ABCs of TEAM BUILDING....

The following concepts are what I consider the fundamentals of team-building:

A is for action. No team can function without a plan of action, even when the final outcome is to take no action at all.

B is for brainpower. If two heads are better than one, I would submit that a cohesive, well-assembled team should have enough brainpower to attack any project.

C is for cooperation and communication. Team members need to cooperate, even if they don't necessarily agree. Clear communication is the roadmap to cooperation.

D is for dedication. As members of a team, you must be dedicated to the goals of the team, or you are on the wrong team.

E is for ears. Use your ears more than your mouth because listening skills are critical for team success.

F is for fun. Work should be fun, and working together is usually a lot more fun than working alone.

G is for the group effort. The motto needs to be "all for one and one for all" in order to be a real team.

H is for help. Ask for it if you need it, and offer it if someone else needs yours.

I is for the ideas that come from brainstorming and picking each others' brains. Let the ideas flow and then choose those which hold the most potential.

J is for juggling. Combining all the company's needs and desired results will often require a juggling act, but a competent team will be able to achieve that balance.

K is for kinetic -- energetic, dynamic team members keep things moving.

L is for leadership. Every team needs a leader, and every leader needs to be able to depend on the team.

M is for motivation. Nothing motivates a team like trust placed in them by management to solve a problem.

N is for negotiate. Give and take is as important within a team as it is with outside clients.

O is for open mind. Team members need to be open to options they may not have considered, and willing to expand their perspectives to find the best answers.

P is for planning. A plan doesn't need to be rigid to be effective, but it must provide enough direction to keep the team on course.

Q is for questions. Asking questions is the best path to finding solutions. Don't be afraid of asking any question. If you don't understand something, chances are others don't either.

R is for results. The whole point of forming a team is to achieve results. The only variation on that theme is that the results may not be what had been originally anticipated.

S is for solutions, which differ from results in that there may be more than one solution to any given problem. Then the team can implement the best choice.

T is for time management. A well-managed team uses their meeting and planning time efficiently, and understands when it is time to finish the project.

U is for unity. Once a decision is made, the team needs to be unified to implement the plans. If the team can't act as a unit, then it may be necessary to reconfigure the team.

V is for voice. Every team member has to have a voice in the proceedings, and it is up to the team leader to insure that all voices are heard.

W is for work ethic. Each member needs to complete the given assignments and should have confidence that others will demonstrate the same commitment.

X is the X factor -- the chemistry that makes a team productive because all members are committed to the same goal.

Y is for yes -- say it as often as you can. "Yes, I can help. Yes, that's a good idea. Yes, let's move ahead. Yes, we did it!"

Z is for zeal. Passion, eagerness and enthusiasm are contagious; share your zeal with the rest of your team.

Weakness or Strength

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grap your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Bits & Pieces, August 15, 1996, Economic Press Inc


Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, The Holy Bible

Practical Tips on Closing Sales....

There are many closing techniques and there are some common tips that are offered to make closing even more successful.

ABC

ABC is a common term which stands for 'Always Be Closing', which is both good and bad advice.

ABC is good advice when it is used to keep in mind that you are always aiming towards a close. It is bad when you just use it to mean battering the customer to death with a barrage of unsubtle closing techniques.

Selling can be a lot like fly fishing. If you tug hard on the line, it will snap and the fish will get away. The best method is a gentle coaxing that gradually brings the fish in to shore - although sometimes when they are spooked you have to let them out again and calm them down further away.

Silence after

When you have used a closing technique, be quiet afterwards and let them respond. If you just keep talking, then you may miss what they have to say - like 'yes' for example.

Silence also builds tension and will encourage them to respond - and a response to a well-put closing question will hopefully be positive.

Watch emotions

Watch out for the other person not only in what they say but also in the emotions behind the words.

Never try closing when they are in a negative emotional state - you will only cause further objection and possibly anger that means they will never buy from you again.

Over-closing

It is not unknown for sales people to talk their customers into closure then carry right on and talk them out again. You can over-do closing and it requires a close sensitivity to avoid this trap.

It is often the fear of the other person saying 'no' that often causes a sales person to keep on talking. You must have faith and also accept that when they say 'no' it is no real comment about you. If you take rejection personally then you are probably in the wrong job.

There are no bebacks

When a customer says 'I'll be back', sales people in many different situations know that this is just an excuse to leave. Thus, it is said, 'there are no bebacks'.

The consequence of this is that when customers say they will be back, you cannot count on it and should treat this as if they will not and decide either to move to the next customer or redouble your sales efforts.

Closing need not mean a sale today

In some situations, there are bebacks. In fact any business sale may require that the sales person make many visits and a multi-million dollar deal can take years to set up.

When you can meet the customer again, then you can have intermediate goals and closure may just be and agreement to meet again. It can also ask for commitment to certain acts such as getting you information or looking at a website. Generally, if you are getting the other person to commit to some action, you are moving the sale forward.

Horses for courses

In all of these methods, remember that all closing techniques are appropriate only in particular circumstances. This can include the emotional state and readiness of the customer.

It also depends on the sophistication of the customer. A professional buyer in a big company has been on all the sales courses themselves and can see a closing technique coming from several miles away. Using simple methods with sophisticated buyers will only serve to annoy them, so rather than treating the situation like one-off selling, use more relationship selling methods, seeking to understand them and meet their needs, both professional and human. Everyone, even buyers, like to be treated with respect, and if they do catch you being a bit crass, then apologize and be more careful where you tread!

Nishant K. Makasare

Perception......

There were two brothers in a small village in the Eastern Cape. The twin brothers grew up knowing nothing else but poverty. Their father was an alcoholic and their mother a domestic worker. They grew up with very little.

On their way home one day, their parents were involved in a bus accident and died instantly. The brothers' condition became even worse. At age 17 they separated. Years and years later a family member decided to find them for a family reunion.

One of the brothers was a wealthy engineer owning a construction company. He had a wife and three beautiful kids. The other was an alcoholic with no sense of direction for his life.

The family member asked the engineer, "How did your life turn out like this?"
"What did you expect with a childhood like mine?" he answered.

She moved on to the other brother with the same question.
"What did you expect with a childhood like mine?" was his answer.

This tells us that, "men are not disturbed by the things that happened but by their perception of the things that happened".

Attitude Deretmines Attitude

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. I have responsibilities to fulfill today. I am important. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don't have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn't give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can feel honored because the Lord has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped. And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Non IIM Graduates to take up OFFBEAT JOBS

BANGALORE: Sweta Tiwari, who will soon get her MBA degree in finance from Thakur Institute of Management, made chocolates on Valentine’s day which

fetched her Rs 20,000 in just three days. Interestingly, she earned Rs 22,000 while test marketing her products — the highest earned by any student in her 180-batch class. She plans to open a retail outlet and aims it to be a Rs 100-crore company in five years.

It’s just not IIM graduates who are taking the entrepreneurial plunge. Students from tier-1 and tier-2 management institutes are also increasingly joining the entrepreneurial tribe and their businesses range from making solar streetlights, robots, solar mobile chargers, painting murals and walls, mushroom cultivation, making eco-bricks out of cow dung to offering homemade tiffins.

Sweta was among the 6 lakh students from business schools and engineering colleges across 30 cities who participated in Entrepreneurship Week (E-Week) India conducted by the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) this year. “We saw the number of business propositions and the number of participants double compared to last year,” said Laura A Parkin, executive director, NEN, and Wadhwani Foundation, which supports E-Week.

One of the aspirants was Danny D’Cruz from the VLB Janakiammal College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. He started a wall and mural painting business, taking up an average of four projects a month, which helped him earn Rs 8,000 per project. D’Cruz started this business when one of his artist friends lost his BPO job during the recession. “We go to houses and paint their walls with different pictures as per customer demand,” says D’Cruz.

Students like Praveen Kumar and Ashwin Dange from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, who learnt about the shortage of mushroom supply in Mysore, started cultivating it. They plan to brand their products soon and sell them directly to hotels and restaurants. And Ashutosh Pandey (25) from the Thakur Institute of Management in Mumbai plans to launch a startup that offers homemade tiffins along with four fellow students. “We hope to sell 1,000 tiffins per day after six months,” said Mr Pandey.

G Ramachandran (22), a Btech final year student at the PSG Institute of Technology, has plans to launch solar streetlights and solar mobile chargers. He plans to raise funds by conducting workshops on solar robots.

Going the eco-way is another student, Kumar Saurav, from the Vidya Vardhaka College of Engineering, Mysore, who has plans to make eco-bricks made of cow dung for homes. These bricks are a mix of cow dung, silica and clay which can be baked in sunlight and don’t need kilns or large ovens. Mr Saurav is talking to contractors and the construction industry to supply these bricks. “With an investment of Rs 50,000, I am planning to produce 20,000 bricks to do a trial run,” he said.

Rahul Kamath (24) from PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore has started a company which makes steam boilers used for different industries instead of furnaces.

“The steam has got higher temperature than fire and can be used for different purposes such as cleaning and won’t burn objects,” he said. Mr Kamath is also starting a plant for organic fuel sourced from agricultural waste, with an investment of Rs 5 lakh.