Seven Link Challenge Day Five – Ramblings
Most of the time I write about marketing, social media, web design and pr for small business. But sometimes I go off topic a bit and talk about things that interest, inspire or annoy me. These posts are usually classified as Ramblings.
In today’s addition to my Seven Link Challenge (inspired by a post by Darren Rowse) I have sharing links to my favorite Rambling posts
- What I Learned in 13 Miles
- Not Strictly Business – Seven Facts About Me ( How could I skip a post with seven in the title? )
- What Small Business Owners Can Learn From My Father-in-Law
- Create Your Day
- Last Days of the Presidency ( Hint I am not talking about Clinton, Bush or Obama)
- It Is All About the Crazy
- Sometimes It Is Brawn Over Brains
As I was looking at my recent posts, I realized I haven’t done as much of this lately, but I like the posts, so it looks like I should make time to write a few more in the future.
Sweet Dreams from Roundpeg Radio
This has been a crazy week at Roundpeg. We have had to deal with trying to wrap up lots of projects before the end of the month, technical glitches which slowed us down, changes in equipment to run the office, and lots of interesting new assignments. After a long week, we all need a rest coming in to the weekend
So this week we thought we would look for songs about rest, vacations and dreams. Ok so some of us also saw Inception, so weird dreams are in the back of our minds .
We are going to kick off with Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics to get us in the mood. Then we will be live until 3 PM today , and the play list will be up all week. Send send your song requests to @roundpegradio.
NOTE: The widget takes a minute to load, and you’ll have to refresh to see the new songs. Make sure your speakers are on!
Celebrate Your Independence
The holiday weekend approaches. To get you in the mood @RoundpegRadiois kicking off the weekend with a few American tributes. I have asked TBreezy to start off with one of my favorites: Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA
What should we add to the play list? You tell us! Just tweet your request to @RoundpegRadio or any of the Roundpeg crew, or post it here. Then come back to this page to hear your song, plus some Roundpeg favorites.
Summer Lovin’ on Roundpeg Radio
In honor of the official start of summer, @RoundpegRadio will feature your favorite summer, surfing, and hot weather songs. We are going to bring in the weekend playing the music YOU want to hear. Just tweet your request to @RoundpegRadio or any of the Roundpeg crew, or post it here. Then come back to this page to hear your song, plus some Roundpeg favorites.
Roundpeg Radio: We’ll bring the noise if you bring the funk
It’s time again for Roundpeg Radio, where we make your Friday a little easier by playing the music YOU want to hear. Just tweet your request to @RoundpegRadio or any of the Roundpeg crew and come back to this page to hear your song, plus some Roundpeg favorites.
(And while you are here, be sure to cast your ballot for this month’s winner of the ugly business card contest. )
Roundpeg Radio 2: Electric Boogaloo
Roundpeg Radio got off to a great start last Friday, with requests for everything from country to new wave to Lady Gaga. We had so much fun doing it, we’re bringing it back again.
Simply tweet your request to @roundpegradio and then come back to this page to hear your request, plus favorite songs from the Roundpeg offices. Thanks again to making this experiment really rock.
Roundpeg Radio
As many of you may know, the corporate culture at Roundpeg is…a little different. It’s a very young office, and we have a lot of fun together–especially on Fridays, when the phones are a bit quieter and our workload a bit lighter. Recently, I started taking requests for songs from around the office. With all of the different personalities in the office, we ended up with some awesome play lists.
So today, we want to share the atmosphere of the Roundpeg office with you. You can listen to the Roundpeg Radio playlist (courtesy of GrooveShark) in the widget below. And we want you to get in on the action too: just tweet your song request to @roundpegradio, or to any of the Roundpeg crew, and we’ll add your song to the list.
We might make this a recurring event, if it proves popular. So talk to us! What’s your favorite song?
NOTE: The widget takes a minute to load, and you’ll have to refresh to see the new songs. Make sure your speakers are on!
Episode 16 – Team-Building Activities for Small Businesses with Deseri Garcia
Deseri Garcia of Vida Aventura is a coach, trainer, motivator, leader, and most of all, Des is my friend. When the weather is nice, we have walking one-on-ones. Instead of sitting in a coffee shop or office, we put on our walking shoes and hit the Monon for an hour. The experience is productive in so many ways.
But the weather has turned cold, and so we had to move our conversations indoors. So when Des stopped by recently, I thought it would be fun to record our conversation for my podcast More than a Few Words.
In this segment, Deseri talks about Team Building, and what small business owners can do to improve the performance of their team!
Click here to listen the interview.
Lesson From the Kitchen For Small Business Owners
I originally wrote this article for a corporate audience. I was talking to managers about how to build effective teams. But as I reviewed the content, I realized it makes sense for small business owners and association leaders. We need to be great chefs too!
Years ago, my mother gave me the secret to making a great stew. I am not much of a cook, but her advice makes a lot of sense when you are trying to build a great company, team, or advisory board. My mom suggested:
- Use a variety of ingredients for distinctive taste.
- Be patient – Cook slowly, over a low heat to allow the flavors to build.
- Follow a recipe, but don’t be afraid to adjust the season to personal taste.
Use Flavorful Ingredients
Start with diversity. Recruit people with different backgrounds and talents to enrich the flavor. Have at least one person on your team with little to no experience in the group or industry. (Not a rookie, just someone with a totally different background.)
These individuals will keep you on your toes, asking why, challenging the status quo. They may make you uncomfortable and force you to stop doing things because you have always done them that way.
Be Patient
Keep your team together. One year assignments are often not long enough. It takes awhile for the flavors to blend, for people to really understand your business and figure out how they can work with you.
Teams that stay together have greater commitments to each other and team goals. Remember great recipes are not cooked in a microwave; they are slow, measured and organized.
Adjust Your Recipe
Start with a plan, so everyone knows where you are going and what role they play. Establish periodic review sessions to taste your stew. Are you on target, meeting deadlines? Do the action plans still make sense? Have there been changes in the business climate which require adjustments in the strategy?
Serving Suggestions
Every great chef knows half the secret is in the presentation. An attractive plate or the right garnish makes the dinner more appealing. Keep that in mind when selling ideas to team members, management, and board members. Each group will have slightly different tastes. Serve them the right amount of information in a format to which they will relate.
Sometimes it is Brawn over Brains
Entrepreneur Andrew Chen has written a great post about building your initial team, after you receive your first round of funding. The advice is great for any small business ready to start hiring people. He suggests:
- Hiring T-shaped people versus specialists
- Try to get doers
- More candidate flow solves a lot of problems
- Interview for the actual work you’ll be doing, not skill set trivia
- Raw intelligence is just one factor – don’t overestimate it
I thought all five suggestions were valid, but the one which stuck out the most for me was # 5 – Don’t overestimate raw intelligence.
Years ago, I had a choice between two candidates. Karen was clearly smarter than Julie. But there was something about Julie I liked.
Against my better judgment, I let others convince me to hire the smarter candidate, Karen. I soon discovered the problem. Everything had always come easy to Karen, and she was lazy.
About six months later, I had a chance to offer the Julie a job. While it took her longer to catch on, she knew how to ask for help and work until the project was done. Given a choice, I would hire Julie again.
Some projects require raw intelligence; others require muscle and work ethic. Be sure you know what you need most.
Follow the link to read the rest of Andrew’s article
