Archives for December 2014

Change Management Part 2: Revisiting Change Phases; Creating a Buy-In that Builds Enthusiasm, not Resistance.

December 5, 2014 by Katie

Practitioners have the challenge and opportunity of creating an effective change management strategy that illustrates the importance, reasoning, and urgency for the proposed changes. Within this post we will discuss the unfreezing, implementing, and refreezing phases within an organization. Furthermore, we'll hit home proposed communication approaches to creating buy-in, and minimizing resistance of change. Let's get started.

The Unfreezing Stage: This is the stage where practitioners need to tread cautiously. Here, depending on the level of change that will occur, practitioners need to show respect toward the current And that is what happens when we resist change. system, however, balance that respect for the need of the proposed system. Otherwise, change receipts would see little to no value of the proposed change initiatives. Basically, practitioners need to paint the picture why the proposed change is better than the current system, how it will be done, and why it will be done. Creating the understanding, connection, and vision for the new changes is part of the Energy Principle. The idea behind the Energy Principle is that the reasoning of the new changes should create the acceptance, motivation, and energy needed to implement the new changes.

The Implementing Stage: This is the stage where change initiatives will be carried out. The assumption prior to this stage is that management created value in the Unfreezing Stage that established support for the proposed changes and prepared the change recipients of what is to come. The “what it is to come” is this stage. Here change recipients will be implementing the initiatives. Practitioners need to know the ins and outs of these initiatives. Doing so builds confidence and respect from the change receipts. Think of a time when you were asked to carry out an initiative, but had no clue where to begin, how did it make you feel not knowing what to do to make it happen. Don't do that as a practitioner. Rather lead the way with specifics about the what, how, when, and why aspects of initiatives. This will help you to help your change agents to carry out the initiatives according to plan. Which will ultimately contribute to consistency and follow through. In terms of communication deliver relevant to this aspect, do what fits best with your organization, department, or team. Don't assume that a written Memo will be the best method. Think like your employees, what would minimize stress and build clarity and enthusiasm toward the initiatives? Perhaps, a town hall meeting, training sessions, change intranet resource center, critical path management chart, or something would build enthusiasm rather than resistance.

The Refreezing Stage: This is the stage in which whatever practices and initiatives that were presented in the implementing stage become the new way of doing things. Like many things within life, in Stop the domino effect concept for solution to a problem order to get something to stick there needs to be structure to support it. During this stage, the new systems, attitudes, assumptions, and behaviors toward the organizational change are internalized. The key is to create a system that is proud, excited, and works towards carrying out the new initiatives according to plan. The more affirmation and acknowledgement of carrying out the initiatives according to plan will inspire employees to continue on that path. This decreases reverting back to the previous way of doing things. Perhaps, practitioners may want to implement a reward system that aligns with the new initiatives to recognize, celebrate, and continue on the path of least resistance.

The bottomline, people are hesitant to change. Especially poorly planned change initiatives. Practitioners have the responsibility to create a structured change strategy that fits with the unfreezing, implementing, and refreezing phases of change. Furthermore, practitioners that can create initiatives that fit with those phases have a greater ability to establish enthusiastic buy-in, rather than resistance. This helps to harness the ability and viability of sustainable change . That being stated, if you would like to discuss change management concepts to minimize resistance and increase enthusiasm within your organizational change situation, certainly feel free to reach out.

Have the best day ever!

by Katie Doseck, Ph.D.

Chief Visionary and Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve | Viral Solutions LLC

Dr Katie Doseck, MBA, PhD Viral Solutions

Katie Doseck, PhD MBA | Chief Visionary & Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve. I catapulted my experience with extensive education, trainings, and personal coaching; earning a PhD in Organizational Management with a specialization in Human Resource Management, MBA in Organizational Leadership, and BA in Law & Liberal Arts. Subject Matter Expert (SME) areas: Human Resource Management, Employment Law, Organizational Change, Change Management, Resource Planning, Strategic Planning, Talent Management, Selling & Sales Management, Training & Development, Decision Making Models, Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Motivation. Dr. Doseck is based out of Logan, Utah.

Filed Under: Analytics Tagged With: Change Management Practices, viral solutions

What’s In a Name? Why Some Startup Names Can Lead to Failure

December 4, 2014 by Christine

Fair or unfair, the name of your company is going to have a big impact on the way people view it, especially if it’s the first time people are hearing about it. A good name is part of making a good first impression, and it’s very hard to come back from a bad first impression.

So where exactly do people go wrong in naming their companies? Here are a few of the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs when naming their business:

Trying to be too clever. The temptation is always there to come up with some sort of snappy, hip name, but this is often a mistake. Your name should communicate something to your customers and should have some real sort of meaning or emotion behind it, rather than just being clever for the sake of being clever.

Limiting your horizons. Many businesses start out as regional or local companies, and that’s fine. But as soon as you begin to conduct business online, you’ve taken a step toward entering the global marketplace. For example, if you put the name of your city or region in the name of your business, or if the name of your business in any way indicates that its products or services are specifically geared toward people of a certain area, you’re majorly limiting your potential to reach out to broad new audiences.

Choosing names similar to existing companies. If you kick off your company by imitating another company’s name, all you’re doing is painting your new business as a knock-off to a larger competitor in the eyes of potential customers. Originality is your friend, especially when you’re just getting started and you need to find ways to differentiate your business from its competitors.

Not considering the future. You don’t want to risk dating yourself with the name of your company. Consider how the future of your industry could evolve in the coming years. If there’s any chance that it could make your business name feel outdated at some point, you’ll want to make a change and opt for something that will be timeless.

Make a statement early by choosing a strong name with meaning behind it that sets you apart from your competitors. Contact us at Viral Solutions today for more tips as you prepare to launch.
by Christine Kelly

CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC

Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.

Filed Under: Analytics Tagged With: failure

Ways to Keep Your Business Organized During the Holidays

December 3, 2014 by Christine

The holiday season can put a bit of strain on any business. People are likely to request time off, or their attention may be focused elsewhere. Depending on the kind of business you have, you might see a huge upswing in customers which could make you busier than any time throughout the rest of the year.

Simply put, the holiday season presents a lot of opportunity for businesses, so long as they are able to stay organized throughout the occasional mayhem. Here are some ways you can do exactly that:

Plan ahead. Take a look at your calendar and mark down important days that you need to be aware of. These could include Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday or any other big days that you will need to prepare for. Put together your communication and advertising plans months ahead of time so that you will already be prepared to implement those plans by the time the holiday season rolls around.

Pre-schedule social media and blog posts. There’s a good chance that you’ll be so busy during the holiday season that you’ll be tempted to make your marketing take a backseat. After all, marketing is usually the first area to get pushed aside during busy times. However, by doing so you’re losing a huge opportunity to increase business and find new customers around the holiday season. With social media, for example, rather than abandoning your networks, you could pre-schedule posts through Hootsuite or another social media application for Facebook, Twitter and more. Have holiday-themed blog posts written ahead of time so that all you need to do is post them up when the time comes to publish.

Stay in touch with colleagues. Make sure that you know for sure when employees are planning on taking off, and that everyone within your business understands the expectations that you have for them during the holiday season. Strong communication is especially important during extremely busy times.

Go mobile. You’re likely going to find yourself out and about more often during the holiday season, so be sure that you have mobile access to all the important information and tasks related to your business that you need.

How has your business prepared itself for the holiday season this year?

Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer | Viral Solutions LLC

Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.

Filed Under: Analytics Tagged With: social media

Change Management – Types, Principles, and Phases: Part 1

December 2, 2014 by Katie

In order to effectively understand organizational change and change management techniques, it is essential for practitioners to be familiar with accepted principles and theories regarding change. By understanding the theoretical and application oriented approaches to organizational change and change management, practitioners will be more effective at tailoring a strategic approach that is complementary to the “new” organizational changes and strategy.

This provides practitioners to learn more about organizational change and change management, but to link theory with creation of effective strategy that will help increase the probability of effective performance to achieve specific strategic initiatives involved. Therefore, the remainder of this post will discuss organizational change and a couple of change management principles.

Organizational Change

Organizational change is the process of replacing a current system or way of doing things within an organization. The change requires acceptance, implementation, and maintenance. Depending on the specific circumstances and objectives, the organizational change may require minimal, incremental, or radical change. Although there may be different types of proposed changes, there still is the need for familiarity and understanding about change management principles, and how these principles may tie into the creation of an effective integration preparation plan.

Change Management Principles

Change happens all of the time within organizations. The stages of change include: birth, growth, development, decline, and death.. There may be minimal, incremental, and/or radical changes that may come into play. In order for effective change management to actually happen there needs to be a cohesive understanding about areas within the “new” organization that will be changing and how those changes may ultimately influence or deviate from the current situation. This research and analysis of the current systems within the organizations is also referred to as the Diagnostic Principle of Change Management . What this means is that practitioners need to be aware of similarities and differences the present and proposed situation. This could ultimately influence the viability of change and performance. Having this understanding will provide practitioners with opportunities to tailor the right approach to create a change management strategy that will help to actually make the proposed changes happen.

Building upon the Diagnostic Principle is understanding the different stages of change. This is especially the case for practitioners because it reminds practitioners that every action regarding current and proposed change is somewhere within the change cycle, and that the actions designed to change the current system, must include the right amount of “force” to change the current system. This change management principle is known as the Quasi-Stationary Equilibrium of Multiple Forces designed by Dr. Kurt Lewin. The reasoning behind this theory is that because there is always some level of change happening within any system in an organization, it is essential to understand what forces, such as activities, are occurring that keep that system up and running.

Change Management Phases

The information about forces influencing organizational change should be identified, analyzed, and evaluated. This information will provide practitioners with specific indicators where there are minimal, incremental, or significant differences between the present and proposed organizational aspects that would be impacted by the change. The evaluation of how these areas are currently used and what changes may need to occur is paramount to change preparation. After the actual diagnosis, evaluation, and creation of the “new” proposed forces that will be implemented to move from the current way of doing things is the process of actually pull together a plan that addresses t Process he preparation. The preparation of implementation should focus on the three specific phases of change that must occur in order for change to actually to shape: unfreezing, implementing, and refreezing stages.

One of the most difficult phases of change management is the initial unfreezing stage.. The principle behind the unfreezing stage is that it requires some sort of motivation or reasoning about why the current system should be replaced with another. Basically, practitioners need to create a level of discomfort about the current system(s) that need to change and the reasoning behind those changes. To do this, practitioners will need to show how the current system(s) are not fully conducive to the “new” organizational strategies . Keep in mind, that every organization change is going to be different. so within these two areas, the changes may be minute, subtle, or radical. Depending of the actual proposed changes, the approach to “unfreezing” the current system(s) may be different.

Whatever the case is in regards to level or type of change that must occur, it is essential that practitioners create and communicate the reasoning behind why the current system is not helping to achieve full organizational capabilities It is essential that communication is respectful to the current systems and participants. This illustrates the urgency of moving forward with better systems that are in better alignment with the “new” organization as recommended by Dr. John Kotter. Doing so may help practitioners build a case behind the reasons for the proposed changes. That being said, stay tuned for Part 2: Establishing a Buy-In for Strategic Change Initiatives that hits home on best practices for building enthusiasm, not resistance to organizational change. For more information or to discuss change management practices, certainly feel free to reach out.

Have a wonderful day!!!

by Katie Doseck, Ph.D.

Chief Visionary and Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve | Viral Solutions LLC

Filed Under: Analytics Tagged With: Change Management, Change Management Practices, katie doseck, viral solutions

Tips for Building a Successful Business from Scratch

December 1, 2014 by Christine

Recently there have been several publications that have profiled the story of Sara Blakely, who became one of the youngest self-made billionaire women in the world due to the success of her Spanx products.

Starting with less than $5,000 in savings, it took her just 14 years to cross the billion dollar threshold. And yet, her strategy that she used to accomplish this was rather simple:

Don’t feel as though you need to follow anyone else’s rules. There is no “right way” to find success as an entrepreneur. The moment you find yourself strictly adhering to some set of guidelines is the moment you need to step back and take a serious look at whether you’re truly exploring all of your options. You need to stay innovative and open-minded.

Don’t get discouraged. This is easier said than done, of course. There are going to be plenty of failures along the way. In Blakely’s case, she had to work an extra job selling fax machines door-to-door while she worked to get her Spanx brand off the ground. But if you have a good product for which there is a need, one that you truly believe in, you can’t give up when things get difficult. It takes time to build a successful company from the ground up.

Make in-person pitches. Never underestimate the power of face-to-face interaction in the business world. In Blakely’s case, she says that she had difficulty getting manufacturers to take her seriously when having discussions over the phone, so she went and visited them in person instead. Taking the effort to meet in person shows you are a true believer in your idea and that you’re willing to go the extra mile to make it a success.

Show that you care. You need to be the advocate for your idea, especially in the early stages. You are the person that cares the most about your idea, so you need to show it. Go above and beyond what people would typically do to ensure your idea becomes a hit.

Take time to appreciate your accomplishments. Blakely emphasizes the importance of stepping back and analyzing how far you’ve come every now and then, because the road you take while building a business can quickly become exhausting. Most of all, she says that you should try to enjoy the ride as much as you can, because it’s a time period you’ll often look back on once you’ve achieved your goals.

Let us at Viral Solutions work with you as you build your brand from scratch! Contact us today for more information.

Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer | Viral Solutions LLC

Filed Under: Analytics Tagged With: accomplishments