Humour Turns E-Mail Viral

A study by Sharpe Partners, an interactive marketing agency, revealed that
89% of adult Internet users in America share content with others via e-mail.
This is excellent news for those companies who use self-propelling
word-of-mouse” e-mail techniques to sell their products.

The study generated some interesting results regarding the type of content
that is most often forwarded, as well. The most popular content is humorous
material.

The second most popular category is news, followed by healthcare and medical
information, religious and spiritual material, games, business and personal
finance information and sports/hobbies. in that order. So it is easy to see
that humour is the best content for your viral e-mail campaign.

Cartoons, jokes and funny video clips are among the things that can be added
to an e-mail to insure that it will go viral. People will want to pass along
something that makes them laugh.

They are a lot more likely to hit the forward button and send your email to
their friends and relatives if it is an “advertainment” rather than an
advertisement.

Not long ago, about 35 million people got an e-mail containing a picture
taken in Disneyland. It took a minute to see it but there was Donald Duck
lying prone in front of the famous Cinderella Castle. The title of the
picture was “Bird Flu has hit Disneyland”. It was a viral e-mail advertising
Disneyland and used the edgy strategy of making light of what’s serious. and
it works.

I’d guess that most people who own a computer have seen that picture. and
thus the advertisement for Disneyland. The bird flu epidemic is newsworthy
and has the potential to attract an enormous amount of attention to any
brand that might, for whatever reason, associate itself with it.

Remember that people are much more likely to share a joke or a funny picture
than anything else so you would be well advised to include humour in your
e-mail campaign.

Preparing For The Event

• Read the proposed conference flyer and match your points to the theme.
• The flyers can help on the direction of the content – it is always a good idea to discuss the content further with the Conference Producer before you prepare ‘it’.
• Cicero over two thousand years ago said a good speaker learns fast and is knowledgeable and expert about the subject – know your subject in depth and provide evidence during your speech that you know what you are talking about.

Content

If you are speaking at a conference attracting senior-level decision-makers from across your sector ask yourself:

• What do they want to hear?
• What do you want to say?
• Where does the crossover lie?

Watch out! – Presentations from speakers who dwell too long on their basic company information are always seen as crude sales pitches – and people switch off.

Be aware of the format of your session

If you doing a presentation and you are using PowerPoint:

• Use a minimum font size of 18 – better 24+
• Allow around three minutes per slide (remember no death by PowerPoint!).
• The Rule of Five – ideally PowerPoint presentations should contain no more than 5 words per sentence and 5 lines per slide.
• Visuals are often a great way of illustrating your presentation but ‘Keep It Simple’ – too many charts overwhelm a presentation and cannot be read at the back of the conference room.
• Likewise, avoid over-use of PowerPoint special effects – or flash effects like zooming they distract from the presentation

If you are taking part in a panel discussion prepare:

• The Chair should contact you approximately 2 weeks in advance of the panel to set the agenda – schedule time to talk to her!
• You are likely to be asked to spend five minutes setting out your thoughts on the proposed topic.
• Prepare and memorise this five minute piece and think carefully about what you are going to say (Cicero also recommended memorising your speech).

Practice makes perfect

Rehearse your speech several times preferably in front of an audience who will not fall asleep and who are honest.

And on the day…

…start strong

It is often helpful to memorise the first minute or two of your speech to ease you into it – once you’ve started you’ll find it easier to keep going. Never apologise or spend too much time on inane pleasantries – get down to business. The first minute or two is about establishing the rapport with the audience and setting the degree to which they give you authority to speak.

Think about your body language

• Style and tone of voice account for 90 per cent of communication so adopt a relaxed, confident pose.
• Maintain eye contact with the audience – select one or two people from the audience to maintain contact but do not stare!
• If there are label mics available use them – no Al Jolson impressions and shout at them!

Timings

Watch your timing, never overun and finish a few minutes to ask for any questions

Initiation

The process of carrying out a project audit starts with initiation. In this activity a meeting with the prime stakeholder is held where the scope of the audit is agreed, a list the questions that need to be answered is drawn up and basic facts about the project such as scale, locations, goals, history, and progress to date are garnered. The output of the initiation is a plan of attack of the audit.

Enquiry and reporting

The twin tasks carried out during the audit are enquiry and reporting.

Research tasks

The first step is to understand the project “landscape” (who is who, what are they doing, where are they doing it) and status (where are they up to). This is normally accomplished by reading documents such as the brief, PID and highlight reports, and talking to the sponsor and the current project manager. It is at this stage that the overall context of the project at the organisation is clarified.

The second step is to select interview candidates, and then to carry out semi structured interviews – these will be recorded for ease of transcription. Some interviews will inevitably raise further questions and lead to more rounds of interviewing or follow-up (which can be done by email if there are matters of clarification) – revisiting some people and other meetings. Interviewees may be drawn from both in- and outside the project team (for example from the program office). Simultaneously, I would normally acquire and study relevant project documents and files during this process to see if good practice is in place. The status of the technical artifact as it currently is will be investigated by investigating the operational software and by carrying out reviews of the code – but this is likely to be confined to an assessment by the TDA.

Reporting – report contents

• Summary
• Background
• <sections specific to questions being addressed>
• Quantified risk assessment, showing for each major risk:
  • Nature of risk
  • Risk likelihood
  • Risk avoidance strategies
  • Outcomes if risk materializes (with probabilities for best vs worst cases)

Royston

The question of the first class ticket and the freeloaders. Now, when I feel like being a big shot I buy a first class season ticket from Lingfield to London so as to enjoy the privilege and peace and quiet of the first class ‘cabin’ on your Southern Services Rail. Now leaving aside that the ‘first class cabin’ is in every respect exactly the same as the paupers ‘enjoy’ then only thing you get is a half decent shot at a seat for the whole journey. So you can imagine dear reader that I get rather wound up when one of the lower orders piles into the first area and plonks himself down in a seat – cap wrong way around, reading the Sun and backside hanging out of his jeans – with clearly no first class ticket. Now rather than not worrying about this, as I should be relaxing and putting myself into a tolerant mood ready for the day, I find myself getting rather p****d off that the guard who is hiding in his slot does not come and check the tickets. Even when they do (on ascension day every two years) its – Oh ‘sorry’ sir/madam this is a standard ticket and you have to move – oh is it I did not notice (arghh!!!!) – sorry I’ll move. So it goes on day after day. So I now think what am I paying for if there is no sanction for those not playing the game. Now I may be the only person that thinks this . (you are and that’s enough of this rant ed.) Royston

These days, you get dozens of results by searching for ‘leadership’ and ‘economic crisis’ on Google. The same happens when searching for ‘leadership’ and ‘downsizing’. The general consensus is clear: during challenging times, individuals look to their leaders for inspiration, guidance and reassurance. But leaders are also the first to be blamed when things go wrong and people start losing their jobs.

The Telegraph suggests that the ‘Financial crisis calls for confident leadership’. Similarly, the Washing Post informs that a ‘Financial Crisis Offers a Study in Leadership Styles’ – and we have just seen an example of how we expect leaders to act (or not act) when we look at the recent oil disaster in the gulf.

It seems that Leadership is, yet again, at the centre of anything that is good and bad when it comes to the heart of the business. Lack of courage, reckless decision making, greed and dishonesty are some of the sins that leaders of today are said to be guilty of. It seems that in the good times they take the money and bask in the glory until a problem occurs that seems to overwhelm them.

So what should leaders do in these critical times? The economic downturn was the ultimate test for those in charge and only those individuals that were most equipped with skills could maximise their chance of keeping their seats until the end of the last rollercoaster ride. On the positive side, however, it is known that Leaders need not be responsible for their own demise. Through coaching and the development of self-awareness, leaders can learn how to avoid over-extending themselves and be able to make a conscious decision to not ‘cross the line’ when compromised – the line that takes them to the unpopular side of business. I wonder who on earth is coaching Tony Hayward is beyond me – its not that he could do anything about stopping the oil leak (bar donning a diving suit and taking along a set of spanners) but the management of the image of the company is woefully inadequate – which after all is something he could do something about.

Leaders of today may not be the leaders of tomorrow for sure. Much of the territory we are exploring today is of an unchartered nature. And perhaps, through a Darwinian lens, we may hypothesise that only the fittest, the strongest and the wisest may able to survive and perhaps flexibility and adaptability as essential skills for effective and successful leadership. And ultimately, of course, the building of self-awareness through coaching and development.

So, what kind of Leader will you be?

The success of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is also observed closely by your staff. We have seen in our outsource work that staff notice only too well whether their original employer is getting value or just being ‘ripped off’ and often have great fun when it does go wrong. This keen appraisal of how it works in practice impacts upon their own motivation and their relationships with both you and the outsource organisation. This excerpt from an interview gives an indication of how staff can view the situation:
The supplier had people who knew the sites, knew the systems, and so they put a sensible bid in, but the (clients) have always been screwed over contracts, we don’t have a contract team of professionals who know how to handle them (the suppliers). A classic one was colour printers in certain areas, that would not work, couldn’t get colour printing, and in the end there was a lot of banging on the table ‘you said in the contract that you would get us colour printing’ and the outsourcer turned round and said ‘the contract says we will get you colour printers, we did not say they would print in colour (laughs)! So my old company always got screwed on contracts because they didn’t understand what they were reading.

and it happens all the time…

Royston

The best way to find out whether your project is feasible is to complete a Feasibility Study. This process helps you gain confidence that the solution you need to build can be implemented on time and under budget. So here’s how to do it in 5 simple steps…
Completing a Feasibility Study
A Feasibility Study needs to be completed as early in the Project Life Cycle as possible. The best time to complete it is when you have identified a range of different alternative solutions and you need to know which solution is the most feasible to implement. Here’s how to do it…
Step 1: Research the Business Drivers
In most cases, your project is being driven by a problem in the business. These problems are called “business drivers” and you need to have a clear understanding of what they are, as part of your Feasibility Study.
For instance, the business driver might be that an IT system is outdated and is causing customer complaints, or that two businesses need to merge because of an acquisition. Regardless of the business driver, you need to get to the bottom of it so you fully understand the reasons why the project has been kicked off.
Find out why the business driver is important to the business, and why it’s critical that the project delivers a solution to it within a specified timeframe. Then find out what the impact will be to the business, if the project slips.
Step 2: Confirm the Alternative Solutions
Now you have a clear understanding of the business problem that the project addresses, you need to understand the alternative solutions available.
If it’s an IT system that is outdated, then your alternative solutions might include redeveloping the existing system, replacing it or merging it with another system.
Only with a clear understanding of the alternative solutions to the business problem, can you progress with the Feasibility Study.
Step 3: Determine the Feasibility
You now need to identify the feasibility of each solution. The question to ask of each alternative solution is “can we deliver it on time and under budget?”
To answer this question, you need to use a variety of methods to assess the feasibility of each solution. Here are some examples of ways you can assess feasibility:

• Research: Perform online research to see if other companies have implemented the same solutions and how they got on.
• Prototyping: Identify the part of the solution that has the highest risk, and then build a sample of it to see if it’s possible to create.
• Time-boxing: Complete some of the tasks in your project plan and measure how long it took vs. planned. If you delivered it on time, then you know that your planning is quite accurate.

Step 4: Choose a Preferred Solution
With the feasibility of each alternative solution known, the next step is to select a preferred solution to be delivered by your project. Choose the solution that; is most feasible to implement, has the lowest risk, and you have the highest confidence of delivering.
You’ve now chosen a solution to a known business problem, and you have a high degree of confidence that you can deliver that solution on time and under budget, as part of the project.
Step 5:
It’s now time to take your chosen solution and reassess its feasibility at a lower level. List all of the tasks that are needed to complete the solution. Then run those tasks by your team to see how long they think it will take to complete them. Add all of the tasks and timeframes to a project plan to see if you can do it all within the project deadline. Then ask your team to identify the highest risk tasks and get them to investigate them further to check that they are achievable. Use the techniques in Step 3 to give you a very high degree of confidence that it’s practically achievable. Then document all of the results in a Feasibility Study.

After completing these 5 steps, get your Feasibility Study approved by your manager so that everyone in the project team has a high degree of confidence that the project can deliver successfully.

SERVQUAL (Service Quality) is a self-administered questionnaire designed to measure how customers view/judge service quality. Parasuraman et al (1994) defined service quality as the degree of discrepancy between customers’ normative expectations for the service and their perceptions of the service performance.
Parasuraman made the assumption that customers judge service quality by making a comparison between their expectation of the service that they should receive and their perceptions of the service that they actually receive.

Differences between expectations and actual performance are referred to as ‘gaps’. The SERVQUAL instrument can be used to measure any or all of the following five gaps.
Gap 1: Consumer expectation – management perception gap
Understanding the difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions of customer expectations.
Gap 2: Service quality specification gap
The different service standard between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications.
Gap 3: Service delivery gap
The difference of service performance between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered.
Gap 4: External communication gap
The difference of communications between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to customers.
Gap 5: Expected service – perceived service gap
The difference between expected service and perceived service from customers’ point of view. Based upon these gaps, five behavioural dimensions of service quality have been identified and are now used in most studies using the SERVQUAL approach.

The 5 Service Quality Dimensions.

1. Tangibles – Physical facilities equipment and appearance of personnel
2. Reliability – Ability to perform the service with the promised dependability
3. Responsiveness – Providing a prompt service
4. Assurance – Knowledge and coutesy of employees
5. Empathy – caring and individualised attention to customers

Users of the SERVQUAL questionnaire rate questions on a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The SERVQUAL instrument comprises 22 statements used to assess service quality across the five dimensions outlined in Table 2 with each statement used twice – once to measure expectations and once to measure perceptions.
I have attached an example of a generic SERVQUAL questionnaire as a PDF feel free to use. Also I have set up an free on-line version that you can use for your own assessments – you can find it here:SERVQUAL Questionnaire

A core competence fulfils three criteria:

1. It provides direct customer benefit
2. It is not easy for competitors to replicate
3. It can be leveraged widely to many products and markets (has scope).

A core competency can take various forms, including technical/subject matter know-how or a particular business process. It can also be the possession of a key resource such as close relationships with customers and other suppliers in the value chain. An important aspect of a core competence is its embedded nature in the organisation’s activities – true core competences are difficult to extract from an organisation in a simplistic way.

Core competencies are strengths relative to other organizations in the competitive environment that provides the fundamental basis of the added value the organisation provides. Core competences are usually to be found in the value added parts and processes of organisations and in the supporting infrastructure. Core competencies can be likened to the collective learning in organizations that takes place and involves how to coordinate diverse production skills and integrate multiple streams of technologies. Core competence in technology terms also accumulates over time and becomes embedded in the ways of working and practices of the everyday. In general few organisations are likely to build leadership in more than five or six fundamental competencies at any one time.

The need to effectively manage human capital is placing increased demands on the human resources team in every enterprise. Especially in those organisations managing diverse highly skilled workforces.

• Are you over-budgeting on agency staff spends?
• Never totally sure which people will be available for shifts?
• Spending too much time and money on scheduling?
• Subject to shutting down facilities due to lack of staff?

These are just some of the issues we have seen within many major institutions including the NHS in the UK. In our experience the staffing and budget issues within many NHS trusts is at least partially due to the difficulties of workforce planning and control. It is necessary in these cases to develop an assessment process that will identify cost improvements and recommend changes in organization and processes that will improve workforce utilisation. You are then able with software providers to implement solutions that deliver the benefits we have found.

To-Dos

• Scoping the value – the building of hypotheses and identification of improvement areas.
• Strategic operations review – validation of hypotheses and detailing of the benefits and solutions.
• Benefit delivery – actions and programmes to deliver the benefits.

Benefits include:

• Increased understanding and control of working practices and the precise reasons for over-spend at the ward or unit level.
• Reductions in agency nurse spend by efficient and transparent scheduling of core staff and management of agency staff resource.
• Reduction in the time taken to schedule and increased staff retention through ability to manage and respond to staff preferences.
• Reduced training and recruitment spend through ability to target recruitment and training needs ahead of time.
• A clear establishment procedure

To confirm the potential for substantive improvements the initial two-day scoping should be asked for from suppliers – carried out a non-cost to enable you to assess whether there is indeed scope for improvement and if the consultants are up the job and understand your business. If the answer is negative, you will still have the benefit of a report that outlines how efficiently your operation is organized!