LOOKING IN AT CULTURE – MY YARDSTICKS

Most organizations boast of having a culture. And no one is wrong when they do so, because every organization does have a unique identity and a way its employees perceive that identity. Organizational Culture, as defined on businessdictionary.com, is “the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization”.

Removing all the jargon from this definition, what it really boils down to are some basic questions. What does the organization believe in? How does it react to employees who may not share the same beliefs? Do the employees feel proud and happy to work for the organization? Or is it one long dreary engagement between two unlikely entities?

So much has been written on organizational culture and matching the employee and the organization and so on and so forth, yet we find a high number of dissatisfied, disgruntled and positively unhappy employees around us in this corporate world. So here are some of my yardsticks to evaluate or understand an organization’s culture – looking in from the outside. Starting from the first job these yardsticks are valid and have value in every transition made.

1.      The Start

There was once an interview I attended where the interviewer questioned me for about 45 minutes. When I stepped out I felt like I had just committed a felony and had been interrogated instead of being tested for my knowledge on the relevant subjects.

Many companies approach the interviewee with the idea of stressing them out, purportedly to understand the individual’s capability. However, my view on this has always been that jobs in the corporate are not ‘life-endangering’ and ‘constantly under stress’. Compare a job in marketing or finance to one in a hospital- as a surgeon or a nurse. People quite literally perform under stressful conditions there! However in business you have time to evaluate your options to approach a problem in the best way possible, especially jobs at entry and mid-level. So the concept of stress interviews never has made sense to me.

2.      The People

When you walk in through the door, you notice a lot of small little things- the décor of the office, the arrangement of cubicles, a professional air around the place and so on. Yet, to me, the most important and palpable vibe comes from the people. When you sit down and the interviewer asks you if you’d like a glass of water, you know they think a little beyond themselves. Trivial and obvious as it may sound, there are many places where the interviewer may dispense with this or other cursory politeness. This for me is a no-go. The demonstration of care begins from minute one. Because culture is not something that begins when you join or stop when you leave – it is the cumulative effect of many such small behaviors.

3.      Scope to Learn

Unless you are at the point of retirement, every job will have a learning curve. The biggest challenge for most organizations is to keep this curve steep for as long as possible. When evaluating a job, I believe, figuring out the organization’s attitude towards encouraging learning is critical.

If you choose to pursue a course to improve yourself, would the organization support the move? Would the job give you enough time at work to read up and research the latest in your field of work? Would it be viewed as something one should do on one’s own time? Answers to these questions would help in assessing the organization’s attitude towards enhancing your learning experience. And this is for me an integral part of the work culture.

4.      Your Peers

Our experiences at our workspace are largely defined by our peers. How your colleague responds to you will essentially make up how you are going to behave in the organization. When your peers guide you, encourage you, and help you learn the ropes you know you have the right support system. Additionally if you can use them as sounding boards for great ideas and they respond to you, you know you have struck gold! What is important here is the fact that the organization is an eco-system comprising of you as well as others. The better you vibe, the better your experiences in the organization.

5.      Your Boss(es)

This seems like a no-brainer in the organizational culture context. Statistics say that amongst the most common reasons people are looking to quit their jobs is the fact that they are dissatisfied with their bosses. They associate a plethora of problems linked to poor leadership. You can read some instances here. So what is seemingly obvious is for some reason not so obvious. When you join a organization you look for leadership and direction but on a more personal level, you look for challenging tasks, fulfilling work allocations and appreciation- all of which the boss will hand out. So often, organizations invest in building a culture and then fail in maintaining it because of a few bosses who believe otherwise! Culture is as great or weak as it is in the hands of your managers.

To some the above points may seem like the makings of an ideal and perhaps unrealistic work culture. But truly, culture-wise, there are many organizations today that are consciously investing in giving their employees the best they have to offer. Some offer work-life balance, while others offer a great work atmosphere, while still others offer great learning opportunities. When you see the right mix of some of these aspects; you can be sure that the organization has taken efforts to build its culture with great care.  

If you lead an organization, you may want to relook at some of these points to take a reality check on what prospective colleagues read about your culture when they meet you.

Write in to us with your thoughts on building or evaluating culture, especially in start-ups and growing businesses. We think it is a very important aspect of building a sustainable organization. Which is why some of this will be discussed in our People panel on Inception Day on 1^st June 2013. Read more about that here. For Event details click here: http://tinyurl.com/adktfmz and for Registration click here: event.ayojak.com/event/inception-day-2013

About the Author: 

Madhumita Ganapathy  - Associate Consultant at Inception Business Services

Madhumita is a brand marketer known for her exuberance and zeal for getting things done. An MBA grad, Madhu started her marketing career at ITC and has been with IBS since mid-2012. She has contributed immensely to shaping  some of our young client brands. She now supports us in her new role as Associate Consultant based in Connecticut, USA. Apart from her passion for brands & marketing, Madhu loves classical Indian dance, travel and writing.

Connect Madhu on LinkedIn.
or

Connect with her via email at madhumita@inception.net.in

CROWD SOURCED FUNDING – AN INTERESTING WAY TO FUND YOUR BUSINESS IDEA

You wake up one morning and it hits you. The product or service that wants to get created stands in front of you and beckons you. Sure enough every entrepreneur has faced this moment - the moment your idea stares you in the face and awaits your efforts to make it a reality.  And it is here that your journey begins- you hit the drawing board and plan how you want your product or service to take shape, who are the people you want to rope in and what your ultimate goal is going to be about. And that’s when you realize you need a lot more than your idea- you need money. 

It’s a common journey for most entrepreneurs. While the ideas and resources required may vary from case to case, the common need for most is the dough (so to speak). A lot of entrepreneurs begin with investing their own savings, mortgaging assets and borrowing from friends and family. Yet there’s that point where one realizes- this just isn’t enough. Additional funding is the only solution to this roadblock. The options available today are numerous ranging from bank loans to Angel investors to Venture Capitalists and so on. 

However, the focus of this article is an interesting angle to fundraising. Kickstarter.com is a US based fund raising platform that provides tools to raise funds for creative projects.  Launched in 2009, Kickstarter has had over 96,000 projects that have been launched on their website since their inception. While you can read more about Kickstarter.com here, in this article, I am focusing on what it really stands for and how you as an entrepreneur can fund your project using a similar concept.

The basic model is that of crowd sourcing funds. You have a fabulous idea and not enough monetary resources. Wealth, on the other hand is distributed. This is not about a few big Angel Investors or VCs trying to make money by giving you a boost. It’s about the number of people who believe in your idea and are willing to back you up with their own small contribution. 

The core concept of Kickstarter hinges on the idea of connecting likeminded groups of people- when you find a set of people who see value in your proposition, they will (literally) put their money on you. It brings together people who are genuinely interested in seeing ideas through and helping people achieve their fund raising targets. It allows participation of a multitude of people who may not have millions of dollars to throw into a project and yet can be a part of a fabulous, one-in-a-million idea by contributing as little as $5. The rewards offered, give them the feeling of having and owning a badge or a title of an investor and the chance to receive uncommon, project-related merchandise. The promise of an early preview or early benefits in association with the business idea drives individuals to make the contribution and opt into a cause they believe in. And most importantly, it makes this group of investors belong to a community of those who have contributed. In marketing parlance one could say this model attracts the innovators and early adopters. In many cases it even attracts the early majority.

So if you have a fantastic idea waiting to see the light of day and your biggest constraint is money, just look around- you may find that there are many who believe in your idea and are willing to invest in it in their own small ways. Build a fundraising program that is inclusive and accessible to a large group of interested investors and ensure that you make them part of your journey. The quantum of money one can bring in is not necessarily a criterion for an ‘investor’. Ensure that one can donate a minimum amount (based on the tiers you set up) and yet become part of the project. Attract the ‘right kind’ of people to invest in your idea. Design the fundraiser to catch the attention of those with interests similar to your business’s idea. Passion for similar things often leads to heavier investments by individuals. 

It definitely beats the other option of doing an Initial public offer hollow ! Without the hassles of regulatory shenanigans, you can get access to a large base of investors. The one thing you must remember is that when you crowd source funds, you owe every investor the courtesy of being accountable to them especially because they don’t have the big regulators protecting their interests. You got to respect that. 

When you begin to look around, figure out the value you can deliver to an investor at various levels of investment. Include them into your grand plans and reward them with exclusive previews, merchandise, access to resources or whatever else you can offer through your business idea. You will be surprised at how many people are actually interested in making things happen for your business! Insignificant as a small contribution may seem to begin with, remember the saying little drops make an ocean!

(For more ideas and perspectives on how to fund your business, register and attend Inception Day 2013 and catch our panel discussion on Finance & Funding. Click here to know more.)

About the Author: 

Madhumita Ganapathy  - Associate Consultant at Inception Business Services

Madhumita is a brand marketer known for her exuberance and zeal for getting things done. An MBA grad, Madhu started her marketing career at ITC and has been with IBS since mid-2012. She has contributed immensely to shaping  some of our young client brands. She now supports us in her new role as Associate Consultant based in Connecticut, USA. Apart from her passion for brands & marketing, Madhu loves classical Indian dance, travel and writing.

Connect Madhu on LinkedIn.
or

Connect with her via email at madhumita@inception.net.in

Keep it Simple Silly!

Here is another blog from team IBS and one that is written by me after a long long time!!! 

So what is it that took me so long to break this jinx? Was it that I had something called a writer’s block as Mr. Stephen King calls it? No, I write my own personal blog at regular intervals. Was it that I did not find a suitable idea? No here too. There are a lot of ideas I get on and off which come as special brain waves and I have this “aha” moment where I want to wake up at 00:00 hrs and write about them (like I am right now) but when I start toying with that topic in my mind, I simply cannot find enough substance to add to it. I mean I don’t want to just go ahead and write a blog on 4Ps and 5Qs (;-p).

But here I am sitting in the middle of the night and furiously typing away (it is a pleasure to be typing away on a Mac anyways!) all thanks to Mr. Joel Spolsky (do not fret if you do not know him or have not heard of him as I did not know of this name till two days back!). This blog is prompted by a book he has written called “Smart and gets things done!“. No this blog is not about the book (I will write about this in my personal blog maladhalani.blogspot.com) but I would however recommend this book HEAVILY and it has to be one of the best books I have read.

This blog is about communication. I want to share here a few things, basics as I would refer to them, of communication which I think Mr. Spolsky has used so effectively in his book (it took me just three hours to finish the book and no it is not a suspense thriller, it is a book on how to hire people but I simply could not put it down!).

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Image Source & Courtesy: 

http://www.gocomics.com/features/search?search_string=calvin

#1: Simplicity

There is simply no substitute for simple language! It may be that you have memorized the oxford dictionary cover to cover or you simply like to keep the thesaurus word map open when you are typing something, but using heavy vocabulary is just plain inefficient! Nothing like getting your point across to someone in a simple language all the time making sure that the person reading/listening to you is understanding what you are saying the way you want it to be understood. I must admit it is quite a difficult thing to do!

#2: Humour

I am going to try and jog you down your memory lane a little bit and ask you to compare an important and serious lecture to an important but humorous lecture. No doubt on which one you remember and which one brought a smile to your face even now. Research also shows that after having laughed human beings are at their maximum level of focus. (Nah! That’s a bull crap statistic!!). It’s just so much nicer to read something or listen to someone who has included humour in the context. I am not suggesting making something frivolous here for the sake of it, but you will agree that just making someone laugh certainly ensures you of his or her attention (and happily so!)

#3: Directness

Just get to the point and do not beat around the bush. There is no need to give 10 examples to explain something when one is sufficient. Chances are that if someone does not get what you are saying the first time they will never get it! So unless there is a very strong reason for you to repeat something or explain with more than one example, don’t do it!  You are certainly putting off all the smart people and the dumb ones are not going to get it anyways!

So this is my long due but heart felt blog on communication and a few things to make yours effective. There are books that have been written on communication and I am sure a lot of them serve great value but these are just some thoughts inspired from Joel’s book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Please do share your thoughts.

- Mala Dhalani

About the Author:

Mala is Partner at Inception Business Services. A Management & Marketing professional, Mala believes in the power of higher thinking as well as the power of on-ground execution. A voracious reader (check out http://maladhalani.blogspot.in) and a talented dancer, Mala is happiest when she is out there meeting new people, exchanging ideas and helping to make the world a better place.

Manners Matter

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Image Courtesy & Source: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/07/20/

Recently, I was putting together material for a leadership development initiative for our client. One chapter in a book I referenced talked about “Manners” and how sometimes the managers who are competent but fail in collaborative work are the ones who simply put, lack “manners”.[*]

Seems overly simple? People who fail working with other people well are those who ignore basic courtesies of human interaction and professional courtesy. The more I thought about this, the more I realized it IS true.

We may call it empathy or emotional quotient or use any other term, but in essence, it probably all does boil down to manners. Or should I say good manners. In every situation, handling a meeting, giving someone negative feedback, rejecting a candidate or a vendor: I have always noticed that the great ones do it politely, firmly and effectively.

Ever so often, we can use a gentle reminder about the basic things in life and the idea of penning this blog was to list out the manners in professional practice that help make a great manager, in my book.

1. I'm running late: You may be late for a meeting, but it is bad manners to not inform those who are waiting for you. Traffic snarls, time spills, we are all victims to time thieves that highjack our schedule. If you’re late, let people know. After all, they DID make it on time against all odds J
2.  He may be wrong, but you can’t yell at him in public: You have a team? Someone is bound to mess something up sometime. Don’t yell. Communicate. Personally, I feel worse when I drop the ball & the other person is calm and polite about my mistake and not yelling at me.
3.  Rude is not the same as cool: You may be the wisecrack around but stop short of being rude, even when you have been provoked. 
4.  It does not matter if you are the client or the employee or the vendor: No matter which side of the equation you’re on, it doesn’t give you the right to be obnoxious to someone – anyone. Remember, what goes around comes around.
5. Telecallers are only doing their job: Yes, I am familiar with the most annoying among their breed but still, remember someone is only trying to do their job, perhaps trying to be too persistent at it. Don’t buy what they’re selling, but you don’t need to break their spirit.
6.  Don’t cut into people’s meal times unless you’re taking care to feed them: One of our clients is so thoughtful that he ensures that we are always well-fed during our meetings. There is never an instance when we extend a discussion over a couple of hours or lunchtime without being offered food or refreshment.  It is a lesson I’ve taken to heart. It is a basic courtesy. If you’re the boss and need to give your team grief about their performance, they’ll hate it less if they’re not hungry.
7. Say Thank you: Someone did her job well? Say thank you without trying to evaluate if she needs to be thanked for doing her job. Overthinking is a waste on this one.
8. Get someone else to read your angry tirade mail before it goes out: Goof-ups happen. People deserve to be told they caused it. But if you’re angry when you typed that email – chances are the anger overrides the message. Get some one to read and if necessary tone it down. There are exceptions to this guideline and I am guessing most of us will have the sense to use the exception wisely.
9.  Smile: - Really, I mean it. Even if you’re carrying the entire burden of the world on your shoulders. Smile. You’ll feel lighter too.
10. Is this a good time? In some of my earlier teams, calling a reportee at 10 pm (no it was not a BPO or 24by7 operation!) for a chat was totally acceptable. And in the same organization, I met a senior manager who would hesitate to call after hours or if he HAD to, first check or apologize for the inconvenience. No prizes for guessing whom I respected more.
11. A gesture means more, when it is not required: Sometimes a courtesy is appreciated simply because it is not required. Going the extra mile for a simple gesture is hardly ever going to cost you much or go wrong. A colleague returning after a sick day off will always appreciate someone who says welcome back and hope you’re okay this morning.  A thank you note for some one who did you a good deed may not be expected by the other person, but would be much appreciated for the very same reason.
12. Give credit where due; if in doubt give it anyway: Acknowledging people’s contribution to a result or outcome is basic, simple and oh so often missed out once the job gets done.
13. You’re not hired but good luck with your career: Yes, applicants you rejected for that job are people too. You don’t need them anymore (not today atleast) so it is easy to forget them. Dropping them a line that the position is closed and wishing them luck in their future won’t take time but it shows good form on your part.

Well, these are my top 13. I can go on but I guess you get the gist. Feel free to add your own and make this list more comprehensive. I’m sure we all have some people to whom the entire set would be a welcome gift J for self-improvement.

- Pavithra Charan
  Blog 2013#1

About the Author:  
Pavithra is Founder & Partner at Inception Business Services. A Marketing & Management professional with a keen interest in people and passion for ideas, Pavithra moved from being a Banker & Wealth Management professional to entrepreneur. Working with start ups, Brand management, Customer engagement, Content creation and Coaching/Training are areas of work that most excite her. Multi-tasking entrepreneur, mother of a 3 year old and wife of a businessman, Pavithra confesses that her 2013 resolutions include being regular with her blog writing and any encouragement in that direction is welcome. Mail her at pavithra at inception.net.in. 

 

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[*] The Effective Executive – by Peter  F. Drucker

INCEPTION DAY - Team Blog #3

Team Blog by Pavithra Charan, Partner - Inception Business Services

June 1^st dawned bright and happy for all of us here at Inception Business Services.  A celebratory mood prevailed as we were marking our very first Inception Day. Although the firm came into being in March 2011 and well, the idea of Inception was founded and named as early as October 2010, it was on 1^st June 2011 that the firm’s evolution from a one person idea to the energetic and enterprising team it is today began.

Well, it is but natural that we’d like to share some of the highlights of the journey since then.

What happened on 1^st June 2011? One of our partners Mala Dhalani officially joined in on that day. By then, the firm had just set up office at the current premises. Until then, Inception was essential just a one-person outfit comprising of me (Pavithra Charan) backed up by two non-working partners (who continue to be our mentor partners).

By September 2011, it was clear that Mala and I shared a lot of common ground with reference to our professional ideas and love for the kind of work Inception could take on. As individuals, there were striking differences as well, which in a productive working relationship helps us complement each other.

We realized that we thoroughly enjoyed working with different businesses. We also realized that as a concept, the kind of services or business support we were willing to offer was not easily available. Not because there are not enough experts or specialists around, but especially because there are many highly skilled specialists available for a lot of work functions, but not always enough generalists who can simply extend managerial bandwidth.

Ofcourse, as in every start up’s journey, it is never All Is Well all the time. We’ve had quite a few hiccups or issues we’ve grappled with. Starting with how to scope our work, price our services right, on to how to distinguish what we do as a team from what other service providers offer. We’ve also been extremely lucky in many aspects. We have some wonderful clients and exciting businesses that we’ve had a chance to work with. Some wonderful human beings who took a chance on us to work with a new team and we’ve had tremendous learning and growth opportunities. We have two supportive mentor partners who give guidance and help play devil's advocate once in a while. We ‘ve especially been blessed and lucky to have some good people who found it exciting and challenging to join us. And this is the team you see in this post.  Anusha Kousik, a wonderful person with great work ex in start ups and a fantastic approach to work came on board in January 2012. Mala and I can barely recall what we did and how we managed before Anusha joined Team IBS. Then we got Subha joining us in end of April, straight and fresh out of  her engineering course (also bringing down the average age in an already young firm!).  And then we have had Manoj (one of our project trainees) also joining in after completing his MBA (not in pic due to a train delay – No thank you to the fuel hike bandh!) And last but not the least, we had one more 1^st June addition, this time in 2012 – Madhumita Ganapathy comes on board after a marketing stint with some of the giants in marketing like ITC.

Team IBS on Inception Day - 1st June 2012
In this pic: Sitting (L to R) - Pavithra, Subhapriya, Anusha. Standing (L to R) - Mala, Madhumita

As we wrap up this day, it is clear that Team IBS is gently and firmly stepping out of the start up mode. Having been part of large organisations, Mala and I simply want to ensure that we celebrate every little milestone and take a moment to savour every such step along the journey of Team IBS.

One of the ways in which we ‘ve decided to do this is to mark one day in every quarter to celebrate some aspect of our work. June 1^st is the first such day that we are observing. Our values or ideals at the firm, Integrity, Innovation and Involution will also soon have their own days which we intend to celebrate appropriately.

There’s a lot of great work going in around us, a lot of new possibilities are emerging. And we look forward to some great times for us as a team in terms of  work, fun and learning.

Here’s ending with cheers to that !

Inception Team Blog: Selling to the 20-Something(one)

Inception Team Blog: Selling to the 20-Something(one): One of our clients is a fashion brand that has recently decided to focus on customers in the 18-25 years age-group. Another client has laun...

Selling to the 20-Something(one)

One of our clients is a fashion brand that has recently decided to focus on customers in the 18-25 years age-group. Another client has launched an online portal and is curious to know if younger customers will find the proposition attractive. A friend is working on making her organization more friendly and attractive to a younger workforce. We ourselves at Inception, interact a fair bit with a roster of bright interns who are young and enterprising.

It seems increasingly common to find a brand or service or organization that is focusing on the younger consumer and the younger employee – generalized and referred to here as the 20-something. As typical marketing sleuths, our curiosity has been sufficiently piqued and we would like to explore in this two-part blog – what it takes to sell (a product, job or service) to this increasingly powerful target audience.

I still hear some old-timers (not necessarily by age) clucking that youngsters these days lack values, have an easy life, have no concept of time or generally are poor judges of value or money’s worth. My hypothesis however is that this is a completely misguided view of the 20-something that you find around you today. At the risk of generalizing, I must say that our take is that the typical Tween today:

• ·         Is completely and irrevocably Networked
• ·         Is doing more with his/her time than any of us a decade or earlier
• ·         Has an uncanny sense of value for money and usually would not compromise on value
• ·         Researches deals, believes in the power of group bargaining

Intimidating? We think so too. We really believe that winning over this target segment is no joke – and requires some dedication to understanding their motivations, influencers and needs. Honestly, based on my own personal experience, I would hazard a guess that it is easier to work on customers in the mid-30s on to the 40s.  If many people my age are like me, then she/he:

• ·    Is hard-pressed for time, and willing to take shortcuts in the buying process – even if it means you may pay more
• ·       Is probably more networked but would be embarrassed to discuss value propositions with too many people
• ·        Gets used to a brand and may rather stick on in several situations

Well, this is all still in the realm of hypotheses – so what better way to find out that to ask some of the 20-somethings we know some rather pertinent questions. Do bear in mind, this is not a fully blown out market research initiative (can explore that if a suitable client is willing to foot the bill ;-)) but simply an attempt to get some real-life subjects to share their perspective. I do promise not to doctor the findings, even at the risk of having some of my presumptions torn asunder.

Watch this space for more updates on Selling to the 20-something……….

Until then – Adieu Amigos…