organizational change in the workplace brings up two big fears for employees. The very first is “I might lose my job.” If that fear seems unlikely to become a reality, then the second concern is usually, “This change might make my job more difficult.”

The best thing you can do is address those fears head on. Management in some companies might think the less said the better, but just acknowledging the fears can make them less frightening.

It’s human nature to imagine the worst. When management sets realistic expectations, it can be a huge relief to employees.

This is when the Yes But tool comes in handy. You can say, “Yes, some people will lose their jobs, but we’re working hard to limit the number of employees affected.” Or “Yes, this will add an extra step to our accounting processes, but it will streamline our supply chain.”

If it’s bad news, be honest. Most employees will tell you that they’d rather know what to expect, even if it’s not what they were hoping to hear.

Tell them something, even if you don’t have all the details. With most major changes, there’s an extended period of even those in top management not knowing exactly how things will play out. It’s fine to say, “We don’t know how the merger will impact our headcount, but we know this office will remain the company headquarters.”

Employees can accept that you might not have all the answers yet. Just don’t leave them hanging in a vacuum of information. One of the best things management can do in a major change is to keep the employees updated as fully as possible.

At Tribe, we approach change management from a perspective of respect for the employee. We recommend following the Golden Rule of Change. Treat the employees how you would want to be treated in the same situation. In most cases, that means being given as much information as possible, about both the positives and negatives of what lies ahead.

The business world is more connected than ever. If you need to get in touch with someone today, it seems as though you have an endless selection of outlets to choose from: email, text, office phone, cell phone, Facebook, LinkedIn, so on and so forth. However, for field employees these communication tools are not always readily available and can be cumbersome to their job. So what are some practices to handle employees of this description when every trend in our world today is towards instant communication?

For starters, don’t lose sight of the effectiveness of face-to-face communication despite their nomadic responsibilities. Even with all the latest trends and innovations the most impactful way to deliver a message is still through word-of-mouth, in-person communication. If you have a workforce that spends most of their time in the field, place an increased emphasis on internal meetings and announcements when they’re actually at the facility. Find times during the day when you expect the majority of your staff to be there and ensure that their immediate supervisor is using that time to talk with them on a routine basis. Start with the most important announcements or discussions while you know you have their attention and they don’t feel rushed to get on with their tasks outside the building.

Next, respect the privacy of your employees. Many employees that work in the field have chosen to do so because of the independence that it allows. Respect this fact and condense communication to what’s important and what truly impacts them. If they are consistently receiving communication while in the field that they feel is bothersome or a distraction then they will likely begin to tune the messages out. Conversely, if you are diligent with how you communicate they will understand that any communication with them in the field affects what they do and is important.

Finally, revert back to traditional communication to ensure all employees get the message. If there is a percentage of your field staff that doesn’t have an email address or smartphones, utilize “old school” communication outlets to reach them. For a company like UPS, they’re able to keep all employees apprised of the latest news and developments of the company through their quarterly publication, InsideUPS. By having a consistent communication piece such as this, employees both behind a desk and in the field have come to rely on it as a one-stop source of company information. While it may not be the latest and greatest innovation, it continually serves its purpose.

When some new small task presents itself, do you add it to your To Do list? I enjoy crossing things off the list so much, I’ve even added something to my list after I’ve already done it and immediately checked it off, just to give myself the credit I deserve.

Another option is to prevent as many tasks as possible from ever making the list. I was having lunch the other day with a high-level executive at a major bank. One of the things I like about him is that he also grew up in North Carolina and sometimes uses expressions or pronunciations that sound like home to me.

Do it real quick right now. That’s how he described his new time management trick. At first, all I could think was how nice it was to hear someone say “real quick.”

Then I realized how brilliant that is. Using those brief interims between meetings or when you have five minutes before the next conference call to get the stuff done that could otherwise become nagging little To Dos.

I’m going to try it out myself. For instance, today I promised to introduce a friend, via email, to a business acquaintance who could be a potential client for her. I think I’ll do it real quick right now.

Several years ago when we were contemplating child number six, my mother-in-law made the comment, “Little kids, little problems…big kids, big problems.”  I brushed the comment aside and said, “Not our kids.” Well, here I am now with five teenagers and while they’re really good kids in general, I am exhausted. It’s Monday, and I should feel recharged, but I’m dragging.

Let’s start with my 19-year-old son who decided to live at home while going to college after living on campus for only one semester. We encouraged him to stay and give it more time, but he was adamant. So I took a deep breath and said, “Ok.”  My first complaint is how little time he actually spends at school or studying. When I was at college I was always at class. Half of the time he says his class has been cancelled or there is some online thing he has to watch or do. I guess with the technology of today, teaching is different. So with all the extra time on his hands we suggested he get a job.

Honestly, he needs to get a job for spending money. His idea of applying for a job is sending in a few online applications and waiting. Probably forever. We keep suggesting places to go, connections we have, etc., but he keeps dragging his feet and saying, “I don’t want to work THERE!” or “They don’t pay enough!” He seems to forget that he’s 19 and has no job skills other than serving pizza at the local water park for the last three summers. All he wants to do is have fun with his friends. It’s maddening!!!!

Then there is my first experience with a teenage daughter. Let me tell you, when it comes to the drama department, boys are sooooo much easier. There is no drama!  She is in eighth grade and the paradise of sixth and seventh grade is gone. While I would say she doesn’t really cause the drama, it constantly circles around her. One girl is being mean to another girl, which means certain people can no longer “hang” together.  Often times, insensitive comments are made that really hurt. I just don’t know how to help her get through it all. And she still has high school to go through!

My eighth grade daughter has a twin brother. Both of them like to spend money on clothes, movies and drinks at the local hang out. I decided it was time for them to earn some of their own money so I signed them up to take a course to become a certified soccer referee. The complaining was unbelievable. Why did they have to give up their Friday night and all day Saturday to sit in such a boring class?

Now that they’re certified, they’re actually refereeing games. Usually one or two games on an occasional Sunday. The moaning and complaining that started Friday for the upcoming games on Sunday were miserable. I kept pointing out that it was a beautiful day and they were earning money. And besides, what else did they have to do?

I could continue with more stories but I’ve run out of space. I think as parents we love our children so much and we want to make sure they’re always happy and successful in whatever they do. I really internalize their unhappiness. I’m working on trying to let it go. I’m a mom that likes to be in control, but I also need to have less stress in my life for my own happiness. Letting them figure things out for themselves is not such a bad thing. I will keep repeating that to myself.

Start with your internal brand.

First comes the messaging. This is an integral part of building a strong internal brand. You need to clearly define your company values and solidify what key messages you want to promote. This will help your company establish common goals, brand ambassadors and training programs.

You must establish a strong internal voice. Once you have a clear definition of your values that your employees can embody and embrace, you then need to establish what your employees are to do with it. That’s the meat and potatoes of internal branding, and it’s the solid foundation upon which all employee engagement programs should rest. But that’s just the psychological side of it.

Next comes the unification of the brand – visually. Developing the look and feel of your brand is just as integral to a company’s success as its core values. If you want to increase productivity, you need to create the visuals to support it. You’ve unified your minds, now it’s essential to unify how your brand will look.

Step One: Define your brand through messaging and values.

Step Two: Create a visual identity.

Step Three: Make a library of elements available company wide.

Step Four: Put them on your intranet or website.

Step Five: Sit back and watch the creativity unleash itself.

Creating items like logo libraries, font libraries, image libraries, color palettes, and document templates, and then making them readily available to all, will streamline employee productivity by providing easy access to the tools employees need to successfully communicate within the parameters of your internal brand standards.

Productivity increases when employees have a clear vision and understanding of the company they work for. It helps them build a level of confidence within their role and makes them more efficient as members of your organization.

Talent isn’t the only thing. When it comes to hiring, you’re obviously going to look for the candidate that constitutes the best fit. While skill set and aptitude are important, it’s equally as crucial to find someone that would fit within the culture of your organization.

You may have a candidate that looks to be the ideal person for the job on paper. But as we all know, how someone or something appears on paper is not necessarily an indicator of how they’d do when they got hired. It doesn’t take long to see that the culture and the employee are not a good match and in many instances, the overall work is going to be negatively impacted.

So how do you determine if someone will be a good fit based off of just the interview process?

For starters, first impressions can go a long ways. Both personally and professionally you should never underestimate the importance of a gut feeling. Within the first few moments of meeting someone you can typically get a good read on their personality type and demeanor. If you are getting a good vibe right off the bat, keep the conversation going so that the candidate feels comfortable to show more personality the rest of the way.

Try to eliminate surprises. Be as upfront with the candidate as possible about not just what the job entails but also the office environment. If it’s important to you that employees get along and enjoy spending time together, don’t be afraid to say this. If they’re more of the clock-in, knock out my work and avoid distractions type of employee it’s better that they know these expectations beforehand.

Introduce, introduce, introduce. While your opinion may be the deciding factor, it’s important for others to weigh in as well. Introduce the candidate to as many people that they’d be working with as possible. Remember that they will end up spending a lot of time together if they’re hired so allow for both sides to have a glimpse of what work life together might be like. This can also be an opportunity for the rest of your team to separate two seemingly equal candidates and make the final decision a little easier.

Now let’s hear from you. What type of unique interview tactics have you used in the past to get to know a candidate a little bit better?

True or false: You can relate to the following statements:

• “I feel like I’m not giving the right amount of attention to what’s most important.”

• “I have too many meetings to attend, and I can’t get any ‘real’ work done.”

• “I have new responsibilities that demand creative and strategic thought, but I’m not getting to them.”

If you answered true to any of them, you’re not alone. According to David Allen, author of  Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, these are statements he hears all the time in his work as a consultant with top executives at some of the country’s leading companies.

David Allen has a solution. In his recent article in the New York Times, “When Office Technology Overwhelms, Get Organized,” Allen outlines a plan to alleviate those uncomfortable feelings. He recommends spending two  hours each week developing and fine tuning this plan, and reports overwhelming relief for those who use his system diligently.

But it might take more than a plan for organizing your priorities. It’s possible this widespread angst goes deeper than that for many working in American corporations today.

Some of us wear being busy as a badge of honor. I know I’ve done it. After all, if you’re busy, that must mean you’re important, right? And if you complain about being busy, then people realize how hard you’re working and thus how valuable you are.

Being busy is not what makes us valuable as human beings. But I won’t even go into that. Let’s focus on whether being busy makes us valuable in the workplace.

It’s what we accomplish that makes us valuable at work. If you come up with an innovative plan that reduces costs, streamlines production, or cures cancer, that’s important. If you develop a new product or create a beautiful solution to a sticky design problem, that’s a big deal. How hard you had to work, or how busy you were while you were working on it, is irrelevant.

I’m not saying you choose to be too busy. Sometimes there’s just no way to avoid getting too many emails and spending too much of the day in meetings. But some people manage to get the important stuff done anyway. How?

They make the important stuff important. I mean no disrespect to David Allen, who is clearly a much-needed thought leader in the business world, but what about this plan?

Use those two hours to work on something that matters. Instead of spending Allen’s recommended two hours a week on your plan to organize your priorities, why not just grab your laptop or a pencil and paper and hunker down for two hours of intense work on a project that’s important to your success.

Better yet, spend the first two hours of every workday on what’s important. If you wait until you clear out your inbox and find yourself with unscheduled time at your desk, it will never happen. And yes, in that case you’ll never have time for your most important work.

“Snakes, I hate snakes.” –Indiana Jones

The warm weather in Georgia has come early this year, and that brings with it my fear of snakes. I love running the trails in the woods, except when I see snakes. In the three years since I’ve been running by the river, I’ve seen four. Which you might say is not too bad, however, I really feel faint at the sight of them and scream. Loudly.

Part of my paranoia comes from being from Michigan and not knowing which of these Georgia snakes will kill me and which will just bite me. Elizabeth, Tribe’s CEO, has tried to teach me that poisonous cottonmouths mate in May and become extremely aggressive. There is more to the lesson I’m sure, but my mind stayed stuck on the “extremely aggressive poisonous” part.

For all my fellow trail runners, and those who like to hike, here is a guide to the six snakes in Georgia that are venomous and some tips on how to stay safe out there in the woods.

The six snakes are:

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

Timber Rattlesnake

Pigmy Rattlesnake

Eastern Coral Snake

Cottonmouth (also known as the Water Moccasin)

Southern Copperhead

All poisonous snakes have angular heads with angular eyes. However, all snakes can flatten their heads when they feel threatened, which can make them appear more angular and lead to confusion.

“What I tell folks is that we have six species of venomous snakes in Georgia,” explained John Jensen, Wildlife Biologist. “Three of them have rattles at the tip of their tail. One of them, the Coral Snake, has bright colors. Learn how to identify Copperheads, Cottonmouths and Coral snakes by their color and pattern. If you know that, and you know what a rattle is, then you should be able to rule these snakes out.”

Here are a few other helpful tips:

A common phrase taught to children is: “Red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, friend of Jack.”

Try to avoid startling snakes. Most will try to stay away, as they supposedly view humans as predators.

When going over a log, step on the log, don’t leap over it.

Stay on the path, don’t walk through shrubbery and tall grass.

Don’t put hands or feet in places you can’t see. Especially important when climbing rocks, or sitting down.

If you see a snake back away, slowly.

It is illegal to kill nonvenomous snake in Georgia and has a fine attached to it that can go up to $1,000.

Stay alert and safe while enjoying this amazing weather we’re having. If you’re by the Chattahoochee and hear a girl screaming, “snake!” feel free to come save me.