When to tweet or not to tweet

It’s true – Martha Karua was tweeting during the speeches at Uhuru Park. Good on her I say for embracing social media but does anything like social media etiquette exist? There is a prevalent view that rules of courtesy, decorum, and business etiquette do not apply in social media. I attended a - surprise surprise - Social Media panel discussion last week and one of the panelists was head down constantly on his BlackBerry tweeting away. He only stopped when he was the one talking. At one point he even pointed his phone at one of his bemused colleagues who was speaking to get some footage. I’m in the business of how you are seen, heard and behave and as a rule tweeting during meetings or discussions especially with an audience is just plain inappropriate and flagrantly rude. The rule of thumb should be you owe the people or person who is talking the respect to give them your undivided attention. If you want to tweet, do it later or step outside. Facebook, and Twitter, and Linked-In all have their own set of rules and protocols and are developing as time goes on. What other twitter faux pas get your goat?

Taking the super out of supermarket

It’s so convenient for me to shop these days - I literally step out my front door into the grocery aisle at my local supermarket. Brill I tell you - that is until I have to deal with the customer service skills of the staff working there. And let me illustrate my point by giving you a positive shopping experience I had at another shop.

I walked into a smaller shop looking for a particular product and it wasn't long before an assistant was showing me the display with an array of similar products but unfortunately what I was looking for was not there. The shop employee paused for a moment and told me where I could find it. Not in their shop, but at another one about ten minutes away. He told me exactly how to get there, where to park and even where else to go if on the off chance I missed it there. Although disappointed that I couldn't find what I was looking for I left there feeling chuffed that the assistant had gone beyond the call of duty and treated me like a fellow shopper rather than a customer whose only value was in making a purchase.

Right, back to my local – supermarket that is, where I’ve engaged in staring contests with their staff desperately trying to get someone to come forward and help me as I’m clearly struggling trying to find some product. Only then to receive an abrupt ‘hio hakuna’ as they walk away leaving me in abject desperation! I’m a creature of habit, I go for pretty much the same products and meet the same faces manning the same aisles every time. Not once have I been acknowledged as a repeat customer, no greeting warm or otherwise, even a nod of the head, as for a smile you'd have better chance finding rain in a desert. Now I’m sure a lot of this indifferent service boils down to the low wages and long hours. In huge supermarket chains like this, staff are rarely made to feel the importance of their role or offered real incentives to excel and ‘go the extra mile.’ This impacts loyalty as well as customer service in general.

Let me get this of my chest while am at it - but my pet peeve at the checkout line is when receiving change and I have to balance a pile of coins on top of another pile of notes. I wish they’d hand me the notes first and then give me the coins separately (ok, rant over). I think all supermarket chains should make sure their employees know and understand the importance of customer service and a positive attitude when dealing with shoppers. Secondly, training in the art of communication, body language and company image is a must.

What's the level of service at your supermarket?

Remaining authentic when incorporating soft skills

Last Wednesday I gave a talk to the British Council Leadership Forum at the Sarova Stanley. My presentation was entitled "Why your Handshake might be costing you money: The importance of Soft Skills in Business." One of the questions that was raised during my Q&A was about remaining authentic when incorporating some of the soft skills as part of your repertoire in business. I want to elaborate a little on that. This does not mean being a fake. You can be authentic and show who you are and also adapt people skills that will help you. Above all be above board and transparent with your dealings with people. Do let your personality come through – you do not be to be straight jacketed into something you are not. But never forget we make immediate judgements about who we want to talk to on appearance and body language. This is followed by how people sound, not what they are saying. The impression a person, a place or an organisation makes on you is very important; however, try to beware of jumping to snap decisions - especially about people. Some of us are better at evaluating our fellows than others, and although we should take notice of initial reactions they must not prejudice us against exploring further.

Wot does dis txt say abt me

I have a confession to make - I’m firmly old school. I enjoy music from the seventies, movies from the eighties and the WWF before it became WWE. I also try as much as is humanly possible to write in complete sentences whether texting or emailing. It literally takes me five minutes to write an SMS as I'm incapable of using text language. Modern technology has been responsible for many changes in our lives but has it also led to the demise of the properly written word. Short messages like twitter have also done much to malign the written word. I received a text that other day that went like this. Tks 4 d msg I cnt CU 2mrw I hav 2go 2C my bro. Can you decipher that? And this was supposed to be an official response to my setting up a business meeting!

I won’t quibble with someone dashing off a quick text to a friend on a non-business related matter saying R U there instead of are you there – I am not that pedantic. But when communicating for business, what message are you sending by txting lik dis? What does it say about your professionalism and your personal brand in general? Let me get your feedback about using texting language in business communication

Is beauty in the eye of the hiring manager?

I am writing this post with great trepidation - why, because NEWSWEEK Magazine recently surveyed hiring managers and job seekers about the role of beauty in the workplace. The bottom line? It pays to be good-looking. According to the report, paying attention to your looks isn't just about vanity but economic survival.

According to the NEWSWEEK article handsome men earn on average 5 percent more than their less-attractive counterparts (good-looking women earn 4 percent more). NEWSWEEK surveyed 202 corporate hiring managers, from human-resources staff to senior-level vice presidents, as well as 964 members of the public. Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers told NEWSWEEK that qualified but unattractive candidates are likely to have a harder time landing a job, while more than half advised spending as much time and money on “making sure they look attractive” as on perfecting a résumé. Read the full results of the survey here:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/19/poll-how-much-is-beauty-worth-at-work.html

Is there a cultural bias here - is this only in America? In his blog oyungapala.com, Oyunga wrote about "Why good looks count". He says "beauty is a premium and the multi-billion dollar beauty industry is proof. Women will always be judged by their looks first and all else after that. Ouch! At the end of the day when someone looks good their self esteem goes up but is it fair that because you won the "dashing looks" lottery at birth you have the right to make more money than your colleague who fell out of the ugly tree. A positive image can overcome any perceived deficiencies in the looks department. A positive image can transmit confidence, competence, reassurance and responsibility. It is important to realise our strengths and weaknesses, so that we can maximise the positive and minimise the negative.

What the.......

If you have sat through or given a PowerPoint presentation you may relate to this



Even the sharpest military minds in American were left baffled by this PowerPoint slide, a mind-boggling attempt to explain the situation in Afghanistan.

See full story here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/apr/27/afghanistan-microsoft

'When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war,' General Stanley McChrystal, the former US and NATO force commander, remarked wryly when confronted by the sprawling spaghetti diagram in a briefing. PowerPoint has become public enemy number one for many US officers who find themselves battling slide presentations rather than insurgents. Some have gone as far as to declare all-out war on the software after the military command was over-run with mind-numbing 30-slide presentations.

There is really only one secret to good slides and that is simplicity. Each slide should be used to make one point only. Slides which contain too much information, or illustration, look cluttered and are difficult to follow. Too many words make the text small and difficult to read. As a general guideline it is best to have only six lines of text per slide and six words per line. Graphs and diagrams should be similarly uncluttered. If you feel that it is really important for your audience to have information in the form of complicated tables or diagrams, it is better to give them a hard copy. Above all remember this – PowerPoint is there to help the audience comprehend the message, and it should not be used as a prompt for the speaker.