The Consultancy Fact - Father of Consultancy!

We are in consulting business. Out of curiosity (indeed very essential ), I have started the “Job Description” of a consultant. These are the thought shower in the process.

Consultants (Management , Marketing, System..) are involved in providing objective advice, expertise and specialist skills with the aim of creating value, maximising growth or improving the business performance of their clients. They are primarily concerned with the strategy, structure, management and operations of an organisation. Consultants can assist by identifying options with recommendations, providing additional resources and/or the implementation of solutions.

Consultants operate across a wide variety of services such as business strategy, marketing, financial and management controls, human resources, information technology, e-business and operations, and supply-chain management.

Typical work activities

The day-to-day activities of management consultants are often complex and varied. Consultancy is essentially entrepreneurial in nature and project-based. Projects can vary in length depending on the type of consultancy, firm and the demands of the client. They can involve an individual or a large team. They can be based at one site or across several international borders.

Typical tasks, involve:

Carrying out research and data collection;

Conducting analysis;

Interviewing client’s employees, management team and other stakeholders;

Running focus groups and facilitating workshops;

Preparing business proposals/presentations;

In addition to the above, tasks for more experienced and senior consultants involve:

Identifying issues and forming hypotheses;

Formulating and implementing recommendations/solutions;

Ensuring the client receives the assistance needed to implement the recommendations/solutions;

Managing projects and programmes;

Leading and managing those within the team, including analysts;

Larger leadership role in the management of client relationships

Our experience with this “Job of Consultant” is very exceptional. Everyone says this! Yet, from this part of the world (Salem in Tamilnadu in India), and serving the family owned, family based, family driven, family managed, family employed (nice usage), to families around with families to support. The business houses can be defined as “By the family, for the family, to the family”.

We have to sell (throw our full weight around) our service. Because, we envisage this is going to be the future (our future). These tiny, small, medium organisations going to create value to our economy (Indian). Having the knowledge about the culture and style, we found (our comfort zone) this opportunity and doing a “seriously different” job.

We aren’t a part of the organisation, yet we have to solve the problem of the organisation. It  is all about working in an unstructured environment, trying to solve a problem for an organisation of which we aren’t a part. The operative word is unstructured. The organisation doesn’t need to be unstructured.

“Unstructured” because often the organisation in question isn’t structured to support the consultant. As far as the consultant is concerned, the structure of the organisation is amorphous. Since he isn’t a part of the organisation, he’s working in an unstructured environment. He doesn’t exist in a defined hierarchy within the client org. He doesn’t have people reporting to him and he doesn't report to people.

His role is defined. Solve our problem, the organisation says. But what is the problem?

The problems aren’t clearly defined, and often a closer look reveals that they’re mostly the symptoms, not the underlying cause. (Our chairman says, “If the client knows what is his problem, he never call us or no job will come to us”).

When we interview the founders, managers (senior most), they say, we have everything in place, the plan, the system, the process, the people and the product. When we dig deeply, everything they say is right and wrong! They have a plan but they implement different one. They have the system and they follow different (example accounting – one for the owner, one for the banker, one for the IT department), they have process (example – recruitment process – they use that only to the new – unknown – non-family member, if the applicant is a family member (brother in law), with no qualification or attitude, employed) but not in use. They have product and they sell different one as the demand and spec is not met.

In such a situation, the greatest challenge a consultant faces, and the first thing he must do, is ensure that his ideas are respected by the organisation which hired his services. The organisation isn’t really a monolith. It’s a thousand different people, a thousand different opinions  The founder or director who hired you may have faith in your abilities, but the manager who is infinitely more important to your project’s success because he has all the info you need may think otherwise. And if he continues to feel that way, good luck getting any cooperation from him. (That translates nicely as, ‘You’re screwed, boy!’)

The only way you can successfully complete a project is by gaining their trust and their respect. And the only way you can do that is by chipping away at their reticence (silence) and suspicion, one recommendation at a time, until the rock face crumbles. You have to be ready to have your recommendations ignored, ridiculed and bitterly opposed. Only when that is done will you stand a chance of having them accepted.

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.

~ M K Gandhi

It applies to consulting, regardless of whether you’re a freelance consultant like us, down at the bottom of the food chain, or happen to be McKinsey’s brightest star. we come across this phenomenon ourself during each and every consulting engagement and there’s no reason to believe nobody else has. Indeed, a McKinsey alum does mention that this is the reason why every recommendation they make has to be backed by tonnes of facts. It helps if you aren’t an asshole.

To overcome some of the pitfalls we, helikx, started our "Process" ....It demands one more post "Pitfalls in Consultancy and how to overcome it"

Comment to have one...

Thanks to Chairman who provoked me today during our discussion about our client War..W. The debate continuous... 

How to Tell When Someone is Lying

Our recent interactions with sales force of many industries and meeting college students taught many interesting lessons. I was going through my old mails. There are many discussions about "how to find a liar?"
Is there any tool like "Pinocchio" nose? 

Is there any pattern? I searched and collected some materials. This is the compiled one. Enjoy

Watching body language in addition to what is spoken might just save you from being a victim of fraud, or it could help you figure out when somebody’s being genuine. The police do this during an interrogation.

You have to learn the little facial and body expressions that can help you distinguish a lie from the truth. Here are some steps and tips to do so.

1. Learn to recognize deflections. 

Usually when people are lying, they will tell stories that are true but are deliberately aimed at not answering the question you asked. If a person responds to the question “Did you ever hit your wife?” with an answer such as “I love my wife, why would I do that?”, the suspect is technically telling a truth, but they are avoiding answering your original question, which usually means they’re lying.

2. Mind exaggerated details. 

See if they are telling you too much, like “My mom is living in Delhi, isn’t it nice there? Don’t you like the Taj Mahal? It’s so clean there.” Too many details may tip you off to their desperation to get you to believe them. 

3. We have illustrators, and manipulators. 

Illustrators are a sign of telling the truth, this is when you are using your hand gestures to talk. Moving your hands while you are talking is a sign of telling the truth. We also have manipulators. These, are the opposite of illustrators. An example of a manipulator can be playing with your wrist-watch, your jewelry, pulling on your ear lobe, etc. People who behave this way tend to be hiding something. The last, commonly unknown sign of hiding something is reptile tissue, most people have a reptile tissue in their nose, and it itches when you’re hiding something. But, before you assume that the person is hiding something, please establish a base line.

4. Base Line:

 A base line is what someone acts like when they are not lying. You have to get a base line before you proceed with anything. Imagine you have a itch on your nose ever since you got out of bed. And someone thinks you are hiding something because you scratch your nose when answering a question…oops. What the person should have done is establish a baseline. To establish a baseline, you need to see the person when they aren’t lying. Try asking what their name is, and what they do for a living. 

5. Look out for micro-expressions. 

Micro-expressions are split second facial expressions that flash on a person’s face for a less than a 25th of a second and reveal the person’s true emotion underneath their facade. Some people may be naturally sensitive to them, but almost anybody can easily train to be able to detect microexpressions. Put focus to the upper and lower eyelids, the corner of the eyes, the mouth and the muscles surrounding the mouth, the eyebrows and forehead. 

6. Shaking hands… 

When you meet the person who you think is deceiving you, shake their hand. Take note of the temperature. When you are sure they are lying to you, pretend to be leaving and quickly grab their hand for a “Good-Bye” Handshake. If the temperature is colder, they are fearful. 

7. Notice the person’s eye movements. 

Contrary to popular belief, a liar does not always avoid eye contact. Humans naturally break eye contact and look at non-moving objects to help them focus and remember. Liars may deliberately make eye contact to seem more sincere. You can usually tell if a person is remembering something or making something up based on their eye’s movements. When someone is remembering details, their eyes move to the right (your right). When someone is making something up, their eyes move to the left. It’s usually reversed for lefties. (although not always true.) 

8. Be aware of their emotional responses 



Timing and duration tends to be off when someone is lying. If you ask someone a question and they respond directly after the question, there is a chance that the person is lying. This can be because they have rehearsed the answer, or they’re already thinking about the answer just to get it over with and move forward. A delayed answer can be a sign of lying. To tell the truth takes 2 parts of your brain at most, however to lie takes 6 parts of your brain. If the person has a long story then you can ask them to tell it backwards. Liars have trouble telling stories backwards, because in their mind they have rehearsed it forwards, but not backwards. And, as with smiling, facial expressions of a poor liar will be limited to the mouth area. 

Pay close attention to the person’s reaction to your questions.

 A liar will often feel uncomfortable and turn their head or body away, or even subconsciously put an object between the two of you. Also, while an innocent person would go on the offensive (usually responding with anger, which will usually be revealed in a microexpression directly after you say you don’t believe them), a guilty person will often go immediately on the defensive (usually by saying something to reassure their facts, such as deflections). 

9. Listen for a subtle delay in responses to questions.

 An honest answer comes quickly from memory. Lies require a quick mental review of what they have told others to avoid inconsistency and to make up new details as needed. However, when people look up to remember things, it does not necessarily mean that they are lying. 

10 .Be conscious of their usage of words. 

Verbal expression can give many clues as to whether a person is lying, such as: 
Using/repeating your own exact words when answering a question. Not using contractions 
Avoiding direct statements or answers (deflections) 
Speaking excessively in an effort to convince 
Speaking in a monotonous tone 
Speaking in muddled sentences 
Vocal pitch rising 
Using classic qualifiers such as “I’m only going to say this once…” 
Using humor and sarcasm to avoid the subject 
Using Deflections (beating around the bush, not answering the question.) 

11. Allow silence to enter the conversation. 


If they’re lying, they will become uncomfortable if you stare at them for a while with a look of disbelief. If they’re telling the truth, they will usually become angry or just frustrated (lips pressed together, brows down, upper eyelid tensed and pulled down to glare). 

12 .Change the subject quickly.

 While an innocent person would be confused by the sudden shift in the conversation and may try to return to the previous subject, a liar will be relieved and welcome the change. You may see the person become more relaxed and less defensive. 

13. Watch his or her throat.

 A person may constantly be either trying to lubricate their throat when he/she lies by swallowing or clearing their throat to relieve the tension built up. A person’s voice can also be a good lie indicator; they may suddenly start talking faster or slower than normal, or their tension may result in a higher-pitched speaking tone. See baseline info 

14 .Check the facts.

 If you have the means, check the validity of what the liar is saying. A skilled liar might give some reason why you shouldn’t talk to the person who could confirm or deny a story. Perhaps the liar will infer that the person is particularly favourable towards the liar, or that the person would have little time for you. These are probably lies themselves, so might be worthwhile overcoming your reluctance and to check with the person you’ve been warned against. 

15. Judge the character. 

Most people tell the truth most of the time, and 

will cherish their reputation. Liars will ’sail close to the wind’ – they’ll artificially bolster their reputation so that they seem more credible or desirable than they actually are. 
If you overhear a version of an anecdote that seems wrong, listen to those alarm bells – it might be a liar. 
If someone takes the time out to ingratiate themselves with you out of the blue, it’s very flattering, but you have to ask, why are they doing that? 


If Kishore rubbishes or smears people more than normal, Kishore is possibly putting in the groundwork so the audience are more receptive to John, and less receptive to the people who John has lied to – they’re discredited before they can say ‘Kishore is a liar’. 

Note -

Some people are extremely experienced or even professional liars. He or she has told their made up story so many times that they are actually believable, getting all their days, dates and times down perfectly! Sometimes, you may need to simply accept that you can’t catch every lie all the time. 

If you do catch a lie, don’t reveal it to the liar; they will just adjust their story. Once you know one thing that is not true, you can use it to find more of the net of lies, and other nets of lies. Then decide which points you reveal and to whom. 


Now tell me how much truth this contains...?

5S An excellent tool : Purity and discipline

I am not going to post anything new in this post. I may get a comment, all earlier posts also the same! This is all about 5s. A practice that improves productivity in an organisation and relationship if implemented at home level. 
We, the people carve for look and feel. Be it a product or place. This exercise (5S) will get you the both. At my home, we are practicing 5s. This actually made us lean and mean, this usage need not be for the organisation only. We enhanced our home "feeling" by this systematic exercise. For us it took about 2 years. 


During the process, we have to convince our old (78year) member to discard his records from the year 1964. Those were very vital for him and trivial for us. He recalled his memory through that records and we never ready to listen to him! Yet, as a member, we convinced him to discard. The selling of 5s to him was a challenge. 
We are not rude or heartless. We took time explaining why this up? We gave respect to his sentiments. Then we explained and he understood, that those records actually attracted insects rather than adding value to his memory. We scanned some of his work and kept it as digital storage. We made him understand, that value is something else that he seek through that records. 


Then, we sorted our home. It took 3 months to reach first phase. We examined (not audited) our sorting. Then we started another level - any purchase should be a result of one removal or scrap or discard. If I have to buy a pant - then I have to discard one of my existing pant. This took 6 months. And we reduced our impulse purchasing. It actually added value. We got more space to move. The entire home got new look without any decorative articles. 
The old photos and frames were one of the very sensitive articles during our sorting. We decided collectively to discard - regardless of its' antique value. This created big debate. There are many right and wrong arguments. But who ever argued for wrong are not ready to keep or protect at their home. They advised us to keep it. We decided that, it (photos) occupies space and no one is interested in looking the photo anymore. The walls become free and nails were unplugged. 
As a poetic view, that left more scare over the wall. It, the nail scare, made us to decide our home painting! We painted our home and now it looks different. There are many interesting incidents. We are now focusing keeping in order. This is challenging and we are doing our best. 


Let me share the process of 5s at an organisation level.



5S is the acronym for five Japanese words, seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke, which signify order, cleanliness, purity and commitment. 


The 5S philosophy focusses on effective workplace organisation, helps simplify the workplace environment and reduce waste, while improving quality and safety. 


Seiri (sort) means to put things in order. Seiton (systematise) means proper arrangement. Seiso (clean) implies keeping things clean and polished in the workplace. Seiketsu implies purity and focuses on maintaining cleanliness and perpetual cleaning. Shitsuke is commitment. 


This is a typical teaching and attitude towards any undertaking to inspire pride and adherence to standards established for the four components. 


The principles underlying a 5S programme appear to be common sense -- and they are. But until the advent of 5S, many businesses ignored these basic principles. There is an order and logic to how 5S is carried out, which is: 

1. Seiri or sorting




Seiri means sorting through everything in each work area. It requires keeping only what is necessary. 


Materials, tools, equipment and supplies that are not frequently used should be moved to a separate, common storage area. Items that are never used should be discarded. This makes it easier to find the things needed and frees up additional space. 


"Tagging" items is a common approach when deciding what is to be thrown away. An area is targeted; items likely to be disposed off are tagged with a red tag and a date. If the item is not used after a certain period of time, say, between one and six months, it is disposed of. Practising seiri at Sona Koyo, for instance, led to the freeing up of an 8x6 ft by removing unwanted rakes. 


2. Seiton or systematise 




This is the next step. It requires organising, arranging and identifying everything in a work area for efficient retrieval and return to its proper place. 


Commonly used tools are readily available; storage areas, cabinets and shelves are properly labelled; floors are cleaned and painted to make it easier to spot dirt, waste materials and dropped parts and tools; spaces are outlined on the floor to identify work areas, movement lanes, storage areas, finished product areas and so on; and shadows are drawn on the tool boards, making it easy to quickly see where each tool belongs. 


In an office, bookshelves are provided for frequently-used manuals, books and catalogues. 


There are two important parts to systematic organisation -- putting everything in its proper place and setting up a system so that it is easy to return each item to its proper place. The second part is where labelling and identification practices are important. 


3. Seiso or shining 




Once everything from each individual work area to the entire facility is sorted and organised, it needs to be kept that way. 


Regular cleaning and inspection makes it easy to spot lubricant leaks, equipment misalignment, breakage, missing tools and low levels of supplies. When done on a regular, frequent basis, cleaning and inspecting does not take a lot of time and, in the long run, actually saves times. 


4. Seiketsu or standardise 




Seiketsu ensures that the first three steps of the 5S programme continue to be effective. The good practices developed in the first three steps need to be standardised. 


Therefore, organisations must develop a work structure that will support the new practices and turn them into habits. 


5. Shitsuke or self-discipline 




This implies continuous training and maintenance of standards. The organisation must build a formal system for monitoring the results of the programme. A follow-up is a must for the above four steps to continue to be practise. 


There will have to be continuous education about maintaining standards. When there are changes that will affect the 5S programme -- such as new equipment, new products or new work rules -- it is essential to make changes in the standards and provide training. 


A good way to continue educating employees and maintaining standards is to use 5S posters and signs. 


We, at helikx, now encouraging home 5s and we simplified the entire operation. We are ready to share with "interested". 


Just mail us or call 98427 33318 

The 4 Basic Barriers

Mr. Ram of Milkko Rich came for a discussion. He is along with his Marketing Manager Mr. Kishore. We were analyzing the last months trend and how this  month sales is happening. We are also into customer complaint register and looking into the details. 

We are actually looking for a clue that may help us to improve the sales. Rural marketing in India is very tough and people (customers - consumers) are of complex nature. The communication is difficult. We understand something where as they are communicating some other message. 


We have to ask question to start the sale and at the same time the question should not create a reflex answer from the prospect. I am discussing with Mr. Kishore, how his team is asking questions and responding to the questions that the customer asks. 



Unless we learn to probe and clarify throughout the entire sales process, we'll never uncover a prospect's hidden objections. One interesting case is of "Cavin Kare" episode. Why is getting the inside story so hard?


The Four Basic Barriers



1. People don't volunteer information


2. People talk in generalities


3. People make wrong assumptions


4. People perceive things differently


These four communications problems make it necessary for every salesperson to develop the skills of a detective tackling a baffling case. Good salespeople get answers to their questions. Great ones probe and clarify each answer until they've solved the mystery. To get that order signed takes nothing less than detective work at every stage of the selling process.


Breaking Through the Barriers:


Barrier #1
The first problem -- that people don't volunteer information....comes up all the times when you're selling. A prospect might say, "We're not ready to make a decision yet," never volunteering that the "we" refers to a committee of six that must have proposals submitted in writing, and the "make a decision yet" refers to a meeting next month. Though these are crucial details, the prospect isn't going to volunteer them. It's up to you to probe and clarify to get a full understanding of the situation.



Barrier #2
People buy specifics, but often talk in generalities. Their reasons for agreeing or objecting to your sale can be very precise, but they're unlikely to state them. Even when people think in specifics they are often too lazy, afraid or impatient to state their real feelings. And many times a prospect's reasons for turning you down may be very vague: perhaps a feeling of distrust caused by your tone of voice or lack of eye contact.



What is a salesperson to do with general answers like "I'll think about it"? What will the prospect be thinking about? You don't know what aspect of the sale he will be dwelling on. Find out, and if need be refocus his attention where you want it. Respond with, "That's great. I'm glad you're going to be thinking about this. What exactly will you be focusing on?" 


It's natural to enjoy hearing a prospect say "I liked your product," but this is one gift horse you have to look in the mouth and ask, "What exactly did you like about it?" A standard objection like "I'm not ready yet" could mean anything from "I don't like you" to "I'm considering two other minaral companies" to "I don't have the money" to a dozen other concerns. Unless you probe and clarify you have no idea what to focus on to convince the person these concerns won't affect the satisfaction or value of your product or service.

Barrier #3

People make wrong assumptions. You can't assume anything. When a prospect says, "I'll take it into my boss," or "I'll talk to my uncle about it," most of us assume these are positive signs that the sale is progressing. But the prospect could be planning to tell his boss to hold off on the purchase. Unless you probe and clarify statement you'll never know where the sale really stands. Next time you hear, "I have to talk it over with my wife," probe that answer by asking, "Do I understand you correctly that if your wife likes it you'll be ready to proceed?"

Barrier #4

The final obstacle to communication is the fact that people perceive things differently. How I perceive a situation will be quite different from how you perceive it. That's because everyone's perceptions are based on past experience and present desires. So if I say, "let's go out to dinner," the scene those words conjure up in my mind is probably very different than what you envision. (Ram and Kishore understand this! when the prospect called them for dinner and yet to meet him!)

Such differing perceptions can play havoc with a sale. When a prospect says "let's close the deal," you might take that to mean a signed contract with money up front, but to your prospect it means one more round of negotiations. 

One area where perceptions always vary is people's perception of their own importance. It's natural for a person to have a heightened sense of his or her own significance. However, prospects frequently perceive themselves as decision makers when they can't really give the final okay. Be sure that when a prospect says, "I'm ready to close the deal," he has the authority to do so.

Once you learn to recognize these four communications barriers, you can easily learn to probe and clarify your way right through them

The rural marketing is very challenging and we are making extremely fantastic progress. Hats off to Mr. Ram and Kishore. The team work - works.

6 Skill you must have

While discussing about the new MBA program design for the college at our place we discovered this interesting and simple skill set . The college, in our discussion, offered us the opportunity out of heavy competition from local and national level players. We are under pressure to present our "seriously different" approach.


During this we verified and analysed some of our data. We collected this from various organisation through questionnaire and interviews. They (the head of the organisation) are the one who employ the freshers and pay them. These decision making community answered some of most important questions and the result is amazing. 


Definition of skill:  This is very important. We defined the skill as:  "A skill (also called talent) is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires a certain environmental stimuli and situation to assess the level of skill being shown and used."


Skills are categorised in many ways, key skills, transferable skills, academic skills, personal skills, skills for employability and more recently functional skills. Three functional skills identified by the government are English, Maths and ICT (information and communication technology). 


Functional skills are the skills needed to allow people in their work and everyday life as citizens, they give them the chance to study and work independently, to make sense of the world around them, and have the skills to achieve personally and contribute to their local community.  We asked our clients, what are the skills that individuals need to be able to operate in today’s society.


The following are the comprehensive result.


1.Application of number - maths
2.Communication - English
3. Information and communication technology
4. Improving own learning and performance
5. Problem solving
6. Working with others


We designed our program to the MBA students which may answer the following questions from him.


How often have you used this skill? 
How will this skill help me to be independent? 
When have I used this skill in everyday life? or 
When might I use this skill in everyday life? 
In what types of career might I use the skills I have developed today? 
How might I develop this skill?


We have prepared our presentation. Wish to share this as this is very important finding.


Comment..

Starfish vs Spider

I am going through the old articles. This one is suggested by our Chairman. The following is an exert from the book. The approach appears to be good, however, the difficulty in adopting new environment is not addressed with an intensity I expected. 

“Leaders have seized on collaboration as a powerful new lever to cut costs, innovate faster, co-create with customers, and usher their organizations into the twenty-first century business environment.”
“Now all that individual brainpower is tied together and amplified by the power of technology: The new and potent "we" is far smarter than any singular "me." 


For the first time, humans can act in mass collaboration, using the kind of collective intelligence once reserved for ants and bees—but now with human IQ driving the mix. The result is a quantum increase in the world's ability to conceive, create, compute, and connect. We are only beginning to comprehend the consequences.”
“What’s the difference between a starfish and a spider?  A spider has a head.  If you cut off the head, the spider dies.  If you cut off a spider leg, the spider survives as a seven legged spider.  But a starfish has no head.  If you cut a starfish in half, it makes two starfish.  Indeed, if you cut off a leg of some starfish, they’ll grow—from that leg—a whole new starfish.”


“There's no real evidence that one can become expert in something as broad as "decision making" or "policy" or "strategy." Auto repair, piloting, skiing, perhaps even management: these are skills that yield to application, hard work, and native talent. 


But forecasting an uncertain future and deciding the best course of action in the face of that future are much less likely to do so. And much of what we've seen so far suggests that a large group of diverse individuals will come up with better and more robust forecasts and make more intelligent decisions than even the most skilled "decision maker .”


Which is best ... Comment....

5 things you cannot teach

I am at the ZTWS 2011 - Cherupuzha center. On assessing the participants and their training modules, thinking about the transferable and non transferable skills or traits. The series of recent happening at helikx and as I am training the sales force of an automobile dealer,  also implementing process and systems with one of an online education centre at chennai. All these incidents and my intractions with the sales force and customer service and telecalling department  of the client, I came to the following conclusion.

There are some character traits that cannot be taught in Customer Service..
If we could, we would because it would make the whole world a better place, not just Customer Service. We can't, therefore we work with people whom we believe to most exemplify these traits. Here are 5 you cannot teach.
1. Enthusiasm. We see it, we feel it and boy, do we wish everyone had it.
Many people don't though. It is often reflected in their faces when a request is made and reinforced with a sullen "just a moment" that does nothing to help us believe that we are about to receive a Service which we so desperately hope is better than what Mr. or Ms. Sullen face has just prefaced us with.
Enthusiasm is infectious, contagious and outright fun. It seems the Enthusiast is everywhere, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that we have a fantastic Customer Service experience. It is reflected by the pride they take in doing the job right, the care they take making sure everything is just so and the delivery of "Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. or Ms. Customer?"

The Enthusiast is nearly extinct these days. The victim of "Faster, More, Cheaper" Customer Service.
Are you exemplifying "Faster, More, Cheaper" or are you trying to grow Customer Service Enthusiasts?

2. Happiness. A feeling of pleasure. I have come to believe that Happiness is sometimes misused for the word Enlightened.
I know, now you think I am really off my meds. Let me ask you something. Have you ever met a person who was Happy? I mean really, really Happy? Really, when? Where do you think "Happy Hour" (at pub) comes from? My point is that when people feel Happy, it leads to the ending of Happiness, or a state of Unhappiness. In other words, there is a limit.

I don't think there can be a limit to Enlightenment. Either way you think about it, it is not something you can teach. You can feel it. You can see it when another person really has it. You just can't teach someone to be Happy or Enlightened. They have to find it themselves.

3. Commitment. The feeling one has when one decides to do something no matter the cost or the journey. The ability to see it to the end. People who have commitment are not easily swayed. They keep putting one foot in front of the other, keeping their eye on the prize, the goal, the end.
Oh, they have trials and tribulations, and when you ask them about it, they shrug and say things like "That's the way we do it" or "It needed to be done."
Latest happenings at helikx and our Chairmans' action on issues of delayed projects confirms this conclusion.
They have little concern or care for the thoughts of others who can't see the world through their eyes. They shrug and say "It's got to get done, and I'm the person to do it." You can't teach that.

4. Belief. The thought that someone feels completely, through and through that resonates deep inside them and tells them that they are on the right path. They don't need your beliefs, and are quite content to let you have yours.

Once it is felt between a group of people, it sings to everyone's heart in that group. A drumbeat that is felt by and played by all. It brings a natural power to a person that is unquenchable and unwavering. When all else is in doubt it is Belief that carries a person through.

I have experienced total Belief and a loss of Belief and I can tell you that when there is a loss of Belief, it literally can crush a soul. One of my best partner, long standing along my side, without verification doing something, is a real pain. It's at these times that a person has to find that small spark, that ignites and starts the fire anew. You can't teach that.

5. Attitude. Among all, I really want to have the ability to teach Attitude. You could point out to someone what Attitude looks like and say things like "He/She has a great Attitude, you would do well to be like this" and the person would say "Oh, I see. No problem. Attitude is adjusted to maximum. Thanks." And it would be.

Or say something like "Study this book, read chapters 3 and 4, answer the questions at the end of the chapters and you will have the Attitude you need to make it through life." Right.

The world would be a much more interesting place if all of our Attitudes where in sync and working towards a common goal. " Imagine," as someone once said. You can't teach Attitude in Customer Service.

If you are trying to teach one of these to your personnel in the hope that they will morph in Customer Service Professionals, forget it. You have a better chance of seeing Krishna, Rama and latest Kalki playing ball on your front lawn one morning.

Concentrate on finding those people who best demonstrate these traits.
Help them grow their own Enthusiasm, Happiness, Commitment, Belief and Attitude. You will be much happier with the results. (Or Enlightened).

Your views and comments will add value.

Inspiring Trust

Being the first posting in this blog, I thought of trust and relationship. It is out of “News of the World” shuffled into history, with its last edition.  It took me many places in my memory lane. Our recent consultancy assignments and projects we were able to complete are few among the many.

There were (always) discussions, most of the time debate about our approach. Our chairman Mr. G Senthilkumar, approaches the business as an art. I approach to the business is as a science. We deliberate on measurable. We challenge existing methods and tools.

During this journey, I found that trust is one important, vital need for any development. There are many incidents that actually proved this phenomenon. Trust is one thing that can make or break the human relationship, growth and development. The lack of trust will bring down companies profit. The lack of trust will slow down the growth and lead to death. The lack of trust will crack the marriage and relationship. One latest example is “News of the World”. The 168 years old establishment went into rubbles. However, trust is least discussed, studied, understood element for business success.

The very simple truth that, when trust goes up, speeds will also go up and cost will go down. It is also true that, when trust goes down, speed will also go down and cost will go up.

We learned and we profess that the ability to build trust with customers, bosses, co-workers and subordinates is essential to successful business. The ability to build trust with family members and relationship is essential to personal success.

The unique nature of “family owned” business of our part of the world demand this approach. Every business slows down when they meet lack of trust. The good news is that we can build trust and more important and very good news is that we can re-build the trust. For this we need only two things! Competence and Character.

We at helikx always ask this therefore we grow. Our findings are very simple and effective when practiced. We create trustworthy people. We create trustworthy process. We create trustworthy relationships, strategies, goals and direction.

Credibility is simply defined by answering the questions. First, do I trust myself? Second, am I someone who others can trust? To build credibility four core areas are 1. Integrity, 2. Intent, 3. Capabilities and 4. Results. Out of this Integrity and intent are character cores and capabilities and results are competency cores. This all four cores are necessary for credibility. A person of integrity that does not produce results is not credible. If you are not credible you are not trustworthy!

I wish to quote from “Stephen Covey’s” book, the speed of trust. He explained this in an interesting way quoting the 9/11 incident and how the speed of growth of America went down due to lack of trust and what went in to build the trust.

The first core – Integrity: Most of major violations of trust are violations of integrity. Covey assests that integrity is more than honesty. In addition to honesty, integrity is made up of three other virtues. 1. Congruency, 2. Humility, and 3. Courage.

The second core – Intent: Intent springs from our character. It is part of our value system. It is how we know we should act. Covey breaks intent down to three things. 1. Motive, 2. Agenda, and 3. Behaviour.

The Third Core – Capabilities : Capabilities are “the talents, skills, knowledge, capacities and abilities that we have that enable us to perform with excellence.” To help think about the various dimensions of capabilities, Covey uses the acronym TASKS: Talents, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge and Style.

Talents are the things we naturally do well. These are the things we usually love to do. Your attitude is how you see things. It is how we are inside. Skills are the things you have learned to do well. Covey does point out that it is easy to get so comfortable with our skills that we never fulfill our talents. He suggests that talent is a deeper well than skill. Knowledge is what you know and continue to learn. Style is your unique way of doing things. It involves your personality.

How to increase your capabilities: First, follow your strengths and your passions. Second, remain relevant by continually increasing your knowledge and improving your skills. Third, know where you are going. The people you lead will follow if you know where you are going.

The fourth core – Results: People don’t trust people who don’t deliver results. This is very important in business world and that too in family owned business. Father | Mother don’t trust their own wards, who don’t deliver results as per “their norm”.

Results are deliverable. They are what you contribute to the company. You can’t hide from your results. He (covey) states, “… if the results aren’t there, neither is the credibility, neither is the trust. It’s just that simple; it’s just that harsh.”

There are three areas of results people look at to judge your credibility. First, your past results: what you have proven you can do. Second, your current results: what you are contributing right now. Third, your potential results: what people anticipate you will accomplish in the future.

How to improve your results: First, take responsibility, for results, not activity. Second, expect to achieve your goals. Assume you will successful. This assumption will translate into action. Third, finish strong. “Results are all about finishing. You are probably aware of the old adage; Beginners are many; finishers are few.”

Trust Myths: One myth, for example, is that trust is “soft” – it’s something that’s nice to have, but you really can’t define it, quantify it, measure it. As I hope you can tell by now, the exact opposite is true. Trust is hard. It’s real. It’s quantifiable. It’s measurable. In every instance, it affects both speed and cost, and speed and cost can be measured and quantified. To change the level of trust in a relationship, on a team, or in an organisation is to dramatically impact both time and money – and quality and value as well. Another myth is that trust is slow. While restoring trust may take time, both establishing and extending trust can be done quite fast, and, once established, trust makes the playing field exceptionally quick. The speed with which you communicate and get things done in your own relationships to see the reality that truly, nothing is as fast as the speed of trust.

Myth and reality chart:

Inspiring Trust

Trust is a whole life choice, and until you are actually in a front-line situation, you will not even see the full power of the cores and behaviours on speed, cost and trust. Look immediately for ways to apply them and find opportunities to teach them to others.

Your will see how the speed of trust; the profits of the economics of trust; the relevance of the pervasive impact of trust; and the dividends of trust can significantly enhance the quality of every relationship on every level of your life.

You may still be hesitant or fearful when it comes to actually extending trust, but leaders who extend trust become mentors, models and heroes. Inspiring trust is the prime differentiator between a manager and a leader, and the prime motivator of successful enterprises and relationships.

Companies that choose to extend trust to their employees become great places to work. Most people respond well to trust and do not abuse it. We are born with propensity to trust and choosing to retain or restore that propensity is key to our ability to forgive. We have countless opportunities to extend and inspire trust to others but it also makes a difference in our own lives. 

Trust is reciprocal.