September 2007 Virtual Staffing Newsletter - Issue #15

How to Build a Culture of Accountability!

A recent report released by the Government Accountability Office announced that NASA lost $94 million dollars worth of office equipment due to theft in the workplace, over the past decade. Computers, specifically laptops, were the most common stolen piece of equipment with employees actually filing reports that they had given computers to a spouse or friend, or that the equipment had been lost in space. It is easy to focus on the $94 million dollars lost, but what is even more disturbing is the culture of negligence, with no emphasis on accountability, that would allow for this travesty to occur.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration actually noted a problem with theft five years ago, but instead of tackling the issue, they ignored it. According to the Bloomberg News, NASA only investigated a quarter of the 1,136 loss reports submitted last year and disciplined only two employees. Most Small to Medium-Sized (SMB) owners do not deal with losses to this extreme, but a culture absent of accountability is not limited to NASA.

Accountability is not a science, but a process. Keep in mind the following as you build a culture of accountability!

Accountability Starts With You
Remember the Golden Rule ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’? Before you can expect honesty and accountability from your team, you must demonstrate that you not only appreciate, but actively practice, accountability yourself. Before you can emanate accountability, you must understand it. Webster’s Dictionary defines accountability as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s action.” As an SMB owner, responsibility falls on your shoulders. You are responsible not only for your own actions, but the actions of those you work with. If your employees witness you passing blame onto others, they will do the same. If employees notice you cutting corners, they will imitate you. Do keep in mind, and maybe this was partially to blame in NASA’s case, that even if you hold yourself accountable, there will be employees from time to time that push the envelope and need to be reprimanded. Failure to have a behavioral modification plan sends the message that though you consider it important for yourself to be accountable, it is OK for your employees to not be.

Hire for Accountability
NASA could have responded to the 1,136 loss reports by thoroughly investigating each. Or, and as a SMB owner you will appreciate, that NASA could have been proactive from the point of hire. It is much easier to build and maintain a culture of accountability if you start with yourself and add each new team member with an eye on accountability. Personality tests are no longer legal as a means of interviewing, but SMB owners can create an interview /on-boarding process that gets to the heart of an applicant’s values. One obvious option is to check with an applicant’s previous employers to learn more about that applicant’s behavior and sense of responsibility. For more information on Hiring Your Next or First Employee, please see our May 2007 newsletter found at http://www.azvsi.com/ by clicking on the ‘News and Information’ link.

Make the Transition to a Culture of Accountability
Accountability can not be created by following a simple ten-step process, but is something that must start from within the organization. You have to decide, and then commit, to building a culture of accountability. Accountability starts with you and must be demanded from everyone.

Referrals
Thank you for letting us serve your business. Our success has been based on your satisfaction with our company and your willingness to continue to provide referrals. For this reason we ask, "How likely are you to refer our company to a friend or colleague?" If you don't feel you could recommend us, please let us know how we could better meet your needs. We greatly appreciate you and are hopeful that you will continue to refer new business to us!

Small business tip of the month - An article recently ran in the Wall Street Journal concerning a common trend among business owners. The article discussed the failure of business owners to take a break while on vacation and let their staff handle the office. As an SMB owner, it can be difficult to leave the office, whether physically or mentally, but it is important for the confidence of your staff that when you depart on vacation, you actually leave issues in their hands. If you are not comfortable with the decision makers left at the office while you’re on a short vacation, you may need to reconsider the employees you’ve chosen.

August 2007 Virtual Staffing Newsletter – Issue #14

Tired of fighting traffic, juggling busy schedules and paying travel expenses? Take your meeting online!

Time is money and as a Small to Medium-sized Business (SMB) owner, it is all too easy to spend your time driving from site to site to conduct meetings with Clients. Benefits of face-to-face meetings are nearly impossible to replicate, especially as the initial point of contact with a new Client, but after a relationship is built, SMB owners and their Clients often times consider alternative meeting methods. Obvious downsides to meeting with a client on-site are the need to juggle schedules, fight traffic and charge travel expenses. A great tactic to avoid this madness is to schedule an online meeting. Online meetings are not right for every Client interaction, but can be worth their weight in gold in certain situations.

Online meetings are offered by a variety of companies ranging from GoToMeeting to WebEx to AT&T. The basic goal behind all three is to enable the user to conduct a virtual meeting, harnessing the power of the internet.

What is an Online Meeting?
In short, companies like GoToMeeting and WebEx offer Customers the ability to take teleconferencing to the next level. In addition to communicating with your Clients via voice, the application enables your Client to simultaneously view your computer screen. This role can be reversed to also allow you, the facilitator of the meeting, to view your Client’s screen.

What are the requirements for Online Meetings?
Online meetings are offered by a variety of companies, but startup is relatively similar. Typically, a user begins by registering online allowing him/her to pay a monthly fee to host an unlimited number of online meetings or to pay-per-use. Your Clients are not required to be registered users and it costs them nothing to ‘attend’ the meeting you initiate. From an installation standpoint, GoToMeeting will download to your PC within a matter of minutes and no configuration is necessary. When it comes to scheduling meetings, you have the option of doing so through GoToMeeting’s or WebEx’s website, via Microsoft Outlook or through an instant messenger application like AIM.

What are the security features for Online Meetings?
Hi-tech does not always mean hi-security, but most of the Online Meeting providers offer security features. Basic security features include: the inability for non-meeting attendees to view meetings through End-to-End Encryption Industry-standard SSL and U.S. government- standard 128-bit AES encryption and User Authentication Strong passwords. As the facilitator of the meeting, you have the ability to grant one-time meeting passwords and by using Desktop Sharing Presenter you always have complete control when sharing keyboard and mouse with attendees, creating a secure environment for all users.

What are the advantages of using Online Meetings?
SMBs can use Online Meetings to demonstrate products and services, share presentations in virtually any format, and resolve Client issues in real-time. The teleconferencing aspect of the process facilitates open communication while the ability to share graphs, what-if calculations and/or presentations via the internet makes for easy display and interpretation of ideas. Many large companies also use online meetings as training tools- enabling a facilitator to connect with employees from any office, school or home around the world.

Online meetings are not appropriate in every situation, but can save SMB owners, and their Clients, time and money when used appropriately. Monthly subscriptions vary depending on which service you select, but most hover around $50 per month and include unlimited meetings. Please don’t hesitate to contact VSI for guidance in your effort to explore how Online Meetings could benefit your SMB.

Referrals - Thank you for letting us serve your business. Our success has been based on your satisfaction with our company and your willingness to continue to provide referrals. For this reason we ask, "How likely are you to refer our company to a friend or colleague?" If you don't feel you could recommend us, please let us know how we could better meet your needs. We greatly appreciate you and are hopeful that you will continue to refer new business to us!