Is Teamwork in Sales Important?

By Rennie Gould

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

Although sales is often thought of as a solitary profession, the development of teamwork is important for a number of reasons:

To provide for social interaction

To share knowledge & experience

To work on large customer opportunities

To utilise the full range of skills of each team member

To develop sales and customer strategy

To create opportunities for motivation and personal development

But throwing people together does not develop a team. Team development normally proceeds through specific stages that needs to be facilitated by sales management. 

First Team Development Stage - Forming

In the initial stages of team development, sales management needs to establish clear ground rules and responsibilities that give the team its sense of purpose.

These management actions will help to remove the inevitable confusion and anxiety that normally exists as team members first get to know each other.

Second Team Development Stage - Storming

In this second stage of team development, sales managers need to calm any disagreements and smooth out the jockeying for status and position that can occur.

Management therefore needs to spend time addressing any concerns or issues and to stress the advantages of teamwork in increasing overall sales performance and in providing opportunities for individual development. 

Third Development Stage - Norming

In this third stage of its development, the team has begun to settle down and to establish its way of working. Sales managers can now begin to exploit the increasing cohesiveness of the team and explain how it should move towards the achievement of specific objectives.

Fourth Team Development Stage - Performing

When a team has reached this stage in its development, it can handle even greater levels of pressure and performance and should be stretched for higher levels of achievement. 

Sales management at this stage of the team's development should push for even more opportunity and information sharing and should create even more important sales projects for the team to work on. 

Fifth Team Development Stage - Decaying

It is common for teams to lose their effectiveness over time. This is because individuals come and go and due to changes in the sales and customer environment.

Such changes provide management with the opportunity to reinvigorate the team with new members or to set it new tasks and objectives in order to renew team effectiveness. 

Conclusion

Good teamwork within sales can bring together all the talents within the group to maximise sales performance and to provide the motivational opportunities of personal development and social interaction.

How Can I Motivate My Team to Produce More?

By Colin Dovey

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy 

There are two widely divergent schools of thought when it comes to comes to how work teams and the individuals in the team can be optimally motivated to give it their best shot, not just once or twice, but all the time, and consistently:

The contention that motivation must come from within

Here, we are regularly told that no manager on earth motivate his staff from above and get them to perform at an optimum level - they maintain that all motivation must ultimately come from within.

Output and performance is directly related to financial and tangible rewards

There is a strong culture in primarily sales-focused companies to reward their front-line sales executives by way of monetary incentives which can be directly related to their measured against their sales performance in the field.

Regrettably, these dollar-based incentives are usually made on an individual basis, with the star performer most often coming off best. On the face of it, one could assume that there is little inherently wrong with this approach. But what happens in practice belies this, as it often deteriorates into an every man for himself situation, and even a dog eat dog scenario.

The unintended consequences are often yet further disharmony and division permeating, first the sales staff bickering over whose territory is whose and this then trickles on to the support staff who can be justifiably peeved that they deserve a proportional slice of the cheesecake.

Beyond doubt is that every one likes to be at the receiving end of some form of recognition, especially extra cash. From a managerial perspective, it always makes good business sense to bolster a desired performance level with an appropriate reward. Across a wide spectrum of business models it is accepted that rewards play an important part in job performance, motivation and productivity.

The royal road to recognition of employee achievement, properly handled, can make your workplace a haven for high productivity, if you take the trouble to follow some simple guidelines which have been shown to work at the coal face.

The formula must be: Performance = Reward

• The company incentive scheme can only be effective and have real meaning if employees can easily draw a parallel between what lands up in their back pocket related to actual job performance.
• The criteria used for the assessment of rewards must always be totally transparent, and also easy to understand at every level. Length of service should not be a factor in an incentive-based reward scheme.The reward or bonus should be directly related to the financial benefit - the bottom line of the company

Ensure balance and congruence in the scheme by resorting to company-wide consultation

• Establish a forum of innovatively minded managers, and then rope in past, and good performers to oversee incentive plans. Make sure the forum does not get bogged down, by ensuring that you periodically introduce new blood into the team.
• Bottom line: Scheme benefits must reach every segment of the organisation, and a t every level across the board. You cannot afford to exclude anybody from top executives to the excavator operator. Ignore him at your peril, as he will dig the hole you fall into! Avoid paying strictly time-related benefits, such as the traditional end-of-year bonus. This type of incentive loses its impact when employees just expect it to be paid, irrespective of their level of performance.
• Adopt a two-pronged payment approach by rewarding both individual and team performance. This will serve to ensure that you get a good team spirit, and then stellar individual performance.
• Encourage managers to acknowledge staff and team performance in writing, and to document accomplishments in a specific way.
• Insist on input from top managers to ensure that their participation will encourage their enthusiasm for any performance output.

Identify any rewards that your staff will prize

• The saying goes, somewhat mischievously perhaps that everybody has their price. The fact is though, any incentive scheme must provide rewards that are valued by members of your staff. Some credible research has shown that they are generally in the following bracket, in order of importance:
• 
  
• A good income, and the opportunity to advance within the organisation
• Being paid on merit, emanating from inherent and acquired skills
• The opportunity to work in a creative and challenging environment with concomitant financial rewards and incentives.
• Being able to participate in meaningful decision-making, which encourages loyalty to the objectives of the organisation.
• Attractive fringe benefits, including paid medical aid, pension and share options

Extra-curricular incentives

There are many creative ways of rewarding staff when related to excellence, which can further accelerate their performance, such as:

• Tickets to sought-after sporting events, and,
• Shares and access to the company gym
• Wall plaques and certificates
• A weekend in the company seaside cottage.
• A visit to a Wine farm, including samples to take home
• Team conferences at a game ranch.
• Overseas research trip
• An upmarket restaurant dinner.

You will discover that this sort of variety is appreciated by most staff (you always get the cynics) if it is awarded judiciously for due performance. Not just handed out like sweets.

Act quickly, don't ever dilly-dally

When performance results are made available (and make sure it is done without delay) respond with rewards as soon as possible. People will respond accordingly

Don't be shy about making it all public

Find a way to make a big deal out of excellent performance - but always keep it real: Artificial functions are always a major put-off. Sincerity will win the day in the form of a brief presentation during the day - not waiting for when people need to get home in the traffic, and to their families. Be flexible - it will pay YOU huge dividends.

Leaders Are Created

By Joaquin Duenas

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy 

Being a leader takes up time, dedication and inner exploration. Natural Born Leaders have certain qualities that properly developed will then create a great leader. Becoming a leader is a daily task, that takes time and experience, being exposed to different types of problems and challenges and having to deal with different individuals.

Athletes have a natural talent, not only to a single sport but in general to all physical activity. Athletes have to work hard, typically harder than most of us to bring out the best of them. Relying on their talent alone will not bring out the exceptional skills and they would only be average players. The same theory applies to leadership, everyday there are things to learn and gather knowledge from experiences. Personality, integrity, passion and setting the example are key elements to becoming a successful leader.
Leaders learn from other leaders, they learn by gaining experience from problem solving, they do not limit themselves and they are constantly looking to grow and for new challenges. Leaders learn from each other, they learn to distinguish success from failure and good actions from bad decisions. The golden rule to being a great leader is acknowledging his or her strengths and weaknesses and those of the people that conform his or her team.
Knowing the individuals will allow a leader to place the right person in the right task and successfully increase the chances of achieving positive results. What makes one person a better leader than others is entirely up to each individual, the tools are available, but it all depends on how each individual makes use of them. All individuals with hard work and dedication can master the necessary skills to become a successful and respected leader.
An individual must be passionate. Love and live the work they do. An individual that has a job to work from 8 to 5 and take home his paycheck will not succeed as a team leader; the person has to do it for the thrill and the satisfaction. Everyone needs a salary, individuals do not work for free, but there is a huge difference between working only for the money and working and enjoying what you do. Money will come if the individual works hard and honesty and sincerity are part of the way he or she does business. Hard and dedicated people, as long as they master the skills needed, will become successful leaders.

Resort Creative Solutions helps hotels, resorts, travel destinations and developers retool under-performing marketing programs to accelerate sales performance. We build brands; we make relationships; and emotionally connect them in engaging, entertaining and interactive ways. It's quite simple and profitable. Resort Creative Solutions' team is skilled in all areas of Executive Management. We have been successful in developing and streaming operations, implementing innovative training programs that work and building successful premier sales & marketing campaigns.

Team Building Event on a Limited Budget

By Kim M Hesse

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

Our client had 80 guests in Melbourne for a three day conference and on the second evening they wanted to host a team building event. We were on a very limited budget and while brainstorming cost effective team building ideas we came up with a pizza making competition.

This event provided us with the opportunity to take guests out of the hotel and place them in new and exciting surroundings.
Step one was to find the perfect venue. When working on a budget use your venue to set the scene. We found a rustic underground restaurant with a wood fired oven.
Being a weeknight we were able to hire the entire basement level at a great price. Note - Venues always want to fill their function space on a weeknight, you should be able to negotiate a better rate on a weeknight as opposed to a Friday or Saturday evening.
To start the evening off, we had the executive chef demonstrate the art of pizza making. The group were then split into teams and given the task of creating their own pizza's. This was a great way to provide a team building activity but also save money as they ate the pizza's they had made. Of course we supplied some professionally made pizza's as well!
In regard to themeing the venue, with not too much expense we transformed the space into a Little Italy. We utilised the venues free white table cloths and simply hired in red and white check table cloths to be placed over the white cloths provided by the venue.
We brought white candles from the reject shop and melted them onto empty wine bottle provided free of charge by the venue. Add some artificial grapes, again from the reject shop and presto a budget friendly and easy table decoration!
Lighting is also a great way to create effect without the expense. Here in little Italy we hired mini up-lights, when chatting to an audio visual supplier you can also ask for parcan lights. The lights were only $5 each and you get to choose what colour gel (in other words a thick cellophane cover) you would like. We chose gels in red and green placing them around the room to light the walls for a warm effect.
Our guests had a fantastic evening and as well as pizza making there was plenty of dough throwing!
Good Luck and Happy Eventing.

Kim Hesse - Managing Director of Venues 2 Events is an event manager at heart and has a crazy passion for the exciting world of events!

Venues 2 Events is a special event management company as well as an on-line venue directory. The last four years has seen Kim transform Venues 2 Events into an Industry Leader and resource for finding reputable venues across Australia. Kim believes in this Industry and hopes to share some of her passion and knowledge with you!

Activity for Better Communication: Team Building Activities

By Tom Harry

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

As more and more people spend at least half a day at work, team bonding and Team Building has become the need of the hour. More and more people are realizing the importance of Team Building. Most people spend more than 9 to 10 hours at work and they need to release their stress. Most projects and task involves a strong and bonded team that can perform well. Most teams end up with below par performances largely due to either lack of communication or co-ordination, this is where most big companies face problems. Proper Communication and co-ordination is the key to a well-managed company. Hence, more and more companies are investing in Team Building Activities like team parties, picnics and other such activities to keep the environment friendly and stress free.

Team Building Activities need to be fun, but at the same time, they need to impart wisdom to your team. Your team should get to learn and understand the importance of unity and integrity. Team Building Activity must have a clear objective. The objective can be anything from communication to co-ordination or even efficiency. With every team building activity, your employees/subordinates must progress as a stronger team that performs with much more efficiency. You must organize Activities that will help them overcome their weakness.

There are many Team Building Activities. However, you need only those activities that will make your team stronger. Here's how you start developing better communication between your employees/subordinates

Start with analyzing what are the pros and cons of your team. You do not require wasting your precious time on activities that will help improve their plus points.

The objective is to concentrate on the negative aspects. Most Teams face communication problems. The activity given below is easy and can be organized every week:-

The basic problem with communication is that most people are embarrassed to talk about their problems with others and at the same time it is very embarrassing for that one person to listen to his negative aspects.

Hence, the first step is to create an environment where nobody is scared to talk or communicate. You can have people write name or names of their team members with whom they are facing communication problems.

Now, collect the chits and play this game. Make all the other members talk about why two people in your team are facing a communication problem. As the other members talk, the two prospective members cannot utter a word and will simply sit and listen.

The other members of your team will also give a solution to how they can communicate better.

This game could be played every week with multiple team members and will help resolve many work related issues. You will also see an improvement in your team building and how everyone is making an effort to create a friendly and stress free environment. This activity will also help everyone learn about each other and know each other better.

Why Team Building Is Out and Team Growing Is In

By Karen Schmidt

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

The old model of "building" a great team is outdated.

The concept of growing a team instead of building a team has been around a long time. It seems to have started with Frederick P Brooks in his book "The mythical man-month" written over 30 years ago. He believed that the "building metaphor has outlived its usefulness" and that "the conceptual structures we construct today are too complicated to be accurately specified in advance and too complex to be built faultlessly, then we must take a radically different approach".

So why do we persist with the term "team building"? I believe it's because it's easier for many technical managers to deal with inanimate objects than it is to deal with people. Building involves taking materials and logically turning them into something productive. You can determine in advance what you want to achieve and, with the right skills and equipment, reproduce an exact replica of a blueprint.

People aren't like that. Just because someone has the skills to perform a role doesn't mean they will perform it. Just because a reporting structure should work doesn't mean it will. Just because you give someone the title of manager doesn't mean they can manage. Things get in the way. Things like personalities, past experiences and perceptions.

We have moved on from the industrial age and are now in the information age. People are at the heart of most organisations. Today, most successful businesses are all about intellectual capital not capital works. So stop treating people like pieces of wood you can build into a structure and start treating them like living beings that will naturally grow if given the right conditions.

Like a good garden, what makes a good team comes down to intangibles and most technical managers aren't good at dealing with them. They want the black and white, right and wrong, one size fits all solution. Gardeners know that doesn't work. They know you can put five plants in the same garden bed, four will thrive and one will die. Often there is no logic to it, just like with people. You can do all the right things... give them good soil, water them, give them regular fertiliser and protect them from pests and they will still die! That's nature. Just like you can't command a plant to grow faster, you can't command a person to work harder.

So let's stop talking about team building and start talking about team growing. Let's look at what we can do to let people naturally develop rather than force them to fit neatly into a predetermined size and shape.

As a keen gardener and someone who advises managers on employee engagement, I can see that there are many similarities between creating a thriving garden and creating a thriving organisation. Whether you have one pot plant sitting on your desk (one employee) or a plot of land that would rival the botanic gardens (many employees) the basic rules are the same. Get it right and your plants will thrive (your people will grow). Get it wrong and you will be left with a dead and dying garden (high turnover or, even worse, high disenagement). Gardening can be a rewarding pursuit. There is nothing better than seeing plants grow and it's the same with people. It can also be hard work and involve a long gap between effort and result. The similarities to managing people are obvious.

So learn some lessons about leadership from mother nature. Here are my top 10 to get you started.

1. You can't have engaged leaders in a poor culture... you can't grow plants in bad soil
2. We pick people for leadership roles for the wrong reasons... wrong plant in wrong location simply because we like the look of it
3. New leaders need assistance and support... plants need help to get established too
4. A leader in the wrong position can do damage... the wrong plant can potentially become a weed
5. Bad habits from leaders rub off on their people... like pests and disease moving from plant to plant
6. The right leaders provide staff with shelter from the organisational elements... like a tree shading smaller plants
7. You need to remove the barriers to help leaders grow... plants grow better when you give them space
8. Sometimes leaders outgrow their role and need to move on... sometimes plants need to be relocated to thrive
9. You always need to be cultivating new leaders... you need plants in all stages of development to keep your garden healthy
10. If leaders aren't growing they are dying... the law of nature, especially when it comes to plants

Team Building Activities - Increase Employee Motivation

By Meadows Leland
  
Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy  

In the corporate world, the most pressing problem is employee attrition. People are switching their jobs very rapidly. From a company's point of view, this is rather detrimental to progress. This is because over a period of time, you tend to invest a lot in terms of training and tacit knowledge in an employee. Thus, when he leaves your company, you lose a valuable resource. Also the problem arrives when you need to hire new employees to replace the older ones. They will have to be hired, selected, trained and then assigned to various responsibilities. All these things have a cost attached to them. This is the reason why companies these days are trying very hard to increase the motivation levels among employees, and to inculcate in them a sense of loyalty and belongingness towards the company.

Corporate events for team building

Corporate events are all about this these days. If your company is planning to organise some, you must ensure that they are conducted extremely smoothly, without any glitches. This is the reason why you must consider hiring the services of a good event management company. These companies are professionals in organising various corporate team building events. These events give your employees a break from the hard work they have to do routinely. They also teach employees the value of working as a team, and inculcate in them a sense of loyalty and trust for the company.

Team building activities

Team building exercises organised by these companies aim at inculcating among the teams a sense of commitment and understanding. These exercises help members of a team break the ice between them, and understand each other better. They also help employees understand the value of working as a team, and what can happen if people give their individual egos and needs more importance. This is accomplished with some amazingly creative team building challenges, like obstacle courses which teams have to accomplish together. Only when they work together and synergise, they will be able to win. It is a lot of fun, and your employees will enjoy every minute while they learn a lot.

Fun team building games and parties

Team building games, which mainly aim towards ice breaking and try to teach employees the importance of effective communication, are very well loved by all kinds of employees. Your employees will be asked to play simple games and perform group activities which will require them to work together. Some examples for this include developing a collage. A corporate team building exercise like this is extremely effective, because of its innovative and non-pressurising, non-boring style.

The most loved are themed parties. Simple themes may be given to employees, which are hilarious and fun. These parties help employees become more comfortable with their superiors, and enjoy some light moments. These activity days will be extremely well loved by your employees, and they will look forward to it each year. With such innovative team building ideas, you can improve the productivity of your employees very greatly.