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Archive for the ‘Grin’ Category

Elevator Speech

Posted in Grin, tagged , on December 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

It was about 12 years ago when I attended an intensive 2-weeks graduate training at ExxonMobil Chemicals.  A group of us from around the region literally lived and studied together inside a hotel in Singapore.  The training was indeed a survival course of corporate culture, business line introduction, management techniques as well as a whole bunch of soft skills training.  One topic which I still vividly remember until this date, is conducting your elevator speech.

A typical elevator ride in your office building will not last more than 15 to 30 seconds.  If you happen to ride with your friends and colleagues, you normally exchange polite and casual remarks on the weather, workload, and where to go for lunch, dinner or drinks after work.  What happens when your General Manager or the company CEO steps in?  He or she is smiling at you while introducing themselves.  What else are you going to say aside from your name?  Are you just going to report your department or to whom you work for, hoping the executive will ask follow-up questions afterwards?

In the training we were taught to make good use of this brief elevator encounter, and we were asked to draft our 15 seconds elevator speech.  The objective is to make an impression without making a fool of ourselves.  In today’s corporate world, the trainer told us that every word and remark counts, and how confident and humble we are acting in front of everyone is a clear statement of how we want to be perceived and remembered. 

The key to drafting the contents of the speech is to think of the recipient.  What matters for the CEO?  The speech needs to be timely as well because the priorities of the CEO changes day by day.  Merely reporting what team or department you work for isn’t going to make much of an impression, but hearing that you have been leading the transformation team of the most recent global outsourcing project may raise an eyebrow.  Obviously, my thoughts are that it is not a job interview.  I honestly think it’s going be a bit awkward if I start to throw out numbers and accomplishments in an elevator.  It will appear a bit too scripted and inhuman. 

Again, I think personality stands out.  The elevator conversation should be able to help project a lasting impression of what you do and your personality.  If you think you can articulate an idea accurately through your words and gestures, it’s okay to exert an opinion on a task or project at hand even if it is not mainstream.  Of course, if you know you will get easily nervous in a timed scenario, forget about it or you will be remembered as a weirdo or even a whiner.  Leaders love to see how composed and relaxed their employees are, because that is critical management material.  After all, I think preparing an elevator speech isn’t really about the details of the contents.  If you have envisioned this day to come anytime in the future, you will be less nervous if the CEO comes out to shake your hands asking how things are.  You will be more relaxed and composed, and more often than not, your natural charisma is going to come out and dazzle everybody.

So what is your elevator speech going to be?

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Don’t Cross The Line

Posted in Frown, Grin, tagged , on December 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The use of electronic auctions in procurement is not unpopular these days, though it is definitely more common in the direct materials area.  A few years ago my job was to promote the use of e-auctions and to illustrate how it could become one of the valuable tools for procurement professionals in Asia.  E-auctions in procurement is like the reverse of how we use eBay or any online shopping auction portals as regular consumers.  When we shop on eBay, we are facing a few days or even weeks of deadline to bid for the merchandise we love.  We have to check back often to make sure whether we are still in the lead or if not, keep bidding with a higher offer.  We now make use of the same theory and technology to bring all suppliers together (virtually) to compete for the buyer’s business volumes.  The only difference is that a lower bid will be more competitive, meaning the buyers will award business to the supplier offering the lowest price.   It’s that simple.

Some procurement clients are against e-sourcing.  They think that the suppliers are not ready.  They think that it will send a wrong message to the community saying they only care about price and nothing else.  They are worried about their relationships with suppliers being impacted.  They are also concerned over technological instability, as well as online integrity issues.  These are all valid concerns, but I would say 80% of these concerns are addressable by the procurement clients and executives themselves. These concerns are nothing unlike those already exist with conventional sourcing methods like RFPs, tenders, or face-to-face negotiations.

The technical aspects are easy to be picked up and training on that part usually takes less than a day, but it’s the game rules, pricing setup, supplier pre-qualification and online integrity that will need to be addressed and covered in most detail.  When I teach such topics, I always bring it back to the very basics when I am asked with the above questions.  What would you do if you have these challenges with conventional sourcing?  It’s exactly the same tactics and preparations that we need to do in e-sourcing.  It’s only the negotiation platform that is changed; the sourcing philosophy isn’t.

Sometimes I really have to give it to the Chinese.  We Chinese are very fast learners in general, and we pick up new technologies in a snap.  When I teach in mainland China, I am constantly challenged to keep my local clients fully engaged and interested.  They get the benefits of e-sourcing instantly.  It’s quick.  It leaves the negotiation from between each supplier and the buyer to between suppliers themselves.  It shows their bosses what the most updated market price is.   Although there are clearly constraints of e-sourcing, most local clients I introduced are truly amazed and excited over the 30-minute or so online bidding event.  The buyers clapped, pulled in their colleagues and bosses, and some even toasted with champagne. 

What I am afraid of are the REALLY smart adopters.  One Chinese client asked me to teach them how to register as a supplier so that they could join the event to “observe”.  I wasn’t born yesterday, and at times like this, I had to stop them right away so as to make sure they were only joking and not thinking of intervening an event unethically.  I felt that they understood it, but from the corner of my eye, I swore I could see a few of them plotting the possibility silently. 

I am all for innovation, but don’t step over the line, guys.

 

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December’s Foes?

Posted in Grin, tagged on December 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I have very little expectations over the coming holiday season.   In fact, I’m not sure if it has anything to do with age, but I just find festivities today way too commercial.  It seems that all holidays are focused around elaborate dining, shopping, gifts and parties.  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for getting together with my family and friends enjoying cozy discussions over good food and wine.  All I am a bit tired of, is waiting in lines for the cashier and gift wrapping, paying deposits for festive Christmas party reservations, and squeezing through jam-packed subway exits to get in and out of the city’s most popular destinations.  It just seems to be too much work for a few hours of supposedly happy time.

Instead, I strive to make myself happy in whatever ways regardless of the time of year.  Last weekend I paid enough money for a whole new wardrobe that keeps me excited for weeks if not months ahead.  I have also just made vacation plans to get myself out of the city to wind down, at least for a few days, after the new year.  Keeping myself healthy is also what I have seriously started to do since 4 months ago.   The nutrition routine that I’ve been following since has given me so much energy while losing weight.  If I have not accomplished anything else this year, this could be my biggest achievement so far in 2010.

I usually don’t take time off during December because the peak travel season means exorbitant prices on airfare and hotels.  Plus, many colleagues at work are off on vacation with their families and kids and usually the workload and productivity has sunk to an all time low.  Getting to work in this season is actually a delight.  I remember in my old workplace we have this tradition of “Director/VP for a Week” as an excuse to find a stand-in for senior executives who are on leave.  Of course we sugar-coat the exercise to be one golden opportunity for us to showcase our leadership capabilities by literally attending all the senior level meetings and conference calls during the entire stand-in period.  Supposedly, nothing should be left waiting for the executives to come back from vacation. 

I had the pleasure to become Director of the Week one year, though technically, I had it for three weeks.  The originally quiet December work month turned out to be a hectic one since I had to deal with a few emergency personnel issues across the region.  On top of my then existing Greater China responsibilities, I also attended to operational and personnel matters in India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.  There were a few major decisions that I had to make based on incomplete facts, but I made them anyway.  Certain things could have been managed better, but out of all the circumstances, the acting Director role was a satisfactory one. 

Work wise, December is a month of recuperation.  The year’s cost savings targets should have been met by now (or too late to recover).  Next year’s target is already set with a whole lot of uneasy feeling toward how on earth everyone is going to meet them.  All leaders are plotting their engagement plan with senior stakeholders once they return from vacation in a few weeks’ time.   So technically, there isn’t much that can be done instantly.

Ok, perhaps now I get why so many people are fanatically looking for party invitations, dinner reservations, various shopping expos  and 4-hour waits at the airports.  Since there is nothing much better to do at work or at schools, everyone is working their butts off to keep themselves busy by playing really really hard.  Why can’t Hong Kongers just take a breather and relax, for once?

 

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The Sale Must Go On

Posted in Grin, tagged , on December 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The other morning I went to this Christian Dior bargain sale supposedly filled with merchandise up to 70% off retail.  Last year’s sale was quite good and I got a suit, a few tees and a pair of pants.  This time, 30 minutes after opening the room was already jam-packed with bargain hunters, and there was already a line of about 50 people eagerly waiting to get in.

This year the Dior Homme selection is pathetically scarce.  It looks very much like an outlet sale of leftover items either too loud in color (shocking pink and red), or off-season merchandise.  Women seemed to have better luck scouting for dresses and handbags.  Although I waited in line for an hour, it only took me 15 minutes to finish reviewing the men section.  There was nothing wearable.  I found one suit I really liked and it fitted me extremely well, but there was no pants included.  What did they do with this supposedly 2-piece suit (the tag says so)?  Prices also seem to be higher than last year as well.  I was debating within myself whether I should get the suit jacket as a mix-and-match item, or maybe go to my tailor to have a pair of pants made up.  However once I saw the check-out line of at least a two-hour wait, I put the jacket back on the shelf and announced my departure.

I guess this is a good sign that this year’s economy is so good that they don’t have much items left for end of season sale.  Their HK$15,000 dollar tag is no longer one that needs pondering through.  Our mainland China brothers and sisters are forking out millions of renminbi because our rack rates are like 15% off for them due to the weak Hong Kong dollar.   Who need to wait for sales now? 

On the corporate level I am seeing all of us hurting because of the weak dollar.  The outsourced services I am buying has seen skyrocketed prices and it seems all I am doing lately is to negotiate down a price increase, NOT further discounts.  In procurement these days we are spending more and more efforts on these types of cost avoidance possibilities.  Our finance counterparts are skeptic about our achievement because it may not bring back bottom line savings to the company, but my view is that if we have done nothing, my clients could have paid 15% or 20% more.  This 15% or 20% avoidance takes loads of negotiation and bargaining efforts, but this effort very often goes unappreciated. 

Corporate buying is therefore quite different from personal buying.  For us we hypnotize ourselves of these mega sales and claim victory of the “savings” and bargains we get.  We work for it by standing in lines, researching on-line, exchanging shopping gossips through friends and on Facebook.   In corporate buying we have to measure savings scientifically off last purchased prices.  It works on repeated purchase items, but for the work carried out in sourcing and negotiating for newly purchased services and products, such methodology is not exactly a good reflection of our work.

Well well, in the meantime I am now heading off to another pre-sale event beginning tonight, all for myself!

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Company Travel 101

Posted in Frown, Grin, tagged on December 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

For almost any regional corporate employee one of the first things they ask is the company’s travel policy.  To many executives who are in the air over 30% of their time, this policy directly affects their very well-being.   Some even ask about it during job interviews so that they can size up the opportunities as part of their consideration.  Again, may I remind everyone that the travel policy is the collective work of company’s top management, human resources, finance and security.  Procurement is only asked to come in afterwards to negotiate the best travel deals for the company, based on set upon travel policy guidelines, and available budget.   We always get blamed or bombarded with complaints and questions from everyone, from secretaries to heads of businesses.

Am I entitled to fly business?

Don’t we just hate rubbing shoulders and elbows with strangers in coach?  The funny thing is that we can accept it when we fly for leisure ourselves, but somehow enduring coach travel for business is simply unimaginable.  Some argue that it’s for safety.  Some says it’s important to get on board and off the plane first.  “Since we need to catch business meetings immediately after landing, we need to arrive in our best physical and mental condition”.  What a load.  Everyone wants to get an exception because they are just too important for the company.  Yes, the company will cripple if they cannot fly business.

What routes can I fly business?

“Only flights over 8 hours are entitled for business class? Ok, Ms Secretary, please book me a trip to fly to Australia onward to Japan then to Manila over to Shanghai before heading home.  Then I can travel business the whole way through right?”  “Why is China no longer a “hardship” country?”  “Have you flown to Delhi before?  Do you know how awful the airport it is?”  Why this, not that, is the most common question we get and we normally politely direct them to talk to either HR, finance, or security.

 What are our preferred airlines?

 In fact this is now relatively less common in this part of the region.  It is easier to identify, say, United for the States, but it is a lot harder to identify one or two preferred airlines that fly to most cities of the region. Having  too many preferred airlines just simply does not make sense.  Instead, companies nowadays adopt the lowest carrier/airfare concept.

What are lowest airfares?

Corporate travel desks are required by management to quote lowest fare options to business travelers with the idea to make sure all staff takes these options automatically.  Yet I still see a lot of cases where travelers still insist to fly their own preferred airlines because of either better timing, better alternation flexibilities, or simply, a much more attractive mileage program that benefits the travelers personally.  I am seeing some global companies requesting travelers to fork over their mileage, or ask airlines to enroll ONE corporate mileage account for all business travels, so that all awards can be used for business, instead of some executives’  lavish first class vacation to Hawaii with their wife and kids.

What are our preferred hotels?

This always strikes up quite a controversy.  You can get consensus easier with the best airline for each country (which usually is the flag carrier because of the best timing and most frequent schedules), but it is almost impossible for everyone to agree with what hotels are the best for each city.  Some insists on 5-star ratings.  Some focuses on their proximity to offices.  Some  wants to stay away from American properties due to recent terrorist attacks.  Some require lavish conferencing and banquet facilities.   Of course, with corporate’s continuous strive to cut costs, maximum city overnight rates have been decreasing year after year, and it just requires procurement’s super powers to conduct regional RFPs for preferred hotels hopefully to please everyone.  At the end of the day, you always end up with a few travelers who make it an effort to scream at you every time they see you.  Very rewarding job it is.

I myself, am just another ordinary traveler.  I want the best for myself and I always dream to stay in the best places, fly business with the best airlines, be picked up by stretched limos, and have unlimited per diem.  However I am also realistic, and I know what the real priorities are.  Those reckless spending days are over.  Instead, I’d rather focus on negotiating a higher paycheck for myself.  Business trip is a business trip.  Admit it, no matter how pampered you are being treated, you will still whine and bitch about it no matter what!

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Who Wants To Be On Top?

Posted in Grin, Hope, tagged , on November 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

“You don’t look like a procurement person!” is what I hear time and time again from my clients and end users.  Since I am shameless I usually take it as a compliment.  Tell me the truth, if you are one of the rare few who actually know what procurement is, ninety percent of the time you would be expecting to run into a dull, stone-faced, old-fashioned man or woman in his/her 40s or 50s.  Quite honestly, this fits most of the physical characteristics of professionals I have seen in this circle across the globe, except perhaps in Mainland China.  In China, the average age is a lot younger since the number of low-cost sourcing positions is the fastest growing in the world.

Don’t tell me dressing the part makes no difference.  Don’t tell me you never judge the book by its covers, or publishers won’t spend millions of dollars researching for the right design, illustrations, fonts, colors and catchy titles for their books.  Don’t tell me you give people more than 5 minutes to make a first impression. 

The same goes for my profession. 

Just because we work behind the scenes with spreadsheets and calculators and putting our noses to the 68-page contract and request for proposal drafts 13 hours a day, there should never be an excuse dressing like a 60 year-old history professor.  If you are indeed a strategic procurement professional, you are likely to spend plenty of time in front of suppliers, departmental users, CFOs, CIOs, lawyers, auditors and regulatory officials.   You need to represent, negotiate, convince and argue all at the same time.  We need to armor up with facts, strategies, baits and bullets.  Dressing the part is increasingly a make-or-break situation.

 I dress to meet with the savvy senior business development teams from IBM, Accenture and WPP.  I dress for site inspection trips to China Mobile and China Netcom in Beijing meeting state officials.  I dress to go over the new year’s budget plans with the SVP of marketing operations.  I dress when I meet the lawyers.  I dress when I conduct trainings.  Hey, do I need any reasons not to dress for the part?

It’s not only the dress as well.  I also care about posture.  I know, this is no America’s Next Top Model contest, but we need to project professionalism and confidence – all the time.  Otherwise, no one is going to entrust you with the millions of dollars worth buying decisions.  No one is going to take you seriously at the negotiation table.  No one is going to give you a raise (though we all sadly know this is out of our hands most of the time).   No one is going to believe that you take the laws and regulations seriously.  Have eye contact at all time.  Speak clearly and decisively.  Use the right gestures to project approval or doubtfulness.  Head up, shoulders back and walk straight ahead.  Be fierce and let people know you mean business.  Gosh, this does sound like something Tara Banks would say.

Dressing well and projecting confidence sends a clear silent signal before I even start to speak up:  I respect what I do.  I respect you and your time.  I am above the topic at hand and I focus on the long-term objective.  I don’t have time to waste.  I am not the type that would take bribes.  I am not going to take no as an answer.  I am not to be fooled.  I am secure enough to say what’s right without worrying over repercussions from my boss, colleagues or people with devious motives.  Most of all, I am a brand of my ownand I will bring credibility and efficiency to the company.  So, listen up!

Sounds narcissistic?   No, if you want to send at least one of the above signals across.

Time to start thinking about what your personal brand is, stand up, refine your speaking techniques, check your posture and switch on Tara!

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Make Your Own Special Occasion!

Posted in Grin, tagged , , , on November 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

To make up for not being there for my ex-colleague’s wedding, I thought a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee would be perfect.  “Make your own special occasion to celebrate”, is what I told the happy couple.   There was actually quite a large selection of champagnes to choose from, but I went for the brand that I trust and, quite honestly, the one with the most handsome promotional discount.

Shopping for wine and spirits is a rather joyful experience here in Hong Kong.  The tax is relatively low, and the selection is quite abundant.  I am not that of a discerning connoisseur when it comes to personal consumption, so I usually go to the nearest wine cellar or even supermarkets whenever the craving arises.  15% off for a total above HK$300, or 15% to 20% off for 6 bottles and up.  Not to say the least, there are usually these happy celebrations or get-togethers as triggers for me to buy wine.  No wonder it is always an enjoyable shopping experience for me. 

No, I don’t touch alcohol when I am in a foul mood.  It only makes it worse.

In the hospitality industry we make a lot of money from patrons consuming alcohol, to say the least.  We stock all types of alcohol you can think of, as we welcome visitors from around the globe and each expects to receive their own particular cocktail recipe or spirits at banquets or weddings.   This naturally attracts the attention of wine makers and traders.  They want our business, and they want us to help promote their particular brands to our customers.

This is where my job becomes interesting.  Although I am not really responsible for food & beverage procurement which is serviced by my very competent group of colleagues, I get involved in any type of “sponsorship” deals.  The above is a type of sponsorship contract where wine makers offer us a larger discount to have us pick their brand of, say whisky, as our default brand of offering.  Of course, if patrons demand their own particular brands, we will gladly oblige.  Otherwise this is normally a win-win deal for both parties because they get to boost sales through us, and we get to buy whisky at a much larger discount upfront. 

I normally look at deals like this from a variety of angles.  Can we accept the quality of these particular brands?  Check with the experts and the front-line executives.  How much more discount do we have?  Is it worth it?  The consumption is likely to be bigger and we need more inventory; Can we NOT get charged for the inventory until it is consumed?  How do we protect ourselves from any potential damage or loss of inventory?  Can we eliminate exclusivity?   Can we actually have further rebates at the end of the sponsorship period?

There is nothing more exciting for me to actually bring in extra revenue to the company, on top of cost savings.  Sponsorship deals are common in this industry, and barter sponsorship is another type that we can get what we want for free.  Well, as responsible procurement practice we know nothing is free, so we still calculate the opportunity costs of everything we put up for barter.  Free room nights, free breakfasts, free limo pickups etc. all carry a price, and I am responsible to break it all down for my Finance counterparts to verify and determine whether the deal is indeed beneficial to the company.

In the case of alcohol sponsorship above, the deal is approved with flying colors. I get both savings as well as a sizable piece of revenue for the company.

Evidently, alcohol does make me happy… even at work.  Bottoms up!

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Ma’am, What Do You NOT Want?

Posted in Grin, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Service buying is not at all like product buying.  Users very often just care about the final objective or the result but they don’t care about the fine prints,.   It’s like we subscribe to a mobile service plan for 2 years but we have not expected to wait for 3 hours for the customer service hotline or have to queue up for 45 minutes at the retail branch.  All this is costly to us as consumers.  Furthermore, we get unnecessarily influenced by various “freebies” like movie tickets, supermarket coupons, extra talk time, mobile entertainment channels etc. during our selection process.  Do we really need these perks?  Not really.  All we want is actually a mobile service plan with enough voice, data and test usage we need.

Same sort of mistakes takes place in the corporate buying world.  In order to pad up the prices suppliers often include a variety of value-added components to the original requirements in order to make a higher profit.  Companies are not buying; they are often being sold to.  The solutions are bundled together like the McDonald’s value set meals.  My job, is to tear them apart to the bare essentials, unless my clients do indeed need the other perks, and most importantly, have the extra budget for them.

That is why we often joke about users not knowing what they want in the first place.  They want EVERYTHING, but more often than not they cannot afford it.  I am there to help them break down their requirements into “Must-haves” and “Nice-to-haves”.  Users generally hate to put anything into the latter category, but I am there to break the bad news to them: Everything has a price.  If you want 24 X 7 support, it will cost you.  If you want someone to be personally looking after the project for you 30 hours a week, you have to pay for his or her hourly rate. 

It is indeed harder than it looks since the users are not necessarily too knowledgeable with how the service providers function, and hence feeling uneasy drawing such distinction, and in many cases are in constant fear that they will be taken advantaged of.  So will I.  For new commodities I seldom know any more than the users on the subject but I will be the fact finder for my clients.  I do quick research on the subject, talk to suppliers and get as much market intelligence from them, and most importantly, ask the right questions. 

When users do not know exactly what should be the service levels, I ask them what NOT they want to see or happen.  They don’t know how many hours the customer service hotline should operate, but they know operating for only 6 hours a day is not enough.  They don’t know what the servicing turnaround time should be, but they know their customers cannot wait any longer than 48 hours.  You get the idea.  Through these questions I now have a list.  With all these specifics, I will then be able to lay it out for the bidders and ask them to price exactly according to my “must-haves” list.  Then I can do a fair comparison, and I will NOT be sold to.

 

Pricing is not the only thing that matters.  There are also payment terms, pay-by-performance metrics, reporting, operating cost, manning arrangements, insurance, indemnity, compliance and all other policies and regulations that my clients need to follow according to corporate guidelines.  Every cost component adds up to the total cost, and that’s what we call Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). 

Well, to-date people are still shocked to hear me asking “What do you NOT want?” 

Don’t be naive, folks.

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Ambushed!

Posted in Frown, Grin, tagged , on November 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Today is the first time I have heard of ambush marketing.  Guilty.  Chinese gymnasts at the Asian Games are accused of making hand gestures during competition and medals ceremonies promoting their main sportswear sponsor Li Ning brand.   Apparently this is not uncommon and event organizers have been trying hard to stop all this ambush marketing to protect their official sponsors.   Because of the new terminology learned, I have now also discovered Predatory Ambushing, Coattail Ambushing, Property Infringement, Self Ambushing, Associative Ambushing, Distractive Ambushing, Values Ambushing, Insurgent Ambushing, Parallel Property Ambushing, Unintentional Ambushing, and Saturation Ambushing.  I have to give it to the marketers nowadays for all of their innovative means of getting their messages across.

As a sports event spectator, I really wasn’t expecting to be “ambushed” by product placements through athletes’ hand gestures. What’s next?  Athletes peeling off their uniform on stage to show us their sponsored ointment patch?

Well this reminds me of a project last year when my boss and I were invited to sit in to a series of meetings between our sales team and an Indian film academy, who was looking for sponsorship by our company for hosting their annual award ceremony, which would be televised around the globe to over 450 million viewers via Star TV.   Our company was attracted by the media value of the event, and it hits our key demographics.  However, sponsorship covers everything from local transportation to lodging to meals to production to security and so much more, and we were invited to join the negotiation team to ensure the company’s rights and interests were protected.

There wasn’t really too much to negotiate monetary wise since the sponsorship definition has been set from day one.  We knew what we were getting into, but we needed to have a good idea as to where the limit would be.  Normal lodging and meals are fine.  What if the stars and celebrities decide to throw a big private party and order 2 tons of spirit?  Will that be included?  Who calls the shots?  Who provide bodyguards?  What can they do and not do?  When do we turn over the responsibility to the local law enforcement? 

You get the idea.

The biggest concern, however, was marketing and sponsorship rights.  The counterpart clearly has a lot of experience producing the event around the world, and they fund it entirely through sponsorship deals.  Ours was the biggest piece that more or less dictates which country/location the event would eventually land.  We were looking for opportunities to get ourselves some funding but we could not get the event brand anywhere close to our campaigns.  Fine.  What we were most concerned of, however, was whether we would be “ambushed” (now I finally have the word for it) by their other sponsors.  That would seriously undermine our return-on-investment if we did not have exclusivity. 

It was a very interesting project for me and it had nothing to do with cost savings or even purchases.  The cultural differences at play is also remarkably classroom material.  When there is a chance later on, I will write something about cultural aspects at the negotiation table.

Hmm….in the meantime let me think of ways to make “ambush purchasing” up…

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Up In The Air … As Trainer (Part Two)

Posted in Grin, tagged , , on November 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

While there is no one perfect sure-fire secret to conducting trainings, I have always been holding on to two main principles in my heart.  Namely, make it fun, and be as humble as I can be.

How many times have you attended training seminars and got totally annoyed by how boring or pretentious the speakers are?  Again, in Part One of this series, I am speaking about grown educated audiences and not school children.  We all have our opinions, and we all have different expectations why we are there.  Some want to learn, some want to challenge, so are curious, and so are just forced by their bosses to be there.  The last thing I can do is to bore the hell out of these people and be condescending.  After all, I have no grounds at all since usually my audience is way more experienced than I am in their lines of work.  Who am I to speak and for them to be chained to a classroom for 3 straight days?

Some readers shared with me their answers to the few scenarios I put forth in Part One, and I really appreciate your feedback.  Here I am going to share mine.

1. Dozing Off

You don’t need me to tell you that this is a really bad sign.  Something is seriously wrong, so I better take it as a cue to adjust my pace.  In many cases this is not really linked to the class but with the individual’s sleep-deprived work and social life.   Yet, don’t fool yourself.  If my class is captivating enough, I would wish that even the dead would jump up for joy.  I better do something quick, or it will be very infectious.   Usually, I will start asking questions.  Once the folks around the poor soul start to speak and I can successfully stir up a headed debate, they may hear all this commotion and realize they are missing out.  I then ask for his/her opinions.  Hearing one’s voice is the best way of coming out from any dream – hopefully.

2. Seemingly bored and kicking himself thinking why he was forced to come in the first place

This is not easy.  There is no way to really turn someone around if they are already fixated of the outcome of the training.  Again, I don’t mind having a few stubborn people around but they cannot be in the way of other more eager students.  The best way is for me to identify who they are BEFORE I even begin the training.  I can then deploy tactics to split them up and mingle them with other participating students so as to make the discussions more heated.  Most trainers ask their students to tell everyone what their expectations are of the training course, one by one, and have the key points drawn up on boards across the classroom.   This works.  I can tell whether they actually mean it, and I can usually assess their levels of experience by that exercise, so use it wisely.

3. Extremely argumentative and outspoken which is interrupting the progress of the class

They are the necessary evil.  I love them since they bring opinions and viewpoints which make the class so much more fun and exciting.  Everybody laughs and claps and boos and roll their eyes.  When I see people rolling up their sleeves and sometimes even walk around in the room, I sense energy, passion and frankly a side which they seldom present themselves in day-to-day office routines.   However, note the second part of this scenario.  If one or two are overshadowing the others and hindering the progress of the content of my class, I need to do something quick or I will lose everyone.  When people see me as weak and that I fail to contain the situation, I would have lost my credibility and the whole training. 

Tactic?  Easy – I just apologize and tell them the way it is.  “We need to move on”.  “I want to hear more differing views”.  “I feel that some students are not getting enough air time.”  “If we have time at the end of the training we can come back to these interesting topics”.  It’s always more respectful for adults to hear the true reasons rather than ignoring them.  Show them my job is not easy and that we have so much to cover in so little time.  They will usually be sympathetic and won’t be that hard on you.

4. Stone faced and authoritarian, maybe even feeling insulted from listening to a younger trainer

You will be lucky to have them in the class.  Seriously.  It can actually help you take a bit of the pressure off.  Why?  Although he seems serious and cynical, there may be questions from the floor that sometimes you just have no clues what the answers are.  If you can sense that there are a few senior members in the class, try forwarding the questions to them.  Of course, do not embarrass them.  If they see that I am respecting them and actually keen on hearing their advice and feedback, they feel dignified and will be a lot more engaged in the rest of the class.  I try this again and again even in answers I already know in order to give recognition and status to the ones who are so in need of it.

5. Fiddling with his blackberry or laptop the whole way through; and 6. Receiving and making calls as pleased

Every trainer starts off with house rules at the beginning of the training.  No phone calls, no computers or blackberries.  If you have to do it, do it out of everyone’s sight by leaving the classroom.  The fact that you can afford to miss the class does not give you the warrant of interrupting others who cannot.

I however cannot yell at them like some 4 year olds.  If I see people still doing that, I will continue speaking while slowly walking behind them as if nothing has happened.  Everyone’s eyes will follow me and naturally onto the naughty soul in front of me.  They will usually get the cue and stop.  If not, I will pull them aside quietly during break times and break the news to them.  Mobile calls however, need to be taken care of right away by me pointing them to the direction to the exiting door.

Sorry.  I need to protect the rights of the rest of the class, and I am paid to do just that.

There you have it.   Until next time, I need to doze off for a few minutes from all that typing. Whew.

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