The Third Zone

Specialists in Organizational and Executive Leadership

  • Home
  • Our Team
  • What We Do
  • Successes
  • Blog
  • Reading
  • Contact

Jun 22 2022

The Perfect Time to Ramp It Up Just ONE Degree!

Relief is in the air. For sure it is what all businesses challenged negatively and impacted by the past 2+ years want, strive to have and are driven to achieve. And, as organizational leaders, their teams or individuals work to make this happen it appears that some are working to get back to the calm and productive path that they have missed. What I wonder is whether the drive is taking them as far as it can and should be? Or is the sense of relief putting unconscious limits on how far we think we can go? My work with various organizations concerns me that it’s the latter.

I recall a quote from the past attributed to Sam Parker and Mac Anderson.  What struck me about it is the application and the value it adds to all of us today who are in the process of ‘righting’, rebuilding or just building our businesses to greater heights.  It reads …

boiling water

At 211 degrees…water is hot.
At 212 degrees…it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.
And, it’s that one extra degree that makes all the difference.”

So, what could this mean for businesses or individuals who are a part of it today?  As we enthusiastically push forward with a sense of relief are organizations just excited to see boiling water again? Is the employee just thrilled to return to an office part or full time? Ah … we can breathe easier. But wait! Breathing easier as such, while welcome, has its’ own potential and unnecessary cost. It may be depriving some from getting the steam that just one more degree of effort could bring.

extra extra headline

I believe there is value to think about applying the ‘one extra degree’ to an overall business, department, team or just you today … now! How does an entity or person take advantage of every opportunity that can be created to thrive and take efforts to the extreme of their potential?

Here are some areas of focus that must be considered in reemerging into the resulting ‘normal’ post COVID and the places where that extra degree can make the difference … and the desired steam:

  • Adapting the marketing approach to the customers preferences
    • How they buy today and from whom they buy has clearly been impacted by the experience of the past 2+ years.  This must guide the revamping of any approach one is inclined to consider and employ.
  • The approach to selling the product must reflect new habits the buyer has developed while isolated or restricted in easy mobility
    • Whether a business or a retail customer is the aim, the revamped approach must recognize the changing pattern in how the customer prefers to buy. This will create needs to alter past systems to accommodate this changing mindset and pattern
  • Enthusiastically embracing ever advancing technology

    technology pix

    • COVID and remote workforces required that organizations buy into the need and value of technology that would ease the imposed challenges. In pursuit of the extra degree means pushing this further.  Going forward customer preferences in this arena must be incorporated into how business is done going forward.  It is critical!  

  • Customer service must be reimagined, redefined and taken to a new level

    cust service sign2

    • Even if an organization has prided itself in delivering excellent service in the past, that has taken on a new definition and meaning.  The customer has discovered a larger world of options. By taking a definition of ‘outstanding’ service to a never imagined level increases the opportunity of both retaining past and attracting new customers.
  • Working extra hard to nurture and solidify current customers
    • Often the focus put on a drive to attract and win new customers comes at the expense of ignoring current ones. Yet, it is those current/past customers who can rebuild the foundation that a successful effort requires.  With the uncertainty of the past 2+ years, the likelihood is good that your past customers will welcome the return to what they know and appreciate.  Take advantage of that by letting them loudly and clearly know of their importance to the organization.

There is little doubt that the business world is hungry to emerge into a sense of business calm and reason.  Some members of this community seem to have their sights on returning to what was for that they know and understand. This makes sense however the question to ask is if this is taking full advantage of what could be?  As a first step, you need to define what the ‘extra one degree’ would mean to the organization or simply to you and the job you do. Knowing this and understanding that path, don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s a snap or it’s no big deal.  Afterall, we’re talking about the ONE degree that takes us from ‘hot’ to ‘boiling’ and that, in turn, can make the difference between good and great … redefined success or settling for what was.

hot weater wear

Whenever I have watched someone take the step of cranking it up just one degree it has had the effect of opening a very wide door of possibility.  What might it do for your organization or for you as a member of the team?  It’s exciting exploration and can make a dramatic difference in the success you experience. No sweat if you wear warm weather clothing to withstand the boiling heat you’ll encounter!
Mike Dorman

Written by Mike · Categorized: Business Approach, Changing Business

Mar 10 2021

Not So Fast In a Push to Return to the Normal That Was in Business

As we read of a greater distribution of the COVID related vaccines and more and more people who have received either their first or second doses, the sense of both hope and optimism seem to be growing.  We begin to believe that we are on the way to being able to resume our lives as they were one, long year ago.  Yet hold on.  There are meaningful questions and serious realities that suggest that the ‘normal’ to which we are headed probably will not look much like the normal that many of us envision will return. 

No place is this more apparent than in the business world.  Whether viewed from either the employer’s or employee’s side, the drive to resume the ‘old’ normal has given way to something new.  It’s realized that what was imposed on us had positives.  Thus, there is an inclination to take advantages of the resulting learning and experiences and maintain those that we can use to the benefit of all as we reinvent the normal of the future.

The carry-forward learnings that are MISSED in working remotely

thumbs down

Without question, many studies conducted throughout this past year point to both the advantages and disadvantages to employers and employees who work from residences.  As they indicate and regardless of so many organizations reorganizing around what they have learned, there are definite aspects of being ‘in the office’ that are missed. 

HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST EXPRESSED ISSUES

  • Socialization that occurs with co-workers
    Working together under the same roof the ability to easily develop connection with other on both a personal and business-related level. How about lunch … or a cup of coffee … or what did you do this weekend simply aren’t easy or even realistic when the relationship becomes remote. 
  • Having face to face meetings

    face to face

    The likes of zoom have certainly provided the ability to ‘see’ otherS in our meetingS. However, it has not replaced the desire of people to want to sit around a table to discuss and reach solutions or next steps. Remote meetings provide an artificial sense of being together and a formality to discussions that tend to zap energy.  And energy is a valued ingredient to reaching decisions that are enthusiastically embraced by ‘the team’. 
  • Having a natural separation of both sides of one’s life … work and home
    One gets up in the morning and heads to the office. We walk in that door and our thoughts, plans and efforts are directed toward achieving our intended goals for the day. It’s a structured routine that works for many. In working remotely, it is the responsibility of the worker to create and achieve that same mindset … at home.  It’s an acknowledged challenge by many who have experienced this during this past year. 
  • Greater ease in being and feeling productive
    Again, it is the structure that going to the office provides that is missed when working remotely. Walking into the office door and sitting at our desk carries with it a mindset as to why we are there.  We can immediately attack our ‘to-do’ list intending to leave at day-end feeling accomplished and productive. 
  • Collaboration is simply easier when in the office
    It is most common that the work we do is just one piece of the overall project. Ultimate accomplishment of it very often requires collaboration with others in one’s department oR another.  The ability to simply converse in person with someone else is often faster and more efficient than the need to use email or phone.

  •  Developing a sense of trust, confidence and belonging is easier at the office

    trust over cliff

    Working together doesn’t make these traits and qualities an automatic given. Rather they are things we tend to develop with time and exposure.  Of course, it’s possible in a remote work environment.  However, it’s a more natural occurrence and just easier when at the office. 


ASPECTS OF REMOTE WORKING THAT ARE WORTH RETAINING

With all the things missed about the inability to go to the office, the remote work environment has provided some very definite and desirable advantages that the emerging ‘new’ normal will include. 

  • The commute

    commuter traffic

    This one is atop the lists of many for the hours per week that employees are forced to make a drive to the office. Especially in larger cities having one’s day consist of an hour or two spent driving between home and office is frustrating and maddening. It’s viewed as a great, yet necessary, waste of time having little of any value.  To regain this time in a remote work environment is time that can be used to one’s  personal advantage and is a welcome benefit. 

  • The dress code requirements
    Although dress codes within the office are somewhat more relaxed in these times the remote worker is prone to taking ‘relaxed’ to a new level. What one is wearing does not carry a guarantee of what is achieved and why not be comfortable.  As for a zoom meeting?  Stay in your chair and your only concern is how you appear from the waist up.  Just don’t stand as favorite sweats probably don’t cut it. 
  • The politics within the office environment
    Remotely, office politics aren’t easily expressed or even that evident. The things that often give rise to them i.e., in-person meetings, the water cooler chats diminish both the occurrence and the ease of promoting them. 
  • Office noise and distractions

    office noise

    There is little argument that sitting at one’s desk or cubicle carries with it assorted distractions created by others around. And now, after a year of working remotely and having established a specific work area at home, many have come to appreciate the ability to focus and concentrate without interruption.  Therefore, this becomes one more aspect of the experience that many want to retain. 
  • We’ve learned how to be effective at home
    Without question, suddenly working remotely from our residence had significant challenges. If other family members we home trying to do their job-related work it was juggling for space.  If children were learning remotely it required parental involvement that was clearly disruptive though necessary.  Now, one year later, many have carved out their work area.  Rules have been established designed to provide the ‘work’ atmosphere needed to be productive.  And it appears that efforts are being seriously made to allow children to have ‘in-school’ learning.  Thus we have settled into this new structure and able to focus on and be aware of the advantages provided. 
  • Business organizations are beginning to enjoy the anticipated reduction of operational costs related to a remote workforce
    Investments involved in helping employees set up their remote work areas have already been made to a large extent. Providing automation and work tool access has happened.  This has enabled companies to reduce space and redesign the office around the revamped use that will accommodate occasional meetings and planning sessions going forward. 

cost benefit3

With each day one can read of organizations who are altering their approach to conducting their businesses.  The amount of space they used to occupy is being reduced by many.  Existing space is being redesigned to accommodate team members who come together on occasion for key meetings or planning.  The investment has been made to allow the employee to successfully function remotely and maintain desired productivity.  Computers, access to needed tools, information and workstations all represent a major investment that companies are not so anxious to throw away.  At the same time, employees have come to like and even thrive in their remote environments. Thus, all indications are that the normal of our future is going to be a combination of what was, what became and what is now going to be.  Who would have ever thought?
Mike Dorman

Written by Mike · Categorized: Business Approach

Feb 09 2021

Zoom … the Waning Popularity of Its’ Use in Business and What To Do About It

covid 19 green

About one year ago …  with the onset of COVID-19 … it was recognized that this was a for real and profoundly serious pandemic.  Organizations of many types and in many fields moved to operate the business in a remote fashion.  Rather suddenly, people were told to work from home.  These same people scrambled to find a workspace in their residences. Companies feverishly worked to provide them with the tools and access they would need to move forward with the goals and related tasks associated with the organization.  One such tool was the likes of Zoom.

Many struggled to be productive and focused while working from home.  Of course this was nothing like the more business-like and professionalZoom Logo atmosphere of an office. Zoom seemed like a ‘cure-all’.  We may be distanced and yet the likes of Zoom enabled us to connect with our co-workers and teams.  It provided the real connection that was missing and that so many needed.  With Zoom we could see faces, reactions, chat and above all have connection!  Ah … maybe this could work.

Yet here we are … a year after being on this path. And, as it turns out, the positives afforded by Zoom in the early months of this ‘normal’ are clearly on the wane.  And because we are still living in a distanced world it seems prudent to consider the advantages still afforded by maintaining remote meetings while we address the negatives that many are experiencing with its’ use and change where needed.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES THAT HAVE CAUSED ZOOM FATIGUE?

Let’s explore some of what people are experiencing and complaining about.

  1. When in a remote meeting we lose the ability to ‘read’ the other participants by seeing their verbal and non-verbal ‘clues’. These are things that enable others to gage the overall and specific reactions. Without this it is often presumed that participants agree.  This conclusion can lead us down a wrong path which is clearly not desired or an advantage for best outcomes. 

  2. Natural conversation and discussions are not realistic and even possible. Participants are generally muted to eliminate background  noises and distractions (a dog barking or telephone ringing). Rather

    mute button

    than being able to simply jump into a conversation it requires a more organized approach to offering input. Having people speaking over one another creating frustration and confusion.

  3. Virtual meetings seem to have overtaken other forms of communication … forms that would be more productive, appropriate and time efficient. Users complain that every communication is via the likes of Zoom when a brief follow-up email would provide the update to a project and the decisions made in that meeting.  Perhaps what contributes to this is our desire to ‘see’ other human beings … our co-workers even if not necessary.
  1. Too many people are requested to attend a virtual meeting who have little reason to be there. Why does this happen?  Is it presumed that because one is working remotely, they have a lot more time?  Therefore, they are asked to be in a meeting for no real justification or need for their input?  It’s a good question and situation to ponder.
  1. Meeting organizers are scheduling others to attend a remote meeting without concern for their availability at a specific time. Thus, people complain that they are expected to be in a meeting when

    think about things differently

    they have 1 or 2 others wanting their attendance at the same or overlapping time.  As one person indicated … “You should have been looking at calendars before scheduling meetings before we added video … it’s just common sense, and professional” to do this now. 
  1. Remaining focused and engaged in a virtual meeting is a challenge. The ability to do so is influenced by the length of the meeting as well as the various distractions that impact your ability to

    meeting fatigue

    pay attention.  One may find themselves distracted by studying the rooms in which others are sitting during the call … often in their homes. Incoming emails or calls distract even if one can resist looking or responding. Turning off such things while in the meeting offers the likelihood of a shorter and more focused meeting. 
  1. Remote meeting formats only intensify the things wrong with meetings in an organization. To the extent an organization calls meetings that appear to be unplanned and unstructured as it relates to agendas and topics the experience is too often very lengthy and time-wasted events.  Carry this same approach into a virtual meeting format and it becomes even more-so.  Thus, the issues are not with the likes of Zoom.  Rather with a disorganized approach to having a meeting at all. 
  1. Virtual meetings can and have caused productivity to plummet.

    down productiviyt

    People are calling too many remote meetings when an email or text follow-up would suffice.  Or meetings are delayed and extended because of technical connectivity issues and are imposing non-productive and wasted time of those involved. 

 

HOW TO MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVES AND ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVES

you cant rule sign

 The above are some of the key experiences that those attending remote meetings are having.  These issues have given virtual meeting application a negative rap. And what can be done to resolve these real issues?  Like all new innovations whether consciously chosen or imposed on us, we need to learn how to use them effectively.  Zoom and its equivalents are no different.  However, it will require that organizations seek and listen to those using it and the issues that are real to better define how to employ it to everyone’s best advantage. Zoom fatigue is not something a good night’s sleep will take care of.  Yet Zoom is definitely something that can have a positive impact on lives and business success when it is used and applied to work realities.
Mike Dorman

Written by Mike · Categorized: Business Approach

Jul 20 2016

Phil Knight of Nike Fame and How He Can Influence Our Job Success … If We Let Him!

Phil Knight …

  • built an empire based on his vision of shoes … Nike
  • the man behind the ‘Just Do It’ and Air Jordon campaignsbuilt an empire based on his vision of shoes … Nike
  • the man behind the ‘Just Do It’ and Air Jordon campaigns
  • the man who will soon be retiring from the world’s #1 sports merchandising company he co-created … one that has 63,000 employees and $31 billion in annual sales.

Obviously, it didn’t happen overnight given that his first year (1964) he had $8,000 in sales and $234 in profit yet he created an institution that is described in an articleNike Logo in ‘Investor’s Business Daily’.

Granted, the people I know and with whom I work as a coach are not people out to build competitive shoe companies.  What they often are, however, are people wanting to climb higher and higher on the success ladder … in their jobs, departments and/or businesses.  And I believe you’ll find that some of the same things that drove and motivated Knight can definitely motivate us to support our desire to achieve our own climbs.  I think you’ll see the connection.

#1 – His Perseverance: One of Knight’s college teachers made this point … “The cowards never started, and the weak died along the way – that leaves us.”

Of course we are all faced with competition and yet, it is only true competition to the extent that they, too, are other than cowards or weak.  Many people start and some don’t have the push to prevail.  This leaves a much smaller group of true competitors and sets us apart.

#2 – His inspiration: “The secret of happiness … lay somewhere in that moment when the ball is in midair, when both boxers sense the approach of the bell, when the runners near the finish line and the crowd rises as one. … I wanted that, whatever that was, to be my life, my daily life. … So that morning in 1962 I told myself: Let everyone else call your idea crazy … just keep going. Don’t stop.”

How strong is your own desire to succeed beyond all others?  What is your secret of happiness that is the true motivator to enable you to just keep going and without stopping?  Finding that can be the key to differentiate you and carry you to the height that you envision.

#3 – His passion: Knight was infatuated, something crucial in what drives him: “Your business has to be something you really love. Remember that there will be a lot of dark moments. You never make it overnight. You have to be prepared for the tough times. As my Stanford Small Business Management professor liked to say, “The only time you must not fail is the last time you try.”

How much do you love the job you’re doing, the field you’re in or the business you run/manage?  Success is never easy however it’s the passion we feel for what we are doing that can drive us through the challenges that will undoubtedly be encountered.

#4 – His differentiation: Knight said “I don’t want to be like my competitors.”  We take a lot of our culture off the athletic field. Just like with tackles and running backs, we have to have better people than the competition.”

Better people or being better than all others.  What does that mean for what you do and what can you do to enhance the divide between yourself and others as our competitors?

Phil Knight believed in running. He believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place, and he believed these shoes were better to run in. People, sensing his belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, he decided is irresistible.

How committed are you to what you are doing and how much better do you believe you can do it than all others?  As such what can you do to widen that gap to cement your belief that you are the best.  As Knight said, people will sense that and want it for themselves.Vision

We all spend the lion’s share of our time devoted to the ‘doing’.  The what’s, the whys and the hows dominate our attention.  And yet, spending ‘Knight’ time contemplating the points above can provide an opportunity to re-establish your vision for the ‘being’ …  what’s possible, what you truly want and how you intend to get there.

Mike Dorman

Written by Mike · Categorized: Business Approach

Jul 05 2016

Making the Best Decisions ~ Taking the Learning Out of BREXIT and Into BUSINESS

After having eBREXITvery day of the past week filled with news created by the ‘Brexit’ vote in the UK, I can’t resist the inclination to just get curious and wonder what’s the learning in this for me … for us in our work and business.  With the resulting turmoil that has so many questioning the wisdom of their vote and concerned about what it will really mean, it is evident that some made purely emotion-based decisions whereas others only considered this from what appealed to their sense of logic and reasoning.  The outcome is a country dealing and reeling from unintended consequences … uncertainty, fear and questions around ‘what now’?

Definitely it doesn’t have to be like this.  In our jobs and being part of a team, department or management, we are often involved in decision making.  And too often they are made from considering just one perspective … either the logical/reasoned one or the emotional one.  Here are scenarios that you might recognize as a part of your own experience when this takes place.

Scenario I
The ivory tower occupants have made a decision about a new program for customers that will reduce the company’s waste and thus reduce costs while increasing profitability. 

They call together the employee base, announce the plan and let the sales/customer service team know the message that they are to deliver.  The program is of a ‘one size fits all’ nature and only one problem.  The customer base doesn’t fit into one size. To the largest it represents a reduction of benefits and the emotional reaction to this was instant and loud.  They’re not happy and they let it be known.  The program was scrapped within a week.  Wasted time, money and credibility.

Scenario II
Your best and largest customers want to do business with your company however they just didn’t want to drive to your current locations.  They let it be known that if you want their business you need to open a location that was more convenient to where they live.  As these were the ‘best’ customers management began an expansion program that opened 3 new locations within a year to suit their largest patrons.  One year later, after responding in this way to the emotional input, the company was out of business.

Have you been involved in such situations?  Too often, when this is allowed, we are forced to scramble to make needed changes in an attempt to return to smooth waters.  Here is a suggested approach to minimize the need to respond to unintended consequences:

  1. Bring people together who are familiar and work with any who will be impacted by the changes being proposed.
  2. Each person is charged with the responsibility to present any and all perspectives that recipients of the change might possess … as if standing in their shoes.
  3. Make alterations to the plan that will recognize and respect the variances rather than silence them and pretend they don’t exist.
  4. Delay a final ‘vote’ until your ‘Monday morning’ (i.e. tomorrow) to allow all involved to digest the input and select the path forward based on having incorporated all critical perspectives into their personal decision.

     BALANCED DECISIONS
    BALANCED DECISIONS

Of course business is not like running a government trying to sell constituents on one choice or another.  Rather it consists of making impacting decisions that will affect the ultimate success of an organization.  Placing value on the consideration of all perspectives prior to making any decision enhances the degree of success that can be derived.

Brexit has created a messy situation that appears to be potentially costly in many ways.  Perhaps a country thinks it can afford that.  Few businesses can nor is it necessary if we call forth … insist on … all the voices as needed for the right decision.

Mike Dorman

Written by Mike · Categorized: Business Approach, Uncategorized

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Contact

Toll Free: (866) 902-3777
Direct Phone: (949) 733-3777





    The Third Zone
    (Headquarters)
    5319 University Drive #212
    Irvine, CA 92612

    Copyright © 2023 The Third Zone

    Powered by Guild™

    Please wait...

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Want to be notified when our article is published? Enter your email address and name below to be the first to know.
    SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER NOW

    190220 Ebook CTA image

    Being Thrown Under the Bus:
    What to Do When It happens to YOU in the Workplace

    Chapters include:

    • The Meaning of Being Thrown Under the Bus
    • The Ones Who are Likely to do the Throwing
    • The Impact on the Individuals and the Organization Where Throwing Under the Bus is Tolerated
    • Responding After Having Been Thrown Under the Bus … You Get to Choose
    • How to Minimize the Likelihood of Finding Yourself Under the Bus

      Your Name (required)

      Your Email (required)

      Your Phone

      Thanks for your message!

       

      Loading Comments...