Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

The problem of employee turnover is a conundrum for any organization. One would think that during times of high unemployment, the turnover rate in most organizations would be at an all-time low. The reality is far from that. While there is a lot of variability from one industry to another, if you take all industries together, the total turnover rate in 2009 was a whopping 15%.

We know the cost of employee turnover is more than the annual salary of the individual lost. In fact, most estimates place the total replacement cost at roughly 150% of the employee’s salary. A quick calculation shows that for a company with 1000 people who have an average annual salary of $50,000, the annual cost for employee turnover adds up to over $10 million. These costs go directly to the bottom line.

Reducing employee turnover is not rocket science; however, many companies struggle with very high turnover year after year. The common denominator of high turnover in organizations is poor leadership. Therefore, organizations that stress leadership development have an inherent advantage that can mean the difference between survival and extinction.

Let’s examine several ways an organization can drastically reduce the level of turnover at very low cost.

1. Develop People – Organizations that focus on employee development enjoy higher employee satisfaction, which leads to lower turnover. If each employee has a concrete development plan that is reviewed at least annually and contains a variety of growth opportunities, the employee will have little reason to look for greener pastures elsewhere.
2. Recognize Good Performance – Reinforcing people for doing good work lets them know they are appreciated. Tangible and intangible rewards are a great way to show management appreciation for workers who excel. This improves morale if done well. However, understand that reinforcement can be a minefield if it is not handled properly. Make sure employees receive sincere appreciation by management on a continuing basis.
3. Build Trust – By extending trust to employees, leaders demonstrate their willingness to support them. This pays off in terms of higher trust on the part of employees toward the organization. There is a whole science on how to build trust. By creating a real environment, more trust in an organization will lead to lower turnover.
4. Reduce Boredom – Employees who are underutilized, tend to get bored and restless. If there is a vacuum of activity, people often get into mischief. It is important for managers to craft job duties and responsibilities such that people are actively engaged in the work every day.
5. Communicate More – In nearly every corporate survey on employee satisfaction, the issue of communication surfaces as either the number one or number two complaint. Communication needs to be ubiquitous and consistent. It is not enough to have a monthly corporate news letter or an occasional town hall meeting. Communication needs to take many different forms and be a constant priority for all levels of management.
6. Cross Train – Employees, who have been trained on several different jobs recognize they are of higher value to the organization and tend to be less inclined to leave. Along with the pleasure of having more variety of work, employees appreciate the ability to take on additional skills. Having good bench strength allows the organization to function well, even during times of high vacation or illness.
7. Don’t Overtax – During lean economic times, companies have a need to stretch resources as much as possible. Many organizations exceed the elastic limit of what employees can be expected to maintain long term. This leads to burnout and people leaving for health reasons or just plain quitting in disgust over the abuse. It is important for management to assess carefully how far resources can be stretched, because going beyond the elastic limit guarantees a high level of employee turnover. I believe this rule is habitually violated in many organizations, and they pay for it big time. Stretching people too far is a false economy. If you organization is guilty of this, print out this article and put it on the bulletin board.
8. Keep It Light – When managers apply constant pressure to squeeze out the last drop of productivity, they often go over the line, and it becomes counter productive. If leaders grind people down to a stump with constant pressure for perfection and ever higher productivity, the quality of work life suffers. Employees can tolerate a certain amount of this for some time, but eventually they will break down. It is smart to set very high goals, but very important to have employees believe the stretch goals are attainable. One good way to provide this assurance is to have the employees themselves participate in setting the goals. The best companies find ways to work in a little fun somewhere, even (and especially) in high pressure situations.
9. Feedback Performance – there needs to be a constant flow of information on how all employees are doing in each area of the organization. People who are kept in the dark about their performance become disillusioned and cranky. The simple kindness of letting people know how they are doing on a daily or weekly basis pays off in terms of lower turnover.
10. Train Leaders – All levels of management and supervision need to be highly proficient at creating an environment where the culture is upbeat, positive, and has high trust. This does not happen by accident, or simply by desire. It takes work and lots of emphasis by senior leadership to make sure that there are no weak links in the management chain. In most organizations there is a dud of a manager somewhere between the well intentioned and talented top brass and the worker bees. The result is that great objectives, ideals, and processes are morphed into oblivion by the time they reach the shop floor. The antidote is to improve leadership effectiveness at all levels and remove any dud who is incapable of changing.

These are 10 ways in which leaders can lower the level of turnover in any organization. The magic here is not any new discovery; but the consistent application of these principles will make a huge difference in any organization. The good news is that the items mentioned above are not very expensive. They are all common sense – too bad they are often not common practice.

If you study the best companies to work for worldwide, you will discover they have a much lower turnover rate than the average numbers. I believe having the kind of culture where employees are locked in with no desire to leave for any reason is a sustainable competitive advantage. It is easy to achieve if you follow the 10 rules listed above.

The preceding information was adapted from the book Leading with Trust is like Sailing Downwind, by Robert Whipple. It is available on www.leadergrow.com.

Robert Whipple is also the author of The TRUST Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals and, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online. Bob consults and speaks on these and other leadership topics. He is CEO of Leadergrow Inc. a company dedicated to growing leaders. Contact Bob at bwhipple@leadergrow.com or 585-392-7763.

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

I am getting ready to make a third appearance in front of a law judge. The issue before him is to determine if my client is able to collect unemployment. When she presented her situation to me several months ago, it was clear that there was something stinky about her termination.

The company says she was terminated “for cause” which automatically denies her the right to collect unemployment in her state (this is not a NY case).

I think her termination was not “for cause” and that it might be for something different, in fact I wrote about it on April 28th. It is hard to believe the process started that long ago.

The company where she was employed uses a third party service, U.C. Express to administer and contest their unemployment claims. Using this service may end up being the company’s fatal flaw.

Each time we have been in front of the law judge, the company and the third party administrator has ignored fulfilling the subpoena requirements.

Witnesses have not appeared. Documents and tapes have not been produced.

We are not asking for something extra-ordinary. Each request we make asks the company to show or prove the basis and facts for their decision – which is written in the investigative report they submitted as evidence.

Typically, when a company terminates someone “for cause” it should be reviewed by their attorney or human resources to ensure the decision is sound and defensible. The company in question is not a small mom and pop shop, it is a major company listed on the NASDAQ with monthly sales in excess of $5 billion.

An attorney not affiliated with this case tells me it should never gone past the first meeting. “If the company failed to put on their defense, the law judge should have ruled in favor of the appellant” he says shaking his head.

For this state’s unemployment hearing guidelines, a case should be heard and decided within 45 minutes. To date, we have spent three hours with the law judge and company representatives in closed meetings. This does not take in account the hours spent preparing for each session.

Why does the unemployment system allow for repeated hearings? A colleague points to the company stalling – hoping the appellant will drop her appeal. It is interesting to note that U.C. Express is a service of TALX.

The company is not in the driver seat though, it is the law judge that continues the case, giving the company and U.C. Express yet another chance to produce evidence.

It begs the question, should we be allowing a third party to create arbitrary delays? I would venture if an ex-employee appealing the decision told the law judge he or she needed more time, the request would be denied.

Companies have significantly more resources to prepare their case. It should be easy to produce if someone was competent at their job. Employing delay tactics by appealing cases that fail to meet the litmus test for sound decisions will cost the company more money in the long run.

The average person appealing their unemployment compensation denial is doing it by themselves. Their ability to put on a good defense is handicapped by not knowing the legal system or how to present a case.

This is one of the reasons I am helping her in this case. I know what should have been done on the company side. I know what questions to ask. In the end, she will have a transcript of the company’s failure to prove that she did what they said she did.

An option is to engage an attorney or legal aid, though some states limit the amount of fees that a professional can charge to assist in these cases. By default, the case may not get the attention it needs to be successful, especially when the case may be complicated or thwarted with multiple delays.

What kind of experiences have you had with trying to appeal a case through the Unemployment system? Have you had experiences with U.C. Express or TALX? What are the best practices where both parties have a fair and speedy determination?

Lynn Dessert owns Leadership Breakthrough, improving personal communication and influence one-step at a time. Post your thoughts or email me!

Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes

Are you comfortable having a discussion with your boss about your performance and career goals? If not, it does not necessarily mean you have a poor relationship with your boss, it could also be that you are shy or awkward talking about yourself.

With a little bit of preparation, you will feel more confident having a discussion with your boss or manager.

What are the top five things a person should do to prepare for a discussion with their boss?

1. List the areas you want to discuss.
2. Rank their importance. If you run out of time, you want to cover what is important before you leave the meeting.
3. Conduct a pro/con analysis about the subject. Think through the options.
4. Know what action(s) or outcome(s) you want out of the discussion. Are you looking for feedback, support, background information or direction?
5. Make a concrete plan and gain their commitment.

Who should initiate a discussion? There is nothing wrong with you asking to meet with your boss to discuss your performance or career goals, even if it is not during the company’s standard review time.

You may catch them off guard if it is something that other employees do not approach them with during the year. It is always a good idea to give them a “heads up” about the discussion ahead of time so that they are prepared to give you the coaching or feedback you need to be successful.

How often should I discuss my performance with my boss? If you believe your performance is off track, schedule a meeting now even though it may be difficult. It will be much easier to gain their insight and support to get yourself back on course.

A good manager will help with removing roadblocks that prevent someone from being successful.

Removing roadblocks is not doing your work; it is running interference in organizations that may inadvertently make getting things done more difficult and create more work.

If there is no urgency for manager intervention, keep your boss informed of your progress at periodic times – it might be weekly, monthly or quarterly.

The timing will depend on your experience and how often your boss likes to be updated. When in doubt, ask him or her how often they prefer to meet or communicate with you.

Sometimes bosses become unavailable, it is up to you to make it happen.

How often should an employee discuss their career or development objectives with their boss? If you are talking to your boss about your career on a daily basis, I can guarantee it is too much. The message you are sending is that it is all about YOU and not about what you can do.

The company wants to know you are able to perform in your job and take on increasing levels of responsibilities before they contemplate promoting or moving you into a new position.

A good rule of thumb is to initiate a career discussion about every six months to discuss your progress – not to ask for a promotion.

Consider calling it an “update meeting” to discuss the skills you have learned and how you have applied those to specific projects, tasks or initiatives.

Companies are not interested in knowing that you checked the box to learn a skill. What you learn can become dormant if it is not used.

However, applying your skills to a new and unique situation shows that you have the capacity to work in more complex situations. Those kinds of discussions will make an impact and will keep you top of mind when the next promotion or big project comes around.

Lynn Dessert owns Leadership Breakthrough, improving personal communication and influence one-step at a time. Post your thoughts or email me!

Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes

In their new book, The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, Chabris and Simons share a story where study participants were tasked with counting the number of times a basketball was passed during a one-minute film. Halfway through the film, someone in a gorilla suit walks through the picture while beating his chest and them leaves.

The amazing thing is that half of the participants were so focused on the task that afterward they had absolutely no recollection of seeing a gorilla. It’s what the authors call the illusion of attention and the illusion of memory-the fact that we put much more faith in our our powers of observation and recollection than is warranted.

While The Invisible Gorilla is not about new product development processes, there are some important lessons here for innovators. If you are interested in accelerating product development, you know it’s important to have people spend time interviewing customers. If you’ve ever participated in one of these interviews, you know there is lots of information that you have to pay attention to and later recall.

Of course, there’s what the customer actually says, but sometimes it’s just as important to pay attention to how they said it, or even the body language they exhibited while saying it. It requires impeccable listening skills and copious note taking.

The problem is that keeping everything from the interview straight means that you could easily miss the gorilla walking through the room – or more specifically clues that point to an opportunity to profitably serve a new unmet or un-articulated customer need. That’s why I coach new product development teams to divide and conquer by having three people participate in customer interviews or requirements definition sessions.

The first person leads the discussion and asks the questions. The second takes notes to aid recall afterward. The role of the third is to watch for the gorilla – to listen for clues that the other two might miss because of their task orientation on asking and note taking. They can then ask follow-up questions for clarification and to explore unexpected areas of opportunity.

The other important element in this process is the team debriefing that follows. Information accuracy has a half-life so you must record it while it’s still fresh. You may have notes in what was said, but recollections of emotions and body language fade fast.

Budget extra time between sessions and never wait until after you get back to the office to debrief. Plus, if you are conducting multiple interviews, always debrief before conducting the next interview. It’s critical to use what you’ve learned to improve successive sessions.

So what are the gorillas you’ve been missing in your customer interactions?
This article appears by permission of the author and was originally published on his Simplifying Innovation blog.

Mike Dalton is the author of Simplifying Innovation: Doubling speed to market and new product profits – with your existing resources

Mike Dalton is also the founder of Guided Innovation Group, whose simple mission is helping companies turn their new product innovation into bottom-line impact. His innovation improvement framework was sharpened over 24 years of product development, marketing and executive leadership at the multi-billion dollar SC Johnson family of companies.

Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

Question: I’ve read your blog for several months now and have found it very interesting. However, I have a situation that seems to fall through the cracks between your articles.

My husband and I moved to this medium-sized city in Illinois three years ago when he accepted an attractive job in the local school system. After settling in (finding new doctors, auto repair shops, etc.) and getting the kids in school, I found a job as the administrative assistant to the CEO of well-known local company. Though the company has fewer than 40 employees, both it and the CEO are well-known for supporting the community and have sterling reputations.

My elephant is this: The CEO went through an amicable divorce about 18 months ago. Since that time, he has engaged increasingly in sexual innuendo during our one-to-one meetings. While he’s never said anything overtly sexual, I’m becoming more and more uncomfortable in this setting. I like my job and have been told I’m very good at it. I like the people I work with, yet the situation with my boss is worsening.

Lynn, in several cases, you have suggested that employees go directly to their HR representatives when they encounter such challenging situations. In my case, there is no HR department. The CEO, as founder of the company, handles all hiring, firing, counseling, and everything else that he considers human resources, even though his knowledge of labor law is largely anecdotal. As an entrepreneur, he still retains strong operational control of the company so there is no leadership team member who can help me with the situation.

My husband has told me that I should file a sexual harassment or hostile work environment lawsuit against the CEO. My fear is that, in doing so, the issue may “go public” and be totally misunderstood by the many people in this city who respect him. I could imagine my husband losing his job and our having to move somewhere else. I feel justifiably paranoid. I have no evidence and I feel I cannot invite a third party into these traditionally one-to-one meetings with my boss. To make matters even worse, my failure to act on the situation is now causing friction between my husband and myself.

Lynn, with no one in the company I can turn to, what do you see as my alternatives?

Sincerely, Alison

Answer: The predicament you are in is not that unusual for small companies; especially ones where the current owner is the founder.

Small company CEOs are used to making all the rules and having no one to question their authority.

The first line of defense is always to ask someone to stop something the first time it happens. There is a good chance the CEO may not realize how he is being perceived and once it is pointed out, the behavior should stop.

While this may seem confrontational, it is not. If you let the behavior continue and it builds into something more significant, the confrontational scale escalates rapidly.

The more either party invests into the relationship, whether functional or dysfunctional, emotions can get in the way of having a productive conversation.

The next time something happens, you could say “____, what you just said makes me feel uncomfortable. I value our work relationship and it is important for me to be professional by keeping business and personal things separate.”

While you many not want to initiate a difficult conversation, it is the easiest and most effective option – as you will see when I describe the other alternatives.

My second suggestion is to find someone else on the management team (HR or another manager) who has influence with the CEO and confide in them about how you feel and ask them to intervene on your behalf. In your case, it appears the CEO micro-manages to the extent there is no one else to go to in the company.

Another option is to confide in someone who might be providing outside HR or legal services for the company. I would not approach outside vendors who do not have any human resources background since this conversation would need to be handled tactfully.

Absent these alternatives, you really have two choices – to seek legal recourse on your own and file a complaint or to look for another job.

If you seek legal recourse, expect that you will leave the job anyways. The work relationship will be broken.

Calling out the CEO will automatically put him on the defensive. By nature of the CEO/Administrative Assistant relationship, there must be a high degree of trust and respect for one another.

Without trust and respect, the lack of communication will become frustrating for you and your performance will suffer. There is no place in the company to transfer to avoid the “boss”.

If for some reason you think he might react positively to an outside legal action, then rethink the first line of defense – talk to him.

The other alternative is to find another job. If you are that uncomfortable with him and you do not think talking to him will change the behavior, you are probably in the wrong place.

The fact is he owns the company and there is no one that is going to fire him or tell him to leave. Ask yourself – Is this the best environment for you to be working in?

If you decide to leave, you can revisit taking legal action or just put it behind you.

Lynn Dessert owns Leadership Breakthrough, improving personal communication and influence one-step at a time. Post your thoughts or email me!

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

Lately, I have been challenged by a problem. The trouble with it is that it is something I really want to do and I keep running into roadblocks. When is the last time you faced something that seemed to be impossible to conquer? Do you find that you doubt yourself?

In the past, my motto has been to go with the path of least resistance. Roadblocks might be telling you to move on. The energy you expend making something work that is unworkable can very draining. Then there is the adage, nothing good in life is free, meaning you have to work at it.

A colleague encourages me to keep going. “Everyone you have talked to says this project has value. It is not the project; your problem is finding people who want to do the work.”

It is hard to believe with unemployment so high, but true.

So here is the situation: I want to launch a new website. The idea was conceived in early 2009 and it has been nine months since writing the specifications for the site. Since then, I have been through two Drupal website programmers.

The first one was probably overqualified and my site does not fit the profile of his clients. It took us about two months to figure out it was not a good match. His projects usually run $75,000 and up.

After we parted ways, I stepped back and decided to teach myself a bit of Drupal. First, it would give me a better way to communicate with the programmer and second, to gauge the kind of programmer I needed for the project.

Several months into the learning curve, I was starting to develop the test site. I fancy technology.

Knowing that I can be an overachiever, it was important to step back and let someone else do the technical parts. There is more to a website than the framework and structure and content needed to be my primary focus.

Fortunately, the first Drupal programmer and I left on good terms and he offered to refer someone who would be a better fit for the size of my project. That was about three months ago.

The new programmer and I come to terms. He begins work on 6/24 to develop the “test site” within 3 weeks; an estimate of 20-25 hours of work.

Several weeks later, I called to find out how things were progressing; I had not heard from him or seen anything. Were there any questions?

He responds that quite a bit of work is done and he’s plugging away at it.

A week goes by and I have not seen anything. I am beginning to get a bit concerned and I follow up with him.

Six and a half weeks into the project, I get to see progress on the site; development is severely handicapped.

It’s time for a conversation. He has been ill and there have been family issues over the last month. He is embarrassed that the project is not done. He offers to let me find someone else or if I want he will continue to work on it.

At this point, the thought of looking for yet another programmer is not my first option. If he will invest the time (remember this is a 20-25 hour job), I am willing push through with him.

A question nags at me though, why did he not tell me about the delays earlier?

He says he’s going to focus on the project for the next few days.

It remains dormant for the next few weeks.

Almost 60 days into the project, I call again on a Friday.

On Monday, there is an email notice from his bank sending a full refund of my deposit due to a project delay. To his credit, he did what was fair.

Perseverance is another one of my strengths. I think my colleague is right, it is not the idea. There is something about my selection process that is not working.

So now, I am in the market for an experienced Drupal programmer to get the test website in action. Some key attributes and skills: technical know-how, accountable, manages project and time efficiently, problem solver, ethical, enthusiastic, easy to work with and most importantly- a proactive communicator. Recommendations?

Lynn Dessert owns Leadership Breakthrough, improving personal communication and influence one-step at a time. Post your thoughts or email me!

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

It looks like life may get tougher for the workplace bully in New York State. The Senate has approved of a bill which has not been enacted into law – yet.

Employees would be able to sue their employer for being in an “abusive environment” and that extends to physical, psychological and economic hardship. What exactly does that mean?

The New York Labor & Employment Law report outlines the scope and intent of the bill:

New York’s legislation defines “abusive conduct” to include “verbal abuse such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets … that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating or humiliating … or the gratuitous sabotage or undermining of an employee’s work performance.” The reality is that “derogatory remarks” are probably made in most workplaces. Indeed, some workplaces, like law firms, are notorious for having “yellers.” Seemingly almost any employer might have exposure under this legislation.

This legislation would be ground-breaking; no other state has passed anything similar to it.

There is debate over how loosely “abusive conduct:” is defined and undoubtedly it will take a few cases to narrow how it is applied. Will this be painful for employers? Yes – for the companies who overlook their overt bullies or ones who flirt with being on the edge of abusive behavior.

If your company receives a complaint, instead of thinking that the employee is being a troublemaker, take a moment and consider why employees raise the red flag. Could it possibly be that they were mistreated or wronged?

Mistreatment is not always about the action being done to them. Conduct is behavior and about how it is done to them.

Years ago, I was responsible for orchestrating a major layoff within a company. I was sent to a newly acquired division that was being integrated into the parent company. I managed the RIF (reduction in force) and was affectionately called the terminator.

About mid way into the assignment, one of the facilities that we were closing had a problem. The HR Manager was not handing the layoff process well – there was dissension in the ranks and he was let go early. I was asked to step in and complete the plant closure in addition to coordinating the divisional activity.

After letting go 300 people in less than a year, there was not one law suit filed.

Fundamentally, it came down to having a fair process and treating people with respect, no matter what the circumstances – even being laid off.

Companies who cry wolf on this legislation should get their leadership together and ask “why does it matter to us?”

The next question is to ask is “what do we have control over?” Apply it to each answer.

The final question, “what are we going to do about it or the people who put us at risk?”

Ultimately, organization will have to make a choice between investing in their people and culture or setting aside funds to defend themselves in the court system. It sounds like an easy decision, why is it so hard?

Lynn Dessert owns Leadership Breakthrough, improving personal communication and influence one-step at a time. Post your thoughts or email me!

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

Most people understand that anger can become destructive when people choose to act out in a manner which is violent. The fact that anger and violence are both often present in a situation does not automatically mean that the presence of one means the presence of the other.

Anger is a normal and natural emotion which results in a physical reaction to a threat whether real or imagined. When people allow themselves to experience their anger, the feeling is usually short-lived, yet problems occur when anger is seen as something to be avoided, and people suppress their feelings.

Anger is merely an emotion which gives you a choice of how to respond.

Appropriate handling of anger is an interpersonal skill which can be developed. Often we learn how to deal with anger by observing our parents or other significant people when we were young.

• Were you taught to discuss your feelings or stuff them?
• Did you grow up in an environment where anger was a destructive or a healthy emotion?

The problem with handling anger in an inappropriate way is it does nothing to resolve the situation and often makes things worse. Suppressing anger can result in physical illness such as migraines, hypertension, ulcers and even angina.

In addition, suppressing anger can result in you having a nuclear reaction to a firecracker event leaving those around you wondering why you got so upset over such a small incident.

Communication is irreversible and once you say something in anger, you cannot take it back. The paradox is that you are not reacting to the event that just happened but to the build up of scar tissue which has formed because you have not allowed yourself to deal with your anger productively in the past.

The key to dealing with anger in a useful way is to permit yourself to acknowledge the presence of anger and allow yourself to experience the physical sensations that go with it.

In addition, you must express your anger in a manner that meets your needs and the needs of the other people while maintaining respect. Focus on yourself and discuss your reaction to the situation in a manner that will help the other person understand your perception.

Watching the tone of voice you use is imperative because your tone helps the other person determine whether you are for or against them.

Sometimes it may mean taking a break from the situation to help you not respond in a manner which may render resolution impossible.

Another factor is whether the other individual is willing to discuss the circumstances. If they are not ready to work it out you may need to find another way to deal with your emotions.

In these situations, sometimes it is helpful to write your feelings down, and this will help you to vent without stuffing your feelings, or saying something you might regret. In any case, it is important that you find a healthy outlet for your feelings to avoid acting out in a manner which you will regret.

Elizabeth (Beth) A. Spears, PhD owns Workplace Communications, Inc.

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

Building trust takes time. We have all heard that statement before, if we break it down, what we are really saying is:

• • How is trust built?
  • Can trust be built more quickly?

Building and Time

When we understand how each of these words impact trust, it is possible to develop trust more quickly with someone – whether it is our colleague, boss, customer, friend or family member.

It is rare that someone gives cart blanch trust from the onset.

When we set out to build trust with someone, it is usually through our actions and words. Each event or experience we have with them increases the level of trust. We test to see if someone is authentic before we give someone the key to our wallet, heart or head.

The other factor is time. Let us face it, some people do not give trust to others for a long time. It might be that they are overly suspicious of people because of a past experience of getting hurt.

There are situations where the time frame to be trusted or give trust is compressed. Think about when you gave or received trust quickly – in fact maybe so quickly your head spun. What was it about that situation that just seemed to make it right?

Here is partial list of ways in which trust can be built and timing might be a factor in being successful. If your example or approach is not listed here, share it below so we can all learn from each other.

1. Listen for understanding first
2. Build consensus
3. Alignment of values
4. Common goals
5. Similar approach to problems
6. Keeping someone in the “loop”
7. Poll your customer for satisfaction
8. React to someone’s situation quickly
9. Communicate clearly
10. Make commitments
11. Set clear expectations
12. Follow through on commitments
13. Cultivate personal relationships
14. Keep in touch frequently (written, electronic, in-person)
15. Figure out what is important to the other person
16. Be responsive
17. Be real/authentic
18. Help someone even if you can’t personally do it
19. Understand the other person’s issues or challenges
20. Be trustworthy
21. Set aside ego
22. Do what is important to the other person rather than what you want to do
23. Be a resource conduit for others
24. Be likable
25. Actively break down barriers to relationships or communication
26. Ask for help, don’t be a know it all
27. Walk the walk
28. Treat people fairly
29. Fess up when you are wrong
30. Recognize contributions

Lynn Dessert owns Leadership Breakthrough, improving personal communication and influence one-step at a time. Post your thoughts or email me!

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

A frustrated business executive recently asked me to help diagnose his company’s new product development processes. They had taken several new products most of the way through design only to have to go back and revise the design, and he felt like they were starting to go in circles.

When I asked what had caused the change, he said that a competitor had brought out an improved product while they were still in the product development phase. With the competitors announcement, adding similar features had forced them to go back and make major changes to the designs. They had done this more than once resulting in a significant delays for what should have been relatively straightforward new products.

But why were relatively straightforward projects taking so long that competitors were beating them to market in the first place? As we continued to dig for the root of his problem, I asked how early in the development of new products they were gathering customer requirements and freezing the design requirements. Talk about an “aha” moment as he realized he was allowing the entrepreneurial head of new products to operate without ever solidifying these requirements.

He had never seen the harm of allowing the product development team “some flexibility.” But as we discussed the situation, it became clear that this issue went beyond mere flexibility. Instead of identifying critical new product requirements, the team was allowing the design requirements to emerge as new products were being developed. This was creating multiple loops to go back and “fix” the work that had already been done. These loops were delaying projects so badly that competitors were launching new features and again sending them back to the drawing board.

If you face a similar situation, here are several changes you can make to get out of the flexibility loop that’s slowing your new product throughput:

1. Freeze Requirements – Specify critical new product requirements in the project plan before your constrained design and development resources begin work.
2. Stay Frozen – Only allow changes to critical requirements if the market changes dramatically. This would include game changing prices or features added by competitors are so compelling that they would obsolete your product before it launches.
3. View new product launches as a continuum – Minor improvements and features added by competitors should not be ignored, but should be considered for subsequent versions of the product.

This article appears by permission of the author and was originally published on his Simplifying Innovation blog.

Mike Dalton is the author of Simplifying Innovation: Doubling speed to market and new product profits – with your existing resources

Mike Dalton is also the founder of Guided Innovation Group, whose simple mission is helping companies turn their new product innovation into bottom-line impact. His innovation improvement framework was sharpened over 24 years of product development, marketing and executive leadership at the multi-billion dollar SC Johnson family of companies.