07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation

The Silent Story: Striking a Power Pose

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Stories, sales pitches, and every other form of communication rely heavily on word selection, but there is another key ingredient in the recipe: body language.  Our subconscious relies on more than just a string of words to interpret the meaning and depth of a story.  We also use body language to determine the credibility of the speaker.  The interesting thing about body language is that it has a similar effect on both the speaker and the audience.  An article published by the Wall Street Journal says that striking a powerful pose actually changes a person’s hormones and behavior, giving the perception of real power.  The power pose can be practiced before a meeting to start elevating the hormones conducive to a better performance and more confidence.

Professor Amy Cuddy of Harvard University presented a TED talk  titled “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are” in which she elaborated on her research regarding the impact of the power pose.   In one experiment that she conducted, individuals were asked to assume either a low power pose or a high power pose for 2 minutes.  The results showed that after just 2 minutes, there was a change in the hormones testosterone and cortisol, giving the high power posing individuals a higher tolerance for risk and the low power posing individuals a lower tolerance for risk.

So what exactly is a power pose?  According to Forbes magazine, a power pose can be as simple as standing with arms out, hands on hips, and legs spread open.  The victory arm-pumping in the air is another example.  Although very informal, sitting back in a chair with legs propped on a desk and arms folded behind the shoulders is a classic power pose.  Basically, the act of expanding the body can create a power pose that triggers the brain to think bigger too.

There is a proper time to strike a power pose, whether privately in a bathroom or publicly in front of an audience.  The mindset that is achieved through behavior is one of the most powerful tools that can be utilized in communication.  Your business pitch might just depend on that extra little bump in hormones.

04-Managing a project team, team dynamics

Adventures in Miscommunication

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In my work in science, there is often pressure to achieve “breakthrough” results in order to continue to receive grant funding and to publish in high impact journals.  As a consequence, there is sometimes the tendency to not directly falsify, but to prune data so as to cast experiments in the most favorable light.  Minimizing this kind of data manipulation requires effective communication of core scientific principles at all levels of a research team; however, team leaders need to be especially careful that they are sending the right message.  In “Business Adventures” by John Brooks, a book I discovered through an interesting review article by Bill Gates in the Wall Street Journal, there is an example of miscommunication of business ethics throughout General Electric’s entire hierarchy that seemed particularly relevant.  Although the book is several decades old, the series of articles on which it was based appeared from 1959-1969, it is “as much about the strengths and weaknesses of leaders in challenging circumstances as it is about the particulars of one business or another,” as Bill Gates writes in his review.  In the case of GE, the communication of the company policy regarding price-fixing with competitors began to be accompanied by an unmistakable wink from some executives and this eventually became so engrained in corporate culture that even a direct order by an upper-level executive to not engage in price-fixing was ignored.  In his conclusions, Brooks offers the following scenario, where he describes how effective communication requires you to consider not only what you are saying, but precisely how you are conveying it to your audience:

Suppose, purely as hypothesis, that the owner of a company who orders his subordinates to obey the antitrust laws has such poor communication with himself that he does not really know whether he wants the order to be complied with or not.  If his order is disobeyed, the resulting price-fixing may benefit his company’s coffers; if it is obeyed, then he has done the right thing.  In the first instance, he is not personally implicated in any wrongdoing, while in the second he is positively implicated in rightdoing.  What, after all, can he lose?  It is perhaps reasonable to suppose that such an executive might communicate his uncertainty more forcefully than his order.

The review is available here: http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Business-Adventures, and the book is available either from the Emory library or Amazon.

06-Building a case, 07c-Telling stories

Sounding Well-Spoken

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A big part of my job requires me to put together and give presentations on financial results, cost-saving measures, strategy etc. I do not consider myself a poor public speaker, so it is perplexing to me that I often find myself in situations where I have trouble clearly & effectively communicating my thoughts to the group. I ran across a website that has an archive of various executive coaching tips. Among them, there was a short podcast entitled “Sounding Well-Spoken,” which gives listeners suggestions on how to better articulate themselves.

  • Performance improves after you’ve done something at least once. Think before you speak.
  • One minute of thoughtful planning, increases performance ten-fold. Even if you are walking to a meeting, it is not too late to prepare your mind.
  • Here are 3 questions to ‘think’ about before you speak:
  • 1. What idea am I trying to communicate?
  • 2. Exactly how many ideas are there?
  • 3. What would be good one or two-word labels for each idea?

By asking yourself these 3 questions before you speak, you are mentally preparing yourself, which should help you become more articulate.

Please see below for the link to the website:

http://www.essentialcomm.com/tips/execcoachtips.html

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics

Effective Delegation

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At work I am often tasked with ensuring that younger engineers are  billable on my projects. I find this task much more difficult than the project itself, probably because of my ineffectiveness at delegation. Carl Selinger, in The Art of Delegating, discusses 4 ways engineers can be better delegators:

  • “Clearly describe what needs to be done and by when”: Here Mr. Selinger discusses creating the proper framework to allow the delegate to be successful and communicating this framework to them. I have experienced where a misinterpretation by the person helping me results in them progressing down the wrong path. However, it is also important to not construct a framework that is too restrictive as it limits the delegate’s creativity. Mr. Selinger’s next point also speaks to this.
  • “Accept that the work will not be done exactly as you would have done it”: Provide the delegate with some freedom in making decisions – this may result in them making mistakes, but in my experience the feedback they receive from those mistakes is their best learning tool.
  • “Keep track of delegated work”: It is up to the delegator to keep track of all delegated work. I think it’s important to let the delegate concentrate on the details of tasks they have been assigned and leave the tracking of their progress to me.
  • “Give constructive feedback and criticism”: As I mention above, the feedback engineers receive on their work is the best way to learn. Mr. Selinger calls for “good, substantive points”. I think all feedback should first discuss the project at hand and also include a more generalized version so that the younger engineer can apply it to future tasks.
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The Elevator Pitch from Hell…

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Well maybe not Hell if you take the advice of Nicole Fallon of Business New Daily and recognize that the greatest business plans likely don’t stand a chance without an equally strong elevator pitch. So how do you go about knocking one of those impassioned two-minute diatribes out of the park? Below is a sampling from Nicole’s article, “10 Tips for a Winning Elevator Pitch” from this past February.

1. Start Strong: “Eighty percent of your success will depend your opening line. It must snag your listener’s interest and make them want to know more. Do this right, and your prospects will follow you, wanting more.” – Bert Martinez , Bert Martinez Communications

2. Prioritize: “While creating interest and value is key, remember to be authentic and realistic. Making outlandish claims about your company will eventually be discovered, and your integrity will be diminished.” – Ed Cederquist, CEO and co-founder of Bistro MD

3. Keep it conversational: “You want to stand out and generate excitement. Don’t regurgitate a memorized pitch that sounds like a pharmaceutical ad. When I hear a pitch, I don’t necessarily want to feel like I am being pitched. I would rather have it be more conversational. Start with the problem you are trying to solve, the way the current alternatives are lacking; then, briefly describe your solution.”  – John Torrens, assistant professor of entrepreneurial practice at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management

4. Think about your end goal: “You should build your exit strategy along with your business plan. Investors want to know that you’ve evaluated the risk and thought your plan through from soup to nuts” – Summer Kramer, founder of SummerSkin

5. Make a connection: “An elevator speech is an important networking tool. It should serve as a verbal business card that provides a brief, compelling introduction to one’s company and intrigues new acquaintances to seek more information. At your earliest opportunity [after giving your pitch], express an interest in your new acquaintance and learn as much as you can about him or her. The information you gain will provide insight as you proceed with efforts to build a genuine, mutually beneficial relationship.” – Juana Hart, founder of J-Hart Communications

01-Structuring a problem, 05-Creating & constructing good solutions, 07c-Telling stories

Crowdsourcing Principles

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When someone thinks of the idea of “Crowdsourcing,” their first thought may be Kickstarter or some very successful micro-lending organizations.  Crowdsourcing for financial support has been hugely successful.  For example, LeVar Burton has raised more than $5MM to bring back the PBS “Reading Rainbow” program via apps. (http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/books/2014/07/levar_burton_s_kickstarter_campaign_brings_hit_pbs_show_app_to_).  On the more ridiculous side, over 1,000 people have contributed and promised to buy the Ostrich Pillow, a pillow you put your head inside to sleep in public (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-ridiculous-idea-to-ever-get-funded-on-kickstarter-2012-10_)

Crowdsourcing can be used within your company to solve a wide range of problems.  Often a company that has a “flat corporate structure” where opinions and contributions from all employees are valued have a better chance of innovating.  Effective digital platforms and campaigns cater to the Gen Y workforce that most companies want to attract today. Social networks and transparency are something that this generation takes for granted and they want their work-lives to enhance their digital experience.  The key to fully taking advantage of your workforce is to manage the massive amount of data that can be generated.  Having an issue “champion” to manage the process is the best way to begin.

An employee platform will also help companies identify effective opportunities for additional training, advancement and retention that will amount to huge savings, build reputation and attract the best talent in the long run.  Businesses are losing out on innovative employee contributions if they are not creating a way for employees to freely share ideas for improvement. Organizations are even presenting operating challenges to intra- multidisciplinary teams for new perspectives and problem solving.

Deciding what issues should and should not be posed to the entirety of a workforce is important.  However, some of the most complicated issues deserve the most options.  This is new space for older companies but one worth exploring.

 

 

99-Applying business intelligence

Human Brain Inspires New Cognitive Analytics

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I wanted to share this great article, which links the human brain with business intelligence, thereby introducing a potential alternative to traditional analytics. This article gives a new futuristic view of how financial data and business decision might be approached in the future. The article was written by two Deloitte consultants and can be found here: http://deloitte.wsj.com/cio/2014/05/13/human-brain-inspires-new-cognitive-analytics/?KEYWORDS=business+intelligence+analytics

In their article they describe cognitive analytics as innovations, which are inspired by the way the human brain processes information, draws conclusions, and codifies instincts and experience into learning.

The authors state that the benefit of cognitive analytics is based on systems that draw from a broad variety of potentially significant information and relations to generate hypotheses rather than depending on predefined rules and structured queries to reveal answers. This differs clearly from traditional analysis, because the more data is put into a machine learning system, the system remembers and learns, which results in higher-quality insights and more exact hypotheses.

In the article the process of cognitive analytics is basically divided into three main components, machine learning, natural language processing and advancements in enabling infrastructure.

1) Machine learning. Machine learning represents artificial intelligence techniques and is modeled after characteristics of the human brain. Many of today’s implementations represent supervised learning, where the machine must be trained or taught by humans. The system will apply the users feedback on the quality of the conclusions to tune its “thought process” and refine future hypotheses.

2) Natural language processing. Natural language processing (NLP), or the ability to parse and understand unstructured data and conversational requests, is another important component of cognitive computing. NLP makes it possible to include large volumes of raw data—including handwritten content, emails, blog posts, and even voice transcriptions—from multiple sources in an analysis.

NLP can also make it easier for humans to interact with cognitive systems. NLP would make it possible to basically ask the program real questions e.g. “What are the sales projections for this quarter?” instead of being forced to look through a pile of excel data sheets and databases.

3) Enbabling infrastructure. This means basically to create low cost, high-end servers and large appliances to ensure continuously collection, storage, and analysis of the massive amounts of data.

One can say that cognitive analytics might revolutionize the way information is analyzed and applied, as more human activity is expressed digitally, resulting in evolving data forms. However, cognitive analytics is still in its early stages, and is for now not a replacement for more traditional information and analytics programs. Yet exploring this powerful new approach in the analytics arsenal might be a new valuable tool for businesses in fighting with massive amounts of unstructured data.

 

05-Creating & constructing good solutions, creativity methods

Scenario Planning In The Transportation Industry

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Atlanta traffic for some of us is a an hour commute or more each day, which can be hampered by construction or accidents. Whether traveling to school or daily job, we can admit that some portions of the city need serious infrastructure investments but we do not see any progress. Public and private sector stakeholders all need to be aligned on objectives and long term planning, yet due to different agenda’s these companies are far apart.

The HBR below discusses the rise of  Freight Flows, an initiative of convening conversations and achieving alignment, and the importance of ‘scenario planning’ in the transportation industry. Scenario planning helps develop point of views for the future and prepare users for a range of possible outcomes rather than placing all your eggs in one basket for one specific prediction. This type of planning helps bring together disparate parties and  effectively ensures that the best capital investments today will best for long term projects.

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) created a web based mapping application to track freight movement throughout the region and the impact it will have on transportation.  DVRPC now intends to use this application as the starting point to educate business and other regional stakeholders on the insights  on other infrastructure projects. Scenario planning is sponsored by the National Cooperative Highway Research program and will help guide the allocation of funds to projects. Stakeholder conversations has become a barrier to continual development of US transportation systems but this strategy could pave the way around that obstacle.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/to-see-eye-to-eye-on-infrastructure-use-scenario-planning/

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics

Managing [Remote] Teams

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Remote work is a passion of mine. Since 2007 I’ve worked remotely in multiple jobs and in multiple capacities. Yikes — that’s 7 years of self-discipline, Skype calls, and lunchtime showers.

While I do not have any direct reports, I’m a Senior Project Manager, which means for every one of my 33 projects, I manage a copy writer, designer, data manager, implementation specialist, and client team — none of whom are in the same state as I am, let alone down the hall.

I’m always looking for ways to improve team work, manage better, and communicate clearly. All of these skills need to be at a different level when there’s no face-to-face, but some of them can translate to an office environment.

Jana Rhyu wrote a blog post on LoopUp that hits several familiar points on managing remotely that I’d like to share with you.

1. Hire the right people
Jana gives some tips on what “the right people” are. You can probably guess “autonomous self-starters” lead the list of good remote employees, but did you know that introverts are some of the best remote employees? Extroverts tend to shrivel without that face-to-face and introverts shine.

Our method of hiring the right people includes a company favorite interview, affectionately called the “Why You Don’t Want to Work Here” call. People think that working from home will be a cakewalk, until they get on this call with a random five people from across the various departments of Fire Engine RED. We tell them things like “your home will be your workplace, so some days you might hate your house,” “your friends will not understand/believe you’re working when they have a day off and try to swing by,” “your spouse will try to ask you to do errands because you don’t have a commute,” “you’ll check your email before you eat breakfast and later realize you’re starving and it’s suddenly 2pm,” and “your boss will still give you work because s/he can’t see your full plate.” It’s a relatively fun call, but a sobering one at the same time.

What would you have on your WYDWTWH call?

2. Get the right tools
Tools for telecommuters are tools for everyone. If you don’t have an IM program in your office, you might consider bringing one in. Shoot a message to a colleague when she’s on the phone and get a response, or ping someone on another floor to see if they got your file.

Google Docs is something I can’t live without. Even in an office it just makes sense to have certain documents shared and thus have the newest version accessible (and editable) on the go.

The list in the article is longer and I definitely use every one and a few more. Ask any MP team member of mine who had a long commute spared for a group project.

3. Communicate regularly
The curse of telecommuting isn’t a lack of communication, but rather an over abundance of communication. Christine Shealy wrote about The Communication Loop and I can tell you that with all your team members able to reach you on your IM, your cell, your home phone, your email, Skype, and by text, that loop gets closed! You can be on a client call but you’ll still be expected to respond to an urgent message about another client.

I’m not sure I’d recommend all the regular meetings in the blog post (what’s the point of a bi-weekly call if you already have a weekly meeting?) but regular meetings to go over progress, outstanding items, and potential problems is a must.

Meeting just to meet, however, is a pet peeve of mine. In very busy seasons with dozens of projects going at once, I understand meeting every other day to keep each ball in the air. Still, it’s great practice to cut unnecessary meetings to once a week so as to not negatively impact productivity.

4. Set the tone
“Be willing to get and give feedback” is the most important on this list, followed closely by “be direct”. I’ll let you read through these points and comment below on what’s most important in a remote or office environment.

Link to the original blog post: http://loopup.com/blog/communicating-effectively/managing-remote-teams-top-4-tips/

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, storyline structure

9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks

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When asked what my passions in life are, I often respond the same way – food and public speaking (in no particular order). While one is likely to help me further my career and the other is likely to help me further my waistline, they are both still passions of mine.

Public speaking didn’t come naturally to me at first; in fact, there was a time in life where it terrified me. But through practice, practice, and more practice, I came to not only achieve an acceptable level of competency in the skill, but I started to truly enjoy speaking to large groups.

I, like most, am constantly looking for ways to improve my public speaking skills. Like many, I often watch TED talks to gain ideas, inspiration, and witty one-liners to utilize in my presentations. Carmine Gallow’s article entitled, 9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks, is a great synopsis of how there is a style to TED talks, and how this same style can be incorporated into everyday presentations.

There are two ways to summarize this article. The first, and the conventional way, would be with the nine bullet points below. However, it is more exciting to view the most watched TED talk of all time via this link. This TED talk, like many others, illustrates eight of the nine points below (The presenter does not use any materials, so point #8 does not apply).

  1. Unleash the master within.
  2. Tell three stories.
  3. Practice relentlessly.
  4. Teach your audience something new.
  5. Deliver jaw-dropping moments.
  6. Use humor without telling a joke.
  7. Stick to the 18-minute rule.
  8. Favor pictures over text.
  9. Stay in your lane.

Aside from the list, I would like to add one more bullet point that I see as a theme through most of the great presentations that I have seen, the one you may have just watched included.

  1. Take chances.

I would like to point out one skill in particular that this article highlights and the TED talk illustrates – storytelling. This presenter is a phenomenal storyteller. He paints vivid images for the audience through the use of tales about his family, his friends, or moments in history that help bring his points to life. When this powerful imagery is combined with his vibrant scene of humor that both engages and captivates the audience, his message becomes memorable, and he gains instant credibility based on the audience liking him, not his actual subject knowledge.

The points raised in the article do not differ from the lessons learned in MP over the past year. Style, delivery, and content are at the heart of every presentation. The only way to improve these skills is to practice and learn from mistakes made along the way. For anyone with trepidation about public speaking, weather at school or at work, read this article and watch this TED Talk, you will be glad that you did.

Read more: 9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks

Watch the TED Talk: Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity

 

MEMBA learning community, Fall 2016- Spring 2017