training
Get More Leverage When Outsourcing
Leverage is the ability to expand the results you get with a given amount of effort.
Outsourcing is a perfect example of something designed to provide leverage.
By having some else do work for you, you’re getting greater results with the same amount of effort on your part.
But does outsourcing automatically provide leverage?
No, it doesn’t.
Outsourcing one-time [...]
7 Ways to Fail When Outsourcing
Thought you would enjoy this funny post by John Jonas:
7 Ways to Fail When Outsourcing
He’s talking about outsourcing to the Phillipines, but these issues are common to a lot of people who are just getting started with outsourcing.
And thanks to Howard Tiano for bringing the post to my attention!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Getting Started with a Virtual Assistant
Are you thinking about hiring a virtual assistant, but worried about coming up with a steady stream of projects for her to do?
It can be a real burden to have to come up with new ideas all the time. And then it takes time to find all the materials that are needed, explain what you want done, do the training, and then answer questions. If you had that much free time, you probably wouldn’t need an assistant.
Here’s an approach that works…
Virtual assistants tend to be very organized, very methodical. An ideal way to use an assistant is to help you systematize your business.
What part?
Systematize marketing.
This is the best place to start for most businesses.
Customer service might also work…
Personality styles - are you red, green, yellow or blue?
Melanie Benson Strick’s latest blog post talks about something I found very useful when I took her course on virtual teams…
A color wheel called Insights™ Discovery that illustrates the different styles people have of communicating and managing and processing information.
There are all kinds of personality tests out there - Myers Briggs is one; the HOTS (Hare, Owl, Tortoise, Squirrel) survey from Robert Allen’s One Minute Millionaire is another.
But I like the color wheel - I find it very simple and easy for people to grasp and use.
When you understand that the person you are managing (or outsourcing to) is a “green”…
More on learning styles: why, what, how, what if?
The other issue to keep in mind when looking at the best ways to get people ramped up is whether they are a “why,” “what,” “how does it work,” or “what if” learner.
There’s a whole chapter devoted to this in Teach What You Know, by Steve Trautman, which is a wonderful book all about teaching peers and people you are mentoring what they need to know to do a good job.
The entire book is full of gems - my copy currently has about 20 pages bookmarked. If you ever do mentoring or any kind of informal training, I recommend it highly. He’s also got an excellent website at www.practicalleader.com.
Here’s the short version of the chapter on learning styles…
“Why” learners
“Why” learners wants to know why they should care - why they should be learning this, why it is important, why focus on it now. So start your explanation with this.
Learning styles: visual, auditory, kinesthetic
When you are working with a freelancer, one of the critical issues you need to deal with is getting them
ramped up as quickly and effectively as possible.
They need to learn about your company, your products and services, and the way you want work done.
If you can find out how they learn best, and teach them [...]
