Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Go Team Go!

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Hank & Goldie’s Olympic Spirit

We have Olympic spirit here at Yellow Dog Consulting WHQ/Chez Case. Friday night we had a great Olympic Opening Ceremony BBQ with friends that included Jell-O Shots made with Sake and that looked like the Japanese flag, pancit, and Spotted Dick. Creative friends, I know…

All weekend my husband has been GLUED to the TV. I’ve never seen a CPA so exited about gymnastics or volleyball or judo. As I was heading outside to read on Sunday, I commented that he’s REALLY glued to the TV, and his response? “I love it! Every time I turn on the TV I know who to root for!”

Which got me thinking… Every time your client and network are asked about you, or need your services, do they know who to root for?

Talk to Your Team

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As I’ve mentioned before (and any previous employer can confirm), I’m a terrible employee. Mostly because it’s abundantly clear I’m not a big fan of being managed and if I don’t like something, I just won’t do it. I can also be intimidating when I want to be and have possibly scared off a boss or two…

But here’s the deal, if you’re leading a team don’t wait for their annual review to ask how things are going. Meet with your employees often. Ask them what’s working, what they like doing, where they’re feeling challenged, and what they don’t like. Most of the time your team just wants to feel heard. And you may even realize that a team member enjoys doing something you hate, or wants to take on a new challenge that you didn’t know who was going to manage.

Many of my friends are employed by someone else, and the biggest complaint I hear from friends is that they don’t like a specific piece of their job, but their boss doesn’t seem to care and doesn’t appear available to talk. Don’t just say your door is always open, invite them in and talk. And try not to be intimidating, it won’t win you any points, trust me.

Don’t Doddle Amaryllis

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Hank WaitingIt’s really frustrating to be in a holding pattern. You’re waiting for an answer and can’t move forward (or don’t want to move forward) until you get the answer you want. But once that answer comes, good or bad, there’s a lot of work to be done.

When you are working on any project or towards any goal find ways to continue to keep the momentum going when it’s easy to let the project come to a halt. Yes there are always great excuses for why you shouldn’t keep moving forward, but identify from the beginning ALL the work that needs to be done on the project so that you can continue to work on different pieces of the project while other ones may be waiting for an answer.

We can’t always identify what’s going to hold up a project but we can identify what work will need to be done given either outcome. Instead of sitting around complaining or screwing around, figure out what else is on your to do list for the project that can help keep the momentum going.