Archives for March 2016
Tips for Handling Virtual Team Conflict; Strategies You Can Use Today
In the workforce conflicts are unavoidable. And in virtual teams, they can be even more challenging to resolve. Virtual team conflict can cause many problems. It will pause productivity, inhibit creativity, and lower morale. If managed properly, though, solving conflict will build trust and interpersonal relationships throughout the team.
Conflicts can be between employees, a team member and leader, or they could be completely task related. Interpersonal conflicts can at their worst lead to someone quitting their job, as it is a common reason for doing so. But task conflicts are usually less complicated and tend to result in better team fusion in the long run.
In virtual teams, person to person conflicts donât happen very often because team members are focused on their tasks and not on office issues.
At Viral Solutions, we understand the trials and tribulations that many new owners of small businesses face in the early going.
The commitment of time and resources that is necessary at the outset can leave many business owners frustrated or exhausted. Weâve experienced this ourselves in our own business operations, so we know just how unpleasant it is and how it can come close to crushing the motivation you had that led you to start the business in the first place.
Hence, working in different time zones has its benefits. But when problems arise from task issues, things can hit the fan. All it takes is a misinterpreted e-mail and tempers can rise. Since communication isnât always face to face and instantaneous, it is harder to be sure one's ideas are understood.
Discuss Online
A good way to manage task conflicts is to use an online discussion board. Virtual teams that use online discussion boards can solve problems faster by not letting them linger. As soon as an issue comes up, a team member can post it on the board. Other team members can see that post and when they have time mull it over, then post their suggestions. In discussion boards, team members can post honest feedback on issues or ideas without fear of persecution from peers because the posts can be made anonymously. The anonymous posts will build trust in the team since ideas will be discussed without bias or office politics.
Virtual Team Website
Your team needs a place where they can rally together to get things done. This means having a shared workspace where project files, updates, team member information, and discussion posts organized by topics, should be available to all team members all the time. This must be used only for issues that involve the whole team and should be managed by the team leader, or a site manager should be appointed.
Allow Subgroups
In team websites, there can be private discussions among a group of team members where issues are discussed without the intervention of the boss. Once the task conflict is resolved, the information is posted for the whole team to see.
When team conflicts arise, make sure you address them ASAP. Post the issue on the discussion board. Give your team members time to chime in with suggestions. Weigh the pros and cons to weed out the bad ideas, and make sure everyone knows your final decision. If you manage the team website, properly conflicts will be resolved quickly, and progress can continue smoothly.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Rob Carpen
Rob is a content writer and editor, specializing in a variety of fields. He helps B2B and B2C clients with blogs, social media, press releases and web content that create more value for their marketing campaigns. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He played Club Rugby at IUP for four years. He loves Rugby and recently attended the Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, England – New Zealand All Blacks v. Tonga Match. Rob is passionate about craft beer. He is transitioning his eight years of home brewing to earn his professional brewer certificate.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
The Most Common Content Marketing Mistakes Made by B2B Companies
Itâs no secret to marketers that content marketing is key to accessing buyers early in their purchase journey. It gives sales representatives a leg up in the purchase process, especially when B2B customers have their minds made up before a rep can even reach out to them. A recent CEB study discovered a few unexpected content marketing mistakes that can derail the hard work a business puts into a content marketing strategy. We explain them and offer a few ideas to avoid them below.
1. Over-personalized content. The consensus among most marketers is that the most effective way to reach stakeholders is to generate
Itâs important for any company that is serious about digital marketing to include a content marketing plan in its online endeavors. However, before you jump right into the world of content marketing, thereâs some important background research that you need to do first.
content specifically targeted to each individual. This personalization was thought to increase engagement, and lead to conversions. The CEB research actually turns this precept on its head. The results of the study showed that when content was more personalized for each individual decision-maker in a group, it actually resulted in a lower probability for a quality sale. Instead, marketers should consider a more collective approach to their stakeholders. This encourages collaboration among a stakeholder team. Creating unity within those decision makers is vital to successful conversions.
2. Too much focus on being the expert. Becoming an industry expert is a major priority for many marketers. The idea here is that a customer is more likely to trust a business that has establish itself as a thought leader in the industry. However, the CEB study found that a customerâs decision actually is not influenced by the expertise of a business. Consumers are more likely to modify their behavior when they see an intellectual or emotional benefit in the business. This means a company that educates a consumer while also creating a convincing incentive to convert has a much greater chance of success.
3. Content doesnât reflect purchases. The common belief among content marketers is that the interaction a customer has with their content is indicative of the progress a customer has made with his or her purchase. This affects the timing of when a sales rep reaches out to a consumer, which may be too early or late depending where the consumer is in the process. Because content isnât created to convey this information, itâs not surprising that the CEB research showed that content downloads are a poor measure of purchases. A better approach is to target each step a consumer takes during the purchase process. Consider what information a buyer might want during each stage and market to each step individually.
Contact us today at Viral Solutions to get your B2B marketing performing at its peak!
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2015 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.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
New Study: Work Values Important to Millennials
A new study, the Deloitte Millennial Survey, revealed that millennials place a significant amount of importance on their values and ethics in the workplace, so much so that 44 percent of respondents in the survey said they have turned down a job offer because the values of the company did not match their own.
Our small business experts can consult or coach on a wide variety of important business topics, including sales optimization and management, sales training, automated relationship marketing, eMarketing, strategic planning and much more. Our thought process is very simple. First we seek to understand, before we seek to be understood. When the team at Viral Solutions brings their minds to your business, you are getting all of our collective experiences. We will not sugar coat the reasons behind our input. We will not withhold our best solutions. We will not limit our implementation strategies. We will tell you exactly how we see it. The results you experience will be the sum of your strategy, your defined target audience, your commitment to serve your customer and our process of delivery. That means we are an integral part of your team!
Another 49 percent of respondents in the survey said they have rejected projects at work that clashed with their values, and 56 percent said they have sworn to themselves they will never work for certain companies because of the values of the organization.
Additional statistics from the survey: 40 percent of respondents who plan on remaining with their current employer say the employer has a âsense of purposeâ beyond just financial success. Approximately 87 percent of respondents say the companyâs success should not just be measured by financial performance. Seven in 10 say their personal values are shared by their employer, which is good news, but approximately 63 percent say millennials say their leadership skills are not being full developed by their employer.
The survey included responses from 7,700 millennials (defined roughly as people born between 1982 and 2000) across 29 countries.
The takeaways
So what does all of this information mean?
First, it is clear that millennials are far more value conscious than any generation that has come before them when it comes to the kind of work they will do. They are not willing to compromise their values just to get a job, and they want to be a part of something that they sense has a larger purpose and can create a positive impact on the world.
Second, it is therefore also clear that employers must ensure they are creating a workplace culture that revolves around more than financial success. They must have a vision that everyone on the staff can get behind and contribute to, and they must give their employees opportunities to shine.
What are your biggest takeaways from this survey? What sort of values does your company espouse?
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Tips for Showing Appreciation to Virtual Team Members
In the office, your team works with focus and vigor to accomplish the goals that you as a leader have set for them. Being in close contact with your staff makes it simpler to track their progress and evaluate their work. It is also very easy to give feedback and a thank you for a job well done. Surely you remember your time spent as a team member working hard to please your boss and get noticed. And being rewarded for your efforts every now and then was especially uplifting and motivating. Well, your remote virtual team members are no different. It is obviously more challenging given the distance, but every bit as important to show your appreciation to your team members.
At Viral Solutions, we understand the trials and tribulations that many new owners of small businesses face in the early going.
The commitment of time and resources that is necessary at the outset can leave many business owners frustrated or exhausted. Weâve experienced this ourselves in our own business operations, so we know just how unpleasant it is and how it can come close to crushing the motivation you had that led you to start the business in the first place.
Small Rewards
A nice way to show your team members you care is bestowing small gifts from time to time. Maybe reward them after a big accomplishment such as landing a new contract, or going big on their quarterly sales. You might take an office employee out to lunch occasionally to say thanks; this isn't possible of course for a remote team member. Instead of taking those out you could treat them to a gift card of a favorite lunch spot of theirs. There are many online gift options other than food such as iTunes, Amazon, eBay. A splendid idea would be to send an online gift card for a website that sells items geared toward your employeesâ hobbies. This would not only say âat a boyâ (or girl), but also let them know you care about who they are as a person.
Recognize and Acknowledge
A lot of times, just a simple thank you can go a long way. As busy as leaders are it is easy to get caught up in daily affairs and lose sight of those who help keep the business running. Take time to reflect on your team's accomplishments and drop a line now and then to thank them. Holding short video conferences with the whole team to recognize the whole or one member who has excelled in their performance is a good way to show gratitude and connect on a personal level. Even a short “thank you” e-mail is a great way for a team member to start their day.
Whatever you do to show appreciation, do it often and be sincere. Showing gratitude builds connection and keeps your team motivated
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Rob Carpen
Rob is a content writer and editor, specializing in a variety of fields. He helps B2B and B2C clients with blogs, social media, press releases and web content that create more value for their marketing campaigns. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He played Club Rugby at IUP for four years. He loves Rugby and recently attended the Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, England – New Zealand All Blacks v. Tonga Match. Rob is passionate about craft beer. He is transitioning his eight years of home brewing to earn his professional brewer certificate.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Are you running your business in a state of overwhelm?
Only you can prevent another random weirdo from wasting your timeâŠ.
Hi all â My name is Deirdre Gruendler. Iâve worked a bit on a couple of projects with the team at Viral Solutions. Weâre kicking off a new project together â and we need your participation.
We were chatting the other day about how the services that Viral Solutions keep evolving. That conversation led to an idea for a new Viral Solutions blog series that Iâll be writing every week or so.
The focus of these blogs is going to be on exploring the recurring pain points that Viral Solution's clients are experiencing. Weâre going to do this
At Viral Solutions, we understand the trials and tribulations that many new owners of small businesses face in the early going. The commitment of time and resources that is necessary at the outset can leave many business owners frustrated or exhausted. Weâve experienced this ourselves in our own business operations, so we know just how unpleasant it is and how it can come close to crushing the motivation you had that led you to start the business in the first place. At Viral Solutions, We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves â so business can be fun again.
exploration based on your input and questions. Weâre going to keep the blog posts light and breezy and â most importantly â weâre all going to work on learning a little something along the way together.
When Viral Solutions first got started, they were working with clients on teaching small business sales and marketing departments how to work together for their own greater good. Remember, they used to be “unique departments”. In order to be better connected, they started using Infusionsoft. As they got really good at it, they started sharing what theyâd learned about it with clients just like you. Eventually, Infusionsoft implementation became what they were great at.
Ask the Viral Solutions team âwhy Infusionsoft?â and theyâll tell you â because it helps them solve one of their clientsâ key problem areas â building great marketing and sales relationships. As users of Infusionsoft for their own customer relationship management, itâs helped the whole V.S. team focus on serving the right client, with the right service and the right time. Pretty cool.
So, back to my chat with Tom: I asked him: what is one key problem that all new clients bring to the table â a problem that Infusionsoft doesnât solve. He said, without a momentâs hesitation: âthey are overwhelmed by attempting to do it all.â
Sometimes they are perfectionists or unwilling to allow others to pitch in. Sometimes they are experiencing a rapid and unanticipated burst of customer demand that they arenât quite ready to fill. Sometimes theyâve started a hobbyâŠthat suddenly became a business.
Does this sound familiar to you?
Are you running your business in a state of overwhelm? This is the first problem weâre going to dig into in the weeks ahead: getting out of overwhelm.
Okay, at this point, you might be thinking âseriously, another random weirdo spouting off on how to stop being overwhelmed. Gosh, thanks, like I canât read that by 7 million coaches out there.â I know if I were reading this that this is exactly what Iâd be thinkingâŠfollowed quickly by âwhat are your experiences and successes that earn you the right to get my attention?â
Hereâs what weâre going to try thatâs a little bit different â we want to know what works for you. If youâll drop me a quick line with your super secret ⊠or totally common ⊠overwhelm buster weâll give you a shout out in an upcoming blog. More importantly, youâll be reaching out to your entrepreneurial peers, giving back, and creating a more resilient tribe of Viral Solutions clients. The better we do as a group â the better weâll do individually.
Letâs get started. Write me at [email protected]
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Deirdre Gruendler
Deirdre is a ghost writer, executive leader, just-can't-leave-it-aloner, builder, Midwesterner and all around improver of things major and minor. Deirdre has worked in nonprofits, for-profits and ‘why can't we make-a-profits‘ large and small. Trained in relationship development, executive coaching, landscape architecture and the perfect buttercream (see how all that applies?), Deirdre excels when she's working on bringing clarity to big messy problems and turning confusion into focused direction. Hobbies that have had little to no business return (yet) include biking, French horn playing, jewelry making and travel. Deirdre holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.