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sales, career advice, advice, tips, sales advice
5 Tips to Sell Anything
 5 Tips to Sell Anything 768 1024 admin
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Knowing how to sell is so important. We might have to “sell” our children to eat their vegetables or convince our parents to let us spend the night out. The ability to “sell” is everybody around us, and Shark Tank’s own Robert Herjavec offers five tips to help sell anything to anybody:

  1. The first thing you’re selling is yourself. Make the effort to present yourself well, because if someone doesn’t like you, they won’t buy what you are selling.
  2. Listen more than you talk. Pay attention to what you client needs so you can present a more appropriate solution.
  3. Know who to sell to. Make sure your client has the means and motivation to buy your product. This way, you aren’t wasting your energy!
  4. Understand what motivates the other side. Know the value that your service provides your client and address this in your pitch.
  5. Keep it simple. Sweet and simple is best. Know your product so well that you can explain it the average layperson.

 

Here’s the full article for more information!

Get to Know You: Brian Rendine
 Get to Know You: Brian Rendine 1024 1024 MPatton
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Brian

In today’s get to know you post, we’re talking with our Director of Program Development, Brian Rendine.

I am Brian Rendine, outdoor enthusiast, father of two boys and husband to a wonderful wife!

United EVENTures is an opportunity for companies to improve their team morale through fun and engaging activities that will leave a lasting impression. I am the Director of Program Development and I work with clients to build their team experience with United EVENTures. The client dreams up the team building event that they want to experience and then it’s my job to make it happen. I work with the company to tailor the experience to coincide with a goal their team wants to achieve. If a team wants to work on communication, I’ll work with them to design a program that encourages positive and thorough communication. Long and short of it, I make dreams come true!

The programs and services we offer motivate me to work hard for both our employees and our clients. It matters when you can see that you made a definitive difference and our clients leave with smiling faces.

When I was younger I debated between being a doctor or a teacher. I ended up teaching Physics for ten years before heading out with United EVENTures. I guess there is a common thread in there somewhere; science, coaching, and helping people reach their goals.

You never really know what you’ve achieved in life until you look back on it later. Right now it’s a work in progress, but my two boys are my biggest achievement.  In ten years I hope to be happy, healthy, and continuing to share ideas and change lives.

 

 

 

 

 

team building, teamwork, efficiency, business
Why Your Team-building Efforts are Falling Flat
 Why Your Team-building Efforts are Falling Flat 960 677 Emilie
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We all know how important it is to keep our teams motivated and working well together. Team building efforts can be incredibly useful at teaching groups how to work efficiently and effectively. In addition, they prove necessary for increasing feelings of competency and motivation. However, not all team-building events and practices may be as successful as you would hope. Here are several reasons your team may be under-performing, according to research.

Your team members are confused about who has control. Two key methods for motivating and improving team success are 1) use of control, and 2) team building. The idea behind using control is that it allows you to oversee your team’s progress more easily, and thus you will be able to guide them towards greater success and efficiency. Team building is meant to improve communication and collaboration between your team members, thus aiding with efficiency as well. A recent study paired team members together, analyzing the effects of both methods (control and teamwork). Although both methods improved team efficiency when used individually, efficiency was actually hindered for teams who successfully accomplished the team building task and were placed under the effect of external control. The researchers theorized that team building experiences lead members to feel like they have been handed greater control over the task at hand. Thus, when external control is also utilized, team members become frustrated because they do not know if they should be taking more initiative (thus keeping more control for themselves), or if their superiors still maintain all control by constantly regulating sub-tasks. Thus, team building efforts can be very useful, but if team members are micromanaged it will send mixed messages and actually hinder their ability to be effective.

You aren’t focusing on the importance of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is the idea that through leadership and guidance we can mentor team members, transforming individuals into leaders. Recent research has demonstrated a relationship between transformational leadership and team-building, showing the important interaction between these two interventions. If your team-building efforts are falling flat, it may be because you are not simultaneously focusing on transforming your members into leaders. Team-building is about more than learning communication and collaboration, it must also highlight other important leadership skills, such as decision making, problem solving, and the ability to give definitive instruction.

Your project manager isn’t considering the different needs throughout project stages. Bruce Tuckman’s team development model analyzes the important stages a team must go through before performing as a cohesive whole. He suggests that the team first undergoes a “forming” period, during which the project manager must sell each member on the role he/she needs to play. If members are not convinced they are playing the right role, it is up to the project manager to assert control over the final decision and convince each individual that his/her role is necessary for completion of the task at hand. During the next stage, “Storming,” dominant members may try to gain more control, whereas less dominant individuals may begin to reduce the role they are playing. It is up to your project manager to continue asserting control and to maintain balance between each member’s position. Thus, it is crucial that your project manager focuses on maintaining team roles during the early stages of a project, and then turns his attention to the project itself only after team members have adjusted into the roles each person needs to play.

Overall, although team building is very important, not every team-building attempt will be successful if the previously mentioned factors are not taken into consideration. Think about each goal you want your team-building event to accomplish, not just the improvement of communication and morale.

If your company is looking for a team-building event of your own, contact us today at United EVENTures. We have a vast number of unique team-building events, and will create a custom experience specifically designed for your team!

Reiner, Gerhard, and Simon Wiederhold. "Team Building and Hidden Costs of Control." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 123 (2016): 1-18. Web.
Aga, D. A., N. Noorderhaven, and B. Vallejo. "Transformational Leadership and Project Success: The Mediating Role of Team-building." Internation Journal of Project Management 34.5 (2016): 806-18. Web.

Lester, Eur Ing Albert. "Chapter 39- Team Building and Motivation." Project Management, Planning and Control: Managing Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing Projects to PMI, APM and BSI Standards. 6th ed. Kidlington, Oxford: Elsevier, 2014. 371-79. Web.
business, collaboration, soft skills, teamwork
6 Soft Skills Every Leader Needs
 6 Soft Skills Every Leader Needs 960 677 Emilie
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We all know the importance of technical skills and experience, but what may be even more important is those “soft skills” that make up the person behind resume. It is easy to underestimate the importance of these personality based skills, but it is these skills that allow for harmonious collaboration amongst team members. Possessing technical abilities is just a small piece of the puzzle, which cannot be employed without the proper soft skills. Below we composed a list of the most effective and useful soft skills that everyone, from new employee to CEO, should learn the value of. Each one reflects a way to turn ideas into actionable steps which will get the most out of your employees.

1. Understand values and atmosphere. Every company has its own vibe, ethics, priorities, goals and atmosphere. Often we don’t think about how our priorities, values, etc. align with those of our company. When our feelings unknowingly do not line up with those of our company, it results in tension and frustration when we feel like an outsider within our own place of work. Spend some time devising a list of these key attributes. What values do you prioritize in a workplace? What goals do you believe a company should emphasize? What type of atmosphere should a company have? Casual? Professional? Then devise a list answering the same questions on behalf of your company. Devise a list of ways your employees might answer these questions. By being aware of these differences in point of view between you, your company, and fellow employees, you will more easily understand the frustrations of you and your employees. In order to work on this incongruity, try adapting your company’s goals, priorities or atmosphere to be more accommodating for your employees. If you are an employee yourself, try to find tasks and goals to work on which better mesh with your priorities.

2. Know how to convey your message. Years ago, studies by Albert Mehrabian developed the classic 7%-38%-55% rule.  The rule explains what people actually pay attention to when you talk: concluding that they put 38% importance in the tonality of your comment, 55% in the body language you use, and only 7% in what you are actually saying. It is thus important to remember that what you are saying to people is far less important than the way you are saying it. An employee will actually be left with a more positive experience if you give them constructive criticism with positive tonality and body language, than if you compliment them using a flat affect. Thus, it is important to remember how your comments are actually being interpreted. Work on your tonality and body language when providing constructive criticism, and your employees will be far more receptive and eager to improve.

3. Know what questions and topics to discuss. Whether you are in a meeting or writing an email, know how to pose questions and topics in the most positive way. Each question should be geared towards finding areas of commonality and collaboration amongst your team. For instance, let’s say you are trying to reformulate your company’s webpage. There are multiple ways you could pose this to your team.

Example 1: I’ve decided to change the header of our website to a larger font. Is everyone okay with this?

Example 2: I’m working on ways to improve our website’s homepage. For instance, I think it would be useful to increase the font of our header. What are your thoughts? What other ideas do people have?

Example 3: I’ve decided to change the header of our website to a larger font. What does everyone think about that idea?

The first version, while still attempting to be inclusive, does not truly aim at collaboration. It is posed as a yes/no question, and seeks for a quick resolution. The second version attempts to engage the group, genuinely valuing each person’s suggestion, making the second example better than the first. The third example is less optimal than the second; however, it is still an improvement over the first example. This third version elicits a less lengthy group conversation than the second example. Thus, it still aims for a quick resolution, but is more inclusive than the yes/no question in example one. By learning to optimally phrase questions, avoiding yes/no phrasing, your team will feel more comfortable voicing concerns and questions. This will overall create a more positive and effective workplace, in which your team can more easily reach agreement on new ideas.

4. Self Management. Be efficient with the time you have, set clear and concise goals. Each of us are given the same amount of time in a day, and often it is easy to be overwhelmed with the amount you have to do. When we become exhausted by our amount of work, it is easy to coast through, accomplishing the bare minimum and using time ineffectively. By setting goals for yourself, you will work more productively and feel more rewarded at the end of the day. By transforming your job into goals you set for yourself instead of goals your company sets for you, you will end up feeling more accomplished at the end of each day. Incidentally, taking this initiative will lead to greater success for your company.

5. Be a “Big Thinker.” Stop focusing on small errors, and start focusing on the big picture goals and accomplishments for your company and team. If your project hits a bump in the road, focus on the ways your end goals or timelines have changed, not the error that caused it. If you have an employee that is continuously making errors, work on coaching them through these challenges. By setting an example for your team that it is more important to focus on the big picture than smaller mistakes, it will lead to an increase in professionalism throughout the workplace and change the way people innately react to a seemingly negative situation.

6. Negotiation Skills. Often times when one party begins to negotiate, it results in conflict as the other party resists. The first party feels like they are not being heard, and that no one is trying to accommodate their concerns. When negotiating with employees, try to actually understand and care about what they are saying. Listen to each point they make, getting to the heart of the problem, not just the requests they are making. Make sure your employee knows you want to help, even if you can’t. And remember, that negotiations require compromise on both sides.

Luo, Tracy. "The Negotiation Skills of Workplace Professionals." Morgan McKinley. N.p., 31 Aug. 2015. Web.

Calder, Alan. Selling Information Security to the Board: A Primer. 2nd ed. Cambridgeshire: ITGovernance, n.d. Print.

Ducey, Ariel. Never Good Enough: Health Care Workers and the False Promises of Job Training. Ithaca: Cornell UP, n.d. Print.

Reddy, B. Rathan, and B. Supraja Reddy. "Soft Skills for Professional Excellence (Basic Concepts, Instruments and Cases: 3 Modules) Personality Development (Module - I)." Indian Journal of Industrial Relations 42.1 (2006): n. pag. Web.