https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Digital_Marketing/Unlocking_the_elusive_potential_of_social_networks_2623?gp=1

One of the most useful sentences in this article is: “A commitment to being useful in social-media activities means a commitment to creating only high-quality interactions.”  A lot of people go into social networking with the wrong approach (indeed they miss the ‘interactions’ part altogether).  Those that totally misunderstand it, go in posting advertisements to their company.  Some post useful content that their company is giving away for free.  And then, some create the gimmicks, confusing social networking with viral marketing. True, a viral campaign can bring you thousands of links and attention, and one of the ways to get your viral content spread around is through social networks, but this isn’t what social networks are about. Whilst every solution is going to be individual to the company considering using social networks, what rings true is summarised by the tag line of this article: “To realize the marketing potential of virtual activities, you have to make them truly useful for consumers”.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Strategy/A_new_way_to_measure_word-of-mouth_marketing_2567?gp=1

It’s on how to measure word of mouth marketing.   The point of the article is to explain how word of mouth works because “the science behind word-of-mouth equity helps reveal how to hone and deploy that art: it shows which messages consumers are likely to pass on and the impact of those messages, allowing marketers to estimate the tangible effect word of mouth has on brand equity and sales”.

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Some articles that I’ve found really helpful that were also recommended to me:

McGregor’s XY theory: http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregor.htm

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs if you ever need a good explanation to send to someone or a refresh yourself! : http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm

Personality styles and types: http://www.businessballs.com/personalitystylesmodels.htm

Bruce Tuckman’s team formation: http://www.businessballs.com/tuckmanformingstormingnormingperforming.htm (the first time I read about this was on a different site though – try http://www.teal.org.uk/et/teampro.htm)

I hope to have the chance to write up my thoughts on these properly at some point but thought I’d start off by sharing the links.

http://www.algeri-wong.com/yishan/engineering-management.html

The posts are relevant for not just engineering but business in general.

• Market research – finding out what people want
• Development of products and services
• Advertising
• PR – public relations
• Sales promotions
• Customer service

You’ll notice that advertising is a branch of marketing.

In the UK, the body that professional marketing personnel are usually associated with is the CIM – the Chartered Institute of Marketing.  Have a look through their course syllabus and you’ll see support for the above – the traditional view of what marketing is has changed, and you’ll see a wider range of subjects including tasks often associated with management and business development, such as strategical planning.

• A customer team (phones, email support)
• A QC (quality control) team
• A marketing team – we actually call them the value team
• A communications team
• A research and development team

The value cycle

The value cycle is about finding out what jobs people are trying to do, creating something to do the job better than they have already, communicating why what we made was so fab, delivering it to them and then making sure they stay happy.  As a company, we do this not just for website customers but also for other kinds of ‘customers’: employees, researchers etc.

What is value anyway?

Value is love vs. hate … perceived benefits minus perceived detriments.

Notice the word perceive – all that matters is what the consumer perceives, that’s the only reality that counts.  Example: if I give you a bunch of trainer brands like Nike, Puma, Adidas, Lacoste – you will likely perceive that certain brands are better quality and perform better than others.  Actually for the cheaper brands, the quality of materials or the construction of the shoe might be just as good as the ones you favour.

Because every product is there to do a job and achieve something, it is there to offer value through providing certain benefits.  These benefits may be financial, time saving, functional, convenient, psychological, emotional, environmental or improving simplicity.

Our customers have certain jobs to do.  They may have products or services to do those jobs.  Those products or services deliver value – stuff the customer wants or at least, stuff they think they want.   Our job as a company is to identify what problems they have, and create solutions that deal with those.

Example: Male customer, has beard, doesn’t want it…

Current solution: razors

Customer likes: solution is cheap (financial value), does the job (functional value)

Customer hates: shaving rash!

Solution: we could deliver better value to the customer by giving them a solution that didn’t give them shaving rash.  For example, a pill that costs the same as the razors, that would stop their beard growing.  We’d be delivering value on all these counts:  financial, time saving, functional, convenient, environmental and simplicity.  It’s a winner!

So how do you fit into this? Let’s go back to the value cycle.  It looks like this:

Identify – Create – Communicate (get the message to people) – Communicate (get the message right) – Deliver – Support – Monitor/Measure – Sustain

Stage 1 – identify value – find out what customers want/what jobs they’re struggling with

Whose job? Mostly the Marketing department, through market research, customer surveys, customer feedback – customer service staff also play a part.

Stage 2 – create value – create something that does the job better.

Whose job? The Marketing department (planning) then someone else does the creating (for example, in a software company, this might be the programming department – in our company it’s Research & Development).

Stage 3 – communicate value (get the message to the right people)

Whose job? The Communications team – for example, using SEO, adverts, social media etc.  The Marketing team get involved with this bit too, dealing with getting the message to people offline.

Stage 4 – communicate value (get the message right)

Whose job? The Marketing team and Communications team.  We’ll look at the branding, wording, look and feel etc.

Stage 5 – deliver value

Whose job? It depends on the company.  In our company, it’s the Customer Service team who deliver fantastic customer service and support, ensuring the customer’s order is right and they order to meet their needs, and getting the work to the people.  Our database also ‘delivers’!

Stage 6 – support value

Whose job? This is after care – in our company, this is the QC team who make sure a customer is happy once they have their order (the Customer Service Mteam also do a fair bit of this).

Stage 7 – monitor/measure value

Whose job? In our company, it’s the Marketing team and Communications team with a lot of help from our Research & Development department who create tools for tracking and monitoring.  This is about crunching numbers, and seeing how customers feel about their experience.

Stage 8 – sustain value – stay in touch with the customer and keep giving them better value solutions.

Whose job? In our company, it’s the Marketing team, in keeping a close eye on what else is out there and how customer’s needs are changing.  The customer and QC team also help with this.

As you can see, the Marketing team play a heavy role in all stages of the customer’s experience, and are therefore involved right the way through the Company – there’s much more to marketing than marketing communications!  This is reflected if you look at the CIM syllabus which now includes many business and strategy skills.

Why is it really a value ‘cycle’ and not a value ‘line’?

Because when you get to step 8 – sustaining value – you go back to step 1 and start looking at the jobs the customer is doing and how we can add value.

Where the Marketing Department fits into the value cycle

Our main role is to support the value cycle for our customers.  We do this not just for website customers but also for other kinds of ‘customers’: employees, suppliers, etc.

Of course we don’t do all that ourselves!  Every department in the company fits in to this value cycle.  Strictly speaking, the Marketing department would usually be involved with the first bits – finding out what people want, planning it and overseeing its creation.  R & D will usually create it, Comms will communicate it and Customer Service will deliver it.  Then we get involved again with the last bits – evaluating and sustaining (which means looking at the customer’s ongoing needs and making sure we adapt). The bits we’re not involved with, we keep an eye on and offer support. In addition, we work really closely with Communications, and some of our work is technically communications (e.g. writing copy, email campaigns), while some of their work is technically marketing – but that’s okay as in our company, we have an agreed list of RAAs to work to that everyone is happy with.

Day to day, we do a really wide range of tasks – market research, competitor analysis, branding, value plans (looking at a product or service, looking at what’s out there already and what customers want, planning how we’re going to develop and deliver that product/service), pdps (project development plans for new services or products), email campaigns, website content, company initiatives, community projects, developing new services and new sections on the website, promotions, incentives, PR, etc.

Our role can be summarised as:

• Identifying what jobs customers are trying to do
• Identifying current solutions
• Looking for opportunities (where customers are not satisfied with existing solutions)
• Creating value (with help from other departments), i.e. creating stuff customers want
• Ensuring value is delivered by other departments
• Ensuring value is sustained, against competitors and against new jobs customers have to do.

Technical skills

• Process or technique knowledge and proficiency in discipline managed.

Management skills

Resource management

• Financial resources (how money will be spent to get the work done, accounting for these expenditures)
• Material resources (obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed)
• Personnel resources (obtaining and seeing to adequate staffing levels)
• Time management (managing own time and other peoples’ time)
• Physical office management

Finance management

• Budget management (planning, monitoring, controlling)
• Finance process management
• Forecasting
• Finance decisions (deriving/using financial info to assist with decision making)
• Cost benefit analysis
• Breakeven analysis (should this go in operations?)
• Funding
• Measuring and managing organisational performance
• Tax
• Cash flow

HR management

• Diversity
• Discrimination
• Personality / working to strengths

Crisis management

• Business continuity
• Anticipation/proactivity

Operations management

• Logistics (delivery, inventory etc)
• Economies of scale
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Joint ventures
• Optimum use of resources
  • Improving team performance
  • Improving company performance
  • Reducing expenditure (without detriment!)
  • Reducing inventory (without detriment!)
  • Improving team efficiency
  • Improving company efficiency
• Systems (optimising)
• Forecasting timelines
• Office management

Change management

(Explanation and good article here: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm)

• Change management principles
• Preparation for change
  • Assessing concerns/potential resistance
  • Assessing readiness for change
• Change management plan

Strategic management

• Organisational objectives
• Corporate objectives
• Strategic business plans for team
• Strategic business plans for organisation

Collecting, reporting and analysing

• Conducting research products, for example:
  • Forecasting revenues
  • Gauging competitor threats
  • Examining consumer attitudes
  • Evaluating effectiveness of advertising
  • Establishing a pricing policy
  • Gauging quality control

• Defining problems
• Planning
• Collecting data
• Analysing data
• Writing effective reports
• Reporting results
• Making recommendations
• Commercial judgement

Customer focus

• Customer profiling
• Problem solving / troubleshooting
• Customer satisfaction

Risk management

• Risk management frameworks for a project
• Risk management frameworks for a team
• Risk management frameworks for company
• Risk management tools (e.g. self-assessment, mapping, indicators, escalation triggers)
• Environmental, reputational, project and operational risk
• Impact of psychological, personal and ethical issues

Problem solving

• Problem orientation (appreciating the problem)
• Problem definition (properly defining the problem)
• Proposing alternative solutions
• Decision making
• Implementing a solution
• Evaluating and adjusting

Marketing/product management

• Value cycle
• Value factors/pains
• Value propositions
• USPs
• P15
• Customer focus
• Market research
• Market segmentation
• Branding
• Set up and running costs
• Pricing
• Risk
• Setting short and long term goals
• Metrics
• Tracking
• Reporting and evaluating

(Micro) Economics

• Supply and demand
• Utility
• Productivity
• Nature of competititon

Technology management

• Database management (non technical)
• Internet access management
• Telecoms systems management
• Server/hosting management
• Technology change management
• New technology management (research, adopt best)

Knowledge management

• Intellectual capital
• Competitor intelligence/analysis

Management of policies, values and ethics

• Policies
• Values
• Ethics
• Dispute resolution

Legal management

• Health & safety within team
• Health & safety within company
• Job related legal and regulatory provisions

Leadership skills

Training

• Identifying training needs (self / team / company)
• Professional development of self
• Professional development of team
• Professional development of company
• Providing learning opportunities for team

Project management

• Managing a project
• Managing a number of projects
• Directing people
• Budget management
• Organisation
• Communication (email, face to face)
• Setting clear goals and objectives
• Following up
• Updating
• Time estimation
• Risk impact/probability
• Scheduling simple projects
• Project plans
• Motivating
• Post project review

Team management

(Explanation and good article here: http://www.teal.org.uk/et/teampro.htm)

• Stages of team formation
• Setting of objectives for individuals/team
• Setting clear targets for individuals/team
• Setting smart goals for individuals/team
• Following up
• Meeting own goals/deadlines/commitments

Personal skills/qualities

• Adaptability
• Assertiveness
• Calmness under pressure
• Committed
• Confidence
• Creativity
• Determination
• Diplomacy
• Efficient
• Energy
• Flexibility
• Focus
• Hard working
• Inspiration
• Integrity
• Interpersonal skills
• Mobility
• Observation
• Passionate
• Positivity
• Presence
• Proactive in self development
• Respectful
• Role model
• Servient leader
• Transparency

Communication

• Negotiation
• Giving feedback – being candid
• Ability to speak and present
• Motivating the Team / whole company
• Upward and downward communication
• Face to face communication (1-1)
• Face to face communication (team)
• Email communication
• Phone communication
• Presenting to a group

Meetings

• Knowing when / when not to call a meeting
• Meeting preparation
• Chairing a meeting
• Follow ups after meetings

People management

• Recruitment of staff
• Selection of staff
• Retention of staff
• Developing relationships with & between colleagues
• Develop culture of team
• Develop culture of organisation
• Team working
• Appraisals and reviews
• Monitoring performance
• Facilitation skills
• Conflict management

Training skills

• Training
• Selecting appropriate method of training
• Providing clear guidance
• Patience / empathy
• Making training interesting
• Training 1-1
• Training a group
• Motivating
• Mentoring

Values and ethics

• Upholding the Company’s values
• Promoting the Company’s values within the team
• Promoting the Company’s values within the Company

Task management

• Allocating work
• Delegating work
• Monitoring progress of work
• Monitoring quality of work
• Prioritisation and 80/20

Conceptual skills

• Formulation of ideas
• Development of ideas
• Understanding abstract relationships
• Solving problems creatively
• Encouraging innovation

• What do you like/dislike most about your job right now?
• Is anyone or anything making your life at work difficult? How can this be resolved?
• Do you feel there’s anything you’re struggling with that you could train on?
• Is there any way you want to expand your range of skills that could benefit the department/company?
• Is there anyone in the department/company who you feel you could help perform better? (yes that includes me!)
• What motivates you most?
• What demotivates you most?
• What have you been doing really well lately?
• What do you think you need to work on most?
• When did you last offer at work constructive critisism? Do you offer it enough?
• Am I giving you enough support or do you need more? If so how can I offer more?
• What can I do to improve as a manager?
• What can we do to improve as a company?
• Is there anything you raised at your previous appraisal that you feel has not been adequately dealt with?

A week before the appraisal, the employee’s manager also gets an email prompting them to go over another set of questions. These go something like:

• What has [employee name] been doing really well lately? (name specific projects, achievements, personal and professional)
• What do you think [employee name] needs to work on most?
• Do you feel there’s anything [employee name] is struggling with that he could train on?
• Is there any way [employee name] could expand his range of skills that could benefit the department/company?
• What feedback do you have on what was discussed at [employee name]‘s last appraisal? Has all agreed action been taken?

The appraisal then takes place and the manager goes over both the employee’s concerns and their own feedback. A plan of action is agreed. The manager makes notes and mails these to the employee who has a record of the action plan.

At our company, we started doing these every month but found this too onerous. We now do these every 3 months. In between, managers offer a 10:10 appraisal – this is simply 10 minutes for the employee to raise any issues that they want to raise with the manager, and vice versa. The same notes are taken, and an action plan produced which is mailed to the employee.

This is about looking at what’s currently out there and considering how you can do better.  It’s about looking at where you can and can’t make an impact in comparison with your potential competitors.