Full Sail Partners Blog | Sarah Gonnella (3)

The other day I was having a discussion with a client about the challenges of owning a consulting firm. It’s funny how these types of conversations force you to reflect on your own experiences. I quickly realized I made some mistakes along the way as all business owners do when they first start out. I’ve also been witness to mistakes by other consulting firms that have reached out to us for help. From these past experiences, I have identified 9 deadly sins owners of consulting firms should avoid.

1. Not Staying True to the Purpose – When you started the firm you had a purpose, your mission, vision and principles. Don’t lose sight of how you became a successful consulting firm, even through the tough times. It’s important to diversify and be innovative, but it must always fit what you stand for. When you leave your core business, you also lose your core loyal clients.
2. Failing to Innovate – When firms fail to see the changing tealeaves and adapt to their client demands and the competitive landscape, the business can become stagnant and may even die out. Innovation opens your firm up to the next big success. Ideas may fail, but continually innovating and adapting will keep a consulting firm growing.
3. Not Planning for Growth – Alan Lakein said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” This couldn’t be more true when it comes to thinking about how you will grow your firm. The demise of any consulting firm is hoping to stay where it is and not planning for future growth. Change is constant and you can rest assure that your competitors are looking at ways to grow their staff, revenue and client base.
4. Misunderstanding Profitability – You would think this would be a no brainer for consulting firms, but you would be surprised at the excuses made by Project Managers and Owners about why the profit number is declining. Most consulting firms watch profitability for the company, but are you watching the profit on each project? Even worse is when you make the same mistake with the next project. It’s important to take those lessons learned and circle them back to the proposal process.
5. Not Tracking Cash Flow – Firms that do understand profit often forget that it is only half the problem. Clients that do not pay can derail the best profit and growth program and impact cash flow. Having a consistent feedback program with clients can decrease payment issues. By constantly collecting client perceptions about the service delivery, firms can quickly resolve issues and reduce the firm’s payment issues.
6. Misguided or Lacking Process Improvement – Processes deteriorate over time for all kinds of reasons, including addition of new technology, employee turnover, and cutting expenses or resources. Periodically reviewing your processes - whether technological or how staff approach clients or issues - keep staff trained and technology up-to-date. Technology that allows for automatic workflows is an easy way to improve efficiency, decrease redundancy and create consistency. Keep in mind that pursuing too many process improvements at one-time can also be detrimental to the goal. Process improvement must be clearly defined, have an internal champion and sometimes done in stages.
7. Treating BD as a Part-Time Lover – For smaller firms especially, business development can be a challenge to juggle getting the business and doing the work. However, if your firm isn’t constantly selling to existing and new clients, your sales pipeline will eventually run dry. Setting goals and monitoring those goals through a CRM system, for example, can provide visibility to ensure business development is consistent.
8. Ineffective Risk Assessment – The moment we start a business we run into unpredictability and risks every day. Sometimes leaders don’t even know there is a risk issue. Understanding the risks facing your company – from professional liability issues to growing into a new market – allows you to minimize the risk while still being able to “take a chance”.
9. Improper Planning of Disasters - Failure Happens! However, many firms don’t realize until it’s too late that they don’t have an effective backup and recovery solution for their database, email, and network. Even if your firm has a back-up method in place, many times it can’t be deployed quickly. The scary stat is that 60% of all firms that lose their data will close in 6 months. Instituting a Disaster Recovery System that allows for redundant offsite storage and system restoration within a 36-hour period can greatly reduce the chances of complete loss.

Ask yourself, if your consulting firm is committing any of these deadly sins? If so, what can you do about it? Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  It would be insane to keep repeating any of these deadly sins.  

Today I felt compelled to speak to those that are struggling in the world. Whether it is your career, your home life or your past; we all have gone through hardship in our lives at some point and almost on a daily basis we have to overcome obstacles. What I’ve found is that everyone reacts differently during difficult times. Some better than others. Ultimately the choice you face is yours alone to make. That choice may be hard and something you don’t want to face it. Having the hard conversation or facing reality is nothing anyone wants to do. We must realize that ultimately the decision typically is made for you or by you.

Let’s face it, shit happens! You can turn it into a learning lesson, an opportunity or you can gripe about it and keep doing what you are doing. This is true in business and in our home life. Only you can change your circumstances. You hold the key to your happiness and success…no one else. The bigger challenge is picking your battles. My parents always asked me, in the big scheme of things does it really matter? Sometimes you just have to let things slide. Other times, the issue needs to be tackled quickly so it doesn’t become a bigger problem. There is a fine line and let’s face it, we all struggle from time to time with hard decisions.

However, when faced with challenges in your life, here are 7 tips I’ve learned to overcome obstacles:    

1. Don’t complain. People don’t want to hear woe is me over and over again, especially if you do nothing about it. However, do ask for help and for suggestions from others that may have been in similar situations. You have to be willing to help yourself. People can’t do it for you.
    
2. Face it head on. Don’t beat around the bush. If you are having an issue, do something about it. Burying it does nothing but eat away at you. Don’t know what to do? Seek counseling. Many companies provide free counseling services as a part of your HR package. Try something. If that doesn’t work, try something else. Do anything but the same thing that previously didn’t work.
    
3. Stay positive. When you are worried about something it’s hard to stay positive, but think about the good things that could come from the difficult decision you have to make or the hard conversation you have to have.
    
4. Be realistic. Realize you may not get the outcome you want, but rather we sometimes get what we need. Do you have some growing to do before you get what you want? Sometimes the timing isn’t right because there is something better and we just need to be patient.
    
5. Don’t try to out-do people. When someone expresses that they are struggling, don’t come back with, “You think that’s hard… let me tell you my story.” Everyone has had something hard in their life. It’s fine to let them know you can relate, but be helpful with your comments and stories.
    
6. Emotional side. When dealing with others, we sometimes forget that there is more than just the logical side. Most people make decisions because of emotions whether they believe it or not. Past experiences or fears can play a part. Sometimes in order to remove the obstacle you have to digger deeper into the real reasons for objections and overcome that issue first.
    
7. Break it down. Always keep in mind the end objective. Sometimes the bigger obstacle has smaller obstacles to overcome. When thinking about challenges, break them down and tackle them in smaller pieces. 

As a bonus eighth way to overcome obstacles, we have to remember that communication is the key to tackling any challenge. I’ve found asking questions is the best way to start. When a challenge involves others, we must first take the time to probe and understand their position. In business, it is best to have formal processes to overcome obstacles during projects or the sales cycle. Let us know what tips you have on tackling obstacles and be sure to check out our whitepaper to learn how your firm can improve communication with your clients.     
 

It’s that time again: year end.  No, not year-end resolutions, but the time of the year finance is stressing about year-end close and emphasizing that a 2015 marketing budget is needed.

So how many of you look at last year’s numbers and slap on an increase and submit? Be honest! However, how many things have changed since your last budget? The competitive landscape has completely changed for us and many of our clients. So we thought we might do a review to remind firms to get back to the basics when planning your marketing budget. 

Marketing Budget Methods

There are several budgeting methods when putting together your marketing budget. The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Marketing Handbook for the Construction and Design Professional, 3^rd Edition by BNi Building News, 2014 highlights 4 different methods: 

1. Projection Method – is for steady businesses with well-established marketing approaches and which relies on costs from prior years separated into soft or hard costs.
2. Percentage Method – allocates a fixed amount of resources dedicated to acquisition and total net service revenue to fund activities that support getting work
3. Goal-based Method – bases “bottom up” budget based on revenue goals and the implementation tasks that need to be accomplished to meet them. 
4. Ratio Method – is a more complex method incorporating ROI mentality with a strong ability to meet revenue goals and with every dollar spent being tied to a return.  This is for more mature market segments and fairly large projects.

5 Practical Tips

Developing a marketing plan is more than what conferences will you attend and what cool promotional items can we buy this year. When planning your marketing budget for the year it’s important to think about the long-term financial success of the firm.  Below are 5 practical tips for professional services firms to help guide you as you develop this year’s marketing budget: 

1. Analyze the current state of affairs – Internal and external research should be conducted. This includes doing a SWOT analysis. The SWOT should be conducted with all leaders within your firm and is a great starting place to start your strategic marketing plan.
2. Tie your marketing budget to you marketing plan – The most basic mistake is not understanding what your goals are. Your budget will come from the tactics you plan to take to accomplish your goals. Be sure to translate goals into day-to-day actions. Here is more on how to establish goals or Key Performance Indicators and establish goals based on the SMART guidelines.
3. Budget for nurturing existing clients – Firms are always thinking about how to catch the next big fish and commonly overlook where most of their revenue comes from. At the end of the year evaluate where most of your business came from. What would happen if you lost that business? Firm should budget for client nurturing not only throughout the year, but on a daily basis as they execute their projects. It costs a firm 5-7 times more to gain a new client then to keep an existing one. One way of nurturing clients is to be proactive and institute a client feedback process.  
4. Execution is key – Communicating what is expected and following up monthly and quarterly helps you change course when something isn’t working. It takes everyone understanding what is expected and then executing on their part. This includes billing your time to the right code and evaluating your goals versus actuals. If it doesn’t line up then what needs to change? A budget isn’t set in stone, you can make modifications throughout the year when something isn’t working. Knowing it isn’t working is what is critical.
5. More is not necessarily better – Spending more does not equate to achieving more success. To prove this, Deltek conducted their annual clarity report among its clients and found that high achieving firms did not spend more on their marketing budget then those of their counterparts contrary to belief.  They found that high achieving firms however are able to differentiate themselves by focusing on executing more efficiently.

In planning for the upcoming year, we hope these five tips help you develop your marketing budget. Be sure to check out our past webinar crafting a marketing plan and be sure to add a comment to share your tips! 

A friend comes to you and asks for your advice regarding a great investment they discovered with a huge money down initial investment but with – and here’s the kicker – no idea of the ROI. 

Your advice?  Never invest unless you know what you’ll get in return, right?

Yet, thousands of companies today are operating their business without knowing if there will be any return on the investments on initiatives or significant purchases each day.   

WHY do companies do this and HOW can they realize the necessary ROI?

They answer is right in front of us - effective management of change.

This article is the first in an exciting and informative series where we focus our attention on this invasive corporate conundrum and how an effectively run Management of Change Program can positively impact your bottom line.  What’s even more engaging about this series is that we will look at the benefits of change management from a variety of perspectives:  Executive, Finance, Project Management, Marketing, and HR. 

In this introduction piece, we will concentrate on two key definitions including change management and user adoption.

Change Management

Change Management is a term often bandied about as the vague yet intended scapegoat for why things don’t go well in an organization.  While many people certainly understand the concept, there is in fact a real definition.  Generally, change management is the process of moving an organization from its current status to a defined desired status.  However, few understand the importance or the specifics as to what makes an effective management of change program. 

According to mindtools.com’s article “Change Management Making Organization Change Happen Effectively,” “Change management is a structured approach for ensuring that changes are thoroughly and smoothly implemented, and that the lasting benefits of change are achieved.  The focus is on the wider impacts of change, particularly on people and how they, as individuals and teams, move from the current situation to the new one.”  I’ve added the boldface font to make two very important points:  1) that change management requires a structured approach for lasting benefits and 2) change management requires not only a change in process but a change in the people involved. 

User Adoption

Which brings us to our next definition regarding the people involved in the change, User Adoption.  Broadly, it means the people in the company using and taking full advantage of the changed environment.  We all know that getting people to change is always a difficult task:  people are naturally resistant to change - even if change means their work lives will be easier - because the initial adjustment to their lives seems too big a barrier.  Now, taking that broad definition into a more specific level, we can clarify it as the following:  successful user adoption requires a clearly defined and financially measured goal requiring training, clear communication/marketing and leadership buy-in in order to be successful. 

Management of Change and ROI

Now, let’s get back to ROI.

For a change to be considered advantageous, there has to be a compelling business case which will look at the cost of the project weighted against the benefits the company will gain. If the benefits outweigh the costs, the ROI is positive.  The formula for calculating Return on Investment (ROI)[2] is:

Have you ever had a moment in your life that stands out as a teaching moment that has made you who you are today? My moment transformed and prepared me as a Project Manager and Owner to tackle difficult conversations. Let’s face it, whether personal or in the workplace, we are constantly faced with resolving conflict.  At the same time, I have learned (or found) that not everyone is comfortable with expressing what needs to be said. So, it really resonated with me when a couple years ago I discovered a tool that has made conflict resolution easier. More about that in a minute. 

My Story

My teaching moment was when I was in sixth grade.  I had a teacher I felt was not being fair. I expressed to my mother my frustration to see if she could help. She told me that she could go to this teacher and have a conversation, but that the teacher would probably respond better if I addressed the issue head on. She coached me on how to have the conversation so I had the tools to handle the conversation on my own.

I was nervous as I entered her classroom. I asked the teacher if she had a moment that we could step outside of the class and talk. I told her how I felt and wanted to bring it to her attention to see how we could resolve the issue. The teacher was impressed and happy that I brought it to her attention. We came up with a solution and each day after I felt that I was respected and developed a better relationship with that teacher.  Each day I look back at that experience, I realize that was the moment I learned to speak up about concerns and not fear the hard conversation to resolve conflict.

Resolving Conflict

By no means am I an expert at resolving conflict. However, I have learned that avoiding the subject and hoping it goes away rarely works. Additionally, conflict doesn’t have to be looked at as negative. Sometimes opportunities flourish from conflict. The other person might be feeling the same way and because you took the time to say something your relationship improved.  A great resource for learning more about conflict resolution is Mindtools. Below are some tips I have learned throughout the years to help resolve client issues:

1. Perception is Reality - The definition of conflict is to be incompatible. So in order to resolve conflict, the first step is to listen and understand the other person’s or group’s point of view.  We all come from different experiences that influence us and can lead us to make assumptions. So it’s important to understand that someone else’s views may have nothing to do with you, but be based on their past experience.  So with that, we must also realize that perception is the truth no matter if you think it’s true or not. Once you put your mind around that fact you can begin to focus on what can be done to resolve the issue.
    
2. Managing Expectations – Managing expectations with a client requires being proactive vs. reactive. Once a client is frustrated with multiple things that have built up over time, it takes a lot more work to resolve the issue and sometimes is too late. For professional services firms that need to manage clients, a great tool to help with this is the Client Feedback Tool. The only way you can really know what a client is thinking is to ask. This tool allows a firm to check-in with their clients using two minute surveys throughout the project. When you do this, you uncover things your firm has done that your clients love (so you can continue to do more of the same) as well as things that your client would like you to change if only slightly. This doesn’t remove the need for picking up the phone and calling, but it is great for letting you know there is an issue before it gets unmanageable. And, it is very comfortable for clients to let you know things you might not think to ask on the phone and that they might feel were perhaps not worth mentioning on a project call. However, knowing allows you to adjust your service delivery and make you even more valuable to them.
    
3. Take Action – When a person does speak up about an issue, it’s important to follow-up, follow-up, follow-up and take action! Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that you go against best practices or things you know are not in the best interest of the client or your firm. The feedback just brings out in the open something that matters to your client. It gives everybody a moment to collect their thoughts and then have a discussion. When you do, it’s important to communicate concerns you have and any consequences after fully understanding the client.  At the end of the discussion and meetings, a recap of action items, who is responsible and due dates can help you get back on track.

So the next time you encounter an issue with a client, I hope my story and tips help you think about ways you can deal with conflict resolution. Be sure to share your conflict resolution tips or stories. Should you want to provide your employees a way to manage expectations, we invite you to take a tour of the Client Feedback Tool. 

It’s not so much that firms don’t already know they aren’t taking advantage of their Deltek Vision system as much as they sometimes just don’t know where to start. I hear it almost every time I’m at a conference talking to clients. “We aren’t utilizing the system to its full potential”. Knowing you aren’t is half the battle. The harder part is figuring out what to focus on and getting the buy-in to do something about it. Below are five tips on how to get the most out of your Deltek Vision system. 

1. Make it a Priority – We see it every day, firms deal with inefficiencies causing them to lose money each day they are not addressed. If you don’t make it a priority, who will?  Make a list of all of the things keeping you from focusing on your job, i.e. inefficiencies, duplication, lack of report, insight on trends, etc.  Then go to each role within the firm and make the same list from them. This is where you start. By applying the 80/20 rule you can reduce that list down to your priority list.
    
2. Take Advantage of New Technology – Is your firm guilty of ignoring technological enhancements? Businesses that stay with the “old way” of doing things fall behind their competition. But change is so hard!  You know what they say, the only thing constant is change. New tools like mobile access to timesheets, expense reports, and CRM are available. Not to mention InDesign integration, expense receipt attachments and so many more enhancements of Deltek Vision. Yet, has your firm taken advantage of these new features? Fear of change, lack of understanding what’s available, inadequate IT support are some of the reasons we tend to hear despite their employees saying they need these new features. To learn about the latest enhancements and take advantage of them. Check out our What’s New in Vision webinar and be sure to read our monthly newsletter. Not receiving it? Contact us.
    
3. Collaborate as a Team – Do you have teammates or are you dealing with the isolation effect? The modern business world is reliant on teams. Ultimately the success of your business is impacted by your teams ability to be productive together.  There is no “I” in team. You have to rely on others while they rely on you and that includes providing accessibility throughout the company. Collaboration can only happen with trust. So identifying where the trust issue sits and resolving it is key. Seek out new and innovative ways to work as team. Contact our collaboration queen for more information. 
    
4. Improve Employee Skills – How can someone learn if you don’t edumacate ‘em? Through Osmosis! Employees typically want to do the right thing, but without the right tools or training, it makes it hard and sometimes impossible. Does your staff have access to the right metrics or information to make quick decisions? Do you know what is included and have you been trained on the latest enhancements? Full Sail Partners can help you train your employees by utilizing the priority list identified in item #1. You don’t know what you don’t know and that sometimes it is a firm’s worst enemy. To learn on demand, view our past archive section or contact us.
    
5. Push the Envelope – Wish there was a feature or way to do something in Vision? You might just find that it’s been tackled before. Your consultant can provide great insight on the possibilities as they have worked with hundreds of firms. It seems every day I run into a client that discovers the awesome power of workflows to accomplish there challenge. Workflows can save time to free you up for more productive activities. They can automate repetitive tasks, alert users of record changes, and enable your firm to streamline process through automation. When something isn’t possible with stored procedures or workflows, there is still an option. In Customer Care, you can also submit a “new idea”. The more people that submit on a topic, the higher up on the priority list is goes.

Put on your walking shoes and “just do it”. Just like you do with a project or a marketing plan, you have to plan out what is needed and the results you expect to see. You don’t have to do it alone. Full Sail Partners is here to help guide you so your firm can get the most out of your Deltek Vision system. 

Becoming a champion of project management is as easy as solving a puzzle. The puzzle is rather complex and requires specialized training with a very specific kind of expertise, but a puzzle nonetheless.  So what does it mean to be a project based firm? What do project managers do? What do project KPI’s have to do with project management?  As with all puzzles, the best way to solve is to take the puzzle apart, piece by piece, and decode it.

Puzzle One: Am I a project based firm?

Interestingly, business theorists debate as to what determines “a project based firm”.  There is not a hard-and-fast rule for defining whether or not you’re project based and would need the services of a project manager. So let’s just stick with the basics.  The most obvious way to decide is if you have a business model where you perform “projects,” “jobs,” or “services” for external clients.  Ultimately, you are offering your expertise – NOT your goods – to an external customer.

The Project Management Institute says that a project “is a temporary group activity designed to produce a unique product, service or result like building a bridge, relief after a natural disaster or expansion of sales into a new market.”  Examples of project based companies include:

• Management Consulting Firms
• Architecture, Engineering or Construction Companies
• System Integrators
• Advertising Agencies

If you’re goods oriented (you sell software or insurance) or operationally oriented (i.e. you manage clients’ IT structure), you are not naturally a project based firm.  We could expand our definition by looking at your business organizational structure – project based firms tend to organize around their projects or jobs.  In a non-project based firm, “a business may include separate departments for manufacturing, accounting, marketing, and human resources because the organization is based around functions, not projects, …” (Miranda Morley, Demand Media, “What Is the Difference Between Project Based & Non-Project Based Organizations?”)

Puzzle Two: Am I a Project Manager?           

Most of us have a general understanding of project management, but we can go to the Project Management Institute (pmi.org) for a good definition – “project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently.  It’s a strategic competency for organizations, enabling them to tie project results to business goals – and thus, better compete in their markets. Project Managers Initiate, Plan, Execute, Monitor and Control, and Close their projects.”  

Many would argue that there is more to being a Project Manager. I would argue that communication and follow-up are key areas required to be a successful Project Manager. However, the basics of being a project manager revolve around the delivery of a project. 

Puzzle Three: What are Project KPI’s for Project Management?

KPI’s are Key Performance Indicators and they are quantifiable, measurable indicators of goal attainment.  They are the very backbone as to what makes projects succeed or fail – which is directly tied, in your project based firm, to your company’s success or failure.  When given a new project, Project Managers create KPI’s to:

• Initiate the project and its deliverables
• Plan project details
• Execute those details
• Monitor and control each step in the project
• Close the project upon completion of the deliverable and the project post-mortem

Some subject examples of project management KPI’s are adherence/deviation of budgets, milestones, and task times.  Here are some sample KPI’s that might be part of a project plan: 

• Determine percent of rework attributable to requirements definitions. 
• Conclude deviation of planned ROI
• Establish cost of managing processes

For more information on writing project KPI’s, refer to “KPIs | Writing, Establishing, and Measuring" by Full Sail Partners, Inc.

Bonus Round…

Although joining a game show is potentially a quick way to make some money, it’s the savvy business owner who aligns his project based firm with project KPI’s. This alignment helps ensure the firm’s bottom line is replete with positive cash flow and employees who are happy, because they know their jobs and how to be professionally successful.  No, we shouldn’t rely on a game show host to guide us to riches, but we can depend on consultants at Full Sail Partners to help guide us to metrics that matter.  And don’t worry about buying a vowel, just turn over your mouse to this webinar and see how achievable all your goals are.

Business communication continues to change with each generation. The quantity and speed of information has exploded and firms are seeking new ways to handle the pressure of information overload. Are business collaboration tools the answer? We predict that these 5 reasons demonstrate why collaboration tools are the way of the future.   

1. Reduce Dependency on Email | Imagine a world of no email. I know it sounds crazy, right? However, if you had a designated space that colleagues, sub-consultants, vendors, and clients used to collaborate about specific initiatives, projects, or marketing efforts, wouldn’t it be nice to capture all of those thoughts in an organized fashion in one area? When you think about some of the biggest challenges with email and the fact that colleagues are not always down the hall anymore, it makes sense that businesses are looking beyond email. Here are some of the things that can be improved through business collaboration tools where email consistently fails:
   
   
   • Eliminate forgotten or missed requests
   • Categorizing comments, notes, files, tasks, and requests
   • Capturing ideas, competitive intelligence, or ways to improve your business that are easily searchable
2. Personal Meets Business | The line of business and personal continues to blur. When was the last time you worked 9-5? People are working at all times of the night and answering questions while watching their favorite TV show. Business colleagues and clients are now connected to us on Facebook and personal activities and responsibilities need to be accomplished sometimes during the work day. Social collaboration and business collaboration tend to have the same needs: to share files, ideas, assignments, calendar of events, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice to organize both business and personal in one tool? Collaboration tools like Kona are making this possible.
   
   
3. Make Life Easier | Employees are looking at ways to balance their work and personal life, as well as, have more flexibility with their schedule. Not all tasks need to be done during work hours or even at their desk. Virtualization is becoming more common, requested, and needed in corporate America. Disasters or state emergencies have made that even more apparent. Collaboration tools are designed with mobility and accessibility in mind. Additionally, they allow people to access information and other individuals anywhere and anytime with the comfort that the information is readily available in the cloud.
    
4. Instant Access | Business collaboration is not just for internal communication, but is also being requested by clients. Clients are looking for a better way to communicate and a better client experience. No more excuses of lost emails. Clients can instantly ping you with a question and you can immediately respond with an answer through the use of collaboration tools. What client wouldn’t like to immediately IM or video chat with their consultant to resolve issues? Setting expectations of this instant access is important. Alternatively, you could set a schedule that you are available for client questions at a particular time each day and quickly answer those pending questions in one collaboration tool.
    
5. Integration | Collaboration tools are becoming more and more integrated with other business tools. Not only are they now integrated with our ERP, CRM and Outlook, but collaboration tools integrate with other sharing tools like Dropbox, Box, Google docs, Skype, and the list goes on. The ease of use and social familiarity increases the likelihood of usability. Integration makes it even easier for users to access data in one place through connectors.  

Business collaboration tools are all about working more effectively as a team. Let us know what you think. Has your firm been contemplating collaboration tools? See what others are saying: 

What are the major productivity killers for firms in the Professional Services? For most firms, some of the biggest ones revolve around information overload, duplicated effort and other inefficiencies. 

Fortunately, team collaboration tools can address each of these areas — and thus have a positive impact on the productivity of individuals and teams throughout an organization. 

First, let’s consider the element of information overload — which for many people is exemplified in the form of an overflowing email inbox. We all know the frustration of seeing fifteen different emails with the same subject line, where people are actually commenting each other’s earlier messages — and then trying to untangle the sequence of the discussion to make some sense of it. Not only does this type of information overload take time to sort through, but the reality is that with so many emails piling up, important messages can get lost or go unread. 

Another major factor that negatively affects productivity is duplication of effort. It’s common for multiple people in a firm to be working on the same problem — but is some cases, rather than working as a team, they’re operating in unconnected silos. Even if the whole team was in the same meeting, subsets of the group may have informal follow-up meetings, or even chance encounters in a hallway. Any one of these can result in parallel (and duplicated) efforts. 

Inefficiencies come in a variety of flavors, ranging from the annoying to the scary. One of my favorites is the issue of document versioning. This is especially likely when multiple people are working separately on the same document. Unless a firm has a solid solution in place, it’s all too likely for multiple versions of a document to spring to life, each with its own edits and authors. Sorting through the different versions to create one final document can be a time-consuming source of frustration. 

Real team collaboration is a beautiful thing

Now let’s switch gears and talk about some of the productivity gains a firm can realize by implementing effective team collaboration tools. 

One of the most essential functions that collaboration tools perform is organizing team members’ communications into a centralized repository of conversations around specific tasks and issues within the project. In the Kona tool, for example, individuals can have conversations with one colleague, a small group within the team, or the entire team. They can also see the various subtasks, view a centralized project calendar and share information with the entire team. 

Team collaboration tools can enable project managers to set up their groups so that certain members are able to see all conversations, while others have a more limited view. This capability can be especially critical when collaborating with clients. 

Kona in particular has found an effective way to address the problem of sharing documents among members of a team – one that ensures that everyone is working off the latest version. Instead of sending colleagues the actual document as an email attachment, users can send links to where the master files are stored (including such online services as Dropbox, Box or Google Drive). 

Last but not least, when collaboration tools are web-enabled, like Kona, they’re ideal for optimizing the way people work in the real world. After all, not all of our productive time is spent at work; we can also be productive when we’re in between doing other tasks, whether at home, on business trips or elsewhere. Team collaboration tools allow individuals to continue being productive, wherever and whenever inspiration hits. 

Summing up

Until a firm finds an effective way to address factors like information overload, duplication of effort, and inefficiencies, its productivity will probably suffer. Team collaboration solutions may hold the key to making the most of your team’s collective abilities — and at the same time, minimizing the overlaps, dropped balls and other issues that may be limiting your productivity.
 

Almost everyone has heard Thomas Edison’s famous quotation about genius being “one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Far fewer people stop to wonder exactly what Edison was sweating about. 

The answer is, Edison was not only working on the various inventions for which he’s well-known, but also on the emerging discipline of R&D itself. Even as he and his team were cranking out one technological marvel after another, one of Edison’s ongoing areas of interest was in improving collaboration in the workplace. 

According to Sarah Miller Caldicott (who happens to be Edison’s great grandniece), the world’s most prolific inventor developed a methodical approach to nurturing teamwork and innovation among his workers. In her book on the subject, Midnight Lunch: The Four Phases of Team Collaboration Success From Thomas Edison’s Lab, she describes the little-known, behind-the-scenes processes that Edison pioneered to create and sustain high-performing teams. 

Caldicott does a great job of finding insights into Edison’s approach that have relevance for businesses today, so I highly recommend checking out her book. In case you don’t have time to read it yourself, I’ve synthesized some of Caldicott’s key observations with current best practices in collaboration. For starters, I’ve identified three major areas where organizations often make mistakes that prevent them from improving collaboration in the workplace. 

Mistake # 1: Keep doing business the old way.

It’s natural to keep using the same tools and processes that have worked for you in the past. However, your competition is probably hard at work trying to figure out a faster, cheaper way to put you out of business. So “sticking to what works” may put your organization in an increasingly vulnerable position. Fortunately, there’s a constantly expanding variety of tools that can help you maximize your ability to collaborate. 

One of Edison’s interesting approaches to fostering collaboration was the “midnight lunch.” These were regularly scheduled but informal get-togethers where his engineers got to know and trust one another better, increasing their ability to communicate and work as a team. In today’s business environment, technologies like Kona and Skype may make it easier for teams to exchange ideas, but many people who write about collaboration still point to the effectiveness of starting with face-to-face meetings and then evolving to virtual collaboration as time progresses. 

In Edison’s day, the products of collaboration were obviously analog — although many of their ideas existed only in their heads, a great deal existed on paper as well. If a team member left, much of their work and insights could literally be passed out among team members. In today’s world, we are meeting the need by creating central repositories of files and communication — so if a team member leaves, all their intellectual property doesn’t leave with them. 

Mistake # 2: Assemble the wrong type of team.

The ideal size team for collaboration depends on a variety of factors — including the complexity of the work, the products the group is expected to generate (and the timeframe for doing so), and how often, if ever, the team needs to convene in person. 

For what it’s worth, Edison preferred smaller, more cohesive teams of between two and eight members, according to Caldicott. In addition to hosting the “midnight lunches” mentioned above, Edison also tried to ensure a mix of disciplines and areas of expertise on each of his teams; Edison’s light bulb team, for example, included chemists, mathematicians, and glassblowers. To put it another way, Edison and his colleagues were focusing on diversity decades before the term was ever used in a business management context! 

Mistake # 3: Take your eye off the ball.

One other lesson to be learned from Edison is to take the long view on collaboration. Real impact is not a short-term gain or achievement, but rather an investment of energy and resources that will eventually bear fruit. 

Taking this perspective, it’s easier to realize that mistakes can be just as instructive as successes. When Edison was only 22, he had his first flop:  An electronic vote recorder that legislators declined to adopt. Following that experience, Edison changed his focus to the consumer instead, and never regretted the decision. 

Another lesson Edison teaches us is to keep an eye on the market, and be ready to make adjustments as necessary. For example, he and his team ushered in the era of electricity, and then continued to invent new applications that used the increasingly available power source; other inventors ignored electricity at their peril. (For a more recent example of how not to do things, look no further than Kodak, which failed to adapt to market changes and is playing catch-up with hundreds of more innovative, nimbler companies.) 

Has the light bulb over your head turned on yet?

Most companies would consider themselves to be phenomenally successful to have even one innovation on the level of the light bulb, the motion picture, the phonograph, or any of the hundreds of other inventions and patents credited to the Wizard of Menlo Park. But by making the most of the collaborative tools and strategies for improving collaboration in the workplace mentioned above, your company can at least maximize the chance that your teams will do their very best work.