Received Value

How do you assess your time? I am often asked this question by clients. Will I get my money’s worth? A variable of the first question. When educating clients or hiring managers about the services you provide, are you clear and concise or are they left wondering whether or not they have made a good choice? Your answers declare who you are and your belief in what you do.

How do you assess your time? Are needs met and goals achieved? Have you solved an issue? Will your services fulfill the necessities of the client or hiring manager? The customer or candidate? Will it work? That is the final question: will it work? Increased business is the ultimate metric. Necessary people are hired and services are executed in a timely fashion. Does the service you provide ease the burden of your client or hiring manager?

The client or hiring manager should experience less stress because of your commitment, not more. Open lines of communication will ease in removing certain levels of stress. Additionally, will you save them money in the long run? Are you getting it done right the first time? Recognize that your job is to help them de-stress and enhance business.

Part of the value a service provider brings to an organization is allowing for greater focus and forward movement. When you fail to follow through, the boss/hiring manager/client is not only thinking about what he needs to get done but what you aren’t getting done. Think clearly about what your end of the bargain is. Are you fulfilling it?

When all of these things come together, when the service provider actually provides the required service, then and only then is the job fulfilled. Increased business, needs met, less stress, bargains met, focus achieved, work gets done. The list isn’t that difficult, nor is it too long. Make the list, check items off and the value will be there. Instead of it being perceived, it will be received.

by rayannethorn

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Go Team!

How often do we get an opportunity to work on a team and enjoy it? Most business professionals view teamwork as a chore instead of a collaborative, learning experience. Additionally, not all team experiences should go smoothly, as friction is how fire gets started, how combustion occurs, how things happen, get done, evolve, or get discovered.

The trick to team work is recognizing that friction is good and taking on an “I will be rational” viewpoint. Too often, we get so caught up in how right we are, that is seals our ears and minds shut, so we are unable to learn or grow, in any way. Small-minded, closed-minded: both are poor attempts at hanging on to what we believe is right.

Opportunities for self-development are all around. Remember junior high? Do you remember all the learning opportunities and the chances to work on a team? This was all a very new experience. Life, as we knew it, had traveled down an unfamiliar path with new challenges and new friends.

As we grew and changed, so did our viewpoints and experiences. And our learning accelerated, new worlds were dropped in our laps along with a barrage of fears and inhibitions. Our work life, especially today, is no different. Teams can be a safe forum to try and test new theories or to hash out issues with other professionals that have a different base and alternate skills.

So, what are you afraid of? What stands in your way of team success? Usually it is only yourself. Put your hand in the middle with the other members and vow to give instead of take, to learn instead of demand, and excite instead of drain.

When it isn’t a game, what have you got to lose? The question really should be, what have you got to gain?