To provide excellent customer service, your organization must meet and exceed the expressed and unexpressed needs of your customers or patients. Meeting the expressed needs of customers or patients seems rather straightforward. For example, a hotel guest might ask for an extra pillow or a wake-up call. It isn’t difficult to fulfill requests like those, but sometimes—like the example below—your customer or patient may have needs that are more complex. Meeting Expressed Needs The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami recently had a guest with severe food allergies. The mom sent the following letter to the property after their visit. "Our older son, 18, has severe food allergies. Prior to our visit, we exchanged emails and spoke with the Executive Chef. The Executive Chef asked questions about my son’s food preferences as well as special brands of foods that are safe for him. The chef team outdid themselves and made our trip the best vacation ever!! "Upon our arrival, the chef team was ready for us and already had plans for my son’s breakfast and other meals. They made pancakes for him (which is a huge treat for him since making pancakes without eggs or milk is no easy feat). During our stay, my son was able to order a variety of creative and healthy meals, including a ‘real’ pizza (sans cheese) for the first time in his life! Our whole family enjoyed the club’s and restaurant’s food, and we were able to relax, knowing that our son’s food was safely prepared." Meeting Unexpressed Needs Meeting the unexpressed needs of customers or patients takes a little detective work. Your employees must be on the lookout for clues about customers’ preferences. In the following guest story, the In-Room Dining Attendant didn’t simply pick up the dirty dishes. He paid attention to details and discovered a way to make the guest’s experience more enjoyable. He had his radar on and antenna up. A guest at The Ritz-Carlton, Doha was celebrating his birthday on the second night of his stay at the hotel. The Guest Relations team decided to arrange a beautiful cake and card to be sent up to his room. Later that evening, the In-Room Dining Attendant went to deliver orange juice the guest had requested. Noticing that the guest had only eaten the blueberries off the top of the cake, the In-Room Dining Attendant asked the guest if there had been any problem with the surprise. While the guest was appreciative of the gesture, he explained to the In-Room Dining Attendant that he was very health conscious and careful about what he eats. The In-Room Dining Attendant immediately returned to the kitchen and asked the Chef to prepare a sliced fruit platter featuring berries and seasonal fruits, as well as a jar of freshly squeezed orange juice. The In-Room Dining Attendant and several other Ladies and Gentlemen delivered the beautiful platter to the guest’s room, along with a card signed by the entire In-Room Dining team. The guest was very pleased by the surprise and thanked them graciously. However, the In-Room Dining Attendant was not finished with his exceptional service to this guest. He requested the Pastry Chef bake bran muffins to include in the guest’s breakfast each morning, and informed the team of the guest’s preference for health-conscious foods. This ensured that each time the guest would order food, the team knew to offer healthy alternatives such as green salad rather than the dish’s usual side of french fries. When the guest departed, he thanked each of the Ladies and Gentlemen he had interacted with during his stay. Making Service Memorable Service excellence happens when your employees are encouraged and willing to make extra efforts for your customers and patients. Meeting the needs of your customers and patients is a good first step. However, exceeding the expectations of your customers and patients results in personal, memorable service that builds brand loyalty. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post Guest Story: Expressed and Unexpressed Needs appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Around this time of year New Year’s resolutions can start to languish - if they haven’t already fizzled out completely. To remedy this sorry state of affairs we launched a competition to help our followers in the UK get back on track. Judging by the volume of entries, a lot of you needed a boost! I’m delighted to announce our winner, Peter Carter, who hails from Wirral! Peter takes home a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 kitted out with a free annual GoToMeeting subscription - a handy toolkit for boosting productivity and re-energising your day, so you can focus on what really matters.  Thanks to all who entered. Look out for future competitions, as well as my regular posts with tips and tricks for increasing productivity. Because life’s too short to be stressed at work.     Photo Credit: familymwr via Compfight cc

"Setting customer expectations at a level that is aligned with consistently deliverable levels of customer service requires that your whole staff, from product development to marketing, works in harmony with your brand image." - Richard Branson, English businessman The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: Superior customer or patient experiences can only be fulfilled when your entire organization is committed to service excellence. Without the buy-in of every employee, your service risks being inconsistent and could potentially disappoint your customers or patients. Leaders can foster an environment of service excellence by: Ensuring employees understand that customers are the highest priority Providing written service guidelines so employees know what is expected of them Offering training and modeling to employees to improve service skills Empowering employees to fulfill the expressed and unexpressed needs of customers and patients Asking for feedback from customers and patients to determine if service is meeting expectations Leaders at The Ritz-Carlton spend many hours focusing on discussions around our guest experience and how we all as a team can improve to consistently align performance (and culture, too) with the reputation of our brand.  How does your organization work together to focus on customer needs? ∞ The Blog Post Inspired Thinking: Customer Expectations appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

The web has transformed how and where we work. But can it also hinder productivity? I’m sure you’re familiar with this scenario: Coffee at the ready, you fire up your computer one morning, poised to plunge into the emails that have piled up overnight. But wait! Something is wrong with your Internet connection. As the expected emails fail to materialize, you feel a sudden twinge of panic. What if someone’s waiting for you to reply? You can’t even access Twitter or LinkedIn. Your favorite news sites? Forget about it. You stare blankly at your screen. Your whole morning is ruined! At this point, you’ve got two options. You can accept that getting any meaningful work done is out of the question. Or, to paraphrase Great-Aunt Mildred, you can take a good hard look at yourself. Do you really need the web to do work? Come to think of it, could you be relying a little too much on the Internet?  Writer Joshua Fields Millburn certainly thinks so. He disconnected after his writing and health suffered due to a raging Internet habit. "The Internet is not evil, just like candy is not evil. But if your entire diet consists of candy, you get sick and fat fairly quickly," Joshua explains. "Thus, I don’t keep bags of candy at home, just like I don’t keep the Internet at home anymore either." Millburn is not the only writer to cut off the Internet. Jonathan Franzen, famous for dissing Twitter, glued his Ethernet port closed to keep the web at bay. And Zadie Smith rationed Internet access with software in the process of writing her novel NW. Of course, we are not all writing a novel, and some aspects of our jobs do require the Internet. But equally, it is healthy to question always-on connectivity and the work habits it cultivates. For example, answering emails as soon as they arrive can feel and even look like work, but it may not actually help you get close to achieving your tasks. Here’s my challenge to you. Try rationing your web activity for a week. Break up your tasks into those that require access (taking part in a video conference or replying to emails) and those that don’t (drafting a proposal or blog post).  Now structure your day according to these tasks. For example, set aside half an hour or 45 minutes to triage your email inbox. Do this two or even three times a day. The rest of the time? Sign out. Be strict with yourself. You could even try the tools Zadie Smith so gratefully thanks (Freedom and SelfControl). At the end of the week, honestly appraise how you’ve done. Have you been more - or less - productive?   Photo Credit: origami_potato via Compfight cc

Although our Citrix brand is global, we remember our roots and always strive to retain that small company feel. Because over 20 years later, we recognize that our growth is thanks to the many individual partners and customers who continue to count on our solutions to help them work better and live better. Since much of our success depends on these small but smart companies, we’ve teamed up with Silver Lining Limited to celebrate small businesses and their importance to us - and to the economy as a whole. Without small businesses, which employ over half the U.S. workforce, we wouldn’t be on the road to recovery today. Officially launched on Monday, January 28, the Thank You Small Business campaign is currently in the midst of a 10-city tour to spread the word about how we all win when small business wins. We’ve invited thousands of business owners to take part, and we’re offering free stuff, resources and events to help them grow and succeed.   I recently had the privilege to speak with Carissa Reiniger, founder of Silver Lining Limited, about the campaign. In one tweet or less, what’s Thank You Small Business? A movement to create conversation about how important small business is to the economy. How do you define a small business? An owner-operated, non-venture-backed, true blue business with under 20 employees. One of the reasons this conversation is so important is that organizations identify and categorize small business inconsistently. One org once categorized it as anyone with under 500 employees. That is insane, that is not a small business - that’s a big business. So these under-20-employee companies are having an impossible time getting access to capital and getting anyone to listen to them because they are seemingly insignificant. We’re throwing the term around a lot, but we need to get people on the same page and then figure out how we can help them grow. What led you to start this campaign? As I’ve grown my business and seen others do the same, I’m continually astounded by these very large macro-economic realities around small business and how disorganized the small business space is. So I wanted to write this book called Thank You Small Business that really looks at what’s happening, at the fact that small business is truly the solution. We have to change the economy one small business at a time. In the process of writing the book, I decided to bring a whole bunch of people together in this campaign to really increase the conversation, because we are better together than apart. We need a lot of the right people working together to solve this problem so we can see small business succeed. How do you think that problem is best solved? Do we change the top-down definition first or start with small businesses themselves? The latter. I’m a really big believer that small business owners are the most amazing people in the world. You are going to struggle to find another body of people who are more creative, perseverant, interested and invested in doing good with great intentions. The problem is that each owner is insignificant by themselves. They’re one voting voice. They employ fewer than 20 people. They pay fewer tax dollars. If each owner tries to figure this out on their own, they’re not going to make it. The way we solve this problem is to connect all these owners and everyone having this conversation so that we become more efficient. One by one, nothing’s going to happen, but if we get everyone together, we can make anything happen. So how has the campaign been so far? It’s been good! We had an amazing launch event in New York with almost 300 people registered, and we’ve got some great news coverage. But I think the most exciting thing so far is that the business owners have become engaged in it, whether they are on the host committee or attending an event. They are really becoming the voice for the movement. Real small businesses are actually stepping up, telling friends, mailing cards and getting involved. This movement is really about activating small businesses so we can help each other. And that’s actually happening, and that’s the number one thing we can ask for. What typically happens at the events? At the core of these events is the small business growth challenge. I put together a checklist with 25 questions divided into 5 sections, and each owner rates themselves on a scale of 1-10 per question. As we go through, I get them to think about their clarity of direction, their team, their customer acquisition strategy, their operations and their access to capital. At the end of the process, they give themselves a score and identify where in their business they can most improve. Inside the online resource center on Podio, I’ve taken each of those 25 questions and created a set of suggestions and documents for how the owners can get better. We give them a real gut check on their business with these very tangible steps about what they can do to increase the success of their business. You mentioned that you’re using a Podio workspace to host resources. How else are you using Citrix products to support the campaign? So we’ve got the Resource Center on Podio, and our goal is to get these resources into thousands of businesses’ hands. We are also doing 20 webinars through GoToWebinar, which are free to anyone in the world. We already have hundreds of people registered. And in the resource center, we’ve got special deals on Podio, ShareFile, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar that anyone can sign up for. How long will these resources be available? Although the campaign comes to an end with the release of my book on May 16, the resource center will be up forever. And all the webinar recordings will go into the center. Any final words of action? Understand that your true responsibility as a small business owner is to grow your business. The economy needs small business to be successful, but every single business owner thinks their contribution is insignificant - it is not. You should have a huge sense of pride for how hard you have worked for our economy. And Thank You Small Business is all about recognizing this contribution. We can’t grow your business for you, but we’re here to give as much support as we possibly can.

Dear Ritz-Carlton: Do you create WOW experiences for your employees like you do for guests? How do you set this up? The above question is from an attendee at "Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence" in April. Answer from Jeff Hargett, Senior Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: Absolutely! Just as we engage with our guests, we engage with our colleagues to learn about the things they like and are important to them. From their first day of employment where we learn about their favorite snack and surprise them with it when they return from lunch, to the outpouring of clothes and groceries and even furniture for a colleague whose home burned down. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to surprise and delight! We do this for our colleagues because the way I look at it, behind the scenes is our laboratory, the place where we perfect our craft. Oftentimes in the troubled world we live in, a WOW can come from a genuine smile and a heartfelt, "How can I help?" delivered to a distressed customer or colleague. Never underestimate the power in WOW! If you create the work environment where co-workers go above and beyond for each other, imagine what they will do for your customers! ∞ Join us for a one-day symposium, "Your Journey to Service Excellence." The day includes a keynote speaker, a Q&A session with The Ritz-Carlton executive panel, an optional networking reception and presentations about legendary service, employee engagement and a customer-centric culture. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: WOW Experiences for your Employees? appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Headed to South by Southwest? The annual conference is almost here and (as announced on the Podio blog earlier today) Podio is excited to announce a fun contest to help you get around Austin during March. To enter*, just take a picture of any of the 81 Podio Pedicabs and tweet it with the hashtag #PodioSXSW. The competition runs all month, from March 1st through March 31st. We’ll be selecting 4 random entries to win a Podio "Anyness Package", including: An iPad 3 Beats by Dre earphones with microphone A $250 Best Buy gift card Enter as many times as you’d like. Each unique tweet (with the #podioSXSW hashtag and a picture of a pedicab) counts as one entry. *This competition is for US residents only. For full details, read the competition terms and conditions. Photo credit: @PedicabGuy

Organizational cultures that foster teamwork impact productivity and employee engagement. At The Ritz-Carlton, excellent teamwork enables our employees—also known as Ladies and Gentlemen—to provide consistent and excellent service each day. Our Service Values reinforce this dedication to collaboration and encourage our Ladies and Gentlemen to: "create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met." Because we are Ladies and Gentlemen, we naturally treat each other with kindness and respect. The following DO’s and DON’Ts share practical ways that employees can contribute to an atmosphere of teamwork by expressing kindness and respect. DO provide feedback in appropriate settings Everyone makes mistakes. If a colleague makes a one-time mistake, then talk to the individual privately rather than discussing it at a meeting or sending a group email. It is kinder to "praise in public and coach in private." DO create structure for your meetings Providing a list of items to cover helps the group stay on topic and focused. Each agenda item should have a clear owner who can lead the conversation, and subsequent action steps should also have clear owners. It is respectful of your colleagues’ workload to structure meetings that promote responsibility, accountability and greater efficiency. DO respect your colleagues’ time Employees should arrive at meetings and join conference calls on time, and they should be prepared. They shouldn’t be scrambling to organize their thoughts and agenda items as the appointment commences. Conversely, meetings should end on time. Most people in the workforce know what it feels like to have days of back-to-back items on their schedules. Do not place additional stress on your colleagues’ day by making them late for their next engagement. DON’T interrupt your colleagues Respect your colleagues’ ideas and actively listen. Do not simply wait for them to stop talking, but make an effort to digest their point-of-view. This is particularly tough to accomplish when conversing over the phone because of the lack of visual cues. Be patient and listen carefully to ensure the greatest amount of success. DO follow through on your commitments Ensuring follow-through starts with setting reasonable goals and expectations. Allot the appropriate amount of time to ensure tasks can be done well and on time. If more time is needed, communicate the issue and ask for an extension as far in advance of the deadline as possible. Perhaps your team will provide additional support or resources in order to accomplish the task or goal. DON’T make your colleagues feel micro-managed Do not overload employees with email or hover over them as they work. As a leader, it is important to keep your team informed and be available to them, but it is equally important to act in a way that lets your colleagues know that they are trusted and respected. DO communicate effectively Create norms that generate a comfortable, open environment for communication, and act with consideration for teammates. For example, when stepping out for an off-site meeting, let co-workers know. Consider having a daily meeting to keep team members informed. At The Ritz-Carlton, we conduct Daily Line-Ups briefly at the beginning of each shift to communicate company values and announcements relevant to our operations. DO give colleagues the benefit of the doubt If a colleague seems to have made a mistake, treat the colleague as innocent and gather all the facts. Diana Oreck, Vice President of The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, states, "Let’s not automatically start with criticism and blame. Kindness should always be one’s starting point." Even if it turns out that a mistake was made, continue to support the team member and remember to "praise in public and coach in private." DO remember the benefits of teamwork Organizations structure themselves in teams for a reason — "teamwork makes the dream work." When team members act kindly toward each other, they create a safe, friendly and positive environment that leads to greater harmony. When colleagues show appreciation and consideration for each other, they create a respectful atmosphere where everyone can feel valued. When the team embraces these two critical components—kindness and respect, there is greater unity, reliability and fidelity. And consequently, a better chance your organization will achieve its goals. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. Join us at our Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation.  The Blog Post DO’s and DON’Ts for Excellent Teamwork appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

SXSW Interactive begins tomorrow, and everyone knows what that means: panels, parties and pedicabs. The GoToMeeting and Podio teams will definitely be attending the annual "spring break for geeks." And not only that - we’ll be sponsoring and participating in some fun events, too. Here’s what we’re up to in Austin. Tweet to Win Contest (All of March) Pedicabs are one of the best ways to get around Austin, and this year, all 81 of them are sponsored by Podio and wrapped in a cool spaceship theme. As part of the fun, we’re giving away "Anyness Packages" to the three winners of our Tweet to Win contest. To enter, simply tweet a photo of a Podio pedicab with the hashtag #PodioSXSW. All 3 winners will get a bundle that contains each of the following: iPad 3 tablet Beats by Dr. Dre headphones $250 Best Buy gift card For more details, read the official competition terms and conditions. Press Lounge (All of SXSW) Once again, GoToMeeting will be sponsoring the SXSW Press Lounge. If you have press credentials, stop by, say hi and pick up a fun box with 3D glasses and more. Happy Hour in 3D (Friday, March 8th) On Friday, from 5:00-8:00 PM at The Ranch, meet up with fellow SXSW-goers and enjoy a happy hour hosted by GoToMeeting. There’ll be good food, cold drinks and tunes courtesy of Austin’s own DJ Mel. This is an official SXSW party, so if you have a badge, come on over. If you don’t have one, there are still a few (free!) Happy Hour tickets left. Panel: Your Desk Job Makes You Fat, Sick and Dead (Saturday, March 9th) The productivity of the average worker has skyrocketed thanks to technology, but it comes at the price of a sedentary lifestyle. Mounting research suggests that sitting at your desk for eight hours a day can have a dramatic impact on your health. Given that modern technology can support mobile workstyles and a remote workforce, why are any of us still caught in the quagmire of the daily commute to our deadly desks? Will we ever see the day where big business decides to "kill" the office instead of its workers? The answer is yes! And it’s already happening. Join this session on Saturday from 3:30-4:30 PM at the Courtyard Marriott in the Rio Grande Ballroom and hear from thought leaders: Cali Yost - CEO & Founder, Work+Life Fit Inc. Jon Froda - Director of Podio Brand Strategy, Citrix Kate Lister - President, Global Workplace Analytics Richard Leyland - CEO & Founder, WorkSnug Have a question now or want to share your thoughts during the session? Use the #workshift hashtag on Twitter. SXSW Ball Tournament (Sunday, March 10th) Last year in the inaugural SXSW Ball tournament (run by the great folks over at AppStack), the GoToMeeting basketball team won 3 games but came up short, losing in the semi-finals. This year, we’re back - and we’ve been practicing. The tournament takes place Sunday at 9:30 AM in the Austin Sports Center. We hope to avenge our loss last year and bring home the trophy, but mostly we just want to have fun and meet some fellow hoopsters. Out and About (All of SXSW) The GoToMeeting and Podio teams will be all around the Convention Center, SXSW event spaces and parties. We’ll be recording short video interviews about workshifting and taking pictures with our SXSW GoToMeeting photo frame. If you see us around, feel free to come up and say hi. We’d love to meet you in person! See you in Austin!

"If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own." - Henry Ford, Founder of the Ford Motor Company The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: On any team, in any organization, being able to see possibilities from many angles will set you apart.  Team members who can emotionally remove themselves from a process and view the situation as a customer, a guest or a patient have an instant advantage. Being able to look through the client lens is also valuable when reviewing the feedback generated about the experience you’re providing. The Ritz-Carlton encourages our Ladies and Gentlemen to take time and view the operation from the guest’s point of view by offering employee discounts at properties around the world. When we are able to be the guest and experience how we live our Gold Standards, we can learn how to serve our guests even better. How do your employees walk in the customers’ shoes? ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. Join us at our Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation.  The Blog Post Inspired Thinking: Point of View appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Want your words to strike a chord? Learn from these inspiring examples. The philosopher Aristotle defined rhetoric as the art of persuasive speaking or writing. It’s no coincidence that many successful leaders and influencers have mastered this art. Next time you’re crafting an important piece of text, such as an email, speech, client proposal or even a tweet, consider using the techniques below to make your message really resonate.   Inclusive language One of the most effective ways to persuade people is simply to include them. The use of pronouns such as "we," "our" and "us" helps build a feeling of shared experience. President Lincoln used this tactic in his immensely powerful Gettysburg Address, one of the most well-known speeches of all time. Repetition This familiar rhetorical device, as wielded by inspirational speakers such as Winston Churchill ("We shall fight on the beaches") and Martin Luther King ("I have a dream"), creates dramatic tension and then climactic release. What strikes me about these speeches is the power they retain. Both are decades old, yet they still sound as urgent and necessary as the day they were written.  Humor A pithy one-liner or joke is sometimes what stays longest with listeners. Bear in mind your audience and tailor your humor accordingly. While not in the same league as the examples above, the 2007 keynote address by Steve Jobs at Macworld cleverly combined suspense and humor, playfully drawing the audience into a ruse about three new devices - "a widescreen iPod," "a revolutionary mobile phone" and "a breakthrough Internet communications device" - which turned out to be just one: a certain newfangled smartphone.   Vision The best writers and speakers constantly challenge our preconceptions, inviting us to dream of something bigger and better, as President Kennedy did in his "We choose to go to the moon" speech. In your professional life, what is your vision - and how can you bring your audience with you?   Revision Lastly, never forget the power of revising. It’s rare for a piece of writing to be executed perfectly on the first attempt. Get your initial ideas down in rough form and then hone them. Build revision into your processes, and the quality of your output will dramatically improve.      Photo Credit: shio via Compfight cc

We’re proud to announce that GoToMyPC remains the market leader in remote access. According to IDC’s Worldwide Remote Access Services and Applications 2013-2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Share (doc #239865, March 2013) report that was released this week, "Citrix GoToMyPC retains its market-leading position for another year, with 72.9% of the total remote access services and applications market share."  GoToMyPC has been a leader in the SaaS industry since 2001, and it’s been tremendously successful because we’re passionate about delivering a service that our customers love. It’s simple, reliable and secure. And it just works - it does exactly what it promises to do (and hopefully a bit more.) How do we do it? What’s the secret sauce? We listen, a lot. In fact, we’re fanatical about listening to our customers. Everyone in the business is focused on customer conversion and retention. The first two emails read every morning, by everyone on our team, are customer feedback and our daily dashboard. It’s a great way to keep a pulse on how we are doing. But we go deeper than these daily checks. We have an entire team dedicated to customer insights, and our product design team is constantly talking to customers and target prospects to get feedback on new features and designs. Our consistent research ensures our teams are always focused on the customer; it also allows us to start a dialogue with those customers who are at risk, and to identify our advocates and give them a voice. Here are 10 ways that we listen to our customers: Sales & Support interactions - These people are talking to customers and prospects all day long. They are a gold mine of information. But how do you gather it? We use Salesforce to help aggregate information from calls. We track why we won or lost business and if certain trends start to develop, we can react quickly. We also use Podio to share customers’ stories and ideas. Social media - Your customers are talking about you on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Make sure you’re monitoring the conversation and that your social media team knows who to go to in your organizations to escalate potential issues, customer ideas, or general sediment. We hold quarterly reviews which look at not only how we’re performing, but also customer sentiment.  Online Customer support communities are also a great way to gather customer input. We use GetSatisfaction and it’s a great product for facilitating customer support, feedback and ideas. Annual Customer Survey - This is a good opportunity to slice and dice the different customer segments you may have, see how they are changing year over year and get critical feedback. With the annual survey you may have a standard set of questions, looking at demographics and attitudes, but there is usually some room for discovery as well. Just make sure you keep it to a reasonable length; no one wants survey fatigue. There are great online survey companies out there and this is something you can do for very little money that has great value. Inquiry Surveys - Throughout the year, you’ll need to dive in deeper to a particular idea. Don’t wait for the annual survey; but do keep it short and to the point. You can also segment a particular group of your customers for analysis. Perhaps you only want to find out something from the customers who use mobile apps, or those that came in through a certain trial flow. With short inquiry surveys you can do this. Net Promoter Score (NPS) - Do this monthly and you’ll have the pulse of your customer base. Your NPS can be an indicator of future retention rates. And it’s as simple as asking one question, "How likely is it that you would recommend [your company, product or service] to a friend or colleague?" Customers respond on a scale of 0-10, and you calculate it by taking the percentage of customers who are Promoters (9-10’s) and subtracting the percentage who are Detractors (0-6’s). We are extremely proud of GoToMyPC’s high NPS, consistently scoring near the top for our industry (Computer Software).  Feedback requests at the end of a session - Give your customers an easy way to send you quick feedback right when they finish their session (warning: do not be obtrusive about this). It’s top of mind, very recent and with a quick 1-5 point rating and open text field, you can get immediate feedback on the product experience. Exit Surveys - Are you curious why people left your service? Ask them, and ask them right away - when they cancel service. Keep this survey very short and to the point. Was it the price, a feature, a technical issue, competition, or do they just not need it anymore? Retention is the lifeblood of a successful SaaS company and you need to know why people leave. This data will give you insights into what you need to test and fix. Customer visits / phone calls / meetings - Nothing replaces actually talking to a customer. We marketers live in a bubble of like-mindedness. We read analyst and industry reports, the latest news on competition. Day in and day out we live, breathe, eat this stuff. Guess what? Your customers don’t. Get out and talk to them in the real world. It’s important you discover your customers’ pain points, why they love your product, how they use it and what they see as the benefits. Usability studies - Did your team build a beautiful interface for your website or product? That’s great. But how do your customers and prospects react to it? Do they follow the expected behavior? Do they understand what the product can do? Test prototypes and take the time to watch people use your product. It’s amazing what you’ll learn. A day in the life - That’s right, spend an entire day with a customer, or a prospect. Understand what they really do and how they do it. What are their challenges? Can’t spend the whole day? Then spend a few hours and you will gain valuable insights as well. Another option is to conduct in-depth interviews (IDIs) to really probe into how your customers feel about certain topics and to understand the language they use. If you’re on a tight budget, or your customers are geographically spread out, use technology to conduct interviews. We use GoToMeeting with HDFaces for our virtual customer advisory boards. No one of these is a "silver bullet" and this is by no means an exhaustive list of how you might collect customer feedback.  What are your best practices when it comes to customer feedback? How do you assimilate it into your company and the service you’re delivering?   Photo Credit: JosephGilbert.org via Compfight cc

Dear Ritz-Carlton: What do you do differently to create a good work environment for employees? The above question is from an attendee at "Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence" in April. Answer from Joseph Quitoni, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: At The Ritz-Carlton, we have created what we call our "Gold Standards," which are the foundation of our organization.  They establish our culture and govern our actions in delivering service excellence to our guests and each other every day.  We refer to each other as Ladies and Gentlemen, and one of our Gold Standards, our Employee Promise, focuses exclusively on our employees. This promise provides us with parameters and consistent direction when creating a work environment. It is a continuous reminder that our company is making the same commitment to our employees as it does to our guests. The Ritz-Carlton work environment is comprised of a few major components: involving our employees in the planning of the work that affects them; striving for continuous improvement; and being aware of the physical safety of the employees as well as their mental and emotional well-being. In addition to our Employee Promise, we also have key processes, known as the "Systems Behind the Smiles," which allow us as a brand to maintain a workplace of engaged Ladies and Gentlemen. One of those key processes includes our Daily Line-Up. This is our number one form of communication with our employees around the world.  It is the glue that connects us daily and keeps our culture alive. This, along with other key processes are standard, non-negotiable and allow us to maximize talents and create a healthy work environment of continual learning, innovation and engagement. ∞ Join us for a one-day symposium, "Your Journey to Service Excellence." The day includes a keynote speaker, a Q&A session with The Ritz-Carlton executive panel, an optional networking reception and presentations about legendary service, employee engagement and a customer-centric culture. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: How do you create a good work environment? appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

HDFaces was a game changer for Citrix when we launched the high-definition video conferencing feature with GoToMeeting in August 2011. The crystal-clear, multi-point webcam experience allowed audiences to engage each other like never before and conduct meetings with a "like being there" face-to-face experience. The launch of HDFaces for GoToWebinar and GoToTraining gives our webinar and training professionals the opportunity to visually connect with their audiences in their sessions. Now webinar organizers can bolster their message with their own personalities, while virtual trainers can enhance the classroom experience with visual demonstrations and face-to-face interaction. I’m proud to see our customer’s preliminary excitement. For instance, Lee Rosen, a law attorney at Rosen Law Firm in Raleigh, NC said: "HDFaces in a webinar? It’s a game changer. We use our webinars to help our prospective clients get to know us and trust us. What could be more powerful than adding a face? Even with my ugly mug I’m certain that we’ll see a powerful increase in conversions when we add our faces to our voices and PowerPoint. We can’t wait." Learn more about HDFaces for GoToWebinar and GoToTraining: GoToWebinar with HDFaces GoToTraining with HDFaces Note: A maximum of 100 participants will be able to view webcams during a live session. For GoToWebinar, HD video conferencing is currently available in sessions using the GoToWebinar 100 attendee plan with an upcoming beta for the GoToWebinar 500 and 1,000 attendee plans.

When you search the Web for "executive education programs," you’ll receive around 15 million results, and when you search the Web for "executive education programs online," you’ll receive over 25 million results. When potential students have so many options, what can academic institutions do to stand out from the crowd? Dr. Brenda Harms, a higher education consultant, notes, "The goals of students in executive education programs are different from the typical college undergrad and even from the graduate students. They are not there to make friends and happy memories. They are busy professionals who are specifically trying to increase their value in the workplace." Because these students are spending less face-to-face time with other students and less time at your institution (especially if your program is online), they may feel less bonded to your school. If your educational program wants to create word-of-mouth or solicit donations in the future, you need all of your students to feel connected to your institution. Offering excellent customer service is one way to not only differentiate your executive education program, but also to increase loyalty to your institution. Every interaction your organization has with students is an opportunity to engage and build a relationship. Dr. Harms and The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center suggest the following ways executive education programs can offer a better customer experience. 1) Reduce Red Tape Your customers are working professionals who are trying to add your program to an already full life. You should make applying, enrolling and learning about financial aid as hassle-free as possible. Do not make your potential students call one department, then another department and then another department to get questions answered. Frustrations build when people are handed off over and over again. Ideally, your institution should offer one point of contact—like an academic concierge—who can guide your busy applicant and find answers to all questions. One of the Service Values at The Ritz-Carlton is "I own and immediately resolve guest problems." When you instill accountability and problem resolution into your administrative process, you reduce the number of hurdles your customers have to overcome to work with your organization. 2) Make Your Program Convenient You want to give your students options. Some students may want an asynchronous online learning environment, but other students may not be able to commit to a specific time. When you’re able to provide options, you have a better chance of meeting the needs of your students. Another Service Value at The Ritz-Carlton specifies that we are "always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests." Note that the word above is "responsive." There are some wishes and needs that you may be unable to fulfill. However, if your institution is at least approachable and willing to listen to and recognize the needs of your prospective students, you will create a more personal and caring environment. 3) Provide the Services of a Career Coach Your students may not understand the complete value of your educational offering, and a career coach could help with individual development and share how others have utilized the degree. A career coach will help guide your students to greater success, and this will reinforce the value of your program. When an employee starts at The Ritz-Carlton, they are not only assigned a mentor, but they are also asked to create an annual personal development plan with their manager. The goal of your program should not be to just recruit students and collect tuition payments. Your executive education program should be focused on helping students improve their careers. 4) Leverage Your Alumni Network If your institution boasts notable alumni, consider integrating them into your offerings. Perhaps alumni can guest lecture, or you could offer a special event with an alumni panel. Giving students the chance to connect with your alumni will increase their appreciation of your program and will bond them further to your institution. 5) Ensure Professors are Accessible If your institution has prestigious faculty, make sure they’re available to students. If your marketing implies that students will be rubbing elbows with the greatest academic minds on the planet, then your students will be expecting to have contact with these professors. If they are not available, then you miss an opportunity for students to build a greater connection with your organization and risk eroding the student’s trust in your institution. At The Ritz-Carlton, leaders on property leave their desks, walk around and check in with employees, also known as Ladies and Gentlemen. Leaders understand the need to interact in order to build relationships. 6) Offer Perks After Graduation Once your students complete the program, you want to keep them connected to your institution, remind them of your value and create memories. You may give them a discount to networking events or offer them exclusive events that are only available to alumni of your program. You can also maintain connections through social media. At The Ritz-Carlton, we don’t look at any of our guests as a one-time transaction. Every guest is an opportunity to cultivate a relationship and create a guest for life. Students who enroll in executive education programs are making a substantial investment of time (classes and homework) and money (tuition and other expenses). When they receive excellent customer service, they will feel more cared for and connected to your institution. Improving your executive education customer experience will differentiate you from the competition, increase student loyalty and consequently, create positive word-of-mouth for your organization. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. Join us at our Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation.  The Blog Post Executive Education Customer Experience appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Work life has gradually morphed into everyday life, without us even realizing it. The concept of a 9-5 schedule has been phased out over the past few years, and with the ever-increasing demands from bosses and clients, we often forget to add a bit of fun into our lives.  A recent study from Michigan State University suggests that employers take more notice of a worker’s need for a "life outside the workplace." This is especially true for those of us who don’t have families or partners to support them.  In a similar vein, Accenture conducted a worldwide survey on the definition of success. It found that 52 percent of the 4,100 respondents had declined a job offer due to concerns about how it might affect their work-life balance. The results also showed that 70 percent confessed to having mixed feelings about the lifestyle impact of technology, because it can bring work into their personal life. In light of this, here are my top 5 tips on how to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Schedule work and life. Schedule in activities for after work, just like you do while at work, to encourage yourself to make more plans and better manage your time. Remember: no double-booking!   Boost your brainpower throughout the day. Our nifty video on increasing productivity through nutrition shows how you can sustain yourself for the whole working day and then still have some energy left over for activities in the evening.     Learn something you’ve always wanted to do. Ever wanted to speak Spanish or play the guitar? Book some lessons or classes to help yourself get motivated and excited.   Turn off all technology. To combat anxiety about work creeping into your life, simply turn off your phone at night if you can. This will give you a clear head to better enjoy time to yourself.    Make to-do lists. By writing down all your actions for the next day, you will be able to relax more, enjoy your evening, have a good night’s sleep and be ready for the tasks ahead.   What do you do to keep the balance? Let us know at @GoToMeetingUK.   Photo Credit: carterse via Compfight cc

"The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%." - Andrew Carnegie, Founder of the Carnegie Steel Company  The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: Creating lasting relationships requires one to be genuine, present and to have his/her "radar-on, antenna up" 100% of the time. Just like in everyday life, business relies on the strength of relationships. Each guest interaction must build upon the relationship—whether it is a warm welcome to a long-time customer, recovery from a guest incident, a small gesture to surprise and delight your customer or a fond farewell to a new customer whom you hope to see again very soon. When you invest 100% of your energy and ability in providing a first-class customer experience, nothing will stand in your way to accomplish what you wish to provide each guest, each day. At The Ritz-Carlton, we believe in being "on stage" when we interact with our guests. This means 100% focus on their experience and creating a memory that stays with them long after they leave. Does your team give 100 percent? ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. Join us at our Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation.  The Blog Post Inspired Thinking: Give 100 Percent appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Many of us don’t look forward to meetings, but we seem to pack our schedules with them, often spending more time traveling to and from our weekly meetings than we spend in the meetings themselves. But why does business culture remain so obsessed with the need to meet face to face? I imagine many people will say it’s because of the visual clues you can only get by seeing someone in person. But with the wide availability of video conferencing, is that really the main reason?  Imagine what we could do with the time we saved by skipping the commute. If you’re like me, you’ll often spend 4-5 hours a week traveling to meetings or waiting for one to start because someone else is running late. That’s 5 hours a week we could be using to finish projects, pursue new business leads or work on hobbies. That being said, there are times when a face-to-face meeting is the best approach. If I’m meeting a potential colleague or client for the first time, I would always rather meet in person. But for colleagues I work with regularly, they gain little or no value from my physical presence. The other argument I hear raised in favor of meeting in person is that people get too distracted in virtual meetings, preventing everyone from fully focusing on the topic at hand. But I think this has less to do with the format and more to do with good meeting practice. A clear agenda and a commitment to agreeing on action points will help keep people’s attention.   So here’s my challenge to you. Take 5 minutes today to review your calendar for the next week and decide whether each of your face-to-face meetings really needs you to attend in person. If not, why not join the meeting remotely and suggest your fellow participants do the same? Photo Credit: Village9991 via Compfight cc

Today, we have a guest post from Marco Mo. When Marco isn’t pushing his team to sell more at Citrix, you can find him busy on his highly irreverent blog, www.marcomo.com. The workforce today is more dispersed and diverse than ever. More than any time in the past, companies are embracing the "Work is no longer a place you go, but a thing you do" ethos and the economic results of the shift are enormous. Readily available remote access and online collaboration tools have enabled an increasing number of smart companies in Canada to adopt remote workforces as an alternative to traditional in-office work arrangements. A small company with a mobile workforce can have the reach of a big company and a big company with the right mobile work tools can have the agility of a small company. If your company is blind to this shift, you will lose to your competitors who adapt. Here are 3 reasons why. It’s all about the burn When I raised money for businesses, the first question I would ask is, "What is your burn rate?" An owner who was not militant about cost control was not a guy I wanted to fund because it’s not about how much you sell; it’s about how little it costs you to sell. You’re going to lose if your competitors sell the same sort of product as you do at a lower cost to produce it. Production costs include everything from raw materials to development costs to the office space where your people work. And every dollar you spend that is not directed to making your product better is making your competitors more competitive.Now imagine those same competitors with remote workforces. Fewer people required in an office means smaller offices. Money that was once making the building owner wealthy is now directed back into the business to improve the product or the delivery of the product. Remote workers today are technology savvy and have access to a whole suite of online meeting and collaboration tools, like GoToMeeting and Podiofrom Citrix, that make driving or flying to team meetings and sales meetings as old-school as knocking door-to-door to sell vacuums. The travel and building dollars saved by companies who embrace workshifting are staggering.But cost savings are not the only reason your competitors with remote workforces are beating you. Another reason they’re beating you is because your employees secretly want to work for them. Keeping the troops happy In research conducted by Citrix last year, 54% of Canadian companies reported having adopted mobile workstyles in response to staff requests. Their employees can work from anywhere there’s an Internet connection; at home, at a coffee shop or wherever people feel most productive. This means that the other half of all workers in the country want something they don’t have because "Getting up and fighting traffic every single day is awesome!"—said no one… ever. All things being equal, people want to work for companies that have flexible work arrangements. Flexibility allows folks to deal with life as it happens and companies that allow their employees to balance their personal lives with their work lives see the greatest return in loyalty.In the same study, a majority of Canadian companies stated that their mobile workstyles have allowed them to retain top talent and just as important, attract talent from their competitors. Also, 71% of Canadian companies reported productivity benefits from implementing mobile workstyles. And it’s not just the obvious cost savings but savings from loss due to presenteeism, a totally made-up word describing sick people who show up at work and wipe everybody out with a single sneeze."But I need to see my guys in their seats to know that they’re working," you snarl in your best manager voice. No you don’t. Good people are good people wherever they work. You see, while you are insistent that people show up every day at the office, your competitors understand that the less rigid they are with their workforces, the more they’re getting from them. You’re only ever getting some of the person’s motivation if you force him to come in. You’ve lost some of it during his commute. You’ve lost some of it to him rushing home to see his family and you’ve lost some of it to him wondering how cool it would be to work for a company that embraces workshifting. Instead of making his workers clock in, your competitors are upgrading their management teams’ ability to manage remotely so more can be done with happier remote workforces. Getting more done all the time. While you’re driving to your 11 AM sales call, your competitors have done three already using an online meeting tool.While your team is cursing traffic to get to a morning meeting at the office, your competitors’ teams are meeting at 8:30 AM from home. By 9:00 AM, they’re selling, marketing or doing whatever it is important people do.While you are burning through hours training new people at your office, your competitors are training their new employees virtually from wherever they could log on and all the new folks are ready to work in half the time it takes you to train your staff.And they do it all with less money. Remote workers have always been around. But never before have tools been so readily available to enable entire remote workforces. This shift is happening and it’s catching a lot of old school business leaders off guard. As a leader, you have a choice. You can look at this as a fad and do nothing to change. Or you can do like your competitors are already doing and evolve to keep up.   Photo Credit: maxymedia via Compfight cc

Dear Ritz-Carlton: How does The Ritz-Carlton motivate its employees? The above question is from an attendee at "Symposium: Your Journey to Service Excellence" in April. Answer from Alexandra Valentin, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: At The Ritz-Carlton, we strongly believe that employee motivation starts with the right selection process. Our selection process helps us identify employees who are already motivated, and the on-boarding process begins instilling "psychological ownership" to the brand from the beginning. According to an article by Data Freaks, "psychological ownership is defined as the extent to which an employee feels as though their organization or their job is ‘theirs,’ (i.e., ‘this is MY company!’) to the point that the company becomes an important part of an employee’s self-identity." The Ritz-Carlton builds on this sense of ownership through employee empowerment. Each employee is encouraged to go above and beyond to create unique, memorable and personal relationships with our guests. This empowers our employees—known as the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton—to make decisions, craft special moments and resolve customer issues. Empowerment moves employees beyond passivity and simply being a "warm body" at work. The Service Values of The Ritz-Carlton also foster a sense of psychological ownership. Each Service Value begins with the word "I." Using the pronoun "I" not only reinforces each individual’s contribution, but also promotes accountability and ownership. It encourages our Ladies and Gentlemen to volunteer ideas, approaches and solutions—whether they are problem solving or innovating—and that is motivating. ∞ Join us for a one-day symposium, "Your Journey to Service Excellence." The day includes a keynote speaker, a Q&A session with The Ritz-Carlton executive panel, an optional networking reception and presentations about legendary service, employee engagement and a customer-centric culture. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Employee Motivation? appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Today we have a guest post from Cindy Huggett. Cindy is the author of Virtual Training Basics, and co-author of the ASTD Infolines "Simple, Effective Online Learning" and "Designing for the Virtual Classroom." She has taught hundreds of synchronous online classes for a variety of audiences. Her favorite passion is to help trainers deliver effective and engaging live online classes. She also assists clients on their transition to blended solutions and conversion to virtual training. You can find Cindy sharing training tips via Twitter at @cindyhugg or contact her via her website www.cindyhuggett.com When was the last time someone left your virtual training event and said "That was the best class I’ve ever attended!" or asked "When can we do this again, because it was a great way to learn?" My hope is that you hear these comments on a regular basis. But if your virtual training is like most, then you are more likely to hear nothing at all. How can you elevate your virtual training and make it better? Through interactive design and effective delivery. Interactive design gets participants involved in their own learning. They engage with the content, the facilitator and the platform tools. They also engage with each other. A truly interactive virtual training class creates a high-quality online learning experience. Interactive design begins with a clear definition of expectations about what the virtual training will accomplish. It determines exactly what the goal is, and how an online session will meet that goal.  And interactive design also invited participants to get involved with engaging activities from the start. It incorporates learning methods that maximize participant involvement using the platform tools in creative ways. For example, an interactive interpersonal skills virtual training class might include a role play that combines creative on-screen graphics with poll questions that steer the conversation in various directions. Or an interactive technical virtual training class might make use of the chat feature to prompt learner questions about procedures. These are just two of many ways to creatively design interactive online training. Effective delivery means the facilitator can engage an unseen audience in a way that draws them into the online training. Virtual facilitators prepare accordingly, multi-task with ease and handle unexpected challenges - all in order to create a comfortable learning environment for participants. Effective delivery begins with extreme preparation, similar to what a world-class athlete does to get to the peak of their game. This preparation includes standard planning as well as technology planning. Once the virtual facilitator is fully ready, they engage with participants from the start by using the platform tools, saying names, setting expectations and keeping the learners focused. For example, a master virtual trainer practices often and becomes extremely proficient with online delivery. They use all of the tools at their disposal to create an effective learning experience, including an engaging tone of voice, video conferencing and polling and chat features. They are at ease when delivering. And they work to build rapport with every learner. Wondering how to make this happen - both interactive design and effective delivery? My two new white papers - 5 Techniques to Design Interactive Online Training and 5 Techniques to Deliver an Effective Online Class - will give you tips to create engaging online classes and deliver them well. Each paper offers useful tips that will make your virtual training better. Download them here and make your virtual training better! 5 Techniques to Delivery an Effective Virtual Class: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/16815362 5 Techniques to Design Interactive Online Training: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/16815365 10 Things You Should Do to Make Your Online Training Better: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/16815368 Photo Credit: familymwr via Compfight cc

Today we have a guest post from Jacob Morgan. Jacob is the principal of Chess Media Group, a management consulting and strategic advisory firm on collaboration. He is also the author of The Collaborative Organization, a comprehensive strategy guide to emergent workplace collaboration. The book has been endorsed by leaders such as the former CIO of the USA, CIO of ManpowerGroup, CEO of Unisys, CMO of SAP, CMO of Dell and dozens of others. He blogs at Social Business Advisor and tweets under the handle @JacobM. Work is a crucial part of our everyday lives, and it’s evolving right before our eyes. Employee perception of work is impacting the way companies will operate in the years to come. Companies everywhere are addressing the questions of where, when and how employees should work. Look up synonyms for "work" and you’ll find words such as "struggle," "daily grind," "drudgery" and "stress." Inversely, antonyms for "work" include "fun" and "entertainment." There is something very troubling with the synonyms, as they describe the mindset that employees have been working under for years. But that mindset is changing. Companies are being approached with the task of redesigning work, and it’s about time. Employees are getting a louder voice inside companies, managers are more open and transparent, companies are adopting flexible work environments and enterprise technology has evolved beyond email to connect people and information anywhere, any time, on any device. Many of the changes we are seeing inside companies are a result of what we have seen in the consumer web. The use of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have altered how we conduct ourselves in public - using an open mic, sharing knowledge freely and collaboratively building communities and solving problems are just a few examples of new behaviors that are making their way into companies. But what exactly is work? Work is essentially comprised of four key areas: employees, managers, the company and technology. And all four of these areas are changing rapidly. Chess Media Group, in collaboration with Citrix, has examined what these changes are and what impact they will have. The Future of Work Is Now white paper is intended to help managers and employees understand that change is happening today in many companies around the world. We looked at what work used to look like and where it is heading. It’s tempting to assume that the future of work is years away. The reality is that the future of work is happening now, and smart organizations are adapting to the changes we are seeing in behavior and technology. Your company should be one of them. Would you like to learn more? Join my free webinar on April 17 at 10 AM (PDT) - I’ll be discussing what the future worker and the future company will look like. Register here.

"I feel sorry for the person who can’t get genuinely excited about his work. Not only will he never be satisfied, but he will never achieve anything worthwhile." - Walter Chrysler, Founder of Chrysler Corporation  The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: It’s quite simple. If your employees are not excited about their day-to-day responsibilities, they won’t work as hard to complete their tasks. Additionally, they will not provide you with their best work. These employees are disengaged. In order for an organization to actively engage employees, the leadership needs to help staff see beyond function—the day-to-day tasks—and connect with a greater purpose—the mission of your organization. Employees who see a bigger picture will recognize that they are contributing to a greater purpose within your organization and consequently, will bring more passion to the workplace and be more excited about work. The employees of The Ritz-Carlton, also known as our Ladies and Gentlemen, understand from our Credo that "the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission." When your organization’s culture includes a clear message of purpose, you give your employees the opportunity to transcend identifying themselves solely by their job function. What does your organization do to inspire employees to volunteer their best every day? ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton.  The Blog Post Inspired Thinking: Excited About Work appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

I’m a firm believer that every job should involve creativity and that every employee is capable of bringing an innovative touch to their work if we enable them to do so. But the constant pressures of deadlines and reviews often mean that creativity is the first thing we sacrifice as we look to deliver work that meets expectations. Here’s what you can do to reverse this trend and help encourage creativity in the office. 1. Give everyone time to work on their own projects. Google is famous for giving their employees one day a week to work on their own projects, rightly believing that it will benefit the company in the long run. And they have been proved right many times over. Gmail and Google Maps, two tools most of us take for granted, grew out of individual employees projects. 2. Encourage your employees to lunch away from their desks. Too many of us spend our entire working lives chained to our desk. Workshifting is helping address that trend, but even if you’re not lucky enough to work flexibly yet, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t take lunch away from the office. Take a break during the day and recharge your batteries - a different setting with different stimuli may be just what you need to get creative during the afternoon. 3. Set employee challenges. Try and engage your employees with challenges that are linked to their work but not reliant upon it. Encourage them to stretch themselves while they attempt to solve these challenges. Linking the tasks to tangible rewards can help - but try and make these benefits for the team rather than the individual (solving a particular challenge rewards the whole office with lunch).  4. Change the language of the workplace. Why not approach the decision-making process in a different way? When a problem arises, try making a collaborative effort to resolve it. Encourage your employees to think up creative solutions and work through them - don’t just put up a wall every time. By saying yes instead of no, you encourage people to look for innovative solutions to problems instead of just taking the safe road. 5. Set aside time on Monday morning to discuss your industry. Set aside time first thing on Monday to discuss the biggest news and industry stories that affect the sphere your company works in. This will get your employees’ brains ticking early. And as time goes by, you can broaden the process by examining trends and opportunities in neighboring industries. What do you do to encourage creativity in the office? Photo Credit: Colors in B&W via Compfight cc