I'm looking for a UI firm to redo the UI on my first product. Right now, it's pleasing and usable enough, but going forward with this and our other products, I'd like our products to have a unique, company-specific "personality" (most people would call this look and feel) . I call it personality because I want it to be a bit more pervasive and a lot less surface level than simple look and feel. But that's not the point of this post.
So far, I've written 4 firms.
One called me immediately. They totally and absolutely "got it." But, I need more bids before I just blindly go with the first group I talked to.
Another one wrote me back after 2 days and said they'd routed my RFI but they weren't sure if they really did that sort of work, but they'd let me know (doesn't sound promising does it).
Two others - not one peep. Seriously. Not one.
I find it somewhat amazing that companies won't follow up on leads. However, I know that at my last large company, they basically tossed all the leads that came from the web. But small companies... especially companies that deliver web-based products... wouldn't they be interested in talking to a new business prospect?
Apparently not.
Please send recommendations my way... The two that haven't responded are no longer contenders. I will not be ignored!
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, June 25, 2007
Keeping it together... when you're not
The WSJ had a great article about working together in virtual teams - since you have to be a subscriber to read the whole article - I'll give you the highlights along with my compelling commentary!:
1. invest in an online resource where members can learn about each other - can anyone say... Social Media!
2. choose a few team members who already know each other - this makes a lot of sense, but they do say that if you have too many people that know each other - then there is a tendency for the group to become stale and predictable. You need fresh people and ideas to keep interest and energy up.
3. identify boundary spanners (people who have and make a lot of connections) and make sure they make up at least 15% of the team - these people serve as social glue,and are seen as SO valuable that they make it into #4 as well
4. cultivate boundary spanners as a matter of practice within your organization - having these people throughout the company helps ensure that more people will meet and collaborate
5. break the team's work up into modules so that progress in one location isn't overly dependent on progress in another - some members will be out sick, some will be more productive than others, and some tasks just plain take longer. If you can plan activities so many things can be done in parallel, it helps ensure no one is sitting around waiting for other groups to catch up. In short, everyone can be productive all the time.
6. create an online site where a team can collaborate, exchange ideas, and inspire one another - this is an offshoot of item #1. We live our lives online. Give us a way to collaborate!
7. encourage frequent communication, but don't try to force social gatherings - social gatherings early on - bad - get to work first. Social gatherings later on are good - when you already have a working relationship.
8. assign only tasks that are challenging and interesting - well sure - that would make everyone's job a lot better - but I don't think this one is actually do-able in practice. Some things just have to get done - and they might have to get done by a virtual team - and they might not be very interesting.
9. ensure the task is meaningful to the team and the company I'd argue that if the company doesn't care - why do it? But meaningful to the team? Again, you might be asking too much. Some things you don't care that much about just have to get done. I really don't care much about my lawn being mowed, but it's got to be done. So I make sure it gets done. Same with going to the dentist 2x a year. Some things are just necessary, yet not very interesting.
10. solicit volunteers as much as possible. This is a great way to make sure people want to be involved. This is the root of the open source movement - as well as Wikipedia and other online collaborative projects. If people are inspired, they will get involved, stay involved, and give it their all.
Most of the best practices here aren't that different from basic working best practices: meaningful work, frequent interaction, and a place to collaborate.
A lot of what I've read says that teams that share the same values do better together - and teams that get together often are more productive - but I think it's more about being on the same page. If you want to be there, you're working on something you want to work on, you touch base on a regular basis - and you have the tools to do so effectively - I think any team can be pretty successful. I am noticing - and taking note - of some sorts of conversations that should be had in person. I'm going to keep a running list of those and publish them in a few weeks.
1. invest in an online resource where members can learn about each other - can anyone say... Social Media!
2. choose a few team members who already know each other - this makes a lot of sense, but they do say that if you have too many people that know each other - then there is a tendency for the group to become stale and predictable. You need fresh people and ideas to keep interest and energy up.
3. identify boundary spanners (people who have and make a lot of connections) and make sure they make up at least 15% of the team - these people serve as social glue,and are seen as SO valuable that they make it into #4 as well
4. cultivate boundary spanners as a matter of practice within your organization - having these people throughout the company helps ensure that more people will meet and collaborate
5. break the team's work up into modules so that progress in one location isn't overly dependent on progress in another - some members will be out sick, some will be more productive than others, and some tasks just plain take longer. If you can plan activities so many things can be done in parallel, it helps ensure no one is sitting around waiting for other groups to catch up. In short, everyone can be productive all the time.
6. create an online site where a team can collaborate, exchange ideas, and inspire one another - this is an offshoot of item #1. We live our lives online. Give us a way to collaborate!
7. encourage frequent communication, but don't try to force social gatherings - social gatherings early on - bad - get to work first. Social gatherings later on are good - when you already have a working relationship.
8. assign only tasks that are challenging and interesting - well sure - that would make everyone's job a lot better - but I don't think this one is actually do-able in practice. Some things just have to get done - and they might have to get done by a virtual team - and they might not be very interesting.
9. ensure the task is meaningful to the team and the company I'd argue that if the company doesn't care - why do it? But meaningful to the team? Again, you might be asking too much. Some things you don't care that much about just have to get done. I really don't care much about my lawn being mowed, but it's got to be done. So I make sure it gets done. Same with going to the dentist 2x a year. Some things are just necessary, yet not very interesting.
10. solicit volunteers as much as possible. This is a great way to make sure people want to be involved. This is the root of the open source movement - as well as Wikipedia and other online collaborative projects. If people are inspired, they will get involved, stay involved, and give it their all.
Most of the best practices here aren't that different from basic working best practices: meaningful work, frequent interaction, and a place to collaborate.
A lot of what I've read says that teams that share the same values do better together - and teams that get together often are more productive - but I think it's more about being on the same page. If you want to be there, you're working on something you want to work on, you touch base on a regular basis - and you have the tools to do so effectively - I think any team can be pretty successful. I am noticing - and taking note - of some sorts of conversations that should be had in person. I'm going to keep a running list of those and publish them in a few weeks.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
[A word before we get to today's topic. We contributors have agreed to post once a week, and that will be about all I'll be able to manage for awhile. I come home from work with all sorts of ideas stirring around in my head, but I'm also brain-dead and dead tired, so writing is going to happen after I've had a day to recover. I start with this caveat in case there are any expectations of immediacy. With that said, we're becoming very web 2.0 at work, and there's a lot to say because we are currently undergoing a complete overhaul.]
I have a few soapboxes at work; I stand on them a lot as we go through the process of redesigning our web site. One of them is that we need to support our technical community in two ways:
What's interesting is that I get a lot of support for the idea of providing better findability for the information that will create capability. Some aren't sure of the idea of creating community. I think this has two causes. We do have a few in our customer base who like nothing better to take potshots. They lie in wait for the opportunity to arise. The other cause is a fear, I believe, that people will not participate. I'm not too worried--we have good participation on our mailing lists, and I think we can translate that to forums and community generated content.
Where I run into resistance (fear) is creating trust by opening up the black box. We run centralized IT services (network, phone, security, etc.) that others can and often must use. They can also run some of their own services. We have a lot of power, and we can make things difficult for people, oftentimes inadvertently (these usually end up being labeled "communication problems," but that's another post). That makes people upset and more likely to take potshots.
So, we open it up. Listening to our folks complain about the complaints they get and talking to customers tells me that this is what we need to do. As we enter the content phase of the web site redesign project, we will integrate that at several levels of the site--mission level, SLAs, policies, product/service descriptions, and more. Exposing information creates trust.
I have a few soapboxes at work; I stand on them a lot as we go through the process of redesigning our web site. One of them is that we need to support our technical community in two ways:
- providing them with information about our systems so they know:
- how to implement them in their specialized environments (creating capability)
- what processes we follow for making decisions or changes (creating trust)
- enabling them to share their extensive information with each other and with us (creating community)
What's interesting is that I get a lot of support for the idea of providing better findability for the information that will create capability. Some aren't sure of the idea of creating community. I think this has two causes. We do have a few in our customer base who like nothing better to take potshots. They lie in wait for the opportunity to arise. The other cause is a fear, I believe, that people will not participate. I'm not too worried--we have good participation on our mailing lists, and I think we can translate that to forums and community generated content.
Where I run into resistance (fear) is creating trust by opening up the black box. We run centralized IT services (network, phone, security, etc.) that others can and often must use. They can also run some of their own services. We have a lot of power, and we can make things difficult for people, oftentimes inadvertently (these usually end up being labeled "communication problems," but that's another post). That makes people upset and more likely to take potshots.
So, we open it up. Listening to our folks complain about the complaints they get and talking to customers tells me that this is what we need to do. As we enter the content phase of the web site redesign project, we will integrate that at several levels of the site--mission level, SLAs, policies, product/service descriptions, and more. Exposing information creates trust.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Admitting You Are Wrong - It Works!
Jonathan Schwartz never ceases to amaze me in his blog. He's approachable, likable, and puts a face on Sun that makes me want to buy their stuff (a comment many ppl make in the blog on a regular basis). In the same way Jobs's little kid excitement makes you want to go buy the new Apple gadget in a rush of childish enthusiasm, Jonathan makes you feel like dealing with Sun will be an amicable, "friends sitting over coffee at the local coffee shop" deal. He's looking out for you, and he's going to explain Sun's decisions in customer-centric terms. He gives blogging a lot of credit in Sun's turnaround, but it's not just the blogging that does it. Lots of big companies have exec bloggers. Yup you know what I'm saying. Enough said.
So this post: http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/good_bad_and_brave is an excellent example of a CEO stepping off the podium and engaging the blogosphere. What does he say in this post? Well.... from the post:
"And before you send me the email, yes, I saw the entry written by Matt Mullenweg - and all I can say is... I'm really sorry, Matt. That's not the way Startup Essentials is supposed to work. We screwed up, and you're completely right to suggest if that's the norm, we should kiss goodbye our aspirations of reestablishing our business in the startup community.
If there's anything I can do to win a second chance, I'd like to know. I appreciate your first sentence. "
Sun has a campaign to engage startups and basically, they treated this gentleman VERY poorly. He blogged about it, and Schwartz addressed it in his blog, apoplogized, and one will assume, made it right. One would also assume, whoever dropped the ball in the program will also be fixing their ball dropping issues. Boy I know I'd be shaking in my boots if the CEO had to take one on the chin bc I did a potential customer wrong.
The repliers to this post LOVE what Jonathan said. LOVE it. While they still hold Sun responsible for taking care of their customers, Sun gets a lot of credit for stepping up to the plate and admitting a mistake. The attitude is: "no harm, no foul, just fix it and you're fine." Honesty and trust go a LONG way in any relationship, even business relationships. Yah, I know, hard to believe, but yet... true.
Here's a few comments:
"This blog amazed me enough to want to reply, to communicate, and that's the first step in making me a customer. "
"Thanks for listening to the blogosphere, and thank you for taking time to respond. So many other business leaders could do more of that...."
"A CEO who blogs is rare. A CEO who publicly admits a mistake is priceless."
The rest of the replies are chock full of advice and insight. Some of it very usable for marketing departments, some it not. But all of it showing engaged customers and potential customers.
And that is priceless.
So this post: http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/good_bad_and_brave is an excellent example of a CEO stepping off the podium and engaging the blogosphere. What does he say in this post? Well.... from the post:
"And before you send me the email, yes, I saw the entry written by Matt Mullenweg - and all I can say is... I'm really sorry, Matt. That's not the way Startup Essentials is supposed to work. We screwed up, and you're completely right to suggest if that's the norm, we should kiss goodbye our aspirations of reestablishing our business in the startup community.
If there's anything I can do to win a second chance, I'd like to know. I appreciate your first sentence. "
Sun has a campaign to engage startups and basically, they treated this gentleman VERY poorly. He blogged about it, and Schwartz addressed it in his blog, apoplogized, and one will assume, made it right. One would also assume, whoever dropped the ball in the program will also be fixing their ball dropping issues. Boy I know I'd be shaking in my boots if the CEO had to take one on the chin bc I did a potential customer wrong.
The repliers to this post LOVE what Jonathan said. LOVE it. While they still hold Sun responsible for taking care of their customers, Sun gets a lot of credit for stepping up to the plate and admitting a mistake. The attitude is: "no harm, no foul, just fix it and you're fine." Honesty and trust go a LONG way in any relationship, even business relationships. Yah, I know, hard to believe, but yet... true.
Here's a few comments:
"This blog amazed me enough to want to reply, to communicate, and that's the first step in making me a customer. "
"Thanks for listening to the blogosphere, and thank you for taking time to respond. So many other business leaders could do more of that...."
"A CEO who blogs is rare. A CEO who publicly admits a mistake is priceless."
The rest of the replies are chock full of advice and insight. Some of it very usable for marketing departments, some it not. But all of it showing engaged customers and potential customers.
And that is priceless.
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