Gist + LinkedIn = A Time Saving Match Made In Heaven

As most of you know, I’m a complete social media addict, but I just came across a great way to use Gist and LinkedIn together to save yourself a ton of time!

I use Gist.com to track all of my contacts.  It makes it SO easy since it automatically keeps my contacts up to date from my iPhone, 2 instances of Outlook, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter.  I literally don’t have to do anything except maybe add a tag or two to help organize these contacts into a manageable list.

The end result is that ALL of the people I interact with on a daily basis are always inside of Gist.

I utilize LinkedIn.com to connect to new people at specific companies, share with employers and customers.  It allows me to share an online version of my resume with folks which includes positive feedback from past co-workers and customers.

The problem I run into is that I need to go into LinkedIn every few months to connect to new people I’ve met and the chances of missing someone is REALLY high.

Here’s the trick:

1. Log in to Gist.com and go to your People tab
2. Make sure you’re viewing All People and choose the Select All XXXX people link in the header.  Make sure you only get 500 contacts in your list as LinkedIn has a limitation which is not displayed on their site anywhere.
3. Click Export just to the right of that
4. Save the VCF file that Gist just emailed you to somewhere on your PC
5. Log in to LinkedIn.com and select Contacts -> Add Connections from the top menu
6. Click the small / hard to find link titled “Import your desktop email contacts”
7. Click the Choose File button and select the VCF file you saved in step 4.

That’s it!  You can now connect to anyone on LinkedIn that you may have missed since the last time you updated!

Good luck networking!

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Tips for better framing in e-mail communications

Tired of being asked for more context from your boss or co-workers?

I had a situation a few days ago where an co-worker sends me a quick instant message on the computer.  “Should I set these two items to be dependent on each other?”  he asked.  A few hours prior we had been working on a project together, but the question didn’t really seem relevant to that.  I sat there for a few moments puzzled, staring at the screen.  Finally, I gave up on trying to put the mental puzzle together and asked “What in the world are you talking about?”

You hear over and over again in business that you must be sure to “frame things up” well so that you don’t lose your audience.  Unfortunately, we see this day in and day out, people assuming that the other person they are communicating with is psychic or knows exactly what happens to be on their computer screen.

I thought rather than just complaining about it, I’d put together some quick tips to possibly help others with framing things a little better using e-mail.  If this proves useful then I will probably write up tips for phone and presentation framing.

1. Before you write a single word, think about ONE thing that you want the recipient to do as a result of this email.
2. If this email requires action on the part of the recipient then include that in the subject.  This ensures that the reader can see immediately what they need to do.
3. Start the email by reiterating your requested action
4. Next, provide some framing around what you were doing and why it is you need the requested action.

Here are a few general tips:

1. Keep it short – If you need to have a conversation then pick up the phone, don’t send an e-mail.
2. Review before sending – re-read the entire message again from beginning to end, check your spelling, and verify clarity.

Please let me know what you think in the comments section below.

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Know Thine Employee

Managers often try to motivate employees as a group rather than individually. It is extremely important for you to take the time to really understand each employee on an individual basis.  This will ensure that you are aligning any extrinsic motivations like pay increases, bonuses and recognition with the intrinsic motivations of each employee.  When it comes to employee motivation there is no “one size fits all” solution that can be designed.

Your first task is to take the time to clearly understand what motivates each of your employees.  I would recommend first looking at the sixteen basic desires theory.  This theory was created by Steven Reiss after he studied over 6,000 people and helps show why people do what they do.  Once you’ve taken the time to understand which of these qualities motivates each of your employees you can align your extrinsic motivation plan with their needs.

I will use myself as an example in this scenario.  I am motivated by curiosity (the need to learn), order (the need for organized, stable, predictable environments) and a little by power (the need for influence of will).  Based on these key areas we can put together an annual goals document that outlines key projects I can work on that best utilize my intrinsic motivational needs.

After the goals are documented you should utilized your one-on-one sessions with your employee to not only discuss status on their projects, but how they “feel” about their work and how well these intrinsic needs are being satisfied by the work.  The key here is to make sure your employee’s intrinsic needs are ALWAYS being met. They will not be happy with their work if these needs are not met.

Throughout the year I would suggest that you look for extrinsic ways to reward the employees for accomplishing their goals.  Some will be motivated by public recognition while others will prefer private.  Going back to me as an example, you could reward me by sending me off to training (curiosity) or maybe by giving me the opportunity to lead a sub-team for a specific project (power).  Again, this goes back to knowing your employee!  If you haven’t taken the time to do this you will probably default to giving the person a pat on the back during a team meeting, but this might not matter a bit to them.

When year-end comes and you’re working to determine pay increases and bonuses you can continue down the same path as you did previously by looking for ways to frame the rewards in a way that directly relates to their intrinsic motivations.  If your employee is motivated by saving then remind them about how much this bonus will contribute to their retirement fund.

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5 Simple Steps To Your Dream Job

Have you been in your position for a while and are ready to move? Maybe you feel stalled out in your current role and want to move up or are just looking for a change. My goal with this post is to give some tips for those of you looking to move around and have a stable position currently.

Research

Your first step in this process is to figure out what your next job is.  I personally would take a blue sky approach to this task and really think about your dream job.  Don’t hold back!  Come up with a handful of jobs that you might be interested in doing.

Conduct Interviews

Once you’ve nailed down a handful of dream jobs you need to start conducting informational interviews with potential employers.  The point of these interviews are for you to learn about how different jobs are treated at a potential employer.

I would recommend using your friends & family as well as social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to quickly identify people that are working in your dream jobs.  When you are connecting to them you’ll want to make it very clear that you aspire to work in that role and would like to learn from them about it

There are many good resources on the internet for how to conduct an “Informational Interview” which I would recommend reading through before starting.  You don’t have to make this into a big deal.  You’re simply trying to learn from them and see if the “dream job” is all it’s cracked up to be.

Choose a Position

Now that you’ve learned all about your dream job inside different organizations your next step is to choose one.  Think long and hard about what you’ve learned and which one will be the best fit for you.  You’ve already made some in-roads with people at these organizations so you’re one step closer!

You should now start assessing gaps in your skills.  You need to identify key areas where you are lacking so you can either address them using your current position or be sure to re-work your resume to cover these gaps effectively.

Monitor

In many cases your dream job will not be available and you’ll need to monitor job boards like HotJobs and Monster to see when your dream job pops up.  Luckily you’ve already refined the search so it should be pretty easy to allow these sites to do the work for you.  This will ensure that you don’t end up with a slew of garbage jobs in your email box every morning.

Apply

Now that your dream job is available you should again tap into your social networks and gather some initial information about the job.  I would recommend using everything you’re able to find out about the job to ensure that you’re able to customize your resume to the position as well as nail the interview.
As you can see it just takes a little connection building, research and friendly talking to be able to nail your dream job!

Have you had success with processes like this in your career already?

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What is Innovators Mix?

I’m sure that lots of my readers out there are wondering what all of this noise is about Innovators Mix over the last month or so.  Well, this is my attempt at explaining it. 

• Learn more about innovation and creativity – As with all things, the more you learn about something the more you realize that you don’t know much!  I would really like to be able to get to the point where I can call myself an expert in the field.
• Teach Others – This podcast allows me to not only learn, but teach others at the same time.
• Build my personal brand – By surrounding myself with experts in the field I will slowly build my personal brand through them.
• Network – I’ve read in many places that you should always surround yourself with people that are better at something than yourself.  What better way to accomplish this than to sit down and talk with those experts directly!
• Write a Book – Eventually, I would like to be able to take all of these things and write a book.  While today I don’t think that I have the right skills, I think that lots of practice and the right mentors would definitely get me there in the future.
• Take it to the schools – My long term vision with this project is to be able to put together content that can be utilized in elementary schools.  By teaching children creativity, brainstorming and ideation techniques they will be setup for success in the future.

I hope this helps clarify what I’m trying to accomplish, please leave me your thoughts and feedback below!

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Zero Gravity vs. Jumping Castles

Outdoor event entertainment used to be a relatively simple affair. Whether a kid’s birthday, a craft show, or a local social group’s annual gala, organizers had clear options and they were able to put together solid events without much assistance. Today, however, so many businesses and organizations are competing to arrange the most boisterous, most entertaining, and most talked-about events that finding out what works and what doesn’t, what people respond to and what they shrug off, can be a matter of life-or-death for event organizers. Spend too much on things that people don’t like and that buzzed-about picnic lunch can go from a great investment to a total waste. Book the wrong entertainment and what was supposed to be the most amazing birthday party for your child will be an unmitigated disaster.

 

Among larger event organizers, there are some pretty reliable options that can generally keep the kids entertained at relatively low cost. The most common is having one or a number of “jump castles,” colorful inflatable play spaces in which kids can run around, bounce, jump, and play games. Another is a so-called “zero-gravity” machine, a large contraption that allows people to strap in and experience the sensation of weightlessness by jumping, bouncing, and flipping to extreme heights. To our knowledge no “compare and contrast” of these two has been done, so for the benefit of everyone struggling to decide what to book for their next event, we’re going to run down the basics on these different approaches and see what makes each of them a unique choice.

 

Jump castles have been around for a while now, so the practice of having one for an outdoor event is widespread and widely understood. Someone comes over, blows the thing up, the kids run around for a while, and then it’s deflated and taken back. Yet while the activity is pretty uniform, jump castles are a wonderfully diverse category of entertainment. There are jump castles with princess themes, Spiderman themes, old-time train themes: name something that kids like, and somewhere out there is a bright shiny jump castle you can rent to indulge the little ones’ favorite fad. This visual stimulation is great for young kids, and the interactive environment is good for games and socializing, but jump castles have their share of drawbacks, too.

 

That same socializing aspect that we say can be a benefit can also be a problem: the castles get crowded, and with more people there are more arms flailing, more legs kicking, more fingers poking, and more heads bouncing around, which can be a recipe for complete disaster. One kid jumps at a funny angle and all of a sudden you have a pile of bumps, bruises, and tears that’s just begging for some overprotective parent to have a freak out. Not pretty.

 

So safety can be an issue. Though you would imagine these things would require some certified adult supervision, part of the trouble with jump castles being so common is that it is not always certain that the 17-year old who was sent to set it up is qualified to monitor nine kids bouncing around simultaneously. And the fact that most adults really can’t (or shouldn’t) use the castles because of size and weight issues means that the age restrictions cut both ways: the youngest children can’t use it because there are no adults to guard them while they play.

 

Zero-gravity machines are a different kind of entertainment, and since they’re far less common it makes sense to explain how they’re used. These machines are set up in a relatively large space, and each one has a number of stations extending from it, complete with harnessing, into which a person is secured. Once harnessed in, the users experience near-weightlessness as they hang from the bowed, springy extensions, free to jump up and down on large launching pads that help them reach incredible heights in relative freedom. Buoyed against their own weight, the users are able to jump to massive heights or execute aerial acrobatics like something out of Cirque du Soleil, all while safely strapped into the machine.      

 

Unlike jump castles, zero-gravity machines are basically a solo activity, and so the ability to socialize is limited. There are multiple stations so you can have more than one person using it at a time, but of course the pace is still going to be slower than a jump castle. While that does make it less social than jump castles it greatly decreases the likelihood of injury. Similarly, since users can move about as they please in a jump castle and they’re strapped into a zero-gravity machine, there is also a trade-off between decreased freedom and increased safety. Some people would say being alone makes it easier to experience what the machine can do since you don’t have to worry about others or their safety while you are using it.

 

Age restrictions are somewhat less of an issue with the zero-gravity machine as adults and children can be safely strapped in, and though very young children probably don’t have the motor skills and larger adults may not fit or may weigh too much, the range of ages that can use the zero-gravity machine is greater than those who can use the jump castle. Related to this somewhat older skewing of those using the zero-gravity machine, there is not going to be the same kind of visual fun for the kids that a themed jump castle brings, though the sight of mommy and daddy flipping around 15 feet in the air may be entertainment enough. And that is part of the consideration as well: if you’re booking entertainment not just for kids but for lots of different people, the zero-gravity machine is definitely the way to go.

 

The experience of using the zero-gravity machine is what really gives it the edge, since it’s hard for a jump castle to emulate the view you get or the feeling of flying you experience when you’re using it. Of course this is tempered somewhat by some of the drawbacks of the machine. It certainly takes up a much greater space than the jump castle, which can limit the venues at which you can roll it out. It easily fits a roughly 50’ x 50’ space, so without at least that much space to use it may be better to either change venues or book some other entertainment. Also, since these machines must be professionally staffed by two people the increased safety will most likely mean an increased cost, though that depends on your market.

 

Overall these two kinds of event entertainment have their pros and cons, and each is able to take advantage of its core strengths to provide good value to event organizers, whether your event is a birthday party with 50 people or a large festival with 5,000 people. If you’re on the fence your biggest considerations should be the ages of the people you’re entertaining and the size of the venue, but all things considered equal we’ll take weightless mid-air flipping over a bouncy game of tag any day.

For more information on Zero Gravity, visit Atrevete!

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